Vital Stats

Name: Abby Huot
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Education: St. Mary’s University of Minnesota (2004)
Occupation: Athlete, writer, fitness model, bikini/figure competitor

Everybody, including celebrity athletes, has secrets. No, I’m not referring to scandalous dirt or shocking rumors about people in the fitness industry! (Let’s leave that to reality TV, shall we?) I’m talking about a hidden cache of secrets which athletes keep hush-hush about how they look the way they do, where their strength comes from, or the secret sauce to their training.

Ever wonder about the close-kept training or eating methods of your favorite athletes and fitness models? Top athletes may hold these tips—which take years of crafting and honing—near and dear to their hearts, but Cellucor’s ripped warriors peel back the curtain a little to let you peek into their methods for top physical and mental performance. (Just promise that you won’t share a single word or a piano may mysteriously fall out of the sky.)

Heed the words of elite athletes Karina Baymiller, Colton Leonard, Jen Jewell, and Craig Capurso. Their secrets can make you stronger.

Karina Baymiller
Her Secret

I secretly enjoy conditioning! If you know anything about me, you know that I love lifting heavy more than anything, but what you don’t know is that I love conditioning work just as much.

I talk a lot of crap about cardio, and it’s true, you wouldn’t catch me dead on an elliptical or doing low-intensity, steady-state. But when it comes to cardio work that gets my heart pumping like crazy, I’m obsessed. Maybe it’s the adrenaline junkie in me, but I can’t get enough of sprints, barbell complexes, jump rope, plyometrics, kettlebell work, and even some short distance (2-3 mile) running.

I do conditioning work 2-3 times per week and give it major credit for helping me stay in shape all year long … Just don’t tell anyone! Winky face.

I secretly enjoy conditioning! I talk a lot of crap about cardio, but when it comes to cardio work that gets my heart pumping like crazy, I’m obsessed.

Colton Leonard
His Secret

My secret? Use heavy weight and high reps to challenge your mental and physical strength, and take your training to the next level. One thing I have always incorporated as part of my strength program is repetition workouts. In strongman, not only do you need to possess the power to perform a lift at maximum intensity, but you often find that you need to do so repeatedly.

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For instance, we don’t just load an Atlas stone; we have to load them either for maximum reps under time, or, at minimum, a five-stone series. You often find deadlift events in strongman, which also require you to perform a maximum number of reps under time. These events led me to start incorporating this type of lifting into my training.

Several times each month, I pick a lift or movement commonly found in competition. After warming up, I complete one all-out set with as many reps as possible. This type of training not only contributes to overall strength, size, and conditioning, but will test your mental fortitude as you approach failure and your body starts to scream for you to stop.

Here’s the real trick: 2-3 times each month, pick a major movement, set the weight at approximately 70-75 percent of your max and, after properly warming up, perform one set of as many repetitions as you safely can in 60-90 seconds. Choose from these exercises to test your guts: deadlift, squat, clean and press, or T-bar row.

Write down your max reps and test yourself again down the road to track your progress. If this set does not leave you crawling away in pain and agony, you weren’t trying hard enough!

Jen Jewell
Her Secret

Of all the fitness tips, diet tricks, and booty-sculpting workouts out there, my ultimate fitness secret is simple: Stop comparing yourself to others! Instead, constantly work on becoming your fittest and healthiest self. I always say that I’m a work in progress, en route to becoming my best self. Having adopted that mindset has been incredibly beneficial to my health, outlook, and self-confidence over the past couple of years.

Sure, at first glance, it’s easier said than done. With the onslaught of bikini-clad or underwear “selfies” that have seemingly taken over fitness social media, the physiques of others are right in your face when you log on to Facebook, Instagram, and so on. (It’s a bikini booty free-for-all on my Facebook newsfeed!) While some of these posts from fit individuals can be inspiring and motivating, these types of updates are not always that simple.

Seeing others’ progress, cellulite-free legs and buns, and solid six-pack abs can begin to take a toll on your own self-esteem. Inevitably, they compel you to constantly compare yourself to others and how your progress or fitness stacks up against theirs.

The moment I stopped comparing myself to others and focused on my own journey was pretty darn liberating. Charting your own progress from day one—whatever level of fitness your day one may be—and using that as your measuring stick can be extremely motivating. We are all in the gym working hard to set new personal records. Why not maintain that mindset when it comes to progress in your physique, as well?

Admire the physiques and hard work of your favorite “fitspos,” but always keep in mind that the reflection in the mirror is your real competition. Be in competition with yourself, striving to become better each and every day. That is the true secret!

Craig Capurso
His Secret

When I’m trying to manipulate water for shoots, I take full advantage of infrared saunas. An infrared sauna is an effective tool for detoxifying the body and an aid for shedding excess subcutaneous water, yet few people utilize it. While traditional saunas help with water loss, the added benefit of infrared light penetrates the body tissue to help excrete toxins and bring out your musculature.

This has been a trick that I’ve used to come dialed into photo shoots and contests for years. It really makes a difference!

Infrared light penetrates the body tissue to help excrete toxins and bring out
your musculature.

The Secret Is Out

Embrace the valuable information that contributes to these athletes’ success and see how it could fit into your own life and goals. Have you got a secret method few people know about? Tell us in the comments below … unless you’d rather keep it secret.

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Saturday’s cheat meal is still four long workouts away. Are you keeping it clean in the meantime? Despite having a legendary appetite, Arnold also knew that being the best in required world-class dietary discipline. Here’s how his training partner Ed Corney remembers eating with him:

“He wanted to get better and I wanted to get better, so we trained, we dieted. The diet was really funny. We would order a hamburger steak and get the napkins and pat the top to get the grease off. At home we would have tuna with eggs whites mashed up. No other food in the house, because then you can’t get to it,” Corney told Bodybuilding.com in 2007.

Ed Corney hands Arnold some much-needed protein. The lifting partners were careful about what foods they kept in their home.

Read that again and ask yourself: What’s in your house? You know you need fuel to grow, and plenty of it. But is there a stash of junk food calling to you from another room? If so, maybe it’s time to do some spring cleaning.

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Half a lifetime before the bros of “Jersey Shore” began preaching “GTL”—that is, “gym, tan, laundry”—as the signs of a day well-spent, Arnold Schwarzenegger and his Gold’s Gym brethren were using similar principles to take the sport of bodybuilding by storm.

Joe Weider was famously fond of calling bodybuilders “lazy bastards” during these years. But, make no mistake: Arnold’s daily ritual wasn’t some walk on the beach. It took hard work, incredible discipline, and it just happened to be exactly what he loved to do.

In late 2012, Arnold took Bodybuilding.com on a tour of his old stomping grounds and gave us an idea of how he structured the perfect day to build the perfect body.

Early Wake-up:

For most young men, simply having a regimented approach to work, training, and nutrition is a tall enough order. But, doing the dishes and making the bed? Who’s got time for that—especially in the morning? Arnold did. In 1969, he and his new roommate Franco Columbu embraced the project of putting their whole lives in order, starting with their bachelor pad.

“Our place was immaculate,” Arnold writes in his autobiography “Total Recall.” “We vacuumed regularly; the dishes were always done, with nothing piling up; and the bed was always made, military-style. We were both into the discipline of getting up in the morning and straightening up before you leave the house. The more you do it, the more automatic it becomes, and the less effort it takes. Our apartment was always way cleaner than anyone else’s I went to, men or women.”

It’s easy to chalk up this attention to detail as the idiosyncrasies of a fastidious military-trained Austrian, but for Arnold, it was part and parcel of his training. He has always insisted that one of the great virtues of bodybuilding is that “it is a good way of introducing more discipline and control in the rest of your life.”

7 AM:

When preparing for a contest or undertaking an intense training cycle like the type in Bodybuilding.com’s Arnold Blueprint program, Arnold often split his training into two daily sessions. The first almost always took place at an early hour when Gold’s Gym was inhabited by a far less famous clientele.

“When Franco [Columbu] and I got to the gym at 7 a.m. we would frequently see lawyers, accountants, teachers, and others with a full work schedule just finishing their training and hitting the showers before going to their jobs,” Arnold wrote in “The Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding.” “This showed a lot of dedication on their part, but it’s this kind of dedication that yields the best results.”

“In the minds of many gym regulars, Gold’s wasn’t officially open for business until Arnold arrived.”

The discipline these early mornings enforced was only one benefit. Another, Arnold has said, is that his best workouts almost always seemed to take place in the morning. His enthusiasm was infectious, too. In the minds of many gym regulars, Gold’s wasn’t officially open for business until Arnold arrived.

“When he got there, the place lit up. Now it was time to train,” said Ed Corney, one of Arnold’s training partners, in an interview with Bodybuilding.com in 2007. “He brought that with him. You’re upstairs changing into your clothes, and you can’t wait to get out there and right into the mainstream of top training.”

