Strength and Physique

Q: I was in the army for 8 years and was convinced to go into bodybuilding by some friends, since I had the wide shoulders and small waist look already. I really enjoyed it and made great strides, but once I got married and left the army, that all ended, heh. I went from 6'1" a ripped 225 lbs. to about 275 flabby ones over the last 12 years. A few months ago, I decided I was tired of getting old and fat (instead of just old), so the wife and I joined a new gym in our small town here in Maryland. I have altered my diet, use an online site to keep track of nutrition and my exercise logs as well.  I looked around on Bodybuilding.com a bit, read up and started back into the weight game with a basic powerlifting scheme of 3 days a week, 3-4 compound lifts per day with a 5x5 scheme. Just to try to gain back some lost strength, and start making some lean mass gains. Did that for a few weeks and found you, read a lot of the articles on the blog, and on other sites, and dove...

Q:  Hello! My name is Lauris! I am 18 years old. I've been training in the gym for about 1 year, so I am pretty much a novice, I suppose. I have plans for the summer to really train my strength, so I started to search some strength workouts. Then I read your article on Bodybuilding.com: The Complete Strength Athlete. I think it's a very cool routine! But I was wondering: maybe you have something very similar to this routine, but just for 3 days a week. I think 4 days a week can be bit too heavy for me, I don't really know. Or maybe you can do some adjustments and send me the routine? :) Thanks for your help! - Lauris P. My Answer:  No Lauris, I will not send you an adjusted routine. That's why I wrote an article so that people can read it, learn from it, use it and adjust it to fit their own individual needs. I appreciate questions and comments from readers, but it'd be very time consuming to send everyone a  free program . If you want to adjust  The Complete ...

Q:  I have been reading your blog, and I am really impressed. But I am looking for concise information on losing weight and gaining muscle. I hope you can provide the right direction. I am 5'4", and I weigh about 212 lbs. I am really not sure where to start. I have been taking karate for the last 2 months. I have lost about 8 pounds, and I really like it. I want to lose 40 lbs. of weight and gain muscle. Which of your books should I buy, and which training program should I follow? Thanks, William My Answer: As far as which of my books would be best for you, I'd recommend The Articles or Neo-Classical Bodybuilding . Both volumes have a chapter on strength training for fat loss. You might also want to go to the bookstore and pick up the June-July 2010 issue of Planet Muscle. I have an article on "Four Dietary Strategies" that will point you in the right direction as far as eating.

Q:  I've been doing your hypertrophy for ectomorphs for about 2 months now and I've noticed that I am not gaining much mass on my pectoralis minors. Also, my bench press weight has gone down from being able to do 4 sets of 8 of 165 lbs to not being able to get 3 of 175 lb on my set of 6 in the hypertrophy workout. What do you think I'm doing wrong? - Trevor A. My Answer: Hard to say what's going on unless I'm looking at your training log and looking at your numbers. Question is were you ever able to do 6 reps of 175 lbs? When you progress from 10 to 8 to 6 reps, the increase in poundages should be small. 2.5 to 5 pounds. Ten pound jumps would be too much, especially if you're nearing your 6RM. Bottom line is you've been on the program for too long (2 months) and need to switch to a 5x5 program. Your upper pecs are not getting much growth, because you've been doing the flat bench press for 2 months. Switch to a 20 degree dumbbell bench pre...

Q:  I've currently being doing a strength program to get my numbers higher up and build more of a foundation. I want to start doing the Shotgun Method again, but I have a quick question about exercise selection.  Is it necessary to change up the exercises each time I work out? Or should I keep using what works until it just stops yielding results? I've been following programs for the past 3 months that required you to use the same exercises each workout, and I made significant gains.  Just wondering if it's necessary to change specific exercises regularly or not.  Thanks!  -Craig   My Answer: You don't have to change exercises every time you work out. It really depends on your goal. If you are looking to fully maximize muscular hypertrophy, then it's best to rotate through different exercises throughout the week.  If your goal is strength, however, then sticking to the same exercises from workout to workout is better. The Shotgun Meth...

Q:  I love your book Neo-Classical Bodybuilding , although I'm still early on in the routine. I have a question concerning the Insulin/T Workout on page 32. The Arms Superset specifies "lying dumbbell curls to seated dumbbell curls (12-15 total reps)." Do you mean to say lying curls OR seated curls, or is this a compound technique in which you sit up and then curl? Let me know! For now I'm just going to do a seated curl and then the diamond push ups. Thank you! Nico My Answer: Yes it is a compound set where you perform 7 reps of lying dumbbell curls and then immediately sit up and do another 7 reps of seated dumbbell curls with the same weight. Seven is the target number, but if you can perform more reps on either exercise, then keep going. With compound sets you want to minimize any rest in-between exercises. To do this, you can use the same weight but move your body position to alter the force curve. So a pair of dumbbells might feel somewhat heavy ...

Hey James, I am trying to cut down on my body fat. I have tried Atkins and Keto diets. I even did some fasting, and they make me feel a little crazy. Is this normal? What diet would you recommend and why? I don't even care if I lose a little muscle mass, I just don't want to lose any strength. - M. Volkman My Answer: Well I have written about how ketogenic diets can make you a little crazy and a little on edge. It depends on the person. Fasting can make you loopy too, which is one reason why religions use it to make its members psychologically malleable. If you find that you just can't take ketogenic diets or fasting, then you're going to have to rely on lowering your calories instead of restricting certain macronutrients or foods. Go to Fitday.com and open up a free account. Start logging in your food intake and note the calories. Strive to lower the calories from day to day. Start cutting down portions. No servings of anything larger than a fistful, wit...