Strength and Physique

Q:  Hi, how are you?  I'm sending you this email to ask you if you have a copy of Beyond 2001 or Tellekinetics? They are impossible to find but you seem to know the material inside and out! I was wondering if I could pay you to scan and upload these books for me? I know it's a lot to ask but you really are my only hope. Thank you! Ander My Answer:  Ander, I do NOT have a copy of Beyond 2001.  I know it seems like I have a copy because of all my videos on Telle's exercises, but I don't have a copy of the book or video tape.  I learned of Jerry Telle back in 2001, when he wrote articles for the defunct Dolfzine.   He submitted some of these same articles to T-nation, but they've been purged from the site. Who do I know that does have Beyond 2001 ?  Other strength coaches at the time had copies , so give them a try.  Charles Poliquin had a copy, but of course he's passed away.  

Q: Another hello from England! I was always led to believe that narrow grip tends to build more back thickness and wide grip builds more back width. Because of this, I've normally done a varied grip range; wide grip, medium grip and narrow grip lat pulldowns/pullups. Taking your HTE 2.0 programme with the rep range 10-8-6-15, I would go wide grip lat pulldown for 10, medium grip for 8, narrow grip for 6 and then wide grip for the flushing 15. As my grip goes from wide to narrow, I can naturally lift more weight as your programme calls for. I noticed that in your HTE 2.0 programme , you've specified pull-ups, V-bar pulldowns and seated cable rows for back exercises. The latter two are more narrow grip exercises. Is there a reason why you've gone for these two exercises as opposed to a standard lat pulldown bar? Or am I reading too much into this? Best regards! Kalwant Leeds, England My Answer: Yes you are reading too much into it.  The seated cable row with a V-bar handle...

While inverted rows are often prescribed as a body weight exercise for back thickness, you won't get much resistance from them to thicken up the back. This is because the percentage of body weight pulled is less than 60% depending on the angle of the inverted row. Pull ups provide much greater resistance, because you're pulling nearly 100% of your body weight.  Most pull ups, however, are vertical pulling movements, and vertical pulls tend to widen the lats and back, not thicken them. To thicken the mid back with pull ups, you have to perform pull up variations where you lean back and retract the scapula as  you pull up.  Here are 5 pull up variations to thicken up the rhomboids, lower traps and lats: 1) Sternum pull ups 2) Lever pull ups 3) Chin rows 4) Subscapularis pull ups 5) Ice cream makers

Hi James, I know that you don't need me to write anything here, but I figured that I would give you some positive feedback while requesting your free workout .  I have volumes  two and  three of yours, and have found that you really know what you are talking about. I have told my friends and students (I am a high school physics teacher) about the results that I have gotten from your workouts. -M. Testa My Answer:  Thanks for the kind words, and I'm glad that the workouts have helped you out.  Being a parent myself, I've been showing more concern about the educational system. My wife works at a high school as well.  Anyway I want to thank you for educating our youth as a high school teacher. A tough and under-appreciated job, but one that is crucial to our society's future. Q: Hi, I'm an experienced weight trainer.  Can you recommend the correct volume book of yours that I should get? I read some things on your blog ...

The straight body pull (also known as the front lever raise to inverted hang) works on maximal lat and ab contraction.  This is the body weight parallel to the stiff arm pulldown.

30 degree pull-ups, as known as lean away pull-ups.  Pull to waist and lean back.  The movement is a hybrid of the pull-up and the row.

Q: "Hi! I'm Rafael and I've read your Strength Training for Fat Loss article on Bodybuilding.com, and I must say it looks very promising. It reminds me of Bruce Lee's strength training. Anyway I'm going to start doing the program you put up every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I was wondering what YOU recommend for cardio on Tuesday and Thursday? "I'm planning on doing 20-30 minutes of H.I.I.T. on the treadmill. You know, 5 minutes warm up then 20 second sprints alternated with 10 second jogs for a total of 12 minutes, followed by a 5 minute cool down. Then followed by 15 minutes of hitting the heavy bag. I'm just looking for some suggestions. I'm in great cardio shape, but I have stubborn belly fat that I'm trying to lose. I've lost over 60 pounds and still have this belly fat that's so hard to lose! That being I use to hit up a lot of keggers and what not. "I hope to hear from you as I would greatly appreciate it! ...

Q:   I want to employ your lat shock routine, but I am on a periodization routine.  I'm working upper and lower every other day. Instead of putting all 4 exercises in one day, then resting that part for a week, I'm doing it all week.   If I split up the lat work all week, will it still shock them into growth, or do they need all that work in one sitting?  Or should I do it once a week then the rest if the time do a lightweight lat workout?  Cause exercise done every other day would result in overtraining right? < -Brian My Answer:   The Wingspan Workouts are 4 different WORKOUTS. So you would not do all 4 in one day.  You can rotate through the 4 workouts through a length of 2 weeks, so that would mean 2 lat workouts a week. Or you can do one lat shock workout a week, so that would mean 2 lat workouts a week:  one lat shock workout, one light active recovery workout for the back. Q:    I was looking for a workout routine....