Many thought Arnold should not have won the 1980 Mr. Olympia in Australia because he wasn’t at his best. Here’s his condition—and face as he realizes kangaroo dung does not smell like a scented candle… [Read more…]
Mass Jolt: Rep-Speed Revolt
Throughout my training career, it’s always bothered me that so many top bodybuilders talk about the importance of slow rep speed—especially on the negative or lowering stroke, yet most don’t follow that protocol… [Read more…]
Jay Cutler’s Biceps Mass “Secret”
I’ve always enjoyed watching the top bodybuilders train. It’s always motivational, and I often discover ways that they’ve gotten huge through instinctively doing the right thing… [Read more…]
Moment of Bodybuilding Zen 200: Arnold’s Shirtless Office Mass
In his younger days, Arnold had trouble holding an office job due to his disdain for shirts—and sometimes pants. [Read more…]
Speed Sets Pack On Mass (my experiment)
To recap last week’s newsletters, with Speed Sets—1.5-second reps, you’re involving more fast-twitch fibers along with slow-twitch on the early reps…
More than you do with a normal, slower rep speed… [Read more…]
The Size Principle and Speed Sets
The Size Principle of Muscle Fiber Recruitment tells us that on a standard-tempo set of lifting in one second and lowering in three, the slow-twitch fibers dominate on the earlier, easier reps of a set… [Read more…]
The Need for Speed: Your Get-Bigger Trigger
Let’s pick up the Speed Set discussion with more from neurophysiologist Chad Waterbury:
To produce more force, the nervous system must recruit more motor units. Think of each motor unit as being a football player, and imagine your car is stuck in a ditch. The more football players you have to pull the car out, the easier the task will be.
The same is true with the nervous system: the more motor units recruited, the greater the force you’ll be able to produce. So to lift the largest load or to lift any load as fast as possible, you must recruit as many motor units as possible.
So again, speed equals force. You can NOT lift a weight faster by recruiting fewer motor units. That means the more motor units you recruit, the faster you’ll move…
Arnold knew that instinctively and did many of his sets with controlled explosive reps…
Of course, you don’t want to start jerking the weight, as that can cause you to get injured. But by doing some of your sets in Speed style, with 1.5-second controlled reps, you will stimulate more muscle mass at each workout…
Back to Waterbury…
Make no mistake about it, speed is the omnipotent ruler. Indeed, the most reputable research has demonstrated time and time again that a faster tempo leads to the greatest hypertrophy and strength gains. And I’m not just talking about the concentric (shortening or lifting) phase of muscle contractions; I’m talking about both phases.
But what about the Size Principle of Muscle Fiber Recruitment? It tells us that the slow-twitch fibers dominate on the earlier, easier reps of a set, gradually giving up and giving way to the fast-twitch fibers toward the end of a set.
At least that’s how it works on standard slower-rep sets: slow-twitch domination early leads to fast-twitch domination late…
But what about a Speed Set, which creates high force early? Could that be key in accelerating hypertrophy? We’ll delve into that tomorrow.
Your Efficient Mass-Building Handbook: For more mass-building tips like the above plus complete workouts that include the ideal exercise for each muscle and the best stretch and contracted add-on moves, get your copy of Old Man, Young Muscle.
And you still get The Muscle-On, Belly-Gone “Diet” ebook FREE for a limited time when you add Old Man, Young Muscle to your mass-building library. Go HERE.
Move Fast for More Mass: Neurophysiologist
Readers of this newsletter sometimes send me research articles on topics I’ve discussed.
One who is always on the money is astute reader Steve (no relation to me, Reeves, or McQueen). His recent toss to me was by neurophysiologist Chad Waterbury, and it has to do with Speed Sets—fast reps… [Read more…]
Slow vs. Fast for Mass
Q: I recently saw where one of the researchers you quote often, Chris Beardsley, said that slow lowering on reps enhances hypertrophy. He suggested that it’s from extra mechanical tension. Your application of Speed Sets has me confused. Should I stick with a normal three-second negative on reps or use your Speed tempo [1.5-second reps]? [Read more…]
Damage Control, Muscle Mass, and Mentzer
Yesterday I mentioned Mike Mentzer’s training style. While he tended to use a fast Speed Set tempo on his sets, despite saying otherwise, he often ended sets with slow forced reps and pure negatives… [Read more…]