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Train 3 Days a Week for a Bodybuilder Physique?

Big and lean bodybuilder doing seated lateral raises

Q: I have limited time to train—three days a week. I can get to the gym M-W-F, but I usually have family stuff on the weekends, so that’s it. Can I build a bodybuilder physique by training only three days a week? What program would you recommend?

A: Can you get a bodybuilder physique training only 3 days a week? That depends entirely on your genetics. We’ve known a few guys who looked like bodybuilders going to the gym zero days a week. Not kidding—lucky bastards. LOL! [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: 3 days a week, anabolic hormones, bodybuilder, bodybuilder physique, brad pilon, eat stop eat, fat-to-muscle, genetics, intermittent fasting, muscle immensity, myofibrillar, negative-accentuated, physique, positions of flexion, recovery, sarcoplsmic, Size Surge, x-centric

More Size, Density, and Arnold’s Immensity

Jonathan Lawson squatting

Q: I totally agree with your Power-Density mass-building ideas. For density work, you’ve suggested multi-rep rest/pause, but 3 heavy sets with only 15 seconds of rest between them really wipes me out, especially on legs. I’m dead for the rest of my workout. Is there something less taxing I can use for density up front? 

A: First, we want to applaud you for realizing the importance of DENSITY, or endurance, work. Missing that get-bigger trigger is why most wanna-be-big bodybuilders grow so slow. They think it’s all about training heavy ONLY to gain more size… [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: 2a fibers, arnold, austrian oak, belly fat burn, burn fat, chasing the pump, density, endurance, extended tension time, fat burning, fiber types, growth fibers, mass techniques, microtrauma, miracle fix, more size, multi-rep rest/pause, muscle immensity, negative-accentuated, power-density, tension time, x-rep partials

Safer Power-Density for Muscle Immensity

Big, vascular, lean arm curling a dumbbell

Q: I just got your Super-Size Crash Course. Great programs in it! I’m older (48) and have been training for almost 20 years. Thinking about using Phase 2 with Downward-Progression 4X, but I’ll alternate with TORQ for “lighter” training days. Do you think that’s a good plan?

A: We think it’s a great plan, and one we’ve used for excellent change—and good pain—to gain. For the uninitiated, here are the two methods to alternate:

Downward-Progression 4X

Pick a weight with which you can get 15 reps, but only do 12. Rest 45 seconds as you add weight, then do 10. Rest 45 seconds as you add weight, then do 8. Rest 45 seconds as you add weight, then try to get 6.

So your reps look like this: 4 x 12, 10, 8, 6, adding weight on each set.

Vascular arm doing dumbbell curls - Safer Power-Density for Muscle Immensity

You could call that semi-heavy training, and it’s perfect for older trainees–or anyone who doesn’t want to hammer their joints with ultra-heavy poundages. The short rests between sets prevent that…

At your next workout, you’ll do lighter DENSITY training with TORQ—tension-overload repetition quantity.

TORQ

Take your 30-rep max weight and go to failure. Yes, 30 REPS. Rest 45 seconds, then go to failure again, shooting for 20. Rest 45 seconds, then go to failure one last time for 10 to 15 reps. You get high-end hypertrophic tension times…

Alternating those two methods from workout to workout is great for SAFER power work alternated with lighter, sarcoplasmic-expansion hits.

It’s really a less-joint-stress version of Power-Density for new muscle immensity.

Note: DP 4X and TORQ, as well as Progressive-Speed 4X and pyramid training, are explained—and included in the programs—in The Super-Size Crash Course e-book.

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

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


7-Minute “Miracle Fix” for Stubborn Belly Fat

Researchers from The Proceedings of The Nutrition Society are suggesting this “blood flow hack” is the fastest way to melt off frozen belly fat with minimal effort.

So if you want to switch on your fat burning switch in just 7 minutes—without going to the gym or running on the treadmill, then check this out:

7 Minutes “Miracle Fix” for Stubborn Belly Fat

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: change to gain, density training, downward-progression 4x, dp 4x, hypertrophic, iso abs, isometric abs, joint stress, muscle immensity, older trainees, over-40, Power, power-density, progressive-speed 4x, pyramids, safer power-density, sarcoplasmic expansion, super-size crash course, tension time, tension-overload repetition quantity, TORQ

New Density for Muscle Immensity Workout

Jonathan most muscular - New Density for Muscle Immensity Workout

I just saw Jonathan’s new read-me page about XRX and the workout he is now using. I turned 48 and am making the best size gains of my life with the [high-rep-set-first] Reload program. Is Jonathan’s similar? Is it better? Should I switch?

The reason Jonathan put together his new after-40 workout is that he Hates—with a capital H—high reps…

While he made amazing size gains when he first went on the high-rep-set-first program outlined in [Read more…]

Filed Under: Jonathan Lawson, X Files Tagged With: 20 pounds in 10 weeks, ace-2, ace-dd, anabolic after 40, anabolic reload, anaerobic, bodyweight edition, change to gain, colakoglu, endurance gene, extended tension time, fast-twitch, heavier training, Iron Man Training and Research Center, jonathan lawson, muscle immensity, muscle size, partials, POF, positions of flexion, size gains, Steve Holman, STX, x-rep partials, x-traordinary arms, xrx

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