I keep running across great quotes from Dr. James Di Nicolantonio (@drjamesdinic). Here’s one with practical application to your workouts: [Read more…]
Trouble with 10X on Chins
Q: I’ve been hitting it heavy for a few months, so I’m planning to switch to your 10×10 Mass Workout for a few weeks. I’ve done two workouts so far with 10X, and it feels great so far, and the pump is awesome. One problem I have is chins—there’s just no way I can do 10 sets of 10 reps with only 30 seconds of rest between. I know I can do pulldowns instead, but I believe chins are the superior back builder. Any suggestions?
A: You have a few choices. Famous Hollywood trainer, Vince “Iron Guru” Gironda, favored 8×8. You could try that instead of 10×10. Vince called that his “honest” muscle-building workout, and his trainees’ muscles got bigger, fuller shapes with 8×8.
One of the most famous proponents of the 10×10 method was our colleague, Olympic coach, and muscle-size-and-strength expert the late Charles Poliquin. Here was his advice to those who couldn’t manage 10×10 on chins…
The law of repeated efforts will enable you to develop the work capacity to perform all 10 sets… Start at 10 sets of 5 reps as your first goal so that you can accumulate volume. Then progress to 10 sets of 6, and so on.
So once you get all 10 sets—or almost all—for 5 reps, add a rep at our next workout so you attempt 10×6. Keep striving to bump up your rep count…
Also, there’s no hard-and-fast rule that 30 seconds is the ideal between-sets rest. You can use 45 seconds or even one minute. For sarcoplasmic-expansion stress—building the energy fluid in the fibers—which is what 10×10 is all about, one minute should be the limit…
As for your comment that chins are better than pulldowns, maybe not better—just different. Pulldowns allow you to angle your torso for a unique lat-fiber hit. There’s really no way to angle your torso on chins to vary the stress on your back…
To get a best-of-both worlds double hit, you could start a 10×10 sequence on chins, and when you can no longer get 10, move to pulldowns. You’ll have to experiment with the poundage so that your first set of pulldowns isn’t too easy but also not close to failure…
Say your chins go something like 10, 10, 10, 9. That’s four sets. Rest 30 seconds, then move to pulldowns. Your reps should go something like 10, 10, 10, 9, 9, 8. And your lats will be thoroughly pumped from hitting two slightly different angles of pull. It’s a great double attack to get your back jacked…
Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
—Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
www.X-Rep.com
Recommended
Mass-Building Lessons From the Master Trainer
Vince Gironda was the Iron Guru, a bodybuilding legend ahead of his time. His most famous pupil in the bodybuilding world was the very first Mr. Olympia Larry Scott, and he also trained many Hollywood stars back in the day, like Clint Eastwood, and even Arnold consulted with him and was a fan (even though Vince told Arnold that he was a “fat f**k” when he first arrived in the U.S.).
Many of Vince’s mass-building tricks and methods have been forgotten, buried by information and misinformation overload on the Internet, but now you can find them all, his true methods, in this must-have, 330-page Vince Gironda e-book anthology…
You get everything from “Train 21 Rest 7” to 10-8-6-15 to Vince’s Stone Age Nutrition, the 8×8 method and program and much, much more (remember, it’s 330 pages). And it’s on sale at a discount for a limited time: Simply use the code GIRONDA20 at checkout for an extra 20 percent off.
Vince Gironda: Legend & Myth (300-page anthology + many bonus gifts and programs) HERE
2 Techniques to Transform Your Physique
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…]
Sets Down, Pumps Up—Major Gains and Veins
Q: I’ve been using straight-up Positions of Flexion, and I’ve put on a lot of muscle in the last two months. I’m up about 10 pounds using the 3D Power Pyramid Workout [in the Freak-Physique Stretch-Overload e-book]. My gains slowed after about six weeks, so I started using TORQ on the last exercise [30-20-15 reps, 45 seconds rest]. Unreal pump and new veins coming in. But since I’m doing a two-way split, those three sets on so many exercises really drain me. Can I do just two, 30 and 20 reps?
