IRON MAN E-Zine: Issue #549: Pro Size Secret: Mass-Pump Aftershock

Subject:
IRON MAN E-Zine: Issue #549:
Pro Size Secret: Mass-Pump Aftershock

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TRY THIS AT YOUR NEXT WORKOUT
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Pro Size Secret: Mass-Pump Aftershock

Q: I totally see the reasoning behind your 4X mass method, but I feel like I need some heavy sets too instead of all medium-weight 4X. Could I do my heavy sets upfront in my workout and end with 4X on an isolation exercise? Would that be enough to help me build total size in all of the mass fibers?

A: What you’re suggesting is exactly how many of the pro bodybuilders attack a muscle group. For example, 8-time Mr. Olympia Ronnie Coleman, pictured above, one of the most massive pros ever.

On one of his DVDs, for instance, Coleman starts delts with a heavy pyramid on seated dumbbell presses–four standard sets, increasing the weight on each. He uses two-minute rests and goes heavy, doing nonlock partials. (Note: We explain Coleman’s program in Bonus Chapter A: Analyzing Mr. Olympia’s Workout From an X-Rep Perspective in the Beyond X-Rep Muscle Building e-book)…

Then he goes to the Nautilus lateral raise/ overhead press machine for 20-rep combo sets–three rounds of that high-rep torture for sarcoplasmic-size stimulation. That gives him a super pump in his delts and traps…

Current Mr. Olympia Jay Cutler ends most of his bodyparts with higher-rep sets with short rests between. For example, for chest he does a number of standard heavy sets, pyramiding the weight on BIG exercises like Hammer-machine incline presses and flat-bench dumbbell presses…

Then he does higher-rep, long tension time incline flyes. His reps never fall below 12 and his time under tension never goes below 30 seconds. His rests are fairly short as well.

He then moves to bodyweight-only dips–but not full range. Here’s how we describe these in our X-Rep Update #1, Chapter 5: Mr. O’s Wild X-O Workouts…

"His technique here is very interesting as Jay simply pulses in the middle of the stroke, never locking out or going deep. They’re like middle-range X Reps. He did a few sets, getting anywhere from 15 to 22 reps—more extended continuous-tension time."

You can simulate what the pros do by starting with power pyramids on a big compound exercise or two and then ending with 4X sequence on a more isolated move. A last 4X blast is a fast, efficient way for you to blow up the target muscle in less than five minutes at the end of each bodypart routine…

In fact, we use that double-dose technique for every major muscle in The X-centric Mass Workout program [pages 21-23 in the X-centric e-book]. For example, the simple double-dose-for-ultimate-growth delt routine is…

Dumbbell upright rows (pyramid), 3 x 9, 7, 5
Dumbbell presses, 2 x 9, 7NA
Lateral raises (4X), 4 x 10

So you get standard heavy power work on 3 sets of the DB uprights, adding weight to each, and on the first set of heavy DB presses as well. That emphasizes myofibrillar growth, the force generating actin-myosin strands in the muscle fiber. (Myofibrils are primarily for strength, but they do increase muscle mass to a degree as well.)

Then you do one negative-accentuated set of dumbbell presses–NA is one-second positives and five-second negatives. The slow lowering further traumatizes the myofibrils; however, the 50 seconds of tension time kicks in sarcoplasmic growth. The sarcoplasm is the endurance fluid in muscle fibers. This two-way 2A-fiber-growing set is the perfect transition to your ending 4X sequence…

You now give lateral raises the 4X-mass-method treatment. Due to all of the preliminary work, fatigue in your delts is high, so your 4X laterals will primarily trigger sarcoplasmic expansion. Remember, for 4X you pick 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 complete four rounds. If you get 10 reps on your last set, add weight to that exercise at your next workout.

No question that all the top pros train both sides of the key 2A fibers for complete growth–myofibrillar and sarcoplasmic size. Can you get freaky massive too? You’ll never know till you give it a go and strive for ultimate growth…

Note: The X-centric Mass Workout is now only $19.99–includes 3 complete workouts. One Ph.D. calls X-centric-style training one of the fastest ways to trigger "extreme hypertrophy."

Till next time, train hard–and smart–for BIG results.

–Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
www.X-Rep.com

NEW YEAR WORKOUTS–LIMITED-TIME $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 X-traordinary Size Surge Workout

11) The Ultimate 10×10 Mass Workout

Latest release: The 4X Mass Workout—Fast Simplified Supersaturation Training for X-treme Muscle Size. It’s how many pro bodybuilders get big AND ripped as fast as possible for contests and photo shoots. You can use it for a blast of new mass in only a few weeks–and the workouts are quick. Guaranteed or your money back. Limited-time discount offer HERE.

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NEW: The X-traordinary SIZE SURGE Workout, Jonathan Lawson’s legendary two-phase mass program that packed 20 pounds of muscle on his frame in only 10 weeks. See all the changes he made to the original workouts, transcribed from his training journal. In printable templates so you can duplicate his incredible gains. You also get his eat-to-grow diet and streamlined no-frills supplement schedule, anabolic acceleration methods and loads of tips and tricks. Plus, an interview with a top-level bodybuilder who trains Size Surge style for incredible growth.

Newbies: If you’re a beginning bodybuilder, coming back from a layoff or a trainer who trains beginners, our new e-book, Quick-Start Muscle-Building Guide, is for you.

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

The ITRC Training Newsletter is not intended as training advice for everyone. You must consult your physician before beginning any diet or training program. You may forward this email to as many friends as you want, but do not photocopy or reprint this report in any format without the written permission of the copyright holder.

Our May issue has a distinct over-40 flavor, starting with a talk with wild man Andy Haman. Yes, he’s older, with a family, but that doesn’t stop his pursuit of muscle-building nirvana—with spiked hair, hiked passion and mucho mass. We’ll also have arm-blasting advice from Greg Smyers, a before-and-after-contest winner who’s gone on to masters bodybuilding success; excerpt 2 from The Ultimate Mass Workout; and Jerry Brainum’s scientific look at the amazing body-building, health-promoting benefits of the pomegranate. Find the May IRON MAN on newsstands now! See the Table of Contents here for a full preview.

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