Strength and Physique

Q: In your Wingspan Workouts article, you don’t specify if all of these 4 shock workouts should be performed in one day or if they should be rotated on a weekly basis? I work each body part once a week and cardio 6 days a week. Example: Monday – Chest, Tuesday – Bi’s and Tri’s, Wed – BACK , Thursday – Quads, Friday – Shoulders, Saturday – Hams. I would appreciate any help you could throw my way about this. By the way I am a 53 year old male. Thanks, Cliff T. Gastonia, North Carolina My Answer: The Wingspan Workouts are 4 separate WORKOUTS. Hence you don't do them all in one day. You can choose one workout and stick with that for a few weeks, or you can alternate between 2 workouts, or you can rotate among 3-4 shock workouts. The shock techniques are tools in your bodybuilding arsenal to use as you see fit.

Q:  "Hey it’s CW from Vegas again. Just received the new book and cannot wait to get back into the gym. The reason I’m writing is I’m hoping you can resolve a debate in regards to cardio. As you know in law enforcement, cardio is a must. However the question is: how and when to do it? Some say do 30 to 40 minutes of light cardio after weights and some say HIIT. Other say to do it on non-gym days or do cardio in the morning then lift at night. Getting to the gym 4 times a week is tough enough let alone twice a day. One guy I know is preaching the Max-OT cardio program from AST. So if you can tell me what the best cardio program is I will be most grateful."  Thanks,  CW   My Answer: Every cardio method that you mention works to some degree. But what you should be asking is: what works best for you? You're a peace officer with limited time to train (that almost sounds redundant!) So what you should be interested in is minimal investment in the gym with maxi...

Q:  "I read your article on Training for the Ectomorph and decided to try it out as a new program, being an ectomorph and a hard gainer. I am about 185 cm tall weighing 68 kg, my body fat is about 9.8%. I am trying to put on a more size. Ideally I would like to be 72-75 kg and drop a percent or two on the body fat. "I am not a beginner bodybuilder. I have been training for 4 years, but I have been battling to increase in size after having ripped down from about 14% body fat. I have been following the program for 6 weeks and have gained almost 2 kg which is great. I also incorporated 20 mins of HIIT and a combination of pikes, bridges and one other ab exercise on the off days. "I have a question. I am worried, being a more intermediate than a beginner, that I am neglecting or should be paying more attention to other exercises, aside from the core 6 exercises. I previously did do most of the exercises listed but also added more isolation exercises. "I like...

So just a heads up: SPV2: Neo-Classical Bodybuilding is now available on Amazon.com. I've been asked what the difference is between Volume One and Volume Two . Whereas Volume One is a compilation of my training articles and various training routines, Volume Two goes into detail on my training system. This is a program that I've used in the past to gain and maintain incredible size and muscularity on a solid diet. So whereas Volume One is about training techniques and tactics, Volume Two is about a complete training strategy.

Q: "I have recently come out of a lay off from training. I now know what I want to put all of my training toward: I want to have the longest dead hang time possible. How long can I just hang on the bar? My muscles just do not seem to have that juice and fire power that they did 5 weeks ago. Do you have any suggestions or advice about any of this?" -Johann My Answer: For dead hang time, it's more about isometric strength, or holding yourself in a static position. There are 3 factors involved in dead hangs: 1) Grip Strength- This is fairly obvious. What I suggest you do is work on your isometric grip strength. Do some fat bar training if you have access to that equipment. If not, then do some plate pinches. Do some farmer's walks as well. 2) Dead Hang Form- The easiest way to hang is to let your arms and body hang straight down. Don't move or sway a lot. Just take a shoulder width grip. Anything wider than shoulder-width makes it harder o...

A warm-up is a warm-up. Stretching is stretching, and not a warm-up. A good trainer usually knows not to have clients do static stretching before a workout. I've seen plenty of people get injured from pre-workout stretching. Bulgarian weightlifters go so far as to not even include warm-ups. They lift the near max weight immediately in their training. I usually recommend light calisthenics, mobility drills, or stationary biking as opposed to stretching. Particularly for bodybuilding, stretching is best done after the workout, when the muscles are tight, but thoroughly warmed up.