Strength and Physique

Hi James, The book Strength and Physique: High Tension Exercises for Muscular Growth is excellent. I am already quite lean, about 10 percent body fat, 5 foot 10, but only 150 pounds. My near term goal is to reach 165 pounds without adding significant fat, so I am eating about 300 calories a day over maintenance and working out 3-4 times a week. Would you recommend alternating the 6 Factors program with a 3-day a week bulking for ectomorphs program?  Cheers. S. Wright My Answer:  Yes that would be perfectly fine to do.  The 6 Factors program is a physically demanding routine, so switching to a lower volume, lower frequency ectomorph program allows your body to supercompensate and gain more muscle.

Although my gym has kettlebells, nobody uses them for anything other than side bends. Most people are completely clueless as to what to do with this piece of equipment. I workout at a mainstream gym, so people at this gym use the kettlebell as they would any other weight.  They do conventional dumbbell exercises with the kettlebell, such as lunges and upright rows. The only real kettlebell exercise that I've seen performed is the two-handed kettlebell swing. The two hand kettlebell swing is an excellent ballistic exercise that serves as the foundation move for all other ballistic kettlebell exercises.  Eventually, however, you'll need to progress to more difficult kettlebell exercises if you want to gain size and strength.   Tactics and Strategies has a chapter on how to use kettlebells for bodybuilding. The following are kettlebell exercises you can incorporate into your program to build muscle mass and strengthen the shoulders.  Keep in mind that for yo...

Q: Do you have any workout plans for a female that never worked out before to lose weight quick? This is for a friend of mine that is kind of overweight and wants to get in shape fast. Thanks, Craig My Answer: In Tactics and Strategies I have a chapter on strength training for women, so you should check that out.  It goes over the 3 different body types women have and how to strength train for each body type. When it comes to exercise, women naturally gravitate towards certain activities, such as running or yoga or group classes.  Women tend to gravitate more towards cardio and flexibility.  But when it comes to strength training, many women just don't have a clue.  Women are often intimidated by weightlifting, and don't lift anything heavier than 15-20 pounds. While cardio burns calories and fat when you’re performing it, high rep strength training has what is known as high EPOC or “Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption.” This is a fancy term for say...