Dedicated to Your Physical Transformation
I’ve mentioned that going to failure—grinding until you can’t get another rep—can derail mass gains. Too much of that and you can’t recover by your next workout, which cancels out growth…
The reason is usually said to be muscle damage. Hitting failure on multiple sets creates a lot of trauma, but not just to the target muscle… [Read more…]
While Arthur Jones, inventor of Nautilus machines, wasn’t always right, and he’d call you a fool if you said he was wrong, his ideas on limited recovery ability are on the money. Here’s a quote from his 1971 Nautilus Bulletin #2: [Read more…]
Muscle growth can be slow. In fact, it usually moves at a snail’s pace. Ten pounds in a year is considered spectacular progress.
That’s less than one pound a month. But could it be—should it be—faster? [Read more…]
Q: The after photo of you when you used X-Reps [in your early 40s] is impressive. You look massive. Hard to believe you’re a hardgainer ecto type. Do you really think you’re a true ectomorph? From that photo, I’d say no. [Read more…]
My friend and colleague Doug “Mr. Universe” Brignole recently said something that had me rewinding to years ago when I reported on a study that verified his point… [Read more…]
Q: I haven’t seen you mention Speed Sets in the newsletter. Are you still using them? You have them in Old Man, Young Muscle.
A: In the spirit of change to gain, absolutely. I generally do speed reps on the last set for a body part…
While studies show that the best rep tempo for building mass quickly is lift in one to two seconds, lower in three, using a different cadence can produce unique size effects… [Read more…]
We love our workouts—or at least we have a love/hate relationship with them…
We like to train, but the pain to gain—torching and scorching muscles—is a teeth-clenching necessity for hypertrophy. It hurts… [Read more…]
I was talking with my daughter and future son-in-law the other day. The subject moved to weight training quickly, as it usually does…
They both have been working out for a few years. He’s after bigger muscles, she’s after a shapely physique, muscle included. [Read more…]
I bring up the word “efficiency” a lot. That’s because time is precious, especially when you get old. I try not to waste it because, well, you never know when…let’s not go there…
Unfortunately, I feel as if I’ve squandered a lot of time in the gym over the years. Why? Primarily because I never quite wrapped my head around what each muscle does and how best to train them for growth… [Read more…]
In a previous newsletter I mentioned range of motion and how a target muscle is strongest near its stretch point and weakest at full contraction… [Read more…]
