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Stretch Overload Results

Q: In the first chapter of the Freak-Physique Stretch-Overload Workout e-book [The Latest Stretch-Overload Research] you mention the animal study that produced a 300 percent muscle mass increase after one month of stretch loading. That is incredible, but are there any other studies that show stretch overload results?

A: When it comes to stretch-induced muscle growth, we always mention that particular animal study because it’s the most impressive—triple sizing a muscle after a month’s worth of stretch-overload “workouts” is phenomenal! And it shows the importance of stretch-position exercises for triggering extreme muscle size quickly. Stretch overload results can be pretty phenomenal.

[Read more…]

Midback Muscle Building

Q: I’ve been reading about 3D Positions of Flexion, and it makes total sense. Most of the three-way hits for each muscle are straightforward, but I’m confused about midback. Is a row classified as the big midrange exercise? With a barbell row, the arms squeeze the shoulder blades at the top, which is the contracted position. Is a barbell row both a midrange and contracted exercise?

A: You need to look at the lats and midback together to understand the three positions of flexion for each. For lats, you use pulldowns or chins as the big midrange exercise. Then you follow with pullovers for stretch and stiff-arm pulldowns for contracted.

For midback muscle building, there’s no need for a midrange exercise—you get that on the pulldowns or chins for lats. Those exercises pull the arms down and back, which affects the lats as well as the midback…

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Try this for a sick muscle-hypertrophy uptick

Q: I have a hard time feeling some of my muscles working, especially short-range ones like abs. Should I go heavier, lighter, slower, or what? I know feeling the target muscle working is very important for the fastest results.

A: You can say that again. Getting in touch with the target muscle on every rep is a big key to muscle hypertrophy…

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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…

[Read more…]

How to Thicken Your Back and Re-Rip Your Abs

Q: In the Pre-Ex 3X Mass Workout and Size Surge 2.0 e-books I just got, you have bent-arm bent-over laterals for midback. The illustration shows palms facing back, but I feel them better with my palms down. Which way is best for midback mass? I need more thickness between my shoulder blades.

A: The bent-arm bent-over lateral raise is a CONTRACTED-position midback exercise in the Positions-of-Flexion mass-building protocol. You do them like a bent-over lateral raise for your rear delts, only you allow more of an elbow bend so you can better squeeze your middle traps to thicken your back. [Read more…]

Ultimate Exercises for Mass

Q: I’m reading your original X-Rep e-book [The Ultimate Mass Workout], and you have the Ultimate Exercises listed for each muscle. For lats, it’s close-, parallel-grip chins. I have a hard time with chins because I weigh around 220 pounds. Can I do them on the pulldown machine instead?

A: Yes, do them on the pulldown machine for now; however, once you’re strong enough, do the chinup-bar version… [Read more…]

Anabolic Hormone Reset for Fast Freak Physique Results

We’ve discussed our “iFast” method for simultaneous hypertrophy and fat loss (yes, it is possible)…

It’s basically a 12-hour protocol done only two non-consecutive days during the week…

We were apprehensive at first, but it works. Here are Steve’s results—and he’s in his 50s… [Read more…]

All-10×10 Program: Good or Bad?

Q: You have an all-10×10 program in your e-book [The Ultimate 10×10 Mass Workout], but I’ve heard that you don’t think total 10×10 routines are that great. I wanted to try it, but now I’m not so sure. Do you still believe that the all-10×10 program is not good?

A: For those unfamiliar with it, 10×10 is taking a weight you can get about 20 reps with, but only doing 10. You rest for 30 seconds, then do 10 more and so on until you complete 10 sets of 10 reps. The first sets are a breeze; the last ones are brutal and create an insane pump and burn.

The beauty of 10×10 is that you do it on one exercise per bodypart, so a muscle is cooked to the bone in about 10 minutes. The problem with the all-10x1o program is that it’s pure DENSITY…

As we’ve said, the dominant fiber type in the biggest bodybuilders is the DUAL-component type-2As. They have both a power and density, or endurance, component. That means you need BOTH power and endurance to build the most muscle size. With 10×10 you’re getting almost pure density. But that can be a good thing…

Total 10×10 training is great if you’ve been doing a program dominated by power-oriented sets—as most bodybuilders do. The majority neglect density almost completely because they are brainwashed into believing that heavy weights build the most muscle. Even we’ve fallen into that trap before. That’s why when we first tried an all-10×10 program, we each packed on more than 5 pounds of muscle. We thought we’d found the Holy Grail of muscle building…

However, gains quickly subsided and began to regress—because now we had been neglecting the POWER component. The moral is that if you use a total-10×10 program like the first program outlined in The Ultimate 10×10 Mass Workout with only the ultimate exercise for each muscle, use it for only 3 to 4 weeks (our gains began to regress after week 4). Then go back to a balanced attack or even a power-oriented workout.

A good, balanced attack is the Heavy/Light 10×10 Mass Workout later in the 10×10 e-book. On that one, you do a heavy, straight-set POF workout for a muscle—power—then the next time you train it, you do only the big exercise for 10×10—a total 10-minute density mass blitz. Balanced power/density for major muscle immensity!

Jonathan Lawson outside - All 10x10 Program: Good or Bad?

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

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

Boost Testosterone…
With Cardio?!

If you want to build muscle (of course you do!) and ramp up your testosterone levels while burning a ton of fat at the same time, you need to try this workout if you haven’t already…

–> Use this cutting-edge cardio trick to boost testosterone and muscle growth
Note: This is NOT traditional HIIT or boring steady-state cardio

Ignite a Fat-to-Muscle Reshuffle

Q: I got your three fat-loss e-books [Triple-Shred Offer], and I’ve read them all. Great information, and I’m soooo ready to start. I like the X-treme Lean High-Definition Workout, but I’d want to incorporate a negative-accentuated set for each muscle [as you discuss and include in The Ultimate Fat-to-Muscle Workout]. Where should I put the NA set in the X-treme Lean Workout? I want to be ripped this summer while I still have time!

A: Excellent question, and we’re glad you’re tailoring the workouts to your needs—to rip up faster. You’re right. Using a negative-accentuated set for each bodypart should make the X-treme Lean High-Def Workout even better, just don’t get carried away (of course, you’ll also need to stick to the diets and eating info in that e-book as well)… [Read more…]

Drop Fat Like a Bad Habit

Q: I’m looking to drop fat like a bad habit. My question is, what’s the difference between your X-treme Lean e-book and The Ultimate Fat-to-Muscle Workout? Is one better than the other for my goals?

A: The simple answer is that X-treme Lean contains more diet and nutrition info while The Ultimate Fat to Muscle Workout is more about the right type of training to max out fat loss as you gain muscle mass… [Read more…]