Less Time Equals Better Results?

July 30, 2007

Why is it that almost everyone you see working out in the gym does high volume bodypart splits? Today is Monday and in just about every gym in America that means it’s chest day. Tomorrow is back, Thursday is legs and Friday is arms…or something like that, I guess.

Why the lack of variety or rational thought? What is the need for all that training volume?

You need to understand that most forms of training have just been passed down for decades from one generation to the next, without the inclusion of rational thought. Sometime in the 60’s, sensible training programs started becoming less and less prevalent with the rapidly growing usage of anabolic steroids.

In the days of old, men like Steve Reeves and Paul Anderson trained with far more sensible, lower volume programs but these started to disappear during the 60’s. By the time Arnold got to Gold’s Gym in Venice for the first time, high volume, bodypart splits were the widely accepted way for everyone to train for size and strength.

This type of training is not based on deductive reasoning but just on the fact that “it’s what everyone else is doing.” The proponents of these training methods will always blindly tell you that “higher volume training is needed for hypertrophy gains.” Says who? I can tell you for a fact that the University of Chicago isn’t wasting time examining the effects of Jay Cutler’s marathon workouts. There are no studies saying that you need 8-12 sets per bodypart to grow. In fact there are studies that show the opposite; that one set is just as effective as three.

The proponents of this type of training will also tell you that higher volume training is associated with higher levels of growth hormone secretion. What they don’t tell you is that the level of GH increase is not enough to make any difference at all. In fact, almost anything you do elevates GH. Extreme temperatures elevate GH but my biceps don’t get bigger every time I take a shower. The increased GH secretion from training is so minimal that it is not enough to make the slightest difference whatsoever.

For the drug free lifter who does not possess muscle building genetics quite up to par with the Austrian Oak, training this way is a huge mistake. Not only does it drain your amino acid pool and glycogen stores but it dramatically enhances your recovery time between workouts. If you do 8-12 sets for chest on Monday you can not recover from that workout and be able to train again for seven days. So you are only getting one growth stimulus per week or fifty two per year. Now if you reduce your volume to the point where you can recover faster and more efficiently without draining your amino acid pool and glycogen stores so greatly, you can train bodyparts twice per week instead of once. Now instead of 52 growth stimulating workouts per year for each bodypart, you can now do 104. In fact, if your volume is kept low you can even get away with training bodyparts three times a week in certain situations. Now, which do you think will be more effective; 156 growth stimulating workouts per year or 52?

To train more often you absolutely have to lower your training volume. The total sets per workout should be kept low and the total sets per exercise should be even lower. There is no need to hit four sets of incline presses, flat bench presses and decline presses for your chest workout. Doing that is a form of neuroses; you think that you need to hit every angle and do and endless amount of sets to stimulate every last muscle fiber, but this is simply not the case.

The reason these training programs remain popular is because nobody wants to be told that they are wrong. Admitting your mistakes is something many people can’t do. It is why when something radically different is proposed, the high volume proponents get upset and offended. Nobody likes to have their ego bruised so they keep on doing and promoting the same old high volume workouts that they always have.

That’s fine, let them continue to do what they choose; personally I have way more important things to do than spend all of my waking hours in the gym. If I can get better results in a fraction of the time I will choose that option every time.

Cut your volume down, up your weights and intensity and get ready for the “what are you on” questions to start rolling in.

For fast muscle building workouts ==> MuscleGainingSecrets.com.

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A Sad Loss

July 27, 2007

The strength and conditioning community lost one of it’s brightest stars yesterday. Jesse Marunde, the runner up in 2005’s World’s Strongest Man Contest and a perennial top contender, died yesterday at the age of 27 years old.

A very sad loss…

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Q&A Time

July 27, 2007

Question: Jay, I figured you would have some good advice on these questions. First of all, my buddy does the eliptical machine for cardio. Isn’t that a little gay for a man to be doing? I mean, isn’t any kind of cardio in the gym a little gay? Is it ever acceptable to wear old school sweat pants to train in? What about wind pants? Just wanted to get your thoughts on these subjects. Thanks buddy.
Marty T

Answer: Marty, the eliptical machine is unacceptable for a man to ever be seen on. In fact, I would tend to agree with you that any in the gym cardio work is highly questionable for those who whish to keep their manhood status. You and I both know that men drag sleds and push The Prowler or their car for cardio. Sprints are also acceptable. Using the Stair Climber while watching Rikki Lake, or whatever people watch these days, is not.

