Dedicated to Your Physical Transformation
Q: I love the 4X mass method and am already seeing new size from it after only two weeks. I notice you’ve been recommending different methods on each set sometimes. Does that work better for mass? Should I be doing that?
A: One method we often recommend is the progressive speed tactic. We know one thing about it for certain: The feel is unreal—deep ache with a muscle-expanding pump after only three sets… [Read more…]
Q: I’m having a lot of trouble with delts. I don’t feel any of the exercises, and my delts never get sore. Right now I’m using a [Positions-of-Flexion] routine. Should I add exercises for some new muscle growth in my shoulders?
A: One of the big problems with delts is that they don’t get enough eccentric, or negative stress. And science says that lowering is the most important for muscle growth (the negative is what causes muscle soreness)…
Think about it. On lateral raises, the leverage shift is extreme, with high resistance through the top third of the stroke and almost zero through the bottom third. [Read more…]
Q: I like the idea of doing something different on the last set of a 4X sequence. You mentioned a drop set, and that works great. What about a heavier pure-negative set? Like on curls my partner would lift it for me, and I would lower [a heavy weight] slowly for six negative reps.
A: That depends on what you’re trying to accomplish. Pure negatives—your partner lifts the weight, and you lower in six seconds—are designed to attack the force-generating myofibrils in the muscle fibers, which means they are primarily for strength building with only minor size effects, so not really building a lot more muscle… [Read more…]
Q: I’m a competitive powerlifter, so I haven’t tried your 4X method. It requires moderate weights, and that’s not me. I need to train heavy. But I have been using your X-centric sets, usually only one or two at the end of each heavy compound exercise, like bench presses and squats. My problem is that I’ve been using X-centric sets for a month, but I’m five pounds heavier. I’m worried because I don’t want to jump a weight class at my next lifting meet. I’m pretty sure it’s all muscle because I’m seeing more striations in my chest, legs, and even shoulders, and many of my bodyparts look rounder. Should I stop using X-centrics? Is this happening because of the extra fiber trauma I’m getting from those sets?
A: The extra fiber trauma from emphasizing the negative stroke on your negative-accentuated (NA) sets is no doubt part of the reason you’ve added new muscle quickly—that causes fiber remodeling, or growth; X-centric sets also cause more fiber inflammation, which can make you look bigger and rounder. But there’s more to it than that (exciting stuff for those of us who want to pack on maximum muscle size)… [Read more…]
Q: I’ve been using your 4X method and throwing in some NA (negative-accentuated) sets every so often, mainly because I like some soreness. It makes me feel like I’ve done good work in the gym and am growing. Lately, I can’t seem to get much soreness from my workouts. Should I add sets or more NA or what?
A: There is no scientific research that shows that muscle soreness equals muscle growth—but we know what you mean. It makes you feel like you’ve hit the muscle hard enough to trigger growth, and it just makes sense that the microtrauma should translate into hypertrophy. We know for a fact that emphasizing the negative stroke of every rep can cause more soreness and that it can cause inflammation—which is temporary size. But that should lead to permanent mass… [Read more…]
Q: You’ve said that training each bodypart only once a week never worked for you. But I saw mention in a previous article that you did make gains doing that with X-centric training. I like training each bodypart only once a week because that’s the way the pros do it. Should I use X-centric training to make it work better for me?
A: First, following the pros workouts is a bad idea for 99 percent of us. Steroids and other anabolic drugs make most of what they do NOT applicable to drug-free trainees. It’s like trying to make your Toyota Camry perform the same way as a Formula-One racing car. It can’t be done without some MAJOR “enhancements.”… [Read more…]
Q: You guys don’t seem to like training each muscle only once a week like a lot of pro bodybuilders. How come?
A: More muscle-training frequency is a BIG size stimulator, especially for drug-free trainees—if you do it correctly. Many pros can get away with training each bodypart with excessive volume only once a week because of genetic superiority and, of course, excessive drug use. In fact, if you look back at the best bodybuilders of yesteryear, when steroid use was minimal, training each bodypart THREE times a week was the norm prior to a contest. It’s a bit of a forgotten muscle-size trick… [Read more…]
Q: I have most of your e-books, and every one of them is great. I’ve learned so much from them, and I’m gaining faster than ever. My question is that in The Ultimate Fat-to-Muscle Workout you use power sets, negative-accentuated sets, and then end with high-rep sets to finish off a muscle. But in the X-centric Mass Workout, you have a similar program, but you end each bodypart with 4X instead of high reps. When it comes to the finisher sets, which way is better?
A: Neither is better—just different. Arnold used to use high-rep burnout finisher sets. Those were a good complement to his many heavy power sets. He’d either use them on the last exercise for a muscle or do a high-rep set as the last finisher for almost every exercise. Either way, you end up with a skin-stretching pump… [Read more…]
Q: I need a way to intensify a negative-accentuated set. I recently bought your X-centric Mass Workout e-book, and it, you say that a partner can help at the end of a set by assisting on the positive so I can continue with negatives. But I don’t have a partner… Any other mass tip suggestions?
A: Use the rest/pause technique. Do your normal negative-accentuated set (NA), using one second on the positive and six seconds on the negative. When you reach exhaustion and can’t get another, rest for six seconds or six deep breaths, then continue with as many as you can do… [Read more…]
Q: In the X-centric Mass Workout you end each bodypart routine with the contracted-position exercises for 4×10 density with minimal rest. But you have quoted studies that show how stretch-position exercises can build muscle very quickly. Can I do the stretch exercise 4×10 last and with the contracted move before it for a standard set or two instead?
A: That’s a great idea. You could use that stretch-overload finisher for a few weeks, and then switch back to a contracted-exercise chaser with 4×10 density. We’ll give you an example in a moment, but first… [Read more…]
