"4X" Workout...anyone try it?

Started a new routine this week. I'm doing the same split but using the "4X" method. Goes like this...

After warming up, you do your first set with a weight that you can do for 15 reps, but only do 10 reps. Rest 30 secs then 10 reps. Repeat 2 more times until you've done 4 sets for one exercise. And you do this for every exercise you do in your routine. If you can do 10 reps on each set, then next week you increase the weight.

Sound easy? Give it a try. It's a ball buster. Yesterday was chest day and today my upper chest is screaming. Today was leg day and I can imagine what my legs are going to feel like tomorrow. May try it for a few weeks and see how it goes...

[QUOTE=BBLou;641788413]Started a new routine this week. I'm doing the same split but using the "4X" method. Goes like this...

After warming up, you do your first set with a weight that you can do for 15 reps, but only do 10 reps. Rest 30 secs then 10 reps. Repeat 2 more times until you've done 4 sets for one exercise. And you do this for every exercise you do in your routine. If you can do 10 reps on each set, then next week you increase the weight.

Sound easy? Give it a try. It's a ball buster. Yesterday was chest day and today my upper chest is screaming. Today was leg day and I can imagine what my legs are going to feel like tomorrow. May try it for a few weeks and see how it goes...[/QUOTE]

I am doing this type of routine now which is in my journal. I am doing 5 sets of 6 instead of a 4 x

:)

Hell no it doesn't sound easy!

F-n made me tired just thinking about it.

Yea I read about it in Ironman mag a fem months back. I do 531 and 4x. So on bench day i do the bench 531 style everything else 4x . same for squat day dead day and overhead press day.

lol...LOU, baby, it has nothing to do with the ten reps or the amount of weight, it is all about the THIRTY SECONDS!!!

welcome to the wonderful world of short rest periods and chasing the pump...been doing it for years....

your body adapts to it, after a while, trust me....It is a great method for increasing intensity in your workouts....

I routinely only allow 30 to 45 seconds between regular sets and one minute between supersets.....

Its a variation on FST 7 in which you do 7 sets with 30 second rests with a weight where it is a struggle to do 8-12 reps on the last couple of sets. If you get 8 reps on the last set, then you increase the weight the next time. And this is [b] after [/b] you have done 2 or 3 other exercises for the same bodypart so is pre exhausted.

[QUOTE=JOHN GARGANI;642189433]lol...LOU, baby, it has nothing to do with the ten reps or the amount of weight, it is all about the THIRTY SECONDS!!!

welcome to the wonderful world of short rest periods and chasing the pump...been doing it for years....

your body adapts to it, after a while, trust me....It is a great method for increasing intensity in your workouts....

I routinely only allow 30 to 45 seconds between regular sets and one minute between supersets.....[/QUOTE]

John,

you got it right on, it is the 30 sec rest period that is the killer. Normally, I rest 60-120 secs between sets depending on the lifts I'm doing, but 30 secs is practically nothing. You are basically just catching your breath between sets. So yesterday on leg day I basically did 225 for 10 reps 4 times in about 4 minutes total for squats. It messes with your head towards the end... You definitely need a partner on this to keep pushing you on the last couple sets.

I'm doing the 4x on hypertrophy days of my non-linear periodization routine. I'm a ecto-meso hard gainer and I don't do over 6 sets per body part in a workout.

So do most of you guys who employ the 4x do multiple exercises per body part, for example, 4x incline followed by 4x dumbbell flies?

Doing one 4x for a body part feels like a ball buster as it is but do you think adding a second or a third movement makes a big difference?

I'd like to hear what you all think.

4x (the goofy IM emails :p) has helped me a lot.
I read up on the old school 8x and have used that as well.

Being that I workout at home, early & by myself... Lighter weights keep me from being found blue by the kids. The short rests really kill on the last set.

It is nice to get a good pumping workout with dumb bells.

Just to clarify

[QUOTE=BBLou;641788413]Started a new routine this week. I'm doing the same split but using the "4X" method. Goes like this...

After warming up, you do your first set with a weight that you can do for 15 reps, but only do 10 reps.[/QUOTE]
Ok Understood
[QUOTE=BBLou;641788413]Rest 30 secs then 10 reps.[/QUOTE]
Gotcha, 10 reps if I can correct?

[QUOTE=BBLou;641788413]Repeat 2 more times until you've done 4 sets for one exercise.[/QUOTE]
If I can do 10... maybe just 8....correct?
[QUOTE=BBLou;641788413]And you do this for every exercise you do in your routine. If you can do 10 reps on each set, then next week you increase the weight.[/QUOTE]
Ok when I reach 15reps for the first set then 10 for the last 3 sets, I up the weight...correct?

Sounds interesting I would like to try it
Thanx for posting
Regards

[QUOTE=FistOfTheNorthStar;802645721]I'm doing the 4x on hypertrophy days of my non-linear periodization routine. I'm a ecto-meso hard gainer and I don't do over 6 sets per body part in a workout.

So do most of you guys who employ the 4x do multiple exercises per body part, for example, 4x incline followed by 4x dumbbell flies?

Doing one 4x for a body part feels like a ball buster as it is but do you think adding a second or a third movement makes a big difference?

I'd like to hear what you all think.[/QUOTE]

If you're going to do the 4X workout then yes, it is for every exercise in the workout. And yes, it is a ballbuster!

[QUOTE=MecGen;802695011]Just to clarify


Ok Understood

Gotcha, 10 reps if I can correct?


If I can do 10... maybe just 8....correct?

Ok when I reach 15reps for the first set then 10 for the last 3 sets, I up the weight...correct?

Sounds interesting I would like to try it
Thanx for posting
Regards[/QUOTE]

Yes to all your questions. If you can do 10 reps on the last set, keep going until you can't do any more, then next week/workout increase the weight...

I've done FST-7 sets as a finisher for a bodypart, but this sounds like a bigger, badder challenge since you're shooting for 4x10 w/ 30 sec. rest on [I]all exercises[/I]. Next time I want a radical change, or want to do something different for a couple months, I'll keep this in mind.

Thanks, Lou, for the cool idea.

Workout has changed my life. 3ex and4x