soreness Archives - X-REP.COM

Soreness and Muscle-Size Spikes

Q: First, I gotta say that I’m loving the X-centric Mass Workout. I was struggling to get my weight past 195, but now I’m at 203 and still climbing fast. However, my arms aren’t growing as fast as I’d like. I’ve plateaued at 17 1/4 inches, which isn’t symmetrical with the rest of my body. My chest has expanded, my lats are wider, and my legs are thicker, but all those muscle groups are leaving my arms behind. I’ve noticed that the muscle groups that get sore the next day seem to grow the most. My arms never seem to get sore. Is there a relation between muscle soreness and growth? How do I get my arms to 18 inches or beyond?

A: That’s great progress from an overall muscle-gain standpoint. Unfortunately, we all have stubborn bodyparts, and yours happens to be the one that’s most important to almost every trainee—arms, which we all want BIG to stretch the sleeves of our Ts…. [Read more…]

New Angle for More Mass and a Beastly Back

Q: I’m on the Size Surge 2.0. I’m loving it! Feeling bigger already, but I have a question about shrugs. I started with dumbbell shrugs, 4X style. Then I went to barbell shrugs and got a whole new soreness in my upper back. The exercises don’t feel that different. Why did I get so sore?

A: Amazing how one little tweak to an exercise can trigger new soreness. It’s all about angle of pull and restriction vs. non-restriction. [Read more…]

Shock-centric Mass Blast

Q: I’ve been using your 4X method and throwing in some NA (negative-accentuated) sets every so often, mainly because I like some soreness. It makes me feel like I’ve done good work in the gym and am growing. Lately, I can’t seem to get much soreness from my workouts. Should I add sets or more NA or what?

A: There is no scientific research that shows that muscle soreness equals muscle growth—but we know what you mean. It makes you feel like you’ve hit the muscle hard enough to trigger growth, and it just makes sense that the microtrauma should translate into hypertrophy. We know for a fact that emphasizing the negative stroke of every rep can cause more soreness and that it can cause inflammation—which is temporary size. But that should lead to permanent mass… [Read more…]

Muscle Mash-Up: Good for Growth?

Q: I did all of my most recent workout with negative-accentuated sets as you suggested, and I’m very, very sore. Is that good for muscle growth?

A: Whoa! We never suggested doing an entire workout, every work set, in negative-accentuated (NA) style—that is, one second up on the positive and six seconds down on the negative. If you do all work sets that way, you will induce a lot of muscular trauma due to EXCESSIVE negative emphasis. The negative stroke induces the most soreness, so it will take many days to repair… [Read more…]

Swole Patrol: Look Bigger After One Workout

Q: I know this is a weird question, but can a muscle get bigger after only one workout? I’ve been using the X-centric Mass Workout for only a week, and I swear I look bigger in almost all of my muscles. Is it my imagination? I am motivated so maybe my mind is playing tricks on me.

A: Well, when you use negative-accentuated techniques, it produces more microtears in muscle tissue, which leads to soreness. A sore muscle definitely FEELS bigger. But is the muscle really fuller and larger?… [Read more…]

Instant Muscle Size and Soreness Sensations

Q: I’m using The Ultimate Fat-to-Muscle Workout four days per week, and I’m sore after every workout. Is that good? Does it mean I’m growing? My muscles feel and even look bigger, but can it really work that fast?

A: The reason a sore muscle feels bigger is because you’re more aware of it—when you move and you get that sensation of pain—and also because it probably is actually bigger…

When a muscle is damaged, as with the negative-accentuated sets in The Fat-to-Muscle Workout, inflammation occurs in the muscle. That draws fluid to the tissue to accelerate repair. When that inflammation happens, the muscle can look larger than usual—like you’re pumped up for a few days. [Read more…]