Dedicated to Your Physical Transformation
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…]
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…]
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…]
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…]
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…]
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…]
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…]
We discuss a lot of mass-building studies, and we often get questions about altering the procedure of those studies to make the mass effect even more effective. What the heck are we talking about? For example… [Read more…]
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…]
Q: Using a high-rep set to failure to fatigue the slow-twitch fibers prior to heavy sets for extreme mass makes sense. My heavy sets have the feeling of deeper activation, and I also like the fact the the slow twitch ones get growth stimulation too, along with more fast-twitch. My problem is that I HATE high reps. Even doing just one set of 20 to 30, I’m sure I’m stopping way early because it’s boring, not to mention it hurts. Is there another way?
A: Yes, there is absolutely another way–and to understand why it works, you need to [Read more…]
