Strength and Physique

"My name is Ty. Currently I have been following your training routine titled Hypertrophy Training for the Ectomorph. But for some odd reason my muscles have been acting strange. What has been happening is when I work out, my muscles will give up on the very last set (which is normal of course), but here’s where I’m worried: They don’t get sore during that last set. They just stop and thats it.

“I’ve been getting a lot of calories, at least 4k a day. Mostly from chicken, rice, craisins, oatmeal. And I eat a small jar of organic peanut butter a day for protein. This is because I tend to hate supplements. I’ve talked to some health officials, and they’ve been OK with the amount of protein, but they did suggest that I eat some veggies as well.

“Anyways the very next day after my workouts I’m not sore. I don’t get it. I’m pushing very hard, but I’m not sore. Why is this? And on top of that, the harder I work out the more energized I feel. Could this be due to the calories? I just don’t understand why I’m not cramping.”

Sincerely,
Tyrone Fraley

My Answer: Cramping? Why the hell do you want to cramp up? Anyway, you’re not getting sore, because your muscles are becoming accustomed to the training. Soreness doesn’t necessarily mean you’re getting bigger. Soreness, however, is associated with a new stimulus. So if you want to be sore all the time, just change the exercises from workout to workout. Or just buy my book and you will find plenty of training routines to make you sore as hell.

Don’t worry about not being sore. As long as you are gaining in size or strength, that is what counts. And as far as you feeling energized from the workouts, it’s because the rest periods are long (3 minutes) and the number of sets is low (4 sets). Hitting your muscles hard and brief will wake up your nervous system.

"I read with interest your article on Vince Gironda’s 10-8-6-15 program for ectomorphs. What I am not clear on is how to choose the appropriate weight for each set. For example, if my maximum lift for one repetition in a particular exercise is 100 pounds, how much weight should I use for each of the sets? My plan is to use the following weights based on a maximal lift of 100 pounds:

50 pounds for 10 repetitions (which I view as a warm-up set)
75 pounds for 8 repetitions (which is a working set)
85 pounds for 6 repetitions (which is a working set)
50-60 pounds for 15 repetitions (which is a flushing set)

“Is the above plan what you and Vince Gironda had in mind with the 10-8-6-15 program? Thank you for your attention.”

Bob Morris

My Answer- Yep Bob, that looks good. Frankly I don’t care for calculating percentages, because your strength tends to vary day to day. On a given day, you might lift 7 reps with your 85% 1RM, the next day it might 5 reps. It is better to pick a weight that you think you can perform 10 reps with and perform as many reps as you can. That will give you an idea on how to add or subtract weight from set to set. But if you like everything planned out, then here are the official percentages for the 10-8-6-15 program:

First set = 10 reps with 50% of what you’ll use for your set of 6 reps

Second set = 8 reps with 75% of what you’ll use for your set of 6 reps

Third set = 6 reps with as much weight as you can handle for 6 good reps

Fourth set = 15 reps with 35% of what you used for your set of 6 reps

Strength and Physique V1 available on Amazon.com

"It’s an honor being able to contact you via email. Whenever I read one of your writings, I am impressed. I’d like to ask you a question regading shoulder health. Do you think it’s important to balance out vertical pushes (like shoulder presses) with pulls (like pullups) as well as horizontal pushes (like bench press) with pulls (like seated rows or dumbbell rows)?

"In other words: if I do military presses, do I also have to do pulldowns, pullups, or chinups? If I do bench presses, do I also have to do seated rows? I’ve read that this was important to avoid shoulder injuries due to lack of balance (rotator cuff, etc.)."

Thanks for your time, Sir!
-S.C.

My Answer: Yes and no. How’s that for an answer, huh? Anyway, what I mean is that for shoulder stability, yes, you do need to have movements that balance each other out. But it’s not necessarily in the manner that you’re describing. For example, to counterbalance horizontal pushing (bench press), you can perform an equal number of sets and reps on a horizontal pulling movement (cable rows) OR use a deadlift variation. Keeping your shoulders down and retracting them back during the deadlift will help stabilize your shoulders just as much, if not more, than rowing movements.

Do you need to include all four directions of movement to maintain optimal shoulder health? No, you don’t. You could leave out the horizontal pressing and concentrate on the other three movements and your shoulder health would improve quite a bit. So if you did military presses, pull-ups and seated cable rows, but no bench presses, then your shoulder health would be A-OK.

