**Marcus's HIT Dungeon**

[Cuz]

Chad interested in splitting my legs up....mind posting ur routine for this hams calves day?

yes sir. I sure will.

[Igifuno]

Looks good Igi. Neoprene on I see!

Yes indeed!!

[Cuz]

Chad is looking great.. Lean and ripped to shreds.. Looking forward to seeing what's next for him.

Thanks bro. Everybody I mean everybody in here that follows this balls to the wall training is going to make progress. And from what I have seen everybody has changed their bodies. Everybody is putting the time in, man not just me. All of us. I wished it came fast and easy though not gonna lie!

[Fcastle357]

No.. they're white and hairy.. lol.. Maybe soon after tan and shave.

Can always go black and white. Nice calves Igi

[Capebuffalo]

Marcus I would man, but I think im done with pictures and progress for now. Just trying to maintain what I gained last round. My lats definitely need some work, they are stubborn much like the chest.

I have a feeling you're your own worst critic. Much like we all are. Lol

[Igifuno]

Can always go black and white. Nice calves Igi

Ok screw it. Put some sunglasses on!!

[Sfla80]

Ok screw it. Put some sunglasses on!!

<img src="http://forums.steroid.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=146131"/>

Some thick ass legs man....and no sun glasses needed the forrest of hair makes it look darker lol

[Cuz]

I have a feeling you're your own worst critic. Much like we all are. Lol

always gotta be the hardest on your own self lol

[Cuz]

I have a feeling you're your own worst critic. Much like we all are. Lol

double post

[Cuz]

Ok screw it. Put some sunglasses on!!

BIG lol

[bikeral]

Great thread Marcus and the rest. Real inspiration. Killed Delts and Traps today thinking about this thread.

[RipOwens]

Legs today.

Leg extensions, leg press, hack squat, and leg curl.

Legs have been more neglected than I'd imagined....went up 50 lbs on leg press. Lol! Sort of ridiculous.

[Igifuno]

Great thread Marcus and the rest. Real inspiration. Killed Delts and Traps today thinking about this thread.

Yeeaa biker good to see you in here man. Glad you got in there and killed it today.

Take some time and read through the entire thread. It'll take several days but you'll get a lot out if it.

[Giggle]

NICE Igi! Looking thick!!

Ok screw it. Put some sunglasses on!!

[Rusty11]

I think what I like most about this thread is the fact that marcus doesn't come across as an ego-driven ass. No. He doesn't care if you are huge or small. Young or old. He answers questions and gives encouragement to everyone. Sure, he's a beast and bigger/stronger than most. But, you wouldn't know it unless that back or arm avy wasn't staring you in the face. Deep respect for the guy.

[Igifuno]

NICE Igi! Looking thick!!

thank you Ms. Giggle!

I think what I like most about this thread is the fact that marcus doesn't come across as an ego-driven ass. No. He doesn't care if you are huge or small. Young or old. He answers questions and gives encouragement to everyone. Sure, he's a beast and bigger/stronger than most. But, you wouldn't know it unless that back or arm avy wasn't staring you in the face. Deep respect for the guy.

Well said Rusty...

[Igifuno]

Reposting Marcus's piece on rep range, stimulating growth, advanced training techniques, and nutrition.

bikeral this is for you man.. one of the best posts in AR history right here.

1. This is just a reminder how I go about my training, many of you use different HIT approaches which is fine but for me these below work and they will also help some of you have a better understanding what this style is all about. I've seen many training styles being mixed up but I just want to get this out there for the people who are getting confused. It also explains some of the terminology I and others use.

