What?? Last week I was a fat guy!
This is a common question, especially from new trainees and women. There is a widely held belief that lifting heavy weights can lead to getting “bulky” suddenly and unexpectedly.
There is a direct correlation between muscle size and muscle strength. Just like a steel cable, a muscle fiber’s strength is proportional to its cross sectional area. And a muscle can only do one of three things: get smaller, get bigger or stay the same size.
So, irrespective of whether your goal is to “tone up” or to “bulk up” you are trying to make your muscles bigger. And whether you want “more strength” or “more size” you are trying to make your muscles bigger. You don’t want them smaller, do you? And you aren’t lifting weights so they stay the same size, are you? There is not a set of exercises for “getting ripped” and a different set of exercises for “getting bulky.” There are only exercises for making your muscles bigger.
On the subject of being “ripped”, muscle definition is a function of muscle size and low bodyfat. In many cases people would be satisfied with their current muscle size if they had lower bodyfat that revealed their muscles. Champion Olympic weightlifters have huge muscles, usually pretty well hidden by fat. Champion bodybuilders have weaker muscles but far less fat, yet they appear more muscular than the Olympic lifters.
The key to getting the result you desire is to monitor the development of your physique and determine when you have the level of tone or definition you want, then to switch your training to a maintenance routine where you keep your routine the same. There is zero danger that you will wake up one morning with bulky, unwanted and unexpected muscle. Both muscle gain and fat loss are slow processes that only happen when you pay careful attention to your training data.
You do keep track of your training data, right?
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28 Comments. Leave new
I am a 56 year old bodybuilder who has been training for over 20 years. I have a good physique for a man of my age, but I want to get bigger. Is it possible for a man of my age to get bigger and more muscular without the use of steroids. I am not competing, but I want to get bigger. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
Harold, as long as you continue pushing your muscles beyond what they are used to, they will have to adapt to the stimulus. If you eat appropriately to fuel the muscle growth, your muscles will grow. As we get older, we lose levels of testosterone which helped us put on muscle much easier when we were younger but that shouldn’t stop you from putting on muscle at all. You need to push with maximum intensity as that intensity will be the stimulus for your muscle to grow.
Dear Static Contraction,
This may off topic a bit, but, I have been itching to ask for some time – regarding the photos posted in the various static contraction articles, ebooks, etc., are they just photos of models who have well developed bodies, or are they photos of people who specifically or exclusively use static contraction as a training method?
Of course photos can be easily doctored and altered, so perhaps the answer to the question should not matter, but I was wondering if you might be able to comment on such photos.
Most of the photos are generic fitness model photos. Getting photos of 100% SCT or PF trainees would not be an easy task for me, especially since I’ve lived in more than a half-dozen countries in the last few years. Add to that the issue of needing a specific image like a forearm close up or a woman being flexible and it’s even harder. Finally, modeling is a true skill and it would be even harder to find pro models who meet the criteria. This is the same as all fitness advertising, all cosmetic ads, etc. The only difference with me is I’ll give you an honest answer. Finally, I’ve had customers send me some of their photos and they look great, but I don’t post them because I can’t be certain how they built them and I never make false claims. One of my sons is an ectomorph who has just gained 30 lbs of muscle after 10 PF workouts and I’ve thought of asking him for photos but I really loath the tactic so I still might not do it.
Hi Pete,
On the leg presses I train, my legs are almost halfway flexed to start the movement. How can I work out properly my legs and calves differently ?
Thank you.
Are you doing Static Contraction or Power Factor?
Hello Pete,
You say your son gained 30lbs of muscle after 10 PF’s so I just wondered how you measured muscle growth. I have been doing Static Contraction for 4 months and have been lifting more consistantly but have not seen much muscle growth although I seem to think I am probably replacing fat with muscle because I seem to weigh the same early in the morning before I eat brealfast. Thanks in advance for your reply.
Hi, just been given some “Jack 3D” to try pre workout. Seemed to give me a boost re training. When I read the ingredients (very small print) I saw that it contained caffeine. Is it just a rip off, or do the other ingredients actually work?
