Strength and Physique

I am writing you in regards to the post you displayed on Bodybuilding.com. It is the Wingspan Workouts plan. The question I have sir is would you recommend doing all 4 variations of the workout in the same day or splitting them up and incorperating them into an already established routine? I really like the look of this workout and cannot wait until the next back day to give it a try. Thank you for your time Sir. Have a good day. -Justin My Answer: It's Wingspan WorkoutS , meaning each shock technique is a workout for the back. What you would do is rotate through all 4 shock techniques. Be warned: these techniques are brutal. Your lats will be very sore, and your armpits will chafe from the extra width.

Q:  First let me say a huge "Thanks." I've been doing some kind of weight training since... geez, the early 70's. I spent a career with San Diego PD and worked out at Gold's for years. Got pretty big, 6'1, 260 lbs @ 10% BF. Cruising through Amazon the other day for Gironda readings, and I happened upon your books. Did my due diligence, saw that you are PD and decided to get The Articles  and  Neo-Classical Bodybuilding. Holy Schazam! Read The Articles : clarity and simplicity in less than an afternoon. Years of past practices gone. So simple even a "Blockhead" like me can figure it out! I tried one of the "Trisets" mixed in with one of my splits. Nice pump, some burn but nothing super-duper. Until today! Holy Crap, I feel like it was my first time to the gym. I haven't felt this way for a long time! Awesome!!! So I quickly dove into Neo-Classical Bodybuilding and ordered Tactics and Strategies  and  Training for the Busy ...

Q:  The hypertrophy for the ectomorph training program really worked, and I gained quite a lot of muscle. The thing is that I wasn't looking for the bodybuilder physique, but a more skinny lean [physique]. I still believe that I have some muscle to gain, but I've started my cutting phase from the beginning for this month so I can be leaner for [the] new year when my girlfriend is coming. I want to surprise her. Anyways I always had a skinny-fat physique with some extra fat on my tummy and pecs. But ever since I became a vegetarian with a proper diet of healthy grains, veggies and fruit, the belly and the fat on my pecs begun to disappear without any noticeable muscle loss. I still need to get rid of the extra fat, and I have time to lose that fat. I'm realistic, and I'm not expecting Brad Pitt abs for the new year, you know. My body fat must be around 12%-14%, so here are my questions! What diet and workout should I follow? What book do you recommend me to buy ...

Q:  Just flicking through Volume Two and reading about the Supercharging H.I.T. programs and it mentions people that the program might be good for. One section says, "Individuals who have really crappy neural endurance - Some lifters have no strength endurance, no matter what stage they are in their training history." This definitely feels like me, as I am an intermediate lifter and been training long enough, [but] I don't have any strength endurance. We had recently put this down to low T, but could it simply be that I have crappy neural endurance? I mention this, because I even struggle to get through the Low T/Fast Twitch program in your book Tactics and Strategies . Would I be better suited to a HIT type program? Thanks again, Aaron My Answer: Well, there's only way to find out and that's to try out a H.I.T. type of program. For all we know, you could have both: low T and poor strength endurance. Sort of sucks. But knowing what your weakn...

Q:  I finally received your books ( Volume 1 to Volume 4 ). I hit a plateau of the 10-8-6-15 program (modified somewhat because of a muscle strain), which I've been doing for the past 4 weeks. I gained muscle on my chest, shoulders, lats, lower back, thighs, and arms. I do feel like I'm making progress. My body looks stronger also. Yet I didn’t put on any weight at all. I’m still around 121-123 pounds. And I didn’t do aerobics. My macronutrient ratio for the past 4 weeks according to Fitday.com is 48%, 29%, 23%. Average calories are 1,600. Yet it may have some error. I didn’t count on rice, because I couldn’t weigh them when I ate at restaurants. At home I can, LOL. I concentrate on hitting my goal of 126-130 grams of protein intake a day. But I couldn’t count servings on some meats or beans, because I didn’t weigh them or couldn’t possibly know what macronutrients they are even after looking it up on Fitday.com. So I estimated them by the way some teachers to...