Rep range
The ideal rep range for building size and stimulating hypertrophy is the 6 to 12 reps. Less than 6 reps will more or less increase strength and a degree of size, performing more than 12 reps will help build muscle endurance. Make sure that your reps fall within this range and your hitting true positive failure for the best chance of hypertrpohy. If your implementing one of the beyond failure methods such as forced & negs, rest pause or dropsetting you use a weight what is heavy enough to bring your positive failure at the low end of the rep range. An example for rest pause you use a weight what you will hit true positive failure at around the 4th rep then you would rest for around 10-15 seconds and do another couple of reps, then rest again for another 10-15 seconds and hit another 2 reps with the same weight. In total your doing 8 reps which is within range and your going to failure on each rest pause so you have a high chance of stimulating the right fibers to produce the best gains. As your rep range and strength increases towards a total of 12 reps you simple increase the weight being used so your constantly increasing intensity and overload, the two keys principles of any HIT programme. You use feeler sets to determine what weight you will be using on your working set, as you use different methods like dropsetting always makes sure you don't drop the weight to much so your not going over 12 reps in total. If you are you need to be using heavier weight on the drops so your rep range hits below the 12 reps in total. I always like to use around the 8 rep range in total and increase the reps upwards until I feel i can increase the weight so my rep range falls around the 8 rep range again. We are aiming for maximum muscle fiber recruitment hitting these rep ranges at failure will have the greatest potential for muscular growth. The above advice is for someone who is already advanced and is looking to build bigger thicker muscles, its not for someone who is building a base and foundation because these people can really benefit from using a lower rep range aswell as the above.


Stimulating growth
Remember going to true positive failure like I've describe previously hits the toughest muscle fibers what grow the biggest these are the fast twitch type 2b fibers, you hit these fibers and you will have the biggest chance of increasing in size. What we are aiming for is progression overload so you keep hitting the muscles with an increased weight so they need to change and adapt to the overload its being put under. This kind of continuous stress will have a reaction on the body and it will have no other alternative but to grow. We keep within the right rep range what stimulates the biggest growth and we continuously try and increase the intensity by increasing the reps then once the reps increase you increase the weight to bring the reps down within the correct range again. I can't stress enough about taking your muscle to true positive failure, this takes a lot of mental preparation. Before any muscle contraction occurs it originates from the brain sending signals to the nerves, the stronger the signal the more forceful the muscle contraction, in other words control your mind set pre working set and you will be in the best position to take your body to failure and beyond. I've commented many times how I go about doing my mental preparation but you master the mental side and you will see huge leaps in achieving your goals.Release the aggression by talking to your inner self and you will take your body to places its never been before. Stimulate growth by overloading your body to a state were its screaming for you to stop and no matter what you couldn't do one more rep even if your life depended on it, if you don't train in this fashion your not training hard enough.

Advanced training techniques
Forced and negatives
When your going to be implementing forced and negatives you need to be using a weight what your going to be hitting around the 3-4 rep range at true positive failure, then your spotter with help you with another 2 reps. I say 2 reps because its about the limit you can do once you have come to true positive failure and your partner is taking some of the weight off you, these forced reps will dig very deep into your muscle fiber recruitment. Once you have finished the forced reps the weight will be at the starting position and you start to complete negatives by lowering the weight very slowly, make sure you resist and fight the weight coming down and once at the bottom your partner will assist you to get the weight to the top of again and you will do another negative and you keep going until you cant do another negative, usually its around 2 negatives. Negatives done at this stage of a working set after positive muscle failure causes serious trauma to the muscle which will stimulate the release of growth factors. Your also 40% stronger on the eccentric part of the lift so once you hit failure in the lifting part of the exercise by yourself and adding forced with your partner the negatives will take you beyond and recruit further fibres like nothing I've experienced with any other training routine. Once this as been hit there is no need to do anything else because the damage has occurred and no more can be recruited only burn out and exhaustion. If we add the reps up you would be doing around 3-4 reps on the positive then 2 forced and then around 2 negative so in total your hitting around the 8 rep range. You have 3 strengths you have the positive, static and negative, the negative causes the most damage to the muscle and is the biggest cause of DOMS, you master negatives and you will see a huge improvement in muscle size and fullness.

