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Try This for New Growth Fiber Activation and Muscle Expansion

Q: I’ve been using MMX Compound Aftershock [from a recent newsletter]. The high-rep stretch exercise first, before the big compound move, really makes a difference. What a great burn and pump. If I use a high-rep contracted-position move first, is that postactivation?

A: Yes, you could consider it postactivation, as it too increases growth-fiber recruitment on the second big exercise. So for quads, Compound Aftershock would be high-rep sissy squats followed by a superset of lower-rep sissies and squats… [Read more…]

Rev your Mass Machine with the S-Overload Workout

Q: I’ve been hearing a lot about muscle stretch and how it is uniquely anabolic. What is the best way to build mass with this information—a freehand stretching routine?

A: While freehand stretching routines can do okay things for muscle growth, a much more effective mass-building route is doing a workout of all stretch-position exercises with weights. 

That way every bodypart will get the anabolic acceleration of [Read more…]

Size Principle Reload

Q: I’ve made the best mass gains of my life with your 4X method. I know you guys got new size with it too, so my question is, why Anabolic Reload STX (slow-twitch exhaustion)? I realize that it also does not require heavy weights, but is it better than 4X?

A: First, both methods accomplish the same thing: full-blown fiber hypertrophy with slow-twitch-fiber pre-exhaustion, triggering more high-growth fast-twitch fibers to fire on the last sets.

It’s the Size Principle of Muscle Fiber Recruitment… [Read more…]

Insane Hypertrophy

If you’ve been with us for a while, you know we harp on “change to gain” a lot, especially for those who want insane hypertrophy…

It pays BIG muscle dividends to periodically alter your workouts—sometimes radically. And, yes, even we get stuck in ruts and forget to rotate in some new hypertrophy smart bombs… [Read more…]

STX + SEX for Massive Muscle Growth

Q: The Anabolic Reload Mass Workout, with a high-rep set first to fatigue slow-twitch fibers (STX), has helped me add six pounds of muscle in four weeks. Now I’m ready to go back to a three-way split, but the STX method worked so well that I want to keep using it, but after my heavy work. I’m in my 20s, so heavy weights is not a problem. Any suggestions? (Title: STX + SEX for Massive Muscle Growth)

A: That’s exactly why we love The Anabolic Reload Mass Workout for a two-to-six-week mass burst… [Read more…]

Iso-bolic Hold for Freaky Muscle Size

Q: I am totally onboard with a high-rep set first to fatigue slow-twitch fibers first. I’ve noticed visible size gains in only one week using the Anabolic Reload program. What do you think about an isometric hold (iso-bolic hold) in the contracted position, like the top of a leg extension, for over a minute to accomplish that same slow-twitch fatigue first?

A: That’s an interesting question. Most people believe that a bundle of fibers fire on a rep, then more bundles engage on the next rep, and so on as the set progresses. However… [Read more…]

Muscle-Fiber Research: Double your growth

Q: I find it exciting that type-1 endurance fibers are also capable of showing a significant level of muscular hypertrophy. I’ve already seen significant new growth using the high-rep-set-first method from Anabolic Reload. My question is, Won’t a slow-mo style on that first set work just as well, like your X-centric method [7-second sets] and be good change to gain, and maybe even double your growth? 

To clarify, the high-rep set first helps trigger growth in the slow-twitch fibers AND also pre-fatigues those fibers so you get better fast-twitch activation on the heavier sets that follow. Very efficient for hyper-hypertrophy, a.k.a. freak-physique mass that can double your growth potential… [Read more…]

Best Rest for Freak-Physique Mass

Q: I saw a study that says resting longer between sets produces the most muscle gain. So should I increase the 30-second rests in the STX workouts in Anabolic Reload to 1 1/2 to 2 minutes for best rest results?

A: We’ve seen that study, and it’s right on. But it doesn’t refute our 30-second rests in the Anabolic Reload STX workouts. Why? It has to do with what you’re trying to accomplish with the earlier sets in a sequence and how muscle fibers fire… [Read more…]

The real reason advanced bodybuilders’ muscles are freaky huge (no, not steroids)

Q: You talk about including higher-rep sets in workouts so you build the fast-twitch fibers as well as the mitochondria and sarcoplasmic fluid. But in light of the new findings that slow-twitch fibers have much more growth potential than previously thought, couldn’t slow-twitch growth be the real reason bodybuilders who use both lighter weights and heavy weights develop extreme muscle size?

Yes, it is all of the above: fast-twitch AND slow-twitch swelling as well as sarcoplasmic fluid expansion and mitochondria proliferation… [Read more…]