The late “Iron Guru,” Vince Gironda once said that 80% of building muscle is nutrition. While I don’t agree with that exact percentage, I will say that what you eat is just as important as how you train, if not more so, when you are trying to gain muscle. Many skinny guys often complain that they can’t eat enough or that they aren’t hungry. Other skinny guys come to the gym and tell me that they are eating a ton and wonder why they can’t gain weight. continue reading.

Today we are going to discuss how to improve on chin ups. Chin ups are one of the best overall muscle and strength building exercises around. The problem is that many beginners can’t do a single rep and many intermediate trainees can not seem to progress on them no matter what they do. One very simple solution is to get a big rubber band and loop it around the bar to assist you, as shown in the accompanying video. Start with a strong enough band that allows you to do 5 reps. When… continue reading.

Many people live in constant fear that too much cardio will cause them to lose muscular size and strength. Therefore they just decide to spend their lives fat, out of shape and unhealthy. They’d rather have one foot in the grave at all times than walk around any smaller or weaker. Growing up a skinny maggot I certainly understand this fear as it dominated many years of my life. These fears are not unfounded as too much cardio will, indeed, eat away muscle tissue and cause strength losses. But that’s traditional, steady state, outdated lame-o cardio done on a machine. continue reading.

Question: If you train four days a week using an upper/lower split, what is the optimal way to schedule the days? Should I do lower body first followed by an upper-body day, or vice versa? Does it matter? Answer: The traditional way of answering this question is that you should train whatever needs the greatest attention earlier in the week. Sometimes I follow these guidelines and sometimes I don’t. In most cases, I actually prefer to do an upper-body day first, followed by a… continue reading.

Question: I am a little confused about how to set up my conditioning workouts and what the guidelines and parameters should be. Could you help me out with that? Answer: Ok, when discussing conditioning the first thing that needs to be asked is what is your primary training goal at the moment? If it is to get huge and strong, then conditioning must be limited and can not interfere with your main workouts. If you… continue reading.

A plant based diet is obviously far healthier than a meat based diet. And it’s easy to get absolutely ripped while following a plant based diet. Unless, of course, you eat like a lot of uneducated vegetarians. Just removing meat and dairy from your diet doesn’t make you any healthier if you are still eating excessive amounts of junk food. Eating more fruits and vegetables does. My colleague, John Alvino has just created an entire set of plant based meal plans… continue reading.

— Ever since I first brought up the countless benefits of switching to a plant based diet nearly two years ago a lot of people have started making smarter nutrition choices. The problem, however is that not all foods are what they appear to be, and everything that goes into making them isn’t always listed on the label. To help clear up some of the confusion I have enlisted the help of my colleague, nutrition and fat loss expert, John Alvino. John has designed an incredible list of plant based meal plans that you can see… continue reading.

By Henry Rollins I believe that the definition of definition is reinvention. To not be like you parents. To not be like your friends. To be yourself. Completely. When I was young I had no sense of myself. All I was, was a product of all the fear and humiliation I suffered. Fear of my parents. The humiliation of teachers calling me “garbage can” and telling me I’d be mowing lawns for a living. And the very real terror of my fellow students. I was threatened and beaten up for the… continue reading.

It has often been said that you can’t lose fat and gain muscle simultaneously. That statement is actually incorrect. Beginners can do it. Even guys who have been training for a long time who make drastic changes to their diet and their workout programs can do it. You can’t do it for extended periods of time, but it can be done. For example, if you are currently doing traditional steady state cardio, switch to sprints. Sprints have an anabolic effect and do not produce cortisol… continue reading.

In a dream come true I was able to spend my Valentine’s Day at home with my girlfriend eating an amazing dinner, and dessert consisting of homemade chocolate coconut pudding (made with the best protein powder on the market) while watching NBA All Star Saturday Night. Now that’s my kind of Valentine’s Day. I text messaged a few friends and told them to enjoy their price fixed dinners with the crappy holiday menu and that they could catch the highlights on Sports Center in the morning. I used to never miss this event but… continue reading.

Ever since I first discussed the importance of “the power look” and how important it is to earn respect and separate you from the pencil necks, I am repeatedly asked about how to build big traps. The best trap building exercise is the deadlift. One need look no further than the massive trap development of elite powerliters to see how effective this exercise is at building these intimidating muscles. Pussyfooting around with light weights will never get the job done. You need to deadlift heavy weights (with picture perfect form) for sets of 3-6 reps. A good goal for most… continue reading.

By Alwyn Cosgrove I presented on Real World Fat Loss at the 2007 Perform Better event in Rhode Island and the 2008 NSCA conference. As part of my presentation I talked about my “story” – why I became fascinated with fat loss and effective fat loss training — and the need to destroy the myths that surround the topic — and why it keeps me up at night scouring journals for new information. I believe that behind every person who is trying to change something — or present something new… continue reading.

Question: I have a question about how to build big calves. Mine are like string beans and I can’t get them to grow. Got any good suggestions? Answer: Whenever people ask me how to build big calves, I immediately check their training volume. High volume works best for calves. They are probably the hardest muscle to build, and if you chose the wrong parents getting them to grow is gonna be a bitch. continue reading.

Although the majority of people continue to rely on exercises like sit ups and crunches when it comes to training the abdominals, research has proven that these movements place excessive loads on the lower back, leading to a lot of pain for a lot of people. Repeated, loaded spinal flexion is one of the leading causes for disc herniation. In fact, the traditional old school, slow speed sit up has been shown to place 730 pounds of compression on the spine! Other commonly used ab exercises place over 1,000 pounds of compression on the spine!… continue reading.