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Match Your Motivation, Build More Muscle

Arnold at the beach - Look Bigger with One Simple Exercise

Q: I always have a problem making gains in the winter. It starts around Halloween, when the weather starts getting cooler and the bowls of candy start taunting me. Then it’s Thanksgiving, pumpkin pie, and it’s even colder outside. I lose the motivation to hit the gym, and my muscles usually shrink and get shrouded with a layer of fat. Is this just something I should accept, or do you have any solutions?

A: Definitely do not accept it—at least not completely—because if you regress in the winter and then start training hard in the spring, you waste a lot of workouts just getting back to where you were the previous year. (We speak from experience—it’s happened to us on more than one occasion). [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: 20 pounds of muscle, 3d muscle building, 3d power pyramid, arnold schwarzenegger, build muscle, continuous tension, freak-physique, holidays, john balik, mass building, master trainer, max force, metabolic momentum, motivation, occlusion, pyramiding, stretch-overload, vince gironda, winter motivation, winter training, winter workout

Sets Down, Pumps Up—Major Gains and Veins

Ripped torso showing cable crossovers

Q: I’ve been using straight-up Positions of Flexion, and I’ve put on a lot of muscle in the last two months. I’m up about 10 pounds using the 3D Power Pyramid Workout [in the Freak-Physique Stretch-Overload e-book]. My gains slowed after about six weeks, so I started using TORQ on the last exercise [30-20-15 reps, 45 seconds rest]. Unreal pump and new veins coming in. But since I’m doing a two-way split, those three sets on so many exercises really drain me. Can I do just two, 30 and 20 reps?

A: Absolutely! The number of set depends on your individual recovery ability and the intensity of your entire workout. With the 3D Power Pyramid program in the Freak-Physique e-book, you’re doing heavy sets on the midrange and stretch exercises, so using the contracted move for high-end hypertrophic stimulation is perfect… [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: 3d power pyramid, freak physique, gains, muscle gains, muscle pump, positions of flexion, protect your family, pump, self defense, stretch overload, TORQ, vascularity, veins

Moment of Bodybuilding Zen 25: Arnold’s Comeback

Arnold was arguably the greatest bodybuilder ever, but when he came out of retirement in 1980 to enter the Mr. Olympia in Australia, many thought he tarnished his legend status… [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: 1980 Mr. Olympia, 3d power pyramid, arnold, arnold schwarzenegger, Australia, biotrust protein, bodybuilder, bodybuilding zen, freak physique, free protein, free supplements, George Butler, hypertrophy, legend, mr. olympia, pure-positions stx, sissy squats, slow-twitch exhaustion, stretch overload

Your 3-Week Mass Blast—Big Bursts of Muscle Mass Fast

Jonathan doing barbell curls

Q: Being drug-free, I was very interested in The 4X Mass Workout. Considering the colleague you mention in that e-book who has trained with a lot of pros while he was using drugs and that he also trained drug-free, his advice is priceless. For drug-free guys, he says he likes 3 weeks of high-intensity-style power training alternated with 3 weeks of lower-intensity, slightly higher-volume workouts. What do you think about this for a big mass blast: 3 weeks of total-10×10 training, followed by 3 weeks of total-4X workouts, followed by 3 weeks of the 3D Power Pyramid [a straight-set lower-rep Positions-of-Flexion workout listed in The Freak Physique e-book]?

A: That looks like a great mass-building, progress-yielding progression. You shift gears every 3 weeks for plenty of muscle-stimulation tweaks… [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: 10x10, 2a fibers, 3d pof, 3d power pyramid, 4X, drug-free, fast mass, fat burning, freak physique, high volume, high-intensity training, hormones, mass blast, mass building, multi-angular training, muscle burn, muscle mass, muscle-building, over-40, power and density, prepare to grow, pure density, tension time, Truth About Testosterone

Great Gains—What now?

Steve showing Jonathan his latest drawing (or gym notes)

Q: I have about 15 years of lifting experience, and I’m also a certified personal trainer. I’ve worked out with high intensity for all of my years, but I’ve never done the type of training I’m now using with your routines. I’m currently at week 3 in the 3D Power Pyramid [from the Freak-Physique e-book]. Great gains so far! I run each routine for six weeks, and once I finish the Power Pyramid, I want to move to The Ultimate Power-Density Mass Workout. I love each program so far, and I push myself each and every workout. Is it okay if I go from workout to workout, or should I do something less intense between them? So far, I don’t feel overtrained. What’s your advice?

A: Thanks for the question and your confidence in our programs. First realize that overtraining is cumulative, so we suggest that you use the first week of each new program as a break-in period… [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: 3d power pyramid, anabolic environment, boost testosterone, break-in workout, build muscle, downshift week, estrogen, fat loss, freak-physique workout, great gains, medium intensity, overtraining, personal trainer, physique, power-density mass workout, testosterone, what next

Wider Shoulders

Jonathan Lawson delts abs

Q: How can I get wider shoulders, and I mean as wide as possible? I want more of a classic bodybuilder look.

