Dedicated to Your Physical Transformation
Q: I just got the Size Surge 2.0 e-book. I see the two programs Jonathan used to build 20 pounds of muscle in 2 1/2 months has him using only one or two work sets per exercise, both work sets to failure. What does “train to failure” really mean? Did he use forced reps? Negatives? Or just stop when he could no longer get a full rep?
A: Jonathan trained alone for Phase 1, which was a three-days-a-week mass-exercise anabolic primer. That means he couldn’t do forced reps or negatives… [Read more…]
Q: I am a fan of your mass tactics like X-Fade, Static X and, of course, X Reps. You often list the ones you use in a workout, but often you list a 4X sequence as (4×10 + StatX). Do you do the [end-of-set] static hold on all sets, some sets or just the last set?
A: We never use those end-of-set mass tactics on more than the last two sets of a 4X sequence. And usually, it is only one unique set… [Read more…]
Q: I just got the Size Surge 2.0 e-book (thanks for the great price). It’s excellent, but you don’t mention X Reps much. I know you said when Jonathan got his great results with the original Size Surge program, you hadn’t developed X-es yet. I’ve built a lot of mass with that technique, so should I include X Reps in either phase?
A: For the uninitiated, X Reps are short eight-inch partials at the end of a full-range set. We’ll give you an alternate end-of-set mass move in a moment, but first, here’s a quick explanation of X Reps… [Read more…]
If you’ve ever been in peak condition with big, full, vascular muscles and paper-thin skin, you know it’s an incredible feeling. People notice your in-shape ripped physique everywhere you go. It’s a rush you never forget, and you seek that peak like Tiger Woods craves, um, golf. The problem comes when you can’t get that conditioning, no matter how hard you try. It’s so frustrating and your workouts go into the toilet. That’s exactly what happened to me… This is my fat-burning story… [Read more…]
Q: I’ve been using the Full-Range 4X Mass Workout [on pages 46-48 of that e-book] for a month, and I’ve noticed that my muscles appear to be not only bigger, but rounder. I’m looking more like a bodybuilder! I’m not imagining this, as people have told me that at my gym. It’s fantastic, but I’m wondering why. Is it because of the extra sets with 4X on 3 exercises for each bodypart? I was only doing one or two exercises for each muscle before, so it must be the added volume.
A: That’s part of it. The extra volume with short rests during a 4X sequence helps deplete more glycogen from the muscles, and therefore they supercompensate and store more. That extra glycogen gives the muscles a fuller, rounder look, like Bob Paris’, who is pictured below (but there’s more to it than that, as you’ll see)… [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 (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…]
Q: I just saw an interview with a top pro bodybuilder, and he said one of the keys to building mass is to explode at the bottom of every rep and attempt to move the positive rep as fast as possible. Are explosive reps a good idea? I’m afraid of getting injured.
A: The big pros are the genetic elite with superhuman muscle-fiber density, as well as ironclad tendons and ligaments. And don’t forget that many use growth hormone, which fortifies cartilage, tendons, and ligaments even more (that’s why many athletes use it—to quickly rehab soft-tissue injuries and prevent others from occurring in the gym and on the field.) [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 heard someone at my gym say that Arnold used X Reps. Is that true? I thought you guys came up with the concept a few years ago, so how could Arnold have used it?
A: Arnold used X Reps and many of the concepts we discuss in our X-Rep e-books. We know that because we worked alongside John Balik, former publisher of IRON MAN and Arnold’s former training partner and nutritionist. We talked to John a lot about Arnold’s past training. [Read more…]
Q: I’ve been using X Reps for about a month now, and I’m noticing new muscle in places like my inner chest and lower lats. Even my lower biceps are higher and fuller. Is that normal? I love X Reps!
A: While X Reps—end-of-set partials at the semi-stretch point of an exercise—are excellent at keeping tension on the muscle and activating dormant muscle fibers, they can bring out size and detail with new muscle density at the insertion point, such as the inner pecs… [Read more…]
