BODYBUILDING FROM THE FUTURE

[CatalystCreator]

BODYBUILDING FROM THE FUTURE

02.06.2012

An open letter to the bodybuilding community:

The time has come. Far too long other industries have experienced significant historical advances while the bodybuilding world has lagged behind.
All existing, traditional workout routines have an unintentional fatal limitation built into them that up until now has been overlooked…they ask you to attempt to get every single muscle in your body growing at the same time. A difficult proposition at best.

Virtually every “band aid” has been tried in the past in an effort to try and overcome this formidable obstacle…less volume & higher intensity…more days in between workouts…more food…more supplements…chemical assistance…higher volume & less intensity…and last but certainly not least the worst of them all…simply working out more days per week (up to six day splits).

The analogy that I like to use that points out this flaw with traditional routines is the example of the individual who is highly successful in their chosen field of business. You have all heard the saying that while they may make a lot of money, there will be areas of their life that suffer greatly as a result of this success.
The same thing happens when you put the tremendous stressor of attempting to get your whole muscular system to grow all at the same time…something has got to give. This historically has manifested itself in trainees across the world in the form of stubborn growth areas, burnout, or even injury. Compound this with work, home life, etc. and the battle for size becomes even more difficult. No longer. Welcome to Catalyst, or as it has been coined “Bodybuilding From the Future”.

Prepare your minds for a new scale of growth from your workouts.

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BODYBUILDING FROM THE FUTURE

Key Principles:
1. On a monthly calendar basis, you choose up to three muscles which you would like to experience accelerated, visible muscular growth.
2. You work those designated muscles twice a week with workout styles and intensity of your choice with an average of three days of rest in between.
3. One day per week you do an easy maintenance workout for all the muscles you are not focusing on that given month.

Any individual who has ever done a size specialization routine the RIGHT way (attacking select muscles for a month or so while taking it very easy on the rest of your body) knows firsthand the progress experienced is phenomenal. This is due largely to all your rest, supplements, food, etc going towards only those targeted muscles. Arnold Schwarzenegger used specialization many years ago to improve his lagging legs when he came to the U.S.A. so they would be in proportion to his massive upper body.

Additional proof this concept works is found today in every decent sized gym in the world that has at least one or two guys who have huge arms and chest (or whatever), but no other development to speak of. It is due to the similar factors that make specialization routines work so well in that all their recovery is going to just those select few muscles they are actually working.
What I am proposing is harnessing the accelerated growth and recovery specialization type routines produce, and cycling this on a monthly basis over the entire body. This will allow you to experience the best gains of your life…year round.

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Catalyst is a workout system now being released worldwide to the public that will, among countless other things: 1. Give you visible muscular gains on a monthly (if not weekly) basis. 2. Reduce the number of days per week you need to lift (freeing you up to recover and grow). 3. Prevent new injuries and help old ones heal. 4. Enable you to look forward to every workout like you used to do when you first started working out. 5. Make you the envy of other gym members still using traditional workout routines.
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Catalyst (definition) =A process which modifies and increases the rate of reaction.
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HISTORY: I have spent the last 20+ years visualizing, developing, implementing, testing, refining, and now finally publishing the Catalyst system. The principles you are about to discover have been proven with select clients and fellow gym members who trusted me to show them a better way.
PREREQUISITE: Think outside the box. “Free your mind, and the mass will follow.”
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THE CATALYST SYSTEM
Before you embark on your journey towards unprecedented phenomenal muscular growth, I highly encourage you to completely take a full week off from the gym. This is to give your mind and body a chance to recover before you begin the Catalyst system. As you will soon discover, one of the main reasons this workout system is so effective is because it accelerates your recovery ability past previously known limits. This is known as “The Catalyst Effect.”

