ere are micronutrients that are not available in supplement form. Be sure,
in particular, that you consume more green leafy vegetables, yellow/orange
vegetables, and seeds (e.g., pumpkin and sunflower).RULE
Go overboard with rest and sleep
. e harder you train, and the deeper you go into new poundage territory,
the more you demand from your powers of recovery. erefore you need to
deliver more rest and sleep than usual. Not only do you have to provide the
rest and sleep needed to recover from the immediate effects of training, but
you have to provide additional rest and sleep so your body can grow.. Getting adequate sleep is pivotal for enabling your body to recover optimally
from training. Most trainees shortchange themselves in the sleep depart-
ment, and as a result restrict their rate of progress in the gym.. As noted in Chapter , if you are a hard gainer in intensive training, eight
hours of sleep each night should be your rock-bottom minimum if you are
serious about making good progress.. A full quota of sleep means getting to sleep as soon as you feel drowsy in the
evening, and sleeping until you wake naturally. If you are awoken by some
other means, then you cannot have had your full quota of sleep.. To milk a cycle dry, cut back aerobic work to the minimum intensity and
duration, or temporarily eliminate it.RULE (optional)
Further increase training intensity
. Once you are consistently applying rules –, you could try to increase
growth stimulation by raising training intensity a notch. is option, how-
ever, is not for everyone. Many of you may be better off moving to rule
and skipping .. If you are up to it, and want to see if it helps you to keep adding a little
poundage every week or two, do not end a set after the very final rep you
can squeeze out. Go to the next rep and do as much of it as you can. Do not
cheat it up. Keep your form tight and do as much of the rep as you can. Put
your heart into it. Do not relax the effort once you have got the bar as high as
you can. Now you have reached concentric failure. Give your all to holding