direct/indirect Archives

5-Minute Blasts for Fast Arm Mass

Q: Help! I need more arm mass, and I’m hoping to add about an inch quickly. I’m using the Direct/Indirect 4X Mass Workout [pages 30-32]. It has only one direct arm workout a week [on Wednesday with delts]. Can I add some extra arm work on Friday when I train chest and back again?

A: Absolutely, but you don’t want to do full arm workouts on Friday’s chest/back day. Instead, we’ve found a couple of quick-hit two-move combos that will do the trick to get your arm mass up so they’ll be looking huge and thick. [Read more…]

Arm Bomb to Get Your Freak On

Q: I’ve been using the POF Direct/Indirect Mass Workout in the 4X 2.0 e-book. Doing great! I’m loving it and I feel much bigger already. But my arms are my weakest muscle groups, so I’m thinking about doing a second arm workout on Saturday. That would have me training five days a week instead of four. Is that okay?

A: That’s a great program—and because you’re using moderate-weight, growth-threshold training, you can tolerate more frequent work for most bodyparts; however… [Read more…]

Workout Change for Major Muscle Gains

Q: I really like the Direct/Indirect Split in the 4X Mass Workout e-book. My problem is I can’t work out on Wednesdays—only Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. If I put that split over those days, the Thursday and Friday workouts have too much crossover. The same muscles are getting trained on both days back to back. Is there a workout change I can use as a solution? I really want to use the Direct/Indirect schedule so I can hit my muscles multiple times a week to build more mass.

A: First, let’s look at the setup you can’t use, the direct/indirect split in the 4X e-book… [Read more…]

Direct/Indirect Training Split: Upper Pec Specialization

Q: The direct/indirect training split is awesome! I think my muscles have always needed more hits per week, but I followed the pros and trained each muscle only once a week. That never worked for me. The direct/indirect training split [in The 4X Mass Workout e-book] has already added new muscle to my arms and shoulders and back. My one problem area is upper chest. I’ve moved upper chest work to the front of my direct pec program. That’s helped some, but on indirect, day when I train triceps, close-grip bench presses are the indirect chest exercise. They don’t hit my upper chest, so should I do close-grip incline presses instead on triceps day?

A: Hmm, close-grip incline presses might be a solution, although we’ve never been huge fans of close grip on inclines. They can be hard on the shoulder joints. Experiment using a light poundage to see if you feel your upper chest kick in on those. There’s another solution supported by recent research that we have tried… [Read more…]

The Forgotten Muscle-Size Trick

Q: You guys don’t seem to like training each muscle only once a week like a lot of pro bodybuilders. How come?

A: More muscle-training frequency is a BIG size stimulator, especially for drug-free trainees—if you do it correctly. Many pros can get away with training each bodypart with excessive volume only once a week because of genetic superiority and, of course, excessive drug use. In fact, if you look back at the best bodybuilders of yesteryear, when steroid use was minimal, training each bodypart THREE times a week was the norm prior to a contest. It’s a bit of a forgotten muscle-size trick… [Read more…]

Quick-Start Muscle Attack

Q: I just finished 8 weeks on your beginning program [in the Quick-Start Muscle-Building Guide]. What muscle attack should I do next?

A: After the beginning programs in the Quick-Start Muscle-Building Guide, try the workout on pages 21-23 of The X-centric Mass Workout. You will still be doing a big midrange exercise and a more isolated contracted-position exercise for each muscle, as you are now, but you’ll use more volume and specific mass-building variations (power + density)… [Read more…]

Which Way is Best?

Q: I’m ready to try The Ultimate Fat-to-Muscle Workout, but you have different workouts in that e-book. The first program is four days a week, but each bodypart is worked only once each week. The second program is three days a week, but again you train each bodypart only once. Then in the Q&A chapter, you suggest using the three-days-per-week routine over four days per week [following the 3-day sequence so each muscle is hit more than once a week]. Which way is best?

A: It’s tough to answer which way is best because we don’t know the extent of your recovery ability, stress levels, experience, etc. Remember, the Fat-to-Muscle workouts have negative-accentuated sets, which do great things for a fat-to-muscle metamorphosis during microtear repair, AND heavy power pyramids, which also are very abrasive to muscle fibers. Those two factors may force the need for more recovery—like seven days. [Read more…]