I just finished my session with Ellington Darden. We talked about a lot of things, so I will keep the comments within the context of this thread, which is building mass.
He definitely emphasized that two workouts per week is plenty to build significant mass over time, and that was because neither him nor his colleagues couldn't measure any additional muscle development from workout frequencies above that. However, he said that you can only build muscle if you're sitting on your ass the rest of the week. If you're filling in your rest days with cardio and/or sports, the most you can hope to achieve is to maintain the muscle you already have.
No matter what though, he said the intensity has to be high to maximize results from the two weekly workous, and he showed me examples of how to achieve that intensity with 5 exercises without the need for someone to help me or spot me, which was really cool.
An example of this is the standing shoulder press using a barbell with 50lbs of weight. First of all, he advocates the use of an extra thick bar or the use of Fat Gripz on a standard size bar. The following is the one and only shoulder set:
Take the bar and press it overhead. Now slowly lower the bar in 30 seconds, yes 30, until it rests in the lowest position at the collar bone level. Then do 10 traditional reps, each with a cadence of 1 second up, 2 seconds down (pretty much normal reps). When you get the last rep up to the top, once again lower the bar slowly over 30 seconds until it reaches your collar bones. That's it. Mission accomplished. Shoulders fried.
He had me go from the shoulder press to dips, and then to bicep curls, followed by chinups, and finally leg presses..... with virtually no rest whatsoever in between and each set had a similar level of super slow brutality. As you can imagine, My muscles had a very deep level of stimulation. So much so that I can't even remember the last time they felt that way. It's that feeling you got on the first heavy leg workout you ever did. You know, you sit down for a second after the workout, and then when you get ready to stand up, your legs feel so weak that you're not sure if they can get your body up and hold it upright. And that was just my legs. My shoulders felt like if the police came in and told me to put my hands up, I'm not sure I could actually do it. My arms and lats were trashed as well. The whole thing from beginning to end couldn't have been any more than 15 minutes, and let me tell you, it was disturbing how I felt.
He did comment on my actual body structure, saying "After seeing countless people, I can tell you that you're not elite level but you're definitely above average. And for 180 lbs., you look damn good."
It was cool session to say the least and definitely an eye opener.
)
