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Showing posts from February, 2013

What's With All These Asians?

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So lately at work I've been hearing a lot of, "What's with all you Asians hanging out together?" God forbid you find two or more Asian Americans hanging out together, because non-Asians will think that we're conspiring to take over the world or something.  Forget that fact that we don't complain when 2 or more white people hang out. There is a fear of a Yellow World on the part of non-Asians.  People of European ancestry were initially the minority when they colonized various parts of the world, so there was always this latent fear that the more numerous natives they subjugated would rise up and revolt. So when non-Asians notice "all these Asians," they're really expressing a fear of being the minority.  They fear that we'll do to them what they have done to us.  The underlying sentiment with statements like "What's with all the Asians?" or "There's too many Asians." is that our very existence is offensive an

Cesar Kuriyama: One second every day

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Duke Racist Party

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Working out with a busy schedule

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Q:  Thank you for the  10-8-6-15  workout, I've been staying on it for a few weeks now, doing it 3 times a week. But recently I have been quite busy with works and only able to do it once a week. My question is, should I stop the  10-8-6-15  and follow your "Flexible Frequency" training in your  4th book ? I really enjoy reading your book  Training for the Busy  Bodybuilder . Actually I love it! Thank you for sharing! Cheers, Dat My Answer:  Glad you love the book, Dat. If you find that you're only able to get to the gym once a week, then by all means follow the  Strength Training for the Busy Bodybuilder . That's what the book was meant for. The "Hypertrophy Training for the Ectomorph"  program  is based on frequent training, because that is what the ectomorph needs. But if you can only train once or twice a week, then your schedule will dictate your training program. Your schedule doesn't give a rat's ass whether you're

2 workouts a day

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Q:  "Hey James, how are you doing? I was wondering what would the  10-8-6-15  program look like for a Mon-Wed-Fri schedule? I see that there are 4 different muscle categories of exercises: A) Squats B1) Bench Press B2) Pulldowns C) Laterals D1) Incline Dumbell Curls D2) Close Grip Bench Press -Musai My Answer:  It's pretty clear in the article, Musai. The above series of exercises is the workout you perform every time: Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Q:  "Hey dude, it's been some time since I asked you a question. But as a teenager or beginner bodybuilder I think it's safer if my questions are answered by someone who knows his stuff and has experience. "A while ago I changed to a new training routine in which I completely ignore repetitions and sets. I go for full weights with maximum reps +1 or 2 more reps, then lower the weight by about 10-20%. Then I do it again and again, so 3 times I lower the weight. Overall I do this some 3-4 times.

Building Your Pull-up Strength

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Q:  "First, I am an ectomorph - 5'6" 120lbs. I have gained 10 lbs. since I started working out consistently for the past month. I have been doing pyramid split routines of 15-12-10-8 reps. Monday (chest/triceps) Tuesday(back/biceps) Wednesday(Legs+abs) Thursday(shoulders) "I have noticed I tire out after the first few exercises. I have a question regarding your pyramid  10-8-6-15  training. I know it's best to have a rest day in between, but can it be 3 out of 4 days? "My free days are Monday to Thursday. Could I do Monday, Tuesday, Thursday with Wednesday doing abs? Or either of those combinations between Monday to Thursday? Since it's a full body workout on each workout day, do I need to rest a full day in between? "Another thing how much weight should I take off between set of 6 reps and set of 15 rep? Example: Bench press 10x105 8x115 6x125 15x105? "Please help me. I really like this idea of training 1 exercise per body

Body weight only training

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Q:  "I recently read your article, Body Contract 2.0, and loved it. I read it, because though I know a lot about great exercises, I know almost nothing about creating a program. I love using difficult body weight exercises, I have a nice dumbbell weight set and some jump stretch resistance bands.  "Since you know so much about putting together programs, how can I put together a program with body weight exercises and resistance bands and what would be some resources were I could learn how to put together programs? I appreciate you taking your valuable time to help me out." From, A 16 year Old Basketball Player My Answer:  A strength training program is only as good as its equipment. If you have an effective weight training program but only have access to calisthenics, stretch bands and dumbbells, then that's like having the architectural designs of I.M. Pei, but you only a hammer and nails to work with. It really depends on what your goal is with weight tra

Strength Training for Fat Loss

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Q:  "I'm really happy I read your article  Arm Training Assault  on bodybuilding.com. I followed the sample program for 3 weeks and added a substantial amount of size to my arms. Is it necessary to train the arms this frequently to gain mass on the arms? Is it possible to train the arms twice a week instead of 3 and still get the same amount of size? "Thank you very much," -J. G. My Answer:  Glad you like the results on the program. To answer your question: yes, you can gain substantial size on your arms training them only twice a week, but only after training them for 3-4 times a week prior. Training a muscle only twice a week works fine as a decompression phase (refer to  Strength and Physique, V1  on this concept), but your gains will plateau fairly quickly. You can still train your arms frequently by separating your arms from your back and chest workouts. That way you've trained them twice a week directly and twice more indirectly through the chest and