Dedicated to Your Physical Transformation
Q: I’ve seen speed reps in some of your routines. What are those, and how do they work to add more mass?
A: We call this mass tactic X-celeration, and it can pack on new mass FAST because of extra fiber activation, and it’s a technique that lends itself well to home-gym training… [Read more…]
Q: Using a static hold [StatX] at the end of a regular set near the muscle’s stretch is killer. I feel like I’m getting bigger after only a short time on this routine. Are those holds better than the X Reps your recommend with some movement?
A: It depends on the exercise, but in most cases, some movement, as in X Reps, may produce slightly better results. Here’s why… [Read more…]
Q: I just started reading up on your [Positions-of-Flexion] mass-building method. The full-range hit on each muscle makes so much sense that I can’t wait to try it. A friend said it helped him build 10 pounds of new mass in just six weeks. Where do I start? Is there a basic 4-days-per-week POF mass workout I can use?
A: We have POF in almost all of our e-books because it makes so much sense and has built so much muscle for so many—including us. [Read more…]
Q: I’m loving your 4X mass method. I’ve been using it for only three weeks, and I already feel bigger and look fuller. The scale says I’ve put on three pounds, but it looks like more than that. I feel pumped all the time. Anyway, I’m wondering if I should do a warmup set before I jump into 4X for an exercise. If not on all 3 exercises in Positions of Flexion, maybe just the first one will do the trick since it’s compound [or midrange], like squats.
A: Keep in mind that with 4X mass training, you’re using the same MODERATE weight from the first set to the last. In most cases you shouldn’t need a warmup set because your first in the sequence is fairly easy—you don’t go to failure… [Read more…]
Q: X-Reps are giving me some wicked-awesome mass gains. The extra pump and burn I get from [those end-of-set partials] is hot! But I was thinking that since they work so well, how about using only the short X-Rep range for all of my sets, without any full-range reps? Wouldn’t that give me some giant mass gains?
A: We first addressed X-Only sets in the X-Rep Update #1 e-book and even included a chapter on former Mr. Olympia Jay Cutler’s workout, which includes a lot of X-Only sets. Check out his X-Only Hammer Strength machine inclines (photos courtesy of Mitsuru Okabe)… [Read more…]
Q: I totally get the idea of Power-Density for more muscle size, and I notice that some of the top bodybuilders use that type of mix. I’m not sure how X Reps fit in, though. Is a set with X Reps more power or density? And why are they so great? Aren’t they just a few short-range movements at the end of a set?
A: Considering the studies that show the biggest bodybuilders’ muscles are jam-packed with type 2A fibers, the ones with both power and endurance (density) capabilities, all bodybuilders should be using both types of sets (and X Reps can help, as you’ll see). [Read more…]
Q: I’m in phase 1 of the Size Surge Workout. I like it a lot, but I notice that I’m getting some wrist pain during barbell curls. Should I try a wider or narrower grip for more arm gains without the pain?
A: You’re extremely motivated. How do we know? Because you apparently read the Size Surge e-book up through phase 1 and stopped so you could attack that program. If you would’ve read further, you would’ve seen that Jonathan had the same problem and switched to dumbbell curls in phase 2… [Read more…]
Q: I just got The Ultimate Power-Density Mass Workout and The X-traordinary X-Rep Workout. Tremendous. I’ve already read them both twice. Undoubtedly the best bodybuilding info I’ve ever seen. I noticed that in the programs in both e-books, you rely a lot on pyramiding the weight on the compound exercises. Is that better than just using the same poundage on all work sets and going to exhaustion?
A: With the type of training we list in those e-books, we believe adding weight to each work set so that the rep count decreases—9, 7, 5, for instance—is ideal to build BOTH mega mass and strength for three reasons… [Read more…]
Q: I recently read your Ultimate Power-Density Mass Workout. Very insightful info. I learned so much and am applying it in the gym with unreal results. My workouts are 10 times better and also a lot shorter. Thank you! One question: In the Basic Power-Density Workout you have squats as one choice for the ultimate quad exercise. I’ve always heard that you have to squat to grow, so that’s what I’m using. But I seem to remember reading at some point that you guys don’t do free-bar squats. How come?
A: The number-one reason we don’t do them at the moment is past injuries—and, no, you don’t have to do heavy, spine-compressing free-bar squats to grow. Let us explain… [Read more…]
Q: I’ve been intrigued by the recent 10×10 newsletters and jumped in to give it a try. In your learned opinion, if one were to perform a reverse 10×10 using that technique with the maximum weight possible in decreasing amounts throughout the 10 sets, would it constitute overtraining and negate the activation of the type-2A muscle fibers’ endurance component? I was thinking you would get at both the “power” AND the “endurance” functions of the type 2As better this way. I would only use each big Ultimate Exercise for every bodypart [as outlined in the 10×10 e-program].
A: A reverse 10×10 pyramid means you reduce the weight on each set. And you do each of those 10 sets of 10 reps to exhaustion. First, that’s 10-all-out-sets approach is a very different animal than standard 10×10 style, which is taking a weight you can do 20 with, but you only do 10, rest 30 seconds, do 10 more, and so on till you complete 10 sets—first sets are easy, last few are brutal. [Read more…]
