After Initial Sticker Shock I Love the Jaquish Biomedical X3 Bar

Are you over 35?

Do you want to be in good shape?

If you’re anything like me, you’ve tried different exercise protocols and equipment, but aren’t totally satisfied with the results.

Here’s the thing. I’m not a type-A personality, who lives to exercise. Grind it out. Power through. Sleep only 4 hours a night so I can spend 2 hours in the gym every day.

I’m not lazy, but I want the minimum effective dose to maintain an acceptable level of fitness for the rest of my life. I want a program that takes less time. I also want it to be a net positive for my body. Many exercise routines offer some benefit but take away more by adding hard miles. 

I’ve dabbled in all kinds of stuff over the years. At 50-years-old I’ve zeroed in on what I definitely don’t like. Here’s a sampling …

• Jogging
• Fitness tracking devices
• Going to the gym
• Nagging injuries

If I can meet my fitness and health goals with a quick morning routine that doesn’t include any of the above, I’m happy.

If you can relate to that list in any way, check out my recent discovery. 

Goal: Eat and exercise in a way that promotes mobility and longevity, while staying lean and strong.

I don’t play sports. I’m not into bodybuilding. I don’t want to run a marathon. I want to be healthy, mobile, and strong as I move into old age. I want to stay as far away from doctors and pharmaceuticals as possible. I’d like to keep my brain functioning, stay out of the nursing home, and remain active and injury-free until I take my last breath.

X3 Bar Review

This blog post got long on me. Going through the research used to develop the X3 bar, and my thought process for deciding to buy it got me excited … and wordy. So, before I get into all that, here’s my opinion of inventor Dr. John Jaquish’s equipment in case you want the short version.

I love the X3 Bar. It’s expensive and worth every penny. It saves me time. I’ve been able to maintain my fitness, and actually increase muscle mass in 10 minutes a day. I decided to put the thing to the test by dropping all my other exercises and focus on the bar to see if, as Jaquish says, it’s all you need. 

Happy to report it’s true! Warning: it’s not easy! It’s simple. It’s quick. But to get results you have to put in short bursts of high intensity. Sound good?

> Get the X3 Bar
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Dr. John Jaquish and His Exercise Resistance Bands

I’m not sure how I found Dr. John Jaquish, but his message attracted me immediately: cardio and weightlifting are unnecessary. 

I’m listening!

I hate cardio.

I’m okay with weightlifting. I’m pretty low-key, so I could never go all in. I don’t have that “run through walls” mentality, willing to risk a hernia for that last rep, or powering through a major injury to get in the daily grind.

Despite not being hardcore, I was still injured all the time.

I had annoying lingering shoulder pain and irritated joints from doing dumbbell stuff a few times a week. Once it got too bad I took time off to let it heal. But, inevitably the pain would return.

Then, Jaquish caught my attention.

Dr. Jaquish Scratches His Own Itch With Science

Jaquish was looking for a way to get a full-body workout to build muscle that took a few minutes a day. He spent most of his waking hours running a successful company, Osteostrong, so he needed a quick solution. He couldn’t find one he liked on the market. 

So, like the Ph.D. brainiac he is, Jaquish went deep into published papers and experiments on human physiology, fitness, nutrition, and more. He took what he learned and built the X3.

> Improve Your Fitness With the X3 Bar
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How I Justified Paying $550 For Exercise Bands … Logic

I would have bought the X3 immediately because Jaquish said I didn’t need to lift weights or do cardio to make gains. And I only needed to carve out 10 minutes, six days a week. And I could do it at home. It was like my dream fitness program.

But, wait a minute. I know about this marketing and advertising stuff. Nefarious people can zero in on emotional triggers and make you buy before reason kicks in. So, I pumped the brakes on my emotions, took a few deep breaths, and decided to do some research. 

The $550 price tag definitely helped me to slow my roll on the purchase. Under $100 and I would have bought on impulse. But, I’m not a rich dude. $550 is a significant chunk of change. 

Thankfully, Jaquish has a book, Weight Lifting Is a Waste of time: So Is Cardio, and There’s a Better Way to Have the Body You Want, that explains the research behind the product. 

I read it. Twice. It stands alone as a great book on exercise and nutrition. It cites 251 scientific papers. It makes a ton of sense and details why, after in-depth research, Jaquish decided on the X3 protocol and components.