"Do you think 8 sets of 2-3 chinups 3 times a week would be a better alternative to 3 sets of 3 reps done 5 days out of the week? That would mean 24 chinups 3 times a week. If I follow another training routine, like barbell curls 2-3 times a week, I suppose 8×2-3 chinups might be too much."

My Answer: For both size AND strength, that would be a better option. Your first option would be good only for strength.

"I really need some help, I would like to know what you think of my current workout:

Monday: Biceps & Back
-Every set weight is increased by 5.
-EZ Curls 3×8,
-Incline Curls 3×8,
-Preacher Curls 2×8 then a drop set with half the weight and 15 reps. And one more set with more weight.
-Hammer Curls 3×8,

-Lat Pulldowns 3×8,
-Barbell Rows 3×8,
-Cable Rows, 2×8,
-V-bar Pulldowns 3×8

Tuesday: Chest
-Bench Press 5×5 With all one weight,
-Incline Bench Press 5×5 With all one weight,
-Incline Dumbell Press 5×5 With all one weight,
-Dumbell Pullovers 5×5 With all one weight,

Wednesday: Shoulders & Triceps
-Seated Barbell Military Press 5×5 With all one weight,
-Front Raises 5×5 With all one weight,
-Side Raises 5×5 With all one weight,
-Shrugs 5×5 With all one weight,

-Skull Crushers 5×5 With all one weight,
-Triceps Pulldown 5×5 With all one weight,
-Close Grip Bench Press 5×5 With all one weight.

Thursday: Bi’s & Back
-Every set weight is increased by 5
-Dumbell Curls 3×8,
-Hammer Curls 3×8,

-Lat Pulldowns 3×8,
-Barbell Rows 3×8,
-Cable Rows 3×8,
-V-Bar Pulldowns 3×8,

Friday : Chest
-Bench Press 5×5 With one weight,
-Incline Bench Press 5×5 With one weight,
-Incline Chest Flies 5×5 With one weight,
-Flat Bench Flyes 5×5 With one weight,

Saturday: Legs when I have time. Ha-ha, I know it’s bad.

Sunday: Rest

"Once again I apologize if I’m being a nuisance, but I would just like some advice from someone with knowledge. So I would like to know what you think of my workout if you don’t mind. Thank you!"

My Answer: Two things: 1) Work your legs more and 2) dont’ do biceps before back.

"I apologize for asking so many questions, but I just want to make sure I get the most effective workout. It seems that your Hypertrophy Training for Ectomorphs workout doesn’t hit the different areas of each muscle. Like your only hitting one spot of the biceps and one spot of the pectoralis. I’m not insulting what you know. I’m just curious, because it doesn’t seem like this would give me anymore size since I do most of those exercises already.”

-Alessandro Tribbiani

My Answer: If the article didn’t explain everything to you, then don’t do the workout.

"What’s your opinion on the 5×5 training programs? They are very well liked by many. Also, because of tight hamstrings, I like leg presses better than squats. Are leg presses effective? Squats are very useful and build overall strength. Can the same be said about leg presses?  Can arms be trained with the 5×5 method without resting in between? I did hammer curls today that way, and it felt good and didn’t take long:

5 reps with 17 kg
no rest
5 reps with 15 kg
no rest
5 reps with 12 kg
no rest
5 reps with 10 kg
no rest
5 reps with 9 kg

"Is this a good training method to follow for a long time? It gives a good burn and, as I said, is very quick. I have done hammer curls according to this pattern for a month, and it feels OK. If I follow a training program, is it wise to do chin ups 3 sets to failure 5 days a week? I did chinups today 3 sets to failure and I hardly felt any fatigue afterwards. To tell you the truth, chinups don’t seem very effective. I could only take 3 full chinups although my biceps aren’t that bad."

-CS

My Answer: What you’re doing are descending sets, otherwise known as drop sets. It is a very effective training method, but you will either get used to it or burn out on it. It’s best to do it once a week to avoid either stagnating or overtraining.  You can get used to any technique or exercise, no matter how traumatic it may seem at first. This is part of the reason why chin-ups aren’t doing anything for you: you acclimated to the exercise, because you’ve been doing a few sets of it 5 days out of the week. You’re doing small doses of chin-ups (3 sets) spread out across the week.

Plus, chances are you’re doing chin-ups with a narrow underhand grip. That is the second easiest chin-up variation to do. So if you’re doing it that way, then you won’t feel much in the back or biceps. Pull-ups with a wide overhand grip will stress your lats more, but you still won’t feel it in the biceps. Not only this, but if you can only do 3 chin-ups, then your total is so low (3 sets x 3 reps = 9 total reps), that you’re not stressing the lats or biceps much at all.

