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Beyond X Rep
Beyond X Rep
B E Y O N D
REP
MUSCLE BUILDING
CONTENTS
Introduction......................................................................4
Chapter 1X-hilirating Muscle-Building
Observations.................................................................5
Chapter 2X-treme Pumps and Pain to Gain.............11
Chapter 3Hormone Surges and Fiber Slicing..........17
Chapter 4Cut the Volume, Cover the Angles...........21
Chapter 5Time-Bomb Training..................................25
Chapter 6Stage Sets and Double-X Overload.........31
Chapter 7X/Pause and X-centric Training................37
Chapter 8Iso X and the X Fade..................................45
Chapter 9Our X-citing Results and Findings...........49
Chapter 10Split-Positions X-Rep Training................59
Chapter 11X Q&A........................................................77
Bonus Chapter AAnalyzing Mr. Olympias
WorkoutsFrom an X-Rep Perspective...................93
Bonus Chapter BThe Inner Workings of Steroids:
Mimicking Their Anabolic Power Without Drugs...103
Introduction
The Ultimate Mass Workout e-book showcased our gains with
X Reps and explained that mass-building technique in detail. It
essentially kick -start ed the X -Rep muscle-bu ilding
phenomenonand the gains of muscle-building enthusiasts all
over the world. Our results with X Reps showed that, if used
correctly, it has the power to transform a physique in as few as
35 days. Trainees have reported incredible gains in size and
s t rength in only a few workouts due to finally being able to
overcome the nervous system roadblock during any set to failure
( i t s usually the nervous system that craps out first, not the
muscle). Power partials at the sweet spot along an exercises
stroke at the end of a set to exhaustion obliterate that roadblock,
allowing you to trigger new hypertrophic stimulation like never
beforeso much so that many trainees said that X Reps are the
last word on building massive muscles. But are they?
Our latest research and experiments (or should we say Xperiments?) confirm the power of X Reps, but as any seasoned
bodybuilder knows, nothing works forever. You have to find ways
to jack up the intensity if you want X-traordinary growth.
So after more analysis and research we created new ways to
X-ponentially increase the intensity of the X-Rep technique. The
best of the best of those X-Rep hybrid techniques helped us
pack on nearly 10 more pounds of new muscle to our already
developed physiques (which is even more amazing when you
consider that Steve is now 46 years old!). These techniques can
do the same for youtake
your mass to the next level
at a rate that will astound
you.
Consider yourself in the
fast lane to X-treme muscle.
Are you ready? Lets put the
pedal to the metal!
Steve Holman and
Jonathan Lawson
Steve H. and Jonathan L.: Bigger
IRON MAN Training &
and better in 05 thanks to new
Research Center
X-Rep hybrid techniques.
4 Beyond X-Rep Muscle Building
CHAPTER 1
X-hilirating
Muscle-Building
Observations
CHAPTER 2
X-treme Pumps and
Pain to Gain
recruitment of fast-twitch
muscle fibers. Interesting
and exc i t i n g e s p e c i a l l y
when you do the math:
Lets see, a conservative 8
p e rcent increase in quad
s i ze times 12 months
Holy cow! Thatll doublesize your thighs in a year!
But hold on. You use leg
extensions in your quad Blocking blood flow to a muscle with
ro u t i n e. Why are nt yo u continuous-tension movements can
create bigger gains in size and
getting 8 percent size strengthif you can stand the pain.
increases every two weeks
or even eve ry two months? Answe r: pain tolerance and/or
nervous system failure. See, part of the reason is that right
when the most occlusion is occurringnear the end of a
continuous-tension setyou stop. Its a simple case of
t e rminating sets too soonwhen you cant get any more
complete repsand that severely limits occlusion effects.
The big bodybuilders like Jay Cu t l e r, who do a lot of
continuous-tension move m e n t s, have exc e p t i o n a l
neuromuscular efficiency, or nerve-to-muscle connections, as
well as pain tolerance. So they can keep the muscle firing as
m o re occlusion occurs. (Legendary trainer Vince Gi ro n d a
always said that what separates the champs from the wannabes is mental focus and pain tolera n c e. He was onto
something.)
It hurts like a mother when occlusion is occurring, as the
muscle gasps and sputters from lack of blood and ox y g e n .
Most of us mere mortals cant stand the pain and terminate the
set way before we get a hefty dose of growth stimulation from
occlusion. The champs just keep pushing through the pain
barrierbut even they stop their sets too soon.