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THE ROUTINE

One of the most empowering aspects of the Catalyst system is that you can incorporate your favorite existing growth routines into its framework. Think of Catalyst as the “Operating System” like Microsoft Windows, and the workout routines within it as software programs like Word or Excel. For example, say you are a fan of Steve Holman’s Positions of Flexion (POF) workouts as well as Eric Broser’s Power/Rep Range/Shock (PRRS). Now you can have the best of both worlds. Here is an example week for someone who has chosen to have their focus muscles be chest and triceps for a given month:

Tuesday “POF” Workout:

5 minutes easy cardio warmup
*Incline Bench (BB or DB) 3 sets X 8-10 reps
Flat DB Flyes 2 sets X 8-10 reps
Cable Crossovers 2 sets X 10-12 reps
Decline Skull Crushers 2 sets X 8-10 reps
Tricep Pushdowns 2 sets X 10-12 reps
*=Do two warmup sets of exercise, not included in set total listed
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Thursday Sample Maintenance Workout:

5 minutes easy cardio warmup
Leg Press 2 sets X 10-15 reps
Stiff Leg Deadlifts 2 sets X 10-15 reps
Standing Calf Raise 2 sets X 15-20 reps
Lat Pulldowns 2 sets X 10-15 reps
Seated Cable Row 2 sets X 10-15 reps
Standing Shrugs 2 sets X 10-15 reps
Standing Lateral Raises 2 sets X 10-15 reps
Preacher Curls 2 sets X 10-15 reps
Abs
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Saturday “PRRS Shock” Workout:

5 minutes easy cardio warmup
*Incline Flyes 2 sets X 8-10 reps supersetted with BB Bench Press 2 sets X 8-10 reps
Smith Machine Incline Bench 2 sets X 8-10 reps supersetted with Pec Dec 2 drop sets X 6-8 reps
Close Grip Bench Press 2 sets X 8-10 reps supersetted with Two Arm Overhead DB Extension 2 sets X 8-10 reps
Tricep Pushdowns 2 drop sets X 6-10 reps
*=Do two warmup sets of exercise, not included in set total listed
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So you can see from this sample week you attack chest & tri’s with POF on Tuesday…do your easy maintenance workout for the rest of your body on Thursday…and then pound chest and tri’s again with PRRS on Saturday. Depending on your work schedule, you could do the week above on Monday, Wednesday, Friday. I personally have discovered over the last couple of years that weekend workouts can be some of the best workouts you will ever have…but I will save that for a future article.
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THE MAINTENANCE WORKOUTS

The maintenance workouts will probably be the toughest psychological aspect of this system. I say this because so many trainees today have been programmed to think if they are not pushing themselves hard during a workout, it is wasted effort. The maintenance workouts are literally just that…you are using them to simply maintain the development you have for all the other muscles you are not focusing on in a given month. You are NOT trying to induce hypertrophy, merely keeping away muscular atrophy.

Read, re-read, and then read again those last two sentences as they summarize one of the most important and powerful aspects of the Catalyst system.

The exercises listed above for the example maintenance workout are just that, examples. What I have found to work well for many trainees is to intentionally change the exercises you do in your maintenance workouts on a weekly basis. Or maybe one week, do all machine exercises…the next do all dumbbell exercises…the next do all barbell exercises, and so on.

It takes a lot less work than what most trainees think to maintain your existing muscular size. If you bench press with 200 lbs for sets of 8-10 during a normal workout, use 100-150 lbs for a maintenance workout. In general, you want to be using approximately 50-75% of your normal weights for all exercises in your maintenance workouts. Again…you are just maintaining the musculature. Many (most?) people are overtrained and they do not even realize it, so maintenance workouts may indirectly produce some growth in areas you are not even focusing on in a given month while on the Catalyst system. If you have some weights at home, do your easy maintenance workouts there sometimes if your ego will not let you lift the light weights at the gym.

Early on in my experimentation with my Catalyst principles, I decided to take that indirect growth theory to the extreme. One winter, for three whole months, I worked my legs very hard twice a week and did one easy whole upper body workout once a week. When I say easy upper body workouts, I mean really easy like using weights on exercises I would normally use just as warmup sets. Not only did my legs grow like crazy, but my upper body filled out somewhat as well. I knew I was on to something after that happened! I will go into depth on this topic in a future article as well.

