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Mass Mantra #42

Steve doing heavy barbell curls

Here’s an eye-opening quote from hypertrophy researcher Chris Beardsley on muscle repair and recovery: [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: Chris Beardsley, glycogen, glycogen depletion, mass mantra, muscle glycogen, muscle recovery, muscle-repair, recovery

10 Minutes per Muscle Is All It Takes

Faildo crossovers ripped

Q: After reading some of your previous newsletters, I’ve been thinking about trying your 10×10 method. It sounds good, except I can’t get myself to accept using such a light weight. Will that really build muscle? I bench 300 pounds for a single, so that means I should use 180 pounds for 10×10. Man, how can that work?

A: You’re falling for the old the-heavier-you-go-the-more-you-grow myth. It’s been ingrained in all of us, but once you understand how muscle mass is created, you’ll know that you can build a lot of size with more moderate poundages and short rests—like with 10×10 or 4X… [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: 10x10, atp, biotrust, free protein, free supplements, glycogen, john hansen, low-carb protein, moderate weight workouts, Mr. Natural Olympia, pumped, ripped, sarcoplasm, sarcoplasmic size, squats, super size, tension time

Why Your Growth is Slow—and How to Make it Explode

Muscle fiber growth illustration

Q: I pound away at my workouts, but I’ve only gained about three pounds of muscle in nine months. I’ve gotten stronger, but where’s the size?! I don’t know what to do. I add weight to my exercises whenever I can, but that doesn’t seem to help. I want big, full muscles that will fill out my T-shirts.

A: Are you doing your work sets in the eight-to-10 rep range? Are you resting about 2 minutes between sets? Are your sets lasting about 25 seconds? Are you doing that on all of your exercises? If so, THAT’S WHY YOU’RE NOT GROWING. [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: 2a fibers, actin-myosin strands, atp, belly fat burn, bodybuilders, dual-capacity fibers, European Journal of Applied Physiology, explode, glycogen, high reps, jerry brainum, miracle fix, mitochondria, muscle growth, muscle pump, muscle size, myofibrillar, myofibrils, sarcoplasm, sarcoplasmic expansion, size, slow to grow, slow-mo, speed reps, strength

Solving the Big-Muscle Puzzle

Jonathan Lawson doing dumbell shrugs

Q: Thank you for clearing up the muscle-growth mystery for me. I always believed in going heavier and heavier to get bigger. Now I know that’s only a small part of the puzzle. Working in the 4X method, X Reps, drop sets, and even some of your high-rep TORQ sets has already gotten me bigger in just a few weeks. My question is, Do you think some people get a better size response from power training and others get more size from density [endurance] work?

A: Absolutely. As we mentioned in a previous newsletter, the BIGGEST powerlifters don’t train for sarcoplasmic (endurance fluid) expansion yet have good muscle size. That’s because they were big dudes in the first place, which may signify more myofibril-building capacity. That would explain their extraordinary strength. The myofibrils are the actin-myosin strands inside the muscle fiber that generate force, but for most trainees that’s not the key to ULTIMATE SIZE… [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: 10x10, 4x method, actin, bad gas, biotrust probiotic, drop sets, ectomorphs, fat burning, force generation, free probiotics, free supplements, glycogen, hardgainers, heavy sets, mass building, mitochondria, muscle building, muscle fullness, muscle growth, myofibrillar growth, myosin, powerlifters, pro-x10, sarcoplasmic expansion, tension overload, tension time, TORQ, X Reps, x-centric, x-hybrid techniques

Go Slow to Grow and Burn Fat

Big, vascular, lean arm curling a dumbbell

Q: I got your Quick-Start Muscle-Building Guide because I haven’t lifted in a few years. Fantastic info and it’s already working for me. On some exercises, you suggest lifting in 3 seconds and lower in 3 to help improve nerve force for strength. I’ve seen in many of your emails that you sometimes lift in 1 second and lower in 6. Should I try that? I think you said it helps burn fat, and I would love to see my abs sooner rather than later.

A: Lifting in 1 second and lowering in 6 is what we call X-centric, or Negative-Accentuated, training. It is a great FAT BURNER as well as MUSCLE BUILDER, but you shouldn’t use it just yet (more on why in a moment).

[Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: atp, beginners guide, build muscle, burn fat, carbs, creatine, eccentric, energy fluid, fat burner, fat burning, fat-to-muscle, GH, glycogen, growth hormone release, metabolism, microtears, mike westerdal, mitochondria, muscle builder, muscle fibers, muscle-building, myofibrillar growth, myofibrils, negative-accentuated, negatives, protect your family, quick-start muscle building, sarcoplasm, slow negatives, slow to grow, tension time, time under tension, ultimate fat-to-muscle workout, x-centric

Carb Cycling: The key to shredding your physique (and staying leaner through winter)

Vince Gironda lean - Carb Cycling: The key to shredding your physique (and staying leaner through winter)

Carb Cycling is a simple method we first learned about from the legendary Iron Guru Vince Gironda when he used to visit the Iron Man offices…

Vince always said that to train the body to drop fat, you do 3 to 4 days of low carbs followed by higher-carb “load” days—and Vince was ripped before it was in style. Check out the shred master in his heyday… [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: 4-cycle solution, burn fat, carb cycling, carb deplete, deplete days, fat burning, fat loss, fat-burning hormones, food binge, glycogen, good fats, healthy fats, hormones, iron guru, iron man, lean-machine, leptin, load days, low-carb, macronutrients, metabolism, shaun hadsall, shred master, thyroid, vince gironda

Anabolic Hormone Reset for Fast Freak Physique Results

Shaun Hdsall before and after intermittent fasting - Anabolic Hormone Reset for Fast Freak Physique Results

We’ve discussed our “iFast” method for simultaneous hypertrophy and fat loss (yes, it is possible)…

It’s basically a 12-hour protocol done only two non-consecutive days during the week…

We were apprehensive at first, but it works. Here are Steve’s results—and he’s in his 50s… [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: 24-hour hormone reset, add fasting, anabolic, anabolic hormone, anabolic response, build muscle, catabolic, dr. michael mosley, fasting, fat loss, freak physique, GH, glycogen, growth hormone, hormone reset, hormones, hypertrophy, iFast, intermittent fasting, jerry brainum, journal of applied physiology, lose muscle, melt fat, metabolic adaptions, muscle-protein synthesis, over-40, post-exercise feedings, shaun hadsall, slow aging, steve's results, testosterone, the rock, urea nitrogen, webber, weight loss

Less food, more Testosterone?

Steve Holman before and after - Eat Less, more Testosterone

Q: I’m thinking about trying the intermittent-fasting that Steve used to get more muscular and ripped [Super-Size Crash Course e-book, Chapter 8]? I’m extremely curious about the whole idea of eating less and producing more testosterone. I need something to get the ripping start, and it obviously burns fat quickly. I’m just so paranoid about losing muscle. I thought I would try it once a week, and if it works well, increase to two nonconsecutive days a week as Steve did. Any insights on muscle loss during IF?

All of us bodybuilders are paranoid about losing even an ounce of muscle, so we hear you. But you won’t lose muscle—you should gain more… [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: adf fasting, body fat, dieting, fasting, fat burning, glycogen, growth hormone, hormones, intermittent fasting, jerry brainum, more testosterone, SSCC, Steve Holman, super-size crash course, testosterone

Speed Reps or Slow-Mo to Grow?

Jonathan demonstrating incline X Reps

Q: I’ve been getting amazing muscle-size gains with Progressive-Speed 4X [included in The Super-Size Crash Course]. Should I do more speed reps or more X-centric slow-mo reps to get the best mass results? I want to grow as fast as possible.

A: Don’t we all—but it’s hard to say which is best, as both styles trigger specific hypertrophy results. For the uninitiated… [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: atp, Charles Poliquin, creatine, glycogen, hypertrophy, krebs cyle, metabolic adaptions, pfk, phosporylase, Pierre Roy, progressive-speed, slow-mo, speed lifting, speed reps, super-size crash course, x-celeration, x-centric

Muscle-Building Mistake You Can’t Afford to Make

Dumbbell flyes, stretch position - Muscle-Building Mistake You Can't Afford to Make

Q: A lot of bodybuilders go all power in the off-season. They push for more strength so size will follow. I’m thinking about using the Phase 1 program in Size Surge for that purpose—mostly big exercises with heavy weights training three days a week so I get plenty of recover-and-grow time. Would that program be okay to use for the entire 10 weeks instead of moving to Phase 2?

A: You’re right, even Arnold used to do a two-to-three-month power phase in the winter—but it wasn’t heavy low reps on every exercise, as we’ll explain. That’s the problem with the way most trainees do it: They go heavy on ALL exercises all the time for too long and neglect critical sarcoplasmic size, which can be a big muscle-building mistake… [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: 4X, 4x mass method, actin, arnold, arnold schwarzenegger, atp, bulking, cardio, creatine, Doug Brignole, force-generation, glycogen, hiit, mitochondria, Mr. America, muscle fibers, muscle size, muscle-building, muscle-building mistake, myofibrillar expansion, myofibrillar growth, myofibrillar size, myofibrils, myosin, off-season, phase 1, phase 2, Power, sarcoplasm, size, Size Surge, sterngth, testosterone, winter workout

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