Elite Physique The New Science of Building a Better Body

INTRODUCTION
For most of my life, I’ve been trying to figure out the mysteries of the human body.
Specifically, I’ve studied how to make it as big, strong, lean, fast, and athletic as
possible without using drugs or inflicting the kind of damage that would leave
me in pain for the rest of my life.
You could say it was ambitious. It also seemed odd to friends and even some
colleagues. What was left to learn? Was there any way to improve the human
physique—any exercises, training systems, or diets—that hadn’t already been
discovered by weightlifters, bodybuilders, and athletes over the past hundred
years?
They had a point. Every great physique, from Sandow to Schwarzenegger, was
built by manipulating the same basic variables:
• Volume
• Intensity (load)
• Exercise selection
• Frequency
• Recovery
Still, as I saw it, there was something left to learn, something we couldn’t pick
up from following the routines of elite athletes who sometimes trained for three
or four hours a day: How could my clients and readers achieve the best possible
results in three or four hours a week? That led me to decades of experimentation—first
in my own workouts, then with my clients, and then with thousands
of readers in articles and books.
Here’s what I’ll share in the following chapters:
• The many ways to build muscle, including some even the most knowledgeable
and experienced lifters haven’t yet seen or tried
• How to use those systems effectively with whatever equipment you have
available
• How to achieve the results you want in less time than you thought possible
But before we get into the details—and there are a lot of details—I want to take
a moment to explain why they matter, and why it’s worth your time to focus on
them.
Going Beyond Newbie Gains
Everyone who picks up a barbell or dumbbell quickly learns the importance of
two variables: volume and intensity. Do more sets and reps (volume) with heavier
weights (intensity or load), and more often than not, you’ll see better results than
if you do less work with lighter weights.
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