Here is the first part of an article from Jason Ferrugia, author of Muscle Gaining Secrets on using the exercises that gymnasts and sprinters use to build their physiques.

By Jason Ferruggia

Every four years, while watching the summer Olympics, you would be hard pressed not to notice the great physiques possessed by many of the athletes. But by far and away the most muscular bodies always belong to the gymnasts and the sprinters. These guys certainly know how to build muscle more effectively than most average gym rats.

For years now I have been extolling the virtues of moving your body through space when you train, as opposed to simply moving your limbs around a fixed object. When you move your body through space, as the Olympic gymnasts do, you stimulate a much higher level of neuromuscular activation. In simple terms this means that you call more muscle fibers into play on any one exercise. And the more muscle fibers you activate, the more you will grow.

So if you want to develop an incredible physique, take a lesson from the Olympic gymnasts on how to build muscle, and start moving your body through space as much as possible while you train. Following is a list of exercises to start you on the path to getting huge.

1. Instead of triceps pushdowns do parallel bar dips.
   
   Have you noticed how many dips and how much work the Olympians do on the parallel bars? And have you noticed the size of their triceps? Need I say more?
2. Instead of barbell curls do close grip chin ups. Ditto what I said about the dips. Not only do you get incredible biceps development from close grip chins but you also get the added bonus of massive lat and forearm development.
3. Instead of bench presses do chain or strap suspended pushups. While the bench press can be an effective mass building exercise it can also be one of the worst for your shoulders. If you want to be safer and build a chest and pair of shoulders like you see on the Olympic gymnasts I would highly recommend some type of chain or strap suspended pushup. This movement will call far more muscle fibers into play and challenge the smaller stabilizers muscles as well. Not only that but you will get an outstanding ab workout from this movement as well; something that can’t be said for the bench press.
4. Instead of leg presses, leg extensions or leg curls do double and single leg squats. When you sit in a fixed machine and move weight with your limbs as opposed to moving your body the level of neuromuscular activation is quite low; no matter how much weight you use. And it is very unnatural. A leg press allows you to build strength in your lower body without additional gains in lower back and core strength. This is not normal and creates an imbalance that will lead to future problems. When you do squats you incorporate nearly every muscle from head to toe and will not only build tree trunk sized legs but will stimulate growth throughout your entire body.
5. Instead of crunches and sit ups do all of the exercises listed above. Isolation abdominal exercises like crunches and sit ups are not real life type movements. In real life your abdominals contract isometrically to protect your spine; they do not contract the way they do in a crunch or sit up.  Not only that, but by continually flexing your spine for hundreds of reps per week, you will surely be setting yourself up for long term back problems.

   If you follow a steady diet of chins, dips, suspended pushups and squats you will build an incredible set of abs. When you watch the Olympic gymnasts you immediately notice their rock solid abs popping right through their spandex and they never do crunches or sit ups. You simply can’t hide abs like that. That kind of six pack is built with full body movements like the ones listed above.

   But if you still want to do a little extra ab work you can add in exercises like planks and ab wheel rollouts; just skip the sit ups and crunches.

Now you know how to build muscle, Olympic style. Stick with these time tested exercises and the others listed in my Muscle Gaining Secrets course for the next eight weeks and be prepared add some massive slabs of beef to your physique.

Jason Ferruggia is a world famous fitness expert who is renowned for his ability to help people build muscle fast. He is the head training advisor for Men’s Fitness Magazine where he also has his own monthly column dedicated to muscle building. For more great muscle building information, please visit musclegainingsecrets

Remember to sign up for my 5 part Building Muscle and Strength e-course.
If you are interested in me personally designing your programs and helping you achieve your size and strength goals go to busy-fitness.com/online-personal-training/
Wayne

Here is the second part of the Charles Staley article on gaining mass.

The Can’t-Fail Mass-Gain Triad: Eat Big, Train Big, Sleep Big (Part Two)

By Charles Staley, B.Sc, MSS
Director, Staley Training Systems

In the first installment of this article, I outlined the fundamental components of training big.

As the saying goes however, your training is only as good as your ability to recover from it. That’s where big eating and big sleeping come in.

