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Get Sore to Grow More?

Steve doing dumbbell flyes in his home gym

This newsletter often waves the caution flag about muscle damage and how it can prolong recovery and even derail growth.

When you create a lot of damage during your workout, which most bodybuilders do continuously, that damage must be repaired before hypertrophy can happen.

And therein may lie the answer to why muscle growth is so slow for most—if anabolic drugs aren’t involved. [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: muscle damage, muscle growth, muscle soreness, muscle-repair, sore muscles, soreness

Mass Mantra #42

Steve doing heavy barbell curls

Here’s an eye-opening quote from hypertrophy researcher Chris Beardsley on muscle repair and recovery: [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: Chris Beardsley, glycogen, glycogen depletion, mass mantra, muscle glycogen, muscle recovery, muscle-repair, recovery

Mass Mantra #32

Closeup of Jonathan's vascular biceps

I’ve been discussing high intensity vs. a more volume-oriented mass-building approach, and how a downshift week can work wonders for allowing the body’s recovery ability to catch up and grow past previous levels. [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: Chris Beardsley, mass mantra, muscle growth, muscle-repair, recovery

Instant Muscle Size and Soreness Sensations

Jonathan Lawson abs, arms, and delts - Instant Muscle Size and Soreness Sensations

Q: I’m using The Ultimate Fat-to-Muscle Workout four days per week, and I’m sore after every workout. Is that good? Does it mean I’m growing? My muscles feel and even look bigger, but can it really work that fast?

A: The reason a sore muscle feels bigger is because you’re more aware of it—when you move and you get that sensation of pain—and also because it probably is actually bigger…

When a muscle is damaged, as with the negative-accentuated sets in The Fat-to-Muscle Workout, inflammation occurs in the muscle. That draws fluid to the tissue to accelerate repair. When that inflammation happens, the muscle can look larger than usual—like you’re pumped up for a few days. [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: body fat, fat burning, fat-to-muscle, frank g. shellock, inflammation, instant muscle size, metabolic uptick, muscle-repair, na, negative-accentuated, post-workout, recovery, soreness, supercompensation, testosterone

Arnold vs. Mentzer—No-Cardio Fat-to-Muscle Training

Mentzer side triceps - Arnold vs. Mentzer—No-Cardio Fat-to-Muscle Training

Q: First off, I just picked up The Ultimate Fat-to-Muscle Workout, and it’s fantastic. I learned so much reading it, which I did at one sitting. Great info and easy-to-understand-and-follow workout, just what I need to kick off a new training program. In the first chapter, you tell the story about Arnold getting ripped and vascular without cardio. Didn’t Mike Mentzer do the same thing but with a lot fewer sets? It’s interesting that their training styles were so different, yet they both got very lean without much, if any, cardio. Do you think a lot of it could be genetics, and us average Joes need more cardio?

A: While genetics could have something to do with it, it might not have as big an impact as you might think. As far as Arnold vs. Mentzer, The key to both of their [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: arnold, arnold schwarzenegger, arnold vs. mentzer, cardio, end-of-set negatives, fat burning, fat-to-muscle, forced reps, genetics, GH, growth hormone, heavy weights, high-intensity training, mentzer, microtrauma, mike mentzer, muscle damage, muscle-repair, negative-accentuated, negatives, no cardio, ripped, volume training

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