TRAINING ARTICLES

Is your training program holding you back?

The Training Principles That Matter (and the Stuff That Doesn’t)

How to Keep Progressing as a Novice and Intermediate Trainee

How to Progress from ‘The Big 3’ to Split Routines

The Intermediate Bodybuilding Program

The Intermediate Powerlifting Program

TOP FREE TRAINING PROGRAMS

  1. The Novice Bodybuilding Program
  2. The Novice Powerlifting Program
  3. The Intermediate Powerlifting Program
  4. The Intermediate Bodybuilding Program
  5. The Big 3 Routine (Novice)
  6. Three Day Split RPT

TRAINING ESSENTIALS

  1. How to Choose a Training Program
  2. The Training Principles That Matter (and the Stuff That Doesn’t)
  3. A Guide to Exercise Selection When You Don’t Have Access to a Coach
  4. How to Keep Progressing as a Novice and Intermediate Trainee
  5. How Much Cardio Should You Do When Cutting?
  6. How to Warm Up for Strength Training

ADVANCED TRAINING ARTICLES

  1. How to Break Training Plateaus
  2. How to Address Weak Points in Your Lifts
  3. Implementing RPE in your Training (Email Course)
  4. How to Make Weight for a Powerlifting (or Weightlifting) Competition
  5. How Important Are Lateral Raises for Building Big Shoulders?
  6. How Stress Affects Your Program and Progress
  7. Progressing With Chin-ups
  8. Why Too Much Cardio Can Hamper Your Physique Goals
  9. A Guide to Improving Your Training Work Capacity

The Most Comprehensive FAQ You’ve Ever Seen, Maybe 😉

BROWSE ALL TRAINING GUIDES

How Important Are Lateral Raises for Building Big Shoulders?

Eric Helms, Andy Morgan and Andrea Valdez / Muscle and Strength Pyramid Book Excerpts , Training Principles

In bodybuilding, middle deltoid development is important to make you appear wider and tapered. Due to this, I often see emphasis placed on lateral raise variations and hear the concern that without their inclusion, delt development will lack. While I don’t dispute the importance of lateral raises (you will even see them in our sample […] Read More »

How Much Cardio Should You Do When Cutting?

Eric Helms, Andy Morgan and Andrea Valdez / Muscle and Strength Pyramid Book Excerpts , Nutrition Set-up , Training Set-up

A caloric deficit doesn’t have to come entirely from the diet, and you probably guessed that adding some cardiovascular work to expend more energy rather than restricting your energy intake alone, could also be useful. A simple way to estimate energy expenditure during cardio requires you to determine a rating of perceived exertion (RPE) during […] Read More »

How to Warm Up for Strength Training

Eric Helms, Andy Morgan and Andrea Valdez / Muscle and Strength Pyramid Book Excerpts , Training Principles

The purposes of a warm-up are to prepare you for the training to come, potentially enhance the performance of training, and also to hopefully reduce the risk of injury. One of the primary mechanisms by which a warm-up provides these benefits is an increase in body temperature, which has beneficial physiological effects that include increasing […] Read More »

The Intermediate Bodybuilding Program

Eric Helms, Andy Morgan and Andrea Valdez / Muscle and Strength Pyramid Book Excerpts , Training Programs

This is a sample bodybuilding program from our Muscle and Strength Training Pyramid book. The explanation section in the book is fairly detailed, so I have cut it down to give just the overview, relevant notation and exercise selection explanations. This, the Intermediate Powerlifting Program, and the Detailed Guide to Training Progression articles bring the […] Read More »