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Age and Muscle-Building Rage

Steve in a sleeveless T in his backyard

You know the stereotype of the grumpy old man. Sometimes it fits me like a glove.

Take this muscle-building thing, for example. Last October I significantly upgraded my pathetic home gym with a multi-functional cable unit. [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: age, home gym, mass building, motivation, muscle building, overtraining, X Reps

Throw Out Your Barbell

Steve's bare bones home gym

I was as shocked as anyone that at 62 I re-muscled my physique with 35-minute workouts 3 days a week. That’s why I keep saying it over and over—and my wife keeps telling me to shut the f#@# up about it. [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: barbells, barbells vs dumbbells, bi-lateral deficit, dumbbells, efficiency of effort, home gym, hypertrophy

Moment of Bodybuilding Zen 61: Bob Paris Sculptor

We gravitate back to Bob Paris in our Zen newsletter often because he had one of the most perfectly proportioned physiques to ever grace a bodybuilding stage… [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: aesthetic, anabolic hormones, bob paris, bodybuilding zen, frank rich, home gym, massthetic arms, muscle-building guide, perfect physique, quick-start muscle building, slow-twitch exhaustion, STX, symmetry, vascularity, veiny arms

New Home-Grown Mass: Slo-Mo vs. High Reps

Steve Holman dumbbell curls - Finisher Sets: Which Way is Better?

Q: Your Quick Start Muscle 2.0 has renewed my motivation for home training. I’m stoked and starting the STX workouts next week. You have the first set in both workouts for slow-twitch exhaustion. Do you think that first set is better as a slow-mo set or as a normal speed high-rep set?

A: Either of those methods on the first set accomplishes the same thing: You fatigue the slow-twitch fibers, triggering more fast-twitch-fiber activation on the set or sets that follow… [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: anabolic fasting, anabolic hormones, brad pilon, eat stop eat, fast-twitch fibers, fiber activation, get ripped, home gym, home training, intermittent fasting, motivation, quick-start muscle building 2.0, slow-mo, slow-twitch exhaustion, stx workout

All-Stretch Home Mass Workout

Sissy squat finish

Q: I have the updated Quick Start Muscle 2.0. Thank you! The new home-workout section is just what I needed. One question: I remember you guys talking about an all-stretch-exercise workout a while back. Is that something I should try to increase mass gains while I’m training at home?

A: Yes, absolutely. Doing ONLY stretch-position exercises at a workout for every bodypart can do some great things for muscle growth… [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: anabolic response, at-home workout, biotrust potein, change to gain, fast-twitch, free protein, free supplements, home gym, home workout, hypertrophy, low-carb protein, muscle growth, quick-start muscle building, slow-twitch, stretch exercises, stretch overload, stretch position, stx method

Home-Grown Muscle: The Speed Factor

Jonathan doing Speed Reps on cable curls

Q: I’m training at home like everyone else, but I don’t have a lot of weight. In fact, on many exercises, like dumbbell bench presses, the weight is way too light. Is there anything I can do to keep my muscle growth moving forward without going heavier?

A: First, bodybuilding is called “progressive-resistance” training because adding weight and/or reps to your exercises can increase muscle size…

We say “can” because getting stronger does not always mean getting bigger. Strength may also be the result of neuromuscular adaptation—nervous system efficiency—or better coordination/leverage. [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: Charles Poliquin, dumbbell workout, fast-twitch, home gym, home-gym routine, home-gym training, hypertrophic, pre-exhaustion, quick-start muscle building, quick-start muscle building 2.0, slow-mo, speed reps

Our At-Home Mass Workouts (what we’re doing)

Steve doing incline curls

Back in the 1990s, Steve’s very first book was titled Iron Man’s Home Gym Handbook. Looks like we’ve come full-circle. At the moment, there’s no place like home—or nowhere else to train but home…

Like most iron men and women, we’re at home with limited equipment. Luckily, our decades of bodybuilding experience have resulted in multiple mass-training tactics and moves to keep gains coming. Here’s Steve’s report on what he’s doing in his bare-bones pump-atorium.  [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: alain gonzales, at-home workout, athletic-aesthetic physique, brad pitt, Brad Schoenfeld, fast-twitch fibers, growth fibers, heavy training, home gym, Home Gym Handbook, home gym workout, hypertrophy, iron man magazine, jose antonio, light training, mass tactics, muscle hypertrophy, perfect physique, powerblock, pre-exhausting, quick-start muscle building, quick-start muscle building 2.0, slow-twitch fibers, training at home, type-1 fibers, type-2 fibers

Moment of Bodybuilding Zen 47: Danny Padilla’s Mass

We featured Danny Padilla back in Zen #19, but after recently running across the gym photo below, we had to include him again. That’s because every time we see it, all we can say is, “Damn!” [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: 10x10, 4x method, 8x8, arnold, arnold schwarzenegger, Charles Poliquin, danny padilla, density training, fat fuck, genetics, German volume training, giant killer, home gym, home training, legend & myth, mass, mass building, mr. olympia, slow-twitch fibers, symmetry, vince gironda

Moment of Bodybuilding Zen 45: John Grimek

John Grimek, at 5’ 8 1/2” and around 220 pounds, was one of the most massive bodybuilders of his era. He was the AAU Mr. American in 1940 and ’41, and at age 38 he beat Steve Reeves for the 1948 NABBA Mr. Universe. He retired from competition the next year.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: anabolic fasting, anabolic hormones, bodybuilding zen, brad pilon, eat stop eat, home gym, home-gym training, intermittent fasting, John Grimek, Mr. America, mr. universe, olympic lifting, steve reeves

Home-Gym Training

Q: I’ve been following your Quick-Start Muscle Building Guide. I’m currently on week 4, and it’s a great program. I’m already seeing results, but I’ve been reading about X Reps and the Positions-of-Flexion approach to lifting. I want to start using those as part of my home-gym training. I currently have only a pair of dumbbells, an EZ-curl bar, and an adjustable bench. Which program should I follow next? I’m not sure I can do POF with my limited equipment.

A: That’s a limited gym alright, and if you’re going to with your home-gym training, consider adding some essentials. For now you can continue progressing with what you have—although you didn’t say if the dumbbells are adjustable or selectorized (so you can change the weight by moving a pin or twisting a dial).

[Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: 10-week Size Surge, 3d muscle building, alternate exercises, anabolic environment, anabolic hormone reset, anabolic hormones, beginners, beginners guide, dr. michael mosley, fasting, home gym, home-gym training, hormones, intermittent fasting, POF, powerblock, quick start, quick-start muscle building, replacement exercises, Size Surge, testosterone, X Reps

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