ones with the most growth potential. That’s true, but growth in
the slow-twitch fibers will obviously improve the size of a
b o d y p a rt as well. You should try to build a l lfiber types and
s u bt yp es f o r t he mo s t si ze p os s ib le— a nd f at bu rn i n g ;
remember, more muscle helps speed up your metabolism—and
occlusion training is key to making that happen.
How does it accelerate fat burning? Remember that muscle
burn is directly connected to growth hormone surges, and GH
is a powerful fat burn e r. Well, occlusion training burns like a
b l o w t o rch when you train with it. That’s because when you
block blood flow to a working muscle, it’s oxygen deprived. Are
you beginning to see why you should include some type of
oc clu sion training in you r X-tre me L ea n wor kou ts? The
question is, What’s the best way to do it?
Fat-Burning, Muscle-Building Occulsions
U n f o rt u n a t e l y, using a blood-pre s s u re cuff or a tourn i q u e t
above the working muscle isn’t very practical (how are you
going to stop blood flow to your pecs?), and it can be painful,
p e rhaps eve n dangerou s. But you can ge t simi lar, safer
occlusion effects with standard exercises and perhaps get
close to replicating some of those amazing gains in only a few
workouts. Here’s how...
Keep in mind that when you contract a muscle, you forc e
blood out of it. So if you keep tension on the muscle long
enough as you pump out continuous-tension reps, you occlude
blood flow. The burn you get on the last few reps of leg
extensions is partly due to the quad muscles screaming for
blood (oxygen) because they’re in a constant state of tension
during that exercise—blood is getting squeezed out of the
muscle on every rep.
Now, most people use leg extensions in their quad routines,
so why aren’t they getting 8 percent increases in size every two
weeks? Part of the reason is that right when the most occlusion
is occurring—near the end of a set—they stop. It’s a simple
case of terminating sets too soon—when they can’t get any