A: Absolutely! The number of set depends on your individual recovery ability and the intensity of your entire workout. With the 3D Power Pyramid program in the Freak-Physique e-book, you’re doing heavy sets on the midrange and stretch exercises, so using the contracted move for high-end hypertrophic stimulation is perfect… [Read more…]
Major Muscle Mass with Lighter Weights
Q: I tried your 4×10 method on every exercise, and I’m amazed. The pump was incredible and my nervous system didn’t feel so hammered at the end of my workout as it has in the past. My question is, shouldn’t I do at least one warmup set on the more dangerous exercises, like squats?
A: In theory the first set or two in a 4×10 sequence should be a sufficient warmup. That’s because you use a weight you could get 15 reps with, but you only do 10. And you use that same poundage all the way through… [Read more…]
Mass Workout Remix + Size-Packing Tricks
Q: I’m looking for a hot, basic workout that will grow muscle fast. I see lots of people raving about Positions of Flexion, so I thought I’d use a basic POF workout with a proven track record. That would be the 3D Power Pyramid Workout [Chapter 2 in the Freak-Physique Stretch-Overload Workout e-book]. But I want to make a few changes. 1) Instead of 4 days a week, I’ll keep the two-way split and train M-W-F—so Wednesday’s workout will repeat on the following Monday and Friday; 2) I want to use TORQ on the last exercise, the contracted-position move. What do you think?
A: That sounds like a GREAT size-building plan. Here’s why.
The POF 2-way split listed in the Freak-Physique e-book has you hit a lot of bodyparts each day… [Read more…]
New-Muscle Uptick Trick: Power Down, Pump Up
Q: I’m using the Size Surge program for the second time. I tried it last winter and saw great gains…about 10 pounds! I’m on Phase 1, week 4 and have already seen new gains…about 3 pounds of muscle. I’ve been reading about your 4X mass training. Could I do that on Phase 2?
A: Yes, you can use the 4X mass-training method in Phase 2 of the Size Surge program. That’s a great choice. During Phase 1 you’ll have been training three days a week with a few HEAVY sets per exercise on a basic program. After five weeks of that myofibrillar-dominant training, you’ll be ready for a more balanced attack and a surge in sarcoplasmic expansion to pack on even more MASS. [Read more…]
Best Chisel-Your-Chest Exercise
Q: I’ve been using cable crossovers as my contracted-position exercise in my 3D Positions-of-Flexion chest routine. I do them last for tension, occlusion, and a final pump, but I’m not getting the right feel and not seeing much of a pump. Do you have any form suggestions to make them better?
A: Cable crossovers are a good contracted-position chisel-your-chest exercise—if you have decent nerve-to-muscle connections in your pec muscles. Those who don’t tend to shift the torso forward and backward during the exercise, to bring in more front delts and even lats. We prefer a similar exercise that forces strictness… [Read more…]
Shirt-Splitting Muscle Size
Q: I am in need of some back width, or more specifically, lat development. I’m following your 3D HIT program listed in the X-traordinary Arms e-book, but I’m not getting a pump, and I have a hard time feeling my back working. Do you guys have any suggestions?
A: The 3D Positions-of-Flexion lat routine in that program is…
Chins (midrange), 1 x 9-12
Dumbbell pullovers (stretch), 1 x 9-12
Rope rows (contracted), 1 x 12-15
One reason you may not be getting a big pump is the last (contracted) exercise, rope rows…
[Read more…]Best Mass Moves for High-End-Hypertrophy Hits
Q: I just started using the 30-20-15 [TORQ] method on one exercise for each muscle. I do the other exercises as regular sets or 4X. The higher reps really feel incredible. What a great pump and deep fiber hit. My question is, Which exercise is best for 30-20-15—midrange, stretch or contracted?
A: As we’ve mentioned before, the angle of pull is different on each of midrange, stretch, and contracted exercises, so fiber activation can be unique as well.
[Read more…]