testosterone replacement therapy Archives

Pyramid Power: Secret to Mega Mass and Strength

Q: I just got The Ultimate Power-Density Mass Workout and The X-traordinary X-Rep Workout. Tremendous. I’ve already read them both twice. Undoubtedly the best bodybuilding info I’ve ever seen. I noticed that in the programs in both e-books, you rely a lot on pyramiding the weight on the compound exercises. Is that better than just using the same poundage on all work sets and going to exhaustion?

A: With the type of training we list in those e-books, we believe adding weight to each work set so that the rep count decreases—9, 7, 5, for instance—is ideal to build BOTH mega mass and strength for three reasons… [Read more…]

Tips for More Muscle Now

Q: I want to thank you both. I’m from Italy, 178 cm tall, and my weight now is 68 Kg (150 pounds). At the beginning of April, my weight was only 62 Kg (136 pounds). My increase in muscular mass, almost 15 pounds, is due to you. Before your training methods, I tried so many others, but with no results. The program that worked is the 10-week Size Surge [that Jonathan used to gain 20 pounds of muscle, listed in 3D Muscle Building]. I’d like to improve my muscle mass to 75 Kg (165 pounds), with a particular emphasis on delts, back, and forearms. I believe forearms are very important. Can you suggest anything to increase my mass? I have most of your e-books, so I can look up any method you suggest.

A: Thank you for the complimentary e-mail. We’re glad you’re making such striking progress with one of our most popular and effective workouts, the 10-week Size Surge program that Jonathan used for his transformation. His progress photos during that mass-building experiment are very motivational. Just seeing his 10-week results can program your mind to help you pack on more muscle now… [Read more…]

Stretch-Position Exercises

Q: I’m using the three-position training of POF [as outlined in the 3D Muscle Building e-book] and have made excellent gains with it. I recently purchased your Quick-Start Muscle Building Guide for my nephew. It’s excellent, and I can already see changes in his muscles after three weeks, but I wonder why you don’t include stretch-position exercises, like incline curls for biceps, in the workouts. I’m sure stretch exercises are one reason I’ve added so much muscle with POF, so if beginners are to make the fastest gains possible, I would think they should use full 3D POF programs. No?

A: The reason we don’t include stretch-position exercises in the Quick-Start program is that they are more dangerous for beginners. Joe Horrigan, D.C., of the Soft Tissue Center, uses the often-injured lower-back as an example: [Read more…]

The Stretch-Strength Link

Q: I’m loving the 3D HIT program [listed in the X-traordinary Arms e-book]. Every bodypart is growing, my strength goes up at almost every workout, and I’m only in the gym for 45 minutes. So far, it’s sweet! My question is, Shouldn’t the stretch exercise be last in the 3D sequence: midrange, contracted, then stretch? I’ve read that stretching a muscle makes it weaker right after, so it only makes sense that you should do the stretch-position exercise last instead of before the contracted-position exercise; otherwise, you’ll be weaker on the contracted move. Am I off base here?

A: Either order works well for stimulating growth, and it’s good to mix it up for more adaptation (growth). But we’ll give you our reasoning for why we think the standard order (see the pics below) is best for optimum hypertrophy (fast mass) with regard to the stretch-strength link. Take biceps as an example. The standard 3D POF program is barbell curls, incline curls, and concentration curls—in that order. [Read more…]

Exciting Muscle-Size Insights

Q: After reading one of your articles that discussed the study where light, longer sets built muscle, I was thinking that maybe that’s why X Reps build so much size. Because they’re partial reps where the muscle is stretched, you block blood flow and get more tension time by making the set last longer. Do you think that’s the case—that X Reps work because they make a set last longer?

