Dedicated to Your Physical Transformation
Q: I want to get strong over the winter. I heard that that’s what Arnold used to do. I know that if I get strong, I will eventually get bigger, which was how the Oak did it. What’s the best workout for that?
A: First let’s get some insight into Arnold’s winter training routine. Former IRON MAN Publisher John Balik was there, often training with Arnold, and this is what he had to say about it: [Read more…]
Q: You recently referenced Mike Mentzer, and I’m wondering if you guys have ever trained with his HIT style. One-set-to-failure training seems to work for some people, and I know Mentzer’s training evolved into that after he stopped competing. Have you tried it or something similar?
A: One of Steve’s early influences was Mike Mentzer. He trained with Mike’s Heavy Duty style in his 20s, and even won his first bodybuilding contest using a Positions-of-Flexion version of Heavy Duty that he devised (more on that below)… [Read more…]
Q: In X-treme Lean, you have the “High-Definition Workout” (pages 76-78), and you say to use it five days a week. I don’t think I’ve seen you recommend that many workouts in a row. What’s the reason [for five consecutive days of training]? [Read more…]
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…]
Q: I’m using the four-day version of The X-traordinary 4X Mass Workout. Will that help me stay as lean as possible over the winter? In the past, I’ve had trouble in that area. I tend to blow up to a smooth fat boy over the holidays. Is 4X the way to go so I don’t chub up?
A: First, understand that no workout program will prevent you from becoming president of the Chub Club if you eat like crap all the time. We’re not saying you can’t enjoy some fattening foods and desserts every so often, but it sounds like you lose control. Moderation is the key. Stay on a healthy diet most days during the week, but allow one or two for splurges. Do NOT make junk meals an everyday occurrence. Imagine YOU in this picture to stay on track… [Read more…]
Q: I have two of your e-books, The Ultimate Power-Density Mass Workout and the X-centric Mass Workout. They’re both great, and I’m already seeing results applying the methods. My question is, you say that you need both power sets and density sets to get extreme muscle gains quickly, but which is more important? Should I do more of one than the other for fastest muscle gains?
A: If you would’ve asked us that several years ago, we would’ve said power, no question—because, like most bodybuilders, we had been brainwashed into believing that heavy weights and fairly low reps are the keys to maximum mass fast. But according to our recent experiments as well as many done almost 50 years ago, that’s not the case for most, so it’s a big-time muscle-building myth… [Read more…]
Q: I just saw an interview with a top pro bodybuilder, and he said one of the keys to building mass is to explode at the bottom of every rep and attempt to move the positive rep as fast as possible. Are explosive reps a good idea? I’m afraid of getting injured.
A: The big pros are the genetic elite with superhuman muscle-fiber density, as well as ironclad tendons and ligaments. And don’t forget that many use growth hormone, which fortifies cartilage, tendons, and ligaments even more (that’s why many athletes use it—to quickly rehab soft-tissue injuries and prevent others from occurring in the gym and on the field.)
That being said, the pro bodybuilder you mention does make a good mass-building a point. The myotatic reflex is a phenomenon that gets more muscle fibers into the action. When you explode with a weight out of the turnaround, it elicits an emergency response from the nervous system, and more fibers are called into action. And the more fibers you activate, the more size you stimulate.
But, yes, using explosive reps can be a dangerous way to train. So are they a necessary evil in the attainment of extreme mass? NO!
Those of us who are drug-free and without the luxury of super genetics should use a controlled explosion at the turnaround on each rep. In the X-traordinary X-Rep Workout e-book, we discuss a study that showed a one-second-up, three-seconds-down cadence as a superior mass-building tempo. You should use that on most sets…
Slowing the negative to three seconds not only stimulates more muscle via fast-twitch fiber tension and eccentric emphasis, but also better guards against an injury-provoking jerk at the turnaround. You get that safer, controlled explosion when you shift from the positive to the negative stroke.
Nevertheless, we do believe that the turnaround is the key spot for fiber activation and you should be emphasizing it. That’s one reason we developed END-OF-SET X-Rep partials. Here’s a quote from the X-traordinary X-Rep Workout e-book—Chapter 1: You Gotta Try This…How the Pros Pack On Mass—that hammers that point home:
[X Reps] extend a set at the sweet spot of all the key growth exercises. You get extreme anabolic overload at the end of a strict set, no jerking or heaving necessary. You keep your reps strict and safe, and when you can’t get another full rep, you use short X-Rep partials to extend the set and overload the fast-twitch fibers at the precise sweet spot—anabolic overload right where the muscle needs it most.
