Compound Exercise Overload is a technique I recently heard about through Nick Nilsson's Newsletter. While I have different goals than Nick, I respect him for being a trail blazer and thinking outside the box. I subscribe to a bunch of fitness newsletters to see who actually delivers solid info, and so far I'm pleased with the info I've received from Nick. Good stuff! In this post I want to discuss one of his muscle growth techniques in more detail. Nick calls it "compound exercise overload". I haven't tried it yet, but it looks to me like it would work extremely well.

[I wish I would have known about this technique when I started out. I struggled with the bench press for quite a few years and this would have helped me avoid lengthy sticking points.]

The Story of "Bear" – The King of Our College Gym!
[ Click Here to Continue Reading ]

So I am going to to talk about a study that questions a lot of what you will read online regarding gaining strength and muscle. It was conducted a couple of years ago, but you won't hear it being mentioned on most mainstream sites. This flies in the face of a lot of fitness programs. My point for bringing it up is to start a discussion on the findings. I will give you my take on this, but my hope is that others will chime in in the comment section.

[What if things like heavy weight vs low weight and high reps vs low reps didn't make a difference? What if "effort" was the only variable that mattered in gaining muscle?]

First, I Will Reveal the Study…
[ Click Here to Continue Reading ]

Okay, so today I was doing some research online and my goal was to do another article on working the upper chest. This was inspired by an excellent post over on John Romaniello's blog. John put up an outstanding post about 3 creative exercises to work the heck out of your upper pecs (click to read that article). I was going to add in my 2 cents and expand upon this article, but something else happened. John mentioned that one of his friends, Bret Contreras, did EMG testing for various chest exercises to find out which exercises targeted parts of the chest best. The results were surprising!

[I went to see Iron Man 2 this past weekend with my girlfriend and saw the previews for the A-Team. Bradley Cooper plays "Face" and it looks like he got in pretty darn good shape for that role. I have a feeling people are going to ask how to get in the Bradley Cooper look in the near future. Anyway, all the characters look cast well and I'm excited for this movie.]

I Went Over to the Dark Side to Find This Research
[ Click Here to Continue Reading ]

Yes, I just used a terrible joke as the title of this post. I wanted to discuss a bit about building size in the arms, but couldn't get myself to write a "how to" title. Let's discuss what it takes to build bigger arms. Despite what many would suggest, I believe beginners need to mix in isolation work to get the most "arm building power" out of the heavier compound movements.

[Insert your bad "Tickets to the Gun Show" joke here.]

Bench Presses Build Triceps and Chin Ups Build Biceps?
[ Click Here to Continue Reading ]

I felt the need to discuss muscle recovery here, because I think many people get this part wrong in their training. Many magazine and sites would have you believe that the more experienced you are, the better your levels of recovery. That is true to an extent but as a trainee gets stronger, the training stress increases as well. In fact, the closer you get to your genetic potential the tougher and heavier you must lift to see a change in strength (or muscle size if you are trying to increase muscle mass). Advanced lifters have a much greater need to cycle intensity than beginners. A beginner can gain strength each and every workout, with less time in between sessions.

[I always appreciate good photos even if they don't relate to the topic. 2010 has just begun and I think this will be know as the decade of neon! Old retro 80's stuff is coming back big which means neon is going to make a comeback. Back in the mid-to-late 80's black lights were very common place...great for making your teeth look white...bad if you forgot to use a lint roller.]

Advanced Trainees Need Bigger "Stresses" to the Body
[ Click Here to Continue Reading ]

Two guys gain the same amount of muscle over a 6 month period of time. Both guys are exactly 6'3", 190 pounds and both are at the exact same body fat level. They both put on 6 pounds of muscle in 6 months, yet one guy looks outstanding and the other looks almost visibly the same as he did 6 months earlier. How can this be? How can two guys be at the same low body fat level and put on the same amount of muscle and look drastically different?

[Here is an outstanding example of muscle density. Notice how this athlete has compact, dense and an angular look to his muscles? This is much different that the typical rounded puffy bodybuilding look. This angular compact look is much more impressive than big and bulky.]

Gaining Muscle "Where You Want it" Matters Most
[ Click Here to Continue Reading ]

What if half of what you have been told about building muscle mass is completely wrong? You see, building muscle is almost 100% about training and has very little to do with nutrition. The main thing that nutrition affects is gaining or losing body fat. The mainstream fitness publications would have you believe that you can eat your way to quick muscle gains. This simply is not the case. John Barban has created an exclusive video for the readers of this site, that you guys have to see!

[I like to look at ancient Greek and Roman statues as ideal proportions to shoot for. Although centuries have gone by, the proportions of these statues are still considered optimum by most of the population.]

A Favor From a Supplement Developer and Industry Expert
[ Click Here to Continue Reading ]