Mythbusters Vol 3
by Nate Green


In Mythbusters Volume 1 and Volume 2,
we let our panel of fitness experts identify, rant about, and quash
some common and not-so-common exercise myths that hold most guys
back from building a strong, muscular, injury-resistant
physique.
In Volume 3, Chad Waterbury, Christian Thibaudeau, Tim
Ziegenfuss, Mike Robertson, and Nick Tumminello ask you to pull up
a chair and join the debunking process.
But as any self-respecting GI Joe fan understands, knowing is
...

Straight Talk About the Fitness Biz
by Chris Shugart


In the first part of our interview, Alwyn Cosgrove —
coach, gym owner, entrepreneur, and two-time cancer survivor
— expounded on the business of fitness, and why it takes more
than a love of working out to succeed as a personal trainer.
Now, in part two, Alwyn tackles the difficult issues of getting
clients to comply with a trainer's programs, enticing new
members to a no-frills gym, and how to know if you're cut out
for a career in the fitness industry....

Mythbusters Vol 2
by Nate Green


In Mythbusters Volume 1,
we let our expert panel tee off on some of the fitness industry's
most insidious myths, debunking the ones that piss them off the
most.
Now we're back with more myths, and a (mostly) new lineup of
eminent fitness professionals eager to set the record straight on
the topics they care most about.


Myth: Box squats are dangerous.
Mythbuster: Dave Tate
Two recent articles in T-Muscle, written by prominent strength
coaches,...

Go Barefoot to Get Stronger
by Harry Clay


In one of his greatest In Living Color skits, Jim Carrey
spoofed
palsied poet Christy Brown, the hero of My Left Foot. Brown
became an Irish ass-kicking machine in "My Left Foot of
Fury," wielding nunchuks and brass knuckles on the bare foot
of his one working limb.
What does that have to do with building strength and
size?
Nothing. I just think it's a funny bit. But it does bring
up an important lesson about human physiology:...

Is Sport-Specific Training a Myth?
by Michael Boyle


Strength training is and always will be a major part of the conditioning
process for athletes. In fact, nothing seems to help sport performance
more than the development of strength and power. This is great news for
those of us who've made a career out of helping athletes reach those
goals.
But even though we all agree about the importance of strength training,
and even though there's some general consensus about the best ways
to improve athletes' strength...

Rebuild Yourself with Complexes
by Dan John


If I ever recommended a workout that cut fat and built muscle at the
same time, I'm not sure I'd believe myself. After all the late night
television hucksters, I'm not sure what to believe anymore.
But then, last week, a student came up to me during the transition of
our workout and asked, "Coach, can I get a copy of all the complexes
for my dad? The rest of the guys in the fire department want to do them,
too."

"Well, sure," I said....

Shredded in 6 Days
Your Guide to Level 4 Leanness
by Christian Thibaudeau and Chris Shugart

Are you fat or are you lean? What do you mean you're not sure?
You're not fat, but you're not exactly ripped either? Somewhere in
the middle?
Many people have the same problem, even those who train hard and
watch their diets. They're probably what we call "levels 2's" —
certainly not fat, but not exactly cut either.
You see, we believe there's more than one level of leanness. And
there's a big...

Anterior Core Training
by Michael Boyle

Who do we believe?
The strength guys say something like, "Forget doing abs, just do
heavy squats and deadlifts."
Don't even say the word "core" around these guys.
The functional guys say, "Lying down is not functional."
The functional guys seem to be against any core training not done standing.
If we proceeded logically we would see that both groups — the strength
guys and the functional guys — at least agree that all good core
training is done standing....

Lifts I Never Did, Used to Do, or Just Started Doing Again
by Michael
Boyle


As a writer and a coach, I thrive on change. If I see something that
looks like it might work, I'll try it. If I'm doing something
that doesn't work, I'll stop using it. Sometimes I'll
return to exercises that I stopped doing, having reconsidered the reasons
I abandoned them, or found new uses that I hadn't thought of before.
And sometimes, if an exercise or training technique doesn't make
sense to me, no matter how popular it...

How Strong Are Your Abs, Really?
by Nick Tumminello


Regardless of who you are and what your goals include, you need strong
midsection muscles. They're as crucial to your overall health as
they are to your athletic performance.
Most of us, of course, understand this at some level, and dedicate a
fair amount of time to targeted abdominal training. But how effective
is that training? How do you know if it's working?
In my experience, lifters have no idea how much midsection strength
they possess. That's because...

Facts and Fallacies of Corrective Exercise
by Mike Robertson


Corrective exercise is the new "functional training."
Functional training started out with the best intentions. Well-meaning
physical therapists got their clients off the leg extension machines
and had them do exercises that mimicked everyday life. Somewhere along
the line, though, it turned into people balancing on wobble boards, doing
squats on Bosu balls, and a host of other activities that aren't the
least bit
"functional."

