For those that have not read Big A's article from 2002, here it is in it's entirety:
http://www.anasci.org/vB/weight-lifting-training-articles/8215-growth-principles-beginners.html
This is a general guide for beginning and intermediate bodybuilders that don't know the principles behind muscle growth yet or are not happy with the results that they are currently getting.
We will go through training, diet and gear. I will
tell you the principles behind everything that I
recommend for you to do, so you can understand why
certain things happen, so in the future you can fix
problems yourself.
Bodybuilding is a very simple and logical endeavour.
Everything that you do has to be logical. Only logical
actions will give you results. Every time that you
come across a new principle, always ask yourself it it
makes logical sense. If it does not, dump it!
TRAINING
Why does a muscle grow? Because it has to adapt. When
does it have to adapt? When you expose it to something
that it has not done before. When is something that it
has not done before? When the muscle is taxed 100%.
That's 100% effort. What's 100% effort? When you train
to 100% PHYSICAL, not mental failure. So, to make the
muscle grow, you have to train with 100% effort
otherwise, the muscle will not adapt/grow.
Now, using the above logic, for a set to be beneficial
to your growth, it needs to be 100% effort. So, a 100%
effort set of an exercise, will make you grow. Then,
what is the point to do a second set of that exercise?
You cannot go more than 100%. The muscle already has
been taxed by 100% from the first set, so why should
you do a second one? You will just eat into your
recovery ability.
So, you should only do one set to failure per
exercise. Later on, I will describe the training
program and how exercises and warm-ups are involved.
A muscle will not grow until it's recovered. The
muscle will not begin to recover until the nervous
system is recovered. It takes roughly 24hours for the
nervous system to recover from a workout. Only then
will the muscle begin to recover and grow. So, you
should never train 2 days in a row. Even if you train
different bodyparts, you still use the same nervous
system. You train 2 days in a row, your nervous system
recovers, but by the time the muscles begin to, you
train again, so the body has to concentrate again on
recovering the nervous system.
A training frequency of 3 days per week (Mon, Wed,
Fri) is more than enough. Numerous pros, including
myself, train like this offseason for maximum growth.
Even if you use streroids, you still have to train
like this. Steroids increase your recovery ability,
but they also make you stronger at a quicker rate. The
extra strength will give you the ability to train
harder/tear more muscle tissue, so you will need the
extra recovery that the steroids will give you.
The following is a great training program that I
recomend:
Mon - Chest, Shoulders, Triceps
* Incline press - warm-up sets, 1 work set
* Flat flyes - 1 work set
* Millitary press - 1 warm-up, 1 work set
* Lateral flyes - 1 work set
* Rear delt machine - 1 work set
* Tricep pushdowns - 1 warm-up, 1 work set
* Lying tricep extensions - 1 work-set
Wed - Quads, Hams, Calves
* Squats - warm-ups, 1 work set
* Leg press - work set
* Leg extension - work set
* Leg curl - warm-up, work set
* Stiff leg deadlift - work set
* Standing calf raise - work set
Fri - Abs, Back, Bis
* Rope crunches - warm up, work set
* Lat pull down - warm-ups, work set
* Deadlift - warm-up, work set
* Bent-over rows - work set
* Shrugs - work set
* Standing BB curls - warm up, work set
* Concentration curl - work set
You do a lot of warm-ups for your first exercise of
the day. You do one warm-up for the first exercise of
each bodypart, only to optimise the firing of te
neuropathways.
Let's use chest as an example - if for example your
max (work set) in the incline press is 3 plates, then
you do 2 warm-ups with the bar, 2 warm-ups with one
plate, 1 warm-up with 2 plates and then your work set
with 3 plates. The work set is a set where you fail at
about 6 reps. Every workout, you have to do more reps
or increase the weight in that work set (remember, the
muscle has to do something that it has not done
before). So if one work out you fail with 6 reps, the
following nothing less than 7. When you reach 8 reps,
the following workout you should do (increase) a
weight where you can do minimum 4 reps. Then increase
your reps again every workout until you reach 8 again,
and so on. Each rep has a tempo of 2-1-1. That is 2
seconds in the negative, one second in the contraction
and 1 second in the positive.
Then, after you fail in the incline press, you move
straight to flat flyes. You do not need a warmp now
because your chest is more than warm after you failed
on presses.
And that's it for chest. The basic routine stays the
same. If you want variety, small changes as using DB's
instead of BB or doing flat presse and incline flyes
for example, is mor ethan enough variety to keep the
muscle 'confused'.
DIET
VERY simple. Very important that you try to get as
close to 500g of protein per day. Easiest way to do
that is to have a whey protein shake in water with
every meal. Fats and carbs don't matter. Calories
don't count, macro nutrients (protein, fat, carb) do.
If you get to add fat on, just cut out the fats and
keep your carbs bellow 300g/day. That's all it is!
Very simple, but hard to stick to, so not many people
get results. On gear, the more protein you eat, the
more you grow. Is as simple as that. Gear maximises
protein synthesis.
GEAR
You need a testosterone base. 750mg/week is plenty.
You need an anabolic - deca or Eq at 400mg/week is
plenty. You need for optimum growth, a good oral like
d-bol at 30mg/d or A-50 50mg/d.
You use the test and the anabolic non stop. The oral
is 4 weeks on 4 weeks off. Every 6th week (the half
way point between the off oral period - so 2 weeks
after you finish the oral) you have a blood test. If
the blood test is OK, then you can begin your next 4
weeks on oral. There is no reason for you to come off.
The only 2 reasons are health or your receptors are
saturated. If the regular blood test is OK, your
health is OK. If you are still making progress, your
receptors are OK. Coming off, will just sabotage your
gains. That's why I do not believe in set time frames
for cycles. Listen to your body. When you use the
oral, you need to use all the liver aids available - Synthergine,
milk thistle, L-methionine, liv-52, etc. Of course you
cannot drink or do rec drugs during that time. Using
these precautions, your blood tests will be OK.
You also need to use an anti estrogen like Nolvadex at
10mg/d throughout the whole time. Also, you have a
choice between HCG every 4 weeks at 5000IU or Clomid
at 50mg EOD. These will make sure that your balls will
stay at a decent size and they will not forget how to
function.
The blood tests that you need are: full blood count,
liver and kidney function tests, FSH, LH, TSH,
cholesterol.
If the Total protein test in the liver tests is high,
that is because of your diet. You need to keep an eye
on the Billirubin and Urea test results. Your FSH and
LH will be suppressed - that's normal because of the
gear. If the TSH is low, add 20mcg/d T3. If the kidney
function is off, then drink more. protein stresses the
kidneys, so you need more fluids.
When you eventually come off the gear, you make sure
that you are off the orals. Then cut out the anabolic
over 2 weeks. Then the testosterone over 3 weeks. One
week after that, you need to add primo tabs or anavar
(oxandrin) for 3 weeks. That will ensure that you will
keep your gains.
Ideally do a gainkeeper's formula that is outlined in another article.
These are the basic principles behind muscle growth. You do the above you will GROW, no matter what.
That's my goal though to eat consistently and about 350g protein per day (50g in approx. 7 meals).
