Mr. America Archives - Page 2 of 8

Mr. America on Muscle-Morphing Mayhem

Q: You did a good job of explaining the research on area-specific muscle-fiber growth from Chris Beardsley. I know Doug Brignole is a fan of Beardsley, so why does he disagree with the idea that a fiber can grow in different areas depending on the applied stress? Even researchers like Brad Schoenfeld, Ph.D., agree that it’s how growth happens. [Read more…]

Mass Workouts: Mr. America vs. Mr. Pan American

You already know the Mr. America/Mr. Universe to which I’m referring: Doug Brignole. Here he is winning the 2019 Drug-Free Mr. Universe at age 59 (Lance Kincaid photo)… [Read more…]

Watching Mr. America’s Mass Workouts

I was more than pleased to see that Mr. America/Mr. Universe Doug Brignole filmed his workouts and has them all on video. You can check them out HERE.

While he has invited me to come and train with him—or maybe I invited myself—he lives about an hour away, which is three hours if L.A. traffic is in full swing. So I’ve opted for back-and-forth discussions. And now I’ve got these videos to clarify some things… [Read more…]

Mr. America Disagrees, Calls Me Out

My recent newsletter, “Ideal Lat-Mass Moves,” got under the skin of biomechanics expert and 2019 Drug-Free Mr. Universe Doug Brignole. He disagrees with my assessment of the one-arm cable lat pull-in as having a less-than-ideal resistance curve. [Read more…]

Mr. America’s Top-8 “Danger Zone” Exercises, Part 2

Yesterday we had the first four of Mr. America and 2019 Drug-Free Mr. Universe Doug Brignole’s “Exercises that Cause the Most Injuries.”

If you missed it, they are [Read more…]

Mr. America’s Top-8 “Danger Zone” Exercises, Part 1

With the sequel to “Top Gun” taking off at the box office, I thought I’d work in the signature song title from the original: “Danger Zone” by Kenny Loggins.

It fits with Mr. America and 2019 Drug-Free Mr. Universe Doug Brignole’s “Exercises that Cause the Most Injuries.” He lists eight, and I’ve done all of them at one point or another—and been injured by at least half of them. Even now, pain from some of those injuries prevents me from doing other sane exercises. Sucks.

Here are the first four; [Read more…]

Mr. America Training Update and the Dread Factor

Those of us trying to build more muscle like to keep our foot on the accelerator. We want as much as possible as fast as possible… [Read more…]

Mr. America’s Riled Response

In a previous newsletter I printed a conversation between myself and my friend Bill, an avid climber and mountain biker who is also a retired physicians assistant.

We discussed how some compound, or multi-joint, exercises may be beneficial to some trainees depending on their goals—for example [Read more…]

Mr. America’s Controversial Muscle Book

Q: Your Old Man Young Muscle ebook is your best work by far. I’ve got most of your books and ebooks, and this one tops the list. It’s pushed my gains to new heights at 45 years old. You do a great job of distilling Doug Brignole’s information and exercises, intertwining them with your own. My question is, should I get Doug’s book? It’s pricey.

A: Doug’s book, The Physics of Resistance Exercise, is a 400-page reference you will go back to again and again. [Read more…]

Mr. America’s 4X Mass Workout

I’ve mentioned that Mr. America and Drug-Free Mr. Universe Doug Brignole has been training differently lately. He’s now 62 years old—my age.

Here’s a nice sun’s-out-guns-out shot of him before judging a Muscle Beach contest in 2018 (Tony Redding photo)… [Read more…]