Dedicated to Your Physical Transformation
Q: I’m trying to get that crisp division between my pecs. I want to be able to see the inner part of my chest muscles from the lower part all the way up to the collarbone. I do lots of cable crossovers, but I’m only seeing a bit of detail in my lower chest. Any suggestions?
A: One problem may be fat in the area. A bit of adipose covering the pecs will blur or negate any detail. You need to be fairly lean to see the chest-muscle division (cleavage) from top to bottom.
[Read more…]Q: I remember from your old daily training blog (which I really miss) that you guys would make changes at every workout (or at least it seemed like it). Should I be doing that, or should I stick to a routine as it’s written for six weeks, then try something new? You’ve also mentioned things like “X-Fade” and “DXO” after some exercises. Do you have an e-book that explains those?
A: The frequency of change your muscles require to keep growing depends on your experience. Beginners and early intermediates don’t need change very often because they’re getting stronger as neuromuscular efficiency, or nerve
It was summer 1975, and Arnold was Mr. Olympia, bodybuilding’s top dog. The muscle world was captivated by the awesome Austrian, and for good reason…
[Read more…]Q: The before and after photos at your X-Rep site are pretty unbelievable. I mean, come on, four weeks to get those changes? You must’ve either lied about the time it took or manipulated the photos. You should be ashamed of yourselves. There’s too much of that deceptive crap on the Internet.
A: Ashamed? Actually, we’re very proud. Those photos are 100 percent authentic and accurate—no photo alterations, no steroids, and they were taken about four weeks apart. (The key technique that made it happen and a step-by-step how-to is coming up.)
[Read more…]Q: I saw
A: Well, that’s not a question, but it’s a relevant opinion—bigger is not necessarily better. In Jonathan’s case, you are seeing his most-muscular pose, and when you gain more muscle, your physique can look more “crowded” in that pose. You could argue that his muscles are starting to look too big for his frame. Steve, on the other hand, is in a semi-relaxed pose in the X-Rep photo, and a twisting ab shot in his Beyond-X photo. He looks considerably bigger in the “after” photo, but it’s a different pose, which makes it difficult to judge.
[Read more…]Q: Do you believe that a person can max out muscle growth with 4X-style training considering you only use medium poundages?
A: We know for a fact that 4X-only workouts build a lot of muscle—and without straining joints because the poundages aren’t super heavy. Remember, with 4X you take a weight with which you can get 15 reps, but you only do 10; rest 30 seconds, then do 10 more; and so on until you do 4×10—and only the last set or two are to failure…
That said, the question becomes: Is 4X, with its moderate-poundage load, sufficient to reach your genetic potential for muscle growth—without using extremely heavy weights? We are still trying to answer that question, but the evidence is pointing to YES…
Studies show that lighter poundages, with enough volume, trigger muscle growth; other studies show that heavier weights that cause more microtrauma cause hypertrophy due to “over repair,” a protective mechanism that makes muscles bigger to withstand further assaults.
We often refer to Power and Density. Heavy weights for power and lighter-higher rep sets, drop sets or short rests for density. When you use both styles, you attack the two constituents of the key 2A muscle fibers, the ones that are most prevalent in the biggest bodybuilders. The 2A fibers have both power and endurance components, so it appears that to get maximum development, you need BOTH styles of training, power and endurance, or density…
However, in The 4X Mass Workout e-book we analyze many styles of training and conclude that 4X, even though it has short rests and moderate poundages, is a BALANCE of power and density. That should be the perfect recipe for maximum mass. On the other hand, 10×10 is almost PURE density, which is why we recommend that style for short burst of only three to four weeks for a density-overload shock effect. Here is a graphic representation of power-density from the 4X Mass Workout…
There are 4X hybrid techniques that skew it more toward either power or density…
4X PYRAMID: If you want to skew 4X more toward POWER, you can use a 4X pyramid. Still adhere to short rests of 30 to 45 seconds between sets, but increase the poundage on each set. So on squats, you might use 225, 245, 255, 265, rather than 225 on all sets of a standard 4X sequence. Increasing the weight will have your reps decrease, something like 10, 9, 7, 6; however, even the last set won’t be overly heavy due to the short rest intervals.
4X NA: To skew 4X more toward DENSITY, use negative-accentuated sets. We call that SHOCK-CENTRIC training. Use a weight with which you can get about 15 reps, but only do 7—with a ONE-second positive and SIX-second negative; rest 30 to 45 seconds and repeat. Do four of those NA sets, and the last one should be extremely demanding; if not, the weight was too light. Each set will give you about 50 seconds of tension time, something your muscles aren’t used to—plus you’ll get a lot of microtrauma just like you get with heavy-weight sets—and that’s believed to trigger major mass. [For more on NA training, see The X-centric Mass Workout.]
So each NA set on squats has you lower in six seconds, then blast up to the standing position in one. Same with bench presses—lower in six seconds, drive up in one. With curls you pull the bar up in one second, lower in six—and so on…
We often experiment with all of those styles—standard 4X, 4X pyramid, and Shock-centric training—and none of them requires super heavy poundages. Our joints feel great, our muscles are big and full, and those workouts are still short enough to work with a busy schedule. We believe 4X change is another BIG key to massive gains—without joint pains!
Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
—Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
www.X-Rep.com
One of the most interesting read-me pages on Testosterone and other muscle-building hormones we’ve seen is The Truth About Testosterone.
It even talks about a fruit, a specific part, that can up your T naturally. Cranking up your testosterone will not only get you jacked in the gym, but in the bedroom too—not to mention help rip up your midsection as it ignites fat burning. If that interests you, there’s more from our colleague and registered dietician, HERE.
Q: I have your e-book with all the X-hybrid techniques [Beyond X-Rep Muscle Building]. I’m having some excellent workouts integrating one or two every time I train. My question is about Double-X Overload. As you describe it, I do a quarter rep down near the stretch position between each full rep, but I’ve also read you guys say you’ve used 1 1/4s. What’s the difference? Isn’t DXO the same as 1 1/4s?
A: The simple answer is that Double-X Overload (DXO) stresses the STRETCH or semi-stretch point—when the muscle is elongated. For example, at the BOTTOM of a press or flye. [Read more…]
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 (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…]
Q: I heard about X Reps from a guy at my gym. He suggested I get one of your X-Rep e-books, but after looking at your site, I realize there are a lot of them. I need help figuring out which X-Rep program to start with.
A: A lot of our newer trainees as us which X-Rep program to start with, so for a good overview of X Reps as well as key X-hybrid techniques, we recommend The X-traordinary X-Rep Workout. It was written a few years after our first X-Rep e-book, The Ultimate Mass Workout, so we’ve included all the critical highlights of what we learned up to that point… [Read more…]
Q: I’m thin and consider myself a hardgainer. I’ve been training with weights for two years and have managed to add only about 10 pounds of muscle. Not very impressive. I recently got your X-traordinary X-Rep Workout [e-book] and started using the X Reps in my workouts. They feel great, and I wanted to report that after using them for only a few weeks, I’ve added five pounds and look much bigger. I’m so thankful I found this technique! Are there any others I should be using? I feel like I’m finally getting the size gains I’ve been looking for.
A: Great progress! As we often say, hardgainers tend to have more of an endurance component to their muscles. You know how calves and forearms tend to respond better to longer tension times? That’s how most of the muscles on a hardgainer’s body are constructed, so they need longer tension times to grow… [Read more…]
