Strength and Physique

Hi James, I was wondering, do you offer email training? I basically wanted some broad guidance on training strategies and to ask specific questions now and again. Cheers Steve P.S. Your arm blast routine from Bodybuilding.com that you pointed me to is phenomenal. Maybe it's just the pump, but I'm measuring 16 inches compared to 15 inches before - after just 2 trainings! My Answer: Glad you like the program, Steve. With regards to online training, I've answered this question before . My main issue with online training is that my time is rather limited at the moment. If I were to do online training, then I'd want to make sure you get very detailed programs and training advice. This blog takes some time and effort already, so if I were to train you and others online, then I'd be giving you more pertinent information, more knowledge. Online clients would subscribe to a private YouTube Channel to view exercise demos (private subscription channels have a max of 20 subscr...

Q: Have you seen/heard about the book "Body By Science"? It claims the best workout is a once a week, full body workout that includes ~5 exercises performed one set each to failure. -Sam A. My Answer: The book's written by John Little and Doug McGuff. I haven't read the book, but I've been in the Iron Game long enough to know John Little is a disciple of Mike Mentzer who was a disciple of Arthur Jones. A full body workout once a week consisting of one set to failure for each exercise smacks of High Intensity Training (HIT). HIT is fine as a decompression phase, but as a program to consistently follow indefinitely? NO. Your body will hit a plateau, and then eventually you lose muscle mass. HIT fanatics point to Dorian Yates and Mike Mentzer as bodybuilders who've built their muscle mass on the HIT training philosophy, but we can see from the wide variety of training styles (from the ultra high volume of Tom Platz to low volume HIT) that you can...

Hello James, I am briefly writing to you in regards to your post-exhaustion training example that you have provided in a Bodybuilding.com article. The example you have given is a two day workout: one upper body and one lower. My question to you is: what is the weekly routine like for this workout? For example, would it be best to perform day 1 and day 2 and then take one day off and after the day off perform days 1 and 2 again? Thank You, Corey My Answer: Yep, that's perfectly fine. Two days on, one day off. The other option if you want your weekends free is 2 days on, 1 day off, 2 days on, 2 days off. The 2 days off being Saturday and Sunday.

Q:  I've been training for strength and bulk for about 2 years now, with results that I am happy with. You've kindly answered my questions a long time ago, and now I need your help (again!)... Today my work mates and I have embarked on a silly competition. We measured biceps today and in 3 months we will award "the winner" - the person who makes the biggest percentage gain. My colleagues are 10 people and are all starting from somewhere in the range 12-13.5 inches. I am starting at 15 inches and weigh 100 kg (220 in your language?). I know that doing this is silly... however for a while now I have felt (strangely enough) that my biceps are my weakest point, and I so wouldn't mind giving them a good blast over the next 12 weeks. I tend to do short trainings (40 minutes) in my lunch hour Monday to Friday. I figure to hit the biceps heavy and hard, twice a week, in between training other body parts. I wonder if this is a good approach, and if I could try any parti...

I don't know why I never ordered Tactics & Strategies . Your other two books are great. I've been on a 5X5 kick lately, so I'm hoping I can learn how to diversify the workouts while still focusing on maintaining and gaining strength. Sticking to your principles to the letter has helped me improve immensely.  When I started lifting over two years ago I was 125 pounds and now I'm over 170. At one point when I was drinking a gallon of milk a day I was over 185. What I'm trying to say is that reading your books helped me understand what I needed to do to gain [muscle]. My dedication plus your expertise really worked out well for me.  I also wanted to say congratulations on becoming a father, and I hope you have a happy and healthy family!  Best,  Mike   My Answer: That's awesome dude! Going from 125 to 170 is a major feat. I'm proud of ya. It's funny that I've been doing my blog and articles for awhile, and I recognize the names of readers wh...

Q:  I read your hard gainer workout article with the 10-8-6-15 recommendation. I increase the weight each time (decrease for the 15). This is a good idea, isn't it? How else will I push my body to get stronger if I don't increase the weight? Tell me what you think. OR should I keep the 10 and 8 rep sets the same weight from workout to workout but push myself on the 6 rep one? Then eventually increase the 10 and 8? I want to try to increase weight every workout, so I don't plateau. I am a hard gainer and want to get big with solid muscle.  Thank you, Dan   My Answer: I thought pyramid training was pretty clear, but I guess I need to keep reiterating this. Yes, increase the weight from set to set (with the exception of the 4th set of 15 reps, where you decrease the weight). Increase the weight slightly every workout. Q: "Thanks a million for your article Hypertrophy Training for the Ectomorph ! And for your book , which I enjoyed. I'm a typical ecto...