Question of Strength: Vol 48
by Charles Poliquin




The Rhythm Method

Q: I've heard you mention "rhythm squats." What are they?
A: The rhythm squat is an exercise used to develop your vertical jump.
I learned it from Istvan Javorek, the Romanian strength coach. I use
it to work on the elastic component of the muscular structure.
Basically, it's 50-rep sets of quarter or partial squats. The first
10 reps you come up on your toes; the next 10 you stay on your heels
and don't come up...

Midrange Partials for the Best Pump of Your Life
by Nick Tumminello


Back in April, in an article called "How Not to
Warm Up," I offered a simple way to decide if a training system is worth pursuing:
"If it doesn't make scientific sense, and defies common sense,
then it must be nonsense."
I remind you of this because the technique I'm about to describe
is the opposite of what I wrote about in the previous article. It makes
scientific sense, and I think it'll mesh with...

The Cure for Skinny
A Roundtable, featuring Joe DeFranco, Vince
DelMonte, and Craig Weller
by Nate Green


Are you afraid of blowing away in a strong gust of wind? Tired of looking
in the mirror and seeing vermicelli arms and Tinker Toy legs? Does your
little sister ask to borrow your clothes... and threaten to beat
you up if you refuse? Do you ever look at the 45-pound plates in the
gym and wonder when you'll be able to use them? Sick of answering
questions that remind you of the one subject you try...

Get Huge in a Hurry
Chad Waterbury Tells You How
by The Editors


You've read the bodybuilding magazines. You know how to train for
size: split routines, three sets of 10 reps of every exercise, take each
set to failure, grind out your reps to increase your time under tension.
It's a familiar playbook, and you've got it memorized.
So, is it working for you? Are you big and ripped yet? Are you satisfied?
No? Well, have you made any significant, noticeable gains in the last
couple of years?
If you have,...

The Importance Of Exercise and How To Incorporate It Into Your Lifestyle
by Jeffry S. Life, M.D. Ph.D.

The United Nations, the World Health Organization, and 37 countries including the United States have proclaimed 2000-2010 as the Bone and Joint Decade to promote the importance of a healthy musculoskeletal structure for a lifetime. The number of people older than 50 will double between 1990 and 2020. Advances in medicine continue to make it possible for more people to live longer, but today most want to live stronger and maintain their quality of life. Each year, musculoskeletal...

Question of Strength: December
by Charles Poliquin

In this installment, one of the world's most successful
strength coaches answers your questions about training on a tight
schedule, the best recovery methods, developing better balance, and
the most effective type of ab training.
But first, a few (more) words on CrossFit.


CrossFit Analyzed
Q: Coach, in your last column you talked a little about CrossFit, saying that "no athlete
has ever gotten any good training like that." Have you had...

The size of your

biceps depends on your squat strength. Do you agree? No? You don’t see

the connection? Bear with me then because the above statement is true. Up to

one-third of your upper extremity force is generated by your lower body, especially

during multiple...

Let’s

play T-mag Jeopardy.

Answer:

The most successful strength and conditioning programs

have this in common.

Question:

What are power cleans, Alex?

Yep,

it’s true. The power clean has been in the arsenal of the most successful

strength and conditioning programs in America...

The Real "Core" Exercise
by Michael Boyle

Tech note: This article contains videos delivered in
Flash. You will need the latest version of the Flash Player (at least version
7) to view them. If you cannot see the videos, please CLICK HERE to download and install the latest player now. It is free, quick,
and easy.

A few weeks ago, Jeremy Frisch wrote an article called Strength
Exercises That Work Your Core. I enjoyed
Jeremy's article, but I didn't see a lot of my favorite
exercises.
...

The Top Seven Ways to F— Up in the Gym!
by Ian King

The aim of this article is to touch upon some of what I consider
to be the more common and damaging "mistakes" used in strength
training. Having personally programmed more individual athletes than I
care to remember (actually, I don't bother to count), I've gained an
insight into why training often stagnates.
There may be many reasons for lack of progress, and I'm a strong
believer in the individualization of training. That is, the most
accurate program design or troubleshooting...

Everything Push-Ups
by Nick Tumminello


The other day I decided to break from my low carb ways and have
a bagel. Bagels aren't normally my first choice as a splurge food,
but I got a weird craving. And since everything looks good to a
carb-restricted man, I ordered an "everything" bagel because it
has, well, everything.
In the short time it took me to scarf down that starchy
goodness, I realized the pure genius of the "everything" bagel.
It's a bagel that can become any bagel.

