tension time Archives

Should I Do More?

Q: I’ve noticed in a lot of your e-book routines that you often recommend just two work sets for an exercise Why? Should I do more? I’ve read that most bodybuilders do four or five sets per exercise.

A: As Arthur Jones, the creator of Nautilus machines said: “You can train hard or you can train long, but you can’t do both.” Short and hard or long and not so hard both work. Despite what some die-hard high-intensity trainers say, gradually increasing volume is a form of overload that can result in more muscle—if you don’t overdo intensity. It’s a balancing act. Us? Regardless of whether it’s one of our low-set workouts or high tension time workouts, we’re about efficiency of effort in the gym…

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Super Density for Massive Muscularity

Q: I read that [Fat-to-Muscle] negative-accentuated sets [one second up and six seconds down on every rep] works well as a Density method. I’m using the Basic Power-Density Mass Workout, one Ultimate Exercise for each muscle, and was thinking about doing a power pyramid first, and then for density, I’d do a drop set on the last heavy set. I’d drop to a negative-accentuated set. Is that a good plan?

A: We really like it when bodybuilders think and create innovative combos. In this case, however, there’s a problem, as we’ll explain—but we’ve got a better size-building solution.

To clarify your progression suggestion, let’s apply it to a specific exercise. Say you’re doing incline presses…

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Can a Wimp Build Muscle? + Testo Murder!

Q: I feel like a wimp. There is no way I can hold the weight in the stretch position for 30 seconds after a set as you’ve recommended before. On some exercises, I can get maybe 15 seconds, but on many, I can’t even get 10 seconds. Should I just forget bodybuilding and take up speed walking (kidding)?

A: Everyone’s pain tolerance is different. And, if you notice, most trainees will opt for methods that hurt least. It’s why most prefer heavy, low-rep training. Higher reps hurt like hell—and adding a stretch-hold at the end of even a 10-rep set can be excruciating. But, as you said, the stretch-hold is easier on some exercises, like incline curls where your arms just hang, as opposed to overhead extensions where you have to keep upward pressure on the weight to prevent elbow trauma…

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Once-a-Week Workouts

Q: I’ve tried training each bodypart once a week, but it doesn’t seem to work for me. I’ve read about guys making that sort of program work and making great gains. Maybe I’m just not working hard enough to require that much recovery time? Any suggestions on how to make once-a-week workouts work?

A: We’ve done a lot of research and experimentation over the years, and although our first attempts at once-a-week workouts didn’t produce muscle gains, we believe we’ve discovered a simple way to make it work—more fiber trauma.

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Gymnasts’ Muscles—Olympic Size-Sculpting Method

If you’ve watched the male gymnasts during the Olympics before, you no doubt noticed their eye-popping upper-body mass. Some have delts, arms, and torsos that resemble competitive bodybuilders’. Very impressive, especially considering that muscle mass isn’t one of their goals; it’s just a side effect of their sport…

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Dumbbell Upright Rows to Grow

Q: I like the idea of doing dumbbell upright rows first as the midrange movement for shoulders [as recommended in the 3D Muscle Building e-book]. I just have trouble feeling the X Reps at the end after I reach exhaustion. Should I just do a drop set instead?

A: As we explained in the last e-zine, drop sets are better for continuous tension/occlusion exercises—contracted-position moves like laterals for delts, leg extensions for quads, etc. You’re looking to maximize force production with the big midrange exercise, so X Reps is the best choice…

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Mix Muscle Hits to Get Big and Ripped

Q: Thanks for the X-centric Mass Workout! Mixing heavy work, negative-accentuated sets, and 4X has given me the best gains of my life. My bodyweight increased over 5 pounds, but my abs are sharper with veins in the lower part. I’m stoked, and the ladies seem to like it too. LOL! My question is about NA sets vs. negatives at the end of regular sets. After two heavy sets, you say to reduce the weight on the last set for an NA set on the big exercise [like bench presses]. Couldn’t I just keep the weight heavy and add four to six negatives at the end of that last set? I feel like I need another heavy set. I have a partner, so he could lift and I could lower on the negatives. I think Mike Mentzer recommended this style.

A: In his prime, Mentzer actually recommended a 3-phase set to get big and ripped…

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High-Rep Overload for Muscle Growth—How Much Is Too Much

Q: I’m intrigued by the Super TORQ ultra-high-rep approach. But I’m also making great gains with your standard 3-exercise Positions of Flexion training. Can I use his method on one of the three exercises for each bodypart in the POF routine, or would that be too much?

A: If you’ve read the interview with Doug Brignole in The Ultimate Power-Density Mass Workout 2.0 and checked out his program there, you can see that he only does ONE key exercise for each target muscle with that extreme high-rep approach…

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Small Bones, Big Arms

Q: I’ve been training like a madman for six months, but my arms haven’t budged. I’m getting stronger, and I do see more veins on my biceps, but my arms are still skinny. A guy at the gym told me it’s because I have small bones. My wrists are under 7 inches around, and he said I can’t expect much size with small wrists. Is that true?

A: Um, in a word, NO. It’s not true. The size of your wrist has nothing to do with where your biceps and triceps attach, how much muscle-fiber density your muscles have, or your ability to pack on muscle mass.

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Mass-in-a-Flash Transformation: How to Get Explosive Growth

Q: Okay, your before and after photos at X-Rep.com are unreal. I can’t believe you made those changes in only one month, and my friends say you used drugs. What’s the truth? How did you do it, what kind of training did you do, and were drugs involved? Please be honest.

A: Trust us, no drugs were involved. Truth: Jonathan is a drug-free for life bodybuilder and Steve experimented with 5 milligrams of Dianabol once a day back in his early 20s—but after three weeks of dreams that his liver would explode, he stopped. BTW, he saw no visual improvement during those 3 weeks on that dosage.

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