fat burners Archives

The Perfect Rest Time for Packing on Muscle Mass

Q: I’m an avid reader of your e-books as well as your website. I’ve been experimenting recently with a heavy set to failure (approximately 10 reps), adding X-Rep partials to the end. Then I do a second X-Only set, often with added weight. This is an excellent trigger for growth, especially if you warm up using the DXO [Double-X Overload] technique. On the warmup set, I do anywhere from four to five X Reps between [full-range] reps, and the burn is incredible! That [combination] has had such a strong effect on my body, that I now have some stretch marks appearing. I’m definitely getting much more muscular while dropping fat. Another thing I’ve been experimenting with is shortening the stroke of X Reps, to the point where I’m almost doing a static hold. I just pulse out very small partial reps. Which brings me to static holds. Research shows subjects adding a few pounds of muscle after only one workout, but that workout was followed by two weeks of rest. Surely two weeks off between workouts is ridiculous. I was wondering how you stand on recovery time and static holds?

A: Thanks for the feedback and your confidence in our methods. We discuss a lot of what you’re discovering and experimenting with in our X-Rep Update #1 e-book. Former Mr. Olympia Jay Cutler used a lot of X-Only sets, as we discuss in Chapter 5, Mr. O’s Wild X-O Workouts. Notice Cutler’s short stroke on this exercise…

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I need to lose about 20 pounds. I’ve been weight training for about two years, so I’m not a beginner. You say that more muscle helps burn fat, so should I use X Reps to add more muscle size and just work in some cardio so I get a double fat-burning effect?

A: That’s an excellent start, and adding X Reps isn’t just a good idea because they help build muscle fast—they also help you burn fat. The reason: growth hormone and testosterone, two very potent fat burners.

If you’ve tried X Reps, you know they produce an incredible searing effect at the end of any set. We’ve mentioned in our e-zine that GH is linked to muscle burn. Think about it: With X Reps you can do an intense heavy set on a compound exercise, like bench presses, and then end that set with power partials to significantly magnify the burn. You know the big exercises help trigger testosterone, and with X Reps you can force more GH as well thanks to the burn they produce. It’s a fat-burning double whammy—a much more efficient method than anything out there, with almost zero wasted effort. (That’s one reason we say that each X-Rep set is at least three times as effective as a straight set to failure.)

If you’ve been training for any length of time, you know it’s very difficult to achieve a burn on the big, compound movements. But with X Reps you can make it happen every time—producing a searing firestorm finale. Do you see why we’re so fanatical about X Reps—and why they were the key method during our one-month metamorphoses?

So definitely include X Reps in your fat-burning plan. As for cardio, you can start slowly, say two 20-minute sessions a week of medium-intensity work and build from there. Make gradual increases so your body adapts and you don’t burn too much muscle. The real key, however, will be your weight workouts which will jack up your metabolism long after you leave the gym. [For more on the best fat-burning techniques, including cardio-surge programs, gradual calorie-reduction diets and the new High-Definition X-Rep workout, get a copy of X-treme Lean.]

The X-treme Lean e-book details our fat-burning strategies, as well as Becky Holman’s (she’s on the cover) and also includes our cardio programs, meal-by-meal diets, key fat-burning nutrients and how we used each. We also outline and explain the new High-Definition X-Rep workout that’s designed to boost GH and testosterone so you melt fat as you pack on muscle (yes, it can be done!).

My Fat-Burning Story: The Big Mistake

If you’ve ever been in peak condition with big, full, vascular muscles and paper-thin skin, you know it’s an incredible feeling. People notice your in-shape ripped physique everywhere you go. It’s a rush you never forget, and you seek that peak like Tiger Woods craves, um, golf. The problem comes when you can’t get that conditioning, no matter how hard you try. It’s so frustrating and your workouts go into the toilet. That’s exactly what happened to me… This is my fat-burning story… [Read more…]