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Mass Acceleration and Damage Reduction, Part 2

Jonathan's arm measurement

This is the continuation of a story Arthur Jones, inventor of Nautilus machines, relayed on the subject of muscle gain, overtraining, and recovery in the February/March 1972 issue of Muscle Training Illustrated. [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: arthur jones, hypertrophic response, hypertrophy, mass acceleration, muscle damage, muscle gains, Muscle Training Illustrated, overtraining, recovery, Richard Winett

Slightly Overtrain, Smother Mass Gains?

Casey Viator spotting Mike Mentzer on cable laterals

While Arthur Jones, inventor of Nautilus machines, wasn’t always right, and he’d call you a fool if you said he was wrong, his ideas on limited recovery ability are on the money. Here’s a quote from his 1971 Nautilus Bulletin #2: [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: arthur jones, Chris Beardsley, mass gains, mike mentzer, nautilus bulletin #2, overtraining

Recovery and Your Mass-Building Genetics

Jonathan doing cable curls

I mention genetics a lot. It’s not an excuse, but a bodybuilding reality—and an arbiter in other athletic endeavors as well.

I’ve been training for over four decades and tried just about everything. At 5’10 1/2” I never weighed over 200 in fairly ripped condition—190 was my best. [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: arthur jones, ectomorph, genetics, mass building, Nautilus, overtraining, recovery

Age and Muscle-Building Rage

Steve in a sleeveless T in his backyard

You know the stereotype of the grumpy old man. Sometimes it fits me like a glove.

Take this muscle-building thing, for example. Last October I significantly upgraded my pathetic home gym with a multi-functional cable unit. [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: age, home gym, mass building, motivation, muscle building, overtraining, X Reps

Half-Inch of Arm Mass in 1 Workout

Jonathan Lawson's arm measuring over 19"

Back in the early 1970s, Nautilus Machine creator and pistol-toting gator wrangler Arthur Jones wrote this in Iron Man magazine: [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: arm mass, arm workouts, arthur jones, biceps, biceps workout, big arms, overtrained, overtraining

2 Techniques to Transform Your Physique

Steve Holman before and after, 15 years old and 50 years old

Q: I’m 42 years old, on the thin side, and have been training for several years. I want to know if I’ll overtrain by taking my work sets to failure and then adding X-Rep partials to the end. Some experts seem say it will cause burnout and that you have to be juiced to stand that style of training. I’m natural, so I wonder how it would affect me. I want to buy your new X-Rep Update #1 ebook, but I don’t want the program and methods to be too much for me to handle.

A: Steve is over 60 years old and still making great gains with X Reps and X-hybrid tactics. He’s been thin all his life—his starting bodyweight was less than 120 pounds; however, with 3D Positions of Flexion training he restructured his physique—and by adding X Reps and X-hybrid techniques in his 40s, his muscles have gotten bigger and better (no steroids)… [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: heavy/light, intensity, natural bodyguilding, overtraining, phase training, physique, pump, recovery, size principle of muscle fiber recruitment, subfailure, transformation, X Reps, x-hybrid techniques, x-rep partials

Overtrained? Try This for Instant Muscle Gains—No Layoff Necessary

Q: I’m starting to drag at the gym, and I don’t look forward to my workouts anymore. I’m starting to think I’m overtrained. I haven’t grown in a while, but I DON’T want to take a layoff. Even backing off to low-effort workouts sounds like a bad idea because I don’t want to lose my gains. What should I do?

A: Boy, does that sound familiar. We always tell trainees that they need a break to regenerate and keep the growth process rolling, but they never take one (and neither do we—bad). That’s an easy way to end up overtrained. [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: 10x10, belly fat burn, burn fat, fat burning, fat loss, GH release, john hansen, lose fat, mitochondria, Mr. Natural Olympia, muscle gains, myofibrillar growth, overtrained, overtraining, sarcoplasm, sarcoplasmic growth

Great Gains—What now?

Q: I have about 15 years of lifting experience, and I’m also a certified personal trainer. I’ve worked out with high intensity for all of my years, but I’ve never done the type of training I’m now using with your routines. I’m currently at week 3 in the 3D Power Pyramid [from the Freak-Physique e-book]. Great gains so far! I run each routine for six weeks, and once I finish the Power Pyramid, I want to move to The Ultimate Power-Density Mass Workout. I love each program so far, and I push myself each and every workout. Is it okay if I go from workout to workout, or should I do something less intense between them? So far, I don’t feel overtrained. What’s your advice?

A: Thanks for the question and your confidence in our programs. First realize that overtraining is cumulative, so we suggest that you use the first week of each new program as a break-in period… [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: 3d power pyramid, anabolic environment, boost testosterone, break-in workout, build muscle, downshift week, estrogen, fat loss, freak-physique workout, great gains, medium intensity, overtraining, personal trainer, physique, power-density mass workout, testosterone, what next

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

Mix Muscle Hits to Get Big and Ripped

Q: Thanks for the X-centric Mass Workout! Mixing heavy work, negative-accentuated sets, and 4X has given me the best gains of my life. My bodyweight increased over 5 pounds, but my abs are sharper with veins in the lower part. I’m stoked, and the ladies seem to like it too. LOL! My question is about NA sets vs. negatives at the end of regular sets. After two heavy sets, you say to reduce the weight on the last set for an NA set on the big exercise [like bench presses]. Couldn’t I just keep the weight heavy and add four to six negatives at the end of that last set? I feel like I need another heavy set. I have a partner, so he could lift and I could lower on the negatives. I think Mike Mentzer recommended this style.

A: In his prime, Mentzer actually recommended a 3-phase set to get big and ripped…

[Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: 4X, abs, big and ripped, biotrust, direct/indirect, drug-free, fat burning, forced reps, free protein, gains, get big, get ripped, heavy sets, ladies, low-carb protein, metabolic drive, metabolism, mike mentzer, myofibrillar growth, negative reps, negative-accentuated, negative-only training, overtraining, positive failure, sarcoplasmic growth, steroids, tension time, veins, x-centric mass workout

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