Interview with Nick Nilsson – Muscle Explosion – 28 Days to Maximum Mass

By Vince On June 9, 2009 Under Muscle Building Training

So today, we’ve got an interview with Nick Nilsson, creator of the training program “Muscle Explosion – 28 Days to Maximum Mass”.

Nick did yesterday’s guest post on my blog and I hope you’ve had a chance to try out his Stretch-Pause technique – he’s actually going to talk about how that technique fits into his overall program during this interview.

I have to say, Nick’s taken a really unique approach to muscle building with this program. Normally, the recommended way to build muscle is a long-term, steady approach. Nick has taken the opposite track…instead of looking at building muscle as a marathon, this program looks at it like a series of short sprints.

I mean, you can see it in the name of the program – 28 Days to Maximum Mass. Now, just to be clear, you won’t go from 120 lb of skin and bones to a 220 lb meat slab in 28 days…but you CAN potentially see gains of 5 to 10 lbs of reasonably lean mass within those 28 days, which is excellent for a mass-building program. Then you repeat the 28 day cycle…

Anyways, I’ll let Nick explain more about it…be sure to check out the special deal we’ve put together just for readers of this blog, too (nobody else is getting this bonus deal!).

Click here for Nick and I’s special deal for you:

http://www.Muscle-Explosion.com <- click here

Vince: Nick, thanks agreeing to do the interview and thanks for the blog post about Stretch-Pause training…that’s powerful stuff.

Nick: No problem, Vince. Glad I could take the opportunity to make a lot of people really sore…oh, and get results, of course, too

Vince: Good deal…so let’s get right into it. Your Muscle Explosion program is extremely short. I mentioned it in the introduction that’s it’s really only a 4 week cycle. This doesn’t really sound like a lot of time to make meaningful gains in strength and mass.

Nick: Yep, that’s exactly what most people think when they first consider this program! But here’s the thing…when faced with an extraordinary stimulus, your body WILL react strongly. This program is all about creating that extraordinary stimulus and setting the stage nutritionally to maximize the impact of that stimulus.

Let me be clear up front…this is NOT a beginner program…it’s for intermediate to advanced trainers. What it WILL help you do is grow as FAST as a beginner, though.

Vince: Yep, I’ve seen the program and it’s definitely not a starter program. You should have at least 6 months to a year minimum of training under your belt before trying this one. So let’s talk more about the extraordinary stimulus…

Nick: Absolutely…I’ll give you a sneak peek…it involves working the same muscle group with the same exercise FIVE days in a row. And honestly, that’s not even the hard part…I’ll tell you more about that later but basically the goal is to set up an emergency situation in the body where it HAS to respond to survive.

Vince: Sounds just brutal! If you don’t mind, could you give us a quick outline of how the program combines nutrition and training to really set that stage for that emergency-response training? I’ve read through that part of the program and it’s really an eye-opener. You actually start a mass-building program with an extremely STRICT low-calorie diet…not something you see every day. What’s the basis for that?

Nick: Yep, this is pretty much the only mass program I’ve seen that actually makes you go on a strict, low-calorie diet to start with. Once you see WHY, it’ll make total sense.

You see, when you go on a low-calorie (and in the case of this program low-carb, diet, your body reacts by pulling back…it adapts itself to functioning on lower calorie intake, burning bodyfat for energy and eventually slowing the metabolism to conserve fuel. This is what we WANT to happen…we’re actually TRYING to put the body into starvation mode.

Vince: I think I see where this is going…when you come out of that starvation mode, your body gains weight back extremely quickly.

Nick: Exactly! This starvation rebound is EXTREMELY anabolic. Your body is literally clawing to hang on to every scrap of food you put into it. Now, we’re not trying to go too far into starvation mode…we don’t want to slow the metabolism too much or cause any substantial muscle loss, so the diet phase is limited to one week.

I’ve got a few other dietary tricks in the program itself but that’s the basic idea behind starting with a strict diet. We’re nutritionally and metabolically setting up the muscle-building phase of the program.

Vince: Very cool. So when you come off the low-carb, low-calorie diet, what’s the next step?

Nick: THIS is where the emergency-response training is going to come in full-force. You’re coming off the low-calorie phase and your body is ready to pull in the food. So you FEED it big time. And you pump in the creatine and protein to force as much water into your body as possible as well.

And let me tell you, when you’re coming off low-calorie, low-carb eating and you suddenly eat a ton of carbs, load creatine and drink a ton of water, you’re setting for a massive anabolic response.

Now it’s about the training…

Vince: Right and I’ve seen this part…you call it the 5 Day Structural Attack. That just sounds insane, I have to say. Tell us how that works.

Nick: Insane is definitely a good word for it. Over the course of the 5 days, I figure you’ll be doing about 300 sets of the exercise you choose for it. And that’s important…you will be doing only ONE exercise for every set over the next 5 days.

I always recommend people start with either deadlifts or squats (I prefer deadlifts myself) to maximize the anabolic effect of this phase. These big exercises are the ones that’ll have the biggest impact on the body. I routinely see increases of 5 to 10 lbs of bodyweight in this week alone.

