john hansen Archives

10 Minutes per Muscle Is All It Takes

Q: After reading some of your previous newsletters, I’ve been thinking about trying your 10×10 method. It sounds good, except I can’t get myself to accept using such a light weight. Will that really build muscle? I bench 300 pounds for a single, so that means I should use 180 pounds for 10×10. Man, how can that work?

A: You’re falling for the old the-heavier-you-go-the-more-you-grow myth. It’s been ingrained in all of us, but once you understand how muscle mass is created, you’ll know that you can build a lot of size with more moderate poundages and short rests—like with 10×10 or 4X… [Read more…]

Overtrained? Try This for Instant Muscle Gains—No Layoff Necessary

Q: I’m starting to drag at the gym, and I don’t look forward to my workouts anymore. I’m starting to think I’m overtrained. I haven’t grown in a while, but I DON’T want to take a layoff. Even backing off to low-effort workouts sounds like a bad idea because I don’t want to lose my gains. What should I do?

A: Boy, does that sound familiar. We always tell trainees that they need a break to regenerate and keep the growth process rolling, but they never take one (and neither do we—bad). That’s an easy way to end up overtrained. [Read more…]

Half-Hour Workouts and the Get-Bigger Trigger

A lot of experts say that you’re either destined to have big muscles (bodybuilder look) or you’re not (distance-runner physique). It has to do with the muscle fiber types you’re dealt at birth—the genetics cards. But some cutting-edge research indicates that genetic muscle limitations may not be set in stone. You may be able to go from skinny twig to muscular and big with the right training—and it can happen very quickly and with fairly short workouts (as you’ll see, studies have tripled muscle size in animals in a month; we’ll give you training tips tied to that phenomenon in a moment). [Read more…]