Dedicated to Your Physical Transformation
It’s always interesting to see studies that come out on muscle activation with varying protocols. One of particular interest is from the National Strength & Conditioning Association [May 29, ’15]…
It compared two protocol, but with the same time under tension and load, 60 percent of 1-rep max. The exercise was Smith-machine bench presses, and the subjects were experienced resistance trainers… [Read more…]
Q: No matter what exercise I use, I can’t feel my lats working. I’ve tried drop sets, but I get nothing from those. Any suggestions on how to get new growth for slacker muscles? I feel lat-less.
A: You’re not alone. Most trainees have difficulty feeling the back working. The arms tend to take over because the nerve-to-muscle connections to the lats are underdeveloped. But there is a great way to get in touch and grow the slacker muscles in your back… [Read more…]
Q: You’ve said that training each bodypart only once a week never worked for you. But I saw mention in a previous article that you did make gains doing that with X-centric training. I like training each bodypart only once a week because that’s the way the pros do it. Should I use X-centric training to make it work better for me?
A: First, following the pros workouts is a bad idea for 99 percent of us. Steroids and other anabolic drugs make most of what they do NOT applicable to drug-free trainees. It’s like trying to make your Toyota Camry perform the same way as a Formula-One racing car. It can’t be done without some MAJOR “enhancements.”… [Read more…]
Q: I’m using the four-day version of The X-traordinary 4X Mass Workout. Will that help me stay as lean as possible over the winter? In the past, I’ve had trouble in that area. I tend to blow up to a smooth fat boy over the holidays. Is 4X the way to go so I don’t chub up?
A: First, understand that no workout program will prevent you from becoming president of the Chub Club if you eat like crap all the time. We’re not saying you can’t enjoy some fattening foods and desserts every so often, but it sounds like you lose control. Moderation is the key. Stay on a healthy diet most days during the week, but allow one or two for splurges. Do NOT make junk meals an everyday occurrence. Imagine YOU in this picture to stay on track… [Read more…]
Q: I got The Ultimate Fat-to-Muscle Workout e-book and am amazed at the great information. I’ve already started applying it and am seeing quick fat-burning results (I can already see the top two rows of abs). My question is, Why didn’t you include diet information?
A: We wrote The Ultimate Fat-to-Muscle Workout as an e-training program. Its purpose is to explain the research on achieving a transformation via muscle microtrauma combined with growth hormone release.
[Read more…]Q: I’m getting new mass and cuts using the Fat-to-Muscle Workout. Just the right amount of soreness to burn fat and add muscle. I can see it happening when I look in the mirror. The only bodypart not getting it is biceps. I do cable curls with the Negative Accentuated technique because you’ve said it’s superior to barbell curls. I do two seconds up and then six seconds down on every rep, but I don’t get that deep ache like my biceps were worked hard enough. Should I move slower on the NA set or what?
A: To clarify, we’ve said cable curls are superior to barbell curls when you want to incorporate X Reps at the end of a set. X Reps are eight-inch partials you add at the semi-stretch point when you can’t do any more full-range reps.
End-of-set X-Rep partials are impossible on barbell curls due to the radical leverage shift during the first few inches of the stroke; trying to add X Reps near the bottom after full-range exhaustion ain’t gonna happen. But with cable curls you get a more even resistance through the stroke, so you can add X Reps or a static hold at the X Spot. Sounds like cable curls are the better choice, but not so with a negative-accentuated set…
Any machine with a weight stack has drag due to friction—no matter how much it’s greased. On cable curls, for example, as you curl up, the stack is dragging on the guide rods, which makes the positive stroke harder. Then on the negative, or lowering, the drag actually makes the weight lighter—not what you want if you’re looking for more fat-to-muscle microtrauma…
So what you’re experiencing on cable curls is positive failure too early due to weight-stack drag. That means you get fewer negative reps. Also, each slow negative is lighter than it should be due to weight-stack drag. Your biceps are losing out on two fronts. (We love machines, but in this case, free weights are the better choice.)
Solution: Try regular barbell curls for your NA set—two seconds up, six seconds down. If a straight bar hurts your wrists, use dumbbells or an EZ-curl bar. Either way, you’ll produce more microtrauma with heavier negatives on every rep compared to cable curls, and that means bigger biceps with a superior fat-to-muscle aftereffect.
Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
—Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
www.X-Rep.com
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Q: Is there a danger to ligaments and tendons with Negative-Accentuated sets [from The Ultimate Fat-to-Muscle Workout]? I’ve gotten fantastic results with NA sets [normal positives followed by slow, six-second negatives], but I recently shared that with a friend who tore a muscle in his shoulder doing heavy bench presses. He said that his orthopedist discourages the use of eccentric loading because of the stress on tendons and ligaments. I’m wondering if NA sets are safe, and can my friend who had prior shoulder injury ever incorporate NA sets to experience the great results I’ve gotten with it?
A: What the orthopedist is talking about is heavy pure-negative sets—where you overload the muscle with about 20 percent more than your normal weight. Someone helps you raise the extremely heavy poundage, and you lower slowly, fighting the overload through the negative stroke. [Read more…]
Q: I’m using The Ultimate Fat-to-Muscle Workout four days per week, and I’m sore after every workout. Is that good? Does it mean I’m growing? My muscles feel and even look bigger, but can it really work that fast?
A: The reason a sore muscle feels bigger is because you’re more aware of it—when you move and you get that sensation of pain—and also because it probably is actually bigger…
When a muscle is damaged, as with the negative-accentuated sets in The Fat-to-Muscle Workout, inflammation occurs in the muscle. That draws fluid to the tissue to accelerate repair. When that inflammation happens, the muscle can look larger than usual—like you’re pumped up for a few days. [Read more…]
