This impressive shot of Mike Mentzer was a poster that Steve had on his wall in his late teens for motivation… [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…]
New Home-Grown Mass: Slo-Mo vs. High Reps
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…]
One-Day Blast for More Mass
Q: I’m not gonna lie… I sometimes get bored with my training or just have random days when my motivation is a bit low. That makes it tough to get to the gym, but I really don’t want to skip a day because of that. What if I took random days here and there to do only one exercise for each muscle. Would that be good for growth, and how often could I do that?
A: Any deviation from the norm will shock new muscle size, especially if it’s something that challenges your growth threshold like 10×10 of only one exercise. [Read more…]
Moment of Bodybuilding Zen 42: Sylvester Stallone’s Forearms
Sylvester Stallone (“Rocky!”) is now 73 years old—and he’s still in awesome shape. While the photo below was taken a few years ago, it’s damn inspiring… [Read more…]
Moment of Bodybuilding Zen 36: The Arnold Stroll
It’s winter, so many of our Zen newsletters these days are motivation oriented. One of the photos that inspired us way back was this one of Arnold walking through the streets of Venice, California… [Read more…]
Moment of Bodybuilding Zen 34: Arnold on the Beach
With the crappy weather outside, we thought a jolt of beach-body motivation was in order. [Read more…]
Top Muscle-Building Breakthrough
Q: I’ve been using [end-of-set] X-Rep partials and making the best gains of my life. It’s got to be the top muscle-building breakthrough I’ve ever used. You guys always seem to be at the cutting edge of mass techniques. Any other secrets you can recommend to boost my gains?
A: Thanks for the kind words regarding X Reps. They were definitely a big muscle-building breakthrough and they’ve done great things for thousands of trainees—and we made the best gains of our lives our first X-Rep year—in only five weeks with them (no steroids, no trick photography—although the lighting is different and we have tans in the afters)… [Read more…]
Warm-up Tactic to Trigger Bigger Muscle Gains
Q: Because of my work schedule, I can only train once a week, on Wednesdays. Can I make any gains with once-a-week training, or is it a lost cause??
A: It’s tough to make gains working out only once a week, but if you stress the muscles enough and you’re consistent, you should gradually see some results. [Read more…]
5 Tips for More Muscle Mass
Q: All the info I’ve read on full-range Positions of Flexion makes total sense. It’s a killer concept, and I’m so psyched to use it. My problem is time. Even though your POF [bodypart] routines are only about six sets, I only have time for half that [maybe 3 sets for each bodypart]. I don’t want to use only the Ultimate Exercise because I see the superiority of training the three positions for total development. Or should I try just the Ultimate Exercise for each muscle and use POF on only certain bodyparts?
A: Using the Ultimate Exercise for each bodypart in a program is one way to go. Your idea of using full POF on one or two bodyparts is a good one. Simply add one set of a stretch- and one set of a contracted-position exercise for those two muscle groups. For example, for chest, the Ultimate Exercise is decline presses… [Read more…]