Strength and Physique

Q: I'm currently following your Hypertrophy Training for the Ectomorph (HTE) programme, which is simply brilliant. It's a joy to follow, I never get bored and my body never gets fatigued because of the fourth week changing of rep ranges. I also bought and read your superb book High Tension Exercises for Muscular Growth which contains astonishing scientific information about the body and muscles. It's on another level compared to all the publications, websites and magazines I've ever read. It really is a fascinating book and has given me a far greater understanding of muscle growth and the best associated exercises and rep ranges. Thus, I have some questions. (a) You mention the benefit of the guillotine bench press, and I've been doing it. Where should my arms be when doing this? If I try to keep my arms at 90 degrees, forearms directly vertical, I can only lower the bar to approximately 18cm / 7inches off my chest. If I butterfly my arms, I can get the bar lower ...

Q: "It's an honor being able to contact you via email. Whenever I read one of your writings, I am impressed. I'd like to ask you a question regarding shoulder health. Do you think it's important to balance out vertical pushes (like shoulder presses) with pulls (like pull-ups) as well as horizontal pushes (like bench press) with pulls (like seated rows or dumbbell rows)? "In other words: if I do military presses, do I also have to do pulldowns, pull-ups, or chin-ups? If I do bench presses, do I also have to do seated rows? I've read that this was important to avoid shoulder injuries due to lack of balance (rotator cuff, etc.)." Thanks for your time, Sir! -S.C. My Answer: Yes and no. How's that for an answer, huh? Anyway, what I mean is that for shoulder stability, yes, you do need to have movements that balance each other out. But it's not necessarily in the manner that you're describing. For example, to counterbalance hori...

Q:   What are other good exercises for the hamstring other than deadlift? I have a home gym but I don’t have a lying leg raise machine. Thanks. My Answer:  In the hamstring chapter of  High Tension Exercises for Muscular Growth , I list out the best hamstring builders.  They are categorized as either leg curl variations or deadlift variations.  If you don’t have access to leg curl machines, then you can still build some rather thick bundles of steel just from the floor glute-ham raise, a.k.a. Nordic curl. The Nordic curl is a body weight exercise that resembles the leg curl, but it is extremely tough to do.  It requires that you have a training partner to hold your legs down, or you can secure your ankles underneath a heavy piece of equipment.  You slowly lower your torso under control.  When your body reaches the floor, push off in an explosive manner and do another rep.  You might only do 1-3 reps.