Dedicated to Your Physical Transformation
Q: I notice that you guys often use a double-drop set on the last one when you do TORQ. I love that muscle maker variation, and it appears it’s gotten me bigger in the past few weeks. Do you have any other ways to vary that method?
A: To refresh memories, TORQ is tension-overload repetition quantity… [Read more…]
Q: I’m using 4X, TORQ, and Super TORQ exclusively—no heavy training. I’ve already added about six pounds of new muscle in just a few months. Can I train each muscle more frequently than every four days? It seems like with moderate poundages, each muscle would recover quicker and I could train more often to grow even faster. Should I try it?
A: Try it. Whether it works well will depend on your recovery ability—and your age may also have a bearing…
Consider this: Research has discovered that the older we get, the more muscle inflammation derails muscle growth. [Merrit, E.K., et al. (2013). J App Physiology.]
So the more trauma you inflict at your workouts as you get older, the harder it is for you to recover and grow. That may also be the case for hardgainers—they’re more susceptible to inflammation, resulting in slow-to-no growth.
Here is the conclusion of the researchers in that study:
We show for the first time that human aging is associated with muscle inflammation susceptibility (MuIS, i.e. higher basal state of pro-inflammatory signaling) that is present in both tissue and isolated myogenic cells and likely contributes to the impaired regenerative capacity of skeletal muscle in the older population.
By using lighter poundages, as with 4X, and/or more repetitions per set, as in our TORQ and Mr. America Doug Brignole’s Super TORQ, you reduce the amount of trauma and increase your capacity to grow.
With TORQ and Super TORQ, you also get a variety of tension times. TORQ stands for tension-overload repetition quantity. Our version is 30-20-15 reps with 40 seconds between. We use multiple exercises per muscle with TORQ…
Brignole, on the other hand, uses only ONE exercise per muscle, but his reps are 50-40-30-20-10, with drop sets on the last one.
With either of those you get high-end tension times that so many bodybuilders miss—60 to 90 seconds per set. And with either of those you may be able to get away with training each muscle every two or three days…
Brignole hits each muscle once every four to five days. His complete workout is in the Power-Density Mass Workout 2.0 e-book, along with his full interview on his method, which exercises are best and more…
In the interview he says,
It’s truly amazing how good a workout one can get with only five sets and one exercise. I’m growing like a weed. Awesome pump.
So, yes, you may be able to train each muscle sooner than Doug does—if you’re younger AND you have good recovery ability. For us old guys, we get to suffer through TORQ less often. Hey, at least there’s one good thing about getting old. LOL!
Just remember, it takes experimentation for maximum mass creation.
Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
—Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
www.X-Rep.com
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Q: I stumbled across some of your old daily training blog posts, and I notice that you’d often call your last workout of the week Freaky Friday. What’s up with that? Are those freak-physique techniques you use something I can implement to grow more mass quickly? I need more size!
A: Bodybuilders always need more size—somewhere. And that’s why we implemented freak-physique techniques on Fridays for a long time. Freaky Friday was basically our way to train “outside the box.” [Read more…]
Q: Your Positions-of-Flexion mass training is great! Using the 3D Muscle Building e-book and workouts, I’ve designed different programs for myself with the three-exercises full-range stimulation, and I credit POF with the 50 pounds of muscle I’ve built over the years. Thank you. My question is, What do you think about starting with the stretch-position exercise for each POF bodypart routine? Stretch is one of the biggest mass stimulators because of that muscle elongation, so why not start with it?
A: Your question reminded us that years ago we experimented with the stretch-move-first method, and it produced such good gains that a video was created, “Hypercontraction Training.”
For example, you train a few sets of FLYES first for pec stretch overload. Then you work bench presses (midrange) and end with cable crossovers (contracted)… [Read more…]
Q: I’ve been reading about 4X and TORQ. I’m 25 and usually train heavy, but now that I have to train at home, I’m looking for the best way to keep building muscle without a lot of weights. I’m afraid with these light training methods I might lose muscle. I’ll try them because I have no choice right now, but I think heavy is the way to grow. How do I know I won’t shrink if I don’t pony up for more weights in my home gym?
A: We’ve both been using 4X-based training techniques for several years. If a couple of old guys whose anabolic hormones aren’t what they used to be don’t shrink, you won’t. In fact, we’ve got trainees from all age groups who’ve tried 4X and TORQ and many start using them constantly because they make such great gains… [Read more…]
We featured Jim Haislop, 1968 Mr. America, way back in Zen 8. We recently ran across this shot of him, and all we can say is, Whoa! [Read more…]
Q: I just got the Power-Density Mass Workout 2.0. Absolutely one of the best muscle-building guides I’ve ever read. I’m very interested in [Mr. America] Doug Brignole’s one-exercise-per-muscle high-rep method [50-40-30-20-10]. The problem is that it’s tough deciding which single move is best for each target muscle. He likes decline dumbbell presses for chest, but I’m thinking bench presses. What are your thoughts on that? And what about back? I see Brignole likes T-bar rows as his only upper-back exercise.
A: We like decline dumbbell presses. It’s one of the best overall pec moves; however, unlike Brignole we see the value of inclines as well (more on that in a moment). [Read more…]
Q: I like the heavy/light approach you lay out in the Ultimate Power-Density Mass Workout 2.0. I also do [Mr. America] Doug Brignole’s Super TORQ for only one exercise per muscle every few workouts. Great change to gain! My question is, when I do TORQ, shouldn’t I use overhead presses for delts? In your TORQ routines and Brignole’s Super TORQ program, the shoulder exercise of choice is one-arm cable laterals. But you have heavy presses in the Power-Density programs, which aggravate my shoulder joint sometimes. Still, shouldn’t I do presses in my TORQ workouts? It’s the best shoulder exercise, right?
A: We have a love-hate relationship with presses—and Brignole’s is mostly hate (as we’ll explain)… [Read more…]
Q: I know Mr. America Doug Brignole uses Super TORQ and has used a version of 4X. Are there any pro bodybuilders who use the 4X method?
A: The really big guys, especially referring to pro bodybuilders, tend to use an abundance of almost anything and everything in their training—because they have, um, “special” supplements to help them recover. That and superior genetics allow them to train rather haphazardly and still grow like crazy (we know, it’s not fair). [Read more…]
Q: Doug Brignole’s high-rep method [explained in his interview in The Ultimate Power-Density Mass Workout 2.0] sounds interesting. I’d like to try it once a week for upper body. Do you think it would be okay to do an entire workout with his “Super TORQ” for chest, back, and arms, and at the other workouts that week do standard training?
A: Faster mass creation is all about experimentation. We really like your idea, as it’s similar to some of the Power-Density mass workouts in that e-book that alternate heavy training with TORQ for high-rep hyper-growth. [Read more…]
