Dedicated to Your Physical Transformation
Q: I just want to get bigger as quickly as possible? I’d settle for looking like your before pictures at the X-Rep site. I’m working out four days a week on a basic routine with mostly compound exercises. Do you have any tips on ways to get bigger right now?
A: It takes time to pack on mass; however, most trainees can do better than they’re doing and double or perhaps triple their progress. Here are 6 ways to get bigger “right now.”
[Read more…]Q: I’m testing your 4X variations [Shock-centric, 4X Pyramid, etc. from one of your recent newsletters]. Great stuff! Isn’t another way to get more mass simply to add sets by increasing the volume to 5X or more on any exercise?
A: Yes, volume increases, as in tacking on sets to 4X so you’re doing 5X or 6X, can boost mass gains—to a point. It’s a lot like tanning: To get darker, you can increase exposure time. The problem is diminishing returns… [Read more…]
Q: You have an all-10×10 program in your e-book [The Ultimate 10×10 Mass Workout], but I’ve heard that you don’t think total 10×10 routines are that great. I wanted to try it, but now I’m not so sure. Do you still believe that the all-10×10 program is not good?
A: For those unfamiliar with it, 10×10 is taking a weight you can get about 20 reps with, but only doing 10. You rest for 30 seconds, then do 10 more and so on until you complete 10 sets of 10 reps. The first sets are a breeze; the last ones are brutal and create an insane pump and burn.
The beauty of 10×10 is that you do it on one exercise per bodypart, so a muscle is cooked to the bone in about 10 minutes. The problem with the all-10x1o program is that it’s pure DENSITY…
As we’ve said, the dominant fiber type in the biggest bodybuilders is the DUAL-component type-2As. They have both a power and density, or endurance, component. That means you need BOTH power and endurance to build the most muscle size. With 10×10 you’re getting almost pure density. But that can be a good thing…
Total 10×10 training is great if you’ve been doing a program dominated by power-oriented sets—as most bodybuilders do. The majority neglect density almost completely because they are brainwashed into believing that heavy weights build the most muscle. Even we’ve fallen into that trap before. That’s why when we first tried an all-10×10 program, we each packed on more than 5 pounds of muscle. We thought we’d found the Holy Grail of muscle building…
However, gains quickly subsided and began to regress—because now we had been neglecting the POWER component. The moral is that if you use a total-10×10 program like the first program outlined in The Ultimate 10×10 Mass Workout with only the ultimate exercise for each muscle, use it for only 3 to 4 weeks (our gains began to regress after week 4). Then go back to a balanced attack or even a power-oriented workout.
A good, balanced attack is the Heavy/Light 10×10 Mass Workout later in the 10×10 e-book. On that one, you do a heavy, straight-set POF workout for a muscle—power—then the next time you train it, you do only the big exercise for 10×10—a total 10-minute density mass blitz. Balanced power/density for major muscle immensity!
Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
—Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
www.X-Rep.com
If you want to build muscle (of course you do!) and ramp up your testosterone levels while burning a ton of fat at the same time, you need to try this workout if you haven’t already…
–> Use this cutting-edge cardio trick to boost testosterone and muscle growth
Note: This is NOT traditional HIIT or boring steady-state cardio
Q: Do you believe that a person can max out muscle growth with 4X-style training considering you only use medium poundages?
A: We know for a fact that 4X-only workouts build a lot of muscle—and without straining joints because the poundages aren’t super heavy. Remember, with 4X you take a weight with which you can get 15 reps, but you only do 10; rest 30 seconds, then do 10 more; and so on until you do 4×10—and only the last set or two are to failure…
That said, the question becomes: Is 4X, with its moderate-poundage load, sufficient to reach your genetic potential for muscle growth—without using extremely heavy weights? We are still trying to answer that question, but the evidence is pointing to YES…
Studies show that lighter poundages, with enough volume, trigger muscle growth; other studies show that heavier weights that cause more microtrauma cause hypertrophy due to “over repair,” a protective mechanism that makes muscles bigger to withstand further assaults.
