IRON MAN E-Zine: Issue #613: Muscle Flexion and the Mass Connection

Subject:
IRON MAN E-Zine: Issue #613:
Muscle Flexion and the Mass Connection

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TRY THIS AT YOUR NEXT WORKOUT
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Muscle Flexion and the Mass Connection

Q: I experiment a lot with your Positions-of-Flexion mass training. It’s directly responsible for adding 30 pounds of muscle to my frame over the years. Now I think I’ve come up with a great POF idea, training only three days a week:

• Monday: All MIDRANGE moves (squats, bench presses, etc.)
• Wednesday: All STRETCH moves (sissy squats, flyes, etc.)
• Friday: All CONTRACTED moves (leg extensions, crossovers, etc.).

Those are all full-body workouts with only one exercise per muscle, a different one at each workout to cover all the Positions each week. That should be great variation, and I will use the 4X method on all exercises. Thoughts?

A: Interesting. We always applaud trainees who devise new ways to use proven mass-building strategies like Positions of Flexion. We like your idea a lot, but we think your midrange day, with EVERY big exercises for ALL muscles, would kill a full-grown gorilla (to borrow a descriptive from Nautilus creator Arthur Jones). It’s about 40 sets…

You’d be doing 4X for squats (quads), feet-forward Smith-machine front squats (hamstrings), Knee-extension leg press calf raises (gastrocs), bench presses (chest), rows (midback), pulldowns or chins (lats), upright rows and/or overhead presses (shoulders), undergrip pulldowns (biceps), close-grip bench presses (triceps) and incline kneeups (abs). Whew!

Remember, 4X is taking a weight with which you can get 15 reps, but you only do 10; rest for 30 to 40 seconds, then do it again. You go all out on your last set, and if you get 10, you add weight to that exercise at your next workout or try 4×11…

But even with the first few 4X sets being subfailure, that’s still a lot of work for many muscles. True, your Wednesday (stretch) and Friday (contracted) workouts will be a lot less exhausting, but you’ll dread Mondays more than a getting five cavities drilled.

You may be able to hack it if you get rid of the arm work on Monday. You’re already hitting arms with bench presses, rows, pulldowns and presses. Also get rid of the ab work on Monday–just do it on Wednesday and Friday.

Now your Midrange Monday looks like this…

Quads: Squats
Hamstrings: Feet-forward Smith-machine front squats
Gastrocs: Knee-extension leg press calf raises
Chest: Bench presses
Midback: Machine rows
Lats: Pulldowns
Delts: Upright rows and/or overhead presses

More manageable. Still, Stretch Wednesday–with pullovers, incline curls, overhead exensions, etc.–and Contracted Friday–with stifff-arm pulldowns, concentration curls, pushdowns, etc.–will be a breeze compared to Monday.

Stick with your POF 3-way split for FIVE WEEKS–with these suggestions…

1) Be sure and rest long enough between exercises to where your breathing returns to normal. If you rush into the next 4X sequence, you may short-change that bodypart due to cardiovascular failure (can’t breathe) rather than target-muscle fatigue.

2) Use a strict one-second-positive/three-second-negative cadence on ALL 4X sets. That will give you 40 seconds of tension time. As strength and muscle expert Jim Stoppani, Ph.D., says, "The best TUT (time under tension) range for strength is 4 to 20 seconds per set and about 40 to 60 seconds per set for MUSCLE GROWTH." You want at least 40 seconds on every set…

3) If on the last set of a 4X sequence you get fewer than 10 reps–TUT less than 40 seconds–do a drop set or rest/pause. For a drop set reduce the weight and immediately continue repping out–you should get five to seven more reps. For rest/pause rest for 10 seconds, then rep out with the SAME WEIGHT–getting five to seven more reps.

Optimal tension time and heightened blood flow are keys to making your muscles GROW. Let us know how everything goes–and grows.

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

Note: The 4X Mass Workout is only $19.99, a featured e-books at X-Workouts.com. The official Positions-of-Flexion mass-training manual is the 3D Muscle Building e-book, also only $19.99 for a limited time.

–Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson

www.X-Rep.com

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

12) Eric Broser’s FD/FS Mass-Shock 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.

MASS-BUILDING E-BOOKS…

X-SHOP: Find our original X-Rep e-book, as well as X Updates and Positions-of-Flexion mass-training guides…

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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

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