Subject:
IRON MAN E-Zine: Issue #466:
3D Arms and the 3-Week 10×10 Mass Blast
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TRY THIS AT YOUR NEXT WORKOUT
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3D Arms and the 3-Week 10×10 Mass Blast
Q: I’ve been on the basic Positions-of Flexion biceps and triceps routines you outline in 3D Muscle Building. I’m getting spectacular pumps, and I think my arms have grown already. I’m ready to go to all the POF routines in 3D for all my bodyparts. My question is on biceps. I don’t really feel concentration curls. Is there another ending [contracted-position] exercise I can do instead?
A: For the uninitiated, Positions of Flexion is training each bodypart through its full range. For example, for biceps it’s barbell curls (midrange), incline curls (stretch) and concentration curls (contracted).
POF builds muscle along a number of different pathways—including muscle synergy, stretch overload and tension/occlusion—with full-range training at 3 key angles.
To answer your question, one of the best substitute exercises for concentration curls to finish off your biceps is spider curls—that is, preacher curls on the vertical side of the bench, NOT the angled side. That perpendicular upper-arm support allows for continuous tension throughout the stroke—no rest at the top or bottom, if you keep the weight moving…
You can do it one arm at a time with a dumbbell or with both arms simultaneously with a dumbbell in each hand or with a barbell. In all cases, we suggest you keep your forearm angled inward as you curl the dumbbell, or use a close grip on a barbell with elbows out, as Mr. Olympia Jay Cutler demonstrates here…
That “in” grip will emphasize the outer biceps head for more peak. Incline curls are more of an “out” exercise, which emphasizes the inner head for biceps thickness. [Note: For more on the in-for-out/out-for-in technique and POF specialization arm routines, see X-traordinary Arms.]
Q: You have an all-10×10 program in your e-book [The Ultimate 10×10 Mass Workout], but I’ve heard that you don’t think total 10×10 routines are that great. I wanted to try it, but now I’m not so sure. Do you still believe that the all-10×10 program is not good?
A: For those unfamiliar with it, 10×10 is taking a weight you can get about 20 reps with, but only doing 10. You rest for 30 seconds, then do 10 more and so on until you complete 10 sets of 10 reps. The first sets are a breeze; the last ones are brutal and create an insane pump and burn.
The beauty of 10×10 is that you do it on one exercise per bodypart, so a muscle is cooked to the bone in about 10 minutes. The problem with 10×10-only workouts is that it’s pure DENSITY…
As we’ve said, the dominant fiber type in the biggest bodybuilders is the DUAL-component type-2As. They have both a power and density, or endurance, component. That means you need BOTH power and endurance to build the most muscle size. With 10×10 you’re getting almost pure density. But that can be a good thing…
Total 10×10 training is great if you’ve been doing a program dominated by power-oriented sets–as most bodybuilders do. The majority neglect density almost completely because they are brainwashed that heavy weights build the most muscle. Even we have fallen into that trap. That’s why when we first tried an all-10×10 program, we each packed on more than 5 pounds of muscle. We thought we’d found the Holy Grail of muscle building…
However, gains quickly subsided and began to regress–because now we had been neglecting the POWER component. The moral is that if you use a total-10×10 program like the first program outlined in The Ultimate 10×10 Mass Workout with only the ultimate exercise for each muscle, use it for only 3 to 4 weeks (our gains began to regress after week 4). Then go back to a balanced attack or even a power-oriented workout.
A good balanced attack is the Heavy/Light 10×10 Mass Workout later in the 10×10 e-book. On that one you do a heavy, straight-set POF workout for a muscle–power–then the next time you train it, you do only the big exercise for 10×10–a total 10-minute density mass blitz. Balanced power/density for major muscle immensity!
Till next time, train hard–and smart–for BIG results.
—Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
www.X-Rep.com
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This Special Report was submitted by Jonathan Lawson and Steve Holman.
The IRON MAN Training & Research Team
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