Strength and Physique

I’ve tried every program out there on myself and on my clients. People search for the perfect program, one that will continuously give them results in size and strength. There is a constant search for this holy grail of bodybuilding.  I’ve done 15 years of training, and I’ve realized this: all things work to some degree, but all good things must come to an end. You can choose a program, and it will give you results, but only for a short while. Every program has its pros and cons.

Max-OT is no different. The parameters are really simple:

6-9 sets per bodypart
4-6 reps
2-3 minutes rest between sets
no more than 30-40 minutes per workout
train each bodypart once 5-7 days

I like this program, because it is nice and simple, but it produces results.  I find this program is great for clients who cannot figure out the concept of periodization.  This program is also great for people who are fast-twitch dominant.  The con, of course, is that if you’re slow-twitch dominant, then this program can’t help you sustain muscle hypertrophy.  The other con, of course, is that because there is no periodization and the program parameters are static, your gains will eventually come to a screeching halt.

The low frequency of training for each bodypart is an issue too. Your muscle gains will come very slowly on the Max-OT program.  If you want faster gains, then higher frequency of training is better.  Overall, Max-OT is a good program to use for a "decompression" phase.  So if you were working out each bodypart 3 times per week, at high reps and low rest, then Max-OT would be a good program to switch to.

For more insights into strength training and bodybuilding, visit http://strengthandphysique.blogspot.com
 
Preview and purchase the book “Strength and Physique, Volume One” at Lulu.com
 

The range of reps and sets to build muscles is wide and varied. On one end of course are the high volume workouts (10×10, muscle spinning, etc.) and at the low end are the 2 set programs (HIT, HST, etc). Two set programs dictate 2 sets per exercise, no more.  All things work to some degree, but remember: all good things must come to an end. 2 set programs work well in giving you muscle, but there are a number of caveats:

1) use primarily compound movements. Think the power lifts and then some. So deadlifts, bench press, squats, pullups, and so on. If you only do 2 sets per exercise, then you have to choose the exercises with the biggest bang for your buck.

2) use microperiodization (see previous post on this topic). Why do 8-12 reps every workout? That’s like hitting the same note over and over and calling it a song.

3) use set extenders. If you only get 2 sets per exercise, then you might as well pack in as much intensity as you can in those exercises. I like to use my only little variation called 10-5-5. Do 10 reps, then rest for 10 seconds. Crank out another 5 reps, then rest for 10 seconds, and finally crank out another 5 reps. Instead of 10 reps, you’ve now done 20.

4) use multiple exercises per muscle group. For muscular hypertrophy, your body loves different angles of movement. Two set programs require 2 set maxes per exercise, but you can certainly do more than one exercise per muscle group. For example, the POF program calls for 2-3 exercises per muscle group at 1-2 sets each exercise.

As a general rule, the smaller the muscle group, the greater the number of sets. So if do use squats, 2 sets of 20 rep breathing squats really takes a lot out of you and hits your thighs hard. If you went balls to the walls, then 2 sets for the thighs is enough. Your arms, however, can handle numerous sets, so in a 2 set program you would need 2-3 exercises for the biceps and 2-3 for the triceps.  Think of muscles as cars. Big powerful cars have more power, but crappy mileage, whereas small economy cars don’t have power, but can go on a tank of gas for quite some. Large muscles generate a lot of force, but take a lot out of you. Smallers muscle have good gas mileage.

For more insights into strength training and bodybuilding, visit http://strengthandphysique.blogspot.com
 
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The classic bodybuilding method for gaining muscle mass is the "breathing squat." It was a method popularized by Ironman editor Peary Rader in the early days of bodybuilding, and it is the one method that consistently produces results. People looking to produce size always come back to this method to jumpstart their gains. The popular book "Super Squats" by Randall Strossen renewed interest in the technique.

If you’re not familiar with breathing squats, it’s really simple in theory, BRUTAL in execution. Take a 10-15 rep max weight for the back squat (full range version) and perform 20 reps instead. What will happen is you’ll get to the 10-15th rep, stand still with the bar on your back, breathe a few breathes, then do another rep, breathe a few deep breathes, then do another rep, and so on and so forth until you reach 20 reps.

What you’re essentially doing is a form of rest-pause for squats, but a better version of it. Breathing squats induce hypoxia (breathlessness). This state of oxygen debt forces your body to produce more red blood cells. More red blood cells means more carriers of your body’s naturally occurring anabolic hormones: testosterone.

You’ll be producing more testosterone, because of the heavy squatting. Anytime you lift heavy for an extended set, you produce testosterone. The heavier the weight, the greater the dump of T. The most amount of weight you lift will of course be through back squats.

Although 20 rep squats are a fantastic method to size and strength, it is only a training tactic and not a training strategy. In "Strength and Physique, V1" I incorporate 20 rep squats into a more complete bodybuilding program. This program takes advantage of the testosterone pulse from 20 rep breathing squats.

