I’ve ranted about the workout-recovery moving target: Your best number of sets per week and optimal intensity for hypertrophy can vary… [Read more…]
Half-Inch of Arm Mass in 1 Workout
In the last training newsletter, I mentioned how I caught a bug from my granddaughter and missed a week of workouts.
Yes, it sucked. But on the flip-side, I noticed my physique getting bigger and better over the get-well week. It reminded me of the article on adding a half-inch of arm size after only one workout. Let me explain… [Read more…]
Moment of Bodybuilding Zen 210: Mike Mentzer’s Mighty Shrugs
Then there’s the time Mike Mentzer lost a bet and had to cart Casey Viator around the gym in a makeshift rickshaw. Mike’s Heavy Duty belly shirt was not part of the bet. Good times at Gold’s… [Read more…]
High Reps vs. Low to Grow
Q: I read that researcher Chris Beardsley says that high reps are more damaging than lower reps. I’m more ectomorphic and can’t grow with lower reps. Why do you think he says that? [Read more…]
Moment of Bodybuilding Zen 165: Vintage Boyer Coe vs. Casey Viator
Here’s a shot circa 1970 of legendary bodybuilders Boyer Coe and Casey Viator, hired to by local farmers to stand in a field and scare away crows… [Read more…]
Intensity Guru: “Pull Back for More Mass”
In recent newsletters I’ve laid out some new theories on training to failure—basically that it can slow hypertrophy.
Not always, but too much creates severe damage, which saps recovery and growth. Doing only one set to failure while stopping others a rep or two short appears to be a better way to stimulate massive amounts of fast-twitch growth fibers (more on that below). [Read more…]
Mass Acceleration and Damage Reduction, Part 2
This is the continuation of a story Arthur Jones, inventor of Nautilus machines, relayed on the subject of muscle gain, overtraining, and recovery in the February/March 1972 issue of Muscle Training Illustrated. [Read more…]
Mass Acceleration and Damage Reduction, Part 1
In yesterday’s newsletter I discussed muscle damage and how it can impair growth. And that damage is not just a result of too many sets; it can also be the result of excessive intensity—and many times both. [Read more…]
Slightly Overtrain, Smother Mass Gains?
While Arthur Jones, inventor of Nautilus machines, wasn’t always right, and he’d call you a fool if you said he was wrong, his ideas on limited recovery ability are on the money. Here’s a quote from his 1971 Nautilus Bulletin #2: [Read more…]
Recovery and Your Mass-Building Genetics
I mention genetics a lot. It’s not an excuse, but a bodybuilding reality—and an arbiter in other athletic endeavors as well.
I’ve been training for over four decades and tried just about everything. At 5’10 1/2” I never weighed over 200 in fairly ripped condition—190 was my best. [Read more…]
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