Archive for the ‘Workouts’ Category

 Another installment of Bodybuilding Corner, brought to you by John Perry,

Take it away JP…

 

In the following article I will outline an advanced bodybuilding arm workout. Arms have always been a stubborn body part for me. I have found through much trial and error the best thing that works for me is to beat the hell out of them. Suprised? People often over complicate things. I often hear experienced bodybuilders say “I’m going back to basics”. I always think to myself why would you get away from the basics in the first place? The same exercises that worked in Arnold’s day work today. If it isn’t broke don’t fix it. K.I.S.S. Keep It Simple Stupid.

So the workout will be broken down like this. You will Superset back and forth between Biceps and Triceps. Go to failure on your weaker of the two first. If you have weaker Biceps do Biceps then Triceps back and forth in that order. Only go to failure on your final set of each exercise then perform whatever HIT technique prescribed. Rep range will be 6-10, on your warm up sets go with the higher end of the range, your set to failure should be 6-8 before performing the HIT technique. Train like this for 5 weeks then the sixth week just reach positive failure and stop there. Week 7 do all exercises but reduce the weight to 80% never going to failure. Week 6 and 7 are essential in the recovery process to ensure that your CNS doesn’t get over-trained and to give your muscles and tendons adequate recovery.

The Workout:

1. Preacher Curl Machine (Forced Reps, fail at 6-8 then 3 spotted reps)
2. Straight Bar Triceps Pushdowns (Forced Reps, fail at 6-8 then 3 spotted reps)
3. Standing Straight Bar Cable Curls (Rest Pause, fail at 6-8 take 15 breaths perform 3 more reps, and repeat this again for another 2-3 reps)
4. Close Grip Bench Press (Rest Pause, fail at 6-8 take 15 breaths perform 3 more reps, and repeat this again for another 2-3 reps)
5. Standing Alternating Hammer Curls (Triple Drop Set, fail for the first time at 6-8 then reduce the weight and perform another 4-6 reps for two drops)
6. Lying EZ Bar Skull Crushers (Triple Drop Set, fail for the first time at 6-8 then reduce the weight and perform another 4-6 reps for two drops)
7. Barbell Wrist Curls on the end of the bench (3 Sets of 10-12 reps to failure) 

Want more Muscle and a Bigger Bench?

Back in the spring, 4 guys were put through a brand new, 8 week “Max Muscle Build” Program. Their results were phenomenal, each guy put on serious muscle size along with adding 40-50+ lbs on their bench press…each.

As promised, here is the next installment of JP’s “Bodybuilding Corner”

To answer the above question in one word I would have to say BOTH. In this post I will go over leg training for maximum muscle growth and how periodization may be the key in getting the big quads and thick hamstrings you want.

If you have ever been to a regional bodybuilding competition you would have noticed that the most commonly underdeveloped body parts are usually: 1) thighs (i.e. quads and hamstrings) and 2) calfs. I believe there are a few different reasons for this.

First, training legs to failure, and past failure, is hard work. It is very painful and uncomfortable and those feeling can last days. My legs are usually sore for 3-6 days each week, averaging probably 5 days by the time all discomfort is gone and everything is good to go again.

Second, people don’t get the same “attention” from the general public for having well-developed legs as they would from having big arms or a broad chest.  A person’s legs are usually covered, unlike a person’s arms or chest (“downtown muscles”). Therefore, anyone who trains and has no concern for placing well in a bodybuilding competition or having a complete physique could use this as their reasoning for their lack of effort when it comes to leg training. I hear it all the time. I remember once when a guy, who I had seen working out at the gym I train at for over a year, asked me if he HAD to train legs. It seems logical to me that if your goal is to look a certain way or become stronger, you should put most of your effort into training the large muscle groups such as legs and back. These two muscle groups make up the majority of your body’s muscle – about half of your body’s skeletal muscle is in your legs alone. So yes, you do have to train legs….

The third reason is genetics. Every person has their own unique genetic strengths and weaknesses. Two people can give equal effort to grow and strengthen a specific body part but see unequal results because some people just respond and grow better than others. I have heard people say “I have bad genetics.” Yes, genetics do play a role in how strong you are and how you look but this phrase is too often used as an excuse for lazy people who don’t want to put in the hard work, sacrifice and consistency it takes to achieve their goals. There has to be HUGE amounts of work put in before you even begin to see what kind of genetics you really do have. You will never hear a true iron warrior complain about his or her “bad” genetics. That’s the whole thing about playing the hand you are dealt to best of YOUR abilities. There are obstacles that you will encounter along your journey and in life in general. Lots of them. But often times the difference between someone who will achieve their goals and someone who will not is perspective; one person will see something as the reason why they can’t achieve something and another other person will see that same thing as just another obstacle that they have to overcome. Simple as that. If a person is driven enough and willing to do whatever it takes, then in the time it takes for you to complain about your genetics they have either eaten their next meal or performed three extra forced reps. So don’t waste your time complaining about “genetics”.

