hyperplasia Archives

Double-X Overload Everything

Q: I have almost all of your e-books. They’re all great, and I reread them often for motivation and ideas. Right now I’m on The Ultimate Fat-to-Muscle Workout. Can I Double-X Overload everything stretch-related in that program? It seems like that would produce even more muscle microtrauma similar to the negative-accentuated sets on the big exercises. That should speed up my fat loss and muscle gains, right?

A: If you give a man a fish, he eats for a day; if you teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime. What does that have to do with your question? We’re just glad to see you taking techniques from our other e-books and applying them to your current workout. You’re learning how to “fish”—grasping the mass-building concepts and applying them when and where appropriate… [Read more…]

Stick to Only Big, Basic Exercises?

Q: I’ve been lifting for about 1 1/2 years, trying to build a mass base, but it’s just not happening very fast. I like the idea of 3D Positions of Flexion [training each muscle in its midrange, stretch, and contracted positions], but almost everyone I talk to says to stick to only the big, basic exercises and forget about isolation moves. Should I just continue using the big basics and hope I build size and strength, or is now the time for me to try 3D POF?

A: Using only the big, basic exercises, what we call midrange-position moves like squats for quads, is fine for, say, a six-week phase every so often (like winter); however, we firmly believe that those who make big gains using only big exercises have an abundance of pure fast-twitch fibers and exceptional nerve-to-muscle connections (neuromuscular efficiency). They are genetically gifted, unlike the majority…

[Read more…]

X Factor Interview, Part 2

Note: The X Factor Interview is an excerpt from Iron Man Magazine.

What if you could pack on a solid five pounds of muscle almost every month? What would you look like one year from now? Are you kidding? Your physique would be outrageous! Radically different and unrecognizable because of so much extra muscle hanging off your joints. Well, in my estimation, Jonathan Lawson added at least five pounds of muscle to his already advanced physique in only one month—not one year, one month—and he’s been training for about 15 years. Add to that the fact that he did it while he was on a a low-calorie diet, and you can see the enormous muscle-building implications for you—especially if you’re not limiting calories, as he was. (Could you add even more, like 10 pounds of muscle, in one month if you followed his lead? Who knows?) [Read more…]

One Key Change for Fast Size Gains

Q: I’ve been using the X Fade and Double-X Overload techniques from the Beyond X e-book, and I’ve gained six pounds in one month. My previous workouts were always heavy training, so I’m wondering if maybe I added so much muscle with those methods because they’re giving me some density I’ve been missing. They both make my sets last longer. Could that be it?

A: That’s a distinct possibility, although there’s more to it, as you’ll see. But as you suggest, most wanna-be-big bodybuilders rely almost predominantly on heavier, lower-rep training, and their sets last only 20 seconds or less (time your sets; you will be surprised!). That’s a mistake if you want maximum mass and fast size gains…

A set of 20 seconds or less is power emphasis—but you need BOTH power and density to get TOTAL growth in the majority of the muscle fibers. With those two X-hybrid tactics, X Fade and DXO, you definitely have been X-tending your sets—more so with DXO, which we really like on stretch-position exercises like flyes…

DXO: This is simply adding an X-Rep partial near the stretch position between EVERY full rep—so each of your reps is really a 1 1/4 rep. The “hitch” at the bottom between each full rep emphasizes stretch overload, which has been shown to induce everything from hyperplasia, or fiber splitting, to anabolic hormone release in muscle tissue. Plus, as you noticed, it puts more of a mass-building density spin on the set as well…

If you do 9 reps in DXO style, your set will last more than 30 seconds. Now you’re getting into density territory for adding size to that side of the key type 2A mass fibers. That’s a great get-bigger trigger, especially if you’ve been using mostly power sets. Your six-pound muscle gain in one month is no doubt due to a combination of density and heightened fiber activation. You get both of those with DXO—and the X-Fade technique…

X Fade: With this X-hybrid tactic you do a standard set of, say, cable flyes, a contracted-position exercise in the Positions-of-Flexion mass-building protocol. When you hit full-range exhaustion, where most bodybuilders end the set, you get the cable handles back up to the contracted position—a partner can help—and do three to five short partials there, flexing the target muscle…

Then you lower to the stretch position and do standard X-Rep partials there. If you can’t manage any movement at either position, just hold for a static pec contraction for a few seconds at each spot—top flexed and bottom stretched. Key growth fibers will still be firing and you should wake up some dormant ones as well for new size stimulation—you’ll feel it…

Doing end-of-set X-Rep partials at BOTH the top and bottom of the stroke with the X Fade will add maybe six to eight seconds to your tension time. Nevertheless, both DXO and the X-Fade tactic are excellent ways to get more density training, activate more growth fibers to fire and give you excellent change to fuel fast size gains.

Note: For more info on all the X-hybrid Training Tactics, check out the Beyond X-Rep Muscle Building e-book below:

Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.

—Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
www.X-Rep.com

ATTENTION OVER-40 BODYBUILDERS

One of the most interesting read-me pages on Testosterone and other muscle-building hormones we’ve seen is The Truth About Testosterone.

It even talks about a fruit, a specific part, that can up your T naturally. Cranking up your testosterone will not only get you jacked in the gym, but in the bedroom too—not to mention help rip up your midsection as it ignites fat burning. If that interests you, there’s more from our colleague and registered dietician, HERE.

Triple-Size Your Muscles With Tri-Angle Workouts

Q: I’ve been reading up on your POF mass-training system, and I think I understand it. I’m just not sure how training a muscle with only two sets on two or three exercises can produce serious muscle growth. Most pros do four or five exercises for four or five sets for each bodypart or more.

A: Positions of Flexion is one of the most efficient mass-building workout styles out there. We’ll explain why in a moment. First, we feel the need for a reality check: All the pros are taking significant amounts of drugs that jack up their recovery and muscle-building abilities. That’s on top of their already superior genetics. [Read more…]