to the sauna or heat in general (still no magazine present, or would source it instead):
In a study examining the effects of season on total Testosterone levels, men with average T levels of 666 ng/dl (normal levels are between 300-1000 ng/dl) were studied during the months of April, July, October, January, and April again.(21) It appears that T levels increase about 12% during July and 15% during October and return to April levels throughout the rest of the winter. So remember, summer and early fall may be the time to start a growth phase since T will be the highest. found at:
The Big T: How Your Lifestyle Influences Your Testosterone Levels - DeepFitness.com
also: Intra-workout sauna to make you bigger and leaner!
Back in the 60s Larry Scott (the first ever Mr.Olympia) use to claim that short stints in the sauna taken during a workout could increase growth hormone production. When I first read about that claim I did find it a bit unscientific and kinda dismissed it as just another ''theory'' that some old-timers had in the past. So I put that sauna theory in some remote part of my brain right next to fond memories of the good ole Cybergenic stack!
However after doing some research on recovery methods used by european athletes I came across a lot of information that brought Scott's theory in the ''hey, there might be something there'' portion of my brain.
Turns out that not only do sauna at 80-120 degrees really do increase growth hormone production (by around 150%) but some studies actually found it to also increase testosterone and noradrenaline levels. Taken together these changes can help you stimulate more fat loss as well as muscle gain (Lammintausta et al. 1976, Kukkonen et al. 1989 and 1988).
My opinion here: this has since been disproven, when corrected for water lost from dehydration. however, the super saturation effect obviously does something.
One study (Jezova et al. 1994) also found something interesting when it comes to cortisol levels. During the first 15 minutes of sauna exposure, cortisol levels in the body decreased. After the 15 minutes mark, they started to increase.
Interestingly, these findings support Scott's recommendations of going in the sauna for 5-7 minutes a few times during your workout. 5-7 minutes bouts will help you elevate growth hormone, testosterone and noradrenaline levels while also lowering cortisol production! This would obviously put your body in a slightly more anabolic state as well as facilitate fat loss.
If you are lucky enough to be training in a gym where there is a sauna available you can use Scott's protocol by going in the sauna 2-3 times during your workout. I personally use the method by going in the sauna between my exercises for a muscle group.
source:
TESTOSTERONE NATION
regarding 4 sets of 10:
arnolds routine: source:
AskMen.com - Schwarzenegger Routine
Day 1
Chest and back
Chest
* Bench press
* Incline press
* Pull-overs
Perform four sets of 8-12 reps each.
Back
* Chin-ups, done to fatigue (progressively working up to doing 50 reps at a time)
* Bent-over rows, four sets of 8-12 reps
* Deadlifts, three sets consisting of 10, then 6, then 4 reps
Day 2
Shoulders, upper arms and forearms
Shoulders
* Barbell clean and press, four sets of 8-12 reps
* Dumbbell lateral raises, four sets of 8-12 reps
* Heavy upright rows, three sets of 10, 6, 4 reps to failure
* Push-presses, three sets of 6, 4, 2 reps to failure
Upper arms
* Standing barbell curls, four sets of 8-12 reps
* Seated dumbbell curls, four sets of 8-12 reps
* Close-grip press, four sets of 8-12 reps
* Standing triceps extensions with barbell, four sets of 8-12 reps
also:
ADVICE FOR HARDGAINERS - Flex Online
USE MODERATE REPS Sets of five reps or less tend to build more strength than mass, and if you train to failure, more than 10 reps make that difficult. Keep most working sets in the 6- to 10-rep range, with higher reps for calves, abs and forearms.
milos, the guy who helps train dennis wolf:
Training at the KOLOSEUM with Milos.../A condensed How-to in post 1
3-4 sets, 10 reps
wish i had my magazine which talks about it more in depth, but i'll work with the stuff i have on hand right now. unfortunately, these things talk about what they are doing, but not necessarily why. i'll get that magazine back sometime today to update this a bit better.