muscle

If your gains won't budge despite your best efforts, you may be making one of the four biggest muscle-building blunders. Fix them and grow. Here's what you need to know... Your gains will stagnate if you only weight train within the same rep ranges and loading patterns. Alternate by using more...

Gain an inch on your biceps while building a rock-solid upper body with simple chin-up progressions. Chin-Ups for Pure Muscle Growth There are two problems with most chin-up programs: They're usually designed to help you increase the number of chins you can do, not increase muscle mass. While...

Metcon For Health, Leanness, and Muscle You don't need hours of cardio to keep your heart healthy and your body lean. Here are the best ways to do loaded metabolic conditioning. Metabolic conditioning 25 (metcon) won’t just make you healthier. It’ll allow you to recover faster between sets and...

by Christian Thibaudeau Here's what you need to know about this tricky gene and its variants. The ACTN3 gene is in large part responsible for the type of muscle tissue that you have. Not only the muscle fiber dominance, but also the various qualities of the tissue itself – how well it handles...

Hardgainers, Freaks, and You Are you a hardgainer, a freak, or one of the other 5 types of muscle gainers? Find out here and learn how to lift if you're not gifted. There are seven different kinds of muscle gainers. The term “hardgainer” describes someone who has a poor genetic response to...

If you love to lift hard, then train every other day to make the most gains. Here's why and how to plan it. To maximize strength or muscle growth, get more awesome workouts than below-average workouts. Seems logical, right? Yet most lifters believe a bad workout is better than no workout. Their...

Plus How Natural Bodybuilders Should Train Nothing wrecks natural lifters faster than training like steroid users. Here are the scientific reasons why, plus how to train instead. Steroid Users and You If you're a drug-free lifter, it's highly likely that you've been duped steroid users. They...

It's the most important key to muscle growth. And it'll fry your CNS and lead to injury. Wait, which is it? A little of both. Here's why. You’ve heard that before in bodybuilding circles. Is it true or just a macho catchphrase? Let’s explore it. This idea refers to pushing a set to the point...

Lower reps or higher reps? It depends on the fiber dominance of the muscle in question. Check out this handy guide. When it comes to isolation work, not all muscles respond best to the same type of stimulation. Fiber dominance matters. The hamstrings for instance are notorious for being more...

The Pleiotropic Health Supplement Studies show this substance has incredible effects on health, in addition to building muscle and increasing testosterone. It just needs to be unlocked. Most of the drugs in a doctor's arsenal are "mono-targeted" – they attack disease through just one biochemical...

Fatty Acids for Muscle, Strength, and Endurance A legal performance enhancer that's actually healthy? Yes. You may even be using it already, but probably not enough. Here's the science. The term "ergogenic aid" has gotten a bad rap. What's the first thing you think of when you hear it? Banned...

A Natty-or-Not Question Think it's impossible to get huge without also getting super strong? Think again. Muscle size isn't always an indication of someone's strength. Some lifters are big and strong. Some lifters are small and strong. Other lifters are big and, for their size, not so strong...

If you don't manage inflammation properly, you'll never make any gains. Here's how to make this bogeyman bend to your will. Inflammation is fast becoming the bogeyman of the muscle-building world. In fact, it may even overtake cortisol as the frontrunner of known muscle killers. Is this...

Why Are Those Guys Bigger Than Me? Some guys build muscle easily. Others struggle. Here's why and what to do about it. You lift hard, eat right, and keep up with all the latest training info. You do everything to build muscle, but it's a slow slog. Frustratingly, some of your gym buddies don't...

Whether you’re on the playing field or in the house, the occasional bump, bruise, sprain or pang is inevitable. These injuries may be sudden or the result of overuse and gradual wear and tear. Fortunately, less severe aches and pains may not require professional medical attention. In fact, many...

The Casein Trick Stimulate more protein synthesis while you sleep. Just do this 30 minutes before hitting the sack. We've learned a lot about protein recently. We now know that consuming 40 grams 27 after lifting results in more muscle protein synthesis than 20 grams. We know protein is the...

3 Strategies to Train Through Shoulder Pain Live with an icepack on your shoulder? These tactics for training through and around injuries (while also rehabbing) are mandatory. Shoulder injuries are common, but there's no need to miss workouts or forge ahead despite the pain. Here are three...

How to Keep Getting Stronger Plenty of programs can help you get strong. The optimal plan depends on what's limiting you the most. Here are the three factors to consider. What’s the Best Way to Get Strong? If your main goal is to get strong, you’re probably a little confused right now. There are...

Build Your Biceps, Not Your Belly Here are 10 strategies to help you do what was once thought to be impossible: growing muscle without growing your belly. Building muscle without getting fat isn't complicated, but many lifters search endlessly for the best new method or secret. The truth is...

Effort vs. Volume vs. Load: What's the best way to build muscle? Effort, load, or volume-based training? Here's what you need to know. Note: I examined effort-based hypertrophy training 610 in Part 1 of this series. In the next installment, we’ll look at load-based training. But first, let’s dig...