Old school sweat pants? I wouldn’t recommend it. Wind pants? Absolutely never.

I like the way you think, stay in touch, my friend.
JF
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Question: Jason, I train three days a week and compete in a serious baseball summer league. I also surf and play a lot of recreational sports on a regular basis. What would be the optimal way to set up my workouts for this schedule?
Kent Waters

Answer: Kent, I would stick with just one lower body day in the summer if you are doing that much other physical activity. Do upper body on Mondays and Fridays and one lower body day on Wednesday. Since you are running and jumping and doing other sporting activities so frequently I wouldn’t worry about including any speed/ Dynamic Effort work in your program right now. Just hit a heavy lower body lift once a week and fill in the rest of that day with some glute hams, reverse hypers, back extensions, trap work, abs, calves or grip. Something along those lines would work. On the upper body days hit a few sets of pushing and pulling and maybe some arms at the end. After all it’s summer and everyone wants bigger arms.

Glad to see you are not letting training limit the amount of playing you do. That is a huge mistake that way too many people make.
Enjoy the rest of your summer.
JF
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Question: I recently purchased the Muscle Gaining Secrets package and must say that it is great. Thanks for putting together so much useful information into one great package.

I have been lifting for about 1 year and am about to start the phases laid out in Maximum Mass. Before I start eating like crazy I was wanting to lean out a little bit first by losing some fat. (Currently about 12-13% bodyfat.)

My question is whether or not you would alter the programs laid out in Maximum Mass and take a different training approach for a fat loss phase, or if you would prescribe that I should just follow the programs the same way for fat loss or muscle gain and just alter my dietary approach and/or cardio. I guess I’m just curious as to whether you weight train differently for fat loss than you do for muscle gain.

Any insight would be great. Thanks in advance.

-Ron

Answer: Ron, you are right at the cutoff point for bulking up. I think you could do the workouts in Maximum Mass and just hit three cardio sessions per week and keep the diet real clean and you’ll be fine. As you gain muscle, you will get leaner.

As for real specifics on fat loss workouts, there are several changes I would make if losing a ton of fat in a very short time was your goal. But that would take an entire article or even a book to explain.

If you really want to hit the fat loss hard I recommend either Turbulence Training by Craig Ballantyne or AfterBurn by Alwyn Cosgrove.

Good luck and thanks for the kind words.
JF
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Question: Hi Jason and team,

hope my email finds you well. Thanks a lot for answering my last question so thoroughly! Therefore here is my next one:

Jason, from your experience training so many diverse people what do you personally consider strong, or more precise, when do you consider an athlete or a “normal gainer” as strong?

Do you have yardsticks in regard to weights used in the main basic exercises and maybe in relation to bodyweight?

I’m fully aware that every athlete is different with his own strengths and weaknesses and that he/she should mainly concentrate on personal improvements. But as a “lonesome cellar dweller” without a training partner to compete against in the weight room I find such milestone very motivating.

As I know that you are busy training athletes and do not have time to answer question individually I hope my inquiry is interesting enough for other readers that you kindly comment on it in a future blog.

Thanks a lot in advance!

Thomas

Answer: Thomas, I still think the old school measuring stick of the 3/4/5 club that they used to use back in the old days is a good initial goal for most beginners to shoot for during their first few years of training. This means a 300lb bench press, 400lb squat and 500lb deadlift. Writers in the 70’s such as John McCallum used to talk about achieving this goal as your first big milestone in training. Within five years of training, just about everyone, if they train and eat properly, can reach these numbers. 99% of the people you see training in public gyms will never come close to these numbers, in fact it’s rare to see someone squat 315, never mind 405.

Aside from the 3/4/5 club I think you should also be able to do ten perfect, chest to the bar chin ups, at least twenty dips, standing military press at least 185 and hold a plank for at least two minutes to be considered strong; not superhumanly strong by any means, but strong. If you can do all of that you will be far stronger than at least 90% of the people in the world who lift weights on a regular basis.

If you add 100lbs to each of those lifts and a 45lb weight to the chins and dips for the same amount of reps, then you are extremely strong.
JF
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The Hard Way

July 26, 2007

Before we get to training I have to mention the fact that I saw The White Stripes play at the worlds most famous arena, Madison Square Garden Tuesday night. I knew this going into the show but after seeing him rip the guitar for two hours straight with hardly a five minute break, I can honestly say that Jack White is one of the most talented men in music today. If you get the chance to see them in your area I highly recommend it. Seeing just two people on stage making all that noise is truly a sight to see. Amazing…
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If you are like me you have made plenty of mistakes in life and have had to learn the hard way. Training has been do different. My good buddy Craig Ballantyne asked me aboot (Canadian for about) this recently. Check it out…

CB: Jason, you’ve been studying training for many years now. What valuable lessons have you learned the hard way?

