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Dr. Jacob Wilson, who used to write for Iron Man when we worked there, recently performed a study with a technique we have recommended over the years—stretch holds, or Stat-X.
Dr. Wilson calls it “intraset stretching.” In his study, the subjects who included intraset stretching DOUBLED muscle thickness compared to those who did not use it. Amazing. [Read more…]
Q: I’ve made the best mass gains of my life with your 4X method. I know you guys got new size with it too, so my question is, why Anabolic Reload STX (slow-twitch exhaustion)? I realize that it also does not require heavy weights, but is it better than 4X?
A: First, both methods accomplish the same thing: full-blown fiber hypertrophy with slow-twitch-fiber pre-exhaustion, triggering more high-growth fast-twitch fibers to fire on the last sets.
It’s the Size Principle of Muscle Fiber Recruitment… [Read more…]
Q: I have your new ebooks, Anabolic Reload and Stretch Overload. Both are great, and the simple rest/pause add-on for progression has already helped me add new mass. But I overtrain easily, so I can’t keep adding those. Is there anything else I can do to keep my muscle growth moving forward without more volume?
A: First, bodybuilding is called “progressive-resistance” training because adding weight and/or reps to your exercises can increase muscle size… [Read more…]
Q: I’ve been following the current bodybuilding training trend of hitting each muscle once a week with lots of sets. Growth has been slow, but you’d think that with so much volume and intensity at one workout, it should take a full week for that muscle to completely recover, right?
Well, training each muscle with lots of volume once a week will produce some growth—if intensity is high enough to produce significant damage. The question is how much is enough?
Less volume for each muscle but with more frequent body part hits has proven a better, more sure-fire method for optimal hypertrophy in most cases and works as a sort of anabolic phasing… [Read more…]
Q: So glad you clarified many of the hypertrophic requirements for muscle size in Anabolic Reload [progression, exercise rotation, metabolic stress, etc.]. One that really got me thinking was volumization. I believe it was Vince Gironda who said that more work done in the same or less time creates mass quickly. My question is, What do you think about drop sets instead of rest/pause as the volume addition to each exercise? Seems like you get more work in the same time frame.
A: The drop-set method is one of the best hypertrophic tactics around because it does condense workload into a short time frame. Studies verify the [Read more…]
Q: I don’t always have time to go to the gym three times a week. That means I can’t always get in three full-body workouts, which I’ve heard is the best for muscle mass. Should I just do two full-body workouts with the big, basics, like squats, bench, etc. on weeks I can’t make it three times? Do you guys have an ebook with a 2-times-a-week program like that? I want to look like a bodybuilder, but time is hard to come by for me right now.
A: Three full-body workouts a week is the old-school standard for mass, but hitting each muscle only twice a week may be even better for many bodybuilders. According to Brad Schoenfeld, Ph.D., one of the elite hypertrophy researchers… [Read more…]
Q: I have both Anabolic Reload and Stretch Overload, and I love the high-reps-set-first STX method. However, I’m 61 years old and am wondering if I should try only two mass workouts a week instead of three. Right now I’m using the Pure-Positions STX program from Stretch Overload, and so far I feel somewhat drained. I’m also sore all the time, especially after the Friday stretch workout. Any suggestions for this old guy seeking new muscle?
A: Interesting that you ask about two full-body workouts a week. Recently Steve, who is now 58, was forced to train on only Tuesdays and Fridays—and his gains took a leap forward during that time. Exciting stuff… [Read more…]
Q: In Anabolic Reload, you show that your 3 Positions of Flexion for each muscle align with Brad Schoenfeld, Ph.D.’s 3 hypertrophy triggers. Very cool, and I really like the quick full-body workouts in that ebook too. Wondering if I could just split the 3 POF exercises for each muscle over the three workouts, like Monday, all midrange work; Wednesday, all contracted; and Friday, all stretch?
A: Great idea and, coincidentally, exactly how we’ve been training for a few months to give it a test run. Spoiler alert: Quick workouts, unreal gains! [Read more…]
Many bodybuilders embrace our change-to-gain hypertrophy concept. They just aren’t exactly sure how to apply it.
Do they change exercises, change intensity methods, or what?
Well, there’s a way to jack some major growth at every workout, and it’s simple to apply on only one set. We call it Last-Set Roulette. [Read more…]
Q: I got the Size Surge 2.0 and X-treme Lean. Really great info. Is the Size Surge Phase 2 Workout the one Jonathan used to get in ripped, freaky condition? I know the diet he used is in X-treme Lean, but there’s also a workout in that e-book. Is that the one? [Read more…]