After Sunrise:

Indoor tanning has been around in various forms since the early 20th century; lying on the beach getting cooked liked bacon has been around far longer. But neither option cut it for Arnold, for the simple reason that they were a recipe for what he told us was “a tan that sucked.”

“Sometimes when [people] lie in the sun, they look like they got tanned in the front and tanned in the back, but they’re not tanned around down beneath the arms and everywhere,” Arnold told us on tour. The answer to building a competition-worthy tan was to stroll the approximately half a mile from Gold’s Gym down Ocean Front Walk to Venice’s famed Muscle Beach and train outdoors.

“‘The advantage was that when you did your chin-ups, your presses, your curls, you got the tan everywhere. Then we would run over to the ocean, jump in the waves, get the salt water all over, and again, get tan all around.’”

“It was a little smaller in the days when I worked out,” Arnold said of Muscle Beach, “but the advantage was that when you did your chin-ups, your presses, your curls, you got the tan everywhere. Then we would run over to the ocean, jump in the waves, get the salt water all over, and again, get tan all around.”

Lunch:

Before moving to California, Arnold has said, his approach to nutrition was simply eat big, get big. But once he realized that sheer bulk wasn’t going to be enough to take the step from Mr. Universe to Mr. Olympia, he and Franco became devoted students of diet and nutrition, ingesting multiple small protein-rich meals throughout the day. “Three meals a day is good,” he wrote in “The Encyclopedia,” “[but] four meals a day is better.”

But don’t take this to mean they forgot how to eat for satisfaction. Franco recalled in his book “The Bodybuilder’s Nutrition Book” that the pair always saved extra room for the meal that followed a hard training session. “After leaving the gym, we ate a great lunch with complete enjoyment, knowing that vitamins and minerals are helpful only when the body is stimulated by hard training,” he writes.

Arnold gave an even more vivid description in “Total Recall” of the pair’s visit to the local “smorgasbord” buffets: “The bodybuilder would start with five, six, or seven eggs, after which we go to the next station and eat all the tomatoes and vegetables. Then we would have the steak, and then the fish. Muscle magazines in those days were always warning you that you had to have your amino acids, and that you had to be careful because the amino acids in certain foods weren’t complete. ‘Hey,’ we said, ‘let’s not even think about it; let’s just eat all the proteins. We have egg, the fish, the beef, the turkey, the cheese—let’s have it all!’”

During the Day:

Arnold was never just a bodybuilder. His professional ambitions were always larger, and as soon as he was established in California, he established a string of moneymaking endeavors. As his English improved, he gave seminars at Gold’s and other gyms. He began publishing mail-order booklets on training and posing, initially filling all the orders himself.

“I loved being an American entrepreneur,” he writes in “Total Recall.” “I was super efficient. I took the doors off my bedroom closet to make an alcove and had a friend build shelves and a little fold-down desk. Each booklet had its own numbered niche, and there were bins for incoming mail, checks, envelopes, and outgoing orders.” Many of his peers started similar businesses, but saw them flounder or spark legal issues when they couldn’t follow through with Arnold’s level of dedication.

“‘I loved being an American entrepreneur.’”

He and Franco also famously started their own construction enterprise, billing themselves in local ads as “European bricklayers. Experts in marble and stone.” Some of the walls they and their crew of bodybuilders built still stand, as he showed our film crew. The pair learned as they went and kept their business afloat. When a significant earthquake cracked walls and chimneys around the valley, it gave them all the work they could handle.

With their extra earnings, Arnold and Franco began investing in real estate with great success. By the mid-70s, they were said to be the world’s only two full-time professional bodybuilders, but the label does little to capture the work and risk-taking that allowed them to focus on their real passion.

Evening:

With the day’s work done, it was time to head back to Gold’s for the second half of Arnold’s customary twice-daily split. Sometimes this just meant abs and calves, and sometimes, it was those plus additional arm and hamstring detail work. But occasionally, as when he was training for the 1975 Mr. Olympia featured in the film “Pumping Iron,” the afternoon workout was a total assault on the big muscles just like the morning workout had been.

His increasing fondness for brutal evening work, Arnold told us, was part of why he switched training partners that year. “Franco would just do his 5 sets of squats and 5 sets of leg extensions, and he would just walk out because he had naturally big thighs, but I had to do my 25 sets,” Arnold explained. “Franco would leave three-quarters of the way through the workout. Sometimes in the evening, he wouldn’t come. So I said to myself, well, I’ve got to go, since I’ve only got 8 or 9 weeks left to and to train for the Olympia, I’ve got to get someone who’s as hungry as I am. And that was why I switched over during that period to Ed Corney.”

“‘Franco would do his 5 sets of squats and 5 sets of leg extensions, and he would just walk out because he had naturally big thighs, but I had to do my 25 sets.’”

Arnold’s dedication to his daily grind paid off that year in his sixth Mr. Olympia title, allowing him to retire—albeit temporarily—from the sport at the top of his game. The following year, Franco would leap to fill the void left by Arnold and capture his first overall Mr. Olympia title.

What does your perfect bodybuilding day look like? How do you find the time to balance hard training with professional and personal obligations? Let us know in the comments!

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Q “I used to lift heavy and crush cardio, but I got in a car wreck last year and have been on a downward motivational slump ever since. Any suggestions?”

Vital Stats

Name: James Grage
BodySpace: JamesGrage
Height: 5-foot-10
Weight: 175 lbs
Occupation: Co-Founder and Vice President of BPI Sports

An injury is one of the easiest ways to derail your fitness goals. It’s about as good of a reason—or excuse—for not pursuing your goal as any. In fact, it’s better.

When you’re injured, people will hesitate to push you or tell you to man up. They’re more likely to baby you and feed into your sense of self pity.

That’s when you need to make the decision to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and hit the gym even harder than before.

First, you need a plan of attack. Follow the tips below to rebuild a solid foundation and regain the strength you need to hit the gym, hard.

Tip 1

Ditch the ‘Woe Is Me’ attitude. I know this might sound harsh but, when you’re looking to get back on the horse (or the weight machine), you’re going to have to break free from self-pity. No one can help if you’re the one holding yourself back. And, believe me, I know how hard it can be to separate yourself from what’s happened.

When people learn of the horrible accident I was in, they can hardly believe it. They seem amazed that I was able to build myself back up, despite all of my injuries. Trust me, I understand the feeling of a task being so insurmountable that it leaves you downright depressed. I know what it’s like for that light at the end of the tunnel to be a mere flicker.

The key to breaking free is seeing a bigger picture.

“When people learn of the horrible accident I was in, they can hardly believe it.”

One day, when I had sunken into a pit of self-wallowing, a nurse told me about a man in the next room who’d been there for month. For him, day-to-day tasks that we all take for granted would never be the same again. He was never going to be able to brush his teeth or wash his hair. Yet here I was complaining about having to learn to walk again. At least I could walk.

The easiest thing to do to gain perspective is to watch and listen to other people’s stories. Go on YouTube or check out charities like Shriner’s Hospital for Children. When you see a child with amputated legs playing basketball, wrestling for his high school, or riding his skateboard, you may well start to change your tune.

Tip 2

Attitude is a choice. You can either choose to dwell on an injury and let it become part of your identity, or you can treat it as a mere setback—and let your triumph over that setback become part of your identity instead.

For me it was tough. My first week in the hospital was filled with days of self-pity and alienation. The road to recovery seemed so bleak. Fitness had been a cornerstone of my identity, and I was physically broken.

For me, moving on meant realizing that the past was the past, that my path had changed. Instead of mourning what was lost, I celebrated the new opportunities that lay before me.

Tip 3

“When I decided to start running again, I didn’t start by lacing up my sneakers and hitting the trail.”

“Can’t” has no place in my vocabulary. One of my favorite quotes is an old one by Henry Ford that says: “Whether you think you can or can’t, you’re right.” In the end, it’s all about choice:

• Do you want to do something about your predicament?
• Do you want to embrace the challenge and move on, or do you want to lean on it as a limitation?

After an injury, it’s not about what you can’t do; it’s about doing things in new ways, if necessary. After my accident, running became painful—no, excruciating.

Every time I tried it, I thought, “That was dumb. I shouldn’t have done that. I should have known my limitations.” But, the truth is, I could run. I just needed to learn how to take progressive steps instead of jumping right in.

When I decided to start running again, I didn’t start by lacing up my sneakers and hitting the trail. Instead, I started by going to physical therapy, taking supplements for joint and scar tissue health, and foam rolling. This prep work was necessary.

The same effort you put forth toward a fitness program, or the commitment you display to a nutrition plan, is also needed for overcoming an injury. Discipline is the key.

