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Your Muscle Recovery Moving Target

Steve demonstrating the ideal setup for cable curls

Q: I’m 75 with years of lifting experience, but the [40-minute] Old Man Young Muscle 2 workout 3 times a week feels like too much at times. I do great for two weeks, but then I lose motivation and feel tired. Am I overtraining? Any suggestions?

A: I’ve mentioned here many times that your recover ability is a moving target… [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: muscle recovery, recovery, recovery time

Muscle Gainer, Sore Loser

Jonathan doing curls, red tinted photo

In the last training newsletter, we discussed muscle soreness, damage, and how it can prolong recovery and even stall growth. [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: mass gains, muscle gains, muscle recovery, muscle soreness, recovery, soreness

Your Muscle-Recovery Tightrope

Steve posing in his backyard, October of 2023

With almost 50 years of training experience, I’ve come to realize that incomplete recovery is the #1 roadblock to achieving the fastest hypertrophy your genetics will allow… [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: alcohol, illness, mass building, muscle building, muscle recovery, recovery, volume training

Mass Mantra #42

Steve doing heavy barbell curls

Here’s an eye-opening quote from hypertrophy researcher Chris Beardsley on muscle repair and recovery: [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: Chris Beardsley, glycogen, glycogen depletion, mass mantra, muscle glycogen, muscle recovery, muscle-repair, recovery

More Rest After Excess Stress to Grow Muscle

Steve in his back yard at 62 years old

Q: The study you discussed that showed eccentric [negative] contractions cause more damage than concentric [positive] or isometric is interesting. Makes sense, but I wonder that if more rest days were included after eccentric training if that would make a difference?

A: I would say yes, however, each type of contraction may contribute to growth in different ways… [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: muscle damage, muscle recovery, recovery, recovery time, rest

Drop the Muscle-Recovery Bomb

Steve in his backyard giving a little side-chest flex

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…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: muscle pump, muscle recovery, overtrained, overtraining, recovery

Recovery Workout for More Mass

Steve demonstrating cable chest presses

Q: In Old Man, Young Muscle you say that you sometimes skip a workout when you feel drained or sore. How often does that happen? Is it something I should build into my month-long workout schedule?

A: That’s a great question, one that’s very important because of the obsessive-compulsive bodybuilding mindset. After 45 years of training, I still struggle with it… [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: Chris Beardsley, muscle recovery, overtraining, recovery

Mass Acceleration and Damage Reduction, Part 1

Arthur Jones shirtless with an elephant and a machine gun.

In yesterday’s newsletter I discussed muscle damage and how it can impair growth. And that damage is not just a result of too many sets; it can also be the result of excessive intensity—and many times both. [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: arthur jones, mass acceleration, muscle damage, muscle growth, muscle recovery, Muscle Training Illustrated, recovery

Look Bigger With NA Workouts

Q: I’ve been using the Ultimate Fat-to-Muscle Workout, and getting fantastic results. My muscles have become more defined, so I look bigger, yet my bodyweight is the same. I’ve read your Power-Density e-program as well, and it makes a lot of sense. My question is, Do you think the negative-accentuated fat-to-muscle method is good for Density? Maybe that’s why it’s working so well after my heavy sets.

A: The bodybuilding truism is, Lose that last 10 pounds of fat and look 20 pounds bigger. That is, a more defined physique creates the illusion of size—and that’s what you’ve done. Here are pics of Jonathan’s back, which looks much bigger in the second more ripped photo, but he actually weighs a little less…

[Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: burn fat, density, fat burning, fat-to-muscle, look big, look bigger, metabolic momentum, muscle fibers, muscle loss, muscle microtrauma, muscle recovery, muscularity, na training, negative-accentuated, overtraining, Power, power and density, power-density workout, slow negatives, testosterone, testosterone replacement therapy trt, ultimate fat-to-muscle workout

Transformation Photos: Girls vs. Guys

Q: I’m a man in my late 30s, but I’m very motivated by Becky Holman’s before and after photos and her story. Is the training program she used okay for men to use?

A: Absolutely. Men and women should both strive to build muscle, and that’s what her program does. Women won’t get bulky muscles no matter how hard they train because they don’t have the hormonal profile for that to happen. It’s a testosterone thing—and as you can see in the transformation photos below, Becky (Steve’s wife, who was in her early 40s below) doesn’t have a lot of testosterone…

[Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: anabolic reload, becky holman, before and after photos, build muscle, cheat day, diet, eating tips, gas, girls vs. guys, hormonal profile, intermittent fasting, muscle recovery, POF, positions of flexion, pro-x10, probiotics, protein farts, starvation, starvation mode, static holds, supercompensation, testosterone, transformation, transformation photos, X Reps, x-rep partials, x-treme lean

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