Rest Pause
Again use a weight what you will be hitting true positive failure around the 3-4 reps range, put the weight down and rest for around 10-15 seconds which should give you around another 2 reps, then repeat and rest again and hit another 2+ reps again. Your completing a set of around 8 reps than you would normally use but your rest a couple of times within the set for around 10-15 second so you recover just enough to complete another 2 reps each time. This will recruit those tough type 2b muscle fibers and if you use your feeler sets correctly you can really cause some serious damage to your muscle and create an extreme amount of over load your body isn't use to. I like the 8 rep total mark but this isn't set in stone, you may prefer 10 reps in total or even 6 but just try and makes ure your in the 6-12 rep range and work from that to increase the intensity and overload.

Drop sets
This method needs a bit more thinking about but first lets explain what a drop set is. If we use DB curls for an example you would pick a weight again were you would be hitting around 3-4 reps at true positive failure and then get a set of lighter DB's and rep again for another couple of reps and then drop the weight again and curl another set of lighter bells for another 2-3 reps. You have to make sure you drop the weight enough to make sure you get around 2-3 reps out at failure but make sure you don't drop the weight to much, if your repping loads of reps out remember your trying to be hitting around the 8 rep range so when your doing your feeler sets its crucial to make the lighter db set just enough so you keep within the total rep range.

Halfs/quarters or partials
With partials you are doing a standard working set to which will involve you conducting a strict full range of motion to true positive failure, at this stage you would carry on doing half reps until its impossible to complete another half rep then do a quarter reps right down till you cant move the weight. A fine example would be DB side laterals were you would do strict reps till failure then carry on doing half reps so the DB's are only coming up half way then keep going till your hardly moving the weight from the side. There will be a bit of body assistance and sloppy form come into play towards the end but at this stage its fine just to get those deep muscle fibers working by going beyond failure. Extremely effective way to recruit those tough fibers we require with a constant tension approach.

Hit Supersets
Hit supersets entail you doing one exercise right after another with very little rest as in-between the two movements. With these types of supersets your still hitting the 6-12 rep range so your not doing anymore than 12 reps over two exercises, this is very important. Example you would go to true positive failure lets say on DB shoulder press and be at failure around the 5-6 rep then go straight into db side laterals for another 6 reps at the most which would be failure again. You have to make sure you use the right weight to hit the correct rep range so you don't go over the 12 rep ceiling otherwise you will trigger the muscle endurance and exhaustion and you wont tap into the tough fibers we require. Great examples is coupling compounds movements with isolation.


Combination
This protocol would consist of a combination of any of the above methods, you could use rest pause and on the second rest pause you may not be able to do anymore reps so you could go straight into a drop set to finish the working set of to failure and beyond. You could even use drop sets with partials on the last drop set to really increase the burn and intensity. The combination is endless, its how you feel to complete the workings set and what you need to do to make sure its a productive one. These are great for a back up plan if your working set starts to go wrong for any reason.

Rest
Using the above protocols is extremely tasking on your body and CNS so you need to make sure the training session are short but intense enough to stimulate growth. You also need to make sure you rest enough and have a good solid diet to suit your requirements. There is one thing for sure its impossible to train like this correctly for weeks on end, no matter how anabolic you are your going to need to pull back on the above movements and decrease the intensity and let the body fully repair and heal. This doesn't mean you have to stop training in this style just take a pullback training routine for a few weeks and lower the intensity and increase the rest days. Cortisol will fight against muscle growth so if you experience any over training symptoms its time to change things around to help your body repair and heal.


Feel sets
The feel sets are sets what you will do previous your working set, these sets are done so you can determine what weight you will be doing on your working set. Sometimes on my first feeler set it feels light and I'm very powerful so the next feeler set I will put some poundage on and see how that feels, again if that feels easy I know I can go heavier on my working set. I also take in consideration what I am going to be doing whether its forced and negs or rest pause or drops, I just judge a weight what I will be hitting failure around the 4th - 6th rep mark or less and then incorporate the beyond failure protocols. I also remember what I did last time I did that movement because in the back of my mind I know I have to overload my body. I am always pushing heavier weights or trying to increase the intensity.