Tip 4

Setting a goal helps you have a good reason to get up and at ‘em.

In December 2014, I decided to run a timed mile to raise money for Shriner’s Hospital For Children. Now, I’m motivated and train daily. After 15 years of not running, my goal is to finish in less than six minutes.

I’ve got all the reasons in the world why I shouldn’t be able to accomplish it. But I’m motivated. If you find a good-enough reason, you’ll be committed to doing whatever it takes to achieve it.

Find your inner warrior and look for that next challenge; relish going up against adversity. I challenge you to find that inner warrior, overcome your hurdle, and battle back.

Tip 5

When I decided to jump back on the fitness bandwagon after my accident, I created a plan. If I needed help, I called on people who I knew could assist me. A friend who’s a former Olympic athlete put together a running program for me. Doctor friends suggested physical therapy exercises. With their help, I put together a whole regimen.

Instead of being discouraged that you couldn’t follow the same exact plan you were following before your injury, regroup. Create a new plan for yourself.

Instead of being discouraged that you couldn’t follow the same exact plan you were following before your injury, regroup. Create a new plan for yourself. Work around the injury. Life happens, and sometimes you must adjust.

Nobody wants to suffer an injury, but injuries have a strange way of showing us what we’re made of. Take the right approach, and you’ll emerge a better, stronger person.

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We’ve all had bad days. You know, those days when you have to force yourself to get off the couch and get to the gym. When you finally talk yourself into getting there, your workout is lax and you know you didn’t make any progress toward your goals. Those days suck, but they’re also bound to happen.

Nobody is born with never-ending energy and a bottomless spring of motivation. All of us will eventually struggle. It’s what we do with those bad days and how we overcome them that make the real difference in our fitness endeavors.

So, how do we overcome those bouts of lacking motivation, fatigue, and stress? What can you do to maximize your intensity and make every rep count? Here are 23 great ideas!

1 Crank Up The Tunes

Numerous studies have shown that music has the power to elevate a downer mood. Take advantage and get yourself psyched up before you even start your workout.

On your way to the gym, listen to whatever gets you pumped and then keep that momentum and music going when you get to the gym!

Research confirms that lifting to your favorite tunes can help you push harder and get the most from every set.

2 Visualize

Before you even leave the house, close your eyes for a few minutes and watch yourself go through your workout. Visualize putting that pin on the bottom of the stack and dominating that machine.

Watch yourself set a new PR on the bench or squat. Feel those muscles moving and flexing, and then go to the gym and make that vision a reality!

3 Warm Up Well

I’ve been training for 15 years and I still see people walk in the door and go directly to the bench press. Those muscles are cold! There’s no way that you’ll be able to have a good workout with the jump-start strategy.

Get yourself on a treadmill or use another warm-up technique so your blood will flow and your muscles will be primed for the carnage ahead.

A warm-up is also a great way to get mentally ready to go. You’ll probably find your workout is much better from beginning to end if you spend 5-10 extra minutes preparing for it.

4 Take a Pre-workout

Need a hit of energy? There are some great supplements which can help you feel more pumped about your workout. There’s a reason you see a lot of ads and promos for pre-workout supplements—they work.

If you’ve been using the same pre-workout product for a while, then cycle off for a few weeks or try a new product.

5 Amino Up

It’s one thing to get amped for a workout, but you also need to be able to train with intensity from your first lift to your last rep. Branched chain amino acids (BCAAs) are essential building blocks of protein that will keep your muscles fueled in training and help you recover after.

Add some to your water bottle and you may feel as strong during the second half of the workout as you did when you started.

6 Avoid Machines

WBFF competitor, fitness model, and Neon athlete Ashley Sarina Hoffmann knows a thing or two about using free weights to increase the intensity of her workouts. “Although I use machines at times, I try to stay away from them and focus more on free weights. By using free weights, I engage my core more and don’t restrict my range of motion. Lifting with dumbbells and barbells also helps balance, stability, and overall athletic performance.”

Free weights recruit more muscles to the lifting task than machines which balance the weight for you. Use the dumbbell rack to your advantage!

7 Vary Your Workouts

Doing the same thing day-in and day-out is both boring and unproductive. Try something new! If you’ve been all about single sets, try some circuits. Or, if you’ve been giant or supersetting your lifts for the last few months, switch to heavy straight sets.

Not only will these changes help you feel more motivated, but they’ll actually shock your muscles so they have no choice but to recover and grow.

8 Be Explosive

“Although I use machines at times, I try to stay away from them and focus on free weights.”
—Ashley Sarina Hoffmann

“Explosive movements develop fast-twitch muscle fibers and use the maximum amount of force in the shortest amount of time,” says Ashley Hoffmann.

By introducing explosive movements like box jumps or barbell squats into your fitness regimen, you increase the intensity of your workouts and make them more fun .

9 Try Dropsets

Straight sets are absolutely effective, but you can make workouts more challenging and interesting by using dropsets. To do them, grab a really heavy weight and lift it until failure. Once you hit failure, strip some weight and keep going.

When you hit failure again, take weight off and keep repping it out. Once you hit failure again, you can even go through the motions one more time. By the end, you’ll have a bigger pump than ever!

10 Superset Lifts

I love supersets. Pick two exercises—either for one muscle group or for opposing muscle groups—and perform one immediately after the other without rest. You’ll get two sets for the price of one and a shorter, more intense workout. Ashley Hoffmann utilizes supersets, too. “Supersets are a great way to maximize intensity!” she says.

11 Circuit Train

This is a principle similar to supersets, but instead of two exercises, you can do four, five, or even more. Go though one set of every movement before you rest. Once you’ve gone through every exercise, rest 2-3 minutes, and then go through all the exercises again.

Repeat this cycle as much as you’d like. If you haven’t done much circuit training before, I can promise you that by your last circuit, you’ll be totally worn out. This is a great way to introduce some cardio into your resistance training.

Straight sets are absolutely effective, but you can make workouts more challenging and interesting by using dropsets.

12 Do Rest-Pause Reps

Have you ever tried to hit 10 reps and reached failure at seven? Don’t sweat it. Next time this happens, re-rack the weight, count to five, and then pick up where you left off. You’re still hitting the reps you want, but taking a little break so you can get there.

Rest-pause reps can help your body respond to the heavy weight so that the next time you try, you may be able to finish the set without taking a break.

13 Add Partials

To get a little more out of each set, try performing a few reps of the top half of the exercise when you hit failure with a full range of motion. These partial reps will extend the set and ensure that you break down every last muscle fiber you have.

14 Cheat

Don’t use this as an excuse to overlook form completely, but you can put a little body English into some of your lifts so you can use more weight.

Put a little swing into heavy barbell curls or kickstart those laterals when you get near the end of a set. It worked for the old-school guys, and it’ll work for you!

15 Throw In Cardio Bursts

“Grab a jump rope, do some burpees, or even hit an ab exercise between sets for 20-30 seconds,” says Ashley. “This way, you’re not standing around between sets so you can keep your muscles working and fat burning. If you choose to incorporate cardio bursts into your routine, rest a little longer between sets so you can perform the next set with as much energy as you can.”

16 Include Negatives

If you have a spotter at the ready, then use her to your advantage. Once you get to the end of the set, lower the weight for five seconds. Have your partner help you to get the weight back to the top. Do this for five reps. I promise you’ll be in pain.

17 Squeeze

When you perform your reps, don’t lower the weight as soon as you lift it. Hold it at the peak of the contraction for a few seconds and squeeze the hell out of the muscle. Then slowly take the weight back to the starting position and try it again. Increasing the duration of your sets will put a new spin on your workouts and make them much more difficult.

18 Train To Failure

“You can incorporate training to failure in a couple of ways,” says Ashley. “On the days I lift heavy, I hit failure when I hit max weight. On my max days, I always have a spotter for safety and ensure I have good form. On days I incorporate hypertrophy training, I hit failure on the last set by going until I possibly can’t squeeze out another rep. Sometimes I hit failure at 15 reps, sometimes at 20 reps, and sometimes I don’t even count and just lift until I’m tanked.”

The more reps you do, the better you’ll understand how a lift works. Use lighter weight on Olympic lifts until your form improves, then go heavier!

19 Take It To 100

Powerlifters do one rep for the max amount of weight. This technique is the other extreme. Grab a light weight and lift for 100 repsr, or go a little heavier and rest for 15 seconds every time you hit failure; then pick up where you left off and add up until you hit the century mark.

20 Pre-exhaust

Most of us start our workouts with a compound lift like the squat or bench press. To mix things up, choose an isolation exercise and do 3 sets of 10-12 reps with as much focus and effort as you would if you had started with a big lift.