Please view the post "Bodybuilding From The Future--Part II" for the rest of this.
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[CatalystCreator]

BODYBUILDING FROM THE FUTURE—PART II

EXAMPLE WORKOUT MONTH

I know many of us learn best by example, so here I will outline an entire theoretical month of workouts for someone who has chosen to focus on their back and traps. For the sake of space, I will not elaborate on some of the various named workouts such as “Heavy Duty II” or “Fiber Damage/Fiber Saturation”, just utilize Google to learn more. I highly encourage you to do your homework as some of those programs are very specific in lifting tempo, emphasis on contractions, etc.
An asterisk next to any exercise indicates two warmup sets should be completed prior to the work sets listed. This is an example month for someone who has at least five consistent years of educated lifting under their belt:

MONDAY-- WEEK ONE

5 minute cardio warmup
*Lat Pulldowns 3 sets x 8-12 reps
Seated Row 3 sets x 8-12 reps
Bent over BB row 3 sets x 8-12 reps
Standing DB or BB Shrugs 2 sets x 8-12 reps
Hyperextensions 2 sets x 8-12 reps

WEDNESDAY (Maintenance workout for rest of body)

5 minutes easy cardio warmup
Leg Press 2 sets X 10-15 reps
Stiff Leg Deadlifts 2 sets X 10-15 reps
Standing Calf Raise 2 sets X 15-20 reps
Incline BB or DB bench press 2 sets X 10-15 reps
Flat DB flyes 2 sets X 10-15 reps
Standing BB or DB shoulder press 2 sets X 10-15 reps
Skull crushers 2 sets x 10-15 reps
Preacher Curls 2 sets X 10-15 reps
Abs

FRIDAY

5 minutes cardio warmup
*Deadlifts 4 sets x 6-8 reps
Standing DB shrugs 4 sets x 8-12 reps
*Bent over BB row 4 sets x 6-8 reps
Lat pulldowns 4 sets x 8-12 reps
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MONDAY—WEEK TWO

“Positions of Flexion (POF) Pre-Exhaustion”

5 minutes cardio warmup
*Bent over bent arm lateral raises
Supersetted with behind the neck pulldowns 2 sets x 8-12 reps
One arm DB rows 2 sets x 8-12 reps
Stiff arm pulldowns
Supersetted with pulldowns to the front 2 sets x 8-12 reps
DB pullovers 2 sets x 8-12 reps
Standing DB shrugs 2 sets x 8-12 reps

WEDNESDAY (Maintenance workout for rest of body)

5 minutes easy cardio warmup
Squats 4 sets x 15-20 reps
Seated Calf Raise 2 sets X 15-20 reps
Flat BB or DB bench press 2 sets X 15-20 reps
Incline DB flyes 2 sets X 15-20 reps
Standing DB laterals 2 sets X 15-20 reps
Tricep pushdowns 2 sets x 15-20 reps
Standing BB curls 2 sets X 15-20 reps
Abs

FRIDAY
5 minutes cardio warmup
Repeat Monday’s workout with the exercises in the exact opposite order.
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MONDAY---WEEK THREE
“Heavy Duty II workout”
5 minute cardio warmup
*Machine (ideally Nautilus) or DB pullovers
Supersetted with undergrip pulldowns 2 sets x 6-10 reps
Deadlifts 2 sets x 6-10 reps

WEDNESDAY (Maintenance workout for rest of body)
5 minutes easy cardio warmup
Leg Extensions 4 sets x 20-25 reps
Leg Curls 4 sets x 20-25 reps
Donkey Calf Raise 2 sets X 20-25 reps
Hammer Strength flat bench press 2 sets X 10-12 reps
Hammer Strength incline bench press 2 sets X 10-12 reps
Wide grip BB upright rows 2 sets X 10-12 reps
Close grip BB bench press 2 sets x 10-12 reps
Incline DB curls 2 sets X 10-12 reps
Abs

FRIDAY
5 minutes cardio warmup
*Stiff arm pulldowns 4 sets x 6-10 reps (do each set as a drop set with two drops in weight)
Hammer Strength pulldowns 2 sets x 8-12 reps
Bent over undergrip BB rows 2 sets x 6-10 reps
Seated rows 2 sets x 8-12 reps (do each set as a drop set with two drops in weight)
*Deadlifts 2 sets x 6-10 reps
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MONDAY---WEEK FOUR
“Fiber Damage/Fiber Saturation (FD/FS) Workout”
5 minutes cardio warmup
*Deadlifts 2 sets x 3-4 reps
DB shrugs 2 sets x 5-6 reps
Close grip upright rows 1 set x 20-30 reps
*Seated cable rows 2 sets x 3-4 reps
Stiff arm pulldowns 2 sets x 5-6 reps
DB pullovers 2 sets x 7-8 reps
Smith machine bent rows 1 set x 20-30 reps
Wide grip pulldowns 1 set x 30-40 reps

