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Moment of Bodybuilding Zen 87: Lee Haney Flawless Mass

Lee Haney flexing his biceps on stage

We’re not sure who took this photo of Lee Haney, but it’s from of one of his eight Mr. Olympia wins—a flawless double-biceps pose… [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: biceps, bodybuilding zen, density training, flawless, Lee Haney, mr. olympia, over 60, stimulate don't annihilate, vince gironda

What Happened to Size Surge?

Jonathan Lawson's back, before and after

Q: I was on your newsletter list back when you guys were kicking butt at Iron Man and released the Size Surge program as an e-book, but life caught up with me and I unsubscribed for a while. You guys used to be all high about the Size Surge Workout, but since I rejoined your X team a while back, it seems like you rarely mention it anymore. What’s the deal—what happened to Size Surge? I was thinking about getting on it, but if it’s off your radar, maybe it’s no longer a good option?

A: What happened to Size Surge, you ask? Nothing… It’s still a great for most trainees during their winter mass-building phases. The 10-week program is built around big, basic exercises with plenty of power sets, muscle trauma, and lots of recovery time. That style of training works optimally when you’re not restricting calories—bad-ass bulk building at its best. [See Jonathan’s before and after photos from the first Size Surge experiment on the Size Surge page.] [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: diet, mass building, mass gaining, mass gains, size building, Size Surge, x-treme lean

Moment of Bodybuilding Zen 86: Ray Mentzer Classic Mass

Ray Mentzer unseen photo, archer pose in black and white

This black-and-white shot of Ray Mentzer is one we haven’t seen before (we’re not sure of the photographer). It’s when Ray won the 1979 Mr. America. [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: 1979, aesthetic, bodybuilding zen, classic physique, coronavirus, mike mentzer, Mr. America, pandemic, physique, Ray and Mike Mentzer, ray mentzer, symmetry

Moment of Bodybuilding Zen 85: Danny Padilla Mass Shot

Danny Padilla flexing his biceps on stage

We’ve featured Danny Padilla in our Zen installments many times, but this is a shot we haven’t seen before. It’s a great stage shot that highlights his mass and symmetry, things his training style emphasized and amplified… [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: 4x mass method, after-40 muscle size, bodybuilding zen, danny padilla, mass, master trainer, muscle mass, muscle-fiber exhaustion, older bodybuilder, symmetry, vince gironda, young bodybuilder

Your #1 Step to Fast Fat Loss

Jonathan and Steve flexing abs

Q: I need to lose 20 pounds. I’ve gained a bit of a gut during this interesting year, and I have a goal to lose it in two to three months. If I succeed, I should look pretty good for spring and summer. Is that possible? What’s the number-one thing I should do to get it going? I’m stoked to see abs, so I’ll starve if I have to.

A: Well, the first thing you should NOT do is starve by making a huge calorie cut. That’s the big mistake most people make due to excessive motivation and/or impatience. A giant calorie reduction all at once sends your body into starvation mode. That preserves fat and burns muscle tissue—which then slows down your metabolism to a crawl. Not what you want… [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: burn fat, diet tips, fast fat loss, fat burning, fat loss, fat loss tips, lose fat, lose weight, metabolism, spring body, summer body, training tips, weight loss

Moment of Bodybuilding Zen 84: Ray and Mike Mentzer Beach Muscle

Ray and Mike Mentzer on the beach

This shot of Mike (kneeling) and Ray Mentzer on the beach is a classic, one that Steve had framed on his wall in his early 20s for motivation. The photo is by Wayne Gallasch of GMV Productions out of Australia (www.gmv.com.au).  [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: 1970s, 1979, bodybuilding zen, Mike and Ray Mentzer, mike mentzer, Mr. America, Ray and Mike Mentzer, ray mentzer, San Antonio, Texas, Wayne Gallasch

Moment of Bodybuilding Zen 83: Lee Labrada’s Mass Secret

Lee Labrada with bow and arrow

Lee Labrada never won the Mr. Olympia, but he got close due to his incredible symmetry, proportions, and muscle size and density—“Mass With Class.” His physique was a work of art…

You can see that from this out-and-about photo by Michael Neveux of Lee in archer mode… [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: 4x mass method, after-40 muscle building, athletic-aesthetic physique, bodybuilding zen, growth threshold, iron man magazine, Lee Haney, Lee Labrada, mass with class, Michael Neveux, mr. olympia, muscle size, perfect physique, physique, proportions, stimulate don't annihilate, symmetry

Jolt New Muscle Growth Every Week

Steve spotting Jonathan for forced reps

Q: In The X-traordinary Size Surge Workout, Jonathan mentions that he used forced reps to gain 20 pounds of muscle [in 10 weeks—see his before and after photos on the Size Surge cover at the end of this newsletter]. Did he just do them randomly, whenever he felt like it, or was there a specific set he used them on?

A: Gradual progression is a BIG key to continuous new muscle growth, so he did more forced reps as phase 1 progressed… [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: 20 pounds of muscle, forced reps, new muscle growth, size surge workout, x-traordinary size surge workout

Moment of Bodybuilding Zen 82: Mohammed Makkawy Sculpted Mass

Mohamed Makkawy kneeling pose

Mohammed Makkawy is one of the greatest short bodybuilders of all time. At only 5’3” the Egyptian-born physique sculptor defeated men much taller with his proportioned, no-weak-points physique.  [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: 4x mass workout, after-40 muscle building, bodybuilding zen, density training, Egyptian, flawless, master trainer, Mohammed Makkawy, physique, proportions, vince gironda

Progressive-Shock Size-Surge Tips

Jonathan Lawson demonstrating midrange, stretch, and contracted positions for biceps

Q: I’m astounded by Jonathan’s Size Surge transformation in only 10 weeks. His arms got huge, and he said his gains really took off during the second phase when he started using Positions of Flexion. I was thinking that I should do POF for arms in phase 1 too. Like for biceps, he has two sets of barbell curls and two sets of concentration curls. Wouldn’t I make better gains if I did two sets of barbell curls followed by one set of incline curls [for stretch] then one set of concentration curls? That’s the same number of sets, but now it’s full-range POF. I could do the same for triceps too.

A: That sounds like a good plan—at least until you realize one reason phase 2 in the Size Surge program works so well is because the muscles get a progressive-shock size effect when you shift to full-range training for the last four weeks. In other words, you force more growth adaptation to happen when you add stretch-position exercises like incline curls for biceps and overhead extensions for triceps at week 7… [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: adaption, arm exercises, arm workouts, big arms, crash course, full-range positions of flexion, hormones, jonathan lawson, phase 1, phase 2, progressive-shock, size effects, Size Surge, size surge program, testosterone, testosterone production, testosterone replacement therapy, tips, transformation, trt

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