Ultimate Mass Workout Archives - Page 4 of 4

Rapid-Rate Muscular Growth

Q: I have been using [end-of-set] X-Rep partials and making the best gains of my life. I consider it one of the top muscle-building breakthroughs. You guys always seem to be at the cutting edge of mass techniques. Any other secrets you can recommend to boost my gains?

A: Thanks for the kind words regarding X Reps. They’ve done great things for hundreds of trainees—and we made the best gains of our lives that first X-Rep year—in only five weeks with them (no steroids, no trick photography—although the lighting is different and we have tans in the afters)… [Read more…]

X Reps on 10×10 Sets?

Q: I have most of your e-books and am really impressed with The Ultimate Mass Workout [the original X-Rep manual]. X Reps make a lot of sense for giving a set more size-building power. My question is, Should I use X Reps on 10×10 sets? And what about forced reps? Do you ever use them?

A: Remember, with 10×10 you are getting a lot of volume, even though the first few sets aren’t that tough. Nevertheless, you are still working the muscles and nervous system, so overtraining is always looming. [Read more…]

Get-Wide Back Attack

Q: I have almost all of your e-books. I can’t begin to tell you how much muscle they’ve helped me build. I’d be lost without them, and I reread them often. My question is about back width, which is one of my weak points. In The Ultimate Mass Workout [the original X-Rep manual] you say that parallel-grip chins is the Ultimate Exercise for lats. But in many of your programs, like the POF-X workout in the X-Rep Update #1 e-book, you have wide-grip pulldowns as the big midrange move for lats. But what about chins? I’ve read that wide-grip chinups are the best lat exercises. Can you clarify, please?

A: For most trainees, parallel-grip chins will put the biceps in an advantageous position to maximize pulling power, but not so good as to make the biceps the prime mover. That’s why we say it’s the Ultimate Exercise for lats—if you’re only going to do one exercise for lats, that’s at the top of the list. [Read more…]

Ultimate Exercises and Mass Machines

Q: I notice that in your Ultimate Exercises for each bodypart [listed in The Ultimate Mass Workout e-book] that some of them are on machines. Then in many of the programs in that e-book, as well as your others, you have some machine exercises in the workouts, such as pulldowns and Smith-machine incline presses. Most of the pros say to stay with free weights. If I want ultimate mass, shouldn’t I just stick with barbells and dumbbells?

A: Is it better to travel by horse or car? It depends on the terrain, right? Yes, in many instances barbells and dumbbells are best because they allow a more natural movement—more freedom. Machines tend to restrict the stroke to one plane, as in the vertical bar movement on Smith-machine incline presses or squats. [Read more…]

The Most Important Muscle-Building Exercises

Q: I know the big midrange exercises, like squats and presses, are most important for mass, but after that, do you think the stretch-position exercise or the contracted-position exercise is the best followup for extra muscle growth? The reason I ask is that I don’t have a lot of time to train, so I’m going to do the Ultimate Exercise for each bodypart [identified in The Ultimate Mass Workout e-book] and one more, either stretch or contracted, whichever you say will give me the most growth.

A: Interesting dilemma, but both the stretch- and contracted-position exercises are important for different reasons. Each triggers growth along different pathways (but there is an easy solution to your problem, as you’ll see)… [Read more…]

Key Muscle-Size Exercise for Shocking Shoulders

Q: I have limited time to train, so I try to use the best exercise for each bodypart. Your Ultimate Mass Workout e-book has been priceless in that regard, and I’m using a version of the basic program you outline with the Ultimate Exercise for each bodypart. Most are right on, but I have a problem with my shoulders. They’re not responding to dumbbell upright rows [the Ultimate Exercise for delts discussed in Chapter 6]. Is there another exercise I can use?

A: First, check your form. You should be starting with the dumbbells almost at arm’s length with your palms facing your thighs and the inner ‘bells touching. That creates a pull on the medial-delt heads in the important semi-stretch position. As you pull the dumbbells up, your hands should move out so that at the top of the stroke they are outside of your outer chest and your upper arms are parallel to the floor. [Read more…]

Bench Press Stress

Q: A guy at my gym told me that dumbbell bench presses are better than barbell benches for chest development. He said it’s because of the increased range of motion you can get with the dumbbells and the pec squeeze you can do at the top. What do you think? Should I switch?

A: Well, as we explain in The Ultimate Mass Workout e-book, neither of those is best for chest development; decline presses are a much better choice because that angle puts you in a more ergonomically correct position for hitting pecs and minimizing front-delt involvement (it’s why people lift their butts off the bench when doing them flat—to get into the more advantageous decline position). [Read more…]

New 3D HIT: More Muscle, Less Time?

Q: I’ve been checking out a lot of the high-intensity-training (HIT) stuff on the Web. Using one all-out intense set per exercise makes a lot of sense. But doing only one exercise per bodypart, as in most HIT programs, does not make sense to me. That’s why I want to try the more abbreviated HIT approach combined with 3D POF [training each muscle in three positions for full-range activation]. Any suggestions?

A: What you’re talking about is a key reason 3D Positions of Flexion evolved. It attacks the full contractibility range of a muscle for maximum fiber recruitment as well as [Read more…]

Half-Hour Workouts and the Get-Bigger Trigger

A lot of experts say that you’re either destined to have big muscles (bodybuilder look) or you’re not (distance-runner physique). It has to do with the muscle fiber types you’re dealt at birth—the genetics cards. But some cutting-edge research indicates that genetic muscle limitations may not be set in stone. You may be able to go from skinny twig to muscular and big with the right training—and it can happen very quickly and with fairly short workouts (as you’ll see, studies have tripled muscle size in animals in a month; we’ll give you training tips tied to that phenomenon in a moment). [Read more…]