SP-4X Mass Workout–Plus, Cheat to Get Ripped

Subject:
IRON MAN E-Zine: Issue #535: SP-4X Mass Workout–Plus, Cheat to Get Ripped

www.ironmanmagazine.com

==========================================
TRY THIS AT YOUR NEXT WORKOUT
==========================================

SP-4X Mass Workout–Plus, Cheat to Get Ripped

Q: One of my favorite programs is the Split-Positions POF workout [in Beyond X-Rep Muscle Building e-book, pages 67-71]. I don’t have a lot of time to train with full-on Positions of Flexion for all my muscles, so dividing up the positions is faster. It helped me add about 7 pounds of muscle the first time I tried it. My question: What do you think about using the 4X method on all the exercises in that routine?

A: Exclusive 4X will work when it’s plugged into just about any program—if there are enough exercises and you train a muscle often enough. We’ve found that around 10 sets per muscle is right for us at the moment. A "full-on" 3-way Positions-of-Flexion lat routine with 10 sets looks like this…

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

For those unfamiliar with 4X, you take a weight with which you can get 15 reps, but you only do 10. Rest 30 seconds, then do 10 more. Rest 30 seconds and do 10 more. Rest 30 seconds one last time and do your fourth set to failure. If you get 10 reps, add a little weight to the exercise at your next workout. For 3X you do only three sequences instead of four and you go all out on your third set.

Now, on the Split-Positions workout you’re talking about from Beyond X, you do the midrange and stretch exercises at one workout; then the next time you train that bodypart you do midrange and contracted. Here’s how that would look as SP-4X (Split-Positions 4X)…

Lat Workout 1
Midrange: Pulldowns (4X), 4 x 10
Stretch: DB pullovers (4X), 4 x 10

Lat Workout 2
Midrange: Pulldowns (4X), 4 x 10
Contracted: Stiff-arm pulldowns, 4 x 10

You’re only doing eight sets at each workout, and only two all-out sets–the last one in each 4X sequence. Each of those workouts should take less than 10 minutes. So are two exercises with 4X for each bodypart enough to trigger ultimate growth? It may be for you. Try it. If you feel as if you need something more, add a negative-accentuated, or X-centric, set to the 4X pulldowns:

4 x 10, 1 x 7NA

You rest 30 seconds again after the fourth set but reduce the weight by 10 to 20 percent. Then use a one-second-down positive and a six-second-up negative on every pulldown rep for seven reps. That will induce more fiber trauma that can trigger a bigger growth response.

Limited-Time Half-Price Offer: For ONE WEEK only you can get our best-selling Beyond X-Rep Muscle Building e-book for only $19.99 (that’s half price; the regular price is $39.95). It includes all of the X-hybrid tactics, like X Fade, Double-X Overload and X/Pause. Plus, you get our complete ’05 Ripping Phase Workout along with the Split-Positions Mass Workout. There’s also an entire chapter on 8-time Mr. Olympia Ronnie Coleman’s training and more techniques you can use in your quest to get huge. Note: The 4X Mass Workout is also only $19.99.

Q: I’m so ready to be ripped. I got your X-treme Lean e-book and am on the diet. Already dropped five pounds of fat in two weeks just by cleaning up and using your tips. My question is about the cheat day every week that you say is mandatory. Can I eat junk food on my cheat day, or do I just increase my calories via good carbs? I crave pancakes, so is that okay? I want to see my abs as quickly as possible.

A: Mmm, pancakes! Before we answer your question about junk food, let us explain our reasons for a mandatory cheat day every week…

A little cheating is not only good for fat loss from a psychological standpoint by satisfying cravings, it’s also good physically from a metabolic standpoint because of a hormone called leptin…

Leptin is known as the antistarvation hormone. If you have enough, your body doesn’t panic and your metabolism keeps cruising along. But if you stay strict all the time, your body produces less and less leptin. The body soon thinks it’s starving and slows your metabolism to a crawl. Fat burning stops almost completely. Plus, your appetite soars off the charts. That’s when most people bail on their diets, regain the fat they lost and may pack on even more…

But studies show that increasing calories, primarily with carbs, only ONE day a week during a diet can maintain high leptin levels, keeping the starvation mechanism in check and speeding the fat-burning process. (Steve’s story about how he miscalculated and almost sabotaged his diet by NOT upping his carbs one day a week is in X-treme Lean.)

So the question becomes, do you allow yourself to splurge on junk food during that one cheat day a week, or do you simply increase slower-digesting carbs–like with some fruits and vegetables? The answer can depend on your individual insulin response. For example, Steve has a faster metabolism than Jonathan, so he can tolerate more fast-absorbing carbs than Jonathan. In other words, Steve is more of an ectomorph, as you can see in this comparison photo (Steve is on the left)…

That means Steve can handle more junk food than Jonathan on cheat days; however, he usually chooses to only junk it up at breakfast–pancakes with syrup and/or toast with jam and/or a doughnut (Mmm, doughnuts). The rest of the day he increases carbs somewhat, but only with slow-burning ones. Jonathan does the same, usually limiting his junk meal to breakfast…

A good rule is to always have eggs if you’re junking at breakfast, as the fat can slow the sugar absorption and insulin output. Extra fiber can do that too–whole-wheat pancakes or whole-wheat toast, for example.

Another good rule is to include cardio on your cheat day, maybe an hour or so after breakfast, to burn away some of the excess glucose in your bloodstream.

If you push your junk meal to dinner and have, say, pizza, you may get a bit more fat storage because you don’t burn off as much energy at night. But as long as you limit yourself to two slices, you should be fine (don’t go berserk and eat an entire large pizza). Get right back on your X-treme Lean diet the next day. As we say in that e-book, “Cheat day is not a license to clean out your local Baskin-Robbins or eat an entire wedding cake.”

Do your diet right, and your abs will come into sight etched and tight!

Note: X-treme Lean, the fat-loss diet, nutrition and workout e-book, is available for only $19.99 for a limited time. You can get it at an even lower price if you also get the X-traordinary Abs e-book along with it. Check it out at the X-Shop.

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.

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.

——————————————————————–
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 April issue features a bodybuilder who is more than just a bodybuilder—he’s also a skydiver, bungee jumper, bull rider and anything else that gets his adrenaline spiking. Kyle Clarke is his name, and he uses his muscles for more than just flexing. Plus, we have the first excerpt from the best-selling e-book The Ultimate Mass Workout, a shoulder-shocking program from up-and-coming bodybuilder Armon Abidi, a complete kettlebell routine from Clark Bartram and answers about the science of bodybuilding from two top researchers. Find the awesome April IRON MAN on newsstands now! See the Table of Contents here for a full preview.

——————————————————————–
Help us build the IRON MAN Research Team — Tell a friend! If you know someone who would benefit from Supplement Updates, Diet Tips and Freebies, forward them this e-zine or tell them to visit us at

http://www.ironmanmagazine.com and click on FREE Training Newsletter.

*We DO NOT sell any subscriber e-mail addresses.

——————————————————————–
All Content (c) Copyright 2011 IRON MAN Magazine
All Rights Reserved