Now I will outline a full 3-phase, 15-week Leg Training Program. You will train legs once a week as is normal in most bodybuilding splits, but you can incorporate some of these leg training techniques in your other workouts if you like. The exercises will stay the same throughout the whole Program, only the sets, reps and weight will change as you progress through each phase. There are basically two concepts to keep in mind: progressive overload and changing routines before the body can become accustomed therefore slowing down or stopping results.

 

Phase One (Weeks 1-5):

In this initial Phase you will be performing between 15-20 repetitions per exercise, per set. Work up to failure on your final set. For the first week of this Phase pick a weight which causes you to reach muscular failure at 15 reps. For the second, third and fourth week use the same weight as week one but each week increase your reps by one on each exercise. So at the end of the fourth week you hopefully will be doing 19 reps with a weight you could only do 15 reps with before starting this Program.

The fifth week will be a back-off week. When training this intensely, depending on nutrition, age and a number of other factors, overtraining the CNS is a possibility. In this week you will train hard enough to maintain the gains you made in the first four weeks but not hard enough to really put a lot of stress on your nervous system. There will be three back-off weeks throughout the 15-week Program (i.e. weeks 5, 10 and 15.) These are needed to ensure you are recovering from your intense workouts and not constantly putting tremendous stress on your joints, tendons, ligaments, muscles and CNS.    

 

Phase Two (Weeks 6-10):

In this Phase you will be going to failure on the final set of each exercise with a rep range of 6-8. Then you will use High Intensity Techniques (“HIT”) to push past failure on each exercise. All of the HIT techniques I mention below were explained in last week’s Bodybuilding Corner blog post: “Intensity, Intensity, Intensity”.

On exercise #2 you will do 2-3 forced reps. Remember to have a good spotter and use the safety rack pins so if you have to bail the weight you or your spotter will be safe. If you do not have a spotter perform your final set of exercise #2 as a Rest/Pause set.

On the final set of exercise #3 perform 3 forced reps. Perform exercise #3 with a weight where you reach failure in 6-8 reps then put your hands on your knees to spot yourself and perform 3-4 extra reps.

On the final set of exercises #4 and #6 perform a Triple Drop Set.

On the final set of exercise #5 you are going to do a Rest/Pause set.

Remember that Progressive Overload is the key. Log your sets and reps and make sure your goal is to slightly beat your numbers from your last workout, either by doing an extra rep or increasing the weight slightly.

 

Phase Three (Weeks 11-15):

In the final Phase we will incorporate a slightly higher volume routine. Keeping Progressive Overload in mind but going to failure on the final two sets of each exercise. In this Phase you will do straight sets with a weight that causes you to reach muscular failure at 10-12 reps. The goal is to try and get the same amount of reps on your second set going to failure as you did the first set. This is difficult to do after reaching failure on the previous set. If you can not perform the same amount of reps on both of the sets aim to get only one less rep on your final set.

Now the exercises:

Exercise #1 (Leg Extensions): These are done only as a warm up. Do 3 sets of 20 reps with 1 minute rest between sets. This will get the knees warm before you begin any heavy compound movements. The sets should be only a medium difficulty and do not go close to failure on them. 

Exercise #2 (Barbell Squats): Big surprise eh? Perform a total of 4 sets. Start off with a light weight and pyramid up each set. Do not go to failure on the first 3 sets. On your last set you will go to failure or beyond failure depending on the Phase. This is the “Money Set” you could say.

Exercise #3 (Leg Presses): Execute this exercise in the same manor as the Squats. I prefer to place my feet wider on the platform so it is possible to get a deep range of motion. A common mistake I see when people are doing this exercise is to load up the machine with too much weight and do quarter range of motion. This is going to be less beneficial for your Quads, Hamstrings and Glutes than doing a deeper range of motion. I think if you are going to do a compound movement, keep it a compound movement. Do it right and move some weight. When you do an Isolation exercise then you can target a specific muscle group or a specific area of a muscle group. 

Exercise #4 (Leg Extensions): This time perform your leg extensions as an actual working exercise. Go to failure on the later set, or sets.

That concludes the exercises for your Quads. After you finish these four exercises take a few minutes to rest and begin the following exercises to work your Hamstrings.

Exercise #5 (Hamstring Curls): Do 3 progressively heavier sets and then do your final set to failure with whatever rep/weight scheme prescribed for the Phase.                

Exercise #6 (Barbell Stiff Legged Deadlifts):  These are straightforward. Perform your reps/sets as set out in the Phase

I generally do not think it is a good idea to train your Calf muscles in the same training session as Quads/Hams/Glutes because by the time you are finished working your upper legs you should not have enough energy left to put the needed effort into your Calf workout.

There you have it. Give this Program a try and I guarantee, if your nutrition is in check, you will have a pair of slightly bigger and stronger legs after 15 weeks!

 JP

Andy here, today we have a guest post from one of my trainers, John Perry. John will be writing a weekly column called “Bodybuilding Corner”.  Even though John is only in his early 20s, he is as strong as an ox and I have a lot of respect for his knowledge of strength and muscle-building techniques. Take it away John!

