The #1 Muscle-Building Mistake

It was summer 1975, and Arnold was Mr. Olympia, bodybuilding’s top dog. The muscle world was captivated by the awesome Austrian, and for good reason: He looked incredible from every angle.

At 17, Steve was in awe too, but his physique, at 155 pounds, was far from awesome—and he was fed up with it. So he decided that between his junior and senior years of high school he was going to use Arnold’s double-split Mr. O program and become unrecognizably freaky huge by the start of school in September—he’d show Michelle what a fool she was for breaking up with him.

Steve had been training for two years, so he knew he was ready for one workout in the morning and another in the late afternoon, six days a week. Steve knew he’d also have to follow Arnold’s diet, so every morning he planned to wake up and choke down a hamburger patty, toast, whole milk, juice and fruit—the perfect mass-gaining preworkout meal. He was stoked that his arms would morph to at least 18 1/2 inches—Michelle was going to swoon—which was only about 1 1/4 inches per month. No problem.

Did he make it? Well, after less than three weeks of two 1 1/2-hour workouts a day, he was completely burned out with nothing to show for his efforts except calluses, sore shoulder joints and a pissed-off mom who had to wash all his workout clothes. After taking a few weeks off, he went back to one workout a day four days a week and did manage to build about five pounds of impressive muscle that summer. Arnold’s Olympia title was safe for another year. There’s a happier ending, though, as you’ll see in a moment—with clues to help you get huge.

Therein lies the biggest mistake most bodybuilders make—they use the pros’ training routines and end up with zero gains. They think that because they want to look like the top stars, they have to train like them. It makes some sense till you really think about it—would you jump into an Olympic swimmer’s program because you want to someday swim in the Olympics? No. You have to gradually progress to that level. Patience and gradual progression—as well as smart training—are key to realizing your potential.

You can be bigger, much bigger than you are now, but the pros have different genetics than 99.99 percent of us. Plus they use pharmaceutical enhancements, which make an incredible difference in workload tolerance, recovery and growth. In other words, you won’t look like the champs by training like them, unless you have those two often unmentioned advantages.

Think about it this way: If you’re a 5’2” basketball player, how much success are you going to have if you try to dunk the basketball only like the genetic giants? None—in fact, you’ll probably quit trying. You have to find other ways to get the ball through the hoop—more efficient methods for your bodytype, such as jump shots and hooks.

So here’s the truth about your muscle-building success: If you’re disciplined and use your head, there’s real, almost unlimited possibility. In other words, loads of muscle are just waiting to be slapped onto your frame. Just stop trying to dunk the ball before you grow tall. Don’t try to use pro-style workouts, which will do nothing but discourage you.

It took Steve many years to figure that out, and after learning all he could about his specific requirements for muscle growth and the science behind anabolic stimulation, he sculpted a worthy physique, using 3D Positions of Flexion and eventually X Reps and X-hybrid techniques. A happy ending, but it’s not over yet; he’s still building muscle at 49 years old. In fact, he looks better in his late 40s than he did in his 20s.

He’s no Arnold, but he’s taken his genetics much further than his before picture, taken on his 15th birthday, could have predicted. Most experts would’ve told him to give up bodybuilding and try marathons. Steve knew what he wanted, though, and stuck to his guns. He’s living proof that with experimentation, discipline and effort, you can pack on plenty of muscle. Remember, he’s still doing it as he nears 50—no drugs.

You can do it too—but you shouldn’t train like the pros. Not yet anyway. Give it time and progress correctly. We’re not saying that you shouldn’t check out the training of the top guys. You can learn a thing or two from them. For example, in the e-book Beyond X-Rep Muscle Building we analyze Ronnie Coleman’s Mr. Olympia training and explain why he does certain things to grow and how you can use them correctly. We even analyze some of the things Arnold did that you can apply to your workouts.

Us? We don’t train with a pro-style program because we don’t use drugs, and we have limited time—and Steve’s genetics are far from superior. Basically, we have to work out on our lunch break, usually only four days a week. Even so, we’ve discovered a lot of what works: efficiency-of-effort muscle building that’s built quite a bit of size for us as well as so-called average trainees. One of the big techniques we discovered is phase training, or taking it easy during a low-intensity week after four to six weeks of all-out workouts. Phase training is a must if you train to muscular exhaustion on a regular basis, which we believe is necessary if you want to make the fastest gains—and quick gains are possible. Here’s a story that shows it can be done:

“I wanted to give you an update on my progress with X Reps. In the last month and a half I’ve put 60 pounds on my bench and 1 1/2 inches on my arms. I use a combination of X Reps, Double-X Overload sets [from the e-book Beyond X-Rep Muscle Building], drop sets and double drop sets. Keep the information coming! I read the training blog [at X-Rep.com] every day.”

—Jon Julius, via Internet

Hearing about quick gains like that get us stoked on a number of levels. Here’s another motivating statement, this one from Arthur Jones, the creator of Nautilus machines and the father of high-intensity training, that should get you champing at the bit to hit the gym with intensity: 

“The potential muscular size of the average individual is far beyond existing average muscular size; in effect, almost any healthy man can build muscular size and strength to such a degree that most medical doctors would refuse to believe accurate before and after measurements and photographs. And at least a fair percentage of apparently average men can build literally huge muscular size.”

You can do it. Just remember, progression, patience and smart training are the superhighway to big gaining—not pro-bodybuilder workouts.

Editor’s note: For more on X-Rep training and 3D POF, visit www.X-Rep.com and 3DMuscleBuilding.com. If you’re a beginning bodybuilder, a trainee coming back from a layoff or a trainer who trains beginners, visit www.MuscleQuickStart.com.  IM