Massive muscle growth...a Cold War defection and a Romanian scientist with a cool sounding name. What could be more impressive and appealing that German Body Composition Training? Popularised in the US at the turn of the twenty first century GBC training has floated around the fitness industry between those who praise it as revolutionary and those... Continue Reading →
Guest Post: The Science of Building Muscle: Principles that Withstood the Test of Time
For more than a century, the art and science of muscle building has been evolving and gaining popularity around the world. From the very early days and the pioneers of bodybuilding like Eugene Sandow and his predecessor, Ludwig Durlacher, all the way to the golden era of bodybuilding and the modern giants – this is... Continue Reading →
Do you really understand ‘The Message?’, Hardgainer Magazine, 42 (1996)
During the past twelve months or so that I've been writing for HARDGAINER, I've received hundreds of letters and phone calls with various comments and many questions. After receiving all this input, one thing has become very clear to me – you're reading the information in HARDGAINER, but many of you are failing to get... Continue Reading →
FAQ, ‘Complete Muscle Building Course’ (c. 1970s)
This booklet will not only help you, the average man to become many times stronger than you are at present, but will give you the inside knowledge and information required for developing a body of dynamic muscular proportions. Let’s start off by dispelling a few misconceptions generally held of bodybuilding. Where muscle building is concerned... Continue Reading →
‘Basic Split Training’, Animal Owner’s Manual (New Jersey, 2010), 14
Take it from the pros, splitting is the way go. Full-body training, provided that the intensity is high and the routine is good, can produce some amazing results, but splitting lets you get more from less: more results from a shorter period of time spent in the gym. If you had to train all your... Continue Reading →
Eugen Sandow on Heavy Weightlifting
A point previously discussed on this website was the regularity with which early physical culturists promoted light weight training as opposed to heavy lifting. The reasons for this are numerous. In the first instance, light weightlifting is easier to promote to the general public than heavy weightlifting. It requires less equipment, can be done in... Continue Reading →
Chris Dickerson’s Training Philosophy (1981)
It's difficult to elaborate on my bodybuilding philosophy. Bodybuilding has become such an integral part of my life that it's almost impossible for me to identify where the bodybuilding stops and the rest of my life starts. I think it's important initially to understand that bodybuilding is my life, and it has been my life... Continue Reading →
The History of Kaatsu Training
"Wrap a band around your bicep until it begins to go numb, then pump out 30 reps with a light weight... Trust me, the pump is worth it." These are not the words of an enlightened man but rather my first experience of Kaatsu or Blood Restriction Training. Brought to my attention by a training... Continue Reading →
Peary Rader, ‘SPECIALIZING ON ONE EXERCISE FOR MAXIMUM GAINS’, THE RADER MASTER BODYBUILDER AND WEIGHT GAINING SYSTEM (1946)
It is sometimes desirable to specialize on one lift or exercise to the exclusion of all others. The reason for this is that you can direct all your energies and effort in one direction. This will enable you to make much faster progress and reach greater heights of strength and development than if you spread... Continue Reading →
Mike Mentzer’s Heavy Duty Training in Action
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcMOG0ECqDU Previously on this website, we have discussed the heavy duty training protocols of men like Mike Mentzer and Arthur Jones. The 'high intensity training' of Jones, Mentzer and Dorian Yates is perhaps the least understood style of training to grace the lifting world. Critics cite a lack of volume, incomplete workouts and too much... Continue Reading →