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Why Your Growth is Slow—and How to Make it Explode

Q: I pound away at my workouts, but I’ve only gained about three pounds of muscle in nine months. I’ve gotten stronger, but where’s the size?! I don’t know what to do. I add weight to my exercises whenever I can, but that doesn’t seem to help. I want big, full muscles that will fill out my T-shirts.

A: Are you doing your work sets in the eight-to-10 rep range? Are you resting about 2 minutes between sets? Are your sets lasting about 25 seconds? Are you doing that on all of your exercises? If so, THAT’S WHY YOU’RE NOT GROWING. [Read more…]

Rep Speed on 10×10 Sets

Q: I have two questions. I’m using The Ultimate 10×10 Mass Workout, one [Ultimate] exercise per muscle. Killer results so far, with 40-minute workouts, but I was wondering what should I use as my rep speed on 10×10 sets? Also, is there anything I can take so I tolerate the burn a little better? I think I could make even faster gains if I could push further past the insane burn to get at more fibers.

A: Our former colleague, the late olympic coach Charles Poliquin, said that one of the most underused get-bigger triggers is rep-tempo change, or cadence manipulation. Since you’re only doing one exercise for each muscle, we suggest you vary the cadence throughout the 10×10 sequence… [Read more…]

More Outer Quad Sweep

Q: I need more outer quad sweep. A guy at the gym told me to use a narrow stance on squats, but that feels a bit unnatural to me. Will that actually help build the outer quads?

A: We asked our colleague and research maven Jerry Brainum about developing outer quad sweep before. Here’s what he had to say… [Read more…]

Moment of Bodybuilding Zen 8: Jim Haislop, Mr. America

Jim Haislop won the Mr. America in 1968. His incredible symmetry, proportion, and size had many bodybuilding experts proclaiming him one of the best bodybuilders ever, even better than Steve Reeves and Reg Park.

When he competed at 5’11”, he weighed in at around 210 pounds with a 32” waist and true 19” arms…

[Read more…]

Eye-Popping Muscle Detail with High Reps?

Q: I heard that you guys prescribe high-rep sets to etch in muscle cuts. That’s wrong. I’m a certified personal trainer, and I learned that high reps do not make a muscle more defined. You can only do that with diet to thin your skin.

A: You’re correct that higher-rep sets don’t “etch in muscle cuts” per se; however, as we discuss in our Fat-to-Muscle e-book, high-rep sets, 15 to 20, do heighten muscle burn, and that lactic acid surge can increase growth hormone output. [Can J App Phys. 22:244-255. 1997.] GH has been shown in research studies to be an extremely potent fat burner. In other words, it thins the skin by reducing subcutaneous fat—and that eventually gives you more muscle detail.

[Read more…]

Stretch Overload Results

Q: In the first chapter of the Freak-Physique Stretch-Overload Workout e-book [The Latest Stretch-Overload Research] you mention the animal study that produced a 300 percent muscle mass increase after one month of stretch loading. That is incredible, but are there any other studies that show stretch overload results?

A: When it comes to stretch-induced muscle growth, we always mention that particular animal study because it’s the most impressive—triple sizing a muscle after a month’s worth of stretch-overload “workouts” is phenomenal! And it shows the importance of stretch-position exercises for triggering extreme muscle size quickly. Stretch overload results can be pretty phenomenal.

[Read more…]

Anabolic Fasting + Shredded-Muscle After-Effects (pics inside)

Intermittent Fasting is all the rage right now and for good reason—it works! Even jacked movie stars like The Rock, Terry Cruz, and Hugh Jackman use it for shredded muscle.

We’ve used it off and on for years. Check out Steve’s initial results, which were spectacular—and he’s in his 50s…

[Read more…]

Anabolic Hormone Reset for Fast Freak Physique Results

We’ve discussed our “iFast” method for simultaneous hypertrophy and fat loss (yes, it is possible)…

It’s basically a 12-hour protocol done only two non-consecutive days during the week…

We were apprehensive at first, but it works. Here are Steve’s results—and he’s in his 50s… [Read more…]

Anabolic Drive and 10X Muscle Mass

Q: The 10×10 method sounds great in a number of ways for building muscle size, but one concern I have is the lack of anabolic hormone stimulation. Aren’t heavy, low-rep sets best for that? Should I combine 10×10 with heavier workouts to get that essential anabolic environment for best gains?

A: While doing a number of heavy-weight, low-rep sets can contribute to anabolic drive and hormone release, it may not be the best or most-efficient route. According to a report from Jerry Brainum, three groups were compared, and all subject performed the squat: [Read more…]