Experts say the Olympic lifts are awesome. Most trainees would certainly agree, thanks in part to the scores of articles written about the effectiveness of Olympic lifts at increasing explosiveness. However, not many lifters are using them for the primary purpose of improving their physiques. This is a mistake, and as you’ll see, costing them  Continue Reading »

Let’s not call it a revolution yet, but if the ’70s were the era of Arnold (double splits, high volume) and the ’90s were the years of Yates (high intensity, low frequency), then this decade may be remembered as the age of Doggcrapp. Try to ignore the name for now; instead, consider the fact that  Continue Reading »

HYPOTHESIS Periodization refers to the systematic changing of workout variables every few weeks (i.e., weight, reps, sets, rest, exercises) to prevent plateaus in strength and muscle gains. A “newer” style of periodization — undulating periodization, which involves changing variables every workout — has exercise scientists very excited. Most exercise scientists think this is an innovative  Continue Reading »

The following six meals have one thing in common: They’re perfect. They’re flawless. They’re clean as can be, and they’re ideal because they help you build muscle (provided you’re hitting the gym devotedly), burn fat and promote overall stellar health. And, conveniently, they account for a full day’s worth of great eating. Not sure what  Continue Reading »

“The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor. It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up.” – Vince Lombardi

If you want to build a better body you absolutely need at least a basic understanding of all the amino acids, both essential and non-essential, since they are involved in so many physiological processes ranging from energy production, recovery, muscular hypertrophy, fat loss and gains in strength. Here we’ve teamed up with Myprotein.com to take  Continue Reading »

Hypertrophy-Specific Training™ arose out of the research looking at both the stimuli and mechanisms for muscle cell hypertrophy. Hypertrophy-Specific Training (HST) is based on physiological principles of hypertrophy first discovered in the laboratory.   These principles were then organized into a “method” of mechanically loading the muscle to induce hypertrophy. Of course, translating these principles  Continue Reading »

Nighttime isn’t the only time casein protein can help build muscle. Bodybuilders have known for years that whey is a fast-digesting protein ideal for postworkout recovery. Some are also taking hydrolyzed whey protein, which is absorbed faster than standard whey because it is “predigested,” a process that breaks the long protein chains down into short  Continue Reading »

A common fat burning strategy employed by bodybuilders, athletes, and fitness enthusiasts is to perform cardiovascular exercise early in the morning on an empty stomach. This strategy was popularized by Bill Phillips in his book, ‘‘Body for Life’’ (23). According to Phillips, performing 20 minutes of intense aerobic exercise after an overnight fast has greater  Continue Reading »