The 5×5 is a solid program and has been around for a long, long time. Of all the programs floating around in the gym, it is second to the 10-8-6-15 program as far as popularity. But while the 5×5 is solid program by itself, it works even better as a decompression program, which I go over in Strength and Physique V1.

As far as leg presses, it really depends on what your goal is. If you’re an athlete looking to gain real world strength and size, then the leg press won’t do anything for you unless you’re a speed skater. If you’re just concerned about size and nothing else, then the leg press is good choice, even better than the squat.

“Early July I wrote for advice on your Shotgun Method. Now three months later, I must say that I am really amazed with what I achieved thanks to it. I gained about an average of 1.8 kilograms a month since then, and in August and September also lost some body fat while gaining muscle (woot!). I transitioned from basic lifts to Olympic ones. Overall it was a really great experience not only seeing the results but also the fun I had.

“Now, I was wondering if you had any advice on how push it to the next stage or any other programs you can suggest (although I could still pursue this one as I am still getting results). Don’t worry if you have no time to answer. Thanks anyway for the program .”

A bientôt, Alex~

My Answer: Well Alex, if you’re still getting good results from the Shotgun Method, then by all means stick with it until the gains stop. Afterwards, switch to the 3-5 Method as a decompression phase: 3-5 sets, 3-5 reps, 3-5 minutes rest, 3-5 exercises for the whole body, 3-5 days a week.

"I’ve enjoyed your Pyramid Program for Ectomorphs, and thank you for answering all the questions regarding it from many people on your blog. May I ask: what is the purpose of the final set of 15? Why not just do 10-8-6 and stop there?”

Cheers,
Steve Murphy

My Answer: The last set where you perform a high number of reps is good for growth. In my upcoming book Strength and Physique V2, I go into greater detail about why flushing sets or feeder sets are an important component of hypertrophy training. But for now, just understand that flushing sets of 15 reps will increase blood flow to the muscle, which transports nutrients into the muscle being worked. This aids in recovery and growth through increased amino acid and glycogen uptake. 

“My name is Alessandro, and I’m 17 soon to be 18. I’ve been working out for about a year but properly maybe 6-8 months. I weigh anywhere between 160-165. I’m somewhere between 6′0 and 6′1. In the past few months I’ve put on a decent amount of muscle. My arms probably measure in around 14.5-15 inches, and my chest about 42-43. I was wondering if i should be using the Workout for the Ectomorph you wrote an article about. Everybody seems to tell me I look big, but in my own eyes I still can’t see the physique I want, I don’t know if this email will reach you, but a response would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.”

My Answer: Don’t listen to your friends, because the measurements you’re giving me indicate you still have lots of growth to go. I don’t know what sort of program you’re doing now, but chances are you will benefit from the 10-8-6-15 progam. Most beginners train like the pro bodybuilders (split routines, high volume), when they should be doing the exact opposite in nearly every training parameter. You’re not big yet and you’re not on steroids, so why train like a pro bodybuilder? The Hypertrophy Training for the Ectomorph article outlines everything that you should be doing as a beginner, but you need to unlearn this BS that muscle mags have been feeding you about how to train.

“I read your articles on Bodybuilding.com and was very impressed. It’s great to have someone that understands how difficult it can be for officers to find time to work out. I work at Alamance County Sheriff’s Dept. in North Carolina as a Correctional Officer. I liked the workout that you provided on Bodybuilding.com, but noticed you recommended powerlifting for correctional officers, but I could not find a recommended workout for us.

“I have been doing everything I can to try to cut down on my body fat, to no avail. I adapted a strict low carb/high protein diet, and began doing everything I can to eat healthy foods. In the first 2 weeks I lost 10 pounds, that was 2 months ago, and I haven’t lost anything else. I don’t seem to be losing any inches or gaining any muscle. I am seriously starting to give up hope of trimming down.

