Strength and Physique

Q: "I have been doing your workout and the same exercises listed for about 5 weeks now. I have been switching up the order, but is it time I get a new workout? Should I stick with pyramid style, and should I do some of the same exercises or just substitute a few of them?"

Thanks again for helping,
Nick Ponte

My Answer: Nick, if you did a search on my blog, then you’d find that I recommend 5×5 after the pyramid program. Yes, switch to a different workout. No, don’t stick with the pyramid training. Do completely different exercises.

An easy way to figure out how to move from program to program is add up all the reps in the workout. If the rep totals are high, then switch to a program with lower rep totals. If your totals are low, then switch to a program with a higher rep total.

The Hypertrophy Training for Ectomorphs program has a total of 39 reps per body part (10+8+6+15=39). With 6 body parts per workout, that’s 234 reps per workout.

The 5×5 program has a total of 25 reps per body part. If you did 6 body parts per workout, then that would be 150 reps per workout. That’s a 35% drop in training volume, which means the 5×5 program serves as a good follow-up to the pyramid program.

Q: “I was reading your article on workouts for police, and it looks like something I want to try. I have two questions though: The workout you show has weeks 1 and 2, and weeks 4 and 5. What do we do for week 3?

“My second question is, will this help strengthen my hips at all? I was recently told I’m getting some bone loss in my hips and was told exercise would be the way to help it.”

Thanks for the help!
-Ed Berg

My Answer: That was a typo, so go from week 2 into week 4. With regards to strengthening your bones, strength training will help alleviate bone loss over time. However, if you’re asking that particular question, then chances are you haven’t been strength training very much at all. If that’s the case, then don’t start with the Return to Copland workout. This workout is brutal, and beginners and people who workout intermittently should not start off with this program. Choose a simple program first, like by 5×5, and transition to more and more complex programs over time. THEN start the Return to Copland workout.

"Hi there James. Last time I wrote you recommended that I use a 5×5 program to increase my results. With this program I have seen great results, but again I think it is time for a new routine. So I have two questions for you:

1) If I wanted to keep gaining size what would be the best follow up program?

2) If I was satisfied with the results, how would I go about ‘toning’ my body or ‘cutting’ up? I’m not sure of the proper word, but what would be the ideal program for that approach? Thanks again as always James.

-Jay

My Answer: You’re going to have a hard time training for 2 separate goals at the same time. A servant cannot serve 2 masters. You either focus on size or you focus on tone or you focus on cutting up.

For those of you who don’t know, muscle tone means your muscles are thick and dense, so much so that your muscles visually appear thick and dense.

Cutting up is different. Getting cut means that your body fat is so low that you can see muscle definition.

Muscle tone comes from high muscular tension. High tension comes from heavy weights. Tone does not come from high reps, as most people believe.

Thus, 5×5 is a program that increases muscle tone as well as size. Since you’ve been doing 5×5, my suggestion is to switch it up and follow a cutting phase. 8×8 should do the trick.

"Hey James,

"For your Shotgun Method you have two different layouts. I’m just wondering which one is better to follow? Version One or Version Two?

Thanks!
Craig

My Answer: What’s important is not the program parameters, but the principles of shotgunning (choosing the fewest number of exercises to stimulate the most amount of muscle) and troubleshooting (choosing exercises to address lagging muscle groups). The program parameters (sets, reps and rest periods) are flexible, which is why there were 2 different versions of the Shotgun Method.

Version One, which appeared in my 5 Battle-Tested Strategies for Size and Strength, will give you some impressive size and strength. You’ll be strong as an ox, and you’ll look like one too. Version One will give you the scary badass mofo look, similar to that of a wrestler. You will, however, be more likely to overtrain on this program if you stay with it too long.

Version Two found in my article The Shotgun Method will get you strong too, but it will give you more of a bodybuilder look. This version will emphasize symmetry more and give you a more balance muscular physique.

“Having read your books, articles & blogs, I know you keep your supplements to a minimum and prefer Biotest. As a 51 year old male, what 2 supplements would you recommend? A pre-workout formula like Surge and a testosterone booster, or a testosterone booster and an estrogen suppressant? Thanks!”

-Greg Santamala

My Answer: If money wasn’t an issue, then I’d buy all three. But if you could only buy 2, then ask yourself what your priorities are. If you value size and recovery, then Surge and a testosterone booster would be the way to go. If you’re looking to revitalize your health and your testosterone, however, then do a T-booster and estrogen blocker.

Q: "Mr. James,

"It’s good to talk to you again. I took a break from lifting, and now I’m getting back into the mesocycle. My primary goal is to get lean, and so I’ve tried to do more cardio like treadmill running and limiting myself to a 2000-2500 calorie diet. I’m 6′ and weigh 198 pounds.

