X3 FAQ: Is X3 Functional Training?

Full Transcript #

Question we’ve been getting: Is X3 functional? #

Great question. Ultimately the functional training argument is really sort of oddly used, misused all the time. The function of a muscle is to shorten. So, really, any time you move, you could call that function, which is why the word is misused so often.

But, generally people who use the term “functional training,” are talking about, “Does it mimic a natural pattern of movement?” Because the central nervous system is more likely to recognize that, or a deficit in a normal movement pattern, as a trigger for growth, or a trigger for upregulating an anabolic hormone like testosterone, or growth hormone.

So, is X3 functional? #

Well, almost everything we do is to optimize our stronger range of motion in movement. If you jump off the table and land, or box jump, you’re not gonna try and bring your knees up close to your face to absorb that force. You’ll totally injure yourself. Your natural reaction, you trip and fall, your natural reaction is to have your arm right here, at a 120 degree angle, because this is where you absorb, or produce the greatest amount of force. When a fighter hits somebody, they don’t wanna hit ‘em right in here. They wanna hit ‘em right there.

So, what we wanna point out is, everything you do, you’re tryin’ to use your stronger ranges of motion. Only in weightlifting do we try and put heavy loads on the weaker ranges of motion, which is often a cause of injury.

So, with X3, you can do a higher weight and more repetitions in the optimized range of motion. Then you can move back into the mid-range of motion, where you’re using a lower weight and good fatigue there. Therefore, it is truly functional.

You are fatiguing the way you would use the muscle, and then you get to diminish the range. And when you finally go to fatigue in the weak range of motion, where you would with a high weight, but with much lower amount of work done, much lower amount of stimulus, you’re using a pretty light weight so you can actually go a significant amount of repetitions in the weaker range.

So it is a far more complete fatigue of muscle in its actual functional use, thereby triggering even more growth.