Yep, super pain tolerance and focus can only get you so
much extra stimulation on any given set. Their muscles crap
continuous-tension set,
blood rushes to the targ e t
bodypart like a flood surge
after a dam collapse.
Incidentally, while most
bodybuilders use occlusion
to finish off a bodypartto
augment the pump created
by multijoint actiona
number of champs have
l e a rned that getting some
occlusion in the target muscle b e f o re a big exercise can
increase strength, similar to what the scientists did with the
blood pressure cuff. For example, Ronnie Coleman usually
does a number of high-rep leg extension sets before he moves
into his squats. Those preliminary continuous-tension sets of
20 to 30 reps each squeeze blood out of the muscle and then
cause a flood right after. Is he using occlusion to jack up his
size and strength? We say absolutely! (Well have more on using
occlusion as part of a quick, precise warmup sequence to
enhance muscle growth in the Q&A section of this e-book.)
Muscle-building lesson 2: While its important to
overload the semistretched position on every exercise, you
should also strive for continuous tension to block blood flow.
T h a ts one reason to use isolation exercises after your big
compound movefor more concentrated continuous tension,
which produces si gnificant occlusion, or blood-flow
impairment, which in turn stimulates another level of muscle
growth. Note: Some isolation exercises require partial-range
reps to occlude the muscle properly, such as dumbbell flyes on
which you should do only the bottom two-thirds of the stroke
of each rep to maintain continuous tension. (That was an
Arnold favorite; see the photo on page 14.)
CHAPTER 3
Hormone Surges
and Fiber Slicing
CHAPTER 4
Cut the Volume,
Cover the Angles
Contracted
CHAPTER 5
Time-Bomb Training
s e ve re shortfalland yo u
dont want to shortchange
max-force-point overload!
At lockout take a deep
breath and lower to a point
just below parallel. Now
s q u e eze the bar hard into
your traps, innervate your
quads to the max and pulse
t h rough about an ei ghtinch range with X Re p s.
Think of these as controlled
m i n i - e x p l o s i o n s.
Yo u
should feel your qu ads
screaming by about X-Rep
number five. If not, yo u
may be too high on the
s t roke; tr y going a little X Reps can be brutal on the big
deeper so you get a bit more exercises and may require partner
assistance.
stretch in your quads. When
your quads are fried and you can no longer pulse, hold the
weight statically for a few seconds down low, squeeze your
quads as hard as you can, thenBam!rack it. You may have
to rack it low if your partner cant help you get back to the top,
but thats one reason you do these on a Smith machine. (The
other is that X Reps are impossible at the end of a set of freebar squats due to a leverage shift.)
Youve just done more to stimulate growth in that one set
than most people get in three or four of the haphazard variety.
Think about all the energy you save, energy your body can now
channel into recovery and growth, thanks to getting the job
done with half or a quarter of the volume! It all comes down to
overloading the max-force generation point. Just the way
Ronnie Coleman instinctively tries to overload that point on so
many of his exercises. On an X-Rep set, however, instead of
jerking or heaving every rep, wait till the end of the set and
Bigger
and
better
in 05!
Bigger
and
better
in 05!
CHAPTER 6
Stage Sets and
Double-X Overload
Bottom.
Top.
CHAPTER 7
X/Pause and
X-centric Training
CHAPTER 8
Iso X and X Fade
CHAPTER 9
Our X-citing
Results and Findings
overload!
That six-second rest gives some of the fatigue time to
subside, but its not long enough to take the stress off the fasttwitch fibers. In other words, they will still be engaged when
you continue the set with more X Reps.
Now for the Stage Set. After about a two-to-three-minute
rest we reduced the poundage slightly. He res the stage
protocol: We would rep out on the bottom two-thirds of the
stroke first, which encompasses the X spot. At nervous system
exhaustion we pushed the bar to lockout, usually with partner
a s s i s t a n c e, and then we would do the top one-third of the
s t roke to lockout. Thats a weak area, so a little part n e r
assistance was usually necessary on each of those reps. You
may think the top range is mostly triceps on incline presses,
but by doing the bottom two-thirds of the stroke first, we
essentially pre-exhausted our pecs, so we really felt the toprange partials in our chestsbelieve us! Its a wicked burn.