After you complete three sets of the isolation lift, take on the lift you would normally start with. You probably won’t be as strong, so you’ll have to put more intensity and focus into the movement.

21 Time It

After you complete your warm-up, set your alarm for an hour. Once that alarm goes off, you’re done—whether you completed your planned workout or not.

This extra pressure will help you stay on track and keep chitchat to a minimum.

22 Rest Less

To maximize her time in the gym, Ashley keeps her eye on the clock. “Sometimes we get too caught up talking to other gym members, searching for a song we like, or even checking social media sites in between sets. Before we know it, 5-10 minutes have gone by and our body has cooled down. On days that I don’t lift really heavy, I keep my rest to 45-60 seconds so my body stays warm and my heart rate stays high,” she says.

23 Talk Positively

Whether you’re in the car, locker room, or maybe in the middle of the set, tell yourself your plans for the weight, set, or rep. You might look like a crazy person, but who cares! You’re in the gym to get shit done.

Hearing your own positivity could psych you up more than if you were just thinking it. Once you crush the weight, just tell yourself: “Good job. Now do it again.”

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Are you ready to crank things up a notch? You can lose fat any pace you choose, really, but everyone should strive to be as efficient as possible. So we assembled the best package of tips we could find to turn you into a fat-burning pyromaniac.

Tip 1: Clear The Kitchen

It all starts with cleaning out your kitchen. Make no mistake: If food you shouldn’t be eating lurks in your fridge, cupboards, or freezers, you will give in at some point or another.

You may think you have willpower of steel, but wait until your leptin levels start dropping and hunger clouds your every waking thought, and a few of your dreams. Few people will leave their house to satisfy their taste buds; they’re much more likely to hit the fridge.

Tip 2: Combine Cardio Variations

The debate rages: steady-state cardio training vs. interval training for fat loss.

Steady state allows for a longer fat-burning session. Interval training ramps up your metabolic rate and increases fat oxidation rates for hours after the workout is done.

“Steady state allows for a longer fat-burning session. Interval training ramps up your metabolic rate and increases fat oxidation rates for hours after the workout is done.”

Which to choose? Try both.

You might do five or so intervals first and then move into steady-state training. This will allow you to reap all the benefits in one workout. Plus, the steady state will burn even more fat than usual because the intervals will have led to glycogen depletion.

Your cardio, like your weight training, should always be progressively more challenging. “This is the single most important factor in any training program: You will not be successful if today’s training does not exceed yesterday’s in some manner,” says MuscleTech’s Matt “Kroc” Kroczaleski, a world-champion and world-record-holding powerlifter and national-caliber bodybuilder.

Tip 3: Do At Least One Full-Body Workout Per Week

Just like the jury is out on the single best form of cardio training to do, you’ll get mixed opinions on whether fat loss is best achieved through full-body or body-part split training.

Full-body workouts increase your metabolism more per workout due to the large amount of muscle mass you hit. They also allow for more total downtime to rest during the week.

Split systems have you working out more frequently and still hitting each muscle group with a higher volume for muscle glycogen depletion.

Here again, consider combining the two. Each week, do one full-body workout, one upper-body workout and one lower-body workout.

If you prefer a full-body, push, pull, lower-body setup for a four-day cycle, that’s fine too. This allows you to still do a bit more volume per muscle group in each week yet have that maximum metabolic enhancing full-body session in place.

Whatever you do, you must lift weights to burn major fat. “Lifting weights is most effective for body-fat reduction when it is done correctly,” says MuscleTech’s Marc Megna, an ex NFL athlete, performance coach, and motivational speaker on fitness.

Tip 4: Drink Green Tea Daily

Green tea should be your top beverage of choice while on a fat-cutting plan. This health elixir will help to rev your metabolism, allowing you burn more calories daily. Green tea is also loaded with healthy plant chemicals and of free-radical-fighting antioxidants.

All these health goodies will help to reduce the tissue damage that can take place while dieting and still doing intense workout programs, helping you feel better as the fat-burning process hums along.

“Green tea should be your top beverage of choice while on a fat-cutting plan.”

Furthermore, the slight intake of caffeine you’ll get will also boost energy and promote more fat burning, providing even greater benefits. The hot liquid may also help soothe the hunger pangs roiling your stomach.

Simply put, green tea is an all-around winner for people looking to get leaner.

Tip 5: Have Two Higher Carb Days Per Week

One tool most people do not make use of enough is the power of higher carb days. Low-carb dieting definitely speeds up progress for many people, but if their carb intake falls too low for too long, it will have the opposite effect.

Here’s what happens: Leptin levels plummet harder and faster for low-carb dieters than people who take in more carbs. This ends up increasing hunger, slowing down the metabolism, and basically making your life miserable in the process.

The solution? Carbohydrate staggering.

Have your low days as you prefer, but add two high days into the mix as well. This tricks the body into thinking carbs are around all the time, avoiding the plateau-causing metabolic drop that otherwise occurs.

Plus, you’ll feel happier! Remember, carbohydrates induce the brain to release serotonin, a feel-good hormone that keeps you sane. Your family and coworkers will thank you.

I’d recommend limiting your cheat meals to those high-carb days. Phil Heath, three-time Mr. Olympia titleholder, has a cheat meal every three days or so, usually before a hard workout. So you know those extra carbs are being put right to work.

Tip 6: Commit To Sleep

Sleep is another underrated part of a proper fat-loss program. If you aren’t sleeping enough, your insulin sensitivity will decrease, which means that hormone will be less effective at shuttling glucose from your blood into cells, where it belongs. So what does your body do? It pumps out more insulin, still hoping to finish the job. The problem is that insulin is also a fat-storage hormone.

Since your cells will be starved for glucose also means you’ll encounter carbohydrate cravings and lousy workouts.

Few healthy food choices are made after midnight. Going to bed an extra hour early is also a perfect way to combat night-time eating, which can be disastrous to your progress.

Tip 7: Increase Your Protein Intake 10-20%

A higher protein intake is the next step to seeing enhanced fat loss. Not only will protein-rich foods calm hunger pangs, but they also have a higher thermogenic effect as well. Thermo-what? Well, for every 100 calories you eat, your body will burn about 20-30 percent of those calories off simply breaking down the food.

This means you net fewer calories overall, therefore increasing your total daily calorie deficit. The bigger the deficit is, the greater the fat loss will be. And protein also helps reduce the chance of muscle mass loss, which is imperative to maintaining a lightening fast metabolism long-term.

Tip 8: Practice Yoga

Combating stress is another must-do for success, and there’s no better way to do so than by taking yoga classes once per week. Not only will you crush stress, but you put yourself more in touch with your body and healthy living, which can help you make wiser choices when it comes to your diet plan.

“Combating stress is another must-do for success, and there’s no better way to do so than by taking yoga classes once per week.”

Furthermore, yoga will help to ease muscle soreness by lengthening the muscles and reducing pent up tension you may be holding.

Tip 9: Drink One Glass Of Water Before Each Meal

A sneaky technique to try if you struggle to cut back on your food intake is to simply drink one glass of water before each meal.

This serves multiple purposes:

• Staying well-hydrated makes sure your metabolism runs at top speeds. Even slight dehydration makes it sluggish.
• The water will fill you up, therefore prompting you to take in fewer calories during the meal.
• It’s refreshing and can help combat food cravings, making it easier to choose healthier foods for your meal.
• *Add a slice of lemon to your water glass and you’ll often find that the taste you had for whichever food you desired has passed.

Tip 10: Switch To Single-Ingredient Foods

The last tip to remember that will dramatically help you improve the quality of your diet is to only eat single-ingredient foods.

If you use this guiding rule, you’ll immediately cut out all the processed, unhealthy foods that can quickly put a stop to weight loss and have you feeling unwell.

Single ingredient foods are in their most natural state and will contain the most nutrition to help keep your body healthy throughout the weight-loss process; they leave you energized as well!

So there you have it—the top 10 pro fat-burning tips to use if you want to strive to see optimal and rapid success. Don’t rely on quick-fix approaches. Rely on sound and proven strategies that will get you results and keep the weight off for good.

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Vital Stats

Name: Adam Bornstein
Occupation: Fitness author, editor, coach, and consultant
Blog: www.bornfitness.com

It started back in 2001. That was the first time I “experimented” with creatine. I had been hearing great things about the product for years, but up to that point, I had avoided it like some black market drug. But then research started to come out—lots of it. Literally hundreds of articles professed not only the benefits of creatine, but more important, its safety. For starters, you could expect:

• More muscle
• More power and strength
• Improved aerobic capacity

Still, I was nervous. I don’t like putting anything in my body that has a shred of doubt attached to it. But eventually, I was willing to try it—in secrecy. I went with my best friend to a local supplement store, bought a creatine product, and then immediately hid it in another bag.

