vascularity Archives - Page 4 of 4

1 Set of 1 Exercise for More Cuts, Veins, and Size

Q: I’ve been using an X-centric set [lift in one second, lower in six] for every muscle and have noticed more cuts, veins, and I’m pretty sure more muscle size. I usually use it on the last set of a 4X sequence, but I’ve heard it’s better on the first set to get more of a warmup. Which is better, the X-centric set on the first or last set of 4X?

A: In a previous newsletter, we outlined how to use an X-centric set on the last set of a 4X sequence with The Ultimate Fat-to-Muscle Workout. We showed a lat routine with 4X on the first exercise.

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Muscle-On, Fat-Off Sets, Splits, and Hits

Q: I just got The Ultimate Fat-to-Muscle Workout e-book because of all the positive feedback I’ve seen. Looking over the program I notice that it’s a four-days-per-week system, but you only hit each muscle once. Is that really going to be enough work for each bodypart? I really want to lean out quickly and still build muscle.

A: If you traumatize a muscle enough, it will require several days for full recovery. And that’s one of the goals with that program…

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3 Fast Fat-to-Muscle Tips to Get You Ripped

If you’re like us, you’re a little concerned. Spring is just a few weeks away and summer will be here before you can say, “Who stole my abs.” When the heat hits, you don’t want to be the victim of an ab-napping. It’s a lot more fun if you peel off your shirt that first warm day at the beach, pool, or lake and your midsection looks like acid-etched granite.

Of course, there is a downside. You have to put up with all the glares, stares, and the questions, like, “Man, how do I get ripped?” or “What workout are you on?” or “Can I touch your abs?” LOL!

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Do this Now to Get Ripped by Spring—While Growing Muscle

Q: It’s the new year, and I feel bloated, guilty, and smooth. Abs are gone from all the holiday eating and so is most of my vascularity. Should I start dieting now to get ripped by spring? I’d guess I’m about 15 pounds overweight.

A: It’s still winter, so you want to continue building as much muscle as possible; however, it’s never too early to start leaning toward lean. And if you say you have 15 pounds to lose, it’s probably more like 20. So that’s 10 to 12 weeks to lose it—late-March, which is right when you want to be fairly lean if you want to be ripped by spring…

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Mass Method Showdown: 10×10 vs. Super TORQ

Q: I’m going to the Heavy/Light Ultimate 10×10 Workout for about six weeks. Hitting one exercise with 10×10 for a muscle and then doing full-on Positions of Flexion heavy at the new workout sounds ideal to cover all the mass bases. My question is, do you think [Doug Brignole’s] Super TORQ might be better than 10×10?

A: Interesting idea. Remember 10×10 is taking your 20-rep-max weight, but only doing 10 reps. Easy. But you rest only 40 seconds, then hit 10 more—and so on until you complete 10 sets… [Read more…]

Extreme Muscle Size: Forgotten Hypertrophy Method

Q: At your suggestion, I’ve been including higher-rep sets in many of my workouts. I’m seeing much more size and vascularity. My question is, do sets of around 20 reps work because I’m getting growth in more slow-twitch fibers or are the fast-twitch ones getting larger as well?

A: Yes, both—and as bodybuilders, we want to maximize ALL hypertrophic pathways, even size in the slow-twitch fibers. Higher-rep sets also give you anabolic hormone surges…

According to Brad Schoenfeld, Ph.D., who conducts studies on muscle hypertrophy,

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Big Arms, Veins, and Muscle Gains

Q: I notice you guys never really mention doing dips for triceps. I know Mike Mentzer said that the parallel bar dip is one of the best triceps exercises—and he had some big arms with some of the biggest, most vascular tri’s I’ve ever seen from the “moderate-steroid era.” Do you consider dips a good triceps move?

A: Dips can work well as a compound, or midrange, exercise for triceps—in place of close-grip bench presses, for example… [Read more…]

Huge Pump, Big Gains, New Veins—Grand-Finale Mass Blast

Q: I have the new Size Surge Workout 2.0, and I like the idea of adding a unique finisher to top off the pump and stimulate new growth. You suggest using a different exercise than was used in each 3-exercise Positions-of-Flexion bodypart routine, such as ending quads with leg presses, and to do it in negative or speed style. What about using Pre-Exhaustion as you’ve been discussing recently instead—like finishing off quads with a leg extension-leg press superset, one round?

A: We like that idea a lot. The idea of isolating the target muscle and then immediately blasting it further past the growth threshold with the help of other muscles is an almost magical mass-building method. And the huge pump you get with Pre-Ex is unreal… [Read more…]

To Squat or Not

Q: I’ve read a lot of your stuff over the years, especially when you had your daily training blog, so I have to ask: What’s the deal with squats? You’ve said before that they always injure you due to spine compression, and you’ll never do them again. But then I see them as the first quad exercise on leg day in some of your routines. You’re contradicting yourselves.

A: Not a contradiction; just another discovery. The way we used to do squats—building up to heavy weights over a number of sets with longer rests—produced more injuries than we care to remember. It was usually our lower backs that got jacked. As we found out the hard way over the years, having 350 pounds jamming down on your spine for even a few sets can do lots of cumulative damage. We’re living proof… [Read more…]

Before and Afters: Steroid-Using Bastards?

Q: I’ve been a dedicated lifter and eating healthy for over 20 years, and if Jonathan Lawson achieved the huge ripped size he had in those photos at the X-Rep.com Web site drug-free, I’ll eat my shorts. 🙂 Steve Holman maybe would be believable as drug-free, but I’m skeptical there too.

A: We’re not sure which photos you’re referring to, but on the left below are our afters from our first X-Rep year (the program we used is in The Ultimate Mass Workout) and on the right is the following year using many X-hybrid techniques (our program and methods are in Beyond X-Rep Muscle Building). We get the steroid accusation a lot—Jonathan especially because of his better bodybuilding genetics—but we’re both drug-free in all of our photos. Get out those shorts and start chewing… [Read more…]