So training to all-out failure does get to the most fast-twitch fibers, but it also produces the most stress and damage, specifically on the last rep… [Read more…]
High-Rep Pain to Gain Muscle?
Q: I understand the benefit of the high-rep-set-first STX method. But for me the pain is unbearable when I get past 12 reps. Will 12 work to exhaust the slow-twitch fibers so that fast ones are better initiated on the second [lower-rep] set?
A: I feel your pain. It does hurt—and some trainees have a lower tolerance than others… [Read more…]
STX in the Muscle-Building Trenches
Vince McConnell is a friend and trainer I admire due to his application of logic and attention to efficiency in his workouts and those of his clients. (Note: His Instagram is @mcconnell_performance, Website is McConnellAthletics.com)
Here’s a screen grab from one of his YouTube videos of him experimenting with Doug Brignole’s pendulum sissy squat… [Read more…]
Less Intensity = More Muscle Immensity?
Doug Brignole and I were discussing training sets to failure and the body’s response to that.
The common belief is that training a set until you can’t get another rep activates the most fast-twitch fibers possible. [Read more…]
Muscle Mass and The Size Principle
If you want to pack on the most mass with efficiency of effort, the Size Principle of Muscle Fiber Recruitment is key…
The principle says that [Read more…]
Light Weights, More Mass: New Research
For the past two years, I’ve been training with lighter weights, usually starting each exercise for a muscle with a set of 20-plus reps.
That fatigues the slow-twitch fibers. After a short 20-second rest, I use the same weight and crank out another 10 to 12, which quickly shifts the muscle to fast-twitch-fiber activation… [Read more…]
Moment of Bodybuilding Zen 68: Danny Padilla Onstage
Danny Padilla was “the Giant Killer” of pro bodybuilding back in the ‘80s. At only 5’2”, his symmetrical sculpted mass allowed him to beat bodybuilders who were much taller and larger than he was.
From the pic here, you can see why—no flaws anywhere. [Read more…]
Moment of Bodybuilding Zen 54: Dorian Yates Gym Pose
Dorian Yates won his first of six Mr. Olympia titles in 1992 and officially ushered in the mass-monster era. His huge, grainy physique was the next step up from the more aesthetic previous Mr. O Lee Haney… [Read more…]
Our At-Home Mass Workouts (what we’re doing)
Back in the 1990s, Steve’s very first book was titled Iron Man’s Home Gym Handbook. Looks like we’ve come full-circle. At the moment, there’s no place like home—or nowhere else to train but home…
Like most iron men and women, we’re at home with limited equipment. Luckily, our decades of bodybuilding experience have resulted in multiple mass-training tactics and moves to keep gains coming. Here’s Steve’s report on what he’s doing in his bare-bones pump-atorium. [Read more…]
Moment of Bodybuilding Zen 47: Danny Padilla’s Mass
We featured Danny Padilla back in Zen #19, but after recently running across the gym photo below, we had to include him again. That’s because every time we see it, all we can say is, “Damn!” [Read more…]