Dedicated to Your Physical Transformation
Q: I don’t seem to see you guys talking about warm-up sets very often. Do I need to do any? I’m interested in building the most mass possible.
A: If you’re using something like our 4X mass method, you don’t need warm-up sets. The first easier sets prime the pump… [Read more…]
Q: I’ve been using the POF Direct/Indirect Mass Workout in the 4X 2.0 e-book. Doing great! I’m loving it and I feel much bigger already. But my arms are my weakest muscle groups, so I’m thinking about doing a second arm workout on Saturday. That would have me training five days a week instead of four. Is that okay?
A: That’s a great program—and because you’re using moderate-weight, growth-threshold training, you can tolerate more frequent work for most bodyparts; however… [Read more…]
Q: I’m reading the Super-Size e-book. Jordon’s 18-pound muscle gain is inspiring and a great story, but I’m 45 years old. He’s in his teens. I don’t think I can train heavy even at every other workout the way he did. Should I try it, even at my age? I got great gains with The Anabolic After-40 Muscle-Size Manual, but this one has me intrigued to see if I can get big during my next training phase.
A: Well, glad you’re immersed in and inspired by The Super-Size Crash Course, but you should keep reading. Chapter 6 lays out a great alternate Phase 1 program—without heavy pyramids… [Read more…]
Q: I’ve been training for about 20 years now (I’m 44), and I am getting my 14-year-old son into it. He’s been working out about four months, breaking in, but I still do NOT want him to go “heavy.” I have him using your 4X method, which is great at his stage. I was thinking about the Progressive-Speed 4X version as well, specifically the speed set in order to help build the power fibers. Is that a good idea at his age, or should he use with caution?
A: First, what you have him doing now is perfect. Moderate-weight growth-threshold 4X is fantastic for young teens getting into lifting. Heavy weights may damage young joints early on, so it’s a good idea to get neophytes gradually acclimated… [Read more…]
Q: I just started using the 4X methods. Great stuff. Loving the pumps, but I’m wondering if 4X is better for maximum muscle size or Downward-Progression 4X [adding weight each set so reps fall—12,10,8,6] – what’s the best muscle-growth method for me?
A: Both methods provide a powerful hypertrophic Density effect. That’s because you rest only 35 to 45 seconds between sets. That gets you to the critical growth threshold quickly… [Read more…]
Q: I like to train heavy, but I fully understand that tension time, or density, can build size as well. My question is, won’t drop sets accomplish both?
A: The drop-set method is one of the best for getting size in the myofibrils as well as a hypertrophic sarcoplasmic burst. And even new veinage too… [Read more…]
Q: I’m a big believer in Mike Mentzer’s Heavy Duty system of one all-out set to failure for each exercise. That’s why I think your 4X method is total B.S. Mentzer cited studies and found from personal experience that intensity is the key to muscle growth. With 4X you’re using lighter weights and not going to failure, which wastes a lot of sets. It can’t work, and I think you should feel ashamed for promoting it as miracle mass-building system.
A: We didn’t say it’s a “miracle” system (although some trainees have said it worked mass miracles for them). We simply said that we GUARANTEE that our 4X programs will build NEW MASS for just about anyone. We’re absolutely positive of that because it’s got ALL the critical components to trigger bigger gains quickly—and that includes intensity (we think Mentzer would agree as you’ll see, and that’s no B.S.)… [Read more…]
Q: I gave the 4X method a try, and it feels amazing. Definitely a big pump. I’m just worried that since only the fourth set is to all-out failure that I’m not getting enough intensity to stimulate growth. I’m used to doing two to four sets on each exercise to total exhaustion. Will my muscles regress on 4X?
A: In The 4X Mass Workout e-book we explain the all-or-none principle of fiber activation. What that means is that a muscle fiber fires at 100 percent or not at all. So even on SUBFAILURE sets, you’re getting bundles of fast-twitch fibers to fire completely. [Read more…]
Q: I train my butt off in the gym. I hit it harder than every other guy in there, but I haven’t gained much muscle in a long time. Is it my genetics? My nutrition is perfect, so I should be growing like crazy, but I’m not. It’s very frustrating… Help?!
