training | Top Form Fitness

Pre-Exhaust Training – Old School Mass Builder

One of my favorite advanced training techniques for hypertrophy (building muscle) is pre-exhaustion. This “old-school” method was used and recommended by some of the great golden-era bodybuilders from back in the day such as Casey Viator, Arthur Jones, and Mike Mentzer. However, I don’t recommend using this training protocol until you have a good foundation getting stronger with the big basic compound movements (such as squats, presses, and pulls). For myself, I like to alternate between a program like my Barbarian Strength Training and Pre-Exhaust Training every few weeks. […]

Josh Hewett2020-06-15T22:00:11-04:00

Priorities of Function (Guest Post – Frank DiMeo)

For more than twenty years before I transitioned to the world of strength and conditioning; I was heavily involved with martial arts training. There was a very distinct progression of how we learned and trained. The priorities of function were adhered to and a very strong base of foundational techniques was established. For instance, the front kick was learned and practiced long before a back kick. A back kick would practiced long before a spinning back kick was learned. In strength and conditioning, the priorities of function are also extremely important. The main reasons for this are to invest your training hours wisely so the return on your investment is a solid base of strength and correct technique. If a person cannot do a full ROM bodyweight squat, he has no business trying to do a squat with a barbell. The human tendency is to be very impatient, and that can sabotage your progress [...]

Josh Hewett2014-11-29T00:01:57-05:00

How to Gain More Muscle Mass – GET BIG Program

After focusing on losing body fat for over a year, and successfully achieving a single digit body fat % as well as the coveted “six pack”, I’ve decided that I now look a little too “skinny” for my liking. So I’ve taken on a new goal, which is to gain a few pounds of muscle while minimizing fat gain. In preparation for this goal I’ve added to my knowledge of hypertrophy by doing a serious amount of reading, as well as speaking with other fitness experts who are well versed in the science of growing muscle. From what I’ve learned, I’ve put together what I believe to be a solid hypertrophy program. I’m about to list all the principles for WHY I set it up this way, so this may be a long post (bear with me!): I’m calling it BAHT (Basic Anabolic Hypertrophy Training). It follows some similar principles [...]

Josh Hewett2014-01-25T14:56:09-05:00

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