Vince: Wow, I’m sure a lot of that is water but from what I’ve seen of the training, I’m sure a lot of that is lean mass as well.

Nick: Quite right – you’ll see a massive influx of water and nutrients during this week. It’s not all lean muscle but a good portion is. And I have to say, the strength gains you’ll get from this week are downright stupid.

In myself, I did a 5 day deadlift cycle and added 60 lbs to weights I was using at the time. Managed to bump my lifetime personal best up by 30 lbs with just that week of training (up to 550 lbs). Just crazy.

Vince: That is a huge increase, man. Has anybody else seen gains like this?

Nick: Actually, it’s pretty much the norm. A few have even gone beyond. I had one guy tell me he bumped his max deadlift up 80 lbs with that one week of training.

Vince: So explain a little more what that week of training is like.

Nick: Basically, the first day is going to seem kind of easy. You’re going take a weight you can do for 6 reps and do a set of 3 reps. Then rest 30 seconds. Then do another set of 3 reps. Then rest 30 seconds. You’ll continue like this until you can’t get 3 reps (don’t push to failure – it’s important to stay away from failure here). Drop the weight 20 lbs then continue in this fashion, doing 3 rep sets.

You’ll do this for 20 minutes on the first day.

Vince: 20 minutes sounds pretty easy.

Nick: Yep, SOUNDS easy…just wait til you try it. Because day 2, you’re going to bump your starting weight up by 10 lbs and do that same routine for 25 minutes. Day 3 is 30 minutes. Day 4 is 35 minutes and Day 5 is 40 minutes.

ALL workouts are done using the same exercise. Your body develops such an incredibly efficient neuromuscular groove on the exercise that you can usually keep increasing the start weight for the first 3 or 4 days! On Day 5, you go back to the same weight you started with on Day 1. You’ll be amazed at how light it feels, even after 5 days of this kind of training.

Not only are working the muscle fibers but you’re going a LOT of practice on the chosen lift. It just becomes totally automatic, which is something missing from low-volume training programs. This neural priming is a big reason for the incredible strength gains – even better than beginners get!

Vince: That definitely sounds like emergency-response training. I can see how the dieting and massive eating really fits with the training. You really have to eat a LOT during that emergency week, too, I’m sure.

Nick: Extremely critical to do so AND to minimize outside activities. This isn’t the week to pick up distance running as a hobby.

Vince: So where does the Stretch-Pause Training come in? You explained that in great detail in the blog post. How do you use it in Muscle Explosion?

Nick: Stretch-Pause Training is what you’ll be doing for the next 2 weeks after the 5 Day Structural Attack. Click here to read that blog post about Stretch-Pause Training – I won’t go into great detail on it here.

Basically, the next 2 weeks are all about recovering from the 5 day attack and stretching the fascia to give your muscles room to grow.

You’ve pretty much overtrained yourself in that 5 day span – now it’s time let your body recovery and pile on the muscle.

Vince: So it’s pretty much a case of bring yourself down using a diet, snap yourself forward by massively feeding yourself and using ridiculous training volume for a week, then “coasting”.

Nick: Yep, if you can call Stretch-Pause coasting…

Vince: Good stuff. I can definitely see how 4 weeks of this could allow you to make a huge leap in progress. This sounds like a great way to bust through a plateau.

Nick: Definitely. The nice thing about it is that it doesn’t require a huge time commitment. If you’ve got 4 weeks, you can do a quick mass-up cycle. I use this program all the time when I want to make a big jump in poundage for a given exercise. I’ve added 40 lbs to my bench press max in a week with this one before.

Vince: Very nice. I want to close this interview out by letting you know that Nick and I have put together a special bonus package to go with his Muscle Explosion program. I have to say, this program is already dirt-cheap ($27) especially considering you also get a full video library of all the exercise techniques in action.

Nick is throwing in a copy of his Hybrid Training book – that one is all about how combine different forms of resistance like free weights, bands and cables to maximize the strength curves of different exercises. It’s really cool stuff…I can promise there’s stuff in this book you’ve NEVER seen before

I’ll be throwing in “2-Inches In 30-Days: The No-Nonsense Workout To Massive Arms”. This arm workout reveals my never before seen workout routine to getting big guns. I won’t guarantee 24-inch pythons but by adding this 20-minute workout only 2 times a week you will get your pipes bursting out of your t-shirts before you know it.

Nick, thank you very much for taking the time for this interview.

Nick: My pleasure!

Vince: I highly recommend going and grabbing a copy of this program right now. This is classic Nick Nilsson stuff here…unique, effective and completely insane!

Here’s the link for the special bonus page – it’s only going to be active for the next 48 hours so be sure to go grab a copy of it right now, even if you don’t plan on using the program right away. Totally worth it.

http://www.Muscle-Explosion.com

Vince

P.S. If you have any questions for Nick regarding his program, please post them below.  I’ll have him drop in and help you out for the next 48 hours.

Muscle Building