WEDNESDAY (Maintenance workout for rest of body)
5 minutes easy cardio warmup
Smith machine lunges 4 sets x 20-25 reps per leg
Standing one leg calf raises 2 sets X 20-25 reps per leg
Pushups—however many sets it takes to get 50 total reps
Front BB raises 2 sets X 10-15 reps
Dips 2 sets x 10-15 reps
DB Concentration curls 2 sets X 10-15 reps per arm
Abs

FRIDAY
5 minutes cardio warmup
*Standing DB shrugs 3 sets x 6-8 reps (do as drop sets with two drops in weight)
Low pulley cable shrugs 2 sets x 8-12 reps
Behind the back BB shrugs 2 sets x 10-15 reps
*Trap bar deadlifts 2 sets x 6-8 reps
Undergrip lat pulldowns 3 sets x 8-12 reps
DB pullovers 2 sets x 8-12 reps
Close grip seated rows 2 sets x 6-8 reps
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Please note the exercises and actual workout days listed may be tailored to fit your preferences/work schedule. I know some people might benefit more by doing their routine on a Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday split. Weekend workouts can be some of the most productive as you are not trying to summon up the courage to tackle the weights after working a ten hour day. Give it a try and you will see what I mean. Again…”Free your mind, and the mass will follow”.

The exercises listed are ones I firmly believe in for building mass, but am not married to. Different people have different leverage points in the way they are built, and thus, respond differently to an exercise compared to the next person. That is why on many of the exercises listed you will notice both barbell and dumbbell as an option. Keep in mind most dumbbell exercises inherently recruit more muscle fibers than their machine (or barbell) equivalent as they require more stabilizing muscle fibers to keep the weights steady. More on this in a future article/post featuring a technique I have created called “descending stabilization”.

Performance of most exercises should be done in an explosive (not swinging!), but controlled manner. By controlled I mean pulling the weight down in one to two seconds and returning it to the starting position in two to three seconds on lat pulldowns for example. This also is not set in stone, and I encourage you to vary the tempo at which you perform your exercises periodically as this is a phenomenally powerful growth factor which is often overlooked.

Too many trainees (new and seasoned both) tend to only look at number of sets and amount of weight as variables to switch up in their workouts. If you research some of the aforementioned “named” workouts, the tempo will vary which is one of the main reasons to do your homework. The “FD/FS” workout for example will have you using a 2/4/1 tempo on exercises like dumbbell pullovers. A 2/4/1 tempo for that routine means lowering the weight in two seconds, holding it in the stretch position for four seconds before returning to the starting position in one explosive second. Fun.

Now I realize some of you who just looked through the example month are thinking the maintenance workouts will not be enough to keep your existing mass in the other muscles of the body. Not to worry. What some of my clients like to do is to substitute a regular “hard” workout for one of the maintenance workouts right in the middle of each month. This gives your body a jolt and will most definitely keep atrophy away for those maintenance muscles, no doubt. In other words, you simply do the same exercises you would do in a regular maintenance workout, but increase the weights so they are challenging. This is a proven technique.

Another option is to increase the number of sets you are doing in all your maintenance workouts while keeping the weights low. Or you can reduce the time you rest between your sets. All viable choices. Try each of these suggestions to see what you are most comfortable with. Always remember these are MAINTENANCE workouts, and are intended to keep existing muscle mass, not to build.

By the second week once you start using the Catalyst principles, you will notice strength increases even though you are not training specifically for that goal. This is another phenomenal “side effect” of the Catalyst system.

Another one of the invaluable benefits quickly realized is you will actually looking forward to your workouts again. “Staying hungry” in this respect is what drives us to attack the weights as soon as we hit the gym door. If you have been working out for literally over twenty years as I have, you will soon know how great it is to rediscover this feeling again. Looking forward to every single workout instead of dreading them is a stimulating psychological benefit which must be experienced to be appreciated. Enjoy.

Those of you experienced lifters who have developed nagging injuries that just won’t seem to go away are the ones who I feel will benefit the most from implementing this system. As stated earlier, traditional workout routines have asked you to try to get all of the muscles in your body growing at the same time. Combined with one or more injuries, that expectation is often unfortunately the straw that breaks the lifter’s back, resulting in people quitting working out and falling into an ugly downward spiral.

