The Good Guys Corner

RECOVERY is the most important part of training success.

Understanding this will skyrocket your gains.  You'll feel better, look better, AND lift more weight.

Too many people think that they get big in the gym.  You don't get big in the gym, you get big out of the gym. 

You get big by stimulating some growth in the gym, and then going home and eating properly and sleeping properly.  That's it.  There are no big secrets.  It is that simple.

The problem I see with many bros in the gym is that they think those extra 5 sets are gonna turn them into this.........



.......negative, they're actually doing the opposite....



Training is very simple, but not easy.  You have to balance your recovery periods with the type of load, sets, and reps you are doing in the gym.  Sounds simple, right? Well, the only way to recover properly is to know the science behind the loads you are using.














Who do you think is going to need more recovery time?


For the most part, most people can recover from strength training in 24 hours and hypertrophy or endurance work in 48 hours.  However, other variables affect those timelines.  Are you able to eat enough food throughout the day to keep your body stable and adapting properly?  Are you eating enough of the right macro-nutrients?  Are you getting enough sleep? At least 8 hours a day is recommended.  Other things to consider are stress levels, and supplementation.

If you've been in the gym and haven't been making any gains, yet seem to when you start taking that pre-workout or caffeine...then you haven't actually made any gains.  Your strength has been artificially enhanced and you will plateau again unless all the variables are in balance.

She has some serious balance....

This is why I have a problem with the bros in the gym doing body-part splits and working out daily.  It doesn't give your body time to recover and replenish.  Regardless of doing a different body part daily, your body still needs time to replenish things like your liver's glycogen stores, and let your nervous system recover.

Working a different body part a day to exhaustion drains the liver and doesn't allow it or the nervous system to recover.  This is why these bros make very small gains if any over a year's period.  To be honest if you do it right you can gain 1-2 lbs of muscle a week.  In a 3 month cycle that's 12-24 lbs of muscle.  Yet these bros barely change after a year.....the funny part is that their solution is to do more!  Here this is for you.....



In order to improve muscle size and strength, training loads must be adequate to stimulate growth.  However, for the adaptations to occur you must balance work and recovery.

This is highly individualized.  No two people will ever be able to work and recover exactly alike.  The only way to know is to experiment with your body. A good starting point are the common timelines I gave above.

The only way to achieve long term success, long term gains, and long term JACKED-NESS is to follow an individualized progressive periodized program.

She knows the deal

Do not be one of those daggom knuckleheads that takes a hardcore pre-workout and fries his muscles.  In fact, you shouldn't be getting sore at all.  Discomfort is acceptable, but if you ever experience soreness you need to change your training immediately.  There is no need to destroy your muscles.  The bros that read this are probably gonna riot but I put 10 lbs on a kid in a month and he never got sore once.  Not once.

You get bigger by overloading your muscles and then allowing them to recover, not damaging them. 

Don't sabotage your gains by being a daggom knucklehead.




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The other day I was working out and I got highly impatient.  I was listening to Bodies by Drowning Pool and became highly aggressive.  I almost said forget the prep phase and walked over to the squat rack.  More than anything I wanted to sniff some ammonia, exchange head butts with a couple bros and go for a squat or deadlift PR.  But, then I remembered that it's best to stick to the plan. There's nothing more detrimental to my gains than lifting too heavy too soon.  However, there's nothing better than loading plates onto a bar and taking care of business. Why? Because nothing gets you JACKED and puts a chip on your shoulder like moving weight.

Mike Tyson was known to be a heavy squatter.  I've seen videos of him doing 225 for reps, nice-n-smooth....look what it did for him.


Franco Columbu had the perfect body type for deadlifting.....


 but regardless of body type deadlifting will get you JACKED with some huge traps.


Squats and Deadlifts are the bread and butter of Maximum Strength Training.....



.....Why? Because maximum strength training is developed by using near maximal loads or loads close to 1 RM.  There are no other lifts that can do this better than the squat or deadlift.  In my opinion maximum strength is far more important to gaining size than hypertrophy work simply because the higher loads are far more effective at recruiting and damaging the fast-twitch motor units.  When you damage these, you grow. Side note: you grow when you rest and eat enough, not in the gym, so stick to the plan and work it. There's no need to do an extra thousand reps, it's only increasing recovery time.

In order to recruit and damage the fast-twitch motor units you need to use maximal loads or 80-100% of 1 RM. The higher loads create high levels of tension in the muscles, which causes them to store more protein or thicken.  So if you want that tone, dense look start utilizing strength work.


Here are the training guidelines for the strength phase....

- 6 weeks
- 1-8 reps per set (although the weight may physically move slowly always try to move it as fast as possible)
- 10-20 sets for beginners      20-40 sets for advanced
- 3-5 minute rest intervals (you must be fully recovered unlike hypertrophy work)
- 2-3 workouts per week depending on training level (you must be fully recovered unlike hypertrophy work)
- use 80-100% of 1 RM

Here's what a sample strength phase might look like:

Week 1
Deadlift - 70% for 8 reps and 3 sets
Bench Press - 70% for 8 reps and 3 sets
Squat - 70% for 8 reps and 3 sets

Week 2
Deadlift - 80% for 6 reps and 5 sets
Bench Press - 80% for 6 reps and 5 sets
Squat - 80% for 6 reps and 5 sets

Week 3
Deadlift - 90% for 3 reps and 5 sets
Bench Press - 90% for 3 reps and 5 sets
Squat - 90% for 3 reps and 5 sets

Week 4
Deadlift - 80% for 6 reps and 5 sets
Bench Press - 80% for 6 reps and 5 sets
Squat - 80% for 6 reps and 5 sets

Week 5
Deadlift - 90% for 3 reps and 5 sets
Bench Press - 90% for 3 reps and 5 sets
Squat - 90% for 3 reps and 5 sets

Week 6
Deadlift - 100% for 1 rep and 2 sets
Bench Press - 100% for 1 rep and 2 sets
Squat - 100% for 1 rep and 2 sets



Arnold built his foundation with squats & deadlifts.....so you know they work, now get to it!

Next up.....muscle definition phase.

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