A Stage Set is a unique way to extend the tension timeyou
get to attack the semistretched position, or X spot, first in the
set, albeit with a more exaggerated X-Rep movement. Stage
sets work nicely on most compound exercises that have a
lockout positionpresses and squats for example. The
problem is, on exercises that dont have a lockout position,
where there is continuous tension throughout the replike
rows and pulldownsin order to use the stage technique, you
have to do the contracted-position phase first and finish with
the third of the stroke that includes the X spot. That just
doesnt work as well, so we used other X-hybrid techniques on
those. For example, the Double-X Overload techniquefullrange reps with a hitch at the stretch position. (As we said, big
Jay Cutler uses this technique on almost every exercise, and it
may be a key trigger of hyperplasia, or fiber splitting, necessary
for extreme size.)
To use the Double-X-O technique on cable upright rows, for
e x a m p l e, we pull the bar to the chest, lower to the arm s extended position, pull up about eight inches, lower to full
2 x 10, 8
1 x 10(6)
1 x 8-10
1 x 8-10
1 x 10(6)
2 x 8-10
1 x 8-10
1 x 8-10
1 x 8-10
1 x 8-10
2 x 10, 8
1 x 8-10
1 x 8-10
1 x 8-10
1 x 8-10
1 x 8-10
1 x max
1 x 15
1x8
1 x max
1 x 8-10
1 x 8(6)
1 x 15
1 x max
2 x 8-12
1 x 20-25
3 x 10-12
1 x 10(8)
1 x 8-10
1 x 8-10
2 x 10, 8
1 x 10(8)
1 x 8-10
1 x 8-10
1 x max
1 x 10-12
2 x 15-20
2 x 8-12
2 x 8-10
1 x 12-15
2 x 20-25
1 x 10-15
CHAPTER 10
Split-Positions
X-Rep Training
Poundage
2 x 8-10
2 x 8-10
2 x 8-10
1 x 10-12
2 x 8-10
2 x 10-12
1 x 10-12
1 x 8-10
2 x 8-10
2 x 8-10
1 x 8-10
2 x 15
2 x 15
(C) Rockers
1 x 15
2 x 9-12
1 x 20-25
Poundage
2 x 8-10
2 x 8-10
1 x 10-12
2 x 8-10
2 x 8-10
2 x 8-10
1 x max
3 x 15-20
2 x 12-15
2 x 8-10
1 x 12
2 x 15-20
1 x 8-12
Poundage
2 x 8-10
2 x 8-10
1 x 8-12
1 x 8-12
2 x 8-10
1-2 x 8-12
2 x 8-10
2 x 8-10
2 x 8-10
Superset
(M) Incline kneeups
2 x 10
2x8
2 x 10-12
2 x 9-12
1 x 20-25
Poundage
2 x 8-10
2 x 8-10
2 x 8-10
1 x 10-12
2 x 10-12
2 x 8-10
2 x 10-12
1 x 10-12
1 x 8-10
2 x 8-10
2 x 8-10
1 x 8-10
2 x 15
2 x 15
(C) Rockers
1 x 15
2 x 9-12
1 x 20-25
Poundage
2 x 8-10
2 x 8-12
2 x 8-10
1 x 8-12
1 x 8-12
2 x 8-10
1-2 x 8-12
2 x 8-10
2-3 x 8-10
2 x 8-10
Superset
(M) Incline kneeups
2 x 10
2x8
2 x 10-12
2 x 9-12
1 x 20-25
Poundage
2 x 9-12
1 x 20-25
Poundage
Poundage
2 x 9-12
1 x 20-25
2 x 8-10
2 x 8-10
2 x 8-10
2 x 10-12
2 x 8-10
2 x 10-12
2 x 8-10
2 x 8-10
2 x 8-10
1 x 8-10
2 x 15
2 x 15
1 x 15
2 x 9-12
1 x 20-25
2 x 8-10
2 x 8-12
2 x 8-10
1 x 8-12
1 x 8-12
2 x 8-10
1 x 8-12
2 x 8-10
2 x 8-10
2 x 8-10
2 x 10-12
2 x 9-12
1 x 20-25
2 x 10
2x8
Positions-of-Flexion Primer
With a Positions of Flexion protocol you train each target
bodypart in three positionsmidrange, contracted and stretchto
complete the full-range muscle-building chain. Each of those
positions has a specific purpose, as follows:
Midrange: Stimulates the bulk of the muscle fibers with synergy,
or muscle teamwork. When a number of muscles work together
such as the chest, triceps and deltoids during bench pressesthe
target (chest) is more effectively stimulated with heavy overload.
