Dedicated to Your Physical Transformation
Q: I read with interest your comments on using a drop-set workout when you feel overtrained. I tried it, and it felt great. I was more energized after than when I started the workout. My question is, Can I use two drops instead of one? Some muscles didn’t get much of a pump.
A: My first reaction would be no, it’s not necessary or recommended to use two drops instead of one; however… [Read more…]
In a previous newsletter, I mentioned Dennis DuBreuil, a popular, innovative Iron Man author from the 1970s.
His Blood Theory said that there’s a direct relationship between how well a muscle pumps and how well it grows… [Read more…]
Way back in the 1970s, an Iron Man author named Dennis DuBreuil explained his Blood Theory…
Basically, he said that there is a direct relationship between how well a muscle pumps and how well it grows… [Read more…]
Q: I read that after a back workout, your lats should feel heavier because they’re so filled with blood. I’d never felt that before until I tried the back program in The Ultimate Power-Density Mass Workout. Do you think I got that mega-pump and fullness because the routine alternates power sets with density sets? By the end, my lats were the most pumped they’ve ever been. My delts got insanely big too after the shoulder workout. I even saw veins! I’m psyched that I may finally get in the shape that girls will notice. Thanks.
A: You’ve hit the nail on the head. The bodypart routines in that Power-Density Mass Workout are designed so you stress the myofibrils, the force-generating actin and myosin strands in muscle fibers, with POWER sets, then you follow with DENSITY for sarcoplasmic expansion. The sarcoplasm is the energy fluid in muscle fibers… [Read more…]
Q: I’ve been hitting it heavy for a few months, so I’m planning to switch to your 10×10 Mass Workout for a few weeks. I’ve done two workouts so far with 10X, and it feels great so far, and the pump is awesome. One problem I have is chins—there’s just no way I can do 10 sets of 10 reps with only 30 seconds of rest between. I know I can do pulldowns instead, but I believe chins are the superior back builder. Any suggestions?
A: You have a few choices. Famous Hollywood trainer, Vince “Iron Guru” Gironda, favored 8×8. You could try that instead of 10×10. Vince called that his “honest” muscle-building workout, and his trainees’ muscles got bigger, fuller shapes with 8×8.
One of the most famous proponents of the 10×10 method was our colleague, Olympic coach, and muscle-size-and-strength expert the late Charles Poliquin. Here was his advice to those who couldn’t manage 10×10 on chins…
The law of repeated efforts will enable you to develop the work capacity to perform all 10 sets… Start at 10 sets of 5 reps as your first goal so that you can accumulate volume. Then progress to 10 sets of 6, and so on.
So once you get all 10 sets—or almost all—for 5 reps, add a rep at our next workout so you attempt 10×6. Keep striving to bump up your rep count…
Also, there’s no hard-and-fast rule that 30 seconds is the ideal between-sets rest. You can use 45 seconds or even one minute. For sarcoplasmic-expansion stress—building the energy fluid in the fibers—which is what 10×10 is all about, one minute should be the limit…
As for your comment that chins are better than pulldowns, maybe not better—just different. Pulldowns allow you to angle your torso for a unique lat-fiber hit. There’s really no way to angle your torso on chins to vary the stress on your back…
To get a best-of-both worlds double hit, you could start a 10×10 sequence on chins, and when you can no longer get 10, move to pulldowns. You’ll have to experiment with the poundage so that your first set of pulldowns isn’t too easy but also not close to failure…
Say your chins go something like 10, 10, 10, 9. That’s four sets. Rest 30 seconds, then move to pulldowns. Your reps should go something like 10, 10, 10, 9, 9, 8. And your lats will be thoroughly pumped from hitting two slightly different angles of pull. It’s a great double attack to get your back jacked…
Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
—Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
www.X-Rep.com
Vince Gironda was the Iron Guru, a bodybuilding legend ahead of his time. His most famous pupil in the bodybuilding world was the very first Mr. Olympia Larry Scott, and he also trained many Hollywood stars back in the day, like Clint Eastwood, and even Arnold consulted with him and was a fan (even though Vince told Arnold that he was a “fat f**k” when he first arrived in the U.S.).
Many of Vince’s mass-building tricks and methods have been forgotten, buried by information and misinformation overload on the Internet, but now you can find them all, his true methods, in this must-have, 330-page Vince Gironda e-book anthology…
You get everything from “Train 21 Rest 7” to 10-8-6-15 to Vince’s Stone Age Nutrition, the 8×8 method and program and much, much more (remember, it’s 330 pages). And it’s on sale at a discount for a limited time: Simply use the code GIRONDA20 at checkout for an extra 20 percent off.
Vince Gironda: Legend & Myth (300-page anthology + many bonus gifts and programs) HERE
Q: Just read The Ultimate Power-Density Mass Workout. Absolutely great! I read it all in one sitting. It really made me think, so I’m redesigning my workout using your programs. But don’t higher-rep warmup sets cover the endurance component of the 2A fibers? And what about X Reps? They extend a set, so I would think they also affect the endurance side of the important 2As as well.
A: You’re right on both counts—to a degree. Warm-up sets aren’t intense, so very few fibers are involved—and many that are fall into the slow-twitch category, rather than the important fast-twitch 2As. [Read more…]
We’ve featured Danny Padilla in our Zen installments many times, but this is a shot we don’t remember seeing. It appears to be at the famous Muscle Rock location in Southern California… [Read more…]
We’ve featured Danny Padilla in our Zen installments many times, but he had such a great, well-balanced, and inspiring physique that he’s worth flashing back on again. This is a great twisting-back stage shot that highlights his mass and symmetry, things his training style magnified… [Read more…]
Q: I’ve been using straight-up Positions of Flexion, and I’ve put on a lot of muscle in the last two months. I’m up about 10 pounds using the 3D Power Pyramid Workout [in the Freak-Physique Stretch-Overload e-book]. My gains slowed after about six weeks, so I started using TORQ on the last exercise [30-20-15 reps, 45 seconds rest]. Unreal pump and new veins coming in. But since I’m doing a two-way split, those three sets on so many exercises really drain me. Can I do just two, 30 and 20 reps?
A: Absolutely! The number of set depends on your individual recovery ability and the intensity of your entire workout. With the 3D Power Pyramid program in the Freak-Physique e-book, you’re doing heavy sets on the midrange and stretch exercises, so using the contracted move for high-end hypertrophic stimulation is perfect… [Read more…]
Danny Padilla was “the Giant Killer” of pro bodybuilding back in the ‘80s. At only 5’2”, his symmetrical sculpted mass allowed him to beat bodybuilders who were much taller and larger than he was.
From the pic here, you can see why—no flaws anywhere. [Read more…]
