muscle mass Archives - Page 3 of 7

Your 3-Week Mass Blast—Big Bursts of Muscle Mass Fast

Q: Being drug-free, I was very interested in The 4X Mass Workout. Considering the colleague you mention in that e-book who has trained with a lot of pros while he was using drugs and that he also trained drug-free, his advice is priceless. For drug-free guys, he says he likes 3 weeks of high-intensity-style power training alternated with 3 weeks of lower-intensity, slightly higher-volume workouts. What do you think about this for a big mass blast: 3 weeks of total-10×10 training, followed by 3 weeks of total-4X workouts, followed by 3 weeks of the 3D Power Pyramid [a straight-set lower-rep Positions-of-Flexion workout listed in The Freak Physique e-book]?

A: That looks like a great mass-building, progress-yielding progression. You shift gears every 3 weeks for plenty of muscle-stimulation tweaks… [Read more…]

Shorter Workouts and More Muscle Mass

Q: I’m putting in more hours at work to make ends meet, so I don’t have a lot of time to train. I can get to the gym three days a week. I really want to start The Ultimate 10×10 Mass Workout [that uses only the Ultimate Exercise for each muscle group]. My problem is that I’m not convinced the 10×10 method will work. As much as I want to try the routine, I’m not sure I’m convinced that using lighter weights can really build muscle.

A: For the uninitiated, 10×10 is taking a weight you can get 20 reps with, but you only do 10. You rest for 30 seconds, then you do 10 more and so on until you complete 10 sets of 10 reps. The first sets are easy—almost too easy—but the last few sets are severe, and the pump is unreal. [Read more…]

Moment of Bodybuilding Zen 14: Tom Platz’s Quads

1980 Mr. Universe Tom Platz had a pair of the freakiest legs bodybuilding had ever seen—and even today they look Photoshopped. Trust us—they aren’t (Steve interviewed Tom face-to-face back in the late ’80s for Iron Man magazine)… [Read more…]

5 Tips for More Muscle Mass

Q: All the info I’ve read on full-range Positions of Flexion makes total sense. It’s a killer concept, and I’m so psyched to use it. My problem is time. Even though your POF [bodypart] routines are only about six sets, I only have time for half that [maybe 3 sets for each bodypart]. I don’t want to use only the Ultimate Exercise because I see the superiority of training the three positions for total development. Or should I try just the Ultimate Exercise for each muscle and use POF on only certain bodyparts?

A: Using the Ultimate Exercise for each bodypart in a program is one way to go. Your idea of using full POF on one or two bodyparts is a good one. Simply add one set of a stretch- and one set of a contracted-position exercise for those two muscle groups. For example, for chest, the Ultimate Exercise is decline presses… [Read more…]

Light-Medium-Heavy Rotation for Muscle-Mass Creation

Q: I want to do a weekly rotation of light, medium, and heavy POF. For light week, I’ll use TORQ on all exercises (30-20-15). For medium week, it’ll be all 4X or 3X sequences. I’m 49, so I wonder if heavy is even a good idea at all. Should I chance it and do POF pyramid training, adding weight on each set? Or should I skip the heavy stuff all together?

A: Your “weekly rotation” sounds like a great idea for adding mass along all pathways. And the variation should keep you stoked…

However, at 49 you are right on the cusp of heavy-training tolerance…

[Read more…]

Moment of Bodybuilding Zen 8: Jim Haislop, Mr. America

Jim Haislop won the Mr. America in 1968. His incredible symmetry, proportion, and size had many bodybuilding experts proclaiming him one of the best bodybuilders ever, even better than Steve Reeves and Reg Park.

When he competed at 5’11”, he weighed in at around 210 pounds with a 32” waist and true 19” arms…

[Read more…]

Moment of Bodybuilding Zen 7: Arnold & Son

Check out Arnold in his prime below and his son Joseph, age 21. The resemblance is uncanny. Are genetics important in bodybuilding? Absolutely, as is the case in most sports.

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…]

Get as Big as Possible as Fast as Possible

Q: If I just do the basic [compound] exercises and continue to get stronger, won’t I get as big as possible as fast as possible?

A: That would seem to be true on the surface, but consider this: Strength equals force, so the stronger you get, the more you will develop size along that specific pathway—fiber size generated by force overload. But, as we’ve pointed out, there are two other key size-development pathways: stretch overload and tension/occlusion…

[Read more…]

The Perfect Rest Time for Packing on Muscle Mass

Q: I’m an avid reader of your e-books as well as your website. I’ve been experimenting recently with a heavy set to failure (approximately 10 reps), adding X-Rep partials to the end. Then I do a second X-Only set, often with added weight. This is an excellent trigger for growth, especially if you warm up using the DXO [Double-X Overload] technique. On the warmup set, I do anywhere from four to five X Reps between [full-range] reps, and the burn is incredible! That [combination] has had such a strong effect on my body, that I now have some stretch marks appearing. I’m definitely getting much more muscular while dropping fat. Another thing I’ve been experimenting with is shortening the stroke of X Reps, to the point where I’m almost doing a static hold. I just pulse out very small partial reps. Which brings me to static holds. Research shows subjects adding a few pounds of muscle after only one workout, but that workout was followed by two weeks of rest. Surely two weeks off between workouts is ridiculous. I was wondering how you stand on recovery time and static holds?

A: Thanks for the feedback and your confidence in our methods. We discuss a lot of what you’re discovering and experimenting with in our X-Rep Update #1 e-book. Former Mr. Olympia Jay Cutler used a lot of X-Only sets, as we discuss in Chapter 5, Mr. O’s Wild X-O Workouts. Notice Cutler’s short stroke on this exercise…

[Read more…]