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Press Here for Shoulder Size

Q: I’m using Jonathan’s 10-Week Size Surge Workout [in the 3D Muscle Building e-book], and for shoulders, it has dumbbell upright rows as the first exercise for midrange work; then I do incline one-arm laterals for stretch, and then standing laterals [contracted]. I added two sets of dumbbell presses after that for more shoulder size, as you’ve suggested, for some overhead shoulder work. My question is, Why do you sometimes recommend presses first? Aren’t those dangerous for your shoulder joints?

A: We only do behind-the-neck presses first if we use a technique that allows lighter weight, such as negative-accentuated (six-second lowering), 4X, 10×10, TORQ, etc. As you said, in the quest for shoulder size, heavy weights on behind-the-neck exercises can wreck your rotator cuffs.

For heavy pressing at the start of a shoulder workout, we use either Smith machine military presses (to the front) or dumbbell presses…

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The ultimate change-to-gain tactics for muscle size

Q: I get confused. Should I try to change exercises at every workout to keep my muscle adapting and growing?

A: The problem is that your body really needs to adapt to a movement pattern over the course of a few workouts before you change exercises—at least that’s the theory… [Read more…]

Muscle-Building Myths—Or Are They? (controversial muscle-building info)

Q: I heard that close-grip bench presses can build the inner pecs. But then a pro bodybuilder said that’s false. He said no exercise can build the “inner” pecs—or “lower” biceps for that matter, and that those are muscle-building myths. Which is correct?

A: While close-grip bench presses won’t direct development to the inner-chest area, some researchers suggest that putting a muscle into elongation, or stretch, against resistance can thicken the fibers at the insertion point. For example, doing flyes for more chest beef near the sternum… [Read more…]

Shocking New Muscle Mass: TORQ – DP 4X – Modified Pre-Ex

Q: I do four-week phases of different workouts from your various e-books. That strategy works great for me. I’ve gained 10 pounds of muscle in three months, and that’s after training consistently for 10 years. I’m getting ready to start the Modified Pre-Ex 3X Mass Workout. After all the positive talk about TORQ, I was thinking about using that on the first exercise, the isolation move. Is that a good idea for building new muscle mass?

A: Absolutely. We’ve talked about that before, and we used to use TORQ-ed up modified Pre-Ex as a shock tactic in our old Freaky Friday workouts… [Read more…]

TORQ-ing Up Your Mass F/X Workout

Q: I’ve recently had to cut back my workouts to three days a week and was looking back through many of the X-Rep e-books. I came across the Mass F/X program in 3D Muscle Building that looks fantastic. Just what I’m looking for. But I would like to use TORQ instead of the drop sets and rest/pause on tension-time days. Will that be too much work?

A: Tension-Overload Repetition Quantity is one of the best DENSITY training techniques we’ve found for blowing up the muscle with new sarcoplasmic size… [Read more…]

Progression Loading to Up Your Mass

Q: I am making solid gains with the Pure Positions routine in the Stretch Overload ebook. Training the midrange exercise at one workout, contracted at the second, and stretch at the third is some killer change to gain each week. My question is, you have STX [high-rep set followed by a lower-rep set and rest/pause set] for every exercise. Your most impressive ebook, IMO, is Super-Size Crash Course, with TORQ, Progressive-Speed 4X, and, my favorite, Downward-Progression 4X. Can I use those instead of STX every so often for even more variation?

A: Absolutely—in fact, we encourage it because all of those are amazing unique mass methods. Remember, something in your workout must change if you want to continue to gain…

Switching to different mass attacks is the best way. Why? Because it’s [Read more…]

Triple-Threat Mass-Building Sets (use with caution)

Q: I’ve been training for about 20 years now (I’m 44), and I am getting my 14-year-old son into it. He’s been working out about four months, breaking in, but I still do NOT want him to go “heavy.” I have him using your 4X method, which is great at his stage. I was thinking about the Progressive-Speed 4X version as well, specifically the speed set in order to help build the power fibers. Is that a good idea at his age, or should he use with caution?

A: First, what you have him doing now is perfect. Moderate-weight growth-threshold 4X is fantastic for young teens getting into lifting. Heavy weights may damage young joints early on, so it’s a good idea to get neophytes gradually acclimated… [Read more…]

Insane Hypertrophy

If you’ve been with us for a while, you know we harp on “change to gain” a lot, especially for those who want insane hypertrophy…

It pays BIG muscle dividends to periodically alter your workouts—sometimes radically. And, yes, even we get stuck in ruts and forget to rotate in some new hypertrophy smart bombs… [Read more…]

Ultra-Higher-Rep Isolation for New Mass Creation?

Q: I tried Arnold’s method of using a high-rep set to end my major exercises, like bench presses, (Ultimate Power-Density Mass Workout e-book, Chapter 1). But I’m just too fatigued to feel the target muscle on that last set. After reading about Doug Brignole’s 50-40-30-20-10 method in Chapter 4, I was thinking about using that on an isolation exercise to feel the target muscle better, like crossovers for chest after bench. Is that a good idea?

A: It could be, but you left a lot of variables out. For example, how experienced are you? That amount of work may be too much. How many days per week are you training each muscle? If it’s once, that amount of volume may work well, if it’s twice, maybe not.

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