Many people live in constant fear that too much cardio will cause them to lose muscular size and strength. Their fears are not unfounded; too much cardio will, indeed, eat away muscle tissue and cause strength losses. There are a few types of cardio, however that will actually do the opposite. Instead of cardio that just burns fat or just improves your cardiovascular system or, worse yet, does neither of those but just causes muscle loss, there is actually such a thing as muscle building cardio.

Unfortunately most people don’t do it. They waste all their time on the stair climber or eliptical machine when they could actually be doing something that will burn fat and build muscle at the same time.

My favorite types of muscle building cardio are sprints, hill sprints, sled sprints and Prowler sprints. These workouts should be be performed in the following manner:

– Warm up thoroughly.

– Sprint for 5-20 seconds straight as hard and as fast as you can.

– Rest for 1-3 minutes or as long as needed to catch your breath, bring your heart rate down a bit, and prevent yourself from throwing up.

– Repeat for 15-20 minutes… …continue reading.

Question: Just how big of a role do genetics play in the muscle building process? Are some people doomed from the word go, or is this nothing but a lame excuse?

Answer: Genetics definitely play a role in how big you can eventually get. Some guys can get absolutely jacked by eating three meals per day and doing a few sets of pushups and chin ups. These guys can also do workouts that would overtrain most of us into the ground and grow from them. This doesn’t mean you should compare yourself to them or do what they do. Some people succeed in spite of what they do. Great genetics let you get away with subpar training and a less than optimal diet.

But the fact of the matter is that these guys are few and far between. Most of us don’t have that luxury and will have to do everything right in our muscle building workouts and with our diets to gain serious amounts of mass. This fact is not to be used as an excuse for your failures and shortcomings, however. Everyone, and I mean everyone, can gain at least fifty pounds of muscle from the… …continue reading.

Last night I was at the gym doing deadlifts. I had planned on doing two sets but I went a little heavier than I should have on my first set. As I stripped a plate off each side to prepare for my back off set I felt a twinge in my back while bending over. I stood up and tried to stretch out but it didn’t help much.

“Whatever,” I thought. I have had this happen a hundred times and have always plowed through it. I put the plates back and tightened up the collars.

When I finished writing in my training journal I dropped my pen and bent over to pick it up. Again my back felt like something wasn’t quite right. In the past I would have ignored these signs and would have tried to be tough and work through it.

This time was different though. I thought long and hard and concluded that I didn’t feel like getting injured again or at least being a little messed up for a few days.

So I skipped the set and unloaded the bar. I can’t tell you the last time I made such a smart decision in the… …continue reading.

I enjoy all of your advice. Still, this “live to fight another day” piece came at just the right time. I too was deadlifting. With 495 on the bar and a plan to get a few at 585 I felt a twinge. Lucky I had checked my email earlier today. Your course is already helping me to put on more size with less time in the gym than I’ve experienced in a decade, so, there was no way I wasn’t going to listen to this tidbit. I decided to put away the fangs, ratchet back down and move on to chin-ups. Not a doubt in my mind it was the right thing to do. Nor do I doubt I would have gone the other way if you had not interjected. Tomorrow instead of cursing myself, I look forward to some cardio. (not really but I’m going to do it anyway ; )

Thanks,
Lonny MacDougall
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Jason,
I can’t tell you how helpful this would have been had I thought about this last week. I appreciate your newsletters and benefit from their guidance and suggestions. I love the kettlebells myself!

A brief history of my lifting career…I started… …continue reading.

What is the single most important thing you can do at the gym to ensure that you will continually get bigger and stronger?

It’s very simple. The most important thing you can do each and every single time you go to the gym is try to set a PR (personal record) on every lift you do. That’s it. What this means is that you should always be trying do either do more reps with the same weight (within reason, any sets above 12 on most upper body exercises and 15-20 reps on lower body exercises will do nothing to stimulate muscle growth) or more weight for the same number of reps. Doing the same thing that you have done in a previous workout will do absolutely nothing to help you get bigger and stronger. The first time you apply a new stress to the body it will adapt by building itself up bigger and stronger. But when it faces that exact same stress again the next time, it will be prepared for it and thus will not adapt again. This is why you have to go up in either weight or reps and try to set a new PR.… …continue reading.

When you are stuck with a certain weight on a certain exercise but are progressing across the board with the rest of your program there are a few things you can do.

Sometimes making five pound weight jumps is too much for most people. The problem, however is that you have no other choice. Most gyms only carry 2.5 pound plates which amount to a five pound increase when you put one on each side of the bar. With dumbbells it’s even worse because they go up in five pound increments which amount to ten pounds total. The way around this is to invest in some 1.25 pound plates and some Plate Mates. If you search the internet you can some sites that carry 1.25 pound plates or even one pound plates. These are great for adding to the bar in order to make small, consistent gains, week after week. Plate Mates are weighted magnets that come in 1.25 and 5/8 pound increments. They can be stuck on the end of dumbbells to allow for smaller increases from week to week. I highly recommend that you invest in both of these if you are interested in making continual progress and… …continue reading.