Testosterone Muscle: The 10-Year Anniversary
by Lou Schuler

Let me start by saying this about my gig at Testosterone Muscle:
It would be a dream job, except for the crazy, out-of-control egos
of my employers.
Take that 10-year anniversary celebration last May. Have you
ever seen such a display of chest-thumping, pelvis-pumping
self-congratulation? It's a wonder Tim and TC didn't tear
multiple rotator-cuff muscles with all those hubristic pats to
their own ostentatiously hypertrophied backs.
Oh, wait. That...

Glute Training for Dudes
by Mark Young

It seems every time you pass a newsstand, all the women's
fitness mags are having a "special glute edition," but
very rarely do you see an article dedicated to glute training for
men.
However, the truth is that dedicated glute training can not only
do unsexy things like injury prevention, but it can also increase
strength and it might just land you a date with the girl you hit on
every day by the water cooler.


Injury Prevention
In my personal...

Diamond Calves and Old School Exercises
Mondays with Thibs
by Christian Thibaudeau

This week I had to force myself to write a calf program. I say
force because I once promised myself that I'd never write one...
ever.
Truth be told, designing such programs has always been boring as
hell! But thanks to the number of you who spoke up on behalf of
your non-existent calves, I had to break my promise.

Dan John's Top 10 Tips
by Dan John


The Classic Tips
Years ago, I offered this list of tips for athletes:

1. Use whole body lifts; rarely isolate a muscle.

2. Constantly strive to add weight to the bar and move it faster.

3. The best anabolic is water.

4. Did you eat breakfast? If not, don’t ask me anything about nutrition.

5. If you smoke or don’t wear your seatbelt, please don’t tell me the quick lifts are dangerous.

6. Go heavy, go hard.

7. Keep it simple....

Ab Training From the Inside Out
by John Romaniello


Breathing isn't one of those things we normally think about. Being
the morons that we are — according to the general public, at least — bodybuilders
generally prefer to devote our limited brain power towards things which
seem more pertinent, such as calculating food intake or figuring out
which tank top will make our guns look the biggest (okay, maybe that
one's just me).
Actions like breathing, blood flow, and the like are...

Core Training for Smart Folks
by Mike Robertson


Bodybuilders and Powerlifters Unite
A few weekends ago, I had the privilege of presenting a full-day seminar
on how posture relates to performance at the Poliquin Performance Center
in Chicago. I was glad to learn that not only were people more cognizant
of how important posture was, but that posture actually played a significant
role in the performance of their lifts.
On the other hand, I also learned that quite a few people are so focused
on one topic that they've...

High Performance Core Training
by Mike Robertson, M.S., C.S.C.S., U.S.A.W.

Tech note: This article contains videos delivered in
Flash. You will need the latest version of the Flash Player (at least version
7) to view them. If you cannot see the videos, please CLICK
HERE to download and install the latest player now. It is free, quick,
and easy.

You've been training your abs incorrectly forever. That's right, forever.
But how? Have all of us T-Nation writers missed the "core training" boat?
While...

Size and Strength Training for Generation
Ent
by Mike Mahler

In Part 1 of this series,
I showed the entertainment-addicted youth of our nation —
Generation Ent — how to do hardcore cardio work that's
fun, challenging, highly effective, and never
boring.
This time the subject is size and strength. The workout is based
on ideas popularized by Louie Simmons, a true strength-training
pioneer. The powerlifters Louie trains at Westside Barbell Club are some of the
strongest men and women around.

Mondays With
Thibs: 6 Random Ways to Accelerate Your Training
by Christian Thibaudeau

I may not be your average, creepy magician, able to pull scared
shitless rabbits out of my hat, but I did reach into my gym bag for
not just one, but six random training tips.
Most of these I learned from just getting under the bar,
wrapping my hands around the knurling, and squeezing like hell.
Some are heavily backed by science, some haven't even been studied,
and others go against the current research, leaving our friends...

The Truth About CrossFit
by Chris Shugart

"Was I in the right place?" I asked myself for the
second time that day.
The little street near Southern Methodist University in Dallas
was an incongruous blend of old houses and new bars teeming with
college kids. It was 9 p.m. and the sun had set, making it
impossible for me to read the street numbers. Finally I pulled over
next to a bar called The Green Elephant to look at my
directions again.
And that's when I saw them, a handful of men and...

Tech note: This article contains videos delivered in Flash. You will
need the latest version of the Flash Player (at least version 7) to
view them. If you cannot see the videos, please CLICK HERE to download and install the latest player now. It is free, quick, and easy.

The Smith machine is the equipment parallel to High Intensity
Training. On one hand, it's been called more dirty names
than Madonna on a trip to...