Thanks
Bob
ps I appreciate your no bull approach
He actually gained 40 lbs but 10 of it was fat. He started out 145 lbs at 6’4″ (classic ectomorph) and took bodyfat measurements. I told him to try to eat 4,000 calories a day because I know he normally under-eats. He’s young and ate a lot of crap to get his calories that high (Whataburger cheeseburgers, etc.) and ultimately ate too many calories and gained a bit of fat. His 10 workouts were over 3 months and, by bodyfat measurment on a bathroom scale, he added 30 lbs of muscle along with the fat. He now weighs 185 and is shooting for 200 by Thanksgiving. He now trains about once every 3 weeks. I mention his experience because I can be 100% certain he did it without steroids, HGH and all the other stuff people swallow and inject to build muscle, mistakenly thinking there is no other way for them.
I’ve never heard of that product, Bob. But these energy drinks and pills that are so popular nearly all just operate on caffeine, blended with some other inert ingredients so it can be patented. There is no magic or innovation in any of them. And who fails to build muscle because of low energy? People fail to build muscle because they use stupid training methods that ignore the simple principles of a) high intensity, b) progressive overload c) recovery between workouts. Caffeine won’t help any of those.
These “energy” products are the perfect scam. In food science energy is literally measured in calories. So I could sell you a Hershey chocolate bar and tell you it was “loaded with the perfect energy to power you through a muscle-blasting, fat-burning monster workout” and it would be legally true. Protein “workout recovery” drinks are just as laughable. If you examine their blend protein, carbs, fats and vitamins you’ll discover that they offer nothing that you wouldn’t get from chocolate milk. You just pay 400% more.
I wish that I had to deal with the trials and tribulations of not getting too “bulky”, while simply being “ripped”. I’m not really sure how I would deal with it, but it would be interesting none the less (Gee, I just don’t want to look like Dorian Yates, but I can’t help it). Keep up the good work.
Interesting story Pete, may I know how old your son was when he did the PFT workouts?
Hi Pete, first that is terrific for your son. Congrats to him. I am assuming he is still pretty young. Many of your patrons, based on questions and comments by them, appear to be a bit older. I am middle aged now (mid 40’s). I can’t believe how tough it is now for me to build muscle now and keep it. All it takes if for a stressful day, and boom off it comes. When I was in my 20’s it was much easier to build and to hold. I am too an extreme ectomorph, but with fat genes. I am one of those skinny fat guys. So the diet has to be on point to remain as lean as I am. Anyway, just food for thought and thank goodness for your method or all us “aging” dudes would be training stupidly 3X per week!
He’s 23. His first workout was 11 weeks ago. He’ll only do about 4-5 more workouts between now and Thanksgiving.
Hi Pete,
Is there any difference between your 2002 edition of Smart Training and the 2009 edition?
Is there a special price for the combo of Smart training and the videos?
I want to get started with one of your programs,but I can’t figure out which one (power, static, CNS). It think it would be the Train Smart static contraction, but I’d be grateful if you could clear my doubts. First, a little about me, I 65, but in pretty average decent shape (in other words, I’m a little overweight :-), about 6 feet and big boned, and look (they tell me) about 15 years younger. I can do wind sprints, within reason, but I am no longer particularly strong (I wrestled when I was young). I am not interested in body building or in being able to do amazing feats of strength. I am interested in getting much stronger, but not in a power lifter sense, and I’m interested in keeping that strength the rest of my life, and in having about 10-15% body fat, along with the health benefits all this gives. It’s the health part that really motivates me. Can you kindly recommend which program I should do?
BTW, I am the guy who had the hernia operation. Is that an obstacle?
Also, what if the gym isn’t equipped with huge poundages? Are there alternatives?
Finally, can you recommend a good stretch program–as intelligent as your weights program, if possible? My hamstrings are seriously in need of stretching, and I can’t seem to make much progress, not mention that the stretches hurt like hell. I’ve been sedentary way too long, way too much time sitting. Not good.
Thanks so much for you attention,
Jon
P.S. It’s interesting that you’ve lived in several countries. Do you have a favorite that you would pick to live permanently?
Answered via e-mail.
Thanks Pete.yes heard that sort of stuff every day I worked in the gym.Its maddening but I always tried to give the same honest answer that you have given.However given the general lack of understanding and the state of the Fitness Industry{so called in my opinion} its hardly surprising.A somewhat related question I had to field was the old chestnut from aspirant body-builders{some of whom should have known better}re building exercises and shaping exercises.Quite a few plainly did not believe me when I told them that there were no such things as shaping exercises{as a distinct type of exercise} and if you build a muscle its shape will change and if you don’t it will not.I have long found that some people prefer myth to reality and reason.
