Dedicated to Your Physical Transformation
Q: I notice that you guys often use a double-drop set on the last one when you do TORQ. I love that muscle maker variation, and it appears it’s gotten me bigger in the past few weeks. Do you have any other ways to vary that method?
A: To refresh memories, TORQ is tension-overload repetition quantity… [Read more…]
Q: I’m using 4X, TORQ, and Super TORQ exclusively—no heavy training. I’ve already added about six pounds of new muscle in just a few months. Can I train each muscle more frequently than every four days? It seems like with moderate poundages, each muscle would recover quicker and I could train more often to grow even faster. Should I try it?
A: Try it. Whether it works well will depend on your recovery ability—and your age may also have a bearing…
Consider this: Research has discovered that the older we get, the more muscle inflammation derails muscle growth. [Merrit, E.K., et al. (2013). J App Physiology.]
So the more trauma you inflict at your workouts as you get older, the harder it is for you to recover and grow. That may also be the case for hardgainers—they’re more susceptible to inflammation, resulting in slow-to-no growth.
Here is the conclusion of the researchers in that study:
We show for the first time that human aging is associated with muscle inflammation susceptibility (MuIS, i.e. higher basal state of pro-inflammatory signaling) that is present in both tissue and isolated myogenic cells and likely contributes to the impaired regenerative capacity of skeletal muscle in the older population.
By using lighter poundages, as with 4X, and/or more repetitions per set, as in our TORQ and Mr. America Doug Brignole’s Super TORQ, you reduce the amount of trauma and increase your capacity to grow.
With TORQ and Super TORQ, you also get a variety of tension times. TORQ stands for tension-overload repetition quantity. Our version is 30-20-15 reps with 40 seconds between. We use multiple exercises per muscle with TORQ…
Brignole, on the other hand, uses only ONE exercise per muscle, but his reps are 50-40-30-20-10, with drop sets on the last one.
With either of those you get high-end tension times that so many bodybuilders miss—60 to 90 seconds per set. And with either of those you may be able to get away with training each muscle every two or three days…
Brignole hits each muscle once every four to five days. His complete workout is in the Power-Density Mass Workout 2.0 e-book, along with his full interview on his method, which exercises are best and more…
In the interview he says,
It’s truly amazing how good a workout one can get with only five sets and one exercise. I’m growing like a weed. Awesome pump.
So, yes, you may be able to train each muscle sooner than Doug does—if you’re younger AND you have good recovery ability. For us old guys, we get to suffer through TORQ less often. Hey, at least there’s one good thing about getting old. LOL!
Just remember, it takes experimentation for maximum mass creation.
Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
—Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
www.X-Rep.com
Here’s a new probiotic product to help your good gut bacteria dominate for optimum anabolic uptake so you get massive muscle gains. See for yourself with a FREE trial. This is great get-huge news…
To celebrate selling nearly 2 million bottles of their premium probiotic formula Pro-X10®, the founders of BioTrust Nutrition want to reward anyone who visits the link below today with a FREE 30-count bottle of this revolutionary gut-health yielding, muscle-building probiotic supplement… with ZERO strings attached!
It’s truly FREE (no autoship, no future charges – nothing; you pay only a small shipping fee). The premium and patented ingredients in Pro-X10 have been shown through research to:
Talk about research-backed results, not to mention off-the-chart muscle gains with renewed nutrient assimilation! Stop wasting workouts due to a “bad” gut. You’ve got nothing to lose, and plenty of new muscle to gain. Go to…
>FREE OFFER: Restore GOOD gut bacteria to set your muscle gains off the chain (limited inventory)
Q: I stumbled across some of your old daily training blog posts, and I notice that you’d often call your last workout of the week Freaky Friday. What’s up with that? Are those freak-physique techniques you use something I can implement to grow more mass quickly? I need more size!
A: Bodybuilders always need more size—somewhere. And that’s why we implemented freak-physique techniques on Fridays for a long time. Freaky Friday was basically our way to train “outside the box.” [Read more…]
Q: I’ve been using straight-up Positions of Flexion, and I’ve put on a lot of muscle in the last two months. I’m up about 10 pounds using the 3D Power Pyramid Workout [in the Freak-Physique Stretch-Overload e-book]. My gains slowed after about six weeks, so I started using TORQ on the last exercise [30-20-15 reps, 45 seconds rest]. Unreal pump and new veins coming in. But since I’m doing a two-way split, those three sets on so many exercises really drain me. Can I do just two, 30 and 20 reps?