Death to Crunching
by Scott Abel
Some time ago, I saw a news report about a guy who'd set
some kind of world record for sit-ups. I'll admit he was
impressive; he could do thousands. And yet, the guy had no visible
abdominal development. Not even a cosmetic outline.
If the purpose of sit-ups is to train abdominal muscles, why
wouldn't the world-record holder have some signs of ab
development? The answer is simple: He'd trained his body to
perform an exercise. He wasn't training his muscles at all.
Traditional ab...

Mondays with Thibs: You Don't Know Jack About Your
Back
by Christian Thibaudeau

The back — the most spectacular, yet often neglected body
part.
Okay, neglected might not be the right word, as people don't
usually forget to train it like they do those two bamboo shoots
they walked into the gym on.
However, a vast majority really have problems stimulating their
back to grow on par with the rest of their upper body musculature.
This is, in part, why someone with a wide, detailed, and thick back
stands...

Recently, a jiu-jitsu fighter came to my strength and
conditioning class at the Rickson Gracie Center in Los Angeles.
This guy's also a powerlifter, and damn proud of it. Before the
class, he took it upon himself to tell me how much he could lift.
At the top of his list is a raw parallel squat with two and a half
times his bodyweight. Guys like to brag. It's in our nature. All
that Testosterone, you know.
Anyway, it was odd that he mentioned his powerlifting numbers
since he knew that I was already familiar with what he could...

Strongman for Athletes
Implement Training for Improved Athletic
Performance: An
Integrated Approach
by Allen Hedrick

Tech note: This article contains videos delivered in
Flash. You will need the latest version of the Flash Player (at least version
7) to view them. If you cannot see the videos, please CLICK
HERE to download and install the latest player now. It is free, quick,
and easy.

You need to know right away that our athletes at the US Air
Force Academy don't train as if they're...

The New V-Diet Test Drive
by Dan John and Chris Shugart



A few months ago, coach Dan John said that the Velocity Diet was
an insane diet for insane people. A few weeks later, he started the
diet.


Well, that explains a lot, doesn't it?


All kidding aside, I was thrilled to have Dan try the diet. He's
brutally honest, intrinsically curious, and he has the heart of a
teacher.


He also had a big fat belly.


Now, I admire the hell out of Dan. He's...

3 Simple Tips That Work
Telling The Rest of The Story
by Dan John



Paul Harvey made a career with the statement, "And now, the rest
of the story." I think most readers will recognize the phrase and
perhaps, like me, they've leaned in to hear what interesting turn
the story we've been hearing is about to take.

When the Beijing...

Ab Training From the Inside Out
by John Romaniello


Breathing isn't one of those things we normally think about. Being
the morons that we are — according to the general public, at least — bodybuilders
generally prefer to devote our limited brain power towards things which
seem more pertinent, such as calculating food intake or figuring out
which tank top will make our guns look the biggest (okay, maybe that
one's just me).
Actions like breathing, blood flow, and the like are...

Mondays with Thibs: The Holistic Chest Blast
by Christian Thibaudeau


Call me a sadistic SOB because I'm always glad to bring more
pain your way. This time the red glow of my laser sight is dancing
around your chest and I'm ready to pull the trigger.
This freshly unwrapped chest program takes a holistic approach
that focuses on developing several physical capacities at the same
time. If you've been stuck at the same level of pectoral
development for what seems like forever, this program, which will
be a...

Question of Strength: October
by Charles Poliquin


Lower Carbs for Endurance Athletes?
Q: Coach, your nutritional approach leans toward lower carbs and
lower grains for most of the population. But what about low carbs
for endurance athletes? Don't they need the energy from
carbs?
A: Here's the thing: If these athletes have the genotype —
the genetic constitution — to be endurance athletes, then
they'll naturally be carb-tolerant anyway.

HIT, Spit, and Bullshit: An Interview with Ellington
Darden
by Nate Green


When Ellington Darden, Ph.D., learned I was from Montana, he
convinced me, in his laconic Southern drawl, that Clint Eastwood
was a friend of his. But before I had a chance to be impressed, he
corrected himself. Turns out, it wasn't Clint Eastwood, but
some guy named Clint Walker who starred in some hundred-year-old TV
show called Cheyenne.
Was Dr. Darden having a senior moment? Was he just playing loose
with the...

Caveman Speaks
by the Editors


It started in March 2005 with a forum thread titled
"Grateful for Accomplishment".
Since then, the Testosterone reader who goes by the handle
of Caveman has become something of a local
celebrity.
Why? Probably because he has the kind of physique that most Testosterone members would like to have. But how did he get
it? How does he train and what does he eat? What role did steroids
play in building that admirable physique?
We tracked the...