“I can not stop working out though. I am also in the National Guard, and will be deploying back to Iraq for my second tour in a few months. So being in shape is a great concern for me right now. I also have attached a recent snapshot of myself, so you can see just why I want to transform out of this flabby body that I have. My typical workout is as follows:

Day 1 Chest/Biceps
-Flat bench press 4×4-10
-Incline Dumbell Flies 4×6-10
-Cable Crossovers 3×15
-Standing E-Z Bar curl 4×4-10
-Hammer Curls 4×10
-Preacher curls 4×10
-Standing Cable curls 3×15
-30 minutes of cardio, either stepmill or elliptical (treadmills kill my joints)

Day 2 Back/Triceps
-Pullups 4×5 (trying to build more reps)
-Bent over rows 4×10
-T-bar rows 4×6-10
-Pulldowns 4×10
-Close grip press 4×3-10
-Nose breakers 4×10
-Overhead Dumbell press 4×10
-Cable kickbacks 3×12-15
-Superset triceps with Dips and pushups after every tricep workout

Day 3 Shoulder/Abs/Cardio
-Upright Rows 4×6-10
-Dumbell Shrugs 4×10-12
-Lateral raises 4×10
-Front Raises 4×10
-Haven’t found a steady ab routine, usually do swiss ball crunches and leg raises.
-30 minutes cardio

Day 4 Legs
-Have to admit, I have to force myself into legs. They get neglected alot.
-4×10 Hack squats
-3×10 Lunges
-4×30 standing calf raises

“If you have a free minute, could you glance at this and tell me where I’m going wrong? I notice that no matter how hard I work myself, I’m not even feeling sore after I workout. I even tried switching recently to a Chest/Tricep and Back Bicep routine, and still did not feel sore the next day. I’m so confused about the whole Push/Push or Push/Pull theory on muscle groups, everyone has a different opinion on that. Any advice you could give would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time.”

-Adam Rose

My Answer: I don’t give much credence to the push/pull split routines, so don’t worry about those. You can switch back and forth between push/pull routines and non-push/pull routines, and it wouldn’t make a difference in your gains.

Anyway, I didn’t give a powerlifting routine in the Return to Copland article, because 1) that would have been a very distracting sidenote to the article and 2) there are plenty of powerlifting routines out there to choose from. But if you’re focus is losing fat, then a powerlifting routine isn’t good for you anyway.

It sounds like you want to lose fat and stay fit for deployment. If that’s the case, then a good training program to follow is the one outlined in the Building a Bigger Engine article. You better start working out your legs more, because those bad boys will burn more calories than your upper body. If you want soreness, then working out the legs with low rest will bring it. Be careful what you wish for.

Strength and Physique V1 available on Amazon.com

I just finished reading your article on Bodybuilding.com about back training. I know my fair share of the gym, and I’ve been going for just over a year. Well in fact, I’m not sure when I started as I have always been interested in strength training. I have been training my back for quite some time, and I make sure that I train my back at least 4 times a month, or once a week and maybe twice if there’s a time when I feel completely recovered. I mostly concentrate on the lower back, as I believe it’s one of the more vital muscle groups which supports the spine. I realized this, because both my parents have a problem with their backs.

“One of the more challenging problems for me though is I can never get a good workout. For some reason I can never stress the upper part of my back. For example, my bent over barbell rows seem to be a waste of time, even if i decide to do 4 sets of 8 reps. I can’t get that desirable ache that I get from training my arms or lower back. I have no idea if it’s the speed at which I do these sets or the amount of time I rest between rests or my just technique. Can you give any small hints on how to improve my upper back training?

“Another problem I seem to have when I do rows is that the back of my shoulders seem to grow the most, and I’m aiming on just training my back. The front part of the shoulders and the back are extremely asymmetrical, and it looks pretty strange. Im 16, born in 1992. I can easily lift 120-130 kilos with deadlifts, so I’m sure my lower`back is not a problem. All my other body parts are fine. It’s just my upper back (Lats and central upper back). Another problem I have is with flexibility and endurance. I’d love to improve that.”

Thomas Ronnberg, Finland

My Answer: Jeez, Thomas, you sure are a yakker aren’t you? At age 16, you really are not well-experienced or knowledgeable in strength training. From what you’re telling me, you’re still a beginner. It’s OK, we all have to start somewhere.

Let’s get right to the point: your lats and midback are not growing, because you’re only doing deadlifts and barbell rows. Deadlifts are great for the lower back, I’m sure you know. But they suck as far as building your lats. Barbell rows, as a back exercise, suck big time as well. When you do barbell rows, your neural drive is split between isometrically contracting your lower back and hamstrings and rowing the weight. You end up working everything else BUT the upper back. Barbell rows don’t stretch your lats, and it’s hard to get a peak contraction of your back muscles at the top of the movement. Most people heave the weight up, which makes the tension very brief and ineffective. If you slowed it down, then you end up with less weight, which makes it ineffective as well.

