We have to be somewhat “psycho” to want to sacrifice so much in an attempt to build seam-splitting mass. To put up with the burn, ache, and soreness from countless workouts is a bit masochistic…
But there’s a deeper layer of psychosis that I need to confess…
One cringe-worthy memory is not willing to lay off squats, bench presses, and overhead presses, even though my back and right shoulder were killing me…
My nightmare: “I’ll lose mass immediately.” After all, those were the “big exercises” that make you, well, big.
The thought of backing off those “mass-building” exercises and losing even an ounce of hard-earned muscle was too much to bear for any so-called hardgainer. And that was me. Here’s a photo from my late teens back in the ’70s—after years of training…
Shorty shorts and racer tennies aside, my genetics for bodybuilding were far from stellar. Anyone who spent years working out with the above results might’ve considered dumping the squat bar for marathons—or secured a part-time job as a fishing pole.
But not me. I had an obsession with building muscle—no matter how long it took. Oh, and it took a while, gradually accelerating with research and experimenting in the gym..
The above photo was also when I became a cult follower of Mike Mentzer, Arthur Jones, and high-intensity training. There’s a good and bad edge to that…
The good was that I never let my workouts get out of hand volume-wise—a good strategy considering my string-bean genetics…
On the other hand, I was using forced reps, negatives, and brutal intensity that required a long nap after almost every gym assault.
I was so obsessed with Heavy Duty training that I didn’t deviate for years, convinced it was the only way. I had blinders on and didn’t realize that I was overtraining, hammering my joints and nervous system into cortisol-spewing submission…
Gains were painfully slow despite shorter workouts.
But so much pain for so little gain didn’t phase me. I figured I just needed patience—but what I really needed was to allow my brain to break free of the chains. Eventually, that’s what I did—but not completely…
My Positions-of-Flexion mass-building method that I began developing in the ’80s allowed for more diverse, logical training, working each muscle from three specific angles, or positions: midrange, stretch, and contracted (the latest POF Exercise Matrix and workout is in the new ebook)…
And POF accelerated my gains, allowing me to actually win a bodybuilding contest in my early 20s. No, not against Arnold and Zane, but it was a a satisfying experience considering my muscle-building struggles to that point…
Stay tuned for how I did it and training insights you can use to get huge—or at least a lot more muscular, even if you resemble a human spaghetti noodle.
New: Get the ideal exercise for each muscle, the best add-on moves for ultimate mass, complete 35-minute workouts, exercise start/finish photos, and details on building muscle fast and efficiently in Old Man, Young Muscle.
And you still get The Muscle-On, Belly-Gone “Diet” ebook FREE for a limited time when you add Old Man, Young Muscle to your mass-building library. Go HERE.
Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
Steve Holman
Former Editor in Chief, Iron Man Magazine
www.X-Rep.com
Get Your FREE Fix for Bad Gas
And Start Gaining More Mass
Here’s a new probiotic product to help your good gut bacteria dominate for optimum anabolic uptake so you get massive muscle gains. See for yourself with a FREE trial. This is great get-huge news…
To celebrate selling nearly 2 million bottles of their premium probiotic formula Pro-X10®, the founders of BioTrust Nutrition want to reward anyone who visits the link below today with a FREE 30-count bottle of this revolutionary gut-health yielding, muscle-building probiotic supplement… with ZERO strings attached!
It’s truly FREE (no autoship, no future charges – nothing; you pay only a small shipping fee). The premium and patented ingredients in Pro-X10 have been shown through research to:
- Significantly decrease the “bad” pathogenic, health-derailing, muscle-stifling bacteria in your gut
- Dramatically improve overall digestive health, gut-lining strength, AND immune health (your immunity needs to be optimal if you want to add muscle fast because your body’s first priority is health, not muscle size)
- Begin working ULTRA fast, with positive results seen in lab tests in as little as 5 short hours (while other traditional probiotics take weeks or months to improve your gut flora ratio, if ever)
Talk about research-backed results, not to mention off-the-chart muscle gains with renewed nutrient assimilation! Stop wasting workouts due to a “bad” gut. You’ve got nothing to lose, and plenty of new muscle to gain. Go to…