When I returned home, I stashed my creatine under my bed.

As crazy as it might sound, I didn’t want anyone to know I was taking it. Maybe I thought they would diminish my hard work. Maybe I was still worried that the studies were wrong, and I was foolish to believe them. Whatever the reason, creatine was my secret.

Mystery Supplement No More

Fast forward 13 years, and there’s no longer any reason to fear or be ashamed of creatine. It’s now one of the most well-researched supplements, and studies have begun linking it to benefits that extend far beyond muscle-building, including anti-aging, memory support, and cell protection capabilities.

On the athletic front, creatine’s effectiveness has only been reinforced. It’s been shown repeatedly to provide the physique and performance benefits which people talked about back when I first bought it. In addition, studies have shown it to improve work capacity for a wide variety of training, aid in workout recovery, and decrease the time needed to regain strength after workouts, to name just a few. Along with sleep and a good diet, creatine has earned its reputation as the cheapest way you can improve both your performance in the gym and the results you see.

In short, the question of why to take creatine is no longer the most pressing one to ask. Instead, it’s when.

Nutrient Timing: Where Science Meets Wishful Thinking

Nutrient timing is a hot topic, especially among athletes and anyone looking for an edge in the gym or in a body transformation. Part of this stems from solid science showing that the timing of carbohydrate consumption can influence important aspects of recovery and growth, such as glycogen replenishment and, to a limited degree, muscle protein synthesis.

The other side is practical: You want the most bang for your buck when it comes to the nutritional products and supplements you purchase.

“Nutrient timing is a hot topic, especially among athletes and anyone looking for an edge in the gym or in a body transformation.”

Athletes have attempted to apply timing to “optimize” everything from fat burners to protein supplements and all supps in between. Anecdotal claims about effectiveness are easy to find; scientific backing is more elusive. You’d think that such a heavily studied supplement as creatine would be an exception to this rule, but until recently, there was almost no in-depth research into the effectiveness of creatine timing.

In the face of such a void, creatine takers have generally fallen into one of three camps:

Camp 1: Before A Workout

The argument for taking creatine before a workout usually follows these lines: More creatine equals more ATP, the primary currency of cellular energy. More ATP means more power available to the muscles. More power means more activation of muscle fibers and more weight lifted. More weight means more muscle.

Sounds tempting, right?

Camp 2: After A Workout

On the flipside, the argument for creatine after a workout often focuses on how your muscles are depleted of nutrients after a workout, and are thus “primed” for a big influx of nutrients. Throw creatine in there along with your protein and carbs, and your body will supposedly soak up the powerful supplement and receive all of its benefits.

Camp 3: Whenever You Want

The argument for “take it at any time” is based on the hypothesis that both of the former arguments are more or less supplement superstition—there’s no shortage of that, right? Basically, they say, you don’t need to stress yourself about timing. Since creatine is good for you, as long as you supplement with it you’ll see the benefits.

What the Research Says

“Creatine supplementation plus resistance exercise increases fat-free mass and strength.”

The “take creatine after your workout” camp seemed to receive a big boost last year in the form of a study published in the “Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition.” A group of 19 recreational male bodybuilders were given 5 grams of creatine either before or after their workouts. They trained five days per week and were also directed to consume 5g on their rest days at any time they wanted. The workouts were fairly standard push-pull-legs splits, and the methodology used in the study suggests that the findings would apply to most weightlifters.

This study became popular because the abstract appeared to say clearly that taking creatine after a workout is better than taking it before. Here’s what it said:

Creatine supplementation plus resistance exercise increases fat-free mass and strength. Based on the magnitude inferences, it appears that consuming creatine immediately post-workout is superior to pre-workout vis a vis body composition and strength.

Yet upon closer inspection, the “superiority” becomes far less clear than the abstract makes it out to be. While both groups found benefit from the creatine supplementation, the benefit they received was more or less equal. Put another way, there wasn’t any significant effect (less than 5 percent chance what was observed was due to chance meant “significant” for this study) of one over the other. Rather, when the researchers broke the results down on a case-by-case basis, they saw a trend that suggested that there may be a difference.

So if we removed all of the jargon and big words, this is what the researchers are really saying: “We think that taking creatine after a workout is better than before, but we really need to study more in order to prove that.”

The Best Way to Take Creatine

The JISSN study has been interpreted a number of ways by writers since it came out, from “See? Take it before” to “take it before and after a workout .” The researchers made a compelling case that creatine is effective, but they definitely didn’t close the book on timing.

“Optimal dosing still appears to be between 2-5g per day.”

Until something more conclusive comes along, I take this as a vote for Camp 3: “Take it whenever,’ or maybe more appropriately, “Take it when it works for you.” Many people take supplements that include creatine, so if that’s in your pre- or post-workout drink, you should receive all the benefits.

All the other standard creatine advice seems to hold up in this and other recent studies. Optimal dosing still appears to be between 2-5g per day. You can “load” for the first 5-7 days to help saturate your cells, but beyond that there’s no benefit to taking large amounts. So save your money and take the smaller dose when and how you please. It’ll still offer maximum results.

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QDear Protein Chef, I have vegan protein powder on hand but no idea what to do with it. Is there a recipe you suggest?

A lot of gym folks equate protein powder with whey. To them, whey’s the be-all, end-all of protein. Sure, they may be familiar with casein and maybe even egg protein, but they seldom use them. And when you ask whether they’ve had pea protein, hemp protein, or rice protein, nine out of ten people will shake their heads no. “What’s the point when my whey and casein shakes do the job just fine?”

I’ll sum up the point in one word: cookies. OK. Two words: cookies and cake. You see, vegan protein powders are fantastic to bake with! Unlike whey and casein, they don’t have a tendency to make your cakes, muffins, or cookies dry or rubbery. Instead, they retain whatever moisture or fat you add to them—and who doesn’t prefer a fresh-from-the-oven moist, soft cookie to an overly dry, chewy one?

While you can, of course, still bake with whey and casein, finding an ideal balance of textures can be a bit trickier. With veggie powders, there’s nothing to worry about. They bake up beautifully every single time! Don’t believe me? Try these pumpkin-mango-nut creations:

• 3/8 cup ground almonds
• 1/4 cup cashew nuts
• 1/2 cup of pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup Sun Warrior Warrior Blend Raw Protein (vanilla)
• 2 tbsps coconut oil
• 1 tbsp freeze-dried mango
• 1 tsp sweetener of choice
• 1/4 cup of cartoned coconut or almond milk

1. In a food processor, blend all of the above ingredients together until you get a pasty sort of dough. Taste it to ensure that it’s sweet enough for you. If it isn’t, add the sweetener of your choice.
2. Divide the ‘dough’ into 7-10 balls, and press them onto a baking tray. If your mix is too sticky or wet, add a bit more protein powder until it reaches the right consistency.
3. Bake for approximately 16 minutes at 320 degrees Fahrenheit (160° C) or until the cookies have baked through. The cookies will be super soft when you remove them from the oven. In fact, they’ll crumble if you try to pick them up! That’s fine, and to be expected. Just let them cool completely and you’ll see how they considerably firm-up. And make sure no delicious morsel is left behind. Enjoy with a tall glass of coconut or almond milk!

Pumpkin-Mango-Nut Cookies PDF

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Name: Cory Gregory
Age: 34
Height: 5’11″
Weight: 185-190 lbs
Occupation: Co-Founder MusclePharm

For a lot of us, leg training is pretty simple. A heavy dose of squats, leg presses, lunges, or any other torturous exercise is usually all it takes to demolish your lower body. But what happens when you fall into a rut and your quads already know what’s coming?

Even worse, what happens when you get bored of your normal leg routine? More than likely, you’ll end up just going through the motions and quitting on a body part that demands your utmost attention and intensity.

When you hit a lower-body wall, reach into your little bag of tricks and pull out one or more of these eight unique quad exercises! When it comes to fitness, I’m always trying to keep things different and think outside the box. My creativity usually leads to great gains. And that’s what you’ll get with these distinctive quad moves—some craziness that will take your legs to a higher level!

1 German Volume Leg Extensions With A Twist

For this exercise, I put together two things most people are familiar with: leg extensions and German Volume Training, which is basically 10 sets of 10 reps for a total of 100 reps. But, I also threw in a brutal twist. You only get 10 seconds of rest between sets.

Leg extensions are a basic quad exercise, but doing them for 100 reps with hardly any rest will leave your lungs burning and your quads wondering what hit them. While you’re going through the reps, you’re going to hurt. Power through and keep the rest to an honest 10 seconds—not a slow 10-count that takes 30 seconds—and you’ll be impressed.

