

From Geek to Freak: How I Gained 34 lbs. of Muscle in 4 Weeks  - Rabidmonkey1
http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2007/04/29/from-geek-to-freak-how-i-gained-34-lbs-of-muscle-in-4-weeks/

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shard
I am very skeptical of the article. It seems highly unlikely that with only
four hours of weight training that he packed on 34 lbs of muscle. The research
he quoted wasn't as esoteric as he purports. I was a regular reader of
misc.fitness.weights around '01-'04 where the adherents of various methods
slugged it out. The general consensus was that High Intensity Training (HIT)
is no worse than other workouts at best, and even the proponents of HIT made
no such outrageous claims as he did. There are enough bodybuilders and
weightlifters out there that every technique has likely been tried hundreds if
not thousands of times, especially with money on the line, and any technique
that had such a dramatic result would have spread like wildfire.

The photos on that webpage already exhibit several of the tricks used by the
exercise equipment infomercial industry to make the difference between before
and after pictures more dramatic: untightened versus tightened muscles,
posture, tanning, shaving, strategic placement of clothing. I will not guess
at any other techniques he used which can't be proven by examining the
photographs.

If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

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noodle
the pictures are definitely played up, as is a lot of the rhetoric.

for me, the process worked because i wasn't very strong to begin with, but was
athletic. its much easier to put on muscle mass when you don't have much to
begin with, as opposed to being a bodybuilder to start and then try to use
this process to bulk up even more. there are diminishing returns.

the point of the post is valid, imo -- minimal time and work, when done
intelligently, does show large results. in this case.

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noodle
old article.

for what its worth, the process outlined does works, i tried it. part of it is
metabolism and body type, though. not everyone will gain as much. and not
everyone will really want this type of muscle. its bulky and slow, not the
best for more dynamic athletes. you can alter the routine to build more lean
muscle, though, and it works the same way. you just won't be able to say you
put on some huge number of lbs in muscle.

p.s. - don't use supplements and such. they're bad for you.

~~~
HalcyonMuse
How do you recommend altering it for leaner muscle?

~~~
noodle
decrease weight, increase reps and slightly increase speed. aim to do around
3x the reps you would be doing according to the article before you hit
failure. use freeweights as much as possible instead of bars or machines.

note - i'm not an expert and this is based on my personal research. its worked
for me, though. i actually decreased in size but maintained strength after
switching from one style to another.

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chiffonade
This guy Tim Ferriss is a master BS artist.