A: No doubt that ex-tending the set with X-Reps is one reason those power partials are so effective at building more muscle. As you said, you not only pulse at the target-muscle’s strongest point, where it’s elongated, but you also force the muscle to continue firing for five or more extra seconds—which means a longer tension time on any set with X Reps tacked on. That was the ground-breaking finding of that study—that extending tension time was another way to trigger hypertrophic stimulation…

[Read more…]

Muscle-Mass Measurement Mistake

Q: I just got The X-traordinary Size Surge Workout that chronicles Jonathan’s gain of 20 pounds of muscle in 10 weeks. Great info, and I’m psyched to get on the program. One observation, though… In the chapter on the Colorado Experiment, the four-week high-intensity study in which Casey Viator gained 60 pounds of muscle, he lost fat at the same time, so the scale didn’t register a 60-pound gain, only a 40-pound increase. Isn’t that true for Jonathan, too? He obviously gained a lot of muscle, but his waist measurement went down an inch, so he lost fat all over. That being the case, he probably really gained more like 25 or 30 pounds of muscle, didn’t he?

A: Hmm. You’re probably right. We stand corrected; however, we like to err on the conservative side, so we’ll say he gained AROUND 20 pounds of muscle (but probably more, as you suggest). You can sort of see his abs in the after shot, and the caliper measurements were lower, so he did lose fat…

Also keep in mind that, like Viator, he was regaining some muscle, which is easier to do than building it from scratch. Nevertheless, he did move well past his best-ever muscle size, so in our estimation, he gained at least 10 pounds of NEW muscle–or, if we use your observation of fat loss factored in, more like 15 pounds. Still an amazing gain of new mass.

In contrast, Viator actually gained back to his ORIGINAL competition weight, so no new mass was built during that four-week experiment. Nevertheless, still quite a feat of packing on beef. [Viator’s Colorado Experiment program is outlined and analyzed in the Size Surge e-book.]

Casey Viator before and after Colorado Experiment -

Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.

—Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
www.X-Rep.com

A Testosterone prescription is NOT the answer…

Millions of men are struggling with the problems associated with low-T in today’s world, such as extra belly and chest fat, low energy and stamina, lack of sexual desire, ED problems, and loss of muscle.

Sadly, millions of men also turn to Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT) to try to overcome these problems and try to feel like a new man again…BUT there are some VERY concerning problems with TRT that every man NEEDS to know.

After reading the article below, you might want to consider alternate routes of boosting your T levels naturally instead of through something that’s potentially as harmful as TRT…

–> Why Testosterone Replacement Therapy can do more HARM than good (for any ladies reading this, please pass this on to your husband or boyfriend if they are using or have considered using TRT)

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.

[Read more…]

Use Cheat Days During Your Ripping Phase

Q: I read in one of your newsletters a while back that you guys use cheat days on your diets during your ripping phase. I can’t seem to get myself to do that. I’m very focused, and slacking just isn’t in my nature. Is it really necessary?

A: We’ve tried it both ways—with cheat days and without—and we’ve found that adding in 50 to 100 grams of carbs one or two days a week makes a significant fat-burning difference. It’s both psychological and physiological. Here’s an excerpt from our X-treme Lean e-book that explains…

[Read more…]

New Angle to Push Your Muscle Size Higher

Q: I love Positions of Flexion. I can totally feel it working new fibers, and the pump is off the charts. I’ve been doing midrange, stretch, and then contracted, but I just saw that you sometimes recommend the stretch-position exercise last. Is that a good idea? Why do that?

A: The standard order is midrange, stretch, and contracted, as you’ve been doing. For example, for triceps, it’s close-grip bench presses (midrange), overhead extensions (stretch), and pushdowns (contracted)…

[Read more…]

More Muscle Mass With a Fat-Loss Blast

Q: I’ve added a lot of muscle using Pre-Ex 3X and modified pre-ex. I must commend you for coming up with it. One problem I have is with leg extensions. They hurt my knees when I do them first. Funny that squats don’t hurt me. Leg extensions are the only quad isolator. What should I do first instead?

A: We didn’t come up with pre-exhaustion. That honor goes to the late Bob Kennedy, publisher of MuscleMag…

[Read more…]