Mad Scientist Muscle: Cluster Training

Published by Price World Publishing, LLC

1300 W. Belmont Ave, Suite 20G

Chicago, IL 60657

All rights reserved. Neither this book, nor any parts within it may be sold or reproduced in any form without permission.

eISBN: 978-1936910-52-6

Table of Contents

Copyright

About the Program

The Program

Excercise

Nutrition

Worksheets

References and Suggested Reading

Mad Scientist Muscle Cluster Training

By Nick Nilsson

This program is all about building muscle and

building it FAST with unique, targeted,

science-based approaches...

...and yes, a little bit of insanity here and there :)

You see, in my 20+ years in the gym, I’ve read a LOT of books and studies on muscle, fat-loss and exercise and yes, even many of those evil muscle magazines!

I’ve also spent literally THOUSANDS of hours creating and innovating new exercises and training techniques with some pretty incredible results (that’s where my nickname as the Mad Scientist of Exercise came about!).

The two pictures below are of me...the purpose of which is to show you that I practice what I preach. I love to train for MASS and I love training with heavy weight.

So Enough About Me...What Is Mad Scientist Muscle?

Glad you asked! Let’s get right into it...

First, in this mass-building program, you’re going to be strategically manipulating the types of training you’re doing along with the volume, the frequency and the intensity in order to literally FORCE your body to grow.

Second, you’re also going to be using a number of very targeted, very specialized training techniques designed to physically CHANGE the underlying structure of your body to help better support muscle growth.

I’ll explain...

Mad Scientist Principle #1

Planned Overtraining and Rebound

The core program stucturing principle you’ll be putting to work is known by many names...Accumulation and Intensification and Dual Factor Theory are two of the most common.

As far as this base concept goes, I definitely won’t pretend that I created it...it’s been around for a LONG time in various forms and has been used and talked about by many top coaches and trainers such as Charles Poliquin, Charlie Francis, and many Eastern Bloc coaches.

There is a tremendous amount of research on the subject and I could give you a HUGELY detailed physiological explanation of how it all works but I have a feeling you’d rather just know how it’s going to build muscle on you :)

So here goes...

Basically, for a period of a few weeks, you will increase workload by increasing training volume (number of sets for each bodypart) and decreasing rest periods between sets until you get to the point at or near overtraining. This is accumulation as you’re accumulating workload and fatigue on the body and demanding more of it than that is currently able to recovery fully from.

When you REACH that point, you then back off and dramatically reduce the training volume, doing fewer sets, while also increasing rest periods between sets. This is the intensification part of things and it’s where the REAL growth happens.

Here’s what it looks like graphical form...the white area in the in middle is the optimal zone for muscle growth. As you can see, you’re spending a LOT of time there with this program!

When you begin the program, you gradually accumulate workload and training volume, moving more and more towards overtraining. This training on the edge is where the REAL results are - you won’t get anywhere if you stay too far away from it!

At the end of the accumulation phase, you’ve hit Overtraining. THAT is when we back off and reduce the training volume, increase rest periods and start using heavier weights. This intensification will gradually move you towards undertraining as your body adapts to the reduced workload.

This is followed by a deloading phase where you pull WAY back on your training and allow your body to more fully recover before you start ramping back up in the next training cycle.

Think of a car going up a hill with the gas pedal down. As you come to the top, you’ve got the pedal floored but you’re not going very fast...you’re overtraining the engine, to borrow a term you might be familiar with.

Now you go over the top and start heading down the other side. If you keep that pedal floored, you’re going to start going VERY fast! Your body/engine is no longer overtrained by the steep grade but it’s still pushing just as hard.

THAT is the power of this type of training. You’re going to systematically push your body’s gas pedal to the point where you have it floored and aren’t really going anywhere, then you’re going to pull back and let it ROAR forward. The results you get from this type of overtraining and rebounding can be HUGE and THAT is what this program will do for you.

Now here’s an eye-opener for you...

With normal training programs that don’t take your body’s response to workload into account, you can get into either of two outcomes, neither of which is desirable.

In the graph below, you’ll see two lines...the top graph line is Too Much Volume/Intensity. The bottom graph line is Not Enough Volume/Intensity. Both hypothetical training programs spend time in the optimal training zone and both will get you results for awhile...

In the top line, the problem happens when the program DOESN’T PULL BACK. You hit overtraining and your body stops getting results. The usual response? Add even MORE volume and/or intensity. This can result in chronic overtraining and hitting a MAJOR plateau in your training. The only cure is backing off.

In the bottom line, the problem happens when your body adapts and you DON’T INCREASE volume or intensity...i.e. you keep doing what you’re doing. This is chronic UNDER-training and it’ll put a stop to your results, too.

Accumulation and Intensification is the Cure...

So what I’ve done is taken this core framework of planned overtraining and rebound and created this program using THE most effective muscle-and-strength-building techniques and training session structures I’ve read about or come up with myself in my 20+ mad scientist years in the gym.

This program is packed with very powerful training techniques designed to build MASSIVE muscle all structured on this type of volume/intensity-driven format.

This program attacks muscle growth on a SYSTEMIC level...you’re going to be using the adaptive power of your entire body as a system rather than trying to grow bodyparts in isolation.

Mad Scientist Principle #2

Training to Change Your Physiology to

Better Support Muscle Growth

When it comes right down to it, there are real physiological reasons why some people don’t gain muscle quickly a nd some do. There are some factors you can’t do anything about (e.g. genetics, predominant muscle-fibers types, and basic hormonal make-up) but there are MANY factors you can focus on in your training that can actually change your base physiology to make it more favorable to muscle growth.

I like to compare it to building a house...

You’re going to be able to build a bigger, better house (i.e. muscle mass) when the walls and beams are thicker and stronger (bones and connective tissue), the plumbing is better (your circulatory system) and your electrical system is more efficient (your nervous system).

In this program, I’ve included specific Structural Training that’s going to address these base physiological factors and change them for the better. It’s going to make it easier for you to build muscle, no matter what your level of ability to gain muscle mass is currently at!

I’ll go into a lot more detail on exactly how this is done and what type of training you’ll be doing in the Structural Training chapter of the program.

Now, in addition to the base training structure and the structural training, I’ve also included a special nutritional tweak to help minimize bodyfat gain while setting up even BETTER muscle gains every week. It’s an optional tweak but I’ve experienced phenomenal results with it. You may have used it before but probably not in a muscle-building program!

Bottom line, you put these two Mad Scientist principles together and you will get EXPLOSIVE results. This stuff flat-out WORKS.

Your body is naturally programmed to respond to cyclical training like this and it simply has no choice but to get bigger!