For more insights into strength training and bodybuilding, visit http://strengthandphysique.blogspot.com
 
Preview and purchase the book “Strength and Physique, Volume One” at Lulu.com
 

In "Strength and Physique, Volume One" I go over various training techniques, one of them is a little known technique called "cross-wiring."  Over ten years ago, I developed a variation of this technique which involved tempo contrast.  What is all this mumbo jumbo? Tempo contrast is when you apply 2 different speeds of lifting to an exercise.  Cross wiring is when you alternate sets for a bodypart with differing properties (exercises, tempo, reps, etc.).  I explain this much better in the book, but for right now I’ll show you an example of cross wiring involving only tempo contrast.  Let’s choose the overhead barbell press as an example:

Set 1- Barbell military press (4-6 reps) Heavy weight, strict form
Rest 2 minutes
Set 2- Barbell push press (4-6 reps) Light weight, explosive speed
Rest 2 minutes

Repeat 3 more times for a total of 6 sets.

You alternate the speed of the lift from set to set, a proven technique in producing size and strength.  Just take a look at gymnasts: their routines with the rings and pommel horse involve a lot of varying speeds interspersed with each other.  They do everything from explosive moves to static moves, such as the Iron Cross, all within one continuous "set."

For more insights into strength training and bodybuilding, visit http://strengthandphysique.blogspot.com
 
Preview and purchase the book “Strength and Physique, Volume One” at Lulu.com

Bodybuilders pretty much have the dietary guidelines for mass covered: eat a lot of calories and eat a lot of protein. But as you get older, your priorities change. High calorie and high protein diets age you much faster, both on the inside and outside. If you want to slow down aging, then you should include the following foods and supplements every day:

1) 3-5 cups of green tea
2) fish oil supplementation - for the anti-inflammatories properties of omega 3 fatty acids
3) large spinach salad - spinach is the most alkalzing food out there
4) apple - "an apple a day…"
5) a serving of organic yogurt topped with blueberries - to clean out your pipes
6) resveratrol supplementation - ever hear of the French Paradox?

7) 8 ounces of pure pomegranate juice - chock of full antioxidants

Sometimes the simplest plan is the best plan. This doesn’t necessarily it’s the most effective plan, just that it’s the best suited plan for you at a given moment. For example if you wanted to lose fat quickly, then go on a cyclical ketogenic diet, strength train three times a week and do HIIT two or three times a week. That’s the most effective plan.

But is it the best plan? No, because most people are too lazy or busy to do any of that, let alone all of that. Most people are willing to settle for half-ass results if they put in less effort and thought. Sad but true. Well, let me give you a no-brainer plan for dieting. No calorie counting (I never count calories, not even for my clients). Just do the following everyday:

1) Drink only water and green tea (no sugar coffee is optional, but only one cup a day). No other liquids.

2) Pack your lunch. It’s going to be a large salad. That’s it.

3) Pack a snack. It’s going to be an apple.

If you concentrate on these 3 simple tasks and ate a regular breakfast and dinner, then you’ve eliminated a lot of calories without even counting. It’s simple substitution: water instead of soda, salad instead of burrito, apple instead of chips. Obviously you have to exercise to get some results on any diet. But if you make the above tasks a daily routine, then you should see some results. Not the most effective; just the best.

I got a question recently about high frequency training (HFT) and whether it was effective for size and strength. My answer?

Hell yeah, it’s great for size and strength! The definition of high frequency training is when you train a bodypart 3 or more times per week. Most people will say that’s overtraining, but that is fear talking. Strength is a skill that needs to be practiced. And like any skill, the more you practice perfectly (i.e. workout), then the greater your strength gains.

With hypertrophy, however, your size gains on a HFT program are dependent on your high frequency eating. Would you gain more muscle in the long run on HFT program as opposed to a low frequency program, say Max-OT? NO.

Would you gain muscle at a faster rate? OF COURSE!

One of the keys to making HFT work is active recovery. Active recovery sets are light sets of 12 reps and beyond (15, 20) to pump blood through your muscles to flush out the lingering waste by-products (indicated by muscle soreness) from the last workout and transport in nutrients and circulating hormones to facilitate recovery and growth. People from different bodybuilding and powerlifting camps have called these sets by various names, such as feeder sets, flushing sets, pump sets, etc.

In a HFT program, one of the workouts should be an active recovery workout. Do 3 light sets of 13-15 reps for each bodypart, and you’ve facilitated recovery from the last workout and prepped yourself for the next.

For more insights into strength training and bodybuilding, visit my blog:

http://www.strengthandphysique.blogspot.com

Preview and purchase “Strength and Physique, Volume One” at Lulu.com

i got asked a week ago, "Hey James, how can i get rid of my love handles? I do hundreds of crunches, but they won’t go away."