Here are some of the main discoveries from the book that convinced me to shell out $550 for what amounts to rubber bands, a metal plant, and a bar. 

On to the research that inspired the X3.

Variable Resistance Rocks

Jaquish discovered that with typical weights you can only lift the amount of weight you can handle in your weakest range of motion.

For example, the weakest range of motion on the bench press is with the bar at your chest. You can’t add more weight than you can move at that point even though higher up in the lift you can lift much more.

“People have a vast amount of unused muscle capability that weightlifting can’t begin to stimulate.” – Dr. Jaquish

Resistance bands solve this. They offer more resistance the further you push or pull them. Thus, during the chest press (an exercise in the X3 protocol) at your weakest range, you have the least resistance. As you push further from your body the harder it gets. Perfect.

Jaquish was not the first to discover this. In fact, lifters have added bands or chains to their bars for years in order to get this variable resistance. 

You’re bound to get injured if you overtax yourself on the weak range. And you don’t tap into higher capacity in the strong range (Jaquish says up to sevenfold).

To get around this some folks have tried using less weight with higher repetitions. Jaquish found that low force (less weight) high rep workouts don’t work if you want to build muscle. Heavy loading is best for muscle strength and hypertrophy (increased muscle size). Again, I wasn’t looking to become massive. I wanted a way to counteract my skinny (limbs)-fat (gut) natural state.

Beyond that, Jaquish said “the more musculature you have, the more efficient the delivery of nutrients to organs.”

That’s a compelling reason to build muscle.

I kept reading.

Let me remind you. Jaquish backs up all his claims with reputable studies.

Cardio Stimulates Cortisol

Jaquish says no to cardio. It’s science, and I’m stoked. Prolonged cardio stimulates cortisol which is a natural stress hormone. Cortisol inhibits lipolysis, which means it doesn’t let the body burn fat. Why? Because hours of cardio tell the body it’s going long distance with limited fuel, so it holds on to fat as long as possible. It also minimizes growth because muscle has significant caloric requirements. 

It’s difficult to be lean and build muscle while running long distances. 

Slow Controlled Movements to Fatigue For the Win

Studies showed that doing slightly higher repetition sets with heavy resistance, using slow, controlled movements to fatigue increased testosterone. Even more than lower reps with explosive movements. Testosterone is a building block of muscle growth.

Best Way to Up-Regulate Growth Hormone

Jaquish discovered the best way to trigger growth hormone, which protects muscle mass and promotes body fat loss, is incorporating stabilization into movements with free weights or resistance bands. 

Stabilization is the body’s reflexive muscle firing to keep you upright and stable during resistance training. Requiring the body to stabilize itself during an exercise stimulates more muscle tissue. 

For example, squats increase growth hormone more than leg presses even when leg pressing more weight. Why? When you’re doing leg presses on a machine, you’re locked into position. With squats, your body is firing from all over the place to keep you upright and stable as you move through space. 

Constant Tension Builds Muscle

The science gets heavy on this one. Hypoxia is myostatin down regulator. Myostatin is a muscle inhibitor. Hypoxia is the deprivation of oxygen at the tissue level. One way to get this effect is to cut off blood flow (i.e. a tourniquet), but that’s not comfortable or effective while exercising. 

Another way is constant tension. You can do slow lifts with standard weights but it’s not as effective as bands because of the biomechanical issues of varying load capacities at different ranges of motion. In other words, with resistance bands, you can get constant tension with maximal loads. A potent combination.

I’m Sold on Jaquish’s Mind and Methodology

I’m not a scientist but the way Jaquish explains the science sold me on his process. 

They say you don’t really know a subject until you can teach it to a novice. 

When it comes to science I’m a dim bulb, but Jaquish clearly explained his rationale for the perfect workout and 100s of scientific papers back it. In fact, he has 251 citations in his book.

Connecting the Research With the Product and Protocol

Despite being perfect for variable resistance and constant tension in all ranges of motion band exercises have never caught on with muscle builders.

Why? Because by themselves resistance bands are not great for going heavy. 

If you try to use heavy-duty bands for big-time resistance—Jaquish generated 640 pounds of peak force testing a deadlift with X3—your joints can’t handle it. There’s too much torque, it twists your wrists and feet and puts you in danger of injury. 

That’s why Jaquish Biomedical developed the modified barbell and ground plate. 

