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Match Your Motivation, Build More Muscle

Arnold at the beach - Look Bigger with One Simple Exercise

Q: I always have a problem making gains in the winter. It starts around Halloween, when the weather starts getting cooler and the bowls of candy start taunting me. Then it’s Thanksgiving, pumpkin pie, and it’s even colder outside. I lose the motivation to hit the gym, and my muscles usually shrink and get shrouded with a layer of fat. Is this just something I should accept, or do you have any solutions?

A: Definitely do not accept it—at least not completely—because if you regress in the winter and then start training hard in the spring, you waste a lot of workouts just getting back to where you were the previous year. (We speak from experience—it’s happened to us on more than one occasion). [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: 20 pounds of muscle, 3d muscle building, 3d power pyramid, arnold schwarzenegger, build muscle, continuous tension, freak-physique, holidays, john balik, mass building, master trainer, max force, metabolic momentum, motivation, occlusion, pyramiding, stretch-overload, vince gironda, winter motivation, winter training, winter workout

Negative Overload

Q: I’m using the Fat-to-Muscle Workout, and the negative-accentuated technique [one second up/six seconds down] has given me a lot of new muscle, and I’ve noticed that the excess muscle trauma you guys talk about has helped me lose a good amount of fat, too. I’m amazed! Now, however, I feel like my mass gains are slowing down. I think it’s because I’ve adapted to the negative-accentuated sets. How can I intensify them? Or should I switch to a different technique for a while?

A: Don’t drop the NA technique unless your goals have changed for your physique. If you’re still trying to lose fat as you build muscle, a set with one second up and six seconds down on every rep for every large bodypart will help you get there faster… [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: bullet-proof shoulders, continuous tension, fat-to-muscle workout, forced reps, goals, negative overload, negative-accentuated, negatives, pain-free, rick kaselj, shoulder pain, tension time, x-centric mass workout, x-centric training

More Muscle Size: One-Set Wonders

Q: I just got your X-traordinary Arms e-book. Killer information, and I’m ready to use it to build mine into 19-inchers like Jonathan’s. My question is about the 3D HIT program in which you incorporate the arm-specialization routines. One work set for each exercise? You list a few more sets for arms, but I just can’t comprehend how one set could be enough for the other bodyparts. Can I add sets?

A: You can do anything you want, but be careful and monitor your progress. Building muscular size is all about experimentation. In fact, the 3D HIT program is our experiment into one-set-per-exercise intensity training. We’ve seen lots of research validating one-set training for building strength; however, as we explain in our e-books, packing on extreme muscle size is a different animal than merely building strength and a few fast-twitch fibers. There are different layers to attack when size is the goal. [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: arm specialization, big arms, bodyweight training, continuous tension, fast-twitch fibers, max force, MPS, muscle protein synthesis, muscle size, strength, strength building, stretch overload, super saturation, x arms

5 Critical Keys to More Muscle Mass

Jonathan Lawson muscular - Step Back to Move Your Muscle Mass Forward

Q: I understand that heavy weight isn’t important for maximum muscle growth. Can you tell me what I should include in my workouts to build the most mass possible in the shortest time. I want to get bigger.

A: Well, “heavy” weights are important, but “heavy” is relative to YOU—and dependent on muscle fatigue. You may struggle with 20 pounds in a certain exercise at the END of a bodypart workout. So that 20 pounds is “heavy” for you on that exercise at that moment… [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: change to gain, continuous tension, fatigue, heavy training, hypertrophic, hypertrophic tension time, keys to more muscle mass, muscle fatigue, muscular fatigue, myofibrils, sarcoplasm, stretch, synergy, tension time

The Stretch-Strength Link

JL 3D Biceps Exercises - Triple-Hit Anabolic Reload

Q: I’m loving the 3D HIT program [listed in the X-traordinary Arms e-book]. Every bodypart is growing, my strength goes up at almost every workout, and I’m only in the gym for 45 minutes. So far, it’s sweet! My question is, Shouldn’t the stretch exercise be last in the 3D sequence: midrange, contracted, then stretch? I’ve read that stretching a muscle makes it weaker right after, so it only makes sense that you should do the stretch-position exercise last instead of before the contracted-position exercise; otherwise, you’ll be weaker on the contracted move. Am I off base here?

A: Either order works well for stimulating growth, and it’s good to mix it up for more adaptation (growth). But we’ll give you our reasoning for why we think the standard order (see the pics below) is best for optimum hypertrophy (fast mass) with regard to the stretch-strength link. Take biceps as an example. The standard 3D POF program is barbell curls, incline curls, and concentration curls—in that order. [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: 3d hit, 3d pof, anabolic, continuous tension, force, growth stimulation, muscle fibers, myotatic reflex, occlusion, Russian study, Science and Practice of Strength Training, stretch effect, stretch overload, stretch-strength, testosterone, testosterone replacement therapy, trt, Vladimir Zatsiorsky, William J. Kraemer, x-traordinary arms

3D HIT Question

Q: In the 3D HIT program [listed in the X-traordinary Arms e-book], you say to end each bodypart with one slow, higher-rep set of an isolation exercise for tension and occlusion. You also mention drop sets for those exercises. Which is better, one higher-rep set or a drop set?

