muscle growth Archives

The Great Gains Experiment

Q: I’ve read that training all out [to failure] is not the best way to grow muscle. The argument I read said that it causes nervous system and adrenal burnout as well as higher levels of muscle-eating cortisol [stress hormone]. Don’t you think bodybuilders will grow better if they use more sets, stopping short of failure to avoid those problems?

A: No doubt about it, training all out is traumatic. It’s brutal on the body, but that’s what makes it so effective—if you use it correctly… [Read more…]

All-Stretch Home Mass Workout

Q: I have the updated Quick Start Muscle 2.0. Thank you! The new home-workout section is just what I needed. One question: I remember you guys talking about an all-stretch-exercise workout a while back. Is that something I should try to increase mass gains while I’m training at home?

A: Yes, absolutely. Doing ONLY stretch-position exercises at a workout for every bodypart can do some great things for muscle growth… [Read more…]

Density Overload: The Trick for More Muscle Growth

Q: In the Size Surge 2.0 e-book, Phase 1 is all heavy sets. I don’t have any joint problems, but I love moderate-weight 4X training. I’ve gained over 5 pounds of muscle in 6 weeks with it. I don’t want to give it up completely now, but I do want to go on the 10-week Size Surge program. Can I use the same combination approach in Phase 1 that you outline in the new Phase 2 chapters; that is, heavy work on the big exercises and 4X on the more isolated ones?

A: We understand your concern about all-heavy training all the time. Lots of trainees (including us) have suddenly packed on more mass with a dose of moderate-weight, growth-threshold 4X—or even 10×10. That’s because training all-heavy for too long NEGLECTS sarcoplasmic expansion… [Read more…]

Feel Your Muscles Grow

Q: Your 4X training is fantastic. It has me growing again, and it’s perfect with 3-way POF. My question is about muscle feel. How important is it to feel your muscles working for size increases? I ask because I have trouble feeling some body parts, like shoulders and chest.

A: We believe it’s EXTREMELY important to feel your muscles working; if you don’t, you may be using other muscle groups to move the weight or simply not innervating enough muscle fibers for a big anabolic response. [Read more…]

Density Overload: Make Your Muscle Growth Explode

Q: I gained 5 pounds of solid muscle when I moved to mostly 4X mass training for every bodypart. Then I shifted to Pre-Ex 3X whenever I could, or modified pre-ex when the gym was crowded, and I put on another three pounds with more vascularity. I’m loving your density methods. What can I do now for another change? I don’t want to go back to heavy training but I will if you think it’s a good idea. I’m just looking to explode with more crazy muscle mass.

A: We’ve got something you can experiment with that we’ve had some excellent success with in the past. It’s a unique DOUBLE modified pre-ex mass builder—you superset the contracted-position exercise with the stretch-position move FIRST, using a 3X sequence. Take 45 seconds between supersets… [Read more…]

Heat: The Magic Muscle Maker

Q: This is kind of an odd question, but does hot weather help make muscles grow? I’ve noticed this summer, when it’s been blazing hot outside, I make my best gains. In the winter, my gains are much slower, sometimes nonexistent. Could it be the heat?

A: It could simply be more summer-time motivation—you train harder because you want to look good at the pool, lake, or beach. It could also be leanness and darkness—being more ripped and tan makes you look bigger and better. There’s a good chance that heat and/or sunshine may have something to do with it, along with sweating. Perspiring more sheds water from under the skin, and that means more vascularity more often, which adds to your bigger, more-shredded look. But heat may be the key… [Read more…]

Once-a-Week Workouts and NA Training

Q: I want to thank you for putting together the Freak-Physique e-book. What a blockbuster resource of training information and programs. I’m using the 3D Power Pyramid Program. The quote from the trainee who gained so much muscle and strength in only a few weeks using it got me stoked. My question is, I’m more of a train-each-bodypart-once-a-week guy, so can I use it that way instead of training each bodypart twice a week? If so, how should I adjust it?

A: First, you picked a great program. We get lots of positive feedback on the 3D Power Pyramid because it’s simple Positions-of-Flexion methodology but you add weight over three sets on the big midrange move (pyramid), and do only one set each of the stretch- and contracted-position exercises. It’s basically a POF strength-building workout with a big muscle-size side effect. [Read more…]

Best Chisel-Your-Chest Exercise

Q: I’ve been using cable crossovers as my contracted-position exercise in my 3D Positions-of-Flexion chest routine. I do them last for tension, occlusion, and a final pump, but I’m not getting the right feel and not seeing much of a pump. Do you have any form suggestions to make them better?

A: Cable crossovers are a good contracted-position chisel-your-chest exercise—if you have decent nerve-to-muscle connections in your pec muscles. Those who don’t tend to shift the torso forward and backward during the exercise, to bring in more front delts and even lats. We prefer a similar exercise that forces strictness… [Read more…]

3D HIT Question

Q: In the 3D HIT program [listed in the X-traordinary Arms e-book], you say to end each bodypart with one slow, higher-rep set of an isolation exercise for tension and occlusion. You also mention drop sets for those exercises. Which is better, one higher-rep set or a drop set?

A: Keep in mind that doing a drop set is a volume increase because it’s two sets back to back. For example, on concentration curls for biceps, you do a set of 10 reps to exhaustion, grab a lighter dumbbell, and immediately rep out again, getting about six more reps. Is that better than one set of 12-15 reps? That depends…

[Read more…]

Loosen Up to Unleash Extreme Muscle Growth

Q: Have you heard of FST-7 training, and if so, what do you think of it? It has to do with stretching the muscle fascia from the inside with 7 sets of a big-pump exercise at the end of a bodypart workout.

A: The idea of stretching the muscle fascia, which is the fibrous encasements that surround muscle fibers, has been around a while in many incarnations. The original method had trainees use a rigorous, painful stretching regimen after they trained a bodypart.

For example, after working hamstrings, the trainee would sit on the floor, legs straight and together, and his or her trainer would force the trainee’s torso forward to fully elongate the hamstrings—and it brought tears to the eyes.

[Read more…]