We often refer to Power and Density. Heavy weights for power and lighter-higher rep sets, drop sets or short rests for density. When you use both styles, you attack the two constituents of the key 2A muscle fibers, the ones that are most prevalent in the biggest bodybuilders. The 2A fibers have both power and endurance components, so it appears that to get maximum development, you need BOTH styles of training, power and endurance, or density…
However, in The 4X Mass Workout e-book we analyze many styles of training and conclude that 4X, even though it has short rests and moderate poundages, is a BALANCE of power and density. That should be the perfect recipe for maximum mass. On the other hand, 10×10 is almost PURE density, which is why we recommend that style for short burst of only three to four weeks for a density-overload shock effect. Here is a graphic representation of power-density from the 4X Mass Workout…
There are 4X hybrid techniques that skew it more toward either power or density…
4X PYRAMID: If you want to skew 4X more toward POWER, you can use a 4X pyramid. Still adhere to short rests of 30 to 45 seconds between sets, but increase the poundage on each set. So on squats, you might use 225, 245, 255, 265, rather than 225 on all sets of a standard 4X sequence. Increasing the weight will have your reps decrease, something like 10, 9, 7, 6; however, even the last set won’t be overly heavy due to the short rest intervals.
4X NA: To skew 4X more toward DENSITY, use negative-accentuated sets. We call that SHOCK-CENTRIC training. Use a weight with which you can get about 15 reps, but only do 7—with a ONE-second positive and SIX-second negative; rest 30 to 45 seconds and repeat. Do four of those NA sets, and the last one should be extremely demanding; if not, the weight was too light. Each set will give you about 50 seconds of tension time, something your muscles aren’t used to—plus you’ll get a lot of microtrauma just like you get with heavy-weight sets—and that’s believed to trigger major mass. [For more on NA training, see The X-centric Mass Workout.]
So each NA set on squats has you lower in six seconds, then blast up to the standing position in one. Same with bench presses—lower in six seconds, drive up in one. With curls you pull the bar up in one second, lower in six—and so on…
We often experiment with all of those styles—standard 4X, 4X pyramid, and Shock-centric training—and none of them requires super heavy poundages. Our joints feel great, our muscles are big and full, and those workouts are still short enough to work with a busy schedule. We believe 4X change is another BIG key to massive gains—without joint pains!
Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
—Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
www.X-Rep.com
One of the most interesting read-me pages on Testosterone and other muscle-building hormones we’ve seen is The Truth About Testosterone.
It even talks about a fruit, a specific part, that can up your T naturally. Cranking up your testosterone will not only get you jacked in the gym, but in the bedroom too—not to mention help rip up your midsection as it ignites fat burning. If that interests you, there’s more from our colleague and registered dietician, HERE.
Q: After seeing 10×10 in your newsletters, I’ve been trying it on arms [10 sets of 10 reps with minimal rest]. They blew up bigger than ever! They looked about two inches bigger when I was done. My problem is that I feel I need to train with heavy poundages to get the most growth. Do you think it would work to alternate a 10×10 workout with a conventional heavy session each week?
A: That’s precisely how we designed the Heavy/Light Ultimate 10×10 Mass Workout in the 10×10 e-book. On the so-called light day, you do only 10×10 on one big exercise for a muscle. For the uninitiated, 10×10 is taking a weight you can get about 20 reps with, but you only do 10. Rest 20 to 30 seconds, then do 10 more, and so on till you get 10 sets of 10—although on the last few sets you should only get eight or nine because they will be BRUTAL—with a giant pump! [Read more…]
Q: I’m a bodybuilder and very interested in trying the 10-sets-of-10 method you’ve been writing about. I’m worried because using lighter weights and short rests [between sets] would appear to build primarily the slow-twitch and the fast-twitch endurance fibers [2As], and neglect the power fast-twitch 2Bs. Shouldn’t I be using heavy weights to get at the key 2B fibers?
A: You’re right, the 10×10 method primarily builds the type-2A fibers, those fast-twitchers with an endurance component (that’s why it works so quickly, as you’ll see in a moment). You don’t entirely neglect the 2Bs, however… [Read more…]
One of the toughest parts of building your physique is staying stoked to hit the gym—and not just hit it, but power drive it over the wall every time you work out. That can be especially tough in the winter when you’re all covered up and not necessarily thinking of your lean-machine spring and summer body… [Read more…]