A: Yes, your genetics could have something to do with it; HOWEVER, you may have just been working out too hard for too long. It’s time to step back with a new plan…
Even hardgainers start growing at warp speed when they snap to the fact that too much ALL-OUT training stops all muscle gaining flat in its tracks. You need to take new less-stress action for a major mass-building reaction (we’ll outline that exciting change to gain in a moment)…
But isn’t intensity the key to muscle-size results? To a point, yes—but too much triggers nervous system burnout and floods your bloodstream with cortisol. If you don’t know what cortisol is, realize that it’s the devil incarnate when it comes to building muscle (and even burning fat)…
Cortisol is a stress hormone that results from the emergency fight-or-flight response. When you’re in an extreme situation, cortisol spews from your adrenal gland and your body begins using muscle tissue for energy. In other words, your body starts throwing your hard-earned muscle tissue into the energy furnace. NOT GOOD!…
The ironic thing is that the all-out intense workouts you do to build muscle send your cortisol through the roof, especially if you overdo it. Too much and you can actually lose rather than gain muscle. That’s why most high-intensity routines call for only a few all-out sets per exercise…
But even doing only a few all-out sets per exercise results in a CUMULATIVE stress effect that can build to an overtraining cortisol crescendo—muscle gains stop and it’s time to back off. You need an intensity downshift…
In many of our e-books, we’ve mentioned phase training and the need to back down on your intensity after about four weeks of all-out training. We often suggest stopping every set short of failure—but a better MASS-ACCELERATOR is something many pros of yesteryear used to build muscle right up to a contest on low calories…
It’s 4X mass training. With this method, you trade in multiple all-out sets on an exercise for a fast medium-intensity supersaturation sequence. Take pulldowns for example…
Here’s the 4X drill: Take a weight that you could get 15 reps with, but only do 10; rest about 30 seconds and do 10 more; rest 30 seconds and do 10 more—and so on until you do four sets of 10 reps. If you get 10 reps on your last set, add weight at your next workout. It’s quick, simplified muscle supersaturation training for more super-size increases! And you use that 4X mass method for every exercise.
When we first started using a total-4X Mass Workout, we got dramatic muscle-size increases like we’d never experienced during our previous ripping phases. We believe that’s because dieting itself is a cortisol producer. We’d been training TOO HARD during our dieting phases, and that caused us to lose rather than gain muscle mass thanks to excess cortisol…
We believe that’s why so many bodybuilders of yesteryear, like Danny Padilla, used 4X-style workouts for a few months before their competitions—it minimized cortisol output and allowed them to continue to pack on muscle as they dieted away body fat. Check out Padilla’s results and judge for yourself (Note: He didn’t use the exact 4X method above but a tweaked version one of his former training partners discusses in our 4X e-book)…
We won’t say 4X workouts are easy, but your joints, tendons, and ligaments will get much less stress due to the medium poundages you use (great for older trainees). Less joint damage also results in less evil cortisol release…
Plus, each exercise takes you less than five minutes to complete, so you’ll be working hard, but you won’t be working out too hard—and the pump is unreal! Remember, only the last, or fourth, set is all out, and even then the muscle is pre-exhausted from the previous sets. But that’s exactly what allows you to reach the ultimate GROWTH THRESHOLD quickly and efficiently with minimal stress. Exciting stuff!…
Training hard is crucial for making gains, but working out too hard can backfire in a hurry… If you’ve been busting your ass in the gym with slow to no muscle growth, give the 4X Mass Workout a spin—and let your new muscle-mass surge begin!
Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
—Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
www.X-Rep.com
If you want to build muscle (of course you do!) and ramp up your testosterone levels while burning a ton of fat at the same time, you need to try this workout if you haven’t already…
–> Use this cutting-edge cardio trick to boost testosterone and muscle growth
Note: This is NOT traditional HIIT or boring steady-state cardio
