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Best Time for Cardio

Q: When is the best time for cardio? I’ve tried first thing in the morning before breakfast, but I felt tired and burned out by mid-morning, and my job suffered. Is right after a weight-training workout good? If so, for how many minutes? I’m trying to get lean while it’s still summer.

A: Steve interviewed two top researchers, Gabriel Wilson, M.S., and Jacob Wilson, Ph.D., and they believe cardio first thing in the morning on an empty stomach is HIGHLY catabolic. In other words, it wastes away your hard-earned muscle tissue. That makes sense considering you’ve been fasting for eight hours or more while you slept and your body is in the early stages of starvation. [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: best time for cardio, building muscle, burn fat, burning fat, cardio, catabolic, fat burning, fat-to-muscle, Gabriel Wilson, get lean, get ripped, Jacob Wilson, lose muscle, post-workout, starvation

Heat: The Magic Muscle Maker

Vince Gironda, lean and vascular

Q: This is kind of an odd question, but does hot weather help make muscles grow? I’ve noticed this summer, when it’s been blazing hot outside, I make my best gains. In the winter, my gains are much slower, sometimes nonexistent. Could it be the heat?

A: It could simply be more summer-time motivation—you train harder because you want to look good at the pool, lake, or beach. It could also be leanness and darkness—being more ripped and tan makes you look bigger and better. There’s a good chance that heat and/or sunshine may have something to do with it, along with sweating. Perspiring more sheds water from under the skin, and that means more vascularity more often, which adds to your bigger, more-shredded look. But heat may be the key… [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: anabolic, animal study, body temperature, boost testosterone, building muscle, gains, heat, hot weather, legend & myth, master trainer, motivation, muscle builder, muscle growth, muscle maker, muscle regrowth, muscle shrinkage, oxidative stress, perspiration, physique, ripped, shredded, summer gains, testosterone, vascularity, vitamin d, winter gains

Are You Working Out Too Hard?

Steve spotting Jonathan for forced reps

Q: I train my butt off in the gym. I hit it harder than every other guy in there, but I haven’t gained much muscle in a long time. Is it my genetics? My nutrition is perfect, so I should be growing like crazy, but I’m not. It’s very frustrating… Help?!

A: Yes, your genetics could have something to do with it; HOWEVER, you may have just been working out too hard for too long. It’s time to step back with a new plan… [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: 4X, 4x mass method, 4x mass training, 4x mass workout, building muscle, burning fat, cortisol, danny padilla, dieting, gain muscle, genetics, growth threshold, hardgainers, intensity, mass accelerator, mass building, muscle gaining, overtraining, phase training, results, ripping phase, stress, stress hormone, supersaturatoin, testosterone, working out too hard

Best Rep Speed for Muscle Growth

Jonathan Lawson dumbbell pullovers - Best Rep Speed for Muscle Growth

Q: What is the best rep speed for muscle growth? I want to look like a bodybuilder/physique athlete, so I’m not that concerned with strength. I just want more muscle mass.

A: In The X-traordinary X-Rep Workout e-book we cite a study that attempted to determine the optimal rep speed for building muscle. It compared doing sets with a two-to-three-second positive and a two-to-three-second negative—about three up, three down—with sets using a power cadence, which is one second up and three seconds down. The power cadence produced the most mass in this study. [Int J Sports Med. 30(3):200-204; 2009.] [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: anabolic, best rep speed for muscle growth, bodybuilder, building muscle, eccentric, fast-twitch, fat-to-muscle, fat-to-muscle workout, international journal of sports medicine, muscle biopsies, muscle fibers, muscle growth, muscle mass, myotatic reflex, optimal rep speed, physique athlete, protein remodeling, rep speed, semi-stretch, semistretch, ultimate fat-to-muscle, x-centric, x-centric mass workout, x-traordinary x-rep workout

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