I've long been a fan of supplementation, especially in my earliest days of lifting weights in an effort to grow like the bodybuilders in Muscle and Fitness and FLEX magazines which I subscribed to and read with regularity. Sure, I was naive, but let's face it, the magazines weren't forthright in their presentation and never …
Reversing the AMRAP
I've decided to give the SBS Hypertrophy program a run. My ability to stick to anyone's program including my own is suspect, so I make no claims at this stage, but I've been considering it for some time which could bode well for a successful attempt. I'm doing it for several reasons: I like, trust …
Don’t Go Slow Joe
Of the many fitness, strength and hypertrophy voices I've listened to, read and followed over the years, Dr. Eric Helms stands head and shoulders above the rest. Since I abhor unsupported opinions, I will provide robust evidence to support mine. First, he has the educational credentials to establish himself as an expert in his field. …
Body Re-composition: The Holy Grail
Body Recomp; i.e. adding muscle and losing fat simultaneously, is often called the Holy Grail of bodybuilding, because like the Grail, neither probably exist. However, multiple studies have shown that gaining muscle while losing fat happens all the time. By how much varies by the individual, with folks newer to weight training with a lot …
Do I have to get stronger to grow?
This is a concept that was so ingrained in my mind since the first time I picked up a barbell that it never even occurred to me that it could be incorrect: You must add weight to the bar to continue to grow. In my earliest days of training, I recall making ridiculous attempts at …
Refuting MRV for Hypertrophy-Fun with Math
In my continued obsession over refuting Dr. Mike Israetel's untested hypothesis for the Maximum Recoverable Volume for hypertrophy, and his resulting recommendation that one should use volume increases as the primary programming variable for improving hypertrophy outcomes, I will demonstrate, using evidence, logic, reason and math, the obvious flaws in his guesswork. In Dr. Mike's …
Continue reading "Refuting MRV for Hypertrophy-Fun with Math"
Maximum Recoverable Volume for Hypertrophy?
Let's start with what we've established to a reasonable degree of certainty. Muscular hypertrophy is a biochemical reaction by the body to an application of mechanical tension to muscle fibers that cause the fibers to distort and deform. The size principle indicates that the body will recruit muscle fibers to produce the force needed to …
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The Squat
For the first time since March 6, 2020,I got under the bar and completed sets of High Bar Squats. As I mentioned in my last post about strength loss, I was most concerned about Squats and Front Squats because training those movements with body weight and resistance bands is just not the same. True enough, …
Backing it Off
Sometimes I hear something or read something that clicks in my brain, making me consider something I probably should have known anyway, but since we live in our brains, justifying and rationalizing the way we think and the choices we make, it occasionally requires an outside voice to break into the inner monologue. I was …
The Elusive Perfect Split
There is no perfect exercise. The Squat is often held up as the ultimate leg developer, sometimes nicknamed the King of Exercises. It is a great lift, but it does not develop the hamstrings and one of the four quad muscles is basically asleep during the Squat as it is the only one of the …

