Dedicated to Your Physical Transformation
In the last training newsletter, I mentioned that I was always perplexed that the biggest bodybuilders did most of their sets with a fast rep tempo.
Even high-intensity advocate Mike Mentzer, who preached lifting in two seconds and lowering in three to five, used a faster tempo much of the time—1.5 to two seconds per rep. [Read more…]
Q: I’ve been reading about the fascia-expansion supersets, and it makes a lot of sense. A friend of mine is using it, and he’s added five pounds of new muscle fast—in a month! He looks more ripped too, with veins everywhere. I want to try it, but I train after work at my gym, and it’s pretty crowded. I don’t think I can superset. Should I just give up on the idea of fascia expansion for now?
A: In our X-Rep Update #1 e-book we provide a solution. The key to fascia expansion and building new muscle fast is a big-pump exercise followed by a full-stretch movement. That allows you to stretch the muscle encasement, the fascia, due to elongating the muscle after it’s full of blood… [Read more…]
Q: In 4X Mass Workout 2.0 you describe the high-rep [TORQ] method, going 30-20-15 in reps with short rests between. Sometimes I can’t get 30. Either I pick a weight that’s a little too heavy or I just fatigue too quickly. What should I do?
A: What you’re trying to do with TORQ—tension overload repetition quantity—is reach the upper area of the optimal hypertrophic tension time—60 to 90 seconds.
Q: I’ve been reading your e-zine for years, and I have almost all of your e-books. Great info, and thanks to you I have a lot of new muscle. 3D POF is great! My question is about rep ranges. You’ve talked about using lower reps, medium reps, and higher reps. I’ve read that the key to muscle growth is intensity, and that rep ranges don’t really matter. Can’t I just keep doing about eight to 10 reps, the best range for muscle growth, on all my exercises and train intensely, to failure, to make the best gains? Do I really need different rep ranges?
A: While intensity is the big key to forcing muscle growth, there is no doubt that the predominant fiber type in a particular muscle dictates its best rep range for fastest size gains.
[Read more…]Q: You recently referenced Mike Mentzer, and I’m wondering if you guys have ever trained with his HIT style. One-set-to-failure training seems to work for some people, and I know Mentzer’s training evolved into that after he stopped competing. Have you tried it or something similar?
A: One of Steve’s early influences was Mike Mentzer. He trained with Mike’s Heavy Duty style in his 20s, and even won his first bodybuilding contest using a Positions-of-Flexion version of Heavy Duty that he devised (more on that below)… [Read more…]
Q: Your Positions-of-Flexion [mass-training system] has helped me get huge with a lot of new muscle over the past six months. Thank you! One question I have is with hamstrings. In both the 3D Muscle Building e-book and The Ultimate Mass Workout, you have feet-forward Smith machine squats as the best midrange hamstring exercise. Don’t my hams get plenty of midrange work when I do squats or leg presses as my midrange quad move? Can’t I just skip the Smith squats and maybe do extra sets on stiff-legged deadlifts [hamstring stretch] and leg curls [hamstring contracted]?
A: We’d like to say yes, but, to be truthful, you don’t get a lot of hamstring innervation with free-bar squats or even leg presses with your feet high on the footplate… [Read more…]
Q: I’m 62 and have been using the Stretch-Overload Pure Positions Workout [Monday contracted, Wednesday midrange, Friday stretch]. It felt great at first, training one exercise per muscle at each workout, but after three weeks I started feeling like I was losing ground muscle-wise. And I was more tired than usual. Should I take a week off, and then start again? Maybe I just need a downshift sooner than most because of my age.
A: Taking a layoff every three weeks might work, but it also might have you staying in one place as far as the size of your physique. You want to be able to extend your hard-training phase to at least five weeks before you need a downshift.
You can do that by [Read more…]
Q: You guys are awesome! Anabolic Reload put a half-inch on my arms in less than a month. My arms have always lagged, so I’m blown away. I hit each muscle twice a week with about 12 sets. I didn’t want to reduce my sets on all, so I just did [STX] for arms. I started with the high-rep set followed by a heavy set, then I added a rest/pause every arm workout like the program says. My sleeves got tight almost immediately. Just want to thank you for getting my puny arms up bigger than they’ve ever been. I plan on trying this for each muscle through the winter. [Read more…]
Q: I’ve been training hard 5 days a week for almost a year. I decided to try the Anabolic Reload Mass Workout, and after the weekend off and then only 1 workout, I swear I look bigger with new muscle size. Is it my imagination? With this workout I’m doing less volume, but I am using the high-to-low STX method with a slower negative, 1/3 tempo, on ever rep. I’m more sore than I’ve been in a while, but is it really possible that I’m bigger already?
A: It’s not only possible, it’s very probably — reality and NOT your imagination because of a few things that are happening to induce new, immediate hypertrophy… [Read more…]
Q: I’m a competitive powerlifter, so I haven’t tried your 4X method. It requires moderate weights, and that’s not me. I need to train heavy. But I have been using your X-centric sets, usually only one or two at the end of each heavy compound exercise, like bench presses and squats. My problem is that I’ve been using X-centric sets for a month, but I’m five pounds heavier. I’m worried because I don’t want to jump a weight class at my next lifting meet. I’m pretty sure it’s all muscle because I’m seeing more striations in my chest, legs, and even shoulders, and many of my bodyparts look rounder. Should I stop using X-centrics? Is this happening because of the extra fiber trauma I’m getting from those sets?
A: The extra fiber trauma from emphasizing the negative stroke on your negative-accentuated (NA) sets is no doubt part of the reason you’ve added new muscle quickly—that causes fiber remodeling, or growth; X-centric sets also cause more fiber inflammation, which can make you look bigger and rounder. But there’s more to it than that (exciting stuff for those of us who want to pack on maximum muscle size)… [Read more…]