The Wingspan Workouts article recommended pull-ups and chin-ups as the primary lat developers. If you cannot do pull-ups, then ditch the barbell rows and incorporate pulldowns and cable rows instead. You can still keep the deadlifts, but start doing some snatch grip deadlifts instead.

Strength and Physique V1 available on Amazon.com

"I have recently re-started working out again after five years of eating pizza and drinking beer. I have the typical body of a patrol sergeant. I am also the executive officer for our SWAT team (i.e. plan missions, shoot big guns, train and sit on ass while the guys do the rest!)

"I am 31 years old 5′10 inches tall, size 40 pants and weigh 250 pounds (fat ass!). I have got to lose this damn beer gut and get back in shape. I have cut way back on the carbs & calorie intake and have upped my protein intake to around 130 grams per day (lot’s of fish and protein shakes). Since I have been outta the bodybuilding loop for the past five years, I was wondering if you could give me some pointers. I’ve been jogging, walking, sprinting about 1 mile a day and lift weights about 2 times a week (bi’s tri’s, & shoulders). I work a four on four off 12 hours a day schedule. What in the world can I do to get back into shape? Thanks!"

Sgt. Phil Davis
Training Director
Special Operations Response Team XO
Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department
Tennessee

My Answer: You know Phil, I almost marked your email as spam, because your subject line read "My Fat Ass." Anyway, working 4/12’s is kind of tough, because you have no time to exercise when you get off work. But since you’re the training director, if you’re not doing it already, then workout at the facility twice a day. You seem to be on the right track with diet, but did you cut out beer too. At least limit alcohol consumption, because alcohol limits your testosterone and ups your estrogen. Makes it real hard to lose fat and gain muscle.

The other thing is you may want to revamp your strength training program, because it looks like you’re only working your arms and shoulders. You should really start training everything else also: legs, back and chest. These are bigger muscles than the arms and shoulders, so they burn more calories. Your strength program has to be designed in a way to build muscle and strip fat. For now 2 things:

1) Read my article on Building a Bigger Engine
2) Buy my book Strength and Physique. I go over 7 different strength training strategies for fat loss.

“I just read your article Return to Copland and had a few questions. I am going into a December 19th sheriff academy, and I am roughly 14 weeks away. I was planning on doing your routine. I wanted to ask you if you had any other tips, training or routine to do maybe after doing this routine for 5 weeks, or repeat it? I will definitely do the running, pull ups, pushups, and deadlifts. My current fitness levels are quite high. Maybe you can recommend some intensity tips or routine that will make the academy (at a physical level) easier? I can do around 15-18 wide grip pull ups, 63 push ups (complete, with good form) in a minute, 300m run in 46 seconds. Do you have any other tips or anything you can help me,or give me advice for me to be more than ready?”

Thank you,
Christian Artiga

My Answer: I give you everything in the article, and you want MORE? Christian, as far as physical performance in the academy, you’re going to be fine. Find out what your academy puts you through physically, and practice the pursuit exercises they will put you through. The SFPD Academy had a few 6 foot walls that we regularly jumped over, so if your academy has walls to jump, then start learning the techniques to jump them if you find them difficult. Ideally you want to jump the wall quickly but not provide much of a target for the suspect to shoot at. Good luck!

"I just finished reading your article on how to properly cut up. It was an extremely good read. I’ve been bulking up (went from 185 to 200) since July 1st. Previously, I had cut weight from 220-ish to around 185 from February to July. After gaining some good muscle mass, I’d like to get rid of some excess before I start to bulk again. This is the first year I’ve been really serious about bodybuilding of any sort. I’m 27.

“I had a few questions about the routine. Mainly, the cardio and dieting part. How much high intensity interval training should I be doing? Twice a week? Leaving 2 days for rest? And what should my diet consist of? I’m 6’2” around 200 right now. What should be my target calorie intake?”

Thank you!
Matt

My Answer: You can do HIIT twice a week, that’s fine. With regards to calorie counting, I don’t practice calorie counting and I don’t have my clients practice calorie counting either. The calories take care of themselves through proper food choices. Rather than worrying about minutia, it’s easier to make decisions through a general dietary strategy. In my book, I recommend a Paleo Diet as a solid strategy in dieting.

But if you like counting calories, then Bodybuilding.com has plenty of calorie and nutrient calculators, so check them out.

“I recently read your article Building a Better Engine: Strength Training for Fat Loss, and I have the following questions:

-Am I suppose to do HIIT with the regimen or on other days?
-Do I need to increase my protein, carbohydrate, and fat intake?
-Do I need to increase my caloric intake?

