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I just saw Jonathan’s new read-me page about XRX and the workout he is now using. I turned 48 and am making the best size gains of my life with the [high-rep-set-first] Reload program. Is Jonathan’s similar? Is it better? Should I switch?
The reason Jonathan put together his new after-40 workout is that he Hates—with a capital H—high reps…
While he made amazing size gains when he first went on the high-rep-set-first program outlined in [Read more…]
Q: I’ve made the best mass gains of my life with your 4X method. I know you guys got new size with it too, so my question is, why Anabolic Reload STX (slow-twitch exhaustion)? I realize that it also does not require heavy weights, but is it better than 4X?
A: First, both methods accomplish the same thing: full-blown fiber hypertrophy with slow-twitch-fiber pre-exhaustion, triggering more high-growth fast-twitch fibers to fire on the last sets.
It’s the Size Principle of Muscle Fiber Recruitment… [Read more…]
Q: I have your new ebooks, Anabolic Reload and Stretch Overload. Both are great, and the simple rest/pause add-on for progression has already helped me add new mass. But I overtrain easily, so I can’t keep adding those. Is there anything else I can do to keep my muscle growth moving forward without more volume?
A: First, bodybuilding is called “progressive-resistance” training because adding weight and/or reps to your exercises can increase muscle size… [Read more…]
Q: I’ve been following the current bodybuilding training trend of hitting each muscle once a week with lots of sets. Growth has been slow, but you’d think that with so much volume and intensity at one workout, it should take a full week for that muscle to completely recover, right?
Well, training each muscle with lots of volume once a week will produce some growth—if intensity is high enough to produce significant damage. The question is how much is enough?
Less volume for each muscle but with more frequent body part hits has proven a better, more sure-fire method for optimal hypertrophy in most cases and works as a sort of anabolic phasing… [Read more…]
Q: So glad you clarified many of the hypertrophic requirements for muscle size in Anabolic Reload [progression, exercise rotation, metabolic stress, etc.]. One that really got me thinking was volumization. I believe it was Vince Gironda who said that more work done in the same or less time creates mass quickly. My question is, What do you think about drop sets instead of rest/pause as the volume addition to each exercise? Seems like you get more work in the same time frame.
A: The drop-set method is one of the best hypertrophic tactics around because it does condense workload into a short time frame. Studies verify the [Read more…]
Q: You’ve said high-rep leg work can boost your T naturally. Will the first high-rep set on each exercise in the STX workouts boost testosterone even more?
A: It appears that that reason high-rep leg work boosts testosterone is due to heavy breathing, big-muscle stimulation, growth-fiber activation and muscle burn…
That was the reason that many bodybuilders of yesteryear often relied on [Read more…]
Q: I wanted to report on my progress. I’m 53 and am making the best muscle gains of my life using something you haven’t really discussed. I get bored easily, so what I do is one week I use the Over-40 STX workout [Anabolic Reload e-book] and the next week I go to the Pure-Positions STX program [Stretch Overload e-book]. I think it’s working so well because every week I am getting all three of the hypertrophy requirements but with different splits and exercise mixes. I swear my shirts are already tighter after only three weeks. Just want to thank you guys for my new gains!
A: Hmm, very interesting—and a novel approach. We usually suggest doing one of those programs for four to six weeks, then switch to the other for another four-to-six-week mass phase.
But who are we to argue? Sounds like alternating them is working off the charts for you in the over-40 muscle mass department. Exciting stuff! Now… [Read more…]
Q: The Double-X stretch method you describe in the last chapter of the Stretch Overload ebook really got me sore. All I did was add one set of the stretch exercise for each muscle [listed in chapter 1] with Double-X to my current workout. My question is, do you think just doing a heavy straight set of the stretch move would be better? For Double-X I have to use a lighter weight to get the hitch at the bottom of each rep.
A: Glad to hear that you were able to Double-X your muscle mass. For the uninitiated, Double-X Overload is simply a partial rep at the point of stretch between each full rep.
For example, on incline curls, you [Read more…]
Q: I have both Anabolic Reload and Stretch Overload, and I love the high-reps-set-first STX method. However, I’m 61 years old and am wondering if I should try only two mass workouts a week instead of three. Right now I’m using the Pure-Positions STX program from Stretch Overload, and so far I feel somewhat drained. I’m also sore all the time, especially after the Friday stretch workout. Any suggestions for this old guy seeking new muscle?
A: Interesting that you ask about two full-body workouts a week. Recently Steve, who is now 58, was forced to train on only Tuesdays and Fridays—and his gains took a leap forward during that time. Exciting stuff… [Read more…]
Q: You guys are awesome! Anabolic Reload put a half-inch on my arms in less than a month. My arms have always lagged, so I’m blown away. I hit each muscle twice a week with about 12 sets. I didn’t want to reduce my sets on all, so I just did [STX] for arms. I started with the high-rep set followed by a heavy set, then I added a rest/pause every arm workout like the program says. My sleeves got tight almost immediately. Just want to thank you for getting my puny arms up bigger than they’ve ever been. I plan on trying this for each muscle through the winter. [Read more…]
