Dedicated to Your Physical Transformation
Q: What do you think about stretching between sets? I’ve heard a lot of big bodybuilders do it, but I’ve seen studies that show stretching can make you weak.
A: The old study you’re referring to showed that stretching a muscle for 20 to 30 minutes before training it compromised strength. That’s a lot of stretching—and one reason we don’t do much prior to a workout-—just some range-of-motion loosening… [Read more…]
Shawn Ray is often referred to as the uncrowned Mr. Olympia, taking second in that contest twice: ’94 and ’96. His physique was almost flawless as this classic pose shows… [Read more…]
Mohammed Makkawy is one of the greatest short bodybuilders of all time. At only 5’3”, the Egyptian-born athlete defeated men much taller with his proportioned, no-weak-points physique… [Read more…]
We’ve talked about Bob Paris before, but check out his physique in the lineup below from the 1985 Mr. Olympia. He’s right in the center. Perfection… [Read more…]
Two legendary Mr. Olympias of the past couple of decades are pictured below, Ronnie Coleman (left) and Jay Cutler (right). (Bill Comstock photo). [Read more…]
Arnold was arguably the greatest bodybuilder ever, but when he came out of retirement in 1980 to enter the Mr. Olympia in Australia, many thought he tarnished his legend status… [Read more…]
Q: I’ve been working out for a couple of years now pretty hard. I’m feeling frustrated because I’ve been tall and skinny my whole life: 6’2″ and 170 pounds. I just can’t seem to put on any muscle. Is it a possibility that a person just can’t build muscle no matter what they do? I receive your e-zine and read about other people’s gains, so I’m wondering if I’m doing something wrong or maybe I’m genetically incapable of going from twig to big.
A: You will put on muscle—convince yourself of that; however, you’re in the skinny ectomorph boat with Steve, so you must be realistic, not frustrated. He weighed 120 pounds when he started weight training, and it took time for him to twig to big and looking like a bodybuilder—but even now he doesn’t look all that big in clothes. [Read more…]
Q: X-Reps are giving me some wicked-awesome mass gains. The extra pump and burn I get from [those end-of-set partials] is hot! But I was thinking that since they work so well, how about using only the short X-Rep range for all of my sets, without any full-range reps? Wouldn’t that give me some giant mass gains?
A: We first addressed X-Only sets in the X-Rep Update #1 e-book and even included a chapter on former Mr. Olympia Jay Cutler’s workout, which includes a lot of X-Only sets. Check out his X-Only Hammer Strength machine inclines (photos courtesy of Mitsuru Okabe)… [Read more…]
Q: I remember reading in your newsletter not too long ago when you mentioned that the rest time between sets during a [10×10 sequence] should be 20 seconds. In the 10×10 e-book you say to use 30 seconds between sets. Is that a deliberate reduction, and if so, should I reduce my starting weight a little to accommodate the reduced rest?
A: Rest between sets during a 10×10 sequence should be anywhere from 20 to 30 seconds. Vince Gironda, famous Hollywood trainer known as the Iron Guru who trained Larry Scott for his first Mr. Olympia victory, liked to continue to gradually reduce it over many workouts till the trainee was down to only about 10 seconds of rest or less between sets. That doesn’t work for many trainees because of having a training partner… [Read more…]
The photo of Lee Haney below was taken by our friend and former Iron Man owner/photographer Michael Neveux. It’s iconic to say the least, and Mike was one of the best bodybuilding photographers of all time. But back to Haney… [Read more…]
