A great shot of Bruce Lee and his wife Linda in their backyard deciding whose turn it is to clean the toilet… [Read more…]
Time to Get Ripped for Summer?
Q: I know you like to be in shape for the summer. You look ripped in pics. When do you start paring down winter fat, and how do you do it? [Read more…]
Moment of Bodybuilding Zen 167: Frank Zane’s Party Muscle
Frank Zane’s buddies hated going to parties with him because he’d show up like this… [Read more…]
Moment of Bodybuilding Zen 131: Frank Zane’s Muscle As Art
Here’s a unique shot of Frank Zane from an angle that makes him look like a Greek god statue. Genuinely muscle as art… [Read more…]
Moment of Bodybuilding Zen 126: Frank Zane’s Sculpted Muscle
Here’s a unique shot of Frank Zane onstage looking like a statue of physical perfection. [Read more…]
Triple-Threat Exercise for More Muscle Size
Q: I’m using a Positions-of-Flexion program from 3D Muscle Building. I’ve read a lot about the pro bodybuilders’ training, and I’m just not sure three exercises per muscle, as you recommend in POF, is enough. Can you help me understand why that’s sufficient for building the most mass?
A: First, realize the all pro bodybuilders use anabolic steroids. Those drugs heighten recovery and growth significantly. That means they can tolerate a lot more volume at each workout. On top of that, the pros have genetics for building muscle and recovering from work far superior to us normal mortals… [Read more…]
Moment of Bodybuilding Zen 52: Bob Paris Relaxed
This standing-relaxed pic of Bob Paris is one that we cut out of an old Iron Man magazine and put up on our bulletin board for motivation… [Read more…]
Jump Start Your Lean Machine
Q: I’m planning to start the Fat-to-Muscle Workout right after the holidays. I understand the ideas—heavy midrange and stretch for micro trauma in muscle fibers to ramp up metabolism and high reps on contracted exercise for blood flow and growth hormone release. My question is, Can I use the 4X mass method on the contracted-position exercise at the end of each bodypart workout instead of high reps? Won’t 4X do the same thing as the two high-rep sets, but get even more blood flow with more sets?
A: Absolutely. In fact, a great plan to jump start your lean machine is to mix it up—do 4X at some workouts on the ending contracted-position exercises and the two high-rep sets at others. Why? Slightly different stimuli… [Read more…]
Mass Merger—10X Power/Rep Range/Shock
Q: Great timing on your recent P/RR/S newsletter! I’m using the X-Rep Power/Rep Range/Shock Workout [on pages 103-114 in the 3D Muscle Building e-book], and my size and strength are totally thriving on the variation, like nothing I’ve ever tried before. What a great concept! Now I’m reading The Ultimate 10×10 Mass Workout, and I want to put that method into the mix, using mass merger techniques. Where should I use it, Power, Rep Range or Shock week? And on which exercises?
A: First, we must give credit where credit is due: a big thumbs-up to Eric Broser for creating the Power/Rep Range/Shock protocol. We simply altered it to include full-range Positions of Flexion and X Reps. To put it in simple terms, Power week you do all low reps; Rep Range week you do one exercise in the 7-9 range, another for 10-12 and the last for 13-15; Shock week is supersets, drop sets and other intensity techniques to totally thrash the muscles. [Read more…]
3D Power Pyramid Workout: A fast-blast favorite
Q: I like the standard two-way split, working each muscle group twice a week, as in the 3D Power Pyramid Program in Freak-Physique Stretch-Overload e-book—that’s my favorite routine so far. Could I use that as an HIT program and just do one work set per exercise?
A: Yes, you can apply the HIT one-work-set-per-exercise idea to almost any of the programs in that e-book. In fact, we’ve had a few trainees say that the 3D Power Pyramid feels like too much work to them (hardgainer types), in which case we suggest simply spacing out the workouts a bit—use them in the sequence they are presented, but train on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday instead of Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.
That way, the bodyparts that get hit on Wednesday of the first week get trained only once that week, but they get hit twice the following week (Monday and Friday). That’s known as Rotation for Recuperation, and it works well for recovery-challenged trainees. [Read more…]