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Study: Training for Size vs. Strength

Jonathan squatting, dark room

Many bodybuilders think they need to train with ultra-heavy weights to get big…

While you will grow, hypertrophy may be slow—at least slower than training with moderate poundages for more reps. [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: Brad Schoenfeld, size building, size vs. strength, strength building

Muscle Size vs. Serious Strength

Ronnie Coleman doing extremely heavy triceps extensions

In a previous newsletter I mentioned the importance of focusing on one thing in your workouts.

That’s called specificity of training. [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: Brad Schoenfeld, growth threshold, hypertrophy, Lee Labrada, muscle size, powerlifting, ronnie coleman, size side effect, strength, strength building, strength side effect

Rest/Pause Mass Burst

Incline X Reps

Q: What’s your opinion of rest/pause training, the way Mike Mentzer used to do it? I’ve read that he did heavy singles with six to 10 seconds between sets, and he did only four of those rest/pause singles for each exercise.

A: We discuss Mike Mentzer and his rest/pause training in Beyond X-Rep Muscle Building (starting on page 38). His technique was as follows… [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: actin-myosin strands, beyond x-rep, heavy singles, mass building, mike mentzer, myofibrillar size, rest/pause, sarcoplasm, sarcoplasmic expansion, shoulder pain, split-positions training, strength building, x/pause

More Muscle Size: One-Set Wonders

Q: I just got your X-traordinary Arms e-book. Killer information, and I’m ready to use it to build mine into 19-inchers like Jonathan’s. My question is about the 3D HIT program in which you incorporate the arm-specialization routines. One work set for each exercise? You list a few more sets for arms, but I just can’t comprehend how one set could be enough for the other bodyparts. Can I add sets?

A: You can do anything you want, but be careful and monitor your progress. Building muscular size is all about experimentation. In fact, the 3D HIT program is our experiment into one-set-per-exercise intensity training. We’ve seen lots of research validating one-set training for building strength; however, as we explain in our e-books, packing on extreme muscle size is a different animal than merely building strength and a few fast-twitch fibers. There are different layers to attack when size is the goal. [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: arm specialization, big arms, bodyweight training, continuous tension, fast-twitch fibers, max force, MPS, muscle protein synthesis, muscle size, strength, strength building, stretch overload, super saturation, x arms

Once-a-Week Workouts and NA Training

Jonathan doing barbell curls

Q: I want to thank you for putting together the Freak-Physique e-book. What a blockbuster resource of training information and programs. I’m using the 3D Power Pyramid Program. The quote from the trainee who gained so much muscle and strength in only a few weeks using it got me stoked. My question is, I’m more of a train-each-bodypart-once-a-week guy, so can I use it that way instead of training each bodypart twice a week? If so, how should I adjust it?

A: First, you picked a great program. We get lots of positive feedback on the 3D Power Pyramid because it’s simple Positions-of-Flexion methodology but you add weight over three sets on the big midrange move (pyramid), and do only one set each of the stretch- and contracted-position exercises. It’s basically a POF strength-building workout with a big muscle-size side effect. [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: 3d power pyramid, alpha muscle, alpha-3 specialization, anabolic swelling, eccentric, endocrine system, fiber trauma, freak physique, freak-physique workout, hurts but it works, max-force generation, muscle growth, muscle size, muscle trauma, muscle-building, na training, negative-accentuated, nervous system, once-a-week workouts, POF, positions of flexion, power pyramids, recovery, specialization, strength building, systematic recovery, volume

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…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: 4X, 4x mass workout, anabolic fasting, blood flow blockage, brad pilon, burn fat, eat stop eat, fat burning, fiber activation, fiber recruitment, get ripped, high-end hypertrophy, hypertrophy, intermittent fasting, lose fat, mass moves, muscle synergy, muscle-building, occlusion, physique, pump, steven j. fleck, strength building, stretch overlaod, tension overload, TORQ, William J. Kraemer

Convert New Muscle Strength to Serious Muscle Size

3D Triceps Positions

Q: I’ve been using the Power Pyramid Program (Chapter 2 in the Freak-Physique Stretch-Overload Workout e-book) for six weeks. I’m getting incredibly strong, but I’ve only gained about four pounds of muscle. I realize it’s a muscle strength workout with a size side effect, but now I’m ready to use my new strength to go for major muscle mass. I also want to get leaner. I’m 5’10” and weigh 200 pounds with 14 percent bodyfat. What type of routine should I follow? I really like using Positions of Flexion in the Power Pyramid Program. Can I just alter that routine somehow for my new goals? 

A: Ah, so now that you’re strong like an ox, you want to get even bigger with some leanness to boot. Sounds good, and it can and will happen. You just need to take your new power in a slightly different direction—still using the multi-angular attack of POF, but altered so you pack on the most muscle size—complete development from origin to insertion. 

[Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: anabolic fasting, animal study, bodybuilders, brad pilon, eat stop eat, exhaustion, fast-twitch fibers, fat burning, freak physique, freak-physique stretch-overload workout, get lean, GH, growth hormone, hypertrophic, intermittent fasting, muscle size, muscle strength, muscle-building, POF, positions of flexion, power pyramids, size, static holds, strength, strength building, stretch overload, STX, t/nt, tension time, testosterone, traumatic/non-traumatic, X Reps

Last-Set Shuffle to Pack On More Muscle

Steve helping Jonathan with forced reps on hammer curls

Q: I like the idea of doing something different on the last set of a 4X sequence. You mentioned a drop set, and that works great. What about a heavier pure-negative set? Like on curls my partner would lift it for me, and I would lower [a heavy weight] slowly for six negative reps.

A: That depends on what you’re trying to accomplish. Pure negatives—your partner lifts the weight, and you lower in six seconds—are designed to attack the force-generating myofibrils in the muscle fibers, which means they are primarily for strength building with only minor size effects, so not really building a lot more muscle… [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: 4X, actin, build more muscle, burn fat, drop sets, fat burning, more muscle, muscle damage, muscle fibers, muscle fullness, muscle soreness, muscle trauma, muscle-building, myofibrillar expansion, myofibrils, myosin, negative-accentuated, pack on more muscle, Power, pure-negative sets, rest/pause, sarcoplasm, sarcoplasmic expansion, size, size building, strength, strength building, tension time, testosterone, x-centric

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