This week’s update will be about another method of increasing intensity. It is called X-Reps. X- Reps are performed at the point of the exercise where you have your sticking point. I know this may seem lazy but I am going to copy a newsletter from Jonathon Lawson of Ironman magazine. If you are interested in the newsletter you can subscribe VIA the link on the right {The Home Gym link}. Here goes!
“Tweak to Peak—The Time is Now
....
X Reps. At the end of a set to failure, you move the weight to
the X spot on the stroke, usually below the midpoint, and pulse
in a five-to-10-inch range (heavy power partials with a searing
aftereffect).
Those all allow you to use heavy poundages, while also igniting
muscle burn (just keep repeating that the fires of hell can fry
more fat for fuel). If you’ve been following our training series in
IRON MAN magazine, you know which of those techniques has
given us the most spectacular results lately—we even named
our Web site after it: www.X-Rep.com. Our one-month
transformation after we adopted X Reps stunned even us.
Why do X Reps work so well? We’ve explained in past
newsletters how they allow you to leapfrog nervous system
failure at the end of any set, which activates more high-threshold
motor units (fast-twitch growth fibers). We’ve also discussed
their ability to overload the muscle at the key max-force-generation
point along the stroke of any exercise, usually the semistretched
position—and stretch overload has been linked to hyperplasia,
or muscle-fiber splitting (maybe you can create new muscle
fibers!). New research also points to occlusion, or blocking blood
flow, as a prime stimulus for explosive size and strength gains.
X Reps definitely produce that occlusion effect at the end of a
set. (The High-Definition training program in the new diet and
nutrition e-book X-treme Lean shows you how to maximize all
of those effects.)
What about a fat-burning growth hormone surge? Well, if you’ve
tried them, you know that X Reps produce an incredible searing
effect at the end of any set. We said above that intensity has
been shown to fire up fat burning and that GH is linked to muscle
burn. Think about it: With X Reps you can do an intense heavy
set on a compound exercise, like bench presses, and then end
that set with power partials to significantly magnify the burn.
(Try them and see—or should we say feel—for yourself!) It’s a
much more efficient method than any of the others, with almost
zero wasted effort. (That’s why we say that each X-Rep set is
at least three times as effective as a straight set to failure.)
If you’ve been training for any length of time, you know it’s very
difficult to achieve a burn on the big, compound movements.
But with X Reps you can make it happen every time. Now you
have the power to trigger a muscle-building, fat-burning double
whammy—heavy, intense multijoint exercise with a searing
firestorm finale. Do you see why we’re so fanatical about X
Reps—and why they were the key method during our one-month
metamorphoses? They can do the same for you...
Just remember that it takes some time to make new size, strength
and leanness happen, so you gotta start now, at your very next
workout. Think intensity and incorporate X Reps on at least one
set of a few select compound exercises to kick-start the
lean-machine turbines. Then when springtime sneaks up on you,
and you peel off your shirt at the lake, beach or pool on that first
hot day, you’ll be very glad you did. (“Wow! You’ve got abs!”)”
Have a great week!
Tom
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