Catalyst asks you to focus only on a few muscles each month instead of the entire muscular system. This results in the “Catalyst Effect” of pronounced recovery acceleration that has cascading positive benefits on your body such as injury healing/prevention. For those of you who have had to alter or discontinue your existing workout routines because of injuries, this can be a lifesaver for you.

Please view part III of this for the ending.
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[CatalystCreator]

BODYBUILDING FROM THE FUTURE—PART III

EXAMPLE YEAR OF CATALYST TRAINING

Well you have been given a sample “Catalyst month” above, so now it is time for me to show you what an entire year might look like. A really nice feature of using Catalyst year round, is you can spend either part or all of a given year specializing on certain bodyparts. If you are one of those folks who has always worked their upper body much harder than their lower, and your legs look like pipe cleaners, Catalyst can help you look like Tom Platz in less than ninety days…just kidding. But seriously, if your legs are small compared to your upper body, Catalyst is just what the doctor ordered. I did have one client back in 1999 that actually looked like two different people put together at the waist. He had the upper body physique of a national level bodybuilder, but the legs of someone who had never seen a squat rack in their life.

By employing the Catalyst system for a solid year, he was able to bring his legs up to a very respectable level. This is an extreme example, but it goes to show how far you can take the principles outlined earlier. What I had him do is focus on his legs, and only his legs, every other month while rotating the various muscles of his upper body so he could keep the size he had. His “year of the squats” looked like this:

January=leg focus month
February=chest and triceps focus month
March=leg focus month
April=back and biceps focus month
May=leg focus month
June=shoulders and traps focus month
July=leg focus month
August=chest and triceps focus month
September=leg focus month
October=back and biceps focus month
November=leg focus month
December=shoulders and traps focus month

Now let’s say you are not happy with your back and traps development. Your example year could look something like this:

January=back and traps focus month
February=chest, shoulders and triceps focus month
March= back and traps focus month
April= leg focus month
May= back and traps focus month
June= chest, shoulders and triceps focus month
July= back and traps focus month
August= leg focus month
September= back and traps focus month
October= chest, shoulders and triceps focus month
November=back and traps focus month
December= leg focus month

You get the idea. If you have good symmetry, and just want to continue to add overall mass, split your body up into groups of two or three muscle groups, and just rotate your focus each month. On both example years listed, you notice I do not have the exact same focus muscles be the same for more than one month at a time. If you are age thirty or younger, you may be able to get away with putting the focus on the same muscles for two to three months at a stretch, then switching it up. Pay attention to how your body feels at the end of the first focus month, and make a decision based on that.

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FUTURE TOPICS FOR ARTICLES/POSTS
I feel I have given all of you enough to chew on for one now. There are still many important related topics which I will be addressing in the future including, but not limited to:

*Nutrition guidelines
*Supplementation
*Descending stabilization training technique
*Stretching during workouts
*Catalyst Growth Algorithm
*Catalyst Ambassadors
*Planned layoffs from lifting
*Music & lifting
*Psychology in workouts
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I encourage honest, open discussion about the Catalyst system on this message board. I also encourage you creative thinkers out there to experiment with the principles I have outlined here. If any of you have questions or concerns you would like to discuss with me privately, feel free to email me directly at [e-mail].

Sincerely,
Catalyst Creator
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www.bodybuilding-from-the-future.com

[hypertrophy]

True outside the box thinking. Seems the stale workout world could use a fresh system like this. I am going to tell all the guys at my gym to check this out. Rotating the focus muscle groups each month makes so much more sense than trying to get the entire body to grow all at once.

Again...outstanding job Catalyst!!!!!!

[CatalystCreator]

One thing I wanted to clarify was in my original thread post where I gave some example months was that I put in a wide variety of example workouts for illustrative purposes only. Folks can change their workouts as little or as much as they want in a given month. Just be sure to take it easy on the rest of your body so the accelerated recovery you will experience will go just towards your focus muscle groups.

CatalystCreator
www.bodybuilding-from-the-future.com

[CatalystCreator]

Very soon I will post some of my favorite mass building routines on here. I know some of you are thinking about summer already!