The human muscle structures are designed to work in tandem for
maximum power output, so these movements are simply more
natural than forced isolation. Examples include squats, bench
presses and chins. Best X-hybrid technique for midrange exercises:
X/Pause, Double-X Overload, Stage (on those with bone-supported
lockout, like squats and bench presses).
C o n t r a c t e d : Here you place the target muscle in the most
advantageous position for it to contract. These exercises usually
have continuous tension, so they are perfect for extreme occlusion.
Examples include leg extensions, cable crossovers and leg curls.
Best X-hybrid techniques for contracted-position exercises: X Fade,
Double-X Overload.
S t r e t c h : Here you put the target muscle in its ultimate
elongated, or stretched, state against resistance. Examples include
flyes for the chest, stiff-legged deadlifts for the hamstrings and
sissy squats for the quads. The stretch forces the activation of the
myotatic reflex, which is believed to cause the recruitment of
reserve muscle fibers in the target muscle. When the target is
stretched with a quick twitch to reverse the movement, the nervous
system receives an emergency-response signal, and the muscle is
put in a hypercontracted state. This can recruit reserve muscle
fibers, which means more of the target muscle is stimulated to
grow, a perfect way to end a bodypart workout. Important bonus:
Stretch overload has also been found in research studies to trigger
hyperplasia, or fiber splitting, in animals. Best X-hybrid techniques
for stretch-position exercises: Double-X Overload (an X Rep
between every full rep, which emphasizes the stretch).
Note: For more information on POF as well as other POF
routines, see Train, Eat, Grow: The Positions-of-Flexion MuscleTraining Manual, available at www.Home-Gym.com.
CHAPTER 11
X Q&A
hardgainer paradox.
X Reps work for hard g a i n e r
because they help him ove r ride the
i n h e rent neuromuscular deficiency
somewhat and ove rload the
s e m i s t retched position in one set.
That makes the X-Rep set two to five
times more effective at triggering fasttwitch-fiber growthand many of the
X - h y b rid techni ques do an eve n
better job of that. Thats why theyre
so very important for hardgainers.
X-Reps power partials at the sweet Steve is proof that X
spot of each exercise gets at much Reps work big-time for
old
more of the muscle in any one strict hardgainersand
guys too. Hes 46!
setand you dont have to do set after
recovery-draining set. The end-of-set partial technique is an
absolute godsend for hardgainers.
Heres why it works: When your nervous system craps out,
leaving so many growth fibers unused or understimulated (70
p e rcent in some cases), you move to the key point in the
exercises stroke, like near the bottom of an incline press, and
keep firing the musclepulsing in a very short five-to-10-inch
range. You essentially leapfrog nervous system fatigue and get
at a much larger percentage of muscle fibers with those power
pulses at the target muscles maximum-force-generation point,
where fiber activation is optimized. In other words, you get a
quantum leap in mass-building efficiency without having to
add sets, just what hardgainers need for jacking up growth
stimulation to exceptional levels without volume overkill. In
fact, X Reps can help slow-to-grow bodybuilders trigger more
size increases in a few months than they have experienced in
years. Exciting stuff!
Q: You guys usually suggest at least two warmup sets
prior to most compound [or multijoint] exercises. Do I
just take a lighter weight and do the same number of
reps or what?
A: Thats a very important question because small details
can add up to bigger re s u l t s. Even something as seemingly
insignificant as a proper warmup can be the differe n c e
between anabolic acceleration and stagnation.
For example, weve discussed occlusion, or blocking blood
flow to a muscle, and how scientists found that it can jack up
strength significantly. In our X-traordinary Abs e-book and in
Chapter 2 of this e-book we discussed how researchers placed
a blood pressure cuff on subjects upper arms for two minutes.
The cuff was then removed, and the subjects did wrist curls.
Results: Those whose blood flow had been impaired showed a
20 percent strength increase over that of the subjects who
d i d nt use the cuff. Ye s, 20 percent! ( T h e re have also been
amazing size increases from occlusion, as we described in
Chapter 2.)
