Sep 27, 2009 10 week mass building program. This workout is designed to increase your muscle mass as much as possible in 10 weeks. The program works each muscle group hard once per week using mostly heavy compound exercises. You will train on a 4 day split routine, resting on. Jun 02, 2012 The 4X method is very flexible. With all of those tactics plus 4X at your command, you’ll get plenty of variation for major mass creation. Editor’s note: Steve Holman is the author of many bodybuilding best-sellers and the creator of Positions-of-Flexion muscle training. For information on the POF DVD and Size Surge programs, see the ad.
Q: Do you still recommend X Reps, or is it mostly the other X techniques now, like 4X?
A: Well, the 4X mass-building method isn’t an X-Rep tactic, per se; it’s a training protocol, a sequence of multiple sets. With X Reps and X-hybrid techniques you extend one set to either activate more muscle fibers or lengthen the tension time of a set.
For example, you add standard X Reps once you reach positive failure on a set. If it’s incline presses, you continue doing partial reps from just off your chest to right below the halfway mark. The low-end, semi-stretch-point partial reps activate more fast-twitch fibers, as the semi-stretch point is the optimal position for a muscle to fire. So partials done in that elongation range can bring in dormant parts of the muscle for new growth.
Continuing the set also causes an increase in time under tension—and that means more sarcoplasmic stimulation. Expanding the sarcoplasm, the muscle’s “energy fluid,” can produce substantial new size increases. So X Reps are effective at packing new mass on your frame along two different pathways: new fiber activation and fluid expansion.
The “other X techniques” you’re talking about include Double-X Overload, X-Fade, X/Pause, etc. They’re explained in second X-Rep e-book, Beyond X-Rep Muscle Building, but they don’t replace standard X Reps; they are just different ways to incorporate the X-Rep mass-building concepts.
For example, you would use Double-X Overload on a stretch-position exercise like flyes: Lower to the stretch point, raise the dumbbells only about eight inches, lower back to stretch, then do a full rep. You do an X Rep between the full reps to emphasize stretch overload. Muscle stretch is another key factor that triggers hypertrophy. (See the discussion of the animal study that produced a 300 percent muscle mass gain after only one month of stretch overload in Beyond X.)
Now, 4X is a mass method in and of itself. The X doesn’t stand for X Reps. It’s a multiplication sign; so 4X means 4 times 10, as in four sets of 10 reps with the same weight and 35 seconds between. That gives you both myofibrillar growth stimulation and sarcoplasmic expansion. The short rests also produce more fatigue for heightened growth hormone release—and you don’t have to use bone-crushing weights.
You can use end-of-set X Reps on the final set of a 4X sequence—or do X/Pause or X Fade or even Double-X Overload. The 4X method is very flexible. With all of those tactics plus 4X at your command, you’ll get plenty of variation for major mass creation.
Editor’s note: Steve Holman is the author of many bodybuilding best-sellers and the creator of Positions-of-Flexion muscle training. For information on the POF DVD and Size Surge programs, see the ad sections it this issue. Also visit www.X-Rep.com and X-Workouts.com for info on X-Rep, 4X and 3D POF methods and e-books. IM
Subject: IRON MAN E-Zine: Issue #791:
Before-After Photos: 4X Muscle-Mass Gains (amazing 14-week results)
Before-After Photos: 4X Muscle-Mass Gains (amazing 14-week results)
TRY THIS AT YOUR NEXT WORKOUT
Before-After Photos: 4X Muscle-Mass Gains (amazing 14-week results)
Q: I’ve just started using the 4X mass method. Feels awesome. My aching shoulder already feels like it’s healing and the pumps are super huge. But should I try to use some heavy weights on exercises I can do without pain? I just want to make sure I get bigger. Will 4X alone do it?
A: In a recent e-zine we mentioned that 54-year-old natural pro bodybuilder Dave “Texas Shredder” Goodin used 4X almost exclusively after his shoulder surgery to get back in phenomenal shape. That’s because he couldn’t use heavy weights on most exercises…
He did 4X sequences–15RM weight, do 10; rest 30 seconds, do 10 more, etc. for 4 sets. And he also did some high-rep sets similar to TORQ on a few moves. Here are his results after 14 weeks (after photo by Lloyd Terry)…
Pretty incredible. Remember, that was ONLY 14 Weeks with workouts dominated by 4X. Dave was focused on the Europa physique competition, and he looked incredible when he hit the stage, as you can see.
