Dedicated to Your Physical Transformation
Seeing the 3 key hypertrophy triggers for muscle growth laid out by Brad Schoenfeld, Ph.D. in Anabolic Reload got me motivated. Interesting that they align with your Positions of Flexion method. So hitting all 3 at every workout is the best way to grow?
For the uninitiated, the 3 key hypertrophy triggers you must attack for mega mass, according to Schoenfeld, are: [Read more…]
Q: I’ve read that I should always train my heavy exercise first—bench press, squats, etc. Then go to a more isolated one. If I use an isolation exercise first like concentration curls for variety and new stimulation, should I still train it heavy?
A: You can, but you don’t have to train it heavy (more on that in a moment). “Always” doing workouts a certain way is the road to stagnation and slower gains for most; however, you should make an effort to get the key mass triggers… [Read more…]
Q: I like the idea of doing something different on the last set of a 4X sequence. You mentioned a drop set, and that works great. What about a heavier pure-negative set? Like on curls my partner would lift it for me, and I would lower [a heavy weight] slowly for six negative reps.
A: That depends on what you’re trying to accomplish. Pure negatives—your partner lifts the weight, and you lower in six seconds—are designed to attack the force-generating myofibrils in the muscle fibers, which means they are primarily for strength building with only minor size effects, so not really building a lot more muscle… [Read more…]
Q: I just started the 4X Mass Workout, and I really like it. I feel bigger already. I still have some fat to lose, so I also got your Ultimate Fat-to-Muscle Workout. Can I incorporate the negative-accentuated sets from that into a total-4X program somehow to get more fat burning?
A: NA sets are one second up for the positive and lowering in six seconds for the negative. That slow, negative-accentuated style triggers more muscle damage, which requires more energy after the workout for repair. And that energy requirement means your metabolism is amped to help you get more fat burning. [Read more…]
Q: First off, I just picked up The Ultimate Fat-to-Muscle Workout, and it’s fantastic. I learned so much reading it, which I did at one sitting. Great info and easy-to-understand-and-follow workout, just what I need to kick off a new training program. In the first chapter, you tell the story about Arnold getting ripped and vascular without cardio. Didn’t Mike Mentzer do the same thing but with a lot fewer sets? It’s interesting that their training styles were so different, yet they both got very lean without much, if any, cardio. Do you think a lot of it could be genetics, and us average Joes need more cardio?
A: While genetics could have something to do with it, it might not have as big an impact as you might think. As far as Arnold vs. Mentzer, The key to both of their [Read more…]
Q: I keep reading that interval cardio is better than steady-state aerobic exercise for fat loss. Should I be doing intervals instead of ending my workouts with 30 minutes of medium-intensity fast walking?
A: Interval cardio, which is going all out for 30 seconds alternated with slower, steady-state work for one minute, has been shown in research studies to burn more fat postexercise than medium-intensity steady-state work. The reason? Muscle damage. Running or pedaling a stationary bike all out for 30 seconds brings in the fast-twitch fibers, just like a weight workout, damaging them. The repair process is what boosts the metabolism and fat loss. It’s been shown that fat is used as an energy source during the muscle-repair process.
In our X-treme Lean e-book we use the example of running on a track for interval cardio—you sprint the straight-aways and walk the curves. As we explain in that e-book (the Q&A section on page 87-88), interval cardio is very similar to an intense leg workout with weights. Because of that, if you choose to use it, you should not use it the day before or after a heavy leg workout. You can, however, use it as one of your weekly leg workouts or in conjunction with a leg workout. For example, you could do your normal leg workout, but reduce the volume so you can end the session with interval work on a treadmill or stationary bike.
The main point about interval cardio is that it can trigger overtraining if you simply use it in place of your steady-state cardio. It takes more thought to implement it correctly because you are damaging muscles—essentially adding another high-intensity workout to the mix.
If you have a lot of fat to lose, steady-state work at the end of most of your upper-body workouts is a good idea—that is the 30 minutes of medium-intensity walking you’re now doing. After weight training, all of the sugar is out of your bloodstream, so your body is primed to burn fat almost as soon as you hit the treadmill.
If you want to do interval cardio, use the above recommendations—as part of your leg workout or as a separate leg workout during the week. It will add up to a faster fat-to-muscle transition rather than no-gaining overtraining.
Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
—Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
www.X-Rep.com