That indicates significantly better fiber recruitment. Along
the same lines, studies on warming up muscles found that
doing a number of lighter sets prior to heavy work can help the
t a rget muscle contract much better than without those
p re l i m i n a ry setsabout 20 percent better, in fact. Hmm,
theres that 20 percent figure again.
So could occlusion merely be acting as a warm u p ?
Absolutely! After all, a warmup is simply a means of priming
the pumppushing blood into the muscle so it will perform to
the best of its ability on the heavy sets. If you block blood flow
instead of (or in addition to) doing some lighter pumping sets,
you end up with a warm, ready-to-fire muscle. Either way you
get a rush of blood to the bodypart immediately after.
Now, the qu estion becomes how you can use that
information to set the stage for the most grow power from your
w o rk sets. (Keep in mind that you want to max out
hypertrophic stimulation with the fewest work sets necessary
so you dont drain your re c ove ry system with too much
volume.)
Weve said in the past that for big multijoint exercises like
fiber action. Yo u
also create some
postfailure
occlusion with X
Reps
because
p a rtial pulses
keep tension on
the target muscle.
You can almost
feel the blood
being squeeze d
out with each
pulsing action.
Weve found a number of pieces to the
You also g et mass-building puzzle with our testing and
some
stre t c h experimentation in the gym: Positions of
overload with X Flexion, X Reps, X-hybrid techniques and so
Reps, which may on, but theres still lots to learn. Keep up
h a ve
a with our latest findings at www.X-Rep.com.
connection to
hyperplasia, or muscle-fiber splitting. Remember, you do X
Reps at a semistretched point, so they seve rely stress the
muscle when its in an elongated state, which may help initiate
hyperplasiaand the more fibers there are to grow, the bigger
your muscles can eventually become. (Double-X Overload, an
X Rep between every full rep, on stretch-position exercises is
proving to be a very powerful size building technique, probably
due to that stre t c h - overload/muscle-mass connection! As
weve mentioned, Jay Culter, one of the biggest bodybuilders in
the world, uses that technique a lot in his size - b u i l d i n g
routine.)
Much of our analysis also gave credence to the Positions-ofFlexion muscle-building methodworking a muscle with
midrange-, stretch- and contracted-position exercises. You can
trigger the most fiber activation with compound, or midrange,
exercises like presses, especially when you add X Reps to the
end of a set. Then you can get the best occlusion effects with
BONUS CHAPTER A
Analyzing Mr.
Olympias Workout
From an X-Rep
Perspective
Workout 1
Calves. He begins with seated calf raises, and the first thing
t h a ts noteworthy i s that he never gets close to full
contractionnot even on his first, lighter sets. He works from
just above the middle of the stroke to down just short of full
stretchthe semistretched point. He does the same thing on
one-leg leg press calf raises; however, its interesting to note
that on all calf exercises, even the seated va ri e t y, he double
bounces when he gets to the highest point, which for him is
just above the middle of the stroke. There is still some stretch
in the calf muscle at that point, but not as much as closer to
the bottom of the stroke, as dictated by X-Rep protocol.
So from a scientific standpoint he might get better results
double-clutching at the semistretched point, down near the
bottom where the most fiber activation can occur (the DoubleX Overload technique). Thats exactly how he trains his shrugs,
double-dipping at the bottom stretch and then only moving
the bar up a few inches before he lowers and double bangs
againand his traps are absolutely enormous! Could his calves
get even better with extra semistretched-point overload? We
think so. (Incidentally, as weve mentioned a number of places
in this e-book, Jay Cutler, Colemans biggest nemesis in his
quest for more Olympia titles, uses the Double-X-Overload
technique on almost every set, holding and hitching at the
semistretched point between groups of reps or single reps. As
we said, he may be triggering hyperplasia, or fiber splitting,
instinctively at every workout thanks to that unique tweak that
has the power to create a freak physique!)
Delts. He kicks off shoulder work with seated dumbbell
p re s s e s, using a seat with back support. He dri ves the
dumbbells from ear level, the semistretched point, to about
eight inches above his head, far short of lockout. (Its during
this exercise that you get to hear his first surprising and
somewhat humorous battle cry, Yeah, buddy! He loves that
stuff, no matter how painful the set.)
He does four sets of part i a l - range dumbbell pre s s e s,
increasing the weight on each till hes using the 160s on his last
set for seven reps. (Yes, 160-pound dumbbells!) His first three
sets are all in the 10-to-12-rep range. It was rather shocking to
see that Coleman prefers higher reps on almost all of his sets,
but its probably to hammer the target muscle with more
tension time.