JF: Wow, great question Craig. I’ve learned more lessons the hard way than I care to remember. I don’t even know where to begin but here are a few off the top of my head:

Low carb diets suck for gaining muscle - No matter what anyone may tell you, you need carbs to grow, there is no way around it. I took some bad advice years ago and tried desperately to gain size on a no carb diet and I got nowhere. I had even tried this approach with clients and they experienced similar results. As soon as I brought the carbs back, I started growing again as did all of my clients. Sure there are different levels of insulin sensitivity and some people tolerate carbs better than others but the bottom line is you need some carbs to grow.

This may only be 100 grams per day on non training days and 250 grams on training days or it may be 300 grams on off days and 600 grams on training days. That is highly individual and is something you need to experiment with to find out what works best for you. I will say this though, the fatter you are the less carbs you can tolerate. If you are above 15% bodyfat you need to be very careful with carb consumption and need to limit the times you eat carbs to post workout and breakfast.

Less is more – This is something else that I learned the hard way. In my late teens and early twenties I overtrained myself into the ground on a regular basis. When in doubt, always do less. 10-16 sets, three to four days per week is plenty for most people to get great results. If you can’t get results with this amount of training you are either training like a complete pansy or just not eating or sleeping enough. But more training is not the answer.

You need some kind of energy system work (“cardio”) to get extremely lean - As my good friend Alwyn Cosgrove has pointed out on more than one occasion; there is often an overreaction to concepts or ideas in our industry. Several years back the anti cardio movement came to the forefront and told us all that no one needed any energy system work whatsoever to get lean. Diet and proper weight training would be enough to get the job done. Being some one who hates the word cardio and loves lifting heavy, this was all I needed to hear. I jumped on the bandwagon like so many others but later realized that it was simply impossible to get really ripped without any engergy system work whatsoever.

Cardio also has a host of health benefits which should never be avoided by anyone concerned with living past 40. On top of that doing some cardio lets you eat more while still maintaining a healthy bodyfat percentage.

You have to listen to your body - Sometimes when you are scheduled for a heavy squat day and you walk in feeling like you just got hit by a bus and then had your girlfriend dump you while you were peeling yourself off the pavement, you have to back off. Either do something else that day, go lighter or go home. Pushing yourself is a necessity to achieve optimal results but sometimes you have to know when to back off. This is not an excuse to train like a p u s s y; I’m just saying that once in a while (and this should not happen very often) you need to listen when your body tells you to back off. This is something else that I learned the hard way and have some injuries to show for it.
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To avoid making these or a host of any other mistakes in your quest for more size and strength, check out MuscleGainingSecrets.com.

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How to Run Faster and Jump Higher

July 24, 2007

Walter%20Payton How to Run Faster and Jump Higher Here’s an interview I did with my buddy Craig Ballantyne back in 2006 that many of you may have missed the first time around:

CB: What do athletes need to work on most?

JF: Most athletes are too weak. I don’t care what sport they play or at what level they are playing at, most athletes, in general, need to get stronger.

I think that if most athletes just focused on properly getting stronger, they would improve their performance and be a lot better off. I am not downplaying the importance of running mechanics, flexibility, agility, change of direction and things of this nature but no one thing is going to help athletes any more than just getting stronger. For this reason strength training has to be the number one priority in most cases.

By improving your strength you will improve your linear and lateral speed, you will improve your vertical jump, you will hit harder and throw further, and you will help to prevent injuries.

CB: How should kids train to get fast?

JF: Well after we have them on a good strength training program, the next thing we need to teach them is basic running mechanics and basically just how to move athletically.

They need to learn how to control their bodies in space and accelerate, decelerate and change directions properly.
People try to get too fancy sometimes and use methods that Charlie Francis would employ with an Olympic sprinter who is going for a world record, when training ten year olds. It need not be this complicated.

Most kids do plenty of plyometrics on a daily basis both in the sports that they play and just due to the fact that they are kids and running and jumping is a big part of a kid’s life. For this reason I don’t think you need to do tons of fancy plyos.

Some basic running, jumping, skipping and change of direction drills coupled with a good strength and flexibility program will improve any kids speed. The problem with many kids is not that they don’t do enough “speed training,” it is that they don’t know how to run properly.

