The question, “What’s best workout for building strength and muscle?” has been the subject of heated debates for years.? My answer is always the same.? There is no one workout that is the best.? There is no one workout that works for all.? However, there are training principles that do apply to everybody.

Anatomically and physiologically we are identical.? A bicep is a bicep and has the exact same function from person to person.? An aorta is an aorta.? Our anatomical structures may have different shapes and sizes, but they all function the same.? This holds true for all tissues in our bodies from blood to hormones.? If this weren’t true medicine could not exist.? How could an anesthesiologist do his job if everybody were different?

Therefore, in order to get bigger, stronger muscles the same stimulus is needed.? That stimulus is short, intense training sessions.? Why short?? Because we have known for centuries the body can either train long or train hard.? A perfect example is to compare distance runners to sprinters.? Because of the types of training, one is emaciated looking and one is muscular.? Remember you can not sprint a mile.? Is it difficult to run a mile, yes?? But it is essentially impossible to run a mile with 100% intensity.

The other factor one needs to take into consideration for building bigger, stronger muscles is recovery.? How much or how often can you train?? Or better yet, how much “should” you train?? Here is where the differences in genetics lie.? Our muscles need the exact same stimulus in order to cause a chain of events that forces them to adapt by making bigger stronger muscles.? However, the rate at which we are able to recover from these intense bouts is as different as the shapes and sizes of our bodies.

So what are you to do?? If you’re training using the typical muscle building routine, which is 3 or more working sets per exercise and 4 or more sessions a week, and not getting anywhere, change it.? First, reduce your sets per exercise by half and only train each body part once a week.? If you still don’t make gains or you plateau after a short while, reduce your sets again.? Remember, if you’re training with 100% intensity and you’re not making gains, you’re not recovering.

More is only better when it comes to sex and money.????????

Is the barbell squat the end all be all when it comes to aquiring bigger, stronger legs, NO?? As a matter of fact, it’s not even neccesary.? And anyone who says it is, hasn’t a clue.? It is imperative, however, that you train with 100% intensity, which is true for developing any body part.?

If you’re looking for a great exercise to give barbell squats a break, or just looking to add a new dimension to your rutine, try single leg squats.

If you?re a hard gainer, you?ve likely tried all kinds of workouts trying to add size to your frame. But as Men?s Fitness.com points out, your problem probably lies somewhere in between working out too much and not eating enough.

MF.com highlights three exercises to do for all hard gainers, as well as some dieting tips to help pack on the muscle.

WORKOUT
Perform these exercises three days per week, resting at least a day between sessions. Vary the sets and reps, too. On Day 1, complete five sets of five reps for each lift, resting two minutes between sets. On Day 3, do four sets of 10, resting 90 seconds. On Day 5, do three sets of 15 reps with 60?90 seconds’ rest in between.

1.Squat
Set up a barbell on the supports of a squat rack. Step underneath the bar, squeeze your shoulder blades together, and let the bar touch your upper traps. Grab the bar with your hands as close together as is comfortable. Nudge the bar off the rack, take three steps backward, and stand with your feet a bit wider than shoulder-width apart and toes turned slightly outward [1]. Take a deep breath and bend your hips back as far as you can, keeping the arch in your lower back. Then bend your knees and lower your body as far as you can (try to squat to where your thighs are at least parallel to the floor) [2]. Explode back upward to the starting position. That’s one rep.

2. Clean and Press
Set a barbell on the floor, crouch down, and grab it with hands shoulder-width apart. Your lower back should be in its natural arch [1]. Explosively stand up and shrug the bar, coming up onto the balls of your feet. As the bar rises to chest level, flip your wrists over so that your palms face the ceiling and your upper arms are in the bottom position of a shoulder press [2]. From here, press the bar straight overhead [3]. Reverse the motion to return the weight to the floor. That’s one rep. If you feel your back is rounding when you pull the weight off the floor, perform the exercise by starting with the bar at just above knee height, and “muscle” the weight up from there.

3. Pullup
Grab a pullup bar with an overhand grip, hands outside shoulder width. Allow your body to hang [1]. Pull yourself up until your chin is over the bar [2], and then lower yourself back to the starting position. That’s one rep. Depending on how many reps you need to do, you can add weight using a belt or holding a dumbbell between your feet (you may need to do this on the five sets of five day). You can also use an elastic exercise band to help you perform more reps (such as on the 10- and 15-rep workout days). You can get a jump stretch band that works great for this at elitefts.com.

Check out MF.com?s tips for eating for more muscle.

Q: Mike,
I was told to do dumbbell flys on an incline bench (35-40 degrees). wrong? better? worse?

A: Better? No. Different? Yes.
As the angel of the incline starts to go beyond 30% the only difference is the degree to which the deltoids are used. And while we’re on the subject of angled benches, don’t even bother with decline bench. It is a myth that it stimulates the bottom portion of the pec muscles more than the flat bench.

Also, if you’re performing different angles to change the shape of your pecs, it’s not going to happen. Your shape is genetically predetermined. Train with 100% intensity and stick with the basics.

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