Nutrition
Food is a major player when we are building muscle tissue or shredding bf. We need to eat enough energy releasing foods to fuel our workouts and also to promote muscle building. Nutrition is a very individual thing and nothing is set in stone no matter who tells you it is, its not. We are all different and have different levels of activity and we need to establish a baseline diet and work off this to suit your needs and goals. Make no mistake if you want to grow bigger thicker muscles than your going to have to eat big, train big and be consistent with everything you do. Once you establish your maintenance diet you can put a strategy together to add muscle and body weight or shred body fat. Learning how your body responds to different amounts of calories will be one most beneficial things you can do because this will open a plan to determine how you go about attacking and achieving your goals.

[kelkel]

Great thread Marcus and the rest. Real inspiration. Killed Delts and Traps today thinking about this thread.

Lost?

Ok screw it. Put some sunglasses on!!

Very nice young man!

Legs today.

Leg extensions, leg press, hack squat, and leg curl.

Legs have been more neglected than I'd imagined....went up 50 lbs on leg press. Lol! Sort of ridiculous.

Not ridiculous, progress! Keep it up!

[Igifuno]

Legs today.

Leg extensions, leg press, hack squat, and leg curl.

Legs have been more neglected than I'd imagined....went up 50 lbs on leg press. Lol! Sort of ridiculous.

Nice Rip.. what do you contribute the significant increase in weight to? Are you on cycle, is it the implementation of heavier weight/lower reps and the advanced techniques. .both?

[AD]

Legs today.

Leg extensions, leg press, hack squat, and leg curl.

Legs have been more neglected than I'd imagined....went up 50 lbs on leg press. Lol! Sort of ridiculous.

calves?

[Java Man]

Back/Tris

After warm up and stretching.. keeping a log now as well, at least for the next several weeks.

Today's workout was a bit strange.. Felt worn out and hands hurt like hell from some crap gh that I junked today.

Back:

Pre-exhaust: Straigh bar pull downs 35x12, 50x12, 50x12

Low row:
120x10
180x6, drop to 160x4

Bent over rows (flat bench):
100x6, RP+6 (was a little disappointed here.. got the 125's last week).. don't want to think about it too much.. move on

Hammer strength lat pull down:
225x6 - feeling kind of weak right now.. , RP+2

Triceps

Seated dip
feel set 90x12
180x8 - this is very painful on my palms and fingers
255x6

Skull crushers:
feel/warm up set 50x12
110x5.. definitely weaker here and hands are killing me
drop to 90x6

Rope pull down:
Feel 42x10
65x6, RP+4

Hammer strength tricep extension
50sx10
80x6, drop to 70x2

20 minutes cardio today. I will try to make this my minimum going forward. Ate well today and, not sure if this is my imagination or not, but I'm already feeling better. BP seems to be down already as well. Can it happen that fast?

I'm glad you decided to can that "gh" or whatever it was. If it was a diuretic yes it can happen that fast.

[Igifuno]

fell much better today man, thanks. still a little numbness in my fingertips but I feel it going away slowly. So happy about the way I feel compared to yesterday, I don't even care about the gh, or whatever it was lol.

[Cuz]

Ok SFLA

This was a quick session as I was pressed for time today.

Hams/Calves

quick preworkout stretch

moved to calves first
3 sets seated raises. Squeezed at the top x 15
Last set drop set followed by another drop until I couldn't take it anymore

Stretched again

Hams
Leg cursl (both legs)
2 sets feelers 1 working followed by a drop I dropped the weight too much tis time had to go back up. Held the squeeze until failure.

Hyperextensions. 2 sets bodyweight both till failure as hams were already shot from the leg curls

Stretched again

Lunges x1 set bodyweight x 1 set 40lbs
Jefferson squats x 1 set


Just a quick overlay man if you have any specific q's just ask me SFLA

[Java Man]

Marcus I would man, but I think im done with pictures and progress for now. Just trying to maintain what I gained last round. My lats definitely need some work, they are stubborn much like the chest.

Your triceps and delts are unreal chad. In a stan lee marvel kind of way. That's good btw lol

Igi, calves look great.

[Java Man]

Ok screw it. Put some sunglasses on!!

