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Steve: Full Body (MMX Pyramid)

It’s tough knowing Smith-machine squats are first on the agenda with an MMX Pyramid. It’s even tougher at 6:45 in the morning–in a summer heatwave. After the first high-rep set, my shirt begins to show sweat. By the time I’m done with legs, I’m soaked–but I still have upper body. Full-body training is grueling but also invigorating. I keep reminding myself that many legendary bodybuilders, including Steve Reeves, preferred full-body training because the body grows best when be worked as a unit–or so the theory goes. [Read more…]

Steve: Full Body (MMX Pyramid)

Feels like back to the future for my workouts–full-body three days a week. I don’t think I’ve done full-body workouts consistently since I was in my 20s–but this time with a POF and MMX twist. Training every muscle three times a week but with a different exercise each workout (POF–midrange, stretch or contracted). [Read more…]

Steve: Legs + Delts/Back/Chest (MMX Pre-Ex)

My plan was to continue with MMX Pre-Exhaustion–contracted-position isolation exercise for 20 reps, rest 30 seconds, then heavy midrange compound exercise for 10 reps. But when I got to the gym, someone was camped out on the leg extension. I thought about beginning with hamstrings instead, but I decided to improvise on quads–more experimentation. I used the stretch move as the high-rep isolation exercise. Oh, man… [Read more…]

Steve: Delts, Arms + Calves/Abs

Sipping my pre-workout coffee, I had an epiphany–that means an enlightened idea (not a stroke). I decided to use the findings of the Brazilian study we discuss in our new MMX e-book with a pre-exhaustion twist. I used a continuous-tension isolation move first for 20 to 30 reps, rested 30 seconds, then did a heavier compound move. For example, Seated laterals (light) and Seated DB presses (heavy), 30 seconds between sets, as in the study for slow-twitch fiber fatigue to activate more fast-twitch growth fibers on the second heavier exercise. After three rounds of that, I ended with two to three sets of a fairly heavy stretch exercise. Quick, ultimate-pump POF workout…

Delts: Seated laterals (3×22,16,12) modified ss with Seated DB presses (3×10,8,7 + X Reps); Incline one-arm laterals (3×10,8,7 + StatX)
Triceps: Lying DB extensions (3×20,15,11) modified ss with Close-grip DB bench presses (3×9,8,6); Overhead DB extensions (2×10,8)
Biceps: Bent-over close-grip cable curls (3×23,18,15) modified ss with Undergrip cable rows (3×12,10,9); Incline curls (2×10,8)
Tri’s/Bi’s/Brachialis: DB pullovers (2×12,9) ss Hammer curls (2×10,8)
Forearms: DB wrist curls (2×17,14) ss Reverse DB wrist curls (2×15,10)
Calves/Abs: Machine leg press calf raises (1×20(12)(8)–Rest/Pause); Machine crunches (1×15(8)(5)–Rest/Pause)
Note: My current program is based on methods in the new e-book MMX Fast Mega-Mass Workouts–the Max-Muscle X-pansion System.

Summary: The modified Pre-Ex–30 seconds between isolation and compound moves with high reps on the iso–was a great change to gain. Pump was big and target-muscle ache was so fierce that the ending stretch-overload exercise didn’t require as much weight to feel heavy. Remember, a muscle doesn’t know what weight you’re lifting; it just recruits as many fibers as possible to move it. The fatigue from the initial Pre-Ex rounds hammered the target muscle so that the stretch-overload sets were not dangerously heavy but still force max-fiber recruitment. Loved this method.
Diet, Supplements & Nutrient Timing: For meal-by-meal diets plus training and nutrition info, see the X-treme Lean e-book.