Here then, are your two “hidden” keys to no-fail recovery…

Eating Big

OK, take a deep breath because here comes some more advice you won’t like. Eating big means waaaayyy bigger than what you think it means. Literally, you have no idea what it means, because it you did, you wouldn’t be reading an article about how to gain weight. If you’re the prototypical 18-year old kid weighing say, 140 pounds at a height of 5-11 or so, you’re not likely to gain weight until you surpass the 5000-calorie barrier. That’s your daily intake by the way, not weekly.

Now aside from your palpable fear about the number I just threw at you, here’s another hard reality: you can’t do this eating “clean.” You’ll have to eat a lot of fat, including things like (take a deep breath) butter, mayo, pizza, ice cream, and high-fat meats and dairy products.

In all seriousness, your hourly fat intake will probably exceed the American Heart Association’s recommendations for daily fat intake.

Oh, and you’ll probably lose your abs (to the 76 percent of the remaining 14 percent of readers who left us earlier in the article- SEE YA!).

For the rest of you who are truly serious about gaining weight, just understand that the loss of visible ab development is part of the price you’ll have to pay. Later on, when you weigh 265, you can trim down to 220 or so and have your abs back, But for now, let’s just worry about acquiring something to trim in the first place.

Remember, this isn’t about lowering your serum cholesterol, looking good in a speedo, or becoming president of your local PETA chapter. It’s about laying down some serious muscle. And doing that means tricking mother nature into believing that new muscle won’t jeopardize your long-term survival odds.

If you’re still looking for specifics, I’ll give you a few:

Sleep Big

By “sleeping big,” what I really mean is getting enough rest and avoiding physical activity that doesn’t contribute to lean mass gains. Sleeping at least 8 hours a day is important, and possibly up to 9-10 hours a day, including naps if possible. My grandmother used to preach (and I happen to think she was right) that the hours before midnight are the ones that really count.

As for reducing “non-productive” physical activities, there is no absolute recommendation I can make. You simply have to decide if the calories you burn through skateboarding, playing Frisbee, or whatever it is you like to do is worth the cost in terms of reduced gains in lean mass. Clearly, “non-training” physical activities are not “bad” per se, they just interfere with muscle growth (in your case anyway). Only through careful reflection can you decide if the cost is worth the benefit.

Parting Thoughts

If you’re young and skinny with a raging metabolism, the advice I’m dispensing here will seem like a bitter pill to swallow. There is indeed a price to pay for carrying around more muscle than nature deems sensible. But take solace in the fact that those of us with the opposite challenge would love to have your problem!

So if you’re tired of being skinny, follow the roadmap I’ve just provided, and I assure you you’ll gain as much muscle as your genetics will allow. Just make sure you enjoy the process along the way!

Remember to sign up for my 5 part Building Muscle and Strength e-course.
If you are interested in me personally designing your programs and helping you achieve your size and strength goals go to busy-fitness.com/online-personal-training/
Wayne

I’m happy to be able to give you another article from Charles Staley, the developer of EDT. In this article Charles talks about the 3 basics of building muscle.

The Can’t-Fail Mass-Gain Triad: Eat Big, Train Big, Sleep Big (Part One)

By Charles Staley, B.Sc, MSS
Director, Staley Training Systems

If you’ve heard the expression “eat big, train big, sleep big” before, you’ve already been exposed to the key components of all successful mass-gaining programs.

If you’ve taken this advice to heart and acted in it, you’ve already experienced the synergistic power of reprogramming your metabolism.

If you haven’t tasted the Kool-Aid yet, what are you waiting for?

The rationale behind the “Big 3″ philosophy is rooted in simple evolutionary biology. If you consider the essential components necessary for successful species-propagation, you arrive at a few inescapable conclusions:

As you flesh through these 3 points, you quickly arrive at the idea physique for survival purposes: “skinny-fat.” So first off, congratulations are in order, because I’m guessing (by virtue of the fact that you’re reading this article), you’ve got the perfect physique for surviving to mating age!

OK, I get it- you just want to be bigger.

Been there, done that- at age 18, I weighed 148 pounds at 6′2″, and I wasn’t particularly lean either (today at age 49 I’m about 213 pound at that same height, and still not particularly lean, but I’m currently carrying about 177 pounds of lean mass, which is more than my total bodyweight was as a skinny 18-year old)

Hopefully I’ve managed to adequately explain the problem- mother nature doesn’t really buy into your plan to get all big and jacked.

Which leads to the solution- you’ve gotta fool ol’ mother nature. And we’re going to do that by convincing her that 1) you actually need more muscle in order to survive (”train big”), and that you’re taking in plenty of food- on a chronic basis- to justify those muscles (”eat big”).