Q:  I have been following your  ectomorph program  for about three weeks. I'm not getting much size. It seems my strength has made some gains with some definition.  I have been doing the three minute rest periods and even sometimes five minute. I do the program on Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Any suggestions on what I can do? Bradley S. My Answer:  If you're having problems gaining muscle on the program, then you will need to take a look at your diet and see if you're eating enough.  More protein and more calories.  If you have problems getting in the extra protein, then supplement with a protein drink every day. Since you've been on the ectomorph program for a few weeks, you should also switch to the 5x5 program.  Plug in completely different exercises.  Shorten the rest periods to 60-90 seconds.  Use a rep tempo of slow negatives with explosive lifting. Q:  First off, let me thank you for all of the stellar training advice that ...

Q:  What would you do after the Hypertrophy Training for the Ectomorph workout? I am thinking of something like this: --> 6 weeks full body 10-8-6-15 program --> 6 weeks alternating A and B workouts --> 6 weeks 3-day split workout What do you think? Would you change the rep scheme drastically? I am also thinking about doing a HIT workout. It was the first workout that gave me a boost, and it was only a 2-day program. I may give it a try again but in a 3-day a week A-B workout probably. Well, thanks for all. Juan My Answer: What you have looks fine. You could certainly follow up the 18 weeks with a HIT program. Your rep scheme should change up from program to program. The total volume for each muscle group should fluctuate. So 10+8+6+15 = 39 total reps. Your next program should either more or less than 39 reps.

Q: Can the Hypertrophy Training for the Ectomorph program be changed to something like this: - Instead of Squats, any press with machine - Instead of V-bar Pulldowns, any normal or wide grip pulldown And another important question: is it 100% necessary to do an intense leg day if your body doesn't need it?  By looking at myself (75 kg, 180 cm), what I see is that my legs are okay and maybe the calves can be improved, but my quads, hamstrings and glutes look to be in a good form.  I have small wrists and then small arms, wide back (V-shape) but an underdeveloped chest. Looks contradictory, I know. I feel like I don't need to widen myself too much, but I really need to be thick. Any advice? Thanks in advance, J. Perez My Answer: Judging from your stats, you could use the extra weight, even if it is extra muscle added to your legs. But people don't want to hear about what they need. They only hear about what they want. And you want extra thicknes...

Q:  Hi, I've been reading your article Hypertrophy Training for the Ectomorph for a while. I just started doing fitness for 2 months: 168cm, 50kgs 3 day workouts: Chest/shoulder/tricep; back/bicep; & legs split. All compound exercises. I've gained 2 kilograms of weight during this time. I'm limiting the sets to 3 or 4, with rep ranges 6-8. I used machines almost all the time. I've seen in these latter 3 weeks that I've stopped gaining weight, & I can't lift more than the week before. Did I hit plateau? I'm switching to dumbbells, or I'm going to try your article listed above, 10-8-6-15. How do I use the weights on the 10-8-6-15? I know as the set progresses, I accumulate fatigue & lose power. Any recommendations? Also how do I do periodization. I haven't gotten the grasp of the meaning: The Nuts and Bolts of Program Design . Thank you for your time reading this. Sincerely, Adi P.S. I mean for the weig...

James, Awesome books!!! Workouts feel so productive, and I look forward to the challenges your plans put on me. I was just looking into the chest specialization to use when I get done with my 14 week mesocycle. The question is on workout #2: after the neck press the other exercises do not show any rest periods. Same thing on workout #4. Are they to be done one after the other and then loop back to the first exercise? Thank You, D My Answer: In general, if there are no rest periods designated, then rest periods are up to you. For the chest specialization routine, all other body parts are on maintenance training, which means 3 sets of 6-8 reps with no strict adherence to rest periods. To keep things consistent, however, do the neck presses in workout #2 with 90 seconds rest, then do the other exercises with 90 seconds rest as well. Rest 90 seconds for all exercises in workout #4 also.