• X Shop
  • Checkout

X-REP.COM

Dedicated to Your Physical Transformation

  • Home
  • About Us
  • X Shop
  • X Files
    • Latest Articles
    • FAQ
    • Ezine Archive
  • Testimonials
  • Contact Us
  • Gallery
  • Subscribe

Speed Set Mass Jack?

Arnold (now) doing pulldowns

Q: Your last few newsletters on muscle damage have been interesting and have me rethinking some of my workouts. My question is, do you think the Speed Sets you have in the Old Man Young Muscle workouts are more damaging than regular sets? Should I keep doing them?

A: First, let’s establish that speed reps are not plyometric—they are not ballistic moves. In OMYM I describe them as slightly faster than the standard 1/3 tempo… [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: arnold schwarzenegger, ballistic reps, Chris Beardsley, plyometrics, rep speed, rep tempo, speed set, speed sets

Traumatic vs. Non-Traumatic Mass Workouts

Muscle-fiber illustration on Jonathan's arm while doing barbell curls.

In yesterday’s newsletter I explained how higher-rep sets to failure may do somewhat less muscle-fiber damage than heavy sets to failure… [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: Chris Beardsley, muscle trauma, muscle-fiber damage, protein synthesis, slow-twitch exhaustion, traumatic/non-traumatic

New View on LIGHTER Loads for Mass

Jonathan doing PowerBlock dumbbell curls

In yesterday’s newsletter, we looked at a new interpretation of hypertrophy research that suggests going to all-out muscular failure may do more harm than good with heavier loads.

Researcher Chris Beardsley says that heavier sets to failure do most of the damage on the last two reps; therefore you should stop two reps short to achieve most of the hypertrophy stimulation while avoiding that severe damage. [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: Chris Beardsley, fatigue, high reps, high-rep, hypertrophy, light training, light weights, mass building, metabolic stress, muscle failure, protein synthesis

Slightly Overtrain, Smother Mass Gains?

Casey Viator spotting Mike Mentzer on cable laterals

While Arthur Jones, inventor of Nautilus machines, wasn’t always right, and he’d call you a fool if you said he was wrong, his ideas on limited recovery ability are on the money. Here’s a quote from his 1971 Nautilus Bulletin #2: [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: arthur jones, Chris Beardsley, mass gains, mike mentzer, nautilus bulletin #2, overtraining

Less Intensity = More Muscle Immensity?

Jonathan spotting Steve for hammer curls

Doug Brignole and I were discussing training sets to failure and the body’s response to that.

The common belief is that training a set until you can’t get another rep activates the most fast-twitch fibers possible. [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: Chris Beardsley, fast-twitch fibers, intensity, intermediate, size principle of muscle fiber recruitment, slow-twitch fibers

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

:: Get the latest news and specials :: Sign Up for our Ezine!

Shopping Cart

Number of items in cart: 0

  • Your cart is empty.
  • Total: $0.00
  • Checkout

Log In

Copyright © 2026 · X-Rep.com