This program promises 30lbs weight gain in 12 weeks for 69,99$. Reader Scott asked me if I thought it was a good investment. I never heard of the program before, so I read their sales letter. An extract:
I went from squatting 265 pounds to 565 for 20 repetitions WITHOUT A SPOTTER! And these are not partial reps!
The author pretends to have increased his Squat to 565lbs in 24 weeks at 225lbs body-weight. That’s 2.5x his body-weight for 20 reps. Check back the strength standards: from intermediate to elite in 6 months. Right.
Jesse Marunde. 2nd in the World’s Strongest Man Competition in 2005. Here’s Marunde Squatting 404 lbs for 20 reps. He first does Power Cleans & Pull-ups, so this isn’t his true max. However it gives you an idea of the intensity.
Tom Platz. Best legs in bodybuilding ever. Genetics combined with hard work. Here’s Platz Squatting 226kg for 23reps.
How to Gain Weight Fast. 30 lbs in 12 weeks is easy if you’re skinny. Jason from World Fitness Networks gained close to 20lbs in 3 months. Keep your 69,99$, here’s an easy way to gain weight fast:
- Eat More. 6 meals/day. Focus on calorie dense foods like oats & pasta.
- Get Protein. At least 1g/lbs daily. Meat, fish, eggs, whey, milk, etc.
- Get Stronger. Squat 3x/week, cfr StrongLifts 5×5 routine.
Tomorrow I’ll show you how to increase your Squat by 100lbs in 13 weeks. No gimmicks, but hard work. Click here to automatically get updates.
Is it true that big lifts such as the Deadlift and Squat will stimulate muscle growth in other parts of your body? e.g. arms/pecs/abs
That statement is the most ludicrous thing I have ever heard. Aside from the strength gain it would take in your legs, there is no way that your core would compensate that fast and your knees (joints). This is something else that happens when you take steroids.
Ro — YES! Guys always ask how to get “big arms” or a “big back” or whatever they are going for, and the answer is always, always, always “Squat 3x a week and eat more”. The squat and deadlift are such whole-body exercises (compound) that you will see gains elsewhere on your body.
If you’re trying to gain size any where, and you’re not squatting, then you are missing out.
Here’s a working link to the Tom Platz youtube video:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=DjtVvYk1HWw
Cheers Sasper, Are the gains due to the fact that you use lots of parts of your body, so they’re all getting worked, therefore making them more muscular, or is some sort of hormone/chemical released when your doing these big lifts. i got told it was due to some hormone being released, but i dont really believe that.
Hey Ro, welcome along to Stronglifts. I’m sure you’ll get a lot of advice here. I’d suggest looking at the suggested reading from this site. Some great great articles where most questions are answered already.
Compound movements such as dead lifts and squats are exactly what they say they are; compound. They work a lot of muscles at once either directly or indirectly as stabilizers. don’t waste your time doing bicep curls. Yes it’s true that the compound movements cause more muscles to be used and causes more testosterone to be released. This natural testosterone aids in building muscle so it’s a very very good thing. Ask anyone on the forums for arm measurements and you’ll be impressed and most if not all of us don’t do bicep specific workouts at all!
I’d suggest go for the beginners strength program here. You’ll learn a lot about weights and about yourself too. Stick to it, it really works. Hop onto the forum and see the many many examples.
I’m sort of confused. Are you supposed to lock out on squats, because in the videos Jesse is locking out, and I have heard that that’s bad for your knees.
@Jack
That’s another one of those gym myths still going around. Always lock your knees on Squats. You’re more stable with heavy weight on your back when your knees are locked vs. unlocked. It’s unsafe to keep your knees unlocked with so much weight on your back. Same rule for the bench press/oh press: lock your elbows.
I think the confusion comes from exercises such as lateral pull downs where by letting the elbows fully lock from the weight pulling them out is probably not a good thing. But locking the elbows on things like the OH press and bench where the weight is pushing down is certainly preferred and definitely much safer.
@Taz
Elbows locked on pull downs, pull-ups & chin-ups at the start of the movement: full movement start with arms completely extended, ends with chin over the bar. Not starting with locked elbows is cheating the rom.
Jack’s post is worth a post btw. Thanks Jack.
WHAT??? You mean to tell me there’s no magic bullet to getting stronger??
I see the same thing in my shooting world all the time. People will buy all sorts of equipment to make themselves better and faster and never achieve the results they thought they would.
They failed because they weren’t willing to do the work.
There are no magic bullets.