Yeah, I used to ask them how to make a muscle shaped like a pyramid or a crater. Haha Bodybuilders are hobbyists who literally want to spend as much time in the gym as possible, They don’t want to hear information that contradicts that goal.
I’ve used jack3d, was using it for a while, I think it’s a bit more than caffeine but it’s hard to say for certain… yes the effect is a certain intensity when you’re training like your brain is so single-minded and you focus on your obsession of lifting heavy weights lol… also, if you don’t take much caffeine, and then you go a triple serving of that stuff, it’s almost like a weird feeling in your head, maybe too much… combine it with oxyelite pro and you’re buzzing… I found myself running across the roads because I’m too impatient to wait for the cars to pass, on my way to the gym.
Oxyelite pro is caffeine too, so why don’t you compare a workout on a caffeine stimulant versus your jack3d stimulant and see if you notice any difference – that will help to answer your question if it’s just caffeine.
That’s really funny, next time I hear a “shape” comment I’ll try to remember to ask how to get the pyramids and craters happening. Perhaps a bicep shaped like the letter “M” with a double peak just to mix things up! 🙂
Hi Pete, can you explain further about your Sons training, being once every 3 weeks. Do you mean he trains “only once” every 3 weeks, or does he train individual bodyparts once every 3 weeks, – like push on week 1, pull on week 2, then legs on week 3 for example.
These are the actual dates of his workouts. There is an uneven area when he had car issues and couldn’t get to his gym. 3/18, 3/21, 3/24, 4/1, 4/8, 4/18, 5/5, 6/13, 6/28, 8/10 his next workout will be in the first half of September. He does a Power Factor A/B split routine, so he’s done each bodypart only 5 times in this March to August period. These 10 workouts built 30 lbs of muscle and because he ate more than he needed to he also gained 10 lbs of fat. But since he started at 6’4″ and only 145 lbs the fat doesn’t matter too much. He’s going to keep eating 4,000 calories +/- and training with a goal of 200 lbs by the end of November. It’s yet to be seen if he can hit that goal. When he hits it he can deal with whatever extra fat he wants to burn/diet off.
Hi Greg, I appreciate your feedback to Harold’s question. I am mid 40’s and can’t believe how tough it is now to build and/or hold the muscle. Unfortunately, I have some injuries and bone/joint problems. However, I don’t let it stop me and train “around” them. That is why I was thrilled to learn of these methods. I was curious about something. I have read that the act of lifting weights can stimulate testosterone production and HgH (naturally). Especially, high intensity. As the workouts become further apart, we are lifting less. I would appreciate your thoughts on this.
Thanks for explaining Pete. Very interesting and useful info.
That was indeed a funny reply re pyramid shaped and crater shaped muscles.Wish I had thought of it.I suppose you really could say that building a pyramid shaped muscle would be the ultimate ahem-peaking- exercise ha ha.Re that very subject recall quite clearly the true believer type of body-builder who would do Scott curls,concentration curls etc, for a so called biceps peak.Fail to develop the peak not surprisingly and then be told by other true believer types that they could not therefore have been doing them properly.Apparently according to this dubious logic something not working is not evidence of the untruth of a training belief.I have sometimes thought heaven help me.
Exactly. And don’t forget the guys in the gym who say “Maybe you need steroids to get serious growth?” Then guys drop $1000/mo and flirt with prison time – all instead of just training rationally.
Brian, while the act of stimulating growth is sure to release hormones into the system to help with the growth, I don’t think the rest phases between workouts affect that. Meaning, i don’t think you’re going to have this spike of growth hormone or testosterone followed by a big drop in it because your body has a mechanism to produce a steady amount daily without any external stimuli. That amount goes down over the years and that does cause muscle loss, but to actually lose built up muscle, it takes the body about 6 weeks of not exercising to see muscle loss. That’s why I never worry between workouts.
You will definitely love SCT because we’ve seen it help many of our clients repair old joint injuries. I used to have a bad shoulder from a weight lifting accident years ago but now its as good as new. I’m sure you will have the same results with your bone/joint problems. If you have any specific questions, feel free to email me at greg_karr@precisiontraining.com