The barbell, which features loops to hold the bands and internal ball bearings to minimize torque protects your wrists. 

The ground plate, which has a groove for the band, to spread out the force of the bands on your feet, protects your ankles.

In his research, Jaquish discovered that using both arms to handle heavy objects and peak force is much better than one arm. Thus, the strongest people in the world train with barbells (the long one) rather than dumbbells (the short ones). Two-armed exercises activate more muscles, which is why studies found you can lift 20% more with a barbell bench press over a dumbbell. This is why Jaquish chose a barbell over individual handles for the X3. 

I’m telling you he thought of everything. It’s quite impressive and interesting to see the research turn into a very effective piece of equipment.

Dragging My Feet – $550 for Bands!?

I’m kind of a cheapskate, but for health, personal development, and time-saving,  I’m willing to spend money. 

Jaquish sold me on the health benefits of his X3 bar with his research. And it was obvious the contraption would save me time every day (10-minute workout!) Yet, I was still hesitant. $550 dollars for resistance bands. Yikes. 

But, if you think about all of the R&D that went into designing the components and the proper movements. And you see that they manufactured with the best materials, the price starts to make sense. 

The bar and plate handle heavy load-bearing duties. And the latex bands don’t stretch out over time as petroleum-based bands do. They also developed a process to create the bands with 30 layers, so they don’t snap.

So, I took the plunge. And the X3 is worth every penny.

> Grab the X3 Bar Now
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My Recent Experiment

Other than always feeling banged up, I was pretty happy with the exercise routine I had landed on prior to the X3. It was 6 days on, 1 day off with a mix of bodyweight exercises like pushups, pullups, and dips. Dumbbell curls and overhead press. Kettlebells. Sprints and/or stairs and a little bike riding. It didn’t take too long, 20-30 minutes, and I did it at home or in the park.

But, when I got the X3, I decided to drop all of that and see if I could maintain my muscle while reducing my total workout to 10 minutes. I’ve been at it for about five months at the time of this writing.

So far, I’ve gained muscle. I feel great. No soreness. No joint pain. No weird shoulder stuff. 

I may add a few of my old favorite exercises back into my routine, but I don’t think I need to. I might sell my weights and kettlebells.

Simple Is Not Easy

I’m still learning this lesson. There are only 8 exercises total, split into 4 per day. 6 days a week.

Push day:

• Chest press
• Tricep pushdown
• Overhead press
• Squat

Pull day:

• Deadlift
• Bicep curl
• Bent row
• Calf Raise

One set each.

The trick is going to failure. Actually, Jaquish likes the world fatigue. Failure sounds like you lost, but if you consistently hit fatigue you’re winning with X3. I’ve never been a person that goes total fatigue on anything. I like to keep a little in the tank. It’s actually mentally taxing to keep going until you literally can’t go anymore.

This is a skill. I’ve yet to master it. But, I’ll keep trying.

Complication Equals Slippage

The more complicated I make my life the more likely I slip.

Simple is repeatable and is easier to execute even when laziness, demons, or whatever internal saboteurs start to whisper in your ear. This is why I like the simplicity of the same eight exercises over and over again. I don’t need variety. Some people might find that boring, but it’s liberating to me. I don’t have to keep seeking the next thing.

The Negatives of X3 Training

Nothing is perfect. The X3 program is as close to perfect as it gets, but there are some things to be aware of before you buy.

• It takes time (at least a few workouts) to figure out which bands to use. Jaquish gives you a rule of thumb, so it’s not that big of a deal. Sometimes you are kind of in-between. If you’re under 15 reps go to a smaller band. If you’re over 40 reps go to a bigger band.
• The bands are latex. 1% of the population is allergic to latex. Ironically, Jaquish is part of that one percent. He says the latex hasn’t caused him any issues. He wears a shirt while training, and showers immediately after.
• Latex is soft. The bands get scuffed up pretty easily. It’s not a problem because they’re constructed in 30 layers. They fray but maintain strength. It’s only an issue if all the layers are cut through (i.e. you cut through a band while opening the box). Jaquish says his manufacturer told him the bands should last nine years. Also, if you keep constant tension as you’re supposed to, there’s less friction between the bands and the ground plate. If for some reason, you get a defective band, Jaquish Biomedical will replace it free of charge.
• A have issues with a few of the movements: