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More Mass With Full-Body “Compound” Workouts?

Q: Researchers James Steele and James Fisher, based in the UK, claim one to two full-body workouts with compound lifts for one or two sets to failure will get you 98 percent of the results you’re after. They claim the angles of movements, or biomechanics, make little to no difference as long as the muscle reaches failure. What are your thoughts on this? What do you think about the compound lifts?

A: Using specific compound exercises to failure, or close, will of course trigger some hypertrophy.

The best compound exercise would put the target muscle as the prime mover and achieve a full range of motion (ROM) for that muscle. So some are better than others… [Read more…]

More Sub-Failure Sets to Add Mass?

Q: Your less-intense approach to build more mass makes sense from a physiological standpoint. I tried it using the Old Man, Young Muscle workouts, and the pump was still awesome. I felt very energized after. I felt so good, I started wondering if I should be doing more sets. What do you think?

A: Adding sets is tricky because it depends on a lot of factors, particularly your recovery ability…

At my age, which is 63 (birthday this month—gifts welcome), I find three sets to be my limit, although I sometimes do four for stubborn muscles, like chest.

So I’m old, plus I have skinny genetics—which can also limit recovery. It’s a double whammy…

Steve in his back yard at 62 years old

Even so, 2019 Drug-Free Mr. Universe Doug Brignole, who is my age with much better genetics, has also found that for each muscle, three sets is best…

He says he’s growing much faster since cutting back and is so excited that he may compete again—at age 63; however…

For stubborn muscles, like his side-delt heads, Doug will do a couple of drops on his third set…

In other words, he does that last set, immediately reduces the weight, does a few more reps, reduces the weight again, and cranks out one last set.

And he—and I—now stop all sets short of failure, even the drops. No writhing around to try for one last nerve-frying rep…

Those are a few options—either add a set for your stubborn muscles or try drops on your third set.

If you have fairly good recovery, you may get away with doing both for your stragglers—add a fourth set plus drops.

But always monitor your progress. That means to keep your eye on the prize, which is more muscle size.

New: Get the ideal exercise for each muscle, the best add-on moves for ultimate mass, complete 35-minute workouts, exercise start/finish photos and details on building muscle fast and efficiently in Old Man, Young Muscle.

And you still get The Muscle-On, Belly-Gone “Diet” ebook FREE for a limited time when you add Old Man, Young Muscle to your mass-building library. Go HERE.

New ebook covers - small

Work on the Prize: More Muscle Size!

Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.

—Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
www.X-Rep.com

Recommended

Testosterone prescriptions do more HARM than good for older men

Millions of men are struggling with the problems associated with low-T in today’s world, such as extra belly and chest fat, low energy and stamina, lack of sexual desire, ED problems, and loss of muscle.

Sadly, millions of men also turn to Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT) to try to overcome these problems and try to feel like a new man again…BUT there are some VERY concerning problems with TRT that every man NEEDS to know.  

After reading the article below, you might want to consider alternate routes of boosting your T levels naturally instead of through something that’s potentially as harmful as TRT…

–> Why Testosterone Replacement Therapy can do more HARM than good  (for any ladies reading this, please pass this on to your husband or boyfriend if they are using or have considered using TRT)

Here’s Why TRT Does More Harm than Good

Mass Machine: Less Insane to Gain

Yesterday I talked about training to failure and how it can have a negative effect on your nervous system, making each set after the first less efficient at stimulating mass.

A hammered nervous system doesn’t allow enough “juice” to engage the high-threshold motor units, which control the fast-twitch growth fibers.

Solution: [Read more…]

Easier Sets Build More Mass?

I’ve mentioned that going to failure—grinding until you can’t get another rep—can derail mass gains. Too much of that and you can’t recover by your next workout, which cancels out growth…

The reason is usually said to be muscle damage. Hitting failure on multiple sets creates a lot of trauma, but not just to the target muscle… [Read more…]

Fake it to Make It BIG?

Discussing how pushing to failure and beyond can cause too much muscle damage and stifle growth had me thinking about my past training…

Way back in college, when I was working out Mike Mentzer Heavy Duty style—all-out sets with forced reps—my training partner Bill and I always stopped our main quad exercise early—about two reps short… [Read more…]

New View on HEAVY Loads for Mass

Mechanical tension, or mechanical loading, is resistance stress on the muscle fibers. It’s the big key to hypertrophy.

And for the purpose of muscle growth, we want mechanical loading that targets fast-twitch engagement. That occurs optimally with a cascade effect, activating slow-twitch fibers first followed by fast-twitch… [Read more…]

Work Harder, Grow Bigger? Nope

For years I believed that if I worked harder in the gym—to failure and beyond—I would grow bigger. I had no doubt that soon my muscles would expand beyond belief…

Hard work and patience, right? Nope. It didn’t happen. Why? I was working hard, but I wasn’t working smart—at least, not as smart as I could have been… [Read more…]

Your Get-Big Checklist

Q: I’ve seen Jonathan’s before and after photos and read all the info [at SizeSurgeWorkout.com]. Can you give me more details on why the program works? What makes it different? I think I just need to be convinced that it’s going to work for me.

A: We don’t blame you. If you’re going to invest a full 10 weeks in a program, you want to know the mechanics of how and why it works. The Size Surge program does! It can build loads of muscle if you train hard with it, and there are a number of reasons for that. The primary one is that both phases are dominated by big compound exercises, and the workouts are designed and organized to maximize their size effects. [Read more…]

Bigger Muscles Now: 4X FirePower

Q: I’ve read about your 4X mass-building method in a few of your newsletters. I find it hard to believe that I can build bigger muscles doing only one exercise per bodypart for four quick sets with only the last set to failure. Will that really work?

A: You misunderstood the concept—we probably should’ve been more clear. Unless you’re a beginner, you should do more than one exercise in 4X style per bodypart. We mistakenly assumed that readers know we use Positions-of-Flexion mass training, which works a muscle through its midrange, stretch, and contracted positions. That usually requires THREE exercises per bodypart… [Read more…]