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Ideal Occlusion Tip for Fast Mass

Steve doing decline dumbbell presses in his home gym

In yesterday’s newsletter, I discussed blocking blood flow to the target muscle by doing a continuous-tension exercise first for high reps, then following with the ideal exercise…

For example, you could do a high-rep set of leg extensions before sissy squats, the ideal exercise. Or cable flyes before dumbbell decline presses for chest… [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Blog Tagged With: blood flow blockage, continuous tension, fast mass, occlusion, pre-ex, pre-exhaustion, supersets

Crappy Move First = Mass Burst?

Jonathan Lawson, concentration curl with support

Q: Reading Old Man Young, Muscle and how an initial high-rep set tires the slow-twitch fibers makes sense. But wouldn’t using a continuous-tension exercise be best for that first set? The blood-blocking [or occlusion] on those exercises you talk about in OMYM should tire and shut down the slow-twitch sooner, right?

A: That’s an interesting idea and one I addressed a few newsletters ago: “Occlusion and the Mass-Exercise Shuffle.” It’s great that you’re thinking about making our workouts more efficient rather than just blindly following… [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: adaption, fast-twitch, mass blast, muscle adaptions, occlusion, pre-ex, pre-exhaustion, slow-twitch

Moment of Bodybuilding Zen 137: Mike Mentzer’s Grainy Mass

Cropped pic of Mike Mentzer doing alternate dumbbell curls, looking incredible

Back in the 1970s, Mike Mentzer’s physique at its peak was shocking. But even by today’s standards, Mentzer’s grainy thickness is jaw dropping. [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: 1970s, 1980 Mr. Olympia, arnold schwarzenegger, bodybuilding zen, frank zane, heavy duty, hypertrophy, mike mentzer, mr. olympia, Nautilus, pre-ex

Moment of Bodybuilding Zen 130: Mike Mentzer’s Shocking Beach Physique

Mike Mentzer's beach physique, cropped

Mike Mentzer’s beach physique at its peak was shocking. Imagine seeing this on the beach (Gallasch photo). Even today Mentzer’s mass is still jaw dropping… [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: 1979, 1980, beach physique, bodybuilding zen, mike mentzer, mr. olympia, muscle mass, physique, pre-ex, slow-twitch exhaustion, stx method, vince gironda, Wayne Gallasch

Moment of Bodybuilding Zen 113: Mike Mentzer’s Herculean Physique

Mike Mentzer looking Herculean in the gym while relaxed, cropped photo

Mike Mentzer’s physique was thick. Even relaxed he looked Herculean, as in this gym shot from the ’70s. [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: 1970s, 1979, 1980 Mr. Olympia, arnold, bodybuilding zen, frank zane, hypertrophy, mentzer, mike mentzer, modified pre-ex, mr. olympia, physique, pre-ex, stx method

Specialize for Size with Power-Density

Jonathan doing dumbbell presses with Steve spotting

Q: I’m making my best gains ever with the Power-Density Mass Workout. I’m already up six pounds in four weeks, and I see new muscle somewhere every workout, training just about 40 minutes a session. I have a question about my lagging bodypart, shoulders. Can I add sets to the listed workout, or how should I force my shoulders to grow like my other bodyparts?

A: Most of the bodypart routines in the Basic Power-Density Mass Workout consist of only one Ultimate Exercise per muscle group. That makes for quick, simple workouts: First you pyramid the weight over three sets for max force, or Power; then you reduce the weight and attack tension, or Density with a 10×10-style sequence, but using only four sets… [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: capillary bed expansion, density, endurance, fast-twitch fibers, lagging muscle, muscular force, Power, power pyramids, power-density, pre-ex, pre-exhaustion, shoulder specialization, shoulders, specialization, specialize, ultimate exercise, vascularity

Moment of Bodybuilding Zen 89: Mike Mentzer Rockin’ Mass Shot

Mike Mentzer on a beach in Australia, double biceps pose

Here’s another impressive shot of Mike Mentzer taken by Wayne Gallasch in Australia back in the 1970s, a pic we don’t recall every seeing… [Read more…]

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: 1970s, 1979, 1980 Mr. Olympia, Anabolic STX, arnold schwarzenegger, Australia, bodybuilding zen, frank zane, mike mentzer, mr. olympia, pre-ex, roger schwab, STX, stx method, Wayne Gallasch

Post-Dramatic Mass Syndrome

Cable crossover contraction

Q: Your Pre-Ex 3X Mass Workout is just what I needed. It boosted my mass considerably (about five pounds so far), and my joints feel great. One question, though: Is there a way to intensify it without adding more rounds? Going from three to four might wipe me out too much and cause overtraining.

A: We often suggest altering the LAST set in a Pre-Ex cycle. For example, if you’re doing cable crossovers (isolation) supersetted with bench presses (compound), you could add a rest/pause set to one or both exercises on the last round… [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: mass boosting, mass building, more mass, negative-accentuated, new mass, pre-ex, pre-ex 3x, pre-exhaustion, pure negatives, speed reps, vascular arms, vascularity, veiny arms, x-centric

Warp-Speed Mass Gains: Old Trick, New Twist

Q: I use Pre-Ex 3X supersets a lot when I can. Removing the weak-link muscle makes so much sense as a way to make the compound exercise more targeted and work harder. The look of my physique has completely changed these with new vascularity since adding these. I recently saw a mention of doing the second exercise in the superset in speed style. Does that work well? I’d love more new veins and size.

A: Yes, for many muscle groups Pre-Ex makes a lot of sense. For example, isolating your chest with cable flyes first, and then immediately moving to dumbbell bench presses helps even out the strength of the now pre-fatigued pecs with your fresh triceps… [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: anabolic fasting, brad pilon, eat stop eat, get ripped, mass gains, old trick, physique, pre-ex, pre-ex 3x, pre-fatigue, ripped, speed reps, vascularity, x-celeration

Density Overload: Make Your Muscle Growth Explode

Steve Holman doing face-down one-arm curls - Max Contraction for Peaked Biceps Action

Q: I gained 5 pounds of solid muscle when I moved to mostly 4X mass training for every bodypart. Then I shifted to Pre-Ex 3X whenever I could, or modified pre-ex when the gym was crowded, and I put on another three pounds with more vascularity. I’m loving your density methods. What can I do now for another change? I don’t want to go back to heavy training but I will if you think it’s a good idea. I’m just looking to explode with more crazy muscle mass.

A: We’ve got something you can experiment with that we’ve had some excellent success with in the past. It’s a unique DOUBLE modified pre-ex mass builder—you superset the contracted-position exercise with the stretch-position move FIRST, using a 3X sequence. Take 45 seconds between supersets… [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: 4x mass training, DEA, density overload, DHS, explode, FBI, mass builder, mass-building manual, Mike Gillette, modified pre-ex, muscle growth, muscle mass, pre-ex, pre-ex 3x, tough mother effer, TSA

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