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Our At-Home Mass Workouts (what we’re doing)

Back in the 1990s, Steve’s very first book was titled Iron Man’s Home Gym Handbook. Looks like we’ve come full-circle. At the moment, there’s no place like home—or nowhere else to train but home…

Like most iron men and women, we’re at home with limited equipment. Luckily, our decades of bodybuilding experience have resulted in multiple mass-training tactics and moves to keep gains coming. Here’s Steve’s report on what he’s doing in his bare-bones pump-atorium.  [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: alain gonzales, at-home workout, athletic-aesthetic physique, brad pitt, Brad Schoenfeld, fast-twitch fibers, growth fibers, heavy training, home gym, Home Gym Handbook, home gym workout, hypertrophy, iron man magazine, jose antonio, light training, mass tactics, muscle hypertrophy, perfect physique, powerblock, pre-exhausting, quick-start muscle building, quick-start muscle building 2.0, slow-twitch fibers, training at home, type-1 fibers, type-2 fibers

How to Speed Up Your Mass Results with X-celeration

Chip Wilt age 59

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…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: chip wilt, dormant fibers, fiber activation, finisher sets, frank rich, growth fibers, iron man magazine, mass, mass finishers, massthetic arms, myotatic reflex, size surge workout, speed reps, vascular arms, vascularity, veiny arms, x-celeration

Tension Time Bombs and Muscle-Size Add-Ons

Steve spotting Jonathan on incline dumbbell presses - Sets, Reps, and Muscle-Size Success

Q: Do you think that a lot of intensity tactics work so well because they simply make a set last longer? For example, when you add X-Rep partials to the end of a set, you’re really extending the set for five to 10 more seconds and maybe getting into or at least closer to the best tension time for hypertrophy.

A: That’s an X-cellent observation. So many trainees go with their ego and train as heavy as possible, with sets lasting only about 20 seconds. That keeps them in the strength time zone… [Read more…]

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: growth fibers, hypertrophic tension time, intensity tactics, muscle size, tension time

Feel Your Muscles Grow

Q: Your 4X training is fantastic. It has me growing again, and it’s perfect with 3-way POF. My question is about muscle feel. How important is it to feel your muscles working for size increases? I ask because I have trouble feeling some body parts, like shoulders and chest.

A: We believe it’s EXTREMELY important to feel your muscles working; if you don’t, you may be using other muscle groups to move the weight or simply not innervating enough muscle fibers for a big anabolic response. [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: 4x training, anabolic response, bodyweight training, feel your muscles, growth fibers, Jim Stoppani, mike mentzer, muscle growth, muscle-protein synthesis, POF, ray mentzer, strength, time under tension, tut, x-centric

Power-Pump: Combo to Grow More Muscle

Q: I recently went from training heavy on everything to [moderate-weight] 4X. I’m convinced that it’s genius. I gained four pounds in two weeks. My question is, What do you think of doing the first set heavy with low reps, then do a 3X after? That should get both size factors, right?

A: That’s a great variation. Of course, it’ll take a bit longer because you have to do some warmup sets. Then you do your heavy set, followed by a 3X sequence. We have a similar power-pump style of strategy in The Ultimate Power-Density Mass Workout…

In the Basic Workout, you do one exercise per bodypart. For example, for midback you do this: [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: 3x, 4X, actin, basic workout, combo to grow, deadlift, full-range pof, growth fibers, heavy pyramids, myofibrils, myosin, power-density, power-pump, sarcoplasm, sequential flow method, stretch overload, tight hips, unlock your hips

Twig to Big: Pack Some Freak on Your Car-Antenna Physique

Q: I’ve been working out for a couple of years now pretty hard. I’m feeling frustrated because I’ve been tall and skinny my whole life: 6’2″ and 170 pounds. I just can’t seem to put on any muscle. Is it a possibility that a person just can’t build muscle no matter what they do? I receive your e-zine and read about other people’s gains, so I’m wondering if I’m doing something wrong or maybe I’m genetically incapable of going from twig to big.

A: You will put on muscle—convince yourself of that; however, you’re in the skinny ectomorph boat with Steve, so you must be realistic, not frustrated. He weighed 120 pounds when he started weight training, and it took time for him to twig to big and looking like a bodybuilder—but even now he doesn’t look all that big in clothes. [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: belly fat burn, density, fat loss, fiber types, frank zane, freak physique, growth fibers, hardgainer, hormone trick, jonathan lawson, mr. olympia, Power, ripped, Steve Holman, twig to big

More Size, Density, and Arnold’s Immensity

Jonathan Lawson squatting

Q: I totally agree with your Power-Density mass-building ideas. For density work, you’ve suggested multi-rep rest/pause, but 3 heavy sets with only 15 seconds of rest between them really wipes me out, especially on legs. I’m dead for the rest of my workout. Is there something less taxing I can use for density up front? 

A: First, we want to applaud you for realizing the importance of DENSITY, or endurance, work. Missing that get-bigger trigger is why most wanna-be-big bodybuilders grow so slow. They think it’s all about training heavy ONLY to gain more size… [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: 2a fibers, arnold, austrian oak, belly fat burn, burn fat, chasing the pump, density, endurance, extended tension time, fat burning, fiber types, growth fibers, mass techniques, microtrauma, miracle fix, more size, multi-rep rest/pause, muscle immensity, negative-accentuated, power-density, tension time, x-rep partials

Moment of Bodybuilding Zen 19: Danny Padilla

Danny Padilla was known for his classic, no-flaws physique. His nickname was “the Giant Killer” because at only 5’2” his perfect mass-symmetry combo allowed him to beat bodybuilders who were much taller and larger than he was. [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: 4x mass method, 4x training, after-40, after-40 muscle size, biotrust, biotrust protein, bodybuilding zen, classic physique, danny padilla, fast-twitch fibers, fiber types, free protein, free supplements, giant killer, growth fibers, hypertrophy, low-carb protein, moderate weight workouts, physique, slow-twitch fibers, symmetry

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…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: 4X, 4x muscle building, advanced, beginners, bigger muscles, boost testosterone, boost testosterone with cardio, failure, full-range, growth fibers, hiit, intermediate, mass building, muscle gains, POF, positions of flexion, testosterone boosting, x-rep partials

5 Tips for More Muscle Mass

JL Speed Curls - Last-Set Roulette for new Freak on Your Physique

Q: All the info I’ve read on full-range Positions of Flexion makes total sense. It’s a killer concept, and I’m so psyched to use it. My problem is time. Even though your POF [bodypart] routines are only about six sets, I only have time for half that [maybe 3 sets for each bodypart]. I don’t want to use only the Ultimate Exercise because I see the superiority of training the three positions for total development. Or should I try just the Ultimate Exercise for each muscle and use POF on only certain bodyparts?

A: Using the Ultimate Exercise for each bodypart in a program is one way to go. Your idea of using full POF on one or two bodyparts is a good one. Simply add one set of a stretch- and one set of a contracted-position exercise for those two muscle groups. For example, for chest, the Ultimate Exercise is decline presses… [Read more…]

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: 3d hit, 5 tips for more muscle mass, arm specialization, bodyweight training, build mass, fiber activation, full-range pof, full-range positions of flexion, growth fibers, hypertrophic, lock out, mass building, motivation, muscle mass, muscular, POF, pof workouts, positions of flexion, size surge program, static hold, tension time, time under tension, ultimate exercises, warmup sets, X Reps, x spot, x-rep partials

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