A: Keep in mind that doing a drop set is a volume increase because it’s two sets back to back. For example, on concentration curls for biceps, you do a set of 10 reps to exhaustion, grab a lighter dumbbell, and immediately rep out again, getting about six more reps. Is that better than one set of 12-15 reps? That depends…

[Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: 3d hit, 3d hit question, anabolic fasting, arm exercises, arm training, brad pilon, continuous tension, drop sets, eat stop eat, efficiency-of-effort, endurance fibers, explosive reps, fast-twitch, high-threshold fibers, intermittent fasting, muscle growth, rep cadence, size principle of muscle fiber recruitment, slow-twitch, volume, x-traordinary arms

Shirt-Splitting Muscle Size

Rope rows finish

Q: I am in need of some back width, or more specifically, lat development. I’m following your 3D HIT program listed in the X-traordinary Arms e-book, but I’m not getting a pump, and I have a hard time feeling my back working. Do you guys have any suggestions?

A: The 3D Positions-of-Flexion lat routine in that program is…

Chins (midrange), 1 x 9-12
Dumbbell pullovers (stretch), 1 x 9-12
Rope rows (contracted), 1 x 12-15

One reason you may not be getting a big pump is the last (contracted) exercise, rope rows…

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: 3d pof, 3d positions of flexion, anabolic after 40, back width, back workout, blood flow blockage, continuous tension, free e-book, growth hormone, hypertrophy, igf-1, lats, muscle size, nerve force, neuromuscular efficiency, occlusion, POF, protein synthesis, pump, shirt-splitting muscle size, university of texas, x-traordinary arms

Quick Starter Workout

Q: I’m interested in building up my body. I’ve been visiting some workout forums, and lots of people are recommending your quick starter workout. Can you explain why it’s so good? Will it work for me? I want a new body, but I don’t want to look like the Incredible Hulk or anything. Maybe Captain America or Thor, though. Lol.

A: The quick starter workout you’re referring to is our Quick-Start Muscle-Building Guide, and it has you begin with a two-week break-in program, using the basic exercises, like squats, bench presses, etc., one to two sets each (all exercises are fully explained with printable start-and-finish-position illustrations).

It’s a full-body workout that takes about an hour on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and it’s geared to upregulate your nervous system and coordination quickly so you can start building muscle immediately after this two-week “learning” phase. Then you move to something more unique to accelerate gains…

[Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: anabolic, anabolic acceleration, anabolic environment, becky holman, before and after, beginner workout, break-in workout, captain america, comeback, comeback workout, continuous tension, fast mass, fast-mass workout, full-body workout, hulk, hypertrophy, incredible hulk, lean muscle, male hormones, massthetic, max force, muscle-building, muscular tension, physique, quick starter workout, quick-start muscle building, steroids, tension time, testosterone, thor, women, women's workout, workout for women

Gymnasts’ Muscles—Olympic Size-Sculpting Method

If you’ve watched the male gymnasts during the Olympics before, you no doubt noticed their eye-popping upper-body mass. Some have delts, arms, and torsos that resemble competitive bodybuilders’. Very impressive, especially considering that muscle mass isn’t one of their goals; it’s just a side effect of their sport…

[Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: anabolic, animal study, arms, blood flow blockage, bodybuilders, continuous tension, delts, explosive reps, fat loss, fat loss fails, fiber activation, gymnasts' muscles, hormone trick, hypertrophic, metabolism, muscle elongation, muscle gains, muscle growth, muscle stretch, occlusion, olympics, ripped gymnast, shoulders, statc, static contraction, static hold, stats, stretch overload, tension time, testosterone, triceps, upper-body mass, vascularity, x update, x-rep update

Study: Pounds of Muscle After One Workout (Yes, One Workout)

Q: In the “X Factor” interview at X-Rep.com, Jonathan says you guys tried a static contraction at the end of isolation exercises with only mediocre size results. But I just got the X-Rep Update #1 e-book, and you’re recommending them. Why have you found static holds more effective now than in the past?

A: When we first used static contraction many years ago, we did them on contracted-position exercises, like leg extensions, holding the flexed position for as long as we could after full-range exhaustion. That’s a hold after a number of regular reps. We got good gains, but later that hold at the end of a set evolved to X Reps on the big midrange exercises instead of isolation moves, and that worked much better at building bigger, fuller muscles.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: anabolic hormone reset, anabolic hormones, anabolic response, continuous tension, contracted position, endurance component, fasting, isolation exercises, jonathan lawson, mass building, max force, metabolic adaptions, occlusion, one workout, static contraction, static hold, static holds, study, X Factor, x-rep update

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