And along the way, we’re going to further pacify your survival safeguards by sleeping big, which serves the purposes of reducing your energy expenditure enough to allow even more additional muscle growth.

Let’s discuss each component of the “Big 3″ equation in more detail…

Training Big

When I speak of training “big,” I’m really talking about adhering to a handful of tactics and principles. These concepts are not controversial, cutting-edge, hard to understand or implement. In other words, they’re not “sexy.” (If you’re among the 87% of readers who just closed this browser window- SEE YA!).

For the rest of you, let’s explore the tried-and true components of successful mass-gaining programs:

1) Restrict your training to multi-joint movements performed with free weights.

All forms of squats, deadlifts, presses, and pull-ups fulfill this requirement. The “non-approved” list is much larger: any & all forms of exercise machines, including pec dec, leg curl, leg extension, and leg press.

Don’t do curls, ab exercises, or calf movements. Also avoid all forms of running, swimming, cycling, aerobics, stretching, and/or dance classes. Refrain from any form of pilates, functional training, spinning, tae-bo, yoga, body pump, and/or any device/method you see on a TV infomercial, including Total Gym, Bowflex, P90X, Hip Hop Abs, The Perfect Pushup, Iron Gym, etc. If I’ve missed anything (and I have, trust me), simply line up the questionable exercise you’re thinking of with the first sentence above: “restrict your training to multi-joint movements performed with free weights.”

2) Train 3-4 days per week.

Not 1, 2, 5, 6, or 7, or any number higher than that (no two-a-days, in other words). Can you train 3 days one week and 4 the next? Yes. This should be the most simple recommendation to understand and follow, so I’ll move on to the next point…

3) On your “work sets,” use weights that are heavy enough to prevent the performance of more than 10 reps in a single effort.

Yes, that means you have a lot of flexibility in the weights you select, and the set/rep brackets you use, all the way from singles with super heavy weights to 10 reps with more moderate weight. There is no single “ideal” set x rep equation- anything in the “10 reps and under” category will prove effective.

What really matters is how many “quality” repetitions you perform in a session. By “quality” I mean reps where you expose large muscles to high tensions. Let’s explore that in just a bit more detail…

Creating High Tensions: Load VS Speed

If you load up a bare to a weight that’s just slightly less than you can lift, and perform one rep, you’ll have exposed your muscles to a very high tension- that’s probably obvious. What’s less obvious to a lot of people is that you can get similarly high tensions by lifting lighter weights.

The way you do this is with acceleration. Using between say, 65 and 75 percent of a weight you could lift only once, performing sets of maybe 2-5 reps per set, using as much controlled speed as possible on the “positive” (concentric) phase of the lift, creates as much tension as a very heavy weight would.

And it’s both safer and more fun to boot. So in your mass-training, use a variety of weights, but always move every rep as fast as possible.

4) Limit (And Time) Your Training Sessions.

Most experts would say that 60 minutes is a maximum ideal length for a weight-training session, but I’ll go out on a limb and use 90 minutes instead.

The reason for my recommendation is that if you’re using effective exercises (as described earlier), you’ll need a relatively large number of warm-up sets before you can tackle your work sets for that exercise. So for example, you don’t need to do much of a warm-up for tricep kickbacks or the adductor machine, but you do need a significant warm-up for a deadlift workout or a heavy bench press session. This is especially true once you get stronger- which you will.

5) Limit each training session to no more than 4 exercises.

The reason for this recommendation is dictated by the previous suggestion regarding workout length. If your total session is limited to 90 minutes, and assuming that you’re using effective exercises as recommended earlier, you’ll only have 22.5 minutes per exercise, and that includes warm-up sets. That’s not a lot of time if you’re working hard. So remember, the recommendation is no more than 4 exercises- in many cases, 3 is even better, and very often 2 exercises per session is absolutely ideal.

It’s not about hitting the muscle from all angles, muscle confusion, or any other bullshit you’ve picked up on the internet somewhere- it’s about picking 1-2, or maybe 3 big, hard movements, and working the piss out of them.

Stay tuned for Part 2!

Remember to sign up for my 5 part Building Muscle and Strength e-course.
If you are interested in me personally designing your programs and helping you achieve your size and strength goals go to busy-fitness.com/online-personal-training/
Wayne