Speaking of higher re p s, heres a big surprise: A fter
dumbbell presses he goes to the Nautilus double-shoulder
machine and does lateral raises, only the bottom half of the
m ovement (semistretched point again), for about 20 re p s.
Then he follows immediately with presses on the machine,
turning his palms out (ouch) and moving the bar from ear level
to just above his head, no lockout, for about 20 reps. He does
three of the high-rep combo setsand his delts get pumped to
the extreme.
For front delts he does a few progressively heavier sets of
alternate dumbbell front raises, stopping each rep at about eye
level. His reps start at 15 on the first set and creep down from
there.
Uncrossovers are next. What the heck is an uncrossover? We
explained them in the X Q&A section, but heres a quick review:
You stand in the middle of a cable crossover, the cable handle
from the opposite side in each hand, your arms crossed at
midforearm in front of your face with a slight bend at each
elbow. You uncross your arms and drive your hands out to your
sides at shoulder level, keeping the slight bend at the elbows.
After a few reps you should get a wicked burn in your rear-delt
heads and midback. Coleman does four sets, increasing the
weight on each and decreasing his reps, going from 15 down to
eight.
Next its bent-over cable laterals in the same cro s s ove r
machine but using the low handlesand zero full-range reps.
Holy
He does only half reps from the stretch
#%@!
point to about halfway up. In other
w o rd s, his arms never get close to
p a rallel to the floor for complete
contraction. He does four sets of these
stretch-emphasis delt/back burners.
A re you seeing a pattern? The
s t retched and semistretched points
appear to be critically important for
building mass. Co l e m a ns tra i n i n g
indicates that in a big wayeven more
strongly on the next exercise.
Tr a p s. To finish, he blasts out heavy behind-the-back
barbell shrugs. He does them while holding the Olympic bar
behind his legs rather than in front, and he uses a tremendous
poundage that rattles the power rack at the end of his sets;
howe ve r, his shoulders barely move. He only does bottomrange partialsand his traps look like eight-ton boulders
sitting on his shoulders.
He starts with 445 pounds and does 15 reps. Then he bumps
it up to 645 for 12 and, finally, 735 for 11. And as mentioned
above, he double-clutches at the bottom, stretched position on
every rep, providing serious Double-X Overload at the maxforce point.
Our primary thought at the end of his workout, other than
shock and awe, was this: Considering the impressiveness of his
traps, which may be his freakiest bodypart, we wonder why he
doesnt try the double-clutch semistretched-overload tactic on
more of his exercises. Could it make him even larger? Scary
thought, but its very possible considering its connection to
muscle fiber replication.
Workout 2
Quads. Coleman starts with four progressively heavier sets
of leg extensions to warm up his knees. He does 30 quick reps
on each set. As before, its, Yeah, buddy! as he primes his
knees, his quads (with occlusion) and his mind for squats.
Prepare to be impressed! He does five progressively heavier
sets on squats: 225x12, 405x10, 595x8, 745x4 and 800x2. Whoa!
But even more impressive is that he doesnt use a power rack.
He shoulders the bar from heavy-duty power stands and then
squats without any safety catchersother than his training
partner and the Metroflex Gym owner, neither of whom look
too thrilled about having to pull 800 pounds off of Ronnie if he
misses.
Oh, and did we mention that all of his reps are down below
parallel and only partial range? Yep, its semistretched-position
overload, never pushing close to top-end lockout; however,
Coleman does take quite a bit of time between heavy sets, as
he wraps his knees and squeezes into a power suit. Still, 800 for
two deep reps nonlock style is amazing.
Another eye-popping display occurs on leg presses. He does
four pro g re s s i vely heavier sets with his feet close and in
nonlock style. On his last set he appears to have every 45 in the
gym piled on, and a calculator is brought out to determine that
he was using 2,250 poundsfor eight reps! Yep, more than a
ton.
Ha m s t ri n g s. Those leg pre s s e s, with feet high on the
p l a t f o rm, provide a good transition to hamstring work. He
begins with one-leg leg curls, once again doing only the
bottom two-thirds of the movement (semistretched point) and
no pauses. His reps are rapid fire, and he alternates legs for
three sets of about 15 reps apiece.
