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This month we do the Q&A thing with Brandan Fokken. What an eye-popping build! Brandan lays out motivation tips and tricks and shares the shoulder routine that built his delts into radically round orbs of sinew. Then Greg Zulak outlines how to get more “grow days”—heighten your hypertrophy with smart workout splits. Plus, we’ve got another installment from Mr. America Doug Brignole on his latest training discoveries. This time he covers diet and the single best exercise for scoring your core.

FEATURES

TRAIN, EAT, GROW 181

Steve Holman outlines quick mass hits for delts and arms using supersets, TORQ and 4X.

FOKKEN GREAT DELTS!

Brandan Fokken reveals what it takes to build a wicked-awesome physique—with eye-popping shoulders. Wow!

XTREME TRAINING

Looking for big new gains? Train with chains. Cornell Hunt lays out a searing circuit guaranteed to get you growing.

THE PEAKING AXIS

Joe Klemczewski, Ph.D., a.k.a. the Diet Doc, blows the lid off getting competition “crisp.” Should you cut water? Increase carbs? It’s all here.

GET MORE GROW DAYS

Greg Zulak explains how to gain—not overtrain. Intensity is great, but you can get too much of a good thing.

TRANSFORMATION

How Andrew Benner took his blubbery 295-pound body down to a cut 173—a metamorphosis you have to see.

THE GREATEST HITS LEGS WORKOUT

One all-out work set per exercise gets the mass-building job done in this quick-hit program from Roger Lockridge.

A BODYBUILDER IS BORN: GENERATIONS

Ron Harris spews the truth to a fellow trainee—you can’t eat crap on the weekends and muscle up.

MUSCLE MASTERY 2

Mr. America Doug Brignole talks diet for building muscle and the single best exercise for abs, bi’s and tri’s.

HARDBODY

Paige Hathaway is a social media sensation and a beautiful fitness inspiration. One million Instagram followers? You’ll see why. Whew!

MUSCLE BEACH

The July 4th event showed what bodybuilding competition should be—fun, friends and fantastic flexing.

DEPARTMENTS

TRAIN TO GAIN

Finding the right gym, the need for speed and vacuum leg raises for a tighter waist.

EAT TO GROW

Throwback Thursday in bodybuilding coaching, part 2. Plus, water manipulation for competition—how Mr. Natural Olympia does it.

SMART TRAINING

Coach Charles Poliquin contrasts and compares postexhaustion and preexhaustion training.

ONLY THE STRONG SHALL SURVIVE

Bill Starr on more ways to use the light, heavy and medium system.

MHP MUSCLE AND POWER

IFBB pro Ben White’s essential-supplements list.

NATURALLY HUGE

Mr. Natural Olympia John Hansen on recovery and overtraining.

TWIG TO BIG

Vince Del Monte’s alactic-capacity-sprint method.

NEWS & VIEWS

L.T. has lots of good stuff on the big and buff—including a look at some of the sport’s newest pros.

PRIME-TIME MUSCLE

Better sleep, bigger gains. Plus, swell your muscle cells.

MIND/BODY CONNECTION

Serious Training with Tram Nguyen. Also, Iconic Images.

PUMP & CIRCUMSTANCE

Ruth Silverman highlights the women who got the point in 2014.

READERS WRITE

Cable confusion, diet divergence and super Starr.