"Free your mind, and the mass will follow"

[CatalystCreator]

One concept I have been working on that I mentioned in my original post was "descending stabilization". Let me say right from the go, this is a technique to be utilized only by experienced lifters with at least five consistent years under their belt.

The way this works is you pick an exercise where you can do (ideally) a DB version of it, a BB version of it, and a selectorized machine or smith machine version. For sake of conversation, we will use the bench press as an example.

You start with the DB version of the bench press as this requires the most stabilizing muscles...do your pre-determined reps (8-12 for example), then you set the DB's down, and (with the bar already loaded) you do the same total weight but now on the BB version of the bench press (shooting for the same rep range), then when you compete that set, you move immediately to the same weight on either a regular machine bench press or smith machine bench press (again trying for same rep range), and that is one complete "descending stabilization" set.

The principle behind this concept is as your stabilizing (and primary) muscles begin to fail, you essentially move on to an "easier" version of the exercise, ending with the one that requires the least amount of stabilizing effort. Anyone worth their salt knows the seated machine version of a bench press is easier than a DB version, so this concept should be easy to grasp.

If you drop in reps on each exercise as you descend to the easier versions, this is ok, but it should not be that pronounced. Same thing if you need to use a little bit less total weight on the BB and machine versions compared to the starting DB version.
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Descending Stabilization illustrated:

*DB Bench Press-100lb DB's = 200 lbs total for 8-12 reps, then move immediately to:
*BB Bench Press-200lbs total including 45 lb bar for 8-12 reps, then move right to:
*Machine Bench Press -200lbs for 8-12 reps

Then rest 2-4 minutes and repeat descending stabilization cycle no more than two more times.
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If you can only do two versions of your chosen exercise due to lack of equipment, crowded gym, etc. then chose the DB and BB versions as they are the most efficient muscle builders.

A few other sample exercises with which you can do descending stabilization:

*Incline Bench Press
*Shoulder Presses
*Bicep Curls

I encourage all of you to get creative with this technique, and share your success stories with us.

"Free Your Mind, and The Mass Will Follow"
www.bodybuilding-from-the-future.com

[CatalystCreator]

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I have received a few private messages asking about trying to keep the total weight the same from one exercise to the next. It is not the most important aspect of this technique. The most important part is going from one version of an exercise to the next in a descending manner of stabilization. Here are some acceptable sequences along these lines:

*Pullups for 8-12 reps / move right to
*Lat Pulldowns for 8-12 reps
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*Flat Bench Press 8-12 reps / move right to
*Pushups 8-12 reps
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*Standing Machine Calf Raises 10-15 reps / move right to
*Standing Bodyweight Calf Raises 10-15 reps
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*Close grip Bench Press 8-12 reps / move right to
*Close grip Pushups 8-12 reps
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*Barbell Squats 8-12 reps / move right to
*Smith Machine Squats 8-12 reps
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[CatalystCreator]

Stationary DB Lunges 10-15 reps per leg <moving right to> Smith Machine Lunges 10-15 is fun too!!!!

[CatalystCreator]

Stretching During Workouts

I am a firm believer in stretching during your weight training workouts. At the very least, you should be doing some type of static stretching after you complete all your exercises for each bodypart. I personally try to do some light stretching in between each exercise for each bodypart. I have trained some clients that have gone so far as to stretch the muscle they are working between every set, but I think that is a bit much.

Stretching brings fresh blood into the muscles being worked (carrying away lactic acid and muscular contraction by-products), improves flexibility, and helps prevent injuries.

Along these same lines, try emphasizing the negative portion of some of your lifts, or even holding the stretch position of exercises for a count in between the positive and negative strokes. A little change like this can spur big gains!

If you have never given stretching during your weight training workouts a shot, and you have nagging injuries or a lack of muscular hypertrophy, this just may be the ticket for you.

[CatalystCreator]

Psychology In Workouts

An aspect that is very important in working out, but often overlooked is the psychological component. The mind will always fail before the muscle. As the reps start to mount up, and the lactic acid starts to burn, your mind starts telling you to quit. Often times the difference between people who look the same year after year and those who seem to make consistent improvements is the psychological toughness.

