Strength and Physique

Q:  Thanks James, the list of exercises looks great. Just one question on calf training though: you don’t include Donkey Calf Raises in your list. On his website , Larry Scott offers a purposely designed machine for performing them without a partner. What are your thoughts on this exercise? Regards, Barry H. My Answer: Donkey calf raises are a great exercise, but I would have to disagree with most bodybuilding enthusiasts that the donkey calf raise is the best calf exercise. First let's tackle the machine Larry Scott created. I've never run across a gym that has this machine, so I can't tell you how effective it is in developing the calves. I did, however, try to simulate this machine by using: 1) a low pulley machine attached to 2) a weight belt 3) over a calf block and 4) bench All I can say I was not impressed with the feel of the exercise, especially given all the trouble of set-up. The reason why you can't approximate the donkey calf raise th...

My name is Jake. I live in Sydney, Australia. I have loved health and fitness all my life and recently have become excited about weight training and building muscle. I am 172 cm and 55kg. I am looking to add about 10kg of lean muscle mass to my physique. There is so much information on the internet about 'THE BEST WAY' to build muscle, it is all just so confusing and overwhelming. I would LOVE to hear from you the best way to gain muscle through quality nutrition, supplementation and recovery. I hope you have a good week ahead of you, and I would really value your advice and guidance. Thank you. Kind regards, Jake My Answer: Jake, that is way too much to cover in a single blog post. You're asking many people on the net, so you will get a ton of answers to pick and choose from. So I will keep my answer short and to the point. - If you want to have impressive muscular size, then you'll need to up the calories and protein. What I suggest is to follow the Zig...

Hello, I’m a 34 (soon to be 35) year old looking to gain muscle and weight. Although I eat a lot, (at least I think I do) I’ve been at 145-150 lbs for as long as I can remember. I saw your article on Bodybuilding.com and would like to give it a try. My only question with the pyramid program is: Do I change the weight for each rep? In other words, do I lift the weight 10 times with a certain weight and then 8 times with another weight, and so on and so forth? Or, do I find a weight that I can lift 15 times and do all sets with that weight? Any help would be appreciated. - M. Palacios My Answer: Yes, adjust the weight according to the repetitions. Adjust the weight so that you come close to failure at each target rep.

Charles Poliquin talks about why you store fat in certain places and how it is an indicator of your hormonal profile.

The other day my one year old daughter and I were at Border's bookstore. We were in the children's section, and I was, like a lot of parents with toddlers, looking for something to entertain my precocious baby girl. She crawled around the store floor for a bit and then crawled right up to a young woman sitting on one of the tiny kids' chairs. My daughter propped herself up beside this young woman and then babbled something to get her attention. "Oh hello!" she said. The woman had a pile of books by her side, and she was skimming through a book titled something to the effect of "the big book of exercises for women." I asked her, "You looking to work a particular muscle group?" She related that she was simply looking for something different, something new to learn. She told me she was a fitness competitor with a classic case of exercise A.D.D. She said that she gets bored easily and is always looking for new exercises or training ...

Q: I saw one of your articles on Bodybuilding.com. I am also a police officer. My department currently has an opening for Wellness Coordinator. I hope to fill the position. I would like to bring something new to our department. Right now, I feel the physical training is below par. I am looking for ways to best train recruits. I have researched a lot of programs online, but I feel the same way you do, that the past and present training regimens are not beneficial to new officers. Can you recommend any books and/or websites? Your help is much appreciated. My Answer: Books... books... oh, I don't know... MY books might be good. Seriously though, my books are good for recreational bodybuilders: guys just looking to get bigger, stronger and ripped. So the info in these books is not geared specifically for law enforcement, but more for men in general. Now when you conduct the strength training of academy classes, you're always going to be limited by the equipment and...

Q: I have been doing the Ectomorph Pyramid training for 4 weeks now. Your advice is to switch to the 5x5 workout. Will switching to different rep ranges hinder my muscle with respect to muscle fibers? What I mean is, do these two workouts work different types of muscle fiber? On a side note, to hit your Type 2B fibers, do you have to do explosive movements? I am assuming that the pyramid and 5x5 training work the same fibers, 2A. Thanks for your work, Joe My Answer: The programs will work two different sets of muscle fiber. The Hypertrophy Training for the Ectomorph program will work the 2A fibers, while the 5x5 program will work the 2B fibers. I wouldn't worry about working 2 different fiber types. It will not hinder your muscle gains. Regardless of the fiber type and rep range, always perform the reps explosively (unless a program specifically states otherwise). Fast repetitions recruit more muscle fiber than slow repetitions.