2 Close-Stance High-Bar Olympic-Style Squat

I like to call these dive-bomb squats because it’s all about going really deep —ass-to-grass deep. Keep the bar high on your back—on top of your traps—and your stance close. The position of the bar and your stance will ensure that the bulk of the focus is on your quads.

If you’re normally a low-bar squatter, changing the bar placement and stance will definitely be a challenge. These are great to add in at the end of a workout. Use them as a finisher and don’t be afraid to do a lot of reps.

3 Track Lunges

The concept of bodyweight lunges may sound simple, but I crank up the intensity to max levels. You’ll be doing bodyweight lunges for a distance of up to one mile, and no less than 400 meters, or one lap around the track.

If you’re feeling really frisky, put on a weighted vest and go for a mile. It may take you up to an hour to complete, but you’ll find out how mentally tough you are in a hurry. The key is to keep moving. Don’t stop for many breaks. Push through the pain and push through the burn and the carryover to quad development and your squat strength will be massive.

I basically replaced my cardio work with these track lunges and the difference was huge. I build muscle while I do cardio—that’s an ideal scenario. One final warning, though: be prepared for mad soreness.

4 Frank Zane Single-Leg Leg Extension

Frank Zane gave me this idea after I asked him about his freaky quad separation. He credited single-leg leg extensions for his great quads, but he added a few little secrets.

He told me that he only did the top quarter or even half of the movement, focusing on squeezing the quads at the peak of every rep. He also explained that he did extensions without rest. He simply switched legs and went back and forth for a killer 6-8 sets of 20 reps per leg!

This is an awesome finisher to any leg workout and you’ll notice how effective they are, especially when you squeeze at the top of every rep.

5 Sissy Squat

This exercise might have the worst name in workout history, but let’s focus on how effective it is. It’s a lost exercise for most guys—likely due to the name—but it can blow your quads up.

To perform sissy squats correctly, keep your hips up and make sure you push up through your quads. You’ll get an unbelievable pump! I recommend 20 reps for this movement, but if you want to get crazy, superset them with another exercise in this article. It will be mind-blowing, that’s for sure.

6 28-Method Squat

The 28 Method takes quad punishment to an entirely new level. You’ll do it like this: perform 7 normal reps, 7 slow reps, 7 quarter-reps in the hole, and 7 quarter-reps at the top.

The worst part of this method is the seven slow reps. You have to stay slow on the descent and there’s no rebound out of the hole. Stay slow out of the hole to torch your quads. The tension you’ll feel on your muscles during those seven reps is incredible.

Believe me, you will need to go much lighter than you might expect, but the payoff is immense. These are a definite go-to for me when I want to get a little crazy with my quad routine.

7 28-Method Leg Extensions

We stay with the 28 Method here, but trust me: Just because you’re doing leg extensions doesn’t make it any easier. Your quads will be screaming the entire time and the slow reps are absolutely brutal.

By going slow, you take all of the momentum out of the lift and your quads work overtime on each rep. This is another perfect finisher for any leg workout.

8 Russian Split Squat with quarter-rep method

The finale in this crazy quad lineup includes another of my favorite techniques: the quarter-rep method. When you apply it to the split squat, it’s almost like you’re doing a pump fake out of the hole. Your quads fall for it every time.

Every time your knee touches the floor on the way down, come back up only a quarter of the way, and then drop back down before finishing the full rep. Your quads will be wondering what the heck is going on, especially after the sixth rep. Doing 8-12 reps per leg can reap some serious benefits.

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Arnold’s training has been written about for so many years, in so many publications, that it can take on a mythical quality. Simply hearing someone describe how he held the barbell during curls, for instance, can seem like reason enough to do it that way yourself. But Arnold took nothing in his training for granted. He tracked everything, took notes, and knew not only what worked, but when it had worked previously—in what type of workout and order. If you’re not creating a detailed record of your progress in this trainer, then now is the time to start.

Arnold was the best because he recorded every detail of his work. He measured his results so he could compare his numbers and assess his progress.

“Write everything down,” Arnold told Iron Man magazine in 1994. “Unless you take accurate notes about your training and record the results you receive from it, you will have difficulty in determining which training techniques work best on your unique body.”

Your unique body deserves the best. Make sure your success leaves clues.

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Vital Stats

Name: Brandan Fokken
Age: 34
From: Sioux Falls, SD
Sponsors: Team Bodybuilding.com; Beast Sports Athlete

The almighty chest workout: It’s what separates the men from the boys—at least in high school. As an athlete growing up, it sometimes felt like my bench numbers were directly tied to my standing in the social hierarchy.

Not to be outdone by my friends, 14-year-old me got under a barbell for the first time at a friend’s house. I couldn’t even lift 100 pounds, an embarrassing change from my usually stellar athletic accomplishments. I just couldn’t get that weight off my chest. For a long time after that pathetic attempt, the other kids at school pointed out how weak I was and made fun of me on the regular.

I decided that I was going to take control of the situation and better myself. I’ve always had aspirations to be big and strong, and I’d always looked up to people like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Hulk Hogan, and even Superman. I hoped that someday, I would be big and strong like them. So I found some iron and got started.

When I was younger, I was obsessed with the number. I went as heavy as I could go every workout. My strength peaked when I was about 28. I had a max bench of 430 for 2 reps—something I never thought I would see.

Chasing The Pump

“I’ve tried so many training variations that I can’t even keep count. In time, I found what works for me.”

As I got older, I started lifting smarter due to a lot of previous injuries. I learned that it’s not always about power, but trying to develop a competitive physique.

When I stopped exclusively lifting heavy, I started experimenting with various techniques, set and rep variations, incorporating various angles, and using other tools to get ripped.

Since then, I’ve tried so many training variations that I can’t even keep count. In time, I found what works for me. I was blessed with good genetics, but I didn’t build a competitive physique overnight. It took a lot of hard work and years to get to where I am today.

Although I do still go heavy periodically, I now focus on volume. I like to get a feel of the weight, hit my muscles from as many angles as I can, and get a good pump when I lift.

Even Arnold Schwarzenegger said his chest didn’t start developing to his best levels until he changed up his set and rep patterns and incorporated more angles in his lifting protocol.

Beast Chest Workout

This is a workout I recently did with three of my competitor clients. It’s a great example of a high-volume workout that will build a great physique.

This is a workout I recently did with three of my competitor clients.

By the time you get to the last exercise, your chest, shoulders, and arms will be pumped to the max. Try it out and see for yourself!

Push hard, but don’t forget to have fun!

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Name: James Grage
BodySpace: JamesGrage
Height: 5-foot-10
Weight: 175 lbs
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Hardgainers around the world! Unite and listen up: Putting on muscle and getting stronger isn’t as elusive or impossible as you might think. It’s not something you have to overanalyze. With a little diligence and consistency, anyone can pack on excellent size. Trust me, I’ve been there. The key is to have a well-laid foundation before you jump into the gym.

It’s easy to want to lift first and learn later, but if you want to avoid common mistakes and train to gain, you need to understand certain lifting logistics before flinging dumbbells around like your life depends on it. Follow these five simple steps and you’ll be on the path to big gains!

Step 1

No matter how great your genetics, gaining new muscle mass requires a lot of hard work and discipline. If you’re a hardgainer, it’s an even more formidable task. Putting on weight may start to feel like an uphill battle that you just can’t win, but that’s because you’re probably trying to sprint the hill when you should be jogging. If you want to get big, you need to have the patience and tenacity to tackle your goals.

Sticking to the right nutrition, training, and supplement regimen for an extended period of time requires intense focus. It’s easy to fall off the plan when one of life’s many distractions hits—and they always hit. Your level of motivation is the only thing that can keep you on track. A meaningful goal and clear focus is the drive used to fuel that motivation.

Find a goal that gets you excited. Maybe you’re looking to put on three pounds of lean mass over the next few months, maybe you’re eager to grow your quads to fill out your newest pair of jeans, or maybe you’re looking to gain the majority of your new muscle in your upper body. Whatever your personal vision is, you’ve got to set a goal and stick to it.

Step 2

Looking at the numbers might seem scary, but it’s a necessary step in the right direction. In order to see how far you’ve come, you need to know where you started. Break your goal into smaller mini-goals that are measurable and achievable.

Here are three easy ways to measure and track your progress:

Strength Goals

Strength goals are measurable and simple to track. Write down or track online the weights you use for each workout and each exercise. Do this for weeks, months, and even years. On days when you aren’t seeing progress in the mirror, seeing your back squat, power cleans, or Arnold press numbers climb will remind you that you’re making headway and will keep you motivated.

Tape Measurements

Do circumference measurements for your chest, arms, shoulders, quads, and calves. Set a realistic goal for growth. Don’t listen to the ridiculous cover lines on some of the magazines. You aren’t always going to gain three inches on your arms. If that were the case, everyone would have 21-inch arms. Just set small, doable goals.