I would spend time teaching proper mechanics and do drills that would reinforce what you teach. For change of direction and the ability to react and think on your feet, nothing beats just marking off a set area and playing tag.
One final thing I should mention is that in all the years I have worked with young kids I have rarely come across teenagers who possess great flexibility or mobility.

A lot of it is due to the fact that they are going through growth spurts when they first start working with me and a lot of it is due to the fact that kids lead a more sedentary life and play way more Nintendo nowadays than they used to. Dynamic flexibility and mobility should be addressed from the beginning with every young athlete.

CB: What are your top lifts for absolute beginner young athletes?

JF: Leg extensions, butt blasters, pec dec flyes and concentration curls. Thanks, I’ll be here all week. Of course I’m kidding.

In all seriousness I would have to go with bodyweight squats, split squats, pushups, chin ups, bodyweight hanging rows aka inverted pullups aka fat man rows, abdominal bridges aka planks, medicine ball throws and things of that nature.
The main thing to remember with young athletes is that whatever you do, it has to be fun.

CB: And for mature young athletes?

JF: For size and strength gains you have to stick with the basics. This would of course be squats, deadlifts, bench presses, military presses, chin ups, rows and cleans. All of those exercises have a number of different variations and can be done in many different ways.

Aside from the basics I think most people would benefit from reverse hypers and glute ham raises. Not everyone can get a hold of the proper equipment but I think every athlete should do some strongman training as well. On top of that list I would put tire flips, farmers walks, rope pulls, car pushes and sled drags.

CB: What are time wasters for young athletes?

JF: Well Craig, I see so many mistakes made in the training of young athletes I don’t even know where to begin.
The old debate never ends about what age kids can start lifting weights at. The truth is they can lift weights at any age. When they are old enough to walk they try to pick up anything they can get their hands on. That box that one year old just picked up off the floor was a max effort deadlift yet I didn’t hear anyone complain or freak out about it. Everyone just thought it was sooo cute.

So if we allow our kids to do MAX EFFORT DEADLIFTS at the age of one then what in the hell is the problem with them doing some dumbbell presses when they are ten?

Before anyone thinks that I am kidding, let me reiterate that when an infant squats down, with a round back no less, and strains to pick something up off the floor this is literally the equivalent of doing a max effort deadlift.

Why then is there the constant concern about kids lifting weights? It makes no sense whatsoever.

Also, anything that is too “sport specific” is a huge waste of time. Specialization for young athletes is a huge waste of time. Kids should be concerned with becoming better overall athletes and worry about becoming better baseball or soccer players a few years down the road.

Recently I had some free time and went to observe a group training class at one of these sport specific facilities. It was the eight to ten year old group and they had the kids working on first step and sprint mechanics like they were going to be facing Michael Johnson in the Olympics this summer. I think that’s definitely overkill.

You need to teach a kid how to move athletically and work on mechanics but you don’t need to get that intense at that young age. It is way too much for a kid that age to think about and will probably do more harm than good. This is a gimmick that is used to sucker parents into thinking that they have found the ultimate “sport specific” training center and that this is the place where their kid will become the next Derek Jeter. In reality it’s just a marketing gimmick.

Please leave your comments below.

Written by jasonferruggia · Filed Under Strength & Conditioning | 3 Comments

Top 10 Mass Building Tips

July 23, 2007

1. Train no more than three to four days per week. Doing so is not only unnecessary but can rapidly lead to over-training, especially if you are doing other physical activities on a regular basis. When in a mass building phase, recovery time is just as important as training time.

2. Train for 30-45 minutes max and do no more than 15-20 total sets per workout; 12-15 is even better in many cases. If you can’t get the job done in that time frame you are half assing it. On top of that, results are greatest when energy and mental focus are high. That is during the first 30 minutes of your workout.

3. Lift heavy and use big, basic compound exercises. Squats, deadlifts, military presses, dips, pushups, rows and chin ups should always be the bread and butter of your training programs. Show me a guy who can deadlift 500 pounds and I will show you a guy with an incredibly well developed back that didn’t require any bent over lateral raises or pullovers. Someone who can military press 225 for reps is going to have big, round shoulders and is never doing to need cable lateral raises. If you can squat 315 for 20 your legs will be jacked and I honestly don’t see what a set of leg extensions could give you on top of the squats. Watch the Worlds Strongest Man Contest on ESPN 2 and tell me if you see massive gaps of missing muscle on any of those guys. Isolation exercises are unnatural and are a waste of your time.