Stiff-legged deadlifts are last on his day-two agenda, and the
theme slapped us in the face again: He only moves the bar
f rom ankles to kneesstretched-position part i a l s. And his
weight is relatively light. It looked to be only about 275 pounds
for all three sets. He appears to be using the exercise as more of
a stretch-emphasizing movement, and as we keep saying
throughout this e-book, stretch-position work has been linked
to hyperplasia, or fiber splitting, in the lab. Perhaps thats one
reason Ronnie is so dam n h ugemaybe stretch and
Workout 3
Abs. Colemans ab routine is an almost endless giant set. He
does bench cru n c h e s, bottom two-thirds of the move m e n t
o n l y; bench kneeups, bottom range only; standing cable
crunches and twisting crunches. It appears as though theres
no specific order; he just does whichever exercise he feels like
doingbut he still emphasizes the semistretched point on
almost all of them, never holding a contraction and almost
always just doing partial-range, rapid-fire reps.
C h e s t. He begins with bench presses, five pro g re s s i ve l y
heavier setsand his range is almost shorter here than on
most other exercises. It looks as though hes moving through
only the bottom half of the stroke, exploding on every rep at
the low, semistretched point.
How much does Mr. O bench? At this workout his last three
sets were 315x12, 405x10 and 495x5. Not too shabby.
For incline presses its a repeat performance as far as range
goespartial, max-force-point emphasis. He does only the
bottom half to two-thirds of the stroke, often reversing the
Colemans bench press
range is from the chest
to just above the
midpoint of the stroke
on every rep. That
allows him to hit the
semistretched point
more quickly and keep
continuous tension on
his pecs for anabolic
occlusion aftereffects.
Workout 4
Calves. He starts the day with some high-rep calf work in
his home gym, once again doing short, pulsing reps through
the bottom range only and double-clutching each rep at about
the midpoint (Ro n n i e, try double-clutching closer to the
bottom, where the X spot is; I swear yo ull like it!). After
pumping up his calves, hes off to the gym.
Back. Wide-grip lat pulldowns are first. That may be the
exercise he uses the fullest range on. He pulls from just shy of
lockout, semistretched point, down to his middle chest. The
explosive heave just before lockout at the top of every rep really
overloads that max-forc e point for some seriou s mass
Mass-Building Lessons
So what can we learn from all of this? First and foremost, it
a p p e a r s, as we continue to say over and ove r, that
s e m i s t retched- and stretched-position overload are much,
much more important than squeezy contractionsat least in
the massive Coleman camp. Weve been explaining why in this
e-book and the rest. Colemans training verifies a lot of what
weve discovered the past few years at the IRON MAN Training
& Research Center.
Next, continuous tension appears to be a very big player in
building muscle. When Coleman does partial reps, such as
nonlock squats or pre s s e s, the target muscle never gets a
breather. The technique creates occlusion, or blocked blood
f l ow, and that produces a skin-stretching pump as well as
spectacular anabolic responses in muscle tissue.
One thing you dont learn on the DVD is that Co l e m a n
usually trains with two different workouts for each bodypart,
an A-and-B approach (sound familiar?). He rotates them to hit
the muscle with different stress at eve ry session. In other
words, we only described half of his workouts. The others hit
the same bodyparts but usually with different exercises, similar
to our new X-Hybrid Mega-Mass Program in Chapter 10.
The last thing we picked up on is that Coleman is one heck
of a personable guy and loves training. You can see it in his
eyes and hear it in his voice. Yeah, buddy! is now a common
battle cry at all of our X-Rep workouts.
Note: Ronnie Colemans three-hour-and-15-minute The
Cost of Redemption DVD is available for $29.95 plus shipping
from Home Gym Warehouse. Call (800) 447-0008, or visit www
.Home-Gym.com.
BONUS CHAPTER B
The Inner Workings
of Steroids:
Mimicking Their
Anabolic Power
Without Drugs
Anabolic-hormone Surge
Simply put, anabolic steroids are either testosterone itself
or synthetic versions of testosterone.
Recent studies confirm another route through which
anabolic steroids increase muscle size: augmented release of
other anabolic hormones in the bo dy, such as grow t h
hormone and insulinlike growth factor 1 (IGF-1). Th e
primary anabolic hormones in the body appear to have a
synergistic effect in building muscle.
