Talk about mass, this shot of Mike Mentzer by John Balik at Muscle Rock in Malibu has motivated both of us over the years. His sheer thickness and density in this pose are almost unreal… [Read more…]
Convert New Muscle Strength to Serious Muscle Size
Q: I’ve been using the Power Pyramid Program (Chapter 2 in the Freak-Physique Stretch-Overload Workout e-book) for six weeks. I’m getting incredibly strong, but I’ve only gained about four pounds of muscle. I realize it’s a muscle strength workout with a size side effect, but now I’m ready to use my new strength to go for major muscle mass. I also want to get leaner. I’m 5’10” and weigh 200 pounds with 14 percent
A: Ah, so now that you’re strong like an ox, you want to get even bigger with some leanness to boot. Sounds good, and it can and will happen. You just need to take your new power in a slightly different direction—still using the multi-angular attack of POF, but altered so you pack on the most muscle size—complete development from origin to insertion.
[Read more…]Moment of Bodybuilding Zen 2: Teenage Mike Mentzer
Many bodybuilders antagonize over their slow muscle growth, but working out smart, not just hard, will gradually transform your physique…
Still, the determining factor in how your physique will look is genetics, plain and simple—case in point teenage Mike Mentzer. Check out his physique in his late teens (below left) and how he looked at the peak of his bodybuilding career at age 30.
[Read more…]Elo-Overload: Mass Machine Gasoline
Q: I’ve been hearing a lot about muscle stretch and how it’s uniquely anabolic. What’s the best way to build mass with this information—a freehand stretching routine?
A: Freehand stretching routines can do okay things for muscle growth. In fact, a recent study showed muscle hypertrophy from ONLY freehand stretching, but it wasn’t extreme…
[Read more…]Massive-Muscle Gains Without Joint Pains
Q: I’m loving the 4X Mass program, so when I’m done with it, should I, at my young age of 50, just keep doing that and increase weight when possible, or try your newer STX or XRX methods? I’m actually super intrigued by your Super-Size Crash Course, but I’m thinking there’s some serious weight involved with that, and my old-man joints probably won’t stand for that. Lol
A: The Super-Size Crash Course is NOT about lifting
Rev your Mass Machine with the S-Overload Workout
Q: I’ve been hearing a lot about muscle stretch and how it is uniquely anabolic. What is the best way to build mass with this information—a freehand stretching routine?
A: While freehand stretching routines can do okay things for muscle growth, a much more effective mass-building route is doing a workout of all stretch-position exercises with weights.
That way every bodypart will get the anabolic acceleration of [Read more…]
New Density for Muscle Immensity Workout
I just saw Jonathan’s new read-me page about XRX and the workout he is now using. I turned 48 and am making the best size gains of my life with the [high-rep-set-first] Reload program. Is Jonathan’s similar? Is it better? Should I switch?
The reason Jonathan put together his new after-40 workout is that he Hates—with a capital H—high reps…
While he made amazing size gains when he first went on the high-rep-set-first program outlined in [Read more…]
Progression Loading to Up Your Mass
Q: I am making solid gains with the Pure Positions routine in the Stretch Overload ebook. Training the midrange exercise at one workout, contracted at the second, and stretch at the third is some killer change to gain each week. My question is, you have STX [high-rep set followed by a lower-rep set and rest/pause set] for every exercise. Your most impressive ebook, IMO, is Super-Size Crash Course, with TORQ, Progressive-Speed 4X, and, my favorite, Downward-Progression 4X. Can I use those instead of STX every so often for even more variation?
A: Absolutely—in fact, we encourage it because all of those are amazing unique mass methods. Remember, something in your workout must change if you want to continue to gain…
Switching to different mass attacks is the best way. Why? Because it’s [Read more…]
Size Principle Reload
Q: I’ve made the best mass gains of my life with your 4X method. I know you guys got new size with it too, so my question is, why Anabolic Reload STX (slow-twitch exhaustion)? I realize that it also does not require heavy weights, but is it better than 4X?
A: First, both methods accomplish the same thing: full-blown fiber hypertrophy with slow-twitch-fiber pre-exhaustion, triggering more high-growth fast-twitch fibers to fire on the last sets.
It’s the Size Principle of Muscle Fiber Recruitment… [Read more…]
Quick-Rep Modification for New Mass Acceleration
Q: I have your new ebooks, Anabolic Reload and Stretch Overload. Both are great, and the simple rest/pause add-on for progression has already helped me add new mass. But I overtrain easily, so I can’t keep adding those. Is there anything else I can do to keep my muscle growth moving forward without more volume?
A: First, bodybuilding is called “progressive-resistance” training because adding weight and/or reps to your exercises can increase muscle size… [Read more…]