Good size and shape there man. Don't worry about your whiteness.

I'm much brighter than that! I glow in the dark in winter. When the power goes out, people use me as a light source. I colorize my avy pics or we'd all be blind.

[Java Man]

I think what I like most about this thread is the fact that marcus doesn't come across as an ego-driven ass. No. He doesn't care if you are huge or small. Young or old. He answers questions and gives encouragement to everyone. Sure, he's a beast and bigger/stronger than most. But, you wouldn't know it unless that back or arm avy wasn't staring you in the face. Deep respect for the guy.

. Couldn't agree more. Very well said rusty.

[RipOwens]

Nice Rip.. what do you contribute the significant increase in weight to? Are you on cycle, is it the implementation of heavier weight/lower reps and the advanced techniques. .both?

Nah, I think it's two part. I took legs out of my normal routine since my knees were acting up, and just got complacent.

Now I'm back hard and the weight is going up like I just started training for the first time.

And also improvements in my mental approach.

[RipOwens]

calves?

Simply neglected them today for no good reason whatsoever.

[Fcastle357]

Ok screw it. Put some sunglasses on!!

<img src="http://forums.steroid.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=146131"/>

Boom!

[Java Man]

Simply neglected them today for no good reason whatsoever.

Lol. Can't say I've never done that.

[Java Man]

Damn this thread is inspiring. Marcus,.your mental windows always make me think about my attitude in the gym and adjust if needed. Nobody gives insight directly into the state of mind they're in at that moment quite like I've read here. I'm getting pretty damned good at it. When you can't hear anything going on around you, only your own breathing and heart pounding, you know youre in the zone. It's like tunnel vision, except focusing inward instead of on a target. If anyone.here has ever been in that situation, where it's just you and your target, time slows, everything happens deliberately with much more detail than seems possible. When it's over, you can't believe what just happened was real and that it happened to YOU. That happens. Just you and a ridiculous pile of metal that you have to move.

I'm going to go train legs now.

[Java Man]

Legs. Only trained quads tonight. I'll hit hams and calves next time.

I got through squats, then did some deep hacks with much lighter weight but when I got ready to do sled presses my lower back was screaming at me so I cut it short. I hate being old. still got a good quad workout. I will be sore tomorrow. It's already setting in.

[marcus300]

Ok screw it. Put some sunglasses on!!

Look thick and big well done.

Some thick ass legs man....and no sun glasses needed the forrest of hair makes it look darker lol

Those aren't hairy, you want to see mine I am like a gorilla

always gotta be the hardest on your own self lol

very true I think we all are

Great thread Marcus and the rest. Real inspiration. Killed Delts and Traps today thinking about this thread.

Thanks i'm really glad your getting something out of it. Doesn't matter what parts so long as your learning and getting motivated that's all good,

I think what I like most about this thread is the fact that marcus doesn't come across as an ego-driven ass. No. He doesn't care if you are huge or small. Young or old. He answers questions and gives encouragement to everyone. Sure, he's a beast and bigger/stronger than most. But, you wouldn't know it unless that back or arm avy wasn't staring you in the face. Deep respect for the guy.

Thanks RUSTY, I think some others would disagree with you on that one but thanks anyway. I know a fault of mine is pushing what I believe in but I am so passionate about it and just want people to try it and see what it can do for you. There are also many more people in this thread who believe and inspire me, Kel is one of them I must say xx

Damn this thread is inspiring. Marcus,.your mental windows always make me think about my attitude in the gym and adjust if needed. Nobody gives insight directly into the state of mind they're in at that moment quite like I've read here. I'm getting pretty damned good at it. When you can't hear anything going on around you, only your own breathing and heart pounding, you know youre in the zone. It's like tunnel vision, except focusing inward instead of on a target. If anyone.here has ever been in that situation, where it's just you and your target, time slows, everything happens deliberately with much more detail than seems possible. When it's over, you can't believe what just happened was real and that it happened to YOU. That happens. Just you and a ridiculous pile of metal that you have to move.

I'm going to go train legs now.

