Dedicated to Your Physical Transformation
In a number of recent newsletters, I’ve mentioned the term “garbage negatives.”
It basically refers to the negative, or eccentric, stroke on a standard-tempo set. Lowering slowly is easy thanks to “friction” in the muscle—actin-myosin pairings “dragging” across one another… [Read more…]
I’ve been discussing the negatives of too many “garbage negatives.” What does that mean?
When you do a set close to failure, the eccentric, or negative, stroke is still not demanding. But that’s not the problem… [Read more…]
We’ve determined that pausing between each rep at the stretch—stretch-pause—is less damaging than standard sets using a controlled “explosion” at the turnaround. [Read more…]
Q: I can’t wrap my head around lighter weights getting me as big as heavy weights. Wouldn’t fatigue from high reps cause you to stop a set short before you get enough fibers involved? [Read more…]
Q: I read that researcher Chris Beardsley says that high reps are more damaging than lower reps. I’m more ectomorphic and can’t grow with lower reps. Why do you think he says that? [Read more…]
In yesterday’s newsletter, I explained researcher Chris Beardsley’s observations on how different parts of a muscle can grow. That’s controversial to say the least. It sounds like muscle shaping, a so-called impossibility. But here’s what he said… [Read more…]
Q: I read that after a back workout, your lats should feel heavier because they’re so filled with blood. I’d never felt that before until I tried the back program in The Ultimate Power-Density Mass Workout. Do you think I got that mega-pump and fullness because the routine alternates power sets with density sets? By the end, my lats were the most pumped they’ve ever been. My delts got insanely big too after the shoulder workout. I even saw veins! I’m psyched that I may finally get in the shape that girls will notice. Thanks.
A: You’ve hit the nail on the head. The bodypart routines in that Power-Density Mass Workout are designed so you stress the myofibrils, the force-generating actin and myosin strands in muscle fibers, with POWER sets, then you follow with DENSITY for sarcoplasmic expansion. The sarcoplasm is the energy fluid in muscle fibers… [Read more…]
Q: What’s your opinion of rest/pause training, the way Mike Mentzer used to do it? I’ve read that he did heavy singles with six to 10 seconds between sets, and he did only four of those rest/pause singles for each exercise.
A: We discuss Mike Mentzer and his rest/pause training in Beyond X-Rep Muscle Building (starting on page 38). His technique was as follows… [Read more…]
Q: I pound away at my workouts, but I’ve only gained about three pounds of muscle in nine months. I’ve gotten stronger, but where’s the size?! I don’t know what to do. I add weight to my exercises whenever I can, but that doesn’t seem to help. I want big, full muscles that will fill out my T-shirts.
A: Are you doing your work sets in the eight-to-10 rep range? Are you resting about 2 minutes between sets? Are your sets lasting about 25 seconds? Are you doing that on all of your exercises? If so, THAT’S WHY YOU’RE NOT GROWING. [Read more…]
Q: You’ve mentioned the Growth Threshold a few times. What is that? What does it mean and how do I use it to get bigger?
A: Growth Threshold is a term we borrowed from champion pro bodybuilder Lee Labrada, pictured below. Here’s Lee’s explanation, from our 4X Mass Workout e-book:
The growth threshold is the point at which the level of fatigue in the muscle is high enough that a growth response is elicited. Your goal during a workout should be to fatigue the target muscles you are training more and more with each succeeding set. In other words, you want the muscles to progressively get more and more tired out, until you reach a point where the muscles are functionally ‘worn out.’ Signals are sent to the brain that set up the compensation, or growth, process during the postworkout period, so that in future workouts you can handle it.
Because you use the same weight on every set of a 4X sequence, and the first two sets are fairly easy, you gradually approach the growth threshold. The short 30-to-40-second rests between sets ensure that fatigue accumulates to a size-triggering climax at set 4.
For those not familiar with 4X, you take a weight with which you can get 15 reps, but you only do 10 deliberate reps; rest 30 to 40 seconds, then do 10 more. Rest 30 to 40 seconds again, then do 10 more. Rest 30 to 40 seconds one last time, then go to failure. If you get 10 on that fourth set, add weight to that exercise at your next workout…
As Labrada says,
I do not let my muscles regain all of their strength before starting the next set. After all, my goal is to fatigue my muscles more and more with each succeeding set until they hit the growth threshold.
And that’s what 4X sequences are all about—reaching the critical growth threshold without overtaxing the body’s recovery systems so you continue to ignite new, dramatic muscle growth at every workout. 4X training will give you size increases in both the myofibrils, the actin-myosin strands that produce force, and the sarcoplasmic endurance fluid in the muscle fibers.
And if you use a 4X sequence on the full-range 3-way Positions-of-Flexion programs for each muscle—midrange, stretch, and contracted, you reach the growth threshold for each and get a triple dose of muscle growth.
NOTE: If you’ve been training with standard myofibrillar-dominant heavy sets—tension times of 20 seconds and rests of 2 minutes or more—you may want to increase your sarcoplasmic mass with a few weeks of PURE density training. For that, give 10×10 training a spin. You take a weight with which you can get 20 reps, but you only do 10. Rest 30 seconds, then do 10 more—and so on until you complete 10 sets. The last few rounds will be brutal, but the pump and sarcoplasmic size you ignite will be unreal. Use it on only one exercise per bodypart—10 minutes for each—for two weeks and watch the amazing changes in your physique.
Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
—Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
www.X-Rep.com
One way you’re guaranteed to pack on stacks of muscle is through a process called muscle protein synthesis (MPS), which more than doubles 24 hours after an intense workout…
Until recently, MPS was only elevated when trainees would lift 70-90% of their one-rep max…
That’s not only dangerous for your joints, but it also sets you up for high injury risk every time you exercise…
It used to be believed that training with your own bodyweight couldn’t get you the same results as training with your 70-90% one rep max… Until NOW.
