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Mr. America Doug Brignole’s Training, Part 6

Beardsley volume graph

In the previous newsletter, I mentioned that Doug gradually reduced his training volume through his 50s. At one point, he was doing 12-plus sets per muscle. [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: Chris Beardsley, Doug Brignole, failure, volume, volume training

Your Muscle-Recovery Tightrope

Steve posing in his backyard, October of 2023

With almost 50 years of training experience, I’ve come to realize that incomplete recovery is the #1 roadblock to achieving the fastest hypertrophy your genetics will allow… [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: alcohol, illness, mass building, muscle building, muscle recovery, recovery, volume training

Moment of Bodybuilding Zen 57: Sergio Oliva Victory

Sergio Oliva had perhaps the most incredible bodybuilding genetics of all time—tiny waist, broad shoulders, and long muscle bellies in every body part. You can see that in his famous “victory” pose here… [Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: 1967 Mr. Olympia, 1968 Mr. Olympia, 1969 Mr. Olympia, 1970 Mr. Olympia, 1971 Mr. Olympia, 1972 Mr. Olympia, anabolic reload, arnold, bodybuilders, bodybuilding zen, genetics, hypertrophic progression, IFBB, mike westerdal, mr. olympia, protect your family, sergio oliva, victory, victory pose, volume training

Should I Do More?

Jonathan Lawson V-bar chins - 10X for Muscle Size Effects

Q: I’ve noticed in a lot of your e-book routines that you often recommend just two work sets for an exercise Why? Should I do more? I’ve read that most bodybuilders do four or five sets per exercise.

A: As Arthur Jones, the creator of Nautilus machines said: “You can train hard or you can train long, but you can’t do both.” Short and hard or long and not so hard both work. Despite what some die-hard high-intensity trainers say, gradually increasing volume is a form of overload that can result in more muscle—if you don’t overdo intensity. It’s a balancing act. Us? Regardless of whether it’s one of our low-set workouts or high tension time workouts, we’re about efficiency of effort in the gym…

[Read more…]

Filed Under: X Files Tagged With: anabolic environment, arthur jones, do more, drop sets, efficiency-of-effort, estrogen, fast-twitch fibers, fat burner, growth hormone release, growth stimulation, intensity, mass tactic, massthetic, Nautilus, rest/pause, steroids, tension time, testosterone, volume training, X Reps, x-hybrid tactics, x-rep partials

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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