“What supplements should I be taking? I am already on a multivitamin, fish oil, flax oil, borage oil, B-complex, Forslean (a T-booster from *********), etc. I have planned on doing your regimen on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I was going to do core exercises and HIIT on Tuesday, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Would you suggest a different plan? I appreciate any advice you are willing to offer.”

Sincerely,
Victor A. Martin

My Answer: You can do HIIT and ab work during your off days, that’s fine. As far as diet, it’s hard to say, because I have no idea what you’re eating. I will say though, that if you’re choosing this program to become lean, then you should follow a low carb, moderate protein, higher fat intake. With regards to your supplements, you look like you have too much redundancy: a multi-vitamin should have B vitamins in there already. If you have fish oil, then you don’t really need the flax. Fish is better anyway.

“I want to know if I follow the Hypertrophy Training for Ectomorphs program and I go twice a week to my Krav Maga lessons (which involve a lot of cardio), then am I facing overtraining and less hypertrophy? Just for info, I’m preparing for the RCMP cadet program. Am I on the right track with this?”

“Thanks a lot. Your work is inspiring.” -François Chartrand
Montreal, Quebec

"I just read your article Hypertrophy Training for the Ectomorph. Thanks for taking your time and putting your resources out to the public. I was just confused about overtraining. According to your article, I need to concentrate on ONE exercise per body part for that day in order to avoid overtraining. I’m an ectomorph as you can probably tell, and my routine is usually 4 exercises for a body part with 4 sets per exercise for a total of 16 sets. Basically I’ve been overtraining ever since I joined the gym about 2 years ago based on your article.

“It’s true, my muscles haven’t been growing the way I wanted them to and I’m quite frustrated with that. But could it be THAT simple? One exercise a body part, three times a week? I’m thinking that my muscles will never feel sore following your sample routine of 10-8-6-15. And I was told soreness equals muscle rupture hence, muscle growth.”

Thank you,
Fernando Park

My Answer: Wow, this is funny, because in yesterday’s blog entry, one reader said the 10-8-6-15 program was overtraining. And now you’re saying it’s undertraining, Fernando. This is how confused people get over exercise and diet. Know this: totalitarian states, amoral corporations and oppressive societies seek control through the ignorance of it’s population.

Anyway, back to your workout advice: Soreness is not always an indicator of progress. You can still grow and not be sore at all. If you kept doing the bench press day in and day out, then you won’t be sore any more. And yet you would still make progress in size and strength in the chest.

Soreness in weight training usually occurs when the stimulus is new: a new exercise, a new training technique, etc. You also get sore after a layoff and come back to weight training. So in this sense, soreness is something you want to seek every so often, because it means you’re changing things up.

Now can you grow by switching from 16 sets to 4 sets per body part? Hell yeah you will! Your body will overcompensate in size due to the lowered volume. In essence you’ve taken advantage of the backcycling method outlined in my book.

“For the 10-8-6-15 program, are you adding weight on each set? How many warm up sets do you start with?”

-Ellena Gjesdal

My Answer: Yes, you are adding weight on each set to hit the target rep for that set. A few sets of pushups, followed by a few sets of light pulldowns and few sets of bodyweight squats prior to the workout would be fine for a warm up. Warm ups should be light and get the blood flowing into your joints, but it should not exhaust you prior to actual workout.

“Hi James! Hope you’re fine. I have a question: I am about to start your 6 Factors of Hypertrophy program and was wondering if you had any tempo recommendations. I was thinking of lifting explosively on compound movements and more slowly to keep constant tension on the muscle during isolation exercises. What are your thoughts about it?”

Thanks a lot!
Mathieu

My Answer: Good to hear from you, Mathieu. With regards to tempo, in general you should lift explosively, but control the eccentric portion somewhat. It would not matter if it was a compound or isolation movement. What does make a difference is the muscle being worked. Some muscles are fast-twitch dominant and some are closer to slow-twitch. This fiber composition determines what tempo works best.

Muscles that are primarily fast-twitch (the brachialis, the triceps and the hamstrings)respond best to an explosive lift with a slow eccentric portion. Muscles that are predominantly slow-twitch (calves and the lateral deltoid) respond to quick tempos with little tension on either the positive or eccentric portion of the lift. All other muscle groups (chest, back, biceps, quadriceps) tend to have an equal amount of fast and slow-twitch muscle fiber. Hence these muscle groups respond to varying tempos.