A: Absolutely! The number of set depends on your individual recovery ability and the intensity of your entire workout. With the 3D Power Pyramid program in the Freak-Physique e-book, you’re doing heavy sets on the midrange and stretch exercises, so using the contracted move for high-end hypertrophic stimulation is perfect… [Read more…]
Q: Thank you for clearing up the muscle-growth mystery for me. I always believed in going heavier and heavier to get bigger. Now I know that’s only a small part of the puzzle. Working in the 4X method, X Reps, drop sets, and even some of your high-rep TORQ sets has already gotten me bigger in just a few weeks. My question is, Do you think some people get a better size response from power training and others get more size from density [endurance] work?
A: Absolutely. As we mentioned in a previous newsletter, the BIGGEST powerlifters don’t train for sarcoplasmic (endurance fluid) expansion yet have good muscle size. That’s because they were big dudes in the first place, which may signify more myofibril-building capacity. That would explain their extraordinary strength. The myofibrils are the actin-myosin strands inside the muscle fiber that generate force, but for most trainees that’s not the key to ULTIMATE SIZE… [Read more…]
Q: I’ve been reading about 4X and TORQ. I’m 25 and usually train heavy, but now that I have to train at home, I’m looking for the best way to keep building muscle without a lot of weights. I’m afraid with these light training methods I might lose muscle. I’ll try them because I have no choice right now, but I think heavy is the way to grow. How do I know I won’t shrink if I don’t pony up for more weights in my home gym?
A: We’ve both been using 4X-based training techniques for several years. If a couple of old guys whose anabolic hormones aren’t what they used to be don’t shrink, you won’t. In fact, we’ve got trainees from all age groups who’ve tried 4X and TORQ and many start using them constantly because they make such great gains… [Read more…]
Q: I’m getting ready to hit the Size Surge 2.0 program, and I really like the Phase 2 with the Mass Finisher [3-exercise Positions of Flexion followed by one set of a different exercise]. My question is, Can I use 3-set TORQ on that Mass Finisher, or should I stick to just one set using negatives or some of the other tactics you list in that chapter?
A: TORQ is tension-overload repetition quantity for those not familiar with it. You do three sets—30, 20, 15 reps—all sets to failure, same weight on each. Rest ONLY 45 seconds between sets. You get the high-end hypertrophic tension time of more than 60 seconds that most bodybuilders never get… [Read more…]
Q: I just want to thank you for another killer variation of 4X, “downward-progression.” I’ve only been using it for a couple of weeks on the big exercises, but a guy at the gym came up to me today and said, “You’re looking seriously bigger, bro.” It’s working great and is perfect with regular 4X and TORQ (tension-overload repetition quantity). I’m using DP 4X on the heavy power exercises in The Ultimate Power-Density Mass Workout 2.0, with 4X and TORQ on the others. I’m very impressed, and apparently growing more impressive. Lol. Thank you.
A: Interesting you say that because both of us received similar compliments in the gym when we started rotating in downward-progression 4X. One guy told Jonathan his arms were looking huge, and Steve got, “If you’re trying to get bigger, it’s working.” They both left off the “bro.” [Read more…]
No, it’s not turkey and roast beef on whole wheat. It’s just a funny name for a method of training that can super-charge your mass gaining. It’s something we came up with years ago but haven’t mentioned in a long time… [Read more…]
Q: I just got the your Size Surge 2.0 e-book. Great programs and tons of motivation (Jonathan is a beast). My question is on the M4X workout you have listed with the finisher set added on. Instead of negative accentuated or pure negatives, could I do your 30-20-15 TORQ method instead? I really want to incorporate the upper hypertrophic-tension time [60-plus seconds] for more mass.
A: You could do that; BUT it’s a pretty large increase in total volume. That’s because instead of only one additional “finisher” set, you’re doing three. And instead of 7 extra reps, you’re doing 65! Quite a big difference… [Read more…]
