First of July and I made my legs cry. Or something like that. Great leg workout, and I have a feeling they’ll get as sore as they were after the last leg workout. I might have to rethink the interval cardio on leg days, though… [Read more…]
Fat Loss With NO Cardio?!
Q: I read that you guys got super ripped without doing any cardio. I also saw that Arnold had incredible fat loss with no cardio, relying on weight training only. Is that true?
A: According to John Balik, former Publisher of IRON MAN magazine and Arnold’s friend and one-time training partner, the only thing close to real cardio that Arnold did was occasional walking or running on the beach… [Read more…]
More Mass-Building Myths Busted (logic or looniness)
Q: I read where old-school bodybuilders would use lighter weights and higher reps on some exercises before competition to get more muscle detail. That’s total B.S., right?
A: On the surface, yes. But ending a bodypart with higher-rep work—or even doing entire workouts with higher rep work, enhances muscle burn. No, that’s not fat burning—at least not in a strict sense… [Read more…]
Muscle-Building Mistake You Can’t Afford to Make
Q: A lot of bodybuilders go all power in the off-season. They push for more strength so size will follow. I’m thinking about using the Phase 1 program in Size Surge for that purpose—mostly big exercises with heavy weights training three days a week so I get plenty of recover-and-grow time. Would that program be okay to use for the entire 10 weeks instead of moving to Phase 2?
A: You’re right, even Arnold used to do a two-to-three-month power phase in the winter—but it wasn’t heavy low reps on every exercise, as we’ll explain. That’s the problem with the way most trainees do it: They go heavy on ALL exercises all the time for too long and neglect critical sarcoplasmic size, which can be a big muscle-building mistake… [Read more…]
Max Force for Major Muscle
Q: In your early e-books, like The Ultimate Mass Workout, you say that generating maximum force is the key to muscle mass. To me, it doesn’t seem like you ever exert max force with 4X training because you are using moderate weights. Do you still think creating maximum force is the way to build the most mass?
A: Yes, we believe force is one of the big keys to packing on muscle mass—but there’s more than one way to get enough… [Read more…]
Shock-centric Mass Blast
Q: I’ve been using your 4X method and throwing in some NA (negative-accentuated) sets every so often, mainly because I like some soreness. It makes me feel like I’ve done good work in the gym and am growing. Lately, I can’t seem to get much soreness from my workouts. Should I add sets or more NA or what?
A: There is no scientific research that shows that muscle soreness equals muscle growth—but we know what you mean. It makes you feel like you’ve hit the muscle hard enough to trigger growth, and it just makes sense that the microtrauma should translate into hypertrophy. We know for a fact that emphasizing the negative stroke of every rep can cause more soreness and that it can cause inflammation—which is temporary size. But that should lead to permanent mass… [Read more…]
Do This, Not That, to Grow Muscle Fast
Q: I have almost all of your e-books, and I’ve learned more from them than I have from anywhere else in the 10 years I’ve been training. Thank you. I just got The 4X Mass Workout and had a question: You always say “change to gain,” but you tend to use the same few exercises in a lot of your programs. Shouldn’t I switch moves often to gain mass, like use dumbbells instead of a barbell?
A: While variation is important, you need to focus on the exercises that you feel the most. That’s especially true for weak bodyparts, which tend to lag due to inadequate neuromuscular efficiency, or nerve-to-muscle connections. A good example for us, and most bodybuilders, is upper chest exercises. [Read more…]
Explosive Reps: Mass-Building X Factor
Q: I just saw an interview with a top pro bodybuilder, and he said one of the keys to building mass is to explode at the bottom of every rep and attempt to move the positive rep as fast as possible. Are explosive reps a good idea? I’m afraid of getting injured.
A: The big pros are the genetic elite with superhuman muscle-fiber density, as well as ironclad tendons and ligaments. And don’t forget that many use growth hormone, which fortifies cartilage, tendons, and ligaments even more (that’s why many athletes use it—to quickly rehab soft-tissue injuries and prevent others from occurring in the gym and on the field.) [Read more…]
Quick Muscle-Mass Tip: Density-Expansion
Q: On the X-centric Mass Workout, I’m getting a lot bigger and stronger using the 4×10 finisher for all body parts. It’s great! My question is, as I get stronger should I stop at 10 on the last set, even if it’s easy? Or should I keep repping until muscle failure [on the fourth set]? I know to go up in weight at the next workout, but I don’t want to waste the one where the weight is easier.
A: For the uninitiated, 4×10 (from the 4X Mass Workout e-book) is taking a weight that you can get about 15 reps with, but you only do 10. Rest 30 seconds, then do 10 more and so on until you complete four sets. If the weight is right, you shouldn’t get 10 on your last set or two. If you do get 10 on your last set, add weight at your next workout… [Read more…]
Rapid-Rate Muscular Growth
Q: I have been using [end-of-set] X-Rep partials and making the best gains of my life. I consider it one of the top muscle-building breakthroughs. You guys always seem to be at the cutting edge of mass techniques. Any other secrets you can recommend to boost my gains?
A: Thanks for the kind words regarding X Reps. They’ve done great things for hundreds of trainees—and we made the best gains of our lives that first X-Rep year—in only five weeks with them (no steroids, no trick photography—although the lighting is different and we have tans in the afters)… [Read more…]