This studio shot of Ray Mentzer is a classic (we’re not sure of the photographer), taken when he won the 1979 Mr. America.
Ray’s aesthetics together with excellent mass development got him that coveted title. While Ray’s genetics were primarily responsible for his classic mass, his training had to be on point to get him there.
How did he train? His workouts were short and intense, and he knew how to get in touch with each target muscle every single workout. Steve remembers a comment he made at one of his seminars: that he could make a 30-pound dumbbell feel like a 60-pounder.
Emphasizing control and feeling the muscle contracting and elongating all the way through the stroke did amazing things for his mass gains.
Which is also the reason he was a big proponent of static holds at the end of a set. He would often use holds, or static contractions, on the last rep of a set at three points along the range—contracted, midrange, and near the stretch.
For more on building muscle with shorter, focused training, see our expanded Quick-Start Muscle-Building Guide 2.0. It contains motivating info, full workouts, including new home-gym programs, and many mass tactics, similar to Ray’s…
The section with the new workouts focuses on building muscle in a bare-bones home gym with only moderate poundages. For these programs all you need is an adjustable bench and dumbbells (we have only the 50-pound PowerBlock set, and we’re still growing)…
You can add this newly updated ebook to your mass-building library by clicking HERE.
Ray and his brother Mike were also proponents of Pre-exhaustion training in order to train all the muscle-fiber types. For more on that, see our ebook…
The X-traordinary Pr-Ex 3X Mass Workout
Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
X-Rep.com
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Lemons & Masculinity
If you’re a man over the age of 40, then pay attention…
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