Dedicated to Your Physical Transformation
Q: What can I do during my workouts to get leaner right now? I have some pounds to lose, especially around my middle. My goal this year is to see abs all summer, so I want to get rid of the fat fast.
A: You may be doing some of these things already, but here are our top-3 tips to ramp up fat burning in your weight-training workouts (of course, you also have to adjust your eating to make these tricks super-effective):
[Read more…]Q: I got your X-centric Mass Workout. Motivating info, and I messed around with some X-centric variations in my last workouts. Enjoying the new muscle soreness. I want to start using the Direct/Indirect X-centric Mass Workout [outlined in that e-book]. It has a standard heavy pyramid on the big exercises, last set X-centric. What do you think of using downward progression 4X instead with the last set X-centric?
A: For those who don’t have the X-centric Mass Workout e-book, the workout being referred to is Positions of Flexion, with a pyramid + X-centric set on the midrange exercise, a straight set or two on the stretch move, and a 4X sequence on the contracted-position exercise.
For example, for middle-lower chest it’s…
[Read more…]Q: I really like the 4X mass method with all sets X-centric as a one-workout shocker as you’ve recommended before. You’ve also talked about 10×10, which I’ve made great gains with before, but how about the old 8×8 method that Vince Gironda used to pack muscle on his pupils with.
A: We actually discuss Vince and his 8×8 method in the very first chapter of The Ultimate 10×10 Mass Workout e-book. It’s a great method, but you need to heed Vince’s advice if you use it…
[Read more…]Q: I’ve added a lot of muscle using Pre-Ex 3X and modified pre-ex. I must commend you for coming up with it. One problem I have is with leg extensions. They hurt my knees when I do them first. Funny that squats don’t hurt me. Leg extensions are the only quad isolator. What should I do first instead?
A: We didn’t come up with pre-exhaustion. That honor goes to the late Bob Kennedy, publisher of MuscleMag…
[Read more…]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.
[Read more…]Q: I know that the short rests between sets with 4X get your fat burning jacked with growth hormone. How can I use 4X in The Ultimate Fat-to-Muscle Workout for a double-whammy? Where would you suggest I put it, or should I use it at all?
A: The Ultimate Fat-to-Muscle Workout has you train each muscle group only once a week. That’s because you use heavy sets as well as X-centric and high reps for more fiber microtrauma—which encourages fat burning as well as muscle-fiber remodeling…
[Read more…]Q: I got your Quick-Start Muscle-Building Guide because I haven’t lifted in a few years. Fantastic info and it’s already working for me. On some exercises, you suggest lifting in 3 seconds and lower in 3 to help improve nerve force for strength. I’ve seen in many of your emails that you sometimes lift in 1 second and lower in 6. Should I try that? I think you said it helps burn fat, and I would love to see my abs sooner rather than later.
A: Lifting in 1 second and lowering in 6 is what we call X-centric, or Negative-Accentuated, training. It is a great FAT BURNER as well as MUSCLE BUILDER, but you shouldn’t use it just yet (more on why in a moment).
[Read more…]Q: The first day of [meteorological] spring slapped me in the face. My abs are gone and I feel “loose,” as in soft. I need to drop fat, especially around my middle, and add some hard muscle—like right now. How do I get it going and see abs?
A: Don’t panic. You still have about 12 weeks until summer. But because fat-loss is a slow process—if you want to hold and even gain muscle—you need to start NOW.
[Read more…]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…
[Read more…]Q: I got your 4X e-book recently and have been experimenting with the TORQ [tension-overload repetition quantity] method you outline.
A: For the uninitiated, The Ultimate Fat-to-Muscle Workout incorporates pyramids, X-centric (negative-accentuated) sets, and then two high-rep sets on a contracted-position exercise to finish for growth hormone release…
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