It should be obvious that to start the steroid-mimicking
process, you want to kick your testosterone into high gear, as
t h a ts what steroids aresynthetic versi ons of that
anabolic/androgenic hormone. You also want to increase your
growth hormone so you get a synergistic anabolic effect, as GH
boosts testosterones potency and vice versa. Triggering an
insulin uptick at specific times during the day can also amplify
those effects even more.
Catabolic-hormone Blockade
Androgens bind with low affinity to glucocorticoid cell
receptors, the cell receptors that interact with corti s o l .
Anything that interf e res with cortisol activity, such as
anabolic steroids, would tilt the balance toward anabolism,
not catabolism.
Enemy number one in your quest to mimic steroid actions
without taking drugs is cortisol, which smothers anabolic
actions, diffusing your GH and testosterone output. One way
to combat cortisol is to sip a high-glycemic-sugar mixture
during your workout. (We mentioned that as one of our megamass strategies; were using a half serving of our X-Stack along
with the new supplement GAKIC, thats an ammonia buffer,
which helps you get more re p s.) He res what Eu ro p e a n
researcher Michael Gndill said about that strategy: Blood
glucose levels tend to fall during training. As a result, insulin
s e c retion is re p ressed while the secretions of cortisol and
glucagon are enhanced. You want to re verse the situation,
which is easily accomplished by increasing your carb intake
before your workout and/or using a carb drink through the
session.
A study re p o r ted in mid-2002 ve ri fied that dri n k i n g
c a r b o h yd rate beve rages during high-intensity interm i t t e n t
exercise decreases cortisol levels.3 Even Kool-Aid will work, but
we suggest some fast protein added to the mix to feed the
muscles. Research scientist Jose Antonio, Ph.D., has written
about athletes drinking flat Coke (regular, with sugar, not diet)
d u ring workouts to bolster energyand no doubt blunt
cortisol release. If you try it, make sure the carbonation is out,
or you could get nauseated.
Theres one more steroid-mimicking strategy:
8 ) Sip a hig h-carb-and-protein mixture during yo u r
workout (diluted X-Stack).
Sleeping It On
C o rtisol receptors in muscle far outnumber andro g e n
receptors. So a true anticatabolic effect would require larger
doses of anabolics.
Once again, your best bet for building muscle steroid-free is
to minimize cortisol, maximize anabolic hormone output and
enhance recovery whenever and wherever possible. That way
you optimize your androgen receptors (remember, you can
build new ones with stretch-position exercises) and minimize
the cortisol receptors. Do that as often as possibleeven when
you sleepand your gains should skyrocket.
Yo uve already seen a number of ways to maximize
anabolism and de-emphasize catabolism during the day, but
how do you stay in control while youre sawing logs? Dreaming
of Carmen Electra giving you a hot-oil rub will no doubt raise
your testosterone, among other things, but if Dennis Rodman
s h ows up, your cortisol will soar. Instead of focusing on
Ca rmen, simply try to get eight to 10 hours of sleep each
nightand make sure its uninterrupted, sound sleep. Even
minor sleep disturbances can alter the hormonal response
yo ure afterwhich i s maximizing growth h orm o n e,
testosterone and IGF-1.4
If you have trouble sleeping soundly, you may want to try a
melatonin supplement. Melatonin is a natural horm o n e
secreted by the pineal gland in the brain, and it can intensify
REM sleep, the good, deep sleep youre after, and boost GH
levels.5 Two to five milligrams before bed may help, but use it
infrequently, as your body could develop a dependence on it if
References
1 Blackman, M.R., et al. (2002). Growth hormone and sex
s t e roid administration in healthy older women and men.
JAMA. 288:2282-2292.
2 Mulligan, S.E., et al. (1996). Influence of resistance exercise
volume on serum growth hormone and cortisol concentrations
in women. Journal of St rength and Conditioning Re s e a rc h.
10:(4): 256262.
3 Bi s h o p, N.C., et al. (2002). Influence of carbohyd ra t e
supplementation on plasma cytokine and neutro p h i l
d e g ranulation responses to high-intensity interm i t t e n t
exercise. International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise
Metabolism. 12(2):145-156.
4 Forsling, M., e t al. (1999). The effect of melatonin
administration on pituitary hormone secretion in man. Clin
Endocrinol. 51(5):637-642.
5 Mougin, F., et al. (2001). Hormonal responses to exercise
after partial sleep depri vation and after a hypnotic dru g induced sleep. J Sports Sci. 19(2):89-97.