4. Always keep a training journal and constantly try to get stronger and lift heavier weights. Progressive overload is the most basic principle in weight training. Ignore it and you will get nowhere. If you are benching 225 right now, you better be benching at least 275, if not 315 by this time next year if you want to grow. Without keeping detailed records of your workouts you will never know what goals you are trying to beat, unless you have a photographic memory.

5. Utilize a multitude of rep ranges and target all fiber types to maximize the different types of hypertrophy. Reps from 1-15 (and sometimes as high as 20 for lower body and neck) should be used to target both fast twitch and slow twitch fibers. The key point to remember is that even when training with higher reps, the weights must be heavy.

6. Change your mass building program every 4-8 weeks. Your body will eventually adapt to the same stimulus and you need to change things up once in a while if you want to keep growing. Beginners should stick with the same program for eight weeks. If you have been lifting for a few years you will need to change programs every four weeks because you will adapt more rapidly to the same stimulus.

7. Eat like your life depends on it. Force feed yourself if you have to and be sure to time your carbs correctly, meaning around training and at breakfast, while cutting them out at night. Only beginners and some steroid users can gain muscle on a maintenance caloric intake. The rest of us will have to eat inhuman amounts of food to get huge. It’s not always fun or easy but it’s doable. Just commit to it and don’t make any excuses.

8. Sleep 8-10 hours per day and take naps whenever possible. Sleep is when you recover and grow. Deep sleep boosts your growth hormone and testosterone levels and also helps manage your cortisol levels and improve your insulin sensitivity. Without sufficient sleep your results will suffer dramatically.

9. Take active steps to maximize your recovery ability. Take contrast showers or baths after training, stretch, ice, use foam rollers, meditate , eliminate stress and do whatever else you can think of to help you recover faster.

10. Find a good training partner or partners and a good environment to train in. You won’t find this piece of advice in too many people’s mass buidling tips, but it is critically important. Doing this will make all the difference in the world in your progress. When you have someone there to motivate you and to compete against your results will be amplified tremendously.

Want more mass building tips? Visit MuscleGainingSecrets.com now.

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“Raw and uncut. That is how Jay Ferruggia brings it. If you’re looking for another ‘3 sets of 10, eat chicken breasts and yams, how-to-be-a-fitness-model’ program, then forget about getting it from Jay. From his politically-incorrect no-BS eating program, to his workout routines that he’s used with hundreds of athletes, powerlifters, and strongmen, Ferruggia truly is relentless when it comes to putting together the ultimate mass building program. And I’m no armchair quarterback when it comes to Jay’s workout advice. Jay is the coach that finally got me to smarten up and train right. By following his mass building tips, I’m stronger, less tired, less beat up between workouts, and my workouts are of the highest quality. This is the only muscle-building program out there that will give you the results you’ve been after forever, while making you laugh, and firing you up like never before, all at once. Get it, or get left behind again, just like you were last summer.”
-Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Strength Coach, Toronto, Canada
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By the way, Craig Ballantyne just completed his first Phase 1 of Muscle Gaining Secrets workouts and gained 12 pounds of muscle!!! This is a guy who is a world famous fitness expert and has trained for well over a decade! To experience similar results get on over to MuscleGainingSecrets.com now.

Please leave your comments below.

Written by jasonferruggia · Filed Under Muscle Building | 14 Comments

Pre Workout Energy Boosters

July 19, 2007

In the midst of a three day bender, I woke up Sunday morning with an insatiable desire to lift some heavy weights. I looked across the hotel room at my friend Chris who was still in the upright position I saw him in seven hours earlier when I fell asleep. He was somehow still holding the bottle of Heineken in his hand although some of it had spilled on his shorts.

“We gotta go train, bro.”

“What? Are you serious?”

“As a heart attack. Let’s go to breakfast with the bride and groom, eat and drink some coffee and then head to the gym.”

“Sounds good.”

We cleaned up our room and by the lack of any womens underwear on the floor or the smell of latex in the air, we were once again reminded that coming to the wedding without a date and taking a shot with the two single girls there might have been a huge mistake.

Ah well, a good workout will ease the pain of that bad decision.

At breakfast I had a cup of coffee but many times when you are either full or hungover or just not in the mood for it coffee can wreak havoc on your stomach. I had one small cup but knew I needed something extra to get me through this workout and drinking more coffee was only going to make me sick. Luckily I had some Biotest Spike in my car.

