Dedicated to Your Physical Transformation
Q: I am a fan of your mass tactics like X-Fade, Static X and, of course, X Reps. You often list the ones you use in a workout, but often you list a 4X sequence as (4×10 + StatX). Do you do the [end-of-set] static hold on all sets, some sets or just the last set?
A: We never use those end-of-set mass tactics on more than the last two sets of a 4X sequence. And usually, it is only one unique set… [Read more…]
Q: In X-treme Lean you have the “High-Definition Workout” (pages 76-78), and you say to use it five days a week. I don’t think I’ve seen you recommend that many workouts in a row. What’s the reason [for five consecutive days of training]?
A: After training for photo shoots for 10 years off and on, we realized that one of the keys to getting lean is hormone-zone training, which is where you keep testosterone, GH and other anabolic, fat-burning hormones up as high as possible. [Read more…]
Q: I like to train heavy, but I fully understand that tension time, or density, can build size as well. My question is, won’t drop sets accomplish both?
A: The drop-set method is one of the best for getting size in the myofibrils as well as a hypertrophic sarcoplasmic burst. And even new veinage too… [Read more…]
Q: You’ve mentioned an animal study that produced a 300 percent muscle mass increase after only a month of stretch workouts. That’s truly incredible. Is there more info? How do I duplicate those stretch procedures in my workouts to get that kind of muscle growth?
A: We refer to that animal study by Antonio and Gonyea in many of our X-Rep e-books, but the most extensive analysis was in X-Rep Update #1. Here’s a quote from Jose Antonio, Ph.D., from that e-book: [Read more…]
Q: You have cable crossovers, cable flyes, or pec deck flyes listed as contracted-position exercises for chest in 3D Muscle Building. I train in a home gym without a cable set up. What should I do for pec contraction?
A: Contracted-position exercises are usually isolation exercises that keep the target muscle under tension throughout the set. In other words, there is no bone-support at lockout so the target muscle gets no rest till the end of the set… [Read more…]
Q: I’ve been using the X Fade and Double-X Overload techniques from the Beyond X e-book, and I’ve gained six pounds in one month. My previous workouts were always heavy training, so I’m wondering if maybe I added so much muscle with those methods because they’re giving me some density I’ve been missing. They both make my sets last longer. Could that be it?
A: That’s a distinct possibility, although there’s more to it, as you’ll see. But as you suggest, most wanna-be-big bodybuilders rely almost predominantly on heavier, lower-rep training, and their sets last only 20 seconds or less (time your sets; you will be surprised!). That’s a mistake if you want maximum mass and fast size gains…
A set of 20 seconds or less is power emphasis—but you need BOTH power and density to get TOTAL growth in the majority of the muscle fibers. With those two X-hybrid tactics, X Fade and DXO, you definitely have been X-tending your sets—more so with DXO, which we really like on stretch-position exercises like flyes…
DXO: This is simply adding an X-Rep partial near the stretch position between EVERY full rep—so each of your reps is really a 1 1/4 rep. The “hitch” at the bottom between each full rep emphasizes stretch overload, which has been shown to induce everything from hyperplasia, or fiber splitting, to anabolic hormone release in muscle tissue. Plus, as you noticed, it puts more of a mass-building density spin on the set as well…
If you do 9 reps in DXO style, your set will last more than 30 seconds. Now you’re getting into density territory for adding size to that side of the key type 2A mass fibers. That’s a great get-bigger trigger, especially if you’ve been using mostly power sets. Your six-pound muscle gain in one month is no doubt due to a combination of density and heightened fiber activation. You get both of those with DXO—and the X-Fade technique…
X Fade: With this X-hybrid tactic you do a standard set of, say, cable flyes, a contracted-position exercise in the Positions-of-Flexion mass-building protocol. When you hit full-range exhaustion, where most bodybuilders end the set, you get the cable handles back up to the contracted position—a partner can help—and do three to five short partials there, flexing the target muscle…
Then you lower to the stretch position and do standard X-Rep partials there. If you can’t manage any movement at either position, just hold for a static pec contraction for a few seconds at each spot—top flexed and bottom stretched. Key growth fibers will still be firing and you should wake up some dormant ones as well for new size stimulation—you’ll feel it…
Doing end-of-set X-Rep partials at BOTH the top and bottom of the stroke with the X Fade will add maybe six to eight seconds to your tension time. Nevertheless, both DXO and the X-Fade tactic are excellent ways to get more density training, activate more growth fibers to fire and give you excellent change to fuel fast size gains.
Note: For more info on all the X-hybrid Training Tactics, check out the Beyond X-Rep Muscle Building e-book below:
Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
—Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
www.X-Rep.com
One of the most interesting read-me pages on Testosterone and other muscle-building hormones we’ve seen is The Truth About Testosterone.
It even talks about a fruit, a specific part, that can up your T naturally. Cranking up your testosterone will not only get you jacked in the gym, but in the bedroom too—not to mention help rip up your midsection as it ignites fat burning. If that interests you, there’s more from our colleague and registered dietician, HERE.
Q: I’ve been reading up on your POF mass-training system, and I think I understand it. I’m just not sure how training a muscle with only two sets on two or three exercises can produce serious muscle growth. Most pros do four or five exercises for four or five sets for each bodypart or more.
A: Positions of Flexion is one of the most efficient mass-building workout styles out there. We’ll explain why in a moment. First, we feel the need for a reality check: All the pros are taking significant amounts of drugs that jack up their recovery and muscle-building abilities. That’s on top of their already superior genetics. [Read more…]
Q: I got The Ultimate Fat-to-Muscle Workout e-book and am amazed at the great information. I’ve already started applying it and am seeing quick fat-burning results (I can already see the top two rows of abs). My question is, Why didn’t you include diet information?
A: We wrote The Ultimate Fat-to-Muscle Workout as an e-training program. Its purpose is to explain the research on achieving a transformation via muscle microtrauma combined with growth hormone release.
[Read more…]
