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Hi,,

1 - Thank You (Again) 2 - Fitness Forum is live - http://www.OnlineFitnessForum.com 3 - Less Fat, More Muscle Follow Up

1 - Thank You (Again)

First of all, I want to thank everyone who took the time to fill out my brief survey and submit a testimonial. You've come up with some great stuff and I appreciate all the kind words, so thanks! If you haven't gotten a chance to fill out the survey, or didn't see the last issue, just go to

==>> http://www.buildleanmuscle.com/icsurvey.html

Thanks,

2 - Fitness Forum Is Live

If you haven't yet been to the fitness forum, go check it out now. Over 140 people have registered so far.

I'm hoping it will become a real community where we can all share tips, ideas and our progress, as well as keeping each other motivated.

Go check it out and register now!

http://www.onlinefitnessforum.com

3 - Less Fat, More Muscle Follow Up

After the last newsletter, I got the following email:

"Hey man, why keep pushing for 20 seconds on the final (failed) rep? What are the mechanics behind it? Is that more effective than forced reps?

BTW, good newsletter!! And it looks like more people are signing up with onlinefitnessforum.com!!"

Thanks for the compliments, Tanner. Glad you are enjoying the newsletter. Yes, and I hope all those people start posting instead of just reading. ;-) I knew a forum would be time consuming until it became big enough to sustain itself but I feel it's worth it and those that take advantage will get a lot out of it.

Great question!

First, when a set ends (especially with lower reps), it's usually the nervous system that shuts down first, as opposed to the muscle fibers. Any type of extended set technique after a set to positive failure (end of set partials or static holds) will help to circumvent nervous system failure, allowing you to train more muscle fibers, hence more muscle building stimulation.

One of the reasons compound exercises are so effective is the ability to exert a lot of force, which scientists feel is a big key in building muscle. And the place you can exert the most force is right around the turnaround of the rep, when you go from negative to positive. For example, on the bench press, we're talking about the few inches before and after you touch the bar to your chest.

This is why you see so many pro bodybuilders explode through this portion of the rep. This adds a lot more force to the muscle. Of course, it can also be quite dangerous if not done properly.

Scientists also feel that, while the muscle must be elongated, or stretched, to produce the most force, the muscle should not be elongated to the extreme. Again, using the bench press, this means that the best place to exert force is right after the turnaround, or a few inches above the chest. This is what Steve Holman, Editor in Chief of Ironman magazine, calls the X-spot, ie, the most effective spot to use extended set techniques like static holds or what he calls X-reps, which is very short (4 - 8 inch range) reps at the proper spot, after a set to positive failure.

Getting back to your question about Arthur Jones and pushing against the weight at the end of the set. This accomplishes a lot of what I mention above. The spot I mention in the previous paragraphs where you can exert the most force is usually where most people fail in their last rep. If you can continue to exert force and push against the bar in this spot, after you go to positive failure, you'll crank up the force, circumvent nervous system failure, and add lots of muscle building potential to your set.

When you train to positive failure, you are triggering the muscle growth mechanism in your body. However, you are also leaving a lot of muscle growth potential in the set. In theory, training to true failure in a set would constitute taking the set to positive failure, then a static hold, followed by negative reps to failure. Of course, besides being impractical, especially if you train alone, it's brutal mentally, and would quickly lead to overtraining. If you're training drug free, you always have to balance your volume and intensity with your ability to recover from your workouts.

Continuing to push against the bar at the end of a set to positive failure allows you to trigger more force (and muscle growth), and circumvent nervous system failure without adding greatly to your overall volume load or adding too much stress to the body.

Finally, let's look at the practical reason. If you don't attempt that last set and continue to push or pull on that bar for 3, 5, 10 seconds or more, how do you truly know you've gone to failure and couldn't do another rep?

Keep in mind, there are exercises like the bench press and squat where you just can't do this without a very capable spotter or safety equipment like a power rack.

Now's a great time to grab From Fat to Fit...Fast! so you can start off 2007 with a mass building bang! Check it out at

==>> http://www.fattofitfast.com

No BS, No Excuses,

Gregg Gillies

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