The supplement industry knows this, as illustrated by the recent influx over the last couple of years of a wide variety of pre-workout formulas designed to get you jacked up for your workouts.

Here are a few of my favorite psychological techniques I have found to be productive:

1. Before you begin a set, think about a person or scenario that made you angry or troubled. Use the anger it caused you as motivation for the set you are about to do.

2. As you come to the end of a set, and your mind is telling you that you can’t do any more reps, remind yourself that these toughest reps are the “growth reps” that will really give you results, take a couple of deep breaths and keep going.

3. Make playlists on a MP3 player with motivating songs for the different workouts you do. For example, I have different playlists for leg day, back & biceps, etc. If you have never tried wearing headphones pumping your favorite jams while lifting, you have been missing out!

4. *PERSONAL FAVORITE* If you have been lifting for a few years, and have a good idea what weight you can use for a certain number of reps try this…each rep you do on a given exercise, instead of actually counting reps, say the word “grow”, or “squeeze”, or “mass” or “stretch” (or something similar) in your mind on each rep. This way it takes your mind off the pain that would typically set in at a certain rep, and you will get more productive reps. A VERY POWERFUL TECHNIQUE!!

Free Your Mind And The Mass Will Follow
CatalystCreator

P.S.—Catalyst clothing line is coming this summer!!!

[CatalystCreator]

Supplementation

Supplements. BIG business. With over twenty two years of workout experience, I have tried a lot of them. I remember the first time I tried the original Ultimate Orange pre-workout drink. Talk about blastoff!!!

I have used the original Twinlab Ripped Fuel containing ephedrine; the very first generation of pro-hormones (capsules of straight androstenedione); EAS’ original Phosphagain powder formula (had such high demand, you had to order it ahead of time from your GNC); HMB capsules when it first came out; and just about anything that promised great results for fat loss, mass gain, etc.

What I am getting at is I have spent a lot of money, time, and effort trying various supplements over the years. I would like to give back some of the knowledge I have accumulated regarding some supplements that are out there that actually work.

I want all of you to know I am not affiliated with any particular supplement company, so the recommendations I offer are based purely on their results they have given me.

Adding Bodyweight
*Cytosport Monster Milk
*BSN Syntha 6 Protein

Adding Lean Mass
*BSN CellMass (my personal #1 supplement overall)
*Gaspari Nutrition MyoFusion protein powder
*Nature’s Best Isopure Meal Replacement packets

Pre-Workout
*USP Labs Jacked
*BSN N.O. Explode

Fat Loss
*Nutrex Lipo 6
*USP Labs OxyElite Pro

Connective Tissue Support
*NOW Glucosamine/MSM/Chondroitin capsules

Mental Focus/Clarity
*Twinlab DMAE capsules
*NOW L-Tyrosine Capsules

Restful Sleep
*NOW 750mg GABA Capsules

Multi-Vitamin
*Optimum Nutrition’s Opti Men
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Please keep in mind, supplements are literally just that…a supplement to your workouts/ proper nutrition/adequate rest, not a crutch or an excuse to slack off. The very foundation of your supplement stack should start with a multi-vitamin and protein powder of your choice (or budget). If you do not have these in place, you will be wasting your money buying the latest and greatest supplement promising to add 30 lbs of muscle in a month (you get the idea).

I encourage all of you to put your recommendations in if there are supplements that fit into the above categories that have worked very well for you. Share your experiences!

Free Your Mind And The Mass Will Follow
CatalystCreator
P.S.—Catalyst clothing line is coming within the next thirty days!!!

[CatalystCreator]

Someone sent me a private message asking me what was my favorite chest building routine, and I figured I would go ahead and put it on here as well:

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Inline DB Bench 2 sets x 12-15 reps warmup
Incline DB Bench 4 x 8-12 (all sets are drop sets where you drop weight twice)
Standing Cable Crossovers 3 x 8-12
Supersetted with
Feet Raised Pushups 3 x fail
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Do not let the brevity of this routine fool you. You are doing drop sets on the incline work as well as pre-exhaustion on the crossovers before pushups. You will get a tremendous pump, and full soreness usually takes two whole days to set in. I recommend doing stretches for your chest in between the exercises to increase the pump. Fight the urge to do more chest work. Always remember the more sets you do, the further you dig a hole into your recovery ability which is what gives you the growth in the first place.