9 NO B.S. Strength & Muscle Building Tips from THE Renegade
Jason Ferruggia has been through the ringer, literally. He used to be a hardcore follower of Westside Barbell Methods, and, he got strong as hell doing so, as well as his athletes. I remember him telling me of his bench workouts with 315 for 12-15 reps for several sets!
But, with all those years under the bar comes great experience. And…. when the bar is HEAVY, you get banged up. If you’re smart, you adjust your training regime into something that works on a regular basis while consistently keeping you healthy.
Thus, the creation of BOTH Renegade Muscle Building and Triple Threat Muscle came to fruition.
Check out these 9 strength and muscle building tips from The Renegade Strength Coach, Jason Ferruggia:
1) To develop explosive power, start your workouts with some type of jump, throw or Olympic lift for 3-10 sets of 1-6 reps with adequate rest intervals
2) For maximal strength development use a big compound barbell lift and work up to a top end set of 1-5 reps, or even as high as eight for more advanced guys beginning a long cycle a la Ed Coan or Kirk Karwoski
3) For assistance work use as many bodyweight exercises as possible. Whenever you can move your own body through space, do it.
4) Also use a lot of odd objects and strongman type exercises to build real, functional strength
5) Deload every 4-8 weeks
6) Always strive for maximal stimulation with minimal joint stress
7) Hit it fast, heavy and hard… then get out. A good strength, size and power workout shouldn’t take more than 45 minutes, excluding the warm up.
Before you do something in the weight room always ask what the purpose is. Will it help you? How? If you can’t provide a good answer don’t do it.
9) Your workouts should always coincide with your goals. If your goal is to get freaky big and strong, you need to seriously consider adding in a ton of extra conditioning stuff at the end just for the heck of it or just because it’s fun. We all have limited recovery ability so you need to prioritize and do what’s important.
If you have any tips you wanna add, please drop them in the comment section below!
Looking forward to your feedback!
Lead from the FRONT!
–Z–
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Filed under Articles, Q & A, Strength Building, muscle building by on Aug 5th, 2010. Comment. 
Comments on 9 NO B.S. Strength & Muscle Building Tips from THE Renegade
I would also say Varying Reps and Sets or Mini Cycle akin to the VRT method by Cosgrove. this ensure all round conditioning and faster results. plus can decrease the strain on the joints and the body.
The Harder you train, The Harder you must recover.
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Nice
Simple and to the point.
Blaine
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Zach,
Thanks for posting, brotha! On #9 I meant to say seriously REconsider, meaning that it’s probably not a good idea to add a ton of extra conditioning work just for the heck of it.
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I couldn’t agree more with Ferrugia. I much rather train heavy and utilize strength training to maintain health. I mix up my workouts with weights as I adjust my rest periods between heavy sets. I have found it helps maintain/improve strength depending on rest times. It is frustrating to see people think they will make gains with only isolation exercises.
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3 and 6 are definitely something I need to work on. I need more volume and less joint stress.
Jason, thanks for the clarification on 9 as it confused the hell outta me!
Good stuff Jason and Zach
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Jason,
love the tips. Short, to the point, and no b.s. advice. Zach you always come through with hardcore s@#t. Thanks for keepin it real.
Aloha
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Hey Zach,
Me and my wife were vegan for many years until we both started to experience serious side effects from the diet. I was losing muscle mass and became very mentally and physically lethargic as well as experiencing pain in multiple joints. My wife became unable to tolerate gluten and was unable to conceive (we have since had 4 children). It was our discovering of the Weston A. Price Foundation that began us on our road to recovery and restored health. I know a lot of people want to discount the WAPF and act like they have some ulterior motive to their health advice so here’s a link to Mr. Prices actual work http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200251h.html#toc. Read the man’s research for yourself and see what he has to say about what our ancestors ate (just a hint, it wasn’t soy burgers or boneless skinless chicken breast).
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Great tips from top to bottom. Thanks for all the great info as usual, Zach!
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thanks for all the great info..
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