Boy there is so much misinformation out there. People think that if you perform crunches or situps you’ll burn the fat around the abs.

That is a bunch of BS. and yet people keep buying into this garbage. When your body is in fat-burning mode, it will burn the fat from the limbs first, from the torso second, and (if you’re a guy or a woman with a hormonal imbalance) from the waist LAST.

the amount of calories you burn with crunches is so low, that if you did a 100 crunches a day and nothing else, you’d end up with distended gut: toned six pack underneath a layer of fat. you can’t burn fat off your love handles with just ab work.

you have to diet, do cardio intervals, and do whole body strength training. that will burn off fat from your entire body and eventually your love handles. there is no such thing as spot reduction.

OR IS THERE? although i don’t have the scientific data to back it up, it is possible to have spot reduction if the conditions were right. the scientific community has pretty much shot down the the idea of spot reduction because for one thing, spot reduction on the abs is close to impossible. this is because the range of motion for most ab exercises is so short, that they don’t burn enough calories by themselves.

the second thing is that waistline fat is stubborn fat and is the last place to be burned off on men. BUT I’ve seen spot reduction occur pretty much everywhere else. Most other muscles are larger than the abs and their exercises have greater ranges of motion, so they burn a lot more calories. So you may do a high rep delt exercise and find that over time you’ll see the striations on your delts .

but your abs are a different story. 

Ever since I’ve read the book, "The China Study," I’ve experimented with lowering my animal protein intake and upping my vegetables. If you haven’t read the book, what it essentially says is that the lower your intake of animal proteins, the lower your risk for cancer, heart disease, diabetes and a whole slew of other diseases. It provided some very compelling evidence, compelling enough for me to reevaluate some of my assumptions as a former bodybuilder of ten years who ate 5 times a day of high protein (all animal) meals.

every so often, I get the question from vegetarians, "Can I build muscle as a vegetarian?"

My answer: NO, you cannot build a large muscular physique without animal proteins. Animal proteins don’t just include beef, pork, poultry, and fish, but they include anything that comes from an animal: eggs and dairy.  The key word is can you BUILD muscle without animal proteins? Try it on only soy, beans and nuts, and you will not build a yoked out physique at all. You can build an impressive physique that is trim and lean IF you strength train, but your muscles will have a soft and stringy look to them. But big, buff, and dense muscles? NO.

Now a lot of people point to vegetarian bodybuilders such as Bill Pearl and others, but I’ll tell you this: Bill Pearl built an impressive muscular physique with animal proteins and THEN became vegetarian. afterwards, he still ate eggs and dairy.  Having experimented with a near vegetarian diet, I will tell you this: it is much easier to maintain a muscular physique on a vegetarian diet AFTER you’ve built it on a diet chock full of animal proteins. And even then you will lose muscle density on a vegetarian diet. plus you will experience poorer recovery from workouts and more aches and pains.

However, your cardiovascular health will be much better. Rather than having an brawny physique, my physique is now trim and lean. but that is only because I am still strength training heavily, not running and yoga.  Plus I still eat animal proteins, but I practice what is known as "protein-pulsing." Rather than constantly eating a steady flow of animal proteins every few hours every day, I gorge on protein once a day. This is the way animals eat, and predatory animals such as tigers and leopards can maintain a very large and impressive musculature on that.

For more insights into strength training and bodybuilding, visit my blog:
http://www.strengthandphysique.blogspot.com
Preview and purchase the book “Strength and Physique, Volume One” at Lulu.com

When some newbie asks, "What’s the best rep range for mass?" the usual dogma states, "8-12 reps." Then the poor newbie does 8-12 reps on every exercise in the hopes of getting Mr. Olympia-big.

In my experience of training people, I’ve found the 8-12 rep range to be crappy for mass. People can get big on this rep range, but if they stay in this range all the time, they’ll stagnate.

Your muscles have a wide variety of fiber types, each responding and growing to a different weight and rep range. So if you’re interested in full hypertrophy, then use a wide variety of reps. It’s like playing the piano: you’re not playing a song if you’re hitting the same note over and over.

Most people (again, newbies) imitate others in the gym and pyramid their weight to hit a wide variety of reps. The classic pyramid of 10/8/6/15 is used quite often and to great success because of its simplicity. The only problem with traditional pyramid training is that the rep range is too broad. Your nervous system gets confused, because you’re waking up every muscle fiber, but you’re not following up with repeated effort to make them grow.

Your body likes to narrowly focus on one rep range at a time. Instead of pyramid training, try periodization:

Workout #1: 10-12 reps
Workout #2: 8-10 reps
Workout #3: 6-8 reps

This is a far better way of training for both strength and hypertrophy.  For more insights into strength training and bodybuilding, visit my blog:

http://www.strengthandphysique.blogspot.com

Preview and purchase the book “Strength and Physique, Volume One” at Lulu.com