Body Fat Analysis

Lean muscle mass is a great indicator of growth. It’s an easy number to track and a number that, if you train and eat right, will go up. Have your weight and body fat measured so you can track every pound of lean mass gained.

Step 3

Before I even talk about training, we need to address nutrition. This is the biggest stumbling block for most people and it’s going to separate you from other guys struggling to gain size. Believe me when I say that food is the most anabolic substance you can ever take. There’s nothing else you can put in your body that’s going to help you put on more muscle than proper food intake.

Let’s eliminate all the fancy nutrition jargon and dissect it into the basic nuts and bolts. It’s crucial to ingest adequate calories to grow, but counting calories can become tiresome. I prefer the backward approach: I track my protein and carbohydrates each day and let the calories fall into place from there.

My good friend—and four-time Mr. Olympia—Jay Cutler follows the same method. Jay may be huge but, if you ask him, he still describes himself as a hardgainer. His fast metabolism is great for staying lean, but it also requires him to consume a lot of food to maintain muscle. Each day Jay consumes about 1.25 grams of protein and 2 grams of carbohydrates for every pound of total bodyweight. This split leaves him with roughly 55 percent of his calories from carbohydrates, 35 percent of his calories from protein, and the remaining 10 percent from fats.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. Isn’t protein the most important building block for muscle growth? Yes, protein is necessary but, at 35 percent of your total daily calories, you’re getting more than enough. My macronutrient breakdown is slightly higher in carbs than your average “gaining program,” but, as Jay will tell you, correctly timed carbs are the key to growth for a hardgainer.

Your three most carbohydrate-rich meals should be your breakfast, pre-training meal, and post-workout meal. Post workout, your glycogen levels are depleted, making it the perfect time to reload. This is also the point at which I take my creatine and load up on simple sugars. I typically drink Gatorade, not the reduced-calorie G2. I actually want the sugars.

As for fats, go for essential, healthy sources like fish, avocados, and almonds. Proper good fats are essential for testosterone production, which is critical to getting bigger and stronger. Remember that you have to be just as structured and diligent with your eating as you are your training. I can’t emphasize this enough. Eat to grow.

Step 4

People aren’t exactly the same, and we don’t all respond to resistance training the same way. What makes one guy big might leave another with a torn tendon or ligament. Some guys can practically walk into the weight room, smell the weights, and gain size. There’s no one-size-fits-all plan, but the approach I follow is broad enough that it will work for all types of hardgainers. It all boils down to a variety of rep ranges.

Generally speaking, the ideal rep range for hypertrophy is 6-12 reps. For strength, the perfect range is roughly 1-6 reps, and more than 12 reps per set typically trains muscular endurance. Most people looking to build muscle train only in the 6-12 rep range, hoping for maximum muscle hypertrophy, but they miss out on the benefit other rep ranges offer.

If you can move heavier weights with proper form, it makes it easier to get bigger. For this reason, I like to focus on building strength with 4-6 reps per set one week out every the month. The following week, I switch to 8-12 reps. Then, on the third week, I lift in the 12-18 rep range using strict form and going for maximum muscle pump.

“Generally speaking, the ideal rep range for hypertrophy is 6-12 reps.”

When I train with slightly lighter weights and high reps, I get the best pumps—the kind that make your muscles and skin feel like they’re going to rip. This “muscle pump” or swelling of the muscle cells, can result in greater protein synthesis and overall greater muscle size. I also believe a big pump helps you grow because it can stretch your muscle fascia. The fascia is a thin layer of tissue that holds your muscle together. The more you stretch that layer, the more room there is for your muscle to expand and grow.

Think of a balloon. If you blow it up and let the air out, it’s easier to blow up the second time because you’ve already stretched it. Just like a lot of air in a balloon, a big muscle pump stretches the fascia and makes room for future growth.

I think stretching is grossly underestimated because, in addition to helping prevent injury, it can also help you grow! I used to train with an old hardcore bodybuilder who would use a rubber mallet and a wood rolling pin to massage his muscles between sets. Try this yourself with a rolling pin or foam roll. You can’t even imagine the insane pumps you’ll get training this way!

Sample 3-Week Rep Rotation For Biceps

“Think of your supplement regimen as the icing on your gains cake.”

Step 5

Think of your supplement regimen as the icing on your gains cake. It will help you increase and accelerate your results. Notice that I listed supplements last. While they’re an extremely important part of the equation, they don’t belong at the forefront of your weight-gain strategy. Supplements exist to support your diet and help you take things to the next level. There’s no magic bullet for getting big.

3 Basic Mass-Building Blocks:

Protein Powder

I drink at least two protein shakes every day, each with 30 grams of whey protein. This helps me get 60 grams out of the 218 grams that I need on a daily basis. There’s always a debate as to what type of protein builds muscle better—whey isolate, whey blends, casein, egg, etc. I prefer a high-quality whey blend which tastes great. Since you’ll be drinking it every day, taste is an important factor—you want something that you enjoy drinking, otherwise you won’t do it consistently.

Creatine

Creatine is the most studied and scientifically sound muscle builder in the world of sports supplementation. In simple terms, it helps improve volume, strength, and recovery. I’ve tried various types of creatine through the years, but the one I prefer is a capsule of creatine monohydrate and creatine hydrochloride. I get the benefits of creatine mono, the king of all creatines, plus the absorption benefits of the HCL. The capsules make for a convenient and easily dosed delivery system.

Branched Chain Amino Acids (BCAAs)

BCAAs support muscle protein synthesis and decreased protein catabolism. In short, they are great for recovery after a hard workout and help build lean tissue. The version I take utilizes peptide-linked aminos, or oligopeptides, as well as agmatine.

BIG FINISH

When it comes to getting big, one of the most important things to remember is that you have to make every workout count. Each and every time you step foot in the gym, you have to get your head in the game. You need the proper mindset to push past your comfort zone and do battle. I like to take a pre-workout before my workouts for that very reason. A pre-workout product delivers the extra energy and intensity I need to get the absolute best results from my training.

Remember that, when it comes to getting bigger, it’s the sum of the parts. Nutrition, training, and supplementation all play a role, but a successful plan requires the discipline and fortitude to execute it. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Neither are the best physiques in the world.

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Vital Stats

Name: Dayna Tappan
Location: Paducah,KY
Age: 31
Height: 5’7″
Weight: 126 lbs
Occupation: NPC national-level Bikini competitor, fitness model, and personal trainer

It’s almost here, right around the corner: competition season. This spring, thousands of bikini, figure, fitness, physique, and bodybuilding competitors will have finished their prep. Their moment in the stage lights will have arrived, and they’ll be ready to showcase months of hard work, planning, and dedication.

What about you? Maybe you’ve been hitting the gym every day and surfing the web for fitness inspiration and news. And maybe that information has piqued your curiosity. Maybe you’re even thinking about signing up for a competition. Good for you! Just don’t dive in too quickly.

I’ve been in the competition business for a while now. Before you make the decision to compete, I want to share five truths that you absolutely must know.

1 Ask For Help

Don’t just sign up for a show, train by yourself, and hope for the best. Whether you hire a coach, join a team, or ask an experienced friend, get feedback from someone who has been in the trenches.

As a first-time competitor, I thought scanning the pictures on the Internet and reading federation articles would prepare me. I was wrong. I just didn’t have a clear picture of what the judges were looking for.

Now, I don’t believe that you have to pay someone thousands of dollars in order for the judges to notice you. However, it’s definitely better to have someone in your corner! The same goes for your hair, makeup, and tan: You can always do these things yourself, but having some help can take a load of stress off your shoulders. The quality of your hair, makeup, and tan also make a big difference in how you place, so don’t leave them up to chance!

“Don’t just sign up for a show, train by yourself, and hope for the best.”

You may have a good idea about how to eat and train, but it’s always a good idea to check with someone who’s more experienced. They can save you from making small mistakes that add up to something bigger.

2 Accept The Challenges

Some folks complain so much about competing that you would think they were told to do it at gunpoint. If that describes you, remember that you signed up for this challenge voluntarily. Before you yak on social media about how much you hate tilapia and spinach, remind yourself that anything worth achieving won’t be easy. But I’m telling you, you can do it.

“Practice your posing and your stage personality over and over.”

Sure, you’ll be at parties where everyone else will be enjoying a cocktail. Yes, there will be birthday parties at which you won’t be able to have a piece of chocolate cake. And there will be some mornings where everyone else will be sleeping while you’re grinding it out in the gym. Accept that these challenges will come your way and prepare your mind to overcome them. Your mental toughness will be your best weapon.

