Strength, Conditioning & Muscle

By Nick Mitchell Testosterone is a much maligned thing. An excess of it is blamed on all sorts of aggressive, anti social behaviour, and even the poor old prostate unjustly points it’s finger at testosterone for all it’s problems in later life. True, the irrationalities of our youth can sometimes be blamed on a wild excess of testosterone, but a lack of wisdom and life experience a...

By Nick Mitchell Achieving optimum structural balance doesn’t sound half as sexy as building large muscles or dropping 20 lbs of body fat, but it is a highly important component of achieving either of those goals, and takes on even more significance if you have any aspirations for the playing fields and athletic tracks. It was once written that you can’t shoot a cannon out a cano...

By Nick Mitchell 5 Bodybuilding Secrets to get you in beach shape in double quick time Bodybuilders often have a hard time of it. Set up as pariahs because of rampant drug usage, and ridiculed for their ridiculous fashion “sense” (genie pants and do rag anyone?!), any man who struts around with the old obligatory rolled up carpets under his armpits definitely has questionable so...

By NIck MItchell “Lift big, eat big, sleep big” was once the mantra of choice for all aspiring muscle builders. It was a very simple philosophy that stood the test of time, and outlasted all the numerous fads that have come and gone within the bodybuilding fraternity, for one reason. It worked. And if you were dedicated, never missed a protein packed, calorie laden meal, diligent...

By Nick MItchell The following is a very tiny excerpt from my new book (tentatively titled “Forging the Ultimate Physique”).  It deals with the much misunderstood concept of intramuscular tension and why it is so critical for success in strength training and bodybuilding. In anutshell, if you wish to get bigger and /or stronger you must do everything you can to increase the in...

Nick Mitchell is personal training the Fitness Editor of Men's Health for a cover shoot.  In the following PDF article taken directly from a 2 page piece in the August 2008 edition of Men's Health we look at some of the early protocols that help shape a future cover model!