"I was wondering if doing an 8×8 type of workout during my off days like the weekends can serve as a form of cardio? I love doing the Neo-Classical System even though its not primarily for weight loss, and I’d rather stick with that during the week. And is the purpose of the 8×8 exercises to achieve 64 reps on as few sets as possible on 8 exercises or to constantly maintain 8 reps for 8 sets for 8 exercises?”

Thanks,
Larry

My Answer: 8×8 requires that you perform 8 sets of 8 reps. It is an ideal program for both fat loss and overall conditioning. I have found it to be far better than cardio for fat loss.

HOWEVER, I would not perform 8×8 in combination with the Neo-Classical System, because you will surely overtrain. You’re essentially running 2 different programs at the same time. I suggest you do one or the other, but not both concurrently.

Another option would be for you to use the 8×8 program as a 2 week density phase, then follow it up with a 2 decompression phase. In other words, do 8×8 for 2 weeks, then perform the decompression phase found in Strength and Physique Volume 2.

Q: “Hi James,

“I read your recent article from Planet Muscle. It has a lot of good information for different body types, but I do not know how to find out which I am. The article refers to getting a muscle biopsy done. Are there any other ways to determine testosterone levels and muscle fiber makeup? The information is hard to implement otherwise. Thanks for your time.”

Thanks,
Joe

My Answer: For those of you who haven’t read it, I have an article in the current Planet Muscle about determining your bodybuilding potential through 1) testosterone levels and 2) fiber make-up. Question is: how do you determine your testosterone levels and fiber make-up?

In the article, I was pretty explicit as to the fiber make-up of all the muscle groups. There was a chart outlining this. This chart, however, shows what is common for most people. There is a non-invasive method to determine fiber make-up if you want to determine your own individual fiber make-up. It’s not the most accurate method, but it will give you some understanding of how your muscles are geared.

Let’s say you want to determine the fiber make-up for your chest. Do a brief warmup on the bench press and rest 3 minutes. Determine your 1 rep max and perform it. Make sure you have a spotter with you. If you miscalculate your 1RM on the first set or two (or however many sets it takes), then make sure you rest 4-5 minutes between these sets.

Once you determine your 1RM, rest for 10 minutes. During those 10 minutes, calculate and remove 20% of your 1RM weight. When your 10 minutes are up, perform as many reps as you can in good form. Make sure you lower each rep under a 4 second count (how quickly you lift the weight doesn’t matter). Again, make sure you have a spotter to assist at the end of the set.

Take note of the number of reps you’ve performed. If it’s 7 reps, then you have an equal amount of fast-twitch and slow-twitch muscle fibers in the chest. If it’s lower than 7, then you have a higher amount of fast-twitch fibers. If it’s higher than 7, then you have a higher amount of slow-twitch fibers. The further away you are from 7, the higher the percentage of that particular type of muscle fiber.

Finally, multiply 15% to the number of reps you’ve performed. Subtract this amount from the number of reps you’ve performed. This is the lower end of your ideal rep range. Then add the 15% to the number of reps you’ve performed. This is the higher end of the ideal rep range for your upper chest. So for example, if you performed 7 reps with 80%RM, then 6-8 reps would be the ideal rep range for the chest.

Now to determine testosterone levels, my article mentioned the role of age and diet. In your 20’s, your testosterone is raging and making you do stupid and reckless things. When you wake up, you literally have to wait for your morning boner to go down before you pee. Either that or you whisper to your girlfriend or wife, “Hey honey? You awake?”

But in this day and age, more and more men past the age of 30 are having problems with lowered testosterone. This wasn’t the case 50 years ago. Not only this, but younger generations of men nowadays are having less testosterone than previous generations at the same age.

Just ask yourself this:

How old are you? Obviously, the older you are, the less T you have.

How’s your sex drive? If your pecker is constantly getting you in trouble, then you have a healthy dose of T. If Bette Midler’s “Wind Beneath My Wings” makes you tear up, then considered yourself neutered.

Do you get good sleep, or is it bad sleep? Shift work really screws with your T levels. Don’t stay up late all the time. Get some high quality sleep.

How do you handle stress? Everybody has to deal with BS, but how you react to it has an effect on your testosterone levels. To paraphrase the Police song, if you face the day with your head caved in, then your T-levels are depressed, just like you. Other people have a fight or flight response to stress, so their T-levels actually rise, but acutely.

Are you vegetarian? The lack of animal proteins can depress T-levels, which is why monks in Asia are vegetarian: it fits their Buddhist reverence for life, but it also kills the sex drive and aggressive tendencies. Just be careful when you eat a lot of meat. Eating a lot of meat by itself won’t clog your arteries, but eating a lot of meat with a high amount of carbs will. High T won’t do jack if you’ve got erectile dysfunction.