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How to Cut Back to Grow

Q: The idea of a few medium-intensity [subfailure] workouts after many weeks of going all out makes perfect sense to me. My question is, Should I reduce my poundages so I can do the same number of reps, or should I stick with my same working poundages and just do fewer reps? Which way is best?

A: We prefer to use the same phase-training approach Jonathan used on the 10-week Size Surge Program when he gained 20 pounds of muscle. For each of his two supercompensation weeks, he used the same work weights and just stopped two reps short of failure—and that worked amazingly well for him. He actually appeared to get bigger during each downshift week as his muscles and nervous system supercompensated.

[Read more…]

Pros, Drugs, and Juicing Your Own Muscle Gains

Q: You’ve said a lot of pro bodybuilders have used versions of the 4X mass method and made great gains. But weren’t they on drugs? Don’t steroids make a huge difference? Will this type of training really work for me if I don’t use drugs?

A: Several years ago, Steve interviewed a colleague who trained with many of the legendary pros, including the Mentzer brothers, Danny Padilla, and Rory Leidelmeyer to name a few…

[Read more…]

Rotation for New Mass Creation (automatic anabolism)

Q: I’ve been using all-heavy training (6-8 reps) on everything up until now. I just started using your 4X method, and I swear I can already feel new growth happening. It’s also a relief on my tattered joints. I want to try it exclusively for a month or two. Will my weights increase or should I add sets? Just looking for the best “change to gain.”

A: Since this is your first time using the 4X mass method, you’ll get stronger as your muscle grow more adept at DENSITY training…

[Read more…]

Are You Working Out Too Hard?

Q: I train my butt off in the gym. I hit it harder than every other guy in there, but I haven’t gained much muscle in a long time. Is it my genetics? My nutrition is perfect, so I should be growing like crazy, but I’m not. It’s very frustrating… Help?!

A: Yes, your genetics could have something to do with it; HOWEVER, you may have just been working out too hard for too long. It’s time to step back with a new plan…

Steve spotting Jonathan for a forced rep - Are You Working Out Too Hard?

Even hardgainers start growing at warp speed when they snap to the fact that too much ALL-OUT training stops all muscle gaining flat in its tracks. You need to take new less-stress action for a major mass-building reaction (we’ll outline that exciting change to gain in a moment)…

But isn’t intensity the key to muscle-size results? To a point, yes—but too much triggers nervous system burnout and floods your bloodstream with cortisol. If you don’t know what cortisol is, realize that it’s the devil incarnate when it comes to building muscle (and even burning fat)…

Cortisol is a stress hormone that results from the emergency fight-or-flight response. When you’re in an extreme situation, cortisol spews from your adrenal gland and your body begins using muscle tissue for energy. In other words, your body starts throwing your hard-earned muscle tissue into the energy furnace. NOT GOOD!…

The ironic thing is that the all-out intense workouts you do to build muscle send your cortisol through the roof, especially if you overdo it. Too much and you can actually lose rather than gain muscle. That’s why most high-intensity routines call for only a few all-out sets per exercise…

But even doing only a few all-out sets per exercise results in a CUMULATIVE stress effect that can build to an overtraining cortisol crescendo—muscle gains stop and it’s time to back off. You need an intensity downshift…

In many of our e-books, we’ve mentioned phase training and the need to back down on your intensity after about four weeks of all-out training. We often suggest stopping every set short of failure—but a better MASS-ACCELERATOR is something many pros of yesteryear used to build muscle right up to a contest on low calories…

It’s 4X mass training. With this method, you trade in multiple all-out sets on an exercise for a fast medium-intensity supersaturation sequence. Take pulldowns for example…

Pulldowns - Are You Working Out Too Hard?

Here’s the 4X drill: Take a weight that you could get 15 reps with, but only do 10; rest about 30 seconds and do 10 more; rest 30 seconds and do 10 more—and so on until you do four sets of 10 reps. If you get 10 reps on your last set, add weight at your next workout. It’s quick, simplified muscle supersaturation training for more super-size increases! And you use that 4X mass method for every exercise.

When we first started using a total-4X Mass Workout, we got dramatic muscle-size increases like we’d never experienced during our previous ripping phases. We believe that’s because dieting itself is a cortisol producer. We’d been training TOO HARD during our dieting phases, and that caused us to lose rather than gain muscle mass thanks to excess cortisol…

We believe that’s why so many bodybuilders of yesteryear, like Danny Padilla, used 4X-style workouts for a few months before their competitions—it minimized cortisol output and allowed them to continue to pack on muscle as they dieted away body fat. Check out Padilla’s results and judge for yourself (Note: He didn’t use the exact 4X method above but a tweaked version one of his former training partners discusses in our 4X e-book)…

Danny Padilla "The Giant Killer" - Are You Workout Out Too Hard?

We won’t say 4X workouts are easy, but your joints, tendons, and ligaments will get much less stress due to the medium poundages you use (great for older trainees). Less joint damage also results in less evil cortisol release…

Plus, each exercise takes you less than five minutes to complete, so you’ll be working hard, but you won’t be working out too hard—and the pump is unreal! Remember, only the last, or fourth, set is all out, and even then the muscle is pre-exhausted from the previous sets. But that’s exactly what allows you to reach the ultimate GROWTH THRESHOLD quickly and efficiently with minimal stress. Exciting stuff!…

Training hard is crucial for making gains, but working out too hard can backfire in a hurry… If you’ve been busting your ass in the gym with slow to no muscle growth, give the 4X Mass Workout a spin—and let your new muscle-mass surge begin!

Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.

—Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
www.X-Rep.com

Boost Testosterone…
With Cardio?!

If you want to build muscle (of course you do!) and ramp up your testosterone levels while burning a ton of fat at the same time, you need to try this workout if you haven’t already…

–> Use this cutting-edge cardio trick to boost testosterone and muscle growth
Note: This is NOT traditional HIIT or boring steady-state cardio

Single Day of Rest: Enough for Recovery?

Q: As a practitioner of 3D Positions-of-Flexion methodology who has seen tremendous results, I want to personally thank you for everything you both contribute to the bodybuilding community. Additionally, I had a question regarding the original 10-Week Size Surge routine that worked so well for Jonathan [who gained 20 pounds of muscle on it]. I’ve seen great results with that program, but no matter how short my rest periods are, the first POF workout (legs, chest, and triceps in Phase 2) always lasts well over an hour. Would the effects of the workout be diminished if I were to split it as follows: Day 1, Legs; Day 2, Chest, Triceps; Day 3, Back, Delts, Biceps, Abs; Day 4, Rest; Day 5, Repeat? Would the single day of rest be enough to allow my body to recover?

A: If you’re young and an above-average gainer (high recovery ability), you may be able to get good gains from that three-on/one-off split—but you must ratchet down your intensity every four to six weeks (as explained in the Phase Training section in the 3D Muscle Building e-book). It’s a lot to bite off and stick with having only a single day of rest, however. Here’s a better solution: [Read more…]