I truly believe that the mental side of things is a huge factor for pushing past boundaries and brick walls. I experimented over the yrs and have done may ways/methods and protocols I just wished I was in my 20's again so I could concentrate on what works rather than yrs of wasting but you guys have it all these days. All you got to do it put it all together and plan your attack.

We all know all we need on one thing in our everyday life to fuk up like relationship issues, job problems or family stuff and you cant train to the max, you cant eat correctly, you don't sleep right. The power of the mind is huge it controls everything so when you walk in that gym with the right mind set thinking within an hour I will be out and you can focus on the job in hand and go to war with yourself like ive tried to explain you will stimulate those deep tough fibers which are the ones what grow the biggest and thickest

[Capebuffalo]

“It's essential you create a fiery will from within--harness that power of decisiveness--and choose to be your strongest self.”
― Karen Salmansohn

[Capebuffalo]

Smith Military Behind Neck
135x10 225x5 drop x 5

DB Side and Front Raises
30x8 40x4 drop x4

Hammer Strength Press
185x11

Revers Grip DB Rear Delt
40x10. 50x8

It seems like I'm fighting a losing battle here with the younger guys. Everyday y'all all look bigger and better. It does however give me motivation. Thanks to all the regulars who post here and Marcus and Kel for leadership and guidance.

[Java Man]

Smith Military Behind Neck
135x10 225x5 drop x 5

DB Side and Front Raises
30x8 40x4 drop x4

Hammer Strength Press
185x11

Revers Grip DB Rear Delt
40x10. 50x8

It seems like I'm fighting a losing battle here with the younger guys. Everyday y'all all look bigger and better. It does however give me motivation. Thanks to all the regulars who post here and Marcus and Kel for leadership and guidance.

Look lean cape. Good lean..you have some crazy vein running laterally across the middle of your arm lol. Nice! Shoulder caps look like pauldrons. I can see veins all over there too.

Your beard is getting massive! Does that count??

[Capebuffalo]

Look lean cape. Good lean..you have some crazy vein running laterally across the middle of your arm lol. Nice! Shoulder caps look like pauldrons. I can see veins all over there too.

Your beard is getting massive! Does that count??

Thx. And yes. Yes it does.

[Sfla80]

Ok SFLA

This was a quick session as I was pressed for time today.

Hams/Calves

quick preworkout stretch

moved to calves first
3 sets seated raises. Squeezed at the top x 15
Last set drop set followed by another drop until I couldn't take it anymore

Stretched again

Hams
Leg cursl (both legs)
2 sets feelers 1 working followed by a drop I dropped the weight too much tis time had to go back up. Held the squeeze until failure.

Hyperextensions. 2 sets bodyweight both till failure as hams were already shot from the leg curls

Stretched again

Lunges x1 set bodyweight x 1 set 40lbs
Jefferson squats x 1 set

Just a quick overlay man if you have any specific q's just ask me SFLA

Thanks chad! The reason I asked I really only had 3 exercises for hams. And couldnt see having it own day. But I normally do hypers on back day. And havent done lunges in a long time either. Will have to.make a layout for a new split. And im gonna goggle jefferson squats

[marcus300]

Hitting my shoulders hard last week aggravated my cuff injury it when worse after chest, had some good DOMS but I can feel the injury after its all settled down. Must of really took myself to the limit, lucky I didn't fuk it up again.

[Igifuno]

Smith Military Behind Neck
135x10 225x5 drop x 5

DB Side and Front Raises
30x8 40x4 drop x4

Hammer Strength Press
185x11

Revers Grip DB Rear Delt
40x10. 50x8

It seems like I'm fighting a losing battle here with the younger guys. Everyday y'all all look bigger and better. It does however give me motivation. Thanks to all the regulars who post here and Marcus and Kel for leadership and guidance.

You ain't losing nuthin' cape.. the younger guys are looking bigger and better because of motivation and guidance by guys like you, kel and marcus. The fact that other's progress gives you motivation, gives me motivation, so we're working with and for eachother here, which is what this is all about. I've said it before, I'm very grateful for this.