3 Bring The Whole Package

I did poorly in my first few competitions, so I started looking at the big picture. I had always spent the time in the gym, but I never took the time to do much practice in those clear heels in front of my mirror. Sometimes the girl that takes first place may not have the best abs—she just paid more attention to detail.

Your body can look great, but you also need to be able to perform and show your absolute best with hundreds of people in front of you and hot stage lights shining in your eyes. Practice your posing and your stage personality over and over. Make them second nature. This will ensure that the judges are focused on your presentation, not on how uncomfortable you look!

4 Do It For Yourself

Your choice to compete should be personal. Don’t sign up just because someone says, “Oh my gosh, you should totally do a show!” Your decision and your motivation must come from within. If your heart isn’t in it, you shouldn’t even compete.

To have a positive experience, you need to commit. You can’t question or doubt yourself. Make the decision to train consistently, eat like a competitor, and then follow it through!

5 Find The Value

You’ve been waiting months for this very moment. It’s time to stride onstage. So get out there and have fun!

No matter where you place, competing is a reward in itself. I’ve placed first and last. Neither placing has stopped me from entering another show. Your goals for competition day should be to meet new people, have a blast, eat a killer cheat meal after the show, and just be proud of what you’ve accomplished.

After you’ve competed, you might rush to sign up for your next show. You might decide that one show is enough. Either way, you’ve taken a risk and fought hard to achieve a goal. That’s worth celebrating!

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Congratulations! You’ve reached the end of the first phase of the Blueprint. Enjoy a well-earned rest day. It’s hard to believe you’ve only had three other rest days in the last month, but this is exactly the sort of approach that turned a promising but raw Austrian lifter into a Mr. Universe at age 20, and a repeat winner at age 21. Here’s how he looked when the British press captured the contest in London in 1969:

Arnold Schwarzenegger Wins Mr. Universe
Watch The Trailer – 01:44

His biggest leap of faith was yet to come: traveling across the Atlantic to head off against two-time defending Mr. Olympia Sergio Oliva. But in his mind, the final destination was never in doubt. Stay the course!

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Every legend has a great story at its start. Arnold’s first-ever serious upper-body workout is just such a story. Here’s how he portrayed it in The Education of a Bodybuilder. He had been doing loads of pull-ups and handstand push-ups with local bodybuilders as a teenager, but the first time he hit the iron in a gym, his body got a lesson it wouldn’t soon forget. He writes:

“I remember the first real workout I had as vividly as if it were last night. I rode my bike to the gym, which was eight miles from the village where I lived. I used barbells, dumbbells and machines. The guys warned me that I’d get sore, but it didn’t seem to be having any effect. I thought I must be beyond that.

“Then, after the workout, I started riding home and fell off my bike. I was so weak I couldn’t make my hands hold on. I had no feeling in my legs: they were noodles. I was numb, my whole body buzzing. I pushed the bike for a while, leaning on it. Half a mile farther, I tried to ride it again, fell off again, and then just pushed it the rest of the way home. This was my first experience with weight training, and I was crazy for it.

Arnold was blessed with great genetics, but when he came to America, it was his work ethic that made him get to the top.

“The next morning I couldn’t even lift my arm to comb my hair. Each time I tried, pain shot through every muscle in my shoulder and arm. I couldn’t hold the comb. I tried to drink coffee and spilled it all over the table. I was helpless.

“‘What’s wrong, Arnold?’ my mother asked. She came over from the stove and peered at me. ‘What is it?’ She bent down to look closer as she mopped up the spilled coffee.

“‘I’m just sore,’ I told her. ‘My muscles are stiff.’

“‘Look at this boy!’ she called out to my father. ‘Look what he’s doing to himself.’ My father came in, doing up his tie. He was always neat, his hair slicked back smooth, his mustache trimmed to a line. He laughed and said I’d limber up. But my mother kept on. ‘Why, Arnold? Why do you want to do it to yourself?’

“I couldn’t be bothered with what my mother felt. Seeing new changes in my body, feeling them, turned me on. It was the first time I’d ever felt every one of my muscles. It was the first time those sensations had registered in my mind, the first time my mind knew my thighs, calves and forearms were more than just limbs.”

This is bodybuilding: The project of awakening a body to its untapped potential. Let yours know it’s time to grow today.

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You’ve worked through seven hard leg days in three-and-a-half short weeks. Today, you’ve earned the opportunity to work up to a one-rep max and see how all your hard work has been paying off in strength.

Serious leg days like this were sacred events in Gold’s Gym, and all joking ceased when the weights got heavy. Here’s how Dick Tyler, a journalist for Weider Publications, recalled such a day in his book “The West Coast Bodybuilding Scene.”

“What made the whole scene a little scary was the almost unearthly quiet that seemed to descend. Everyone was concentrating on what they were doing. This was serious business and there would be no useless rapping that night.

“I looked over at Arnold, who was heavily clothed in a sweatsuit. The stains of sweat began to show under the arms and around the chest. Dave [Draper] slapped more plates on the bar. Now it was his turn. Again and again he went down to the full squat position, only to fight to stand. Arnold leaned forward with each rep and counted them out.

Many a bar bent across the back of the great Oak.

“When it seemed Dave would burst if he made one more effort, the Oak would lean even closer to the Bomber and say, ‘You can do it, Dave. You can do it.’

“Then as if in some kind of hypnotic state, the mighty Draper thighs would ram out another rep. ‘Do another one, Dave,’ said Arnold softly, another rep done.

“Then it was Arnold’s turn and he worked until his thighs looked like they would split his pants. There was no resting between the superset, then both Dave and Arnold started doing sissy squat moves on the hack machine. All that could be heard was the clank of Olympic plates and an occasional yell of encouragement.”

Get serious, get your lifting partner, and get to work!

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Q Hey Champ, what role do science and technology play in the world’s top physique?

Science leads to innovation, and innovation plays a huge role in the fitness industry. Take gym equipment, for example: there are exercise machines available now that can help isolate very specific muscles.

Before technology brought those machines into existence, you could only hit those muscles or muscle groups secondarily with compound movements. Because of these great advancements, I can make really specific changes to my physique that just would have been impossible even 20 years ago.

Science also plays a huge role in the supplements I consume. Experts and scientists constantly study and test new ingredients for health benefits. Every competitor is trying to put forward his or her best presentation. In order to keep up with or stay ahead of the field, we need cutting-edge supplements to constantly improve as our physiques do.

I do my best to keep abreast of all the research and development happening in the industry, but I have a busy schedule and I travel a lot. I rely on the expert researchers at Team MuscleTech to inform me of the latest trends or breakthroughs in ingredients or products. It would be unfeasible for me to do what I do without a great team around me.

I have experts and scientists on my team, so I’m a little better educated than most people. If you’re not sure how to supplement, I don’t think it’s smart to blindly take something just because somebody tells you it will give you an edge.

Do your own research so you’re the one making decisions about what you do with your body.

Consistency Works

Although technology plays a huge part in my training and nutrition regimen, I found that staying consistent in my programs has been the most effective way to stay on top of my game. I make minor changes here and there, but the biggest impacts on my programs come from the mirror and input from my coach. When I look at myself with an unbiased eye, I can tell exactly what parts of my physique need improvements. I also trust my coach to know where I should be and what my competition looks like.

I think a lot of people think that bodybuilding is just about putting on a lot of muscle. But, really, it’s much more complicated than that. When it comes to improving my physique, I always remind myself about the importance of maintaining symmetrical proportions as I add size. It’s not about being the biggest guy; it’s about having the most quality physique. I can be the biggest guy on stage, but if I’m not balanced or symmetrical, I’m not going to win.

“When I look at myself with an unbiased eye, I can tell exactly what parts of my physique need improvements.”

My supplementation regimen is also really consistent. My workouts are hard and heavy. There’s nothing easy about the way I train, so it’s important for me to maintain energy throughout my training sessions. I want to make sure I hit every muscle group with intensity and focus.

To help me do that, I use AminoBuild through my workouts. The formula is loaded with BCAAs and a high dose of betaine. I find it really helps with my recovery and keeps my strength at peak levels—plus, it tastes amazing.

The Future of Bodybuilding

As technology continues to impact the sport, I think it may actually bleed into how competitions and judging work. Bodybuilding is a subjective sport. Yes, judges are trained, but it’s hard for the judges to see everything they need to see—that’s just part of being human.

I think it would be pretty cool to have some type of 3D body scan done before stepping on the stage that would send all your measurements and body composition to the judges. With that information about symmetry, proportion, and conditioning, the judges would have an even better way to objectively assess the people they’re looking at on stage.

Performance, stage personality, and posing would still play a critical role, but those numbers could take away some of those subjective opinions that add a lot of controversy to bodybuilding.

In reality though, something like a body scan is probably decades away. And even with it, there will still always be a subjective component to judging competitions.

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