Strength and Physique

Although there are a lot of compound movements (i.e. bench press, back squats), not every compound movement carries over into the athletic field or the real world. A lot of strength enthusiasts will tell you to do powerlifting to develop real world strength, but the relevance of powerlifting pales in comparison to strongman training or even farm work. Not everybody works on a farm or has access to strongman equipment, so here are 5 gym exercises that have great carryover into the real world and the athletic field. I've chosen these exercises because of their simplicity: 1) The Standing Military Press - Forget the bench press! The standing military press has far more relevance to the playing field and the real world, because you have to press the weight up using your body (not a bench) as support. If you're shoulders are wrecked and you can't do the MP, then do some rotator cuff exercises and do the incline press instead, sissy boy! 2) The Front Squat - When ...

HST or Hypertrophy Specific Training is a popular training program, partly because it has a marketable name. For those of us who are more concerned with mass (and not so much athletic performance), then a name like Hypertrophy Specific Training will raise a lot of interest. HST is the brainchild of Bryan Haycock, and it espouses these principles: Train each body part every 48 hours, or basically three times per week. Increase the weight each and every workout. Decrease the reps every two weeks. Decondition the muscle before you do it all over again. There's more to it than that, but those are the basics. For instance, HST prescribes 2 sets per exercise. Here's my take on HST: 1) The high frequency of training is good for size. For gaining, retaining and building on what you've gained in size, it is always better to train more frequently (3-4 times per week). For high frequency training, then HST fits the bill. 2) Two sets per exercise really doesn't incur as much grow...

There are some foods that are used often in bulking diets, because they're cheap, convenient and effective. Skinny college kids on a budget who don't know how to cook can use these poor man bodybuilding staples to add extra calories purely for bulking. Bulking means that you gain weight at all costs in the hopes that some of what you gain will be muscle. When you bulk, high caloric intake is what you want. Bulking is only recommend for skinny bastards under the age of 25. Don't bulk if you're fat (duh!) or even if you're skinny but have fat deposits in certain areas (i.e. love handles). I generally don't recommend bulking for those over 25. Only skinny teens and skinny college kids who have the metabolisms of hummingbirds on crack. Now if you're a rich, skinny bastard, then: 1) I hate you. 2) Your goal is to eat a high calorie diet of high quality foods and high quality protein (meats). But if you're on a budget and don't mind gaining so...