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No Cables—How to Build Mass, Pt. 2

Jonathan doing concentration curls with a Powerblock dumbbell

Yesterday I addressed a question about building muscle in a home gym without a cable unit. [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: band exercises, cables vs dumbbells, dumbbell workout, dumbbells vs cables, resistance bands

DB-only Variation for Mass Acceleration

Steve in a sleeveless shirt

Q: Old Man Young Muscle has put new muscle on me at age 49. Thank you. I don’t have cables in my home gym, so it’s perfect. I read with interest your take on Doug Brignole’s superset method. I know that you now have cables in your home gym, but do you think I could do it with only the ideal exercises listed in your ebook, no cables?

A: I don’t know what equipment you have, but I’ll assume you’ve at least got dumbbells, a bench, and a chinning bar, as I had when I wrote OMYM… [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: dumbbell workout, dumbbells, home gym training, home gym workout

Light Weights, More Mass: New Research

Steve doing hammer curls

For the past two years, I’ve been training with lighter weights, usually starting each exercise for a muscle with a set of 20-plus reps.

That fatigues the slow-twitch fibers. After a short 20-second rest, I use the same weight and crank out another 10 to 12, which quickly shifts the muscle to fast-twitch-fiber activation… [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: Brad Schoenfeld, dumbbell workout, European Journal of Sports Science, fast-twitch fibers, fiber activation, high-rep sets, hypertrophy, light weights, low-rep sets, more mass, physique, powerblock, research, slow-twitch fibers

Home-Grown Muscle: The Speed Factor

Jonathan doing Speed Reps on cable curls

Q: I’m training at home like everyone else, but I don’t have a lot of weight. In fact, on many exercises, like dumbbell bench presses, the weight is way too light. Is there anything I can do to keep my muscle growth moving forward without going heavier?

A: First, bodybuilding is called “progressive-resistance” training because adding weight and/or reps to your exercises can increase muscle size…

We say “can” because getting stronger does not always mean getting bigger. Strength may also be the result of neuromuscular adaptation—nervous system efficiency—or better coordination/leverage. [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: Charles Poliquin, dumbbell workout, fast-twitch, home gym, home-gym routine, home-gym training, hypertrophic, pre-exhaustion, quick-start muscle building, quick-start muscle building 2.0, slow-mo, speed reps

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