Now, as most of you know, I am not a huge fan of supplements but I actually found that I liked Spike. I initially tried it one night at the Jersey shore while going out drinking with Dave Tate, Jim Wendler and Alwyn Cosgrove. After Jim and I finished a pitcher or two of vodka lemonade Dave suggested that I needed some Spike to keep me up all night. Instead of the recommended one tablet, Dave gave me four. Shortly after that Cosgrove bought Jim and I four Red Bull & vodkas. Needless to say I threw up later that night and slept on the couch while Cosgrove snored away comfortably in my bed. I swore I would never touch Spike again.

Several months later I had breakfast with Biotest’s TC Luoma and relayed this story to him. He suggested that maybe next time I should only use ONE instead of FOUR. I took his advice and was pleasantly surprised. When you need a boost Spike is actually a great pre workout supplement and thanks to its help I actually went up ten pounds on floor presses Sunday Morning and had a great workout.

I don’t like to consume caffeine too frequently or develop a reliance on any kind of pre workout supplement but I do use Spike on occasion when I need a boost and would recommend it to anyone looking for the same effect. You can learn more about Spike HERE.

Another great pre workout boost is Joe DeFranco’s “DeFranco Energy Bar.” This is an unbelievably delicious protein bar that contains the potent energy boosting combination of caffeine and tyrosine. When I can’t get to real food and need to train I try to make sure to always have one of these on hand. These are very easily digested and give you a great boost right before a workout. Click HERE to learn more and order yours today.

When you don’t feel like drinking coffee or just want something new, give Spike or the DeFranco Bars a try and let me know what you think. For more info on supplements click HERE now.

Written by jasonferruggia · Filed Under Nutrition | Leave a Comment

Home Gym Setup

July 17, 2007

Question: Coach,

I’m anxious to start your ‘Home Gym Warrior’ program that you have outlined in your Muscle Gaining Secrets package (which is awesome btw). Anyway, since I prefer the home-gym programs due to my schedule, as you might have guessed, I was looking for the most cost-effective solution to having a set of dumbbells on hand.

Currently I have some light dumbbells for warm ups and such (sets of 10s and 15s) and some heavier ones(sets of 30s through 40’s) based on where I’m at in my progression. But, I want to also have some heaver weights as I further progress. But it’s starting to get expensive.

So, I was wondering if I should keep equipping my home-gym this way. Or, get one of those all-in-one adjustable dumbbells. The all-in-one sets seem expensive but I haven’t done the math on whether they are more cost-effective than having a set. Also, are there any drawbacks or inconveniences to using them?

Anyway, any help is greatly appreciated. Your site is awesome and keep keeping it real.

Thanks,
Joe S.

Answer: Joe, first of all, always try to buy dumbbells somewhere locally. The shipping costs will kill you. If you search hard enough you can usually find good deals. Check out ebay and other auction or discount sites. Another option is to be on the lookout for gym auctions. When gyms close down they usually auction off their equipment at very reasonable prices. You can always find used equipment for cheap if you look hard enough.

For your purposes the all in one dumbbell sets (Powerblocks or other like sets) might be your best option. Yes, they are expensive but they save room and the overall cost is probably cheaper. There are really no problems or drawbacks associated with using Powerblocks for any exercises.

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Some Training Info

July 17, 2007

Question: Hi Jason!

I read with great interest the MF Arm Workout Article you wrote -
great stuff!!

I wanted to ask what a person should follow after the 2 month workout
is completed. I’m trying it and really enjoying
it, now on my 3rd week.

Best regards,

Frank Marini (Canada)

Answer: Frank, glad you liked the article and the workout. After the arm specialization program is finished I would switch back to a regular upper/lower or half and half split and back off on the arm training volume for a while. Probably just two or three sets each for bi’s and tri’s for at least the next month.
Jason
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Question: I know you say to “control the eccentric and explode up” but after I complete my first hang clean and press…and the weight is back above my knees — is a quick pause ok or should i simply explode into the next hang clean and press as soon as i’m at the end of my previous press. A long way to ask a simple question.

Also, I just lost 20lbs using Craig B’s Turbulence Training and now am trying to put on some mass in the form of muscle (I’m 22yrs 5′6 140lbs 13% bfat) In this “skinny fat” range, how do I adjust my nutrition vs. the scrawny ectomorph (or do i count as one?) I’ve always been scrawny all my life (5′6″ 113lbs before college) but college helped me pack on some muscle freshman year –> then alcohol and laziness packed on the fat the final 3 years (5′6″ 160 lbs 20% bfat at end)

From what I’ve read in your book, it seems like just eating more, but keeping it clean seems the best route for me. Just lookin for some reinforcement or guidance.

