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Steve: Full Body (MMX Pyramid)

Feels like back to the future for my workouts–full-body three days a week. I don’t think I’ve done full-body workouts consistently since I was in my 20s–but this time with a POF and MMX twist. Training every muscle three times a week but with a different exercise each workout (POF–midrange, stretch or contracted). [Read more…]

Steve: Legs + Delts/Back/Chest (MMX Pre-Ex)

My plan was to continue with MMX Pre-Exhaustion–contracted-position isolation exercise for 20 reps, rest 30 seconds, then heavy midrange compound exercise for 10 reps. But when I got to the gym, someone was camped out on the leg extension. I thought about beginning with hamstrings instead, but I decided to improvise on quads–more experimentation. I used the stretch move as the high-rep isolation exercise. Oh, man… [Read more…]

Are squats destroying your knees? (quick-fix video)

In the Ultimate Mass Workout, the official X-Rep manual, we identify squatting-type moves as the best quad builders…

Plus, higher-rep squats have been shown to boost metabolic and anabolic drive, rapidly accelerating muscle gains—10 to 20 solid pounds in only a month. You get new growth all over, even in your arms and torso. [Read more…]

3 wicked mass tactics for new size (pain to gain)

Q: I like the idea of training quads by doing front squats supersetted with back squats. My quads get almost a pre-ex effect from the strict fronts, then my glutes get better leverage on the backs to drive my quads for more growth. But I’m not very strong on fronts and can get a lot of reps when I immediately go to back squats after. Should I just do high reps on the back squats—say 6 on the fronts and 12-15 on the backs? [Read more…]

More Mass-Building Myths Busted (logic or looniness)

Q: I read where old-school bodybuilders would use lighter weights and higher reps on some exercises before competition to get more muscle detail. That’s total B.S., right?

A: On the surface, yes. But ending a bodypart with higher-rep work—or even doing entire workouts with higher rep work, enhances muscle burn. No, that’s not fat burning—at least not in a strict sense… [Read more…]

2 Easy Ways for BIG Muscle Gains

Q: You recently mentioned that adding sets to 4X to make it 6X or higher emphasizes density with less power. Wouldn’t that be a good way to get more muscle gains in the endurance-oriented muscles like abs, calves, and forearms? Even quads?

A: That’s a good observation. Some muscles are much more endurance oriented and require a distinct density emphasis to grow as opposed to power. Exclusive low-rep power training doesn’t do much for forearm or calf muscle gains in most trainees. [Read more…]

Sissy Squat Substitutes

Q: I am blown away by your Positions-of-Flexion training. My gains have been unreal since I started using some of the three-position POF bodypart programs in [the 3D Muscle Building e-book]. My question is that I’ve had knee surgery and therefore have some pain doing sissy squats [the stretch-position exercise for quads]. Is there a substitute?

A: The sissy squat is THE full stretch-position move for quads because the legs and torso remain on the same plane through the entire set. That provides full elongation in the quads in the bottom position. [Read more…]