Slow Down, Grow Muscle

In our last e-zine we discussed how inflicting more muscle trauma requires more recovery time. If you do enough damage, you may only need once-a-week training for each muscle. And with the right techniques, your workouts will still be relatively short….

For example, one efficient way to inflict growth-promoting trauma is to slow down the negative stroke on every rep of a set. On squats, for example, you take a full six seconds to lower, then fire up at normal semi-explosive speed. (The first time we used that slow-down method on squats, we had trouble walking the next day–after only one set.)

Interesting that Arthur Jones, the creator of Nautilus machines and the father of high-intensity training, always said to use a four-to-six-second negative on every rep of every set. That was one reason he prescribed shorter and less frequent workouts–because that slow lowering induced lots of muscle trauma that required extra recovery.

The negative-accentuated style is excellent, but we think one or two NA sets per bodypart is enough (especially after our NA squat experiment and resulting soreness). You also need faster two-seconds-up-two-seconds-down rep speeds. Why? That allows you to use more weight and achieve more overload at the semistretch position–the key fiber-activation point where the muscle is elongated. Jones suggested getting that X-Spot overload at the end of an NA set…

Jones said that at the point of failure, the trainee should hold the weight at the sticking point for as long as possible. That produces even more tension time, muscle damage and growth-fiber activation in one single set. (Static holds are excellent, but we like X Reps, or partials, in the semistretch position when possible, as movement calls even more fibers into action.) We still think sets at standard speed are important for unique fiber activation, however.

Rep-speed variations (like negative-accentuated sets) plus X Reps and X hybrid techniques produce unique growth-triggering muscle trauma. But, as Jones often said, the key to getting size bursts is intense workouts followed by enough rest to allow muscle growth to occur. More of Jones’ muscle-building gems you can use to get huge in the answer below…

Q: If I just do the basic [compound] exercises and continue to get stronger, won’t I get as big as possible as fast as possible?

A: That appears to be true on the surface, but consider this: Strength equals force, so the stronger you get, the more you will develop size along that specific pathway–fiber size generated by force overload. But, as we’ve noted, there are two other key size-development pathways: stretch overload and tension/occlusion…

Japanese researchers have achieved significant muscle gains via occlusion training, or blocking blood flow to the working muscle. One study got an 800 percent increase in mass as compared to standard training. (Note that specific isolation exercises, like leg extensions, produce the best tension/occlusion growth effect, not compound, or basic, exercises.)

As for stretch, an animal study got a 300 percent increase in muscle mass after only one month of progressive stretch-overload “workouts.” That consisted of a slight pulsing action against resistance at very near full muscle elongation. (Once again, full stretch is hard to accomplish with compound exercises–you need moves like dumbbell flyes for chest and dumbbell pullovers for lats.)

So studies show that both occlusion and stretch overload can trigger bigger size increases on their own, just as max force can. But those three work faster if you use them together. Jonathan demonstrated that when he gained 20 pounds of muscle in 10 weeks. He used a basic max-force program the first five weeks as an anabolic primer (getting stronger on the basics), then he moved to a full 3-way Positions-of-Flexion program for each muscle during the second five weeks–and that’s when his size gains exploded…

Most trainees will get significantly better results when they train all three anabolic pathways directly with three separate exercises, as Jonathan did with his second 5-week POF program. For example, you train triceps with close-grip bench presses (max force), overhead extensions (stretch overload) and pushdowns (tension/occlusion).

If you only use the big exercise–close-grip bench presses in this case–your triceps will get bigger as you get stronger, but it will take longer…because you aren’t directly attacking each anabolic pathway. Size will follow strength–eventually. The question is, how fast do you want size to happen? Here’s an interesting quote from Arthur Jones’ Nautilus Bulletin #1, published in the late ’60s, that describes the size-strength link:

“When the actual progress of an individual trainee is carefully charted over a period of a few months, several rather surprising results will become immediately apparent; for example, while strength levels will increase in a series of gentle curves, increases in size of the involved bodyparts–and thus apparent increases in muscular mass–will result in a stair-step pattern.”

What Jones is saying is that strength increases are usually fairly steady, fluctuating slightly up and down but on a distinct upward trajectory, while size increases come in sudden spurts or bursts followed by plateaus–a stair-step pattern.

While attacking the three size-building pathways with POF may not alter that size-strength pattern, it can shorten the steps and make size bursts occur more quickly in leaps and bounds. Jones would agree, as he worked tirelessly to include maximum stretch and continuous tension on his Nautilus machines. With 3D POF you hit each of those pathways separately using standard equipment–and, as Jonathan and others have shown, it can transform your physique quickly, even if you’re an average trainee. One last gem from Jones…

“The potential muscular size of the average individual is far beyond existing average muscular size; in effect, almost any healthy man can build muscular size and strength to such a degree that most medical doctors would refuse to believe accurate before and after measurements and photographs. And at least a fair percentage of apparently average men can build literally huge muscular size.”

Could you pack on 20 pounds of “huge muscular size” by spring with the right type of training? It starts with your next workout.

Till next time, train hard.

–Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson

www.X-Rep.com

(Note: For more on occlusion and the program we used to add almost 10 more pounds of muscle after our X-Rep transformation year, see the Beyond X-Rep Muscle Building e-book. For Jonathan’s 20-pounds-of-muscle-in-10-weeks workout, 5-week anabolic primer followed by a 5-week POF workout, and a complete analysis of POF, see the 3D Muscle Building e-book.)

Click on the e-books for more information:

Latest release: The new X-Rep Update #1 contains the latest X-Rep mass-building techniques–like Flex X, StatC, StatS and X-Only–incorporated into a complete, printable X-Rep Workout. Plus, an inside look at Mr. Olympia’s workout, from an X-Rep perspective, with photos.

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.

For any questions or comments regarding the IRON MAN Magazine Online Newsletter, please email jdl@ironmanmagazine.com. To unsubscribe, please see the instructions at the bottom of this email.

To follow the ITRC training program in “Train, Eat, Grow,” get a copy of the latest issue of IRON MAN.

——————————————————————–

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.

==========================================

IN IRON MAN THIS MONTH

==========================================

December 2008: