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IRON MAN E-Zine: Issue #649: Feel It, Flex It, Pump It: Get Your Muscle Size on the Rise


Subject:
IRON MAN E-Zine: Issue #649:
Feel It, Flex It, Pump It: Get Your Muscle Size on the Rise

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TRY THIS AT YOUR NEXT WORKOUT
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Feel It, Flex It, Pump It: Get Your Muscle Size on the Rise

Q: I have trouble feeling some of my compound exercises, even using the 4X mass method with only 35 seconds between sets. A good example is pulldowns for lats. They almost feel like a waste of time. Any suggestions?

A: First, be sure you’re doing them correctly and with a proper rep tempo. A lot of trainees lean too far back and jerk the weight down, turning the pulldown into some type of mutant rowing exercise (you could call it the lean-back ego row).

In contrast, you need to stay strict–try a controlled one second to pull down and 3 seconds to release back to the top. Concentrate on feeling your lats contracting and elongating on every rep–the weight you use is secondary…

Your torso should remain fairly upright with an arch in your lower back so that you can pull your elbows down and back. That’s how you contract your lats. You may want to try a parallel-grip handle that puts your hands about shoulder-width apart. Many trainees can better contact their lats with that…

You also may want to try doing your first 4X set in X-centric, or negative-accentuated, style. That’s pulling down in one second but allowing SIX seconds for your arms to extend to the start–that is, a six-second negative on every rep. Shoot for eight or nine of those for about one minute of tension time. You should feel the 3 sets that follow much more…

You didn’t say what other exercises you’re doing for lats, but you mentioned 4X, so we will assume it’s one of the programs in the 4X e-book. If it’s the first Big, Basic Workout, your lat routine is this…

Pulldowns (4X style), 4 x 10
Stiff-arm pulldowns (4X style), 3 x 12

To feel your pulldowns better, you may want to try modified pre-exhaustion at every other workout (this works for any muscle). That’s simply reversing the order of the above two exercises so you do the single-joint, continuous-tension, contracted-position exercise first…

Stiff-arm pulldowns (4X style), 3 x 12
Pulldowns (4X style), 4 x 10

If you’re using the Positions of Flexion program in The 4X Mass Workout, you would do the above modified pre-ex, then follow with a 3X on DB pullovers for stretch-position work…

Contracted: Stiff-arm pulldowns (4X style), 3 x 12
Midrange: Pulldowns (4X style), 4 x 10
Stretch: DB pullovers (4X style), 3 x 10

Remember, "4X style" means to pick a weight with which you can get 15 reps, but you only do 10; rest 35 seconds, then do it again. Do that for the designated number of sets–3 or 4–but on the last one do as many reps as you can. If you get the listed rep count, add weight at your next workout. That’s moderate-weight, high-fatigue, growth-threshold training.

One more thing: If your gym has a pullover machine available, use it–at least at some of your back workouts. It trains BOTH the stretch- and contracted-positions of your lats–very efficient. The inventor, Arthur Jones, called it the upper-body squat. The stimulation is direct and full range for bigger gains…

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

Note: The 4X Mass Workout is only $19.99, available at the X-Workouts.com. The 4X companion e-books, The Ultimate Power-Density Mass Workout and The X-centric Mass Workout, are also only $19.99 each.

The 3D Muscle Building e-book is only 19.99 at the X-Shop. It’s the official Positions-of-Flexion mass-building manual, with full-range routines for every muscle and many complete workouts, including Size Surge variations and Power/Rep Range/Shock.

–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…

X-WORKOUTS: Find specialized e-workout programs, including Power-Density, 10×10 and Eric Broser’s Power/Rep Range/Shock….

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.

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All Content (c) Copyright 2012 IRON MAN Magazine
All Rights Reserved

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