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
Q: I have been using [end-of-set] X-Rep partials and making the best gains of my life. I consider it one of the top muscle-building breakthroughs. You guys always seem to be at the cutting edge of mass techniques. Any other secrets you can recommend to boost my gains?
A: Thanks for the kind words regarding X Reps. They’ve done great things for hundreds of trainees—and we made the best gains of our lives that first X-Rep year—in only five weeks with them (no steroids, no trick photography—although the lighting is different and we have tans in the afters)… [Read more…]
Q: I’m using The Ultimate Fat-to-Muscle Workout and making great progress. I’m bigger, with veins, and my abs are coming in. I just picked up The Ultimate 10×10 Mass Workout for something different, so I want to go to that program next. My question concerns muscle damage. Getting trauma from slow negative-accentuated sets is what makes the Fat-to-Muscle Workout work so well, so when I switch to the 10×10 Workout, won’t I be getting less muscle damage and therefore less fat burning? I still need to get leaner, so should I add NA sets somewhere when I go to the 10×10 Workout?
A: You could add an NA set for each bodypart. We discuss how and where to do that in the 10×10 Q&A section; however, it’s not necessary for trainees who are doing 10×10 at every workout. Believe us, you’ll realize that fact after you try the 10-sets-of-10 method. The muscle soreness you get will tell you that your microtrauma goal has been met.
For example, we had been training hard for many months using an NA set for every bodypart, and soreness was a common occurrence because of those negative-accentuated sets—1.5 seconds up and six seconds down on every rep. Yet when we first tried 10×10 on decline extensions, our triceps were sore for four days—yes, four whole days, and that’s after doing only one exercise. Amazing.
Here’s something else to consider: Back in Arnold’s competitive years he did little, if any, cardio work, yet when he shifted into contest prep, he got ripped quickly. No, he didn’t do negative-accentuated sets, but he did get significant muscle-fiber damage due to the sheer volume of his in-season workouts. He would build up to 20 sets per bodypart, with fairly short rests, and you can bet that the extraordinary number of normal-speed negatives after each positive rep triggered a lot of microtrauma for a fat-to-muscle effect.
Remember, you’re getting a high number of standard-speed negatives every time you use 10×10—100 total negatives, to be exact, along with 100 positives. You may be thinking that because you use the same weight on all sets, the first few sets feel light and don’t do much. Not true; you’re still doing work and resisting on the negative stroke. Then as the sets get harder, you’ll have to fight to resist the weight on the negative stroke. The last few sets will be brutal. All of that compounds the fat-to-muscle microtrauma…
The brief rests also amplify the effect. Taking 30 seconds between sets ignites a fierce burn and pump. The result is an intensified growth hormone surge. Remember, GH is a potent fat burner that works in tandem with muscle damage for a heightened fat-to-muscle effect…
In fact, as we recently stated, Olympic strength coach Charles Poliquin says,
Pioneering research by a Romanian exercise scientist [showed] that the lactic acid pathway is better for fat loss than the commonly accepted aerobic pathway. He found that high blood lactic levels decrease blood pH levels, which in turn sends a message to the brain to accelerate its production of growth hormone. Higher growth hormone levels increase fat loss.
Recent Canadian research substantiated the lactic acid (muscle burn)-GH link. As you’ll find out, you trigger loads of lactic acid with 10×10…
We’ve found that 10×10 is a lot like HIIT (interval training)—intense work alternated with short rests. As all the recent research shows, that’s the best way to burn significant amounts of bodyfat. With 10×10, you integrate progressive weight training into the interval mix—and you get a big-time muscle builder on top of an incredible fat burner.
Down the road, when you need something new, you can experiment by adding NA sets. For now, you can be sure that 10×10 will keep the fat-to-muscle effects rolling.
Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
—Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
www.X-Rep.com
Q: I’ve been checking out a lot of the high-intensity-training (HIT) stuff on the Web. Using one all-out intense set per exercise makes a lot of sense. But doing only one exercise per bodypart, as in most HIT programs, does not make sense to me. That’s why I want to try the more abbreviated HIT approach combined with 3D POF [training each muscle in three positions for full-range activation]. Any suggestions?
A: What you’re talking about is a key reason 3D Positions of Flexion evolved. It attacks the full contractibility range of a muscle for maximum fiber recruitment as well as [Read more…]