We will get his exact training routine soon, but for now know that he often started with high-rep sets, especially for his recovering shoulder…
“I remember during the first few weeks of contest prep I was performing 25 to 30 reps of overhead DB presses with a 30-pound dumbbell (pre-injury I could do 10 reps with 80-pound DBs). Obviously I felt that I needed to lift a heavier weight (since I could do that many reps). But, when I tried to lift the 35-pound dumbbells, I got a sharp stabbing pain in the shoulder. So I stayed with the lighter weight and just kept doing very high reps [on presses].”‘
He followed that TORQ-like first exercise with 4X sequences on most of his other shoulder moves. In other words, mega heavy weights never came into play. It was moderate-weight growth-threshold training all the way. Yet he looked mighty good after 14 weeks. Here’s another before and after…
He followed that TORQ-like first exercise with 4X sequences on most of his other shoulder moves. In other words, mega heavy weights never came into play. It was moderate-weight growth-threshold training all the way. Yet he looked mighty good after 14 weeks. Here’s another before and after…
We’ve been following his lead and using TORQ to begin many of our bodypart workouts with great results. For example, starting shoulders with a 30-20-15 sequence on machine presses, 45 seconds between sets. The pump is unreal–and on the exercises that follow, you get a better mass-building feel.
We’ve had shoulder-joint problems in the past (thanks, heavy bench presses), but with this style of training every joint feels great. And delt mass is still moving forward at a rapid rate.
To be fair, Dave was regaining muscle, but still, his return to massive form was an incredible feat–and at age 54. In fact, we think he looked bigger than ever…
We encourage everyone to give TORQ and 4X a try to increase muscle size. It works. Ask the Texas Shredder.
LIMITED-TIME SPECIALS…
LIMITED-TIME SPECIALS…
Get The 4X Mass Workout 2.0 and The Power-Density Mass Workout 2.0 (both with TORQ) together for ONLY $20. More info HERE <
3D Muscle Building, the official Positions-of-Flexion mass-building manual, is only $10 (regular price is $39). More info HERE <
Till next time, train hard–and smart–for BIG results.
–Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
www.X-Rep.com
www.X-Rep.com
Newly Updated E-books–ONLY $15 each…
The 4X Mass Workout 2.0. We’ve reloaded this best-selling muscle-building e-book with the new tension-overload method, quick high-rep 3X sequences that trigger ultimate mass. How? It pushes the growth threshold into the high-end of hypertrophic tension time (60 to 90 seconds)–something most bodybuilders never get. Plus, you trigger a growth explosion with the new 9-week phase-training Itinerary that has you hitting a different 4X and tension-overload workout every 2 weeks. Change to gain BIG! ONLY $15. Go HERE <
The Power-Density Mass Workout 2.0. New chapters and workouts, including an interview with Mr. America Doug Brignole on his unique high-rep mass method–and we’ve included his complete workout with what we call Super TORQ: Only one exercise per muscle with a 50-40-30-20-10 sequence. We also outline 2 more new programs, OUR Super TORQ routine, based on Doug’s but tweaked with a few standard sets, and a Power-Density version that has Super TORQ at one workout and heavy full-range Positions-of-Flexion training at the next. This is our most exciting e-book yet. ONLY $15, Go HERE <
OTHER SPECIAL OFFERS…
LIMITED-TIME $14.99 to $19.99 BEST-SELLERS: We’re offering each of these at their lowest price ever to get you big and ripped by spring. Click on the title you’re interested in for more info…
1) The 4X Mass Workout–fast, simplified supersaturation training for X-treme size
2) The X-traordinary X-Rep Workout–the latest update to our original X e-book
3) The X-centric Mass Workout–the negative-accentuated training manual
4) The Ultimate Fat-to-Muscle Workout–total body transformation training
5) X-traordinary Muscle-Building Workouts–10 complete mass programs
6) X-traordinary Arms–includes the 3D HIT workout system with big-arms routines
7) 3D Muscle Building–the original Positions-of-Flexion mass-training manual
8) X-treme Lean—Fat-Burning and Nutrition Guide (with training too)
9) The Ultimate Power-Density Mass Workout
10) The Ultimate 10×10 Mass Workout
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To follow the ITRC training program in “Train, Eat, Grow,” get a copy of the latest issue of IRON MAN.
To follow the ITRC training program in “Train, Eat, Grow,” get a copy of the latest issue of IRON MAN.
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This Special Report was submitted by Jonathan Lawson and Steve Holman.
The IRON MAN Training & Research Team
www.ironmanmagazine.com
This Special Report was submitted by Jonathan Lawson and Steve Holman.
The IRON MAN Training & Research Team
www.ironmanmagazine.com
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