I was just exchanging emails with an editor at my (and probably your) favorite online magazine – Testosterone Muscle (aka TMuscle; aka T-Nation).
I was asked “Can you give me some tips on what you do when faced with a stubborn muscle?”
Sure, some of you aren’t quite at the point where you yet need to worry about bringing up a stubborn body part, but many of you are. And I know that can be a daunting task, so I wanna help you out.
Rarely do I share stuff before it’s published, but I wanted to show you some love today. 
And my way of showing you some love is letting you in on some behind-the-scenes editorial action at TMuscle. Below is what I just sent TMuscle – word for word – on some of the strategies I use to help clients (and myself) bring up lagging body parts.
“As you said, it does depend on the body part in question. For example, if you’re doing just about any cardio at all you are, in essence, training your legs (especially quads) more frequently – because almost all cardio involves legs. For that reason, doing a higher frequency for quads is usually not a good idea.
On the other hand, body parts like chest and back tend to do quite well training them more frequently. For an example of how to implement higher frequency training check out this chest training article I wrote.
I recently completed a VERY successful experiment with a competitive bodybuilding client in which we tapered up to training back 6 times per week, and the results were INCREDIBLE!
Another great tip to bring up a body part is to simply train in a manner that’s very different from what you’re currently doing. If you tend to lift lighter (10 or more reps), then lift heavier (9 or less reps) for a couple months. If you’ve been lifting heavy a while, then train lighter.
Lastly, one strategy that works very well is to focus solely on strength for a while by implementing high tension training with low volume…in other words, lift heavy and don’t do many sets. This is quite similar to iBodybuilder training. THEN, after at least 8 weeks or so, switch to higher volume training with relatively lighter loads.
This approach works very well, because (in simple terms) it first makes you stronger which ultimately allows you to use more weight with higher reps once you switch to the more traditional bodybuilding/hypertrophy training (higher volume).”