Thanks for an awesome product at an unbelievable price. People will spend hundreds of dollars on random “abs products”, fast food, video games, etc. and are wary of investing a little money in a real program because they aren’t willing to invest themselves into making real change. Glad guys like you, craig, alwyn, etc. are callin people out on it and motivating us to make the true investment.

- Eric L

Answer: Eric, a pause is completely ok on the hang cleans, in fact it is recommended. I would still train and eat for size but just be sure to make clean food choices, time your carbs right and do some cardio to keep fat gain at bay. Eat more on training days and less on off days, which should also be your cardio days. Keep me posted.
Jason
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Question: Hi Jason

Nice work. Had a look at most of your e-books today, been training
now for 12 years. Given me some interesting food for thought. Been
doing something similar for a while now 3-4 years, benching around 360 pound, currently recovering from a knee replacement, 5 weeks in. Have put a fair bit of fat on the frame in the couple months leading up to and after surgery. Ashamed to to say
most likely between 25-20% body fat. Mind you my strength keeps on increasing.

Normally I’d do high intensity cardio to strip the fat back to a
respectable percentage, but I also tend to burn muscle, any training
strategy you could suggest that would avoid this? (I’d like to have
my cake and eat it).

Diet will not be a problem to solve I know what to do in that
area…(besides I now have your e-book on it)

Thanks for the help

yours sincerely

James

Answer: James, since maintaining size and strength, or hopefully increasing them, is your main priority and you had the knee replacement, I would only recommend low intensity cardio for you. This would be walking, either with nothing or while dragging a sled. In fact, mix it up; walk some days without the sled and some days with it. Start with three thirty minute sessions per week and gradually increase this to four 45-60 minute sessions. This should not cut into your strength or size gains at all. In a month assess your progress; if you want more fat loss add in another day of walking or two.

Also be sure to keep the diet as clean as possible.
Jason
**********

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Written by jasonferruggia · Filed Under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment

The Company You Keep

July 13, 2007

533443939 31a21e9055 b The Company You Keep Originally written for Dave Tate & Elite Fitness Systems in 2004

They say you can tell a lot about a person by the company he keeps. If you associate with positive, motivated, driven people it can only rub off on you and make you more successful in anything you do. If your running buddies are nothing but a bunch of degenerates, that pretty much says that you are a degenerate, or will end up one. Like the legendary old school rap group, EPMD once said, “Hang with nine broke brotha’s and you’ll soon be the tenth.” Sometimes in life we outgrow our friends as we age and mature. Yes it’s sad, but it is also a fact of life. In high school and college everyone wants to have fun and live carefree.

Eventually, most of us realize that there comes a time to grow up and get serious. Unfortunately, not everyone finds that same sense of responsibility and that drive to succeed in life. When you have friends that fall into that category, it’s best to cut them loose. While this may seem harsh advice at first, in the long run it will prove to be your best option. You can’t change people no matter how hard you may try, so don’t waste your time. I’ve been down that road a few times, and experience has me taught me that negative or unmotivated people will only bring you down. It usually ends up being more trouble than it’s worth. If you want get to the top in anything you do, you have to surround yourself with like minded people. Training partners should be no different.

Your training partners are a reflection of you much in the same way that friends are. If you want to get bigger, stronger, and faster, you had better surround yourself with people who want to do the same. The amount of hard work that goes into being a superstar athlete or world class lifter is enormous. It requires dedication, discipline, and desire in massive quantities. If the people you train with do not share these same qualities or have the same passion to excel as you do, you must get rid of them immediately. When you show up at the weight room every day ready to bust your ass, your partners had better be ready to do the same. If they are not, they are only doing you a disservice. When your training partners give anything less than their best or fail to display the same undying commitment to excellence as you, they become your enemy. At that point they are holding you back, and you absolutely can not allow that.

When I had the great opportunity to host an Elite Fitness Force Training Seminar in April of this year, my friend Jim Wendler told the audience that (I’m paraphrasing), “It doesn’t matter what kind of training you do, weather it’s HIT or Olympic lifting or Westside or whatever. It doesn’t matter if you are not training with the right people. The people you train with are the most important factor.”

