Strength and Physique

Q:  I'm one of your blog readers and bought your Strength and Physique: The Articles , back in March this year. I've been meaning to drop you a line and comment on the articles but never got round to it (yeah, I know, it's horrible). Anyhow, I was just reading your blog and came across your post on Hypertrophy Training for the Ectomorphs . Wow, what a revelation it was for me! I was going to ask you about specific training for a typical lean Asian guy. (For the record, I'm 5'9 and weigh 63 kg.) I knew there were difference between the three body types, and some how I need to approach weight training differently. As I read the Ectomorph article , I'm beginning to see why I've been having trouble gaining weight, while my peers would bulk up much easier than I do. From now on, I will apply the principle of 'Training briefly, intensely but frequently,' and the 10-8-6-15 program. Previously, I was training for too long, on too many body pa...

Q: I came across your article on Bodybuilding.com , and it appealed to me: cutting fat while maintaining my gains (or improving on them) is exactly what I was looking for. Having tried the workout, it seems to be just right. I enjoy the full body aspect and approve of the flexibility.  That said, a quick question: I find the barbell hang clean to front squat to be very awkward. It may be that I have a poor range of motion/flexibility in my arms and shoulders, but I'm not able to rest the bar on my torso following the hang clean. Is it supposed to be held in the air still? That left me feeling unbalanced. This said, is there an alternate circuit that you would recommend? Thanks in advance for your help! -Phillip M. My Answer: Glad you like the program, Phil. No, the bar is not held but rests in your hands on top of the front of your shoulders when you squat down. Not everybody has the flexibility to do the front squat with a clean grip, so if you can't do them...

Q: "I have started training full body twice a week. I am not able to train full body thrice a day, but plan to do the same soon. Right now I am following the following regimen:  Monday: Back and biceps (45 minutes)  Tuesday: Chest and triceps (45 minutes)  Wednesday: Shoulder and legs (45 minutes)  Thursday: Back and Biceps (45 minutes)  Friday: Chest and triceps (45 minutes)  Saturday: Shoulder and legs (45 minutes)  "I follow the above regimen by doing 15 minutes of stationary biking every day immediately after the workout. I do three different exercises for each body part with three sets of 12 reps each. Please let me know as to what constitutes an ideal number of sets per body part and what should be the ideal number of reps in a set.  "Also I would like to know whether it is advisable to do some weight workout/cardio after one hour of having dinner in order to digest the same in proper manner. I have my dinner at around 8.30 pm." ...

So just a quick heads up: Strength and Physique V1 is back in stock on Amazon.com. I've made some revisions to the book, so new buyers will find some added material. The revised SPV1 has more exercise descriptions, including some lesser known but highly effective bodybuilding exercises for the biceps and the triceps. Now that SPV1 is back in stock on Amazon, the free program offer with Lulu.com is now over. To those who recently bought my book through Lulu.com, thank you and enjoy your program.

As bodybuilders and strength athletes, we tend to exert a lot of grip strength. Because of this constant gripping, we end up with strength imbalances that can result in aches and pains in our hands and lead to arthritis and carpal tunnel. Finger extensions can alleviate these strength imbalances and are easy to do.