John Robert Cardillo

John travelled the world to learn the best training and nutrition principles and trained alongside top pro bodybuilders at Gold's Gym California. He was a student of Arthur Jones, inventor of Nautilus and Medx Fitness machines, and the pioneer of hi-intensity training. John developed the HIT3 Training System, which transformed his physique to win countless bodybuilding competitions at just 18 years of age! He was also the first bodybuilder to utilize Faradic Electric Muscle Stimulation in his training and intermittent fasting during his competition prep. John’s SHREDDED Nutrition Diet helped him build one of the most shredded physiques of all time. His diet program incorporates fasting and nutrient timing to help athletes build lean muscle while losing body fat.

Recuperation Time Affects Muscle Growth By John Robert Cardillo

Intense sun exposure is the stimulus that causes sunburn which results in a suntan, likewise hi-intensity training is the stimulus that causes muscle soreness which results in muscular growth. In the case of a sunburn, it takes several days of total rest away from the sun to allow the skin to recuperate and heal. As is the case after a hi-intensity workout session. Total rest and recuperation is the only way to ensure that the worked muscles have a chance to grow. The reward of hi-intensity training are “growth days”.

Exercise Adaptation

Our bodies have a built-in survival mechanism that causes us to become very resilient against stress. No different than the stress caused by hi-intensity exercise. Our body is always trying to adapt to the stress imposed on it. Therefore, in order to continue to make muscular and strength gains we must always be imposing new stress challenges on our body. This can obviously be accomplished by increasing the resistance we use in our exercises forcing the muscles to work harder every workout. However even this stress producing methodology will stop working and you will feel that you are getting stale because you are no longer getting any stronger nor are you gaining more muscle size. Adaptation is the reason for this. This should occur every 10 to 12 weeks, at which point you take one week off to recharge the batteries. Once you get back to training, I recommend a change of at least 1/3 of the exercises in the workout routine.

The Significance of Muscle Soreness

Properly stimulated muscles will experience deep soreness within 24 to 48 hours after the workout. The soreness should last for 5 to 7 days. The significance of this soreness is that muscular growth has been stimulated and the muscle is now repairing itself. Muscular growth is now taking place. The repair process must not be interfered with by training the muscle before it is fully recovered. A common mistake made by most bodybuilders today is to train the body part again before it’s completely recuperated. This of course leads to muscle atrophy, and not hypertrophy.