As an athlete who wants to be the best, you should go to the gym with a specific goal in mind for every workout. While some people may be there to socialize or find a date for the weekend, you are there to work hard and take the next step towards greatness. That will be a lot easier to do if you have training partners with the same goals as you. Although it can be done without the help of anyone else, I would heed Jim’s advice and find some one to train with. If I had to describe myself in one word it would be “driven.” I will do whatever it takes to succeed in any aspect of my life. So of course I could train alone, but what why would I want to? No matter how self motivated you think you are, there is something to be said about that alpha male instinct to compete and win. By adding just one or two more competitive people to your training atmosphere your weights will go up automatically. Successful athletes hate to lose, and will do anything to avoid that feeling. Try as you may, you can not create this type of atmosphere by yourself.

The hour or so that you spend at the gym should prepare you for what you will face in a game situation. And that is, first and foremost, competition. You should be fiercely competitive with your training partners and they should, in turn, be out to crush you. Of course, you still want to be supportive of each other, but as strength training guru Louie Simmons once said, “I don’t know these people (his training partners) in here when I’m training. I don’t like these people…I wanna take them out to deep water and drown them…The goal is for you to be the top dog in that workout. I don’t have any room for poodles in my gym, I only want pitbulls.” If your training partners do not share that same pitbull mentality, I suggest you look for some one who does.

A few years ago I was training with my friend and former professional baseball player, Joe Cuervo. We were having a strongman competition one Friday afternoon to finish out our training week. The third or fourth exercise of the day was the keg clean and press. We filled the keg about two thirds of the way up with water, plugged the side tap and got started. The goal was to clean and press it from the ground to straight overhead as many times as possible without stopping. I went first and banged out twenty one straight reps. I knew there was no way Joe was going to beat that and I told him so. I wasn’t thinking at the time that this guy had been told he couldn’t do things for years. They said he was too short to play baseball. They told him that due to the multiple operations he had on each knee, he should stop playing ball as a sophomore in college. He ignored that advice and busted his ass in fulfilling his life long dream of playing professional baseball. Knowing that, I should never have underestimated him. He knocked off the first fifteen reps with relative ease. On number eighteen he lost control of the keg and it came down and split his eyebrow wide open. If he let go of the keg to tend to his wound the contest would have been over and I would have been victorious. Instead he blew the blood out of his eye and, with a surge of unbridled adrenaline, finished the final four reps he needed to beat me plus one more to emphasize his victory. When he put the keg down we cleaned up the blood and took him down the street to the emergency room to get stitches. Thirty minutes later we were back at the gym to finish our workout with a car push contest. That’s the kind of person you want to train with.

In the latest Westside Barbell Club video, Vogelpohl XXX, they show Chuck attempt a box squat and completely miss the lift. He sat down with an insane amount of bar weight and bands and got stapled to the box. In that situation there would usually be two options for most people. Half of the people would lower the weight and try again. The other half would keep the weight and get psyched up for another attempt. Chuck did neither. He instead grabbed two twenty fives and slapped them on each side. On his next attempt he didn’t get just one rep, he got two. And made it look easy! To all the HIT jedi’s (as they like to call themselves) out there, that is what you call intensity. That, my friends is the kind of person you want to train with.

Where you train is just as important as whom you train with. Most public “fitness centers” will not cut it. Gyms like these are a great place to get a pump and meet girls, but are usually not conducive to serious, hardcore training. The “fern and chrome palaces,” as the great author John McCallum used to call most commercial gyms, are not where you want to be if you have a choice. Find a small hole in the wall place with some character and good equipment. You don’t need a place that has forty six different leg curl machines. A squat rack and a good glute ham bench will do a lot more for your strength and speed development. Westside Barbell Club is the strongest gym in the world and has absolutely no fancy machinery, neon lights, or juice bars in its less than two thousand square feet of space. What they do have is attitude. And an entire gym full of intensely motivated lifters who would do anything humanly possible to lift heavier weights.

One final note about public gyms is that it usually isn’t wise to attempt a one rep max with Britneys latest abomination of a Rolling Stones classic or anything of the sort playing on the gym stereo system. In fact, I believe there are several studies which have proven that pop music can decrease neural output and overall strength by as much as thirty seven percent. To avoid this, either bring headphones, or find a gym that plays Slayer.

Now that you know where you should be training and what kind of people you should be training with, you must ask yourself the following questions, “What are my training partners doing for me? Are they helping me reach my goals? Do they motivate and inspire me? Do they show up on time ready to go to war each and every day?” If the answer to any or all of those questions is no, then you had damn sure better find some new training partners. Remember, you can tell a lot about a person by the company he keeps.

Written by jasonferruggia · Filed Under Motivation, Muscle Building, Strength & Conditioning | Leave a Comment

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