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Twig to Big: Pack Some Freak on Your Car-Antenna Physique

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…]

Reverse 10×10 Mass Workout

Q: I’ve been intrigued by the recent 10×10 newsletters and jumped in to give it a try. In your learned opinion, if one were to perform a reverse 10×10 using that technique with the maximum weight possible in decreasing amounts throughout the 10 sets, would it constitute overtraining and negate the activation of the type-2A muscle fibers’ endurance component? I was thinking you would get at both the “power” AND the “endurance” functions of the type 2As better this way. I would only use each big Ultimate Exercise for every bodypart [as outlined in the 10×10 e-program].

A: A reverse 10×10 pyramid means you reduce the weight on each set. And you do each of those 10 sets of 10 reps to exhaustion. First, that’s 10-all-out-sets approach is a very different animal than standard 10×10 style, which is taking a weight you can do 20 with, but you only do 10, rest 30 seconds, do 10 more, and so on till you complete 10 sets—first sets are easy, last few are brutal. [Read more…]

2 Tips for Unstoppable Arm Size

Q: I want to experiment with 10×10 on arms to see if I can get another inch of growth. Would you suggest 10×10 combined with Positions of Flexion, or just 10×10 alone on one exercise? One exercise just doesn’t seem like enough angles are worked to hit all the fibers.

A: There are two ways you can approach 10×10 for unstoppable arm size. The first is using 10×10 on one biceps and one triceps exercise at your one arm workout each week. The key to getting the most growth is the bodypart split. For example… [Read more…]

More Outer Quad Sweep

Q: I need more outer quad sweep. A guy at the gym told me to use a narrow stance on squats, but that feels a bit unnatural to me. Will that actually help build the outer quads?

A: We asked our colleague and research maven Jerry Brainum about developing outer quad sweep before. Here’s what he had to say… [Read more…]

Wider Shoulders

Q: How can I get wider shoulders, and I mean as wide as possible? I want more of a classic bodybuilder look.

A: Wider shoulders will definitely give you a more commanding appearance, but understand that your shoulder width is limited by your clavicle, or collar-bone, width. The good news is that you can still look a lot wider with full, round delts. Larry Scott, the first Mr. Olympia, had narrow clavicles, but he packed a lot of meat on his delts and solved the problem, becoming the best bodybuilder in the world in his day. [Read more…]

Moment of Bodybuilding Zen 13: Vince Gironda

This classic shot of Vince Gironda, the legendary Iron Guru, was taken way back in the 1950s. His aesthetic physique, with its symmetry, lines, and rippedness, holds up today. Yep, even now most guys would kill to walk down the beach looking like Vince… [Read more…]

Heat: The Magic Muscle Maker

Q: This is kind of an odd question, but does hot weather help make muscles grow? I’ve noticed this summer, when it’s been blazing hot outside, I make my best gains. In the winter, my gains are much slower, sometimes nonexistent. Could it be the heat?

A: It could simply be more summer-time motivation—you train harder because you want to look good at the pool, lake, or beach. It could also be leanness and darkness—being more ripped and tan makes you look bigger and better. There’s a good chance that heat and/or sunshine may have something to do with it, along with sweating. Perspiring more sheds water from under the skin, and that means more vascularity more often, which adds to your bigger, more-shredded look. But heat may be the key… [Read more…]

Five Pounds of New Muscle Fast

Q: I’ve been reading about the fascia-expansion supersets, and it makes a lot of sense. A friend of mine is using it, and he’s added five pounds of new muscle fast—in a month! He looks more ripped too, with veins everywhere. I want to try it, but I train after work at my gym, and it’s pretty crowded. I don’t think I can superset. Should I just give up on the idea of fascia expansion for now?

A: In our X-Rep Update #1 e-book we provide a solution. The key to fascia expansion and building new muscle fast is a big-pump exercise followed by a full-stretch movement. That allows you to stretch the muscle encasement, the fascia, due to elongating the muscle after it’s full of blood… [Read more…]

Less Time, More Muscle: Cut Back to Grow Big?

Q: Most of the programs in your e-books don’t have a lot of work sets. Pro bodybuilders use a lot more volume than you recommend, and they’re obviously pretty huge and ripped. Are there any studies that prove less time in the gym is good or that show the best number of sets for a workout?

A: Too much stress, whether in relationships, in the gym, or on a bungee-jumping platform, causes cortisol to surge. Cortisol is a stress hormone that can force your body to eat muscle tissue for energy. Not good! And it lowers testosterone, which also can cause muscle loss (not to mention a lower sex drive). A study that looked at how training volume affects testosterone in men was done several years ago (Alemany, J.A., et al. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 36:S238)… [Read more…]