Dedicated to Your Physical Transformation
Q: I started cleaning up my diet shortly after New Year’s with your X-treme Lean Diet. I lost about 8 pounds of fat, but my losses have stalled. Should I reduce my portions again (I’ve done this twice already)? Or should I do more cardio? Any help would be appreciated. Abs and veins are the goals.
A: Fat loss is a long-term proposition if you want to retain as much muscle as possible. Losing two pounds a week is the most you should shoot for…
[Read more…]Q: The first day of [meteorological] spring slapped me in the face. My abs are gone and I feel “loose,” as in soft. I need to drop fat, especially around my middle, and add some hard muscle—like right now. How do I get it going and see abs?
A: Don’t panic. You still have about 12 weeks until summer. But because fat-loss is a slow process—if you want to hold and even gain muscle—you need to start NOW.
[Read more…]Q: From all I’ve read and experienced, losing bodyfat is all about reducing calories. If you take in fewer calories than you burn every day, you lose weight; if you take in more calories than you burn each day, you gain weight. To me, that means The Ultimate Fat-to-Muscle Workout has to require reduced calories or it can’t work. But then there’s nothing left to build muscle. I’d really like to know the truth about losing fat and gaining muscle. Comments?
A: Your energy equation is exactly why the Fat-to-Muscle program works. It can create a fat-burning calorie deficit, but not by forcing you to run extra miles every day; it stokes your metabolism so you use more energy, or fat, even at rest…
[Read more…]Q: I’ve been following your Quick-Start Muscle Building Guide [for beginners]. I’m currently on week 4, and it’s a great program. I’m already seeing results, but I’ve been reading about X Reps and the Positions-of-Flexion approach to lifting. I want to start using those as part of my home-gym training. I currently have only a pair of dumbbells, an EZ-curl bar, and an adjustable bench. Which program I should follow next? I’m not sure I can do POF with my limited equipment.
A: That’s a limited gym alright, and if you’re going to with your home-gym training, consider adding some essentials. For now you can continue progressing with what you have—although you didn’t say if the dumbbells are adjustable or selectorized (so you can change the weight by moving a pin or twisting a dial; you may want to check out PowerBlock if you’re going to keep training at home; it’s pictured and explained on page 42 after the home-gym version of the Quick-Start program).
[Read more…]Q: I’ve read almost everything at your site [X-Rep.com], and I’m ready to get started. I’m 17 years old, 5’11” and 175 pounds. I’ve been training for two years. My question is, Which program should I start with? Should I do Jonathan’s 20-pounds-of-muscle-in-10-weeks program [3D Muscle Building e-book] or go straight to your X-Rep Mass-Detail Workout [in the Ultimate Mass Workout e-book]? Your X-Rep program gave you freaky results fast, so I’m thinking I should go with that one.
A: Either would work well for you at this point. At 17, you are in your prime growing years. And you already have some experience. So if you continue to train hard and sensibly, you should build stellar progressive mass with whichever routine you choose.
[Read more…]Q: I’m a man in my late 30s, but I’m very motivated by Becky Holman’s before and after photos and her story. Is the training program she used okay for men to use?
A: Absolutely. Men and women should both strive to build muscle, and that’s what her program does. Women won’t get bulky muscles no matter how hard they train because they don’t have the hormonal profile for that to happen. It’s a testosterone thing—and as you can see in the transformation photos below, Becky (Steve’s wife, who was in her early 40s below) doesn’t have a lot of testosterone…
[Read more…]Q: I’ve read X-treme Lean, and it makes sense to gradually lose fat so that no muscle is lost. Great e-book, excellent diets. But I also have the Super-Size Crash Course that contains The 2-day intermittent fasting diet [12-hour fasts two nonconsecutive days a week]. How can I combine those? Should I use the fasting method first?
A: That’s one way (there’s another way coming up). You can start with one 12-hour fast day a week…
[Read more…]Intermittent Fasting is all the rage right now and for good reason—it works! Even jacked movie stars like The Rock, Terry Cruz, and Hugh Jackman use it for shredded muscle.
We’ve used it off and on for years. Check out Steve’s initial results, which were spectacular—and he’s in his 50s…
[Read more…]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…]
Q: I am making solid gains with the Pure Positions routine in the Stretch Overload ebook. Training the midrange exercise at one workout, contracted at the second, and stretch at the third is some killer change to gain each week. My question is, you have STX [high-rep set followed by a lower-rep set and rest/pause set] for every exercise. Your most impressive ebook, IMO, is Super-Size Crash Course, with TORQ, Progressive-Speed 4X, and, my favorite, Downward-Progression 4X. Can I use those instead of STX every so often for even more variation?
A: Absolutely—in fact, we encourage it because all of those are amazing unique mass methods. Remember, something in your workout must change if you want to continue to gain…
Switching to different mass attacks is the best way. Why? Because it’s [Read more…]
