Here’s a quote from former bodybuilder and physique coach Scott Abel, who has been in the industry for more than 30 years… [Read more…]
I was wrong
In last Monday’s newsletter, I had a quote from Mike Mentzer on how steroids significantly enhance recovery for faster muscle growth… [Read more…]
4X Mass Method and Garbage Negatives
Q: I’m a fan of your older 4X mass method. It’s given me impressive mass gains ever since you came out with the 4X ebook a few years ago. You’ve been talking about garbage negatives recently, but each of the four sets in 4X is a 1/3 tempo. Should I make adjustments? [Read more…]
No Contraction for Best Mass Reaction?
Q: Your “Biggest Mistake” newsletter was insightful. Since I’ve made changes to do more loaded-stretch exercises, I’m feeling bigger. With all the studies showing that stretch loading produces best muscle gains, I’m wondering why I need contracted-position exercises [like pushdowns for triceps] at all? [Read more…]
Damage Control, Muscle Mass, and Mentzer
Yesterday I mentioned Mike Mentzer’s training style. While he tended to use a fast Speed Set tempo on his sets, despite saying otherwise, he often ended sets with slow forced reps and pure negatives… [Read more…]
Quick Workout Fix to Add Mass Fast
Yesterday I discussed how neglecting stretch loading is perhaps the biggest muscle-building mistake you can make.
Too many bodybuilders focus on flex contractions, like the top of a leg extension. That isn’t nearly as good as stretch to trigger a growth reaction… [Read more…]
Less Damage, More Mass, Part 2
Yesterday I discussed one recent damage-reduction strategy: I’ve re-introduced Speed Sets.
Those sets with 1.5-second reps reduce the damage from “garbage negatives.”
If you lower the weight slowly on too many sets, you trigger excessive damage without a lot of hypertrophic return… [Read more…]
Speed Your Mass Gains
In a number of recent newsletters, I’ve mentioned the term “garbage negatives.”
It basically refers to the negative, or eccentric, stroke on a standard-tempo set. Lowering slowly is easy thanks to “friction” in the muscle—actin-myosin pairings “dragging” across one another… [Read more…]
Total Speed-Set Workout for Mass?
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…]
The Stretch-Partial Mass Workout
With the latest studies showing stretch-position loading for heightened hypertrophy, as well as a new one finding that stretch-partial reps produced more overall growth than full-range reps, it’s time to tweak our workouts… [Read more…]