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Q: I’ve always gotten pretty good size and strength gains from
A: Great question! For new readers, the myofibrils are the force-generating actin and myosin strands in the muscle fibers. If you have more of those than usual, you would be considered myofibrillar dominant. A good example of that is Mike Mentzer, who was squatting over 500 pounds at age 16…
[Read more…]Q: I got your 4X Mass Workout 2.0. I love the [higher-rep] TORQ method and 4X combo workouts. I feel it working
A: Bodybuilders of yesteryear often used higher reps before contests for fat burning, but experts later said that was foolish. Why? Because high reps cannot “etch in” cuts. Or can they?…
[Read more…]Q: I got your Quick-Start Muscle-Building Guide because I haven’t lifted in a few years. Fantastic info and it’s already working for me. On some exercises, you suggest lifting in 3 seconds and lower in 3 to help improve nerve force for strength. I’ve seen in many of your emails that you sometimes lift in 1 second and lower in 6. Should I try that? I think you said it helps burn fat, and I would love to see my abs sooner rather than later.
A: Lifting in 1 second and lowering in 6 is what we call X-centric, or Negative-Accentuated, training. It is a great FAT BURNER as well as MUSCLE BUILDER, but you shouldn’t use it just yet (more on why in a moment).
[Read more…]Q: I’m ready to start the total 4X mass program [moderate-weight, growth threshold training]. How do I know what weight to use on each exercise? Can I base it on my 8-rep max or what?
A: The 4X mass method is density training—so it’s high fatigue. Very different from standard training with longer rests, so we understand the weight confusion, but that’s why for weights you’ll have to guess…
[Read more…]Q: I’m reading your original X-Rep e-book [The Ultimate Mass Workout], and you have the Ultimate Exercises listed for each muscle. For lats, it’s close-, parallel-grip chins. I have a hard time with chins because I weigh around 220 pounds. Can I do them on the pulldown machine instead?
A: Yes, do them on the pulldown machine for now; however, once you’re strong enough, do the chinup-bar version… [Read more…]
Q: I’m reading the Beyond X-Rep Muscle Building e-book, and I noticed that you have a section on X-centric training. But it’s not the same as what you describe in my X-centric Mass Workout e-book. Is one better than the other?
A: X-centric is our X-Rep vernacular for eccentric, which is the negative stroke of an exercise; that is, the lowering of a weight, like the downward portion of a bench press. [Read more…]
Q: I like to train heavy, but I fully understand that tension time, or density, can build size as well. My question is, won’t drop sets accomplish both?
A: The drop-set method is one of the best for getting size in the myofibrils as well as a hypertrophic sarcoplasmic burst. And even new veinage too… [Read more…]
Q: A lot of bodybuilders go all power in the off-season. They push for more strength so size will follow. I’m thinking about using the Phase 1 program in Size Surge for that purpose—mostly big exercises with heavy weights training three days a week so I get plenty of recover-and-grow time. Would that program be okay to use for the entire 10 weeks instead of moving to Phase 2?
A: You’re right, even Arnold used to do a two-to-three-month power phase in the winter—but it wasn’t heavy low reps on every exercise, as we’ll explain. That’s the problem with the way most trainees do it: They go heavy on ALL exercises all the time for too long and neglect critical sarcoplasmic size, which can be a big muscle-building mistake… [Read more…]
Q: I like the idea of doing something different on the last set of a 4X sequence. You mentioned a drop set, and that works great. What about a heavier pure-negative set? Like on curls my partner would lift it for me, and I would lower [a heavy weight] slowly for six negative reps.
A: That depends on what you’re trying to accomplish. Pure negatives—your partner lifts the weight, and you lower in six seconds—are designed to attack the force-generating myofibrils in the muscle fibers, which means they are primarily for strength building with only minor size effects, so not really building a lot more muscle… [Read more…]
