Strength and Physique

Just a heads up: head out to your Barnes and Noble bookstore and pick up the latest issue of Planet Muscle . In it I have an article called "Heavy-Light Training." "Hello, can you give me a routine for the 10-8-6-15 program using just a barbell? All I have is a cage, a bench, an Olympic barbell and 300 lbs, no dumbbells. I can no longer go to a gym." Thanks for your time and help. - W.L. My Answer- You can still build a very impressive physique based solely on barbells and body weight exercises. Here's what I suggest: A) Squats- 4 sets of 10, 8, 6, 15 reps; 2 minutes rest. B) Bench press- 4 sets of 10, 8, 6, 15 reps; 90 seconds rest. C) Pull-ups or Barbell rows- 4 sets of 10, 8, 6, 15 reps; 90 seconds rest. D) Wide grip barbell upright rows- 4 sets of 10, 8, 6, 15 reps; 1 minute rest. E) Barbell curls- 4 sets of 10, 8, 6, 15 reps; 90 seconds rest. F) Close grip bench press- 4 sets of 10, 8, 6, 15 reps; 90 seconds rest. Q:  I have...

Q:  "I recently ran into your blog and profile. I am preparing to enter the academy for the LASD. I changed my training from a traditional body building approach to a much more high intensity cardio style routine to build my stamina.  "Now my problem is that I am losing muscle mass. I am 5'10 163. When I started training for this last July I was 174. My strength has gone down also because I cut back the weight training and heavy lifts for more reps. I am being told that I will not see the academy until June. I want to be able to hang with the cardio but also build my strength. Any advice would be most helpful.  "Thank you for your time sir." My Answer:  Sir? Save the formalities for the academy staff, son. As far as strength and muscle mass, you  will  lose it during the academy. This is inevitable unless you're an endomorph, a.k.a. fat boy. I lost quite a bit of weight during my 7 month academy and during my 3 month field training after that. So why accele...

Check out my latest video on the elbows out dumbbell row, which will work the teres major muscle and give you the wide shoulder look: Q: "If you have time could you please clear up a few things for me? First let me say thanks so much for doing the article . It’s going to be very helpful for me, since I’m a slim framed guy. I’m about 5’10 150 and can rep 160ish once or twice. I guess that 160 at my weight isn’t bad, but I want to add size.  "I’m a 6 year Krav Maga practitioner, so my build is more lean and built for speed, what I consider the martial artist build. I may have missed this, but how much weight should I be trying to do for each set? Should I try to add a little weight each time the number of reps goes down? How much should I try to lift on my 15 rep set?" Thanks, Mike My Answer: Look over the Q&A section of the article . I answer this question in there. For the first set, use a weight based on your 10 rep max. Add weight with ea...

Everybody wants to outsource these days. You get your accountant to do your taxes, your maid to clean your house, your babysitter to watch the kids and your personal trainer to get you in shape. What ever happened to learning to do stuff on your own? I find it funny that people nowadays, including men, are so quick to hire a personal trainer. That's great for trainers, but I think a lot of people have been misled to believe that getting into shape is too daunting of a task to do on their own. I used to go to a small neighborhood gym where they didn't push a personal trainer on you. You learned by trying stuff out in the gym, observing how other guys worked out and asking for advice. There was a sense of camaraderie. More experienced lifters helped younger lifters, and respect was given to those who put in hard time and hard work to achieve a hard physique. Nowadays, commercial gyms seem to be meat markets with men strutting around like peacocks. God forbid you give your f...

“I have never met a truly strong person who didn’t have self-respect. When I see guys working out for cosmetic reasons, I see vanity exposing them in the worst way, as cartoon characters, billboards for imbalance and insecurity. Strength reveals itself through character. "Muscle mass does not always equal strength. Strength is kindness and sensitivity. Strength is understanding that your power is both physical and emotional. That it comes from the body and the mind. And the heart. "The Iron is the best antidepressant I have ever found. There is no better way to fight weakness than with strength. Once the mind and body have been awakened to their true potential, it’s impossible to turn back. "The Iron never lies to you. You can walk outside and listen to all kinds of talk, get told that you’re a god or a total bastard. The Iron will always kick you the real deal. The Iron is the great reference point, the all-knowing perspective giver. Always there like a...

So here's an interesting blog post by Tim Ferriss on the benefits of saturated fat: 7 Reasons to Eat More Saturated Fat Read the entire post when you get a chance, but in the meantime, here are the 7 reasons listed: 1) Improved cardiovascular risk factors (partly by raising HDL, the good cholesterol) 2) Stronger bones 3) Improved liver health 4) Healthy lungs 5) Healthy brain (your brain is mainly made of fat and cholesterol, BTW) 6) Proper nerve signaling 7) Strong immune system Not only does saturated fat have the above health benefits, but saturated fat from sources such as meat, eggs, butter and coconut oil helps you gain muscle. If you didn't have saturated fat in your diet, then your body will have a hard time manufacturing hormones such as testosterone, the singular reason why men have more muscle than women as a whole. BUT... before you go out scarfing down bacon cheeseburgers, you have to understand that eating saturated fat is only half the story. What the blog post...

  Q:  Hello, I'm following the 20 pull-ups training program and am training pull-ups Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  Is it safe to do other biceps exercises on Monday and Friday? Or should I leave out any other biceps exercises? I did 4 sets of curls yesterday, and it didn't seem to hurt. I did them about half an hour after the pull-ups and did squats in between. -CS My Answer: It shouldn't be a problem. In general when you do a specialization program, you'll need to put all other body parts on maintenance mode. So if you're doing a specialization program for pull-ups, then you have to scale back on your sets for body parts other than the back and biceps. That means 3-4 sets each for chest, delts, quads, hamstrings, calves and triceps during the pull-up program.