A: Wider shoulders will definitely give you a more commanding appearance, but understand that your shoulder width is limited by your clavicle, or collar-bone, width. The good news is that you can still look a lot wider with full, round delts. Larry Scott, the first Mr. Olympia, had narrow clavicles, but he packed a lot of meat on his delts and solved the problem, becoming the best bodybuilder in the world in his day. [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: 3d power pyramid, biotrust, bodybuilder, clavicles, delts, freak-physique stretch-overload workout, free protein, free supplements, larry scott, low-carb protein, max-force generation, mr. olympia, POF, positions of flexion, ripped, shoulder exercises, shoulder workout, shoulders, whey protein, wide shoulders, wider shoulders

Once-a-Week Workouts and NA Training

Jonathan doing barbell curls

Q: I want to thank you for putting together the Freak-Physique e-book. What a blockbuster resource of training information and programs. I’m using the 3D Power Pyramid Program. The quote from the trainee who gained so much muscle and strength in only a few weeks using it got me stoked. My question is, I’m more of a train-each-bodypart-once-a-week guy, so can I use it that way instead of training each bodypart twice a week? If so, how should I adjust it?

A: First, you picked a great program. We get lots of positive feedback on the 3D Power Pyramid because it’s simple Positions-of-Flexion methodology but you add weight over three sets on the big midrange move (pyramid), and do only one set each of the stretch- and contracted-position exercises. It’s basically a POF strength-building workout with a big muscle-size side effect. [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: 3d power pyramid, alpha muscle, alpha-3 specialization, anabolic swelling, eccentric, endocrine system, fiber trauma, freak physique, freak-physique workout, hurts but it works, max-force generation, muscle growth, muscle size, muscle trauma, muscle-building, na training, negative-accentuated, nervous system, once-a-week workouts, POF, positions of flexion, power pyramids, recovery, specialization, strength building, systematic recovery, volume

3D Power Pyramid Workout: A fast-blast favorite

Q: I like the standard two-way split, working each muscle group twice a week, as in the 3D Power Pyramid Program in Freak-Physique Stretch-Overload e-book—that’s my favorite routine so far. Could I use that as an HIT program and just do one work set per exercise?

A: Yes, you can apply the HIT one-work-set-per-exercise idea to almost any of the programs in that e-book. In fact, we’ve had a few trainees say that the 3D Power Pyramid feels like too much work to them (hardgainer types), in which case we suggest simply spacing out the workouts a bit—use them in the sequence they are presented, but train on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday instead of Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.

That way, the bodyparts that get hit on Wednesday of the first week get trained only once that week, but they get hit twice the following week (Monday and Friday). That’s known as Rotation for Recuperation, and it works well for recovery-challenged trainees. [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: 3d power pyramid, anabolic environment, estrogen, fast blast, freak physique, freak-physique stretch-overload workout, hardgainers, hit, lean muscle, massthetic, recovery, rotation for recuperation, stretch overload, testosterone, two-way split, x-traordinary arms

Elo-Overload: Mass Machine Gasoline

Q: I’ve been hearing a lot about muscle stretch and how it’s uniquely anabolic. What’s the best way to build mass with this information—a freehand stretching routine?

A: Freehand stretching routines can do okay things for muscle growth. In fact, a recent study showed muscle hypertrophy from ONLY freehand stretching, but it wasn’t extreme…

[Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: 20-rep squats, 3d power pyramid, all-stretch workout, anabolic, anabolic acceleration, anabolic receptors, anabolic stretch, build mass, change to gain, elo-overload, ergo-log, European Journal of Applied Physiology, fiber recruitment, freak physique, freak-physique stretch-overload workout, freehand stretching, hypertrophic, mass machine, metabolic, muscle elongation, muscle growth, muscle stretch, platz legs, platz quads, pure-positions stx, quads, slow-twitch, stretch overload, stretching routine, STX, stx method, testosterone, tom platz, Truth About Testosterone

Arnold’s Winter Training Routine

Arnold doing cheat curls - Arnold's Winter Mass-Packing Workout

Q: I want to get strong over the winter. I heard that that’s what Arnold used to do. I know that if I get strong, I will eventually get bigger, which was how the Oak did it. What’s the best workout for that?

A: First let’s get some insight into Arnold’s winter training routine. Former IRON MAN Publisher John Balik was there, often training with Arnold, and this is what he had to say about it: [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: 3d muscle building, 3d pof, 3d power pyramid, arnold, arnold schwarzenegger, arnold's winter training routine, best workout, boost testosterone, gains, get bigger, hiit, iron man, john balik, john balik photo, mass building, muscle growht, p/rr/s, POF, positions of flexion, Power, power-pyramid, power/rep range/shock, pyramiding, rep range, shock, strength gains, stretch overload, testosterone, the oak, winter, winter training, winter workout, winter workouts, X Reps

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