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Mass Mantra #42

Steve doing heavy barbell curls

Here’s an eye-opening quote from hypertrophy researcher Chris Beardsley on muscle repair and recovery: [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: Chris Beardsley, glycogen, glycogen depletion, mass mantra, muscle glycogen, muscle recovery, muscle-repair, recovery

Stretch + Contraction: Double Your Mass Reaction

Arnold doing cable pushdowns

Q: You include both stretch- and contracted-position exercises in the Old Man, Young Muscle workout. I get why that can build more mass. But since so many studies are showing that stretch loading builds the most muscle, should I rely more on the stretch moves, or maybe even eliminate the contracted exercises most of the time?

A: The jury is still out on whether stretch exercises are “superior” to contracted-position moves. How is that possible since studies clearly show that—for example, overhead extensions beat pushdowns hands down—or in this case, hands up—for triceps mass? [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: Chris Beardsley, contracted position, mass building, muscle building, stretch effect, stretch position

Mass Mantra #32

Closeup of Jonathan's vascular biceps

I’ve been discussing high intensity vs. a more volume-oriented mass-building approach, and how a downshift week can work wonders for allowing the body’s recovery ability to catch up and grow past previous levels. [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: Chris Beardsley, mass mantra, muscle growth, muscle-repair, recovery

Speed Sets: Study says I’m wrong?

Steve doing Smith machine squats, Jonathan spotting

My friend and elite trainer Vince McConnell sent me a post by researcher Chris Beardsley in which he presented a study on fast eccentrics: Mori, T., et al. (2014). Stretch-speed dependent myofiber damage and functional deficits in rat skeletal muscle induced by lengthening contraction. Physiological Reports, 2(11), e12213. [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: Chris Beardsley, speed sets

Trap Mass: I was wrong—sort of…

Trapezius muscle fibers illustrated with designations

A few newsletters back I mentioned that the upper traps retract the shoulder blades; they don’t lift the shoulder girdle. That’s the job of the levator scapulae muscles… [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: Chris Beardsley, neck, traps

Slow vs. Fast for Mass

Jonathan doing barbell curls

Q: I recently saw where one of the researchers you quote often, Chris Beardsley, said that slow lowering on reps enhances hypertrophy. He suggested that it’s from extra mechanical tension. Your application of Speed Sets has me confused. Should I stick with a normal three-second negative on reps or use your Speed tempo [1.5-second reps]? [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: Chris Beardsley, fast reps, slow negatives, slow reps, speed reps, speed sets

Mass Mantra #9

Steve doing heavy barbell curls

Respected hypertrophy and strength researcher Chris Beardsley has a thought-provoking insight on training to failure… [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: Chris Beardsley, failure, fast-twitch fibers, muscular failure

New Twist on Biceps Mass

Jonathan spotting Steve for hammer curls

Most bodybuilders use palms-up curls to target the biceps and a neutral hammer grip to better activate the brachialis, the muscle that snakes under the biceps, as well as the brachioradialis, the muscle on top of the forearm.

A recent post by respected researcher Chris Beardsley may have us rethinking that conclusion and our biceps workouts… [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: best biceps exercise, biceps, biceps exercises, biceps mass, biceps workout, bigger biceps, Chris Beardsley, ideal biceps exercise

Total Speed-Set Workout for Mass?

Albert Einstein

Q: You’re critique of regular sets, and how three-second negatives on every rep is too damaging, is genius. You’ve made me realize that the negative stroke is too light, even at the end of the set, to do much for muscle growth. My question is, Why not do all sets Speed style [1.5 seconds per rep]? Total Speed Set workouts would reduce the damage from “garbage negatives” even more, leaving more protein synthesis for growth instead of repair.

A: You make a great point. I am a genius. Seriously, I simply extrapolated my garbage-negative conclusion from the research and Chris Beardsley’s analysis of muscle damage. [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: Chris Beardsley, garbage negatives, negatives, slow negatives, speed sets

Mass Mantra #6

Steve doing incline curls

The new study on stretch-partial-rep sets producing more growth than full-range reps and contraction-partial reps, brings up a question… [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: Chris Beardsley, hypertrophy, isometric hold, mass mantra, research study

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