 

Although I am only 22 years old I have learned a great deal since I began lifting at age 17. Growing up I was a skinny kid who got picked on a bit and spent most of my time playing hockey. In the summer before my last year of high school I began weight training with the goal of getting stronger for my last season of high school hockey. I quickly began to enjoy the lifting more than hockey.

 

When I began lifting I was 155lbs and 5’10″. I began lifting in a room at my house where I trained consistently, by myself, for a little over a year before moving away from the little community I grew up in to a place that had a real gym. Since I began training over 5 years ago I have bulked up to 260lbs then dieted down and competed in a bodybuilding competition last year at 198lbs. I have bench pressed 405lbs, squatted 605lbs and recently did a gym squat of 405lbs for 16 reps at a body weight of 220lbs. All of these lifts were in the gym, raw, with just wrist wraps and a belt.

 

I do not claim to know everything about all aspects of bodybuilding for all people. A big part of the bodybuilding journey is figuring out what works for YOU. For the last year I have been helping people do just this by working as a personal trainer and, recently, as the general manager of Personal Best Fitness Studio which is owned by my good friend, Andy Pratt. Now before I get started I just want to say that everyone is different; not everyone will respond the same to a certain training program or diet plan. However, there are some broader guidelines about training, diet and biology that apply to everyone:

 

Intensity, Intensity, Intensity!

 

There is a difference between training optimally and absolutely efficiently and just going in the gym with the goal of making a specific muscle group sore. One common mistake I see all the time is when a person forgets, after training for a little while and building a base of mass, about the two words upon which they were probably told to model their training around: PROGRESSIVE OVERLOAD. THIS IS WHAT BUILDS MUSCLE AND STRENGTH LONG TERM.

 

Do not forget this simple principle. Keep track of your workouts, sets and reps either in your head or if needed, in a log book.

 

How many people have you seen in the gym actually going to absolute muscular  failure in their training the last month? Probably not many. The same people will not progress consistently over the long run because they are not training efficiently. Let me explain…

 

Someone may be putting in some effort and could be doing 30 sets per body part but that is not necessarily what is going to stimulate muscle growth after a certain point in your training as a bodybuilder. There comes a point in your training where the body has to be pushed past what it has previously done, either in reps or weight. And if you can push your body past this threshold consistently there is no reason you will not continue to get stronger, and a stronger muscle is most often a bigger muscle.

 

After the initial stage of strength training the body needs a greater stress placed on it to adapt to. Performing 225lbs on flat bench press for 8 reps, on your heaviest set, week after week WILL NOT cause your chest to grow. What WILL stimulate growth is doing 9 reps. One set of 9 reps is more beneficial than 5 sets of 8 reps in most cases.

 

What I am saying is you have to push past your limit in order to obtain continuous muscle growth. Keep in mind when intensity is as high as it has to be to push through your mental and physical barriers, the volume of the workout (i.e. the number of reps performed) cannot be too high. This is simply because a muscle group physically cannot perform many sets with an intensity level of absolutely 100%.

 

The following are three techniques you can incorporate into your workouts immediately to increase the intensity of your workouts. Remember to only use these techniques on your final and heaviest set of whatever exercise you are performing:

 

1.) Rest Pause: Pick a weight with which you can perform 6-8 repetitions to failure. Perform 6-8 reps then take 15 deep breaths and perform another 1-3 reps. Then take another 15 deep breaths and perform another 1-2 reps.

2.) Drop Set: Pick a weight which you can perform 8-10 reps. Perform 8-10 reps then lower the weight and perform another 4-6 reps. Lower the weight again and repeat this another 1-3 times to really break down the muscle fibres.

3.) Forced Reps: Pick a weight that will have you reach muscular failure within 6-8 reps. Perform 6-8 reps by yourself then get a training partner to spot you and help you move the weight for another 2-3 reps. I believe that this technique has been the most beneficial to me in my training.

 

I have found that if you reach failure on barbell squats, for example, and you have a spotter that you trust to help you to perform another 2-3 forced reps it may be the ultimate technique in increasing the intensity of the set. This, in turn, makes the set as productive and efficient as possible. Remember if you try this technique while squatting always have a good spotter and set the squat rack safety bars set to a height that if in the unlikely situation you have to bail the weight you will be able to escape from underneath the bar.

6-Time Mr. Olympia, Dorian Yat

 

Dorian Yates, 6-time Mr. Olympia, once said that he has often seen people do too much volume, but he has never seen anyone train too intense. Now, let me clarify. I am not saying that training with a higher volume and multiple sub-maximal sets per exercise to failure is totally pointless. I have made gains training this way and the fact is, when you initially start training you do not have to do a whole lot to make gains in muscle and strength. This is because the body is going from doing nothing to lifting and this, in itself, is enough stimulus to trigger muscle growth. But I do not believe, over the log run, as a person becomes more advanced in their training, that high volume training is the most EFFICIENT route. In other words the guy who trains for half an hour with the goal of beating last workouts numbers will be much better off than the guy who is in the gym for an hour and a half training blindly with the goal of just getting a muscle group sore.

 

I hope you find these tips helpful and leave me a comment if you use these technique in your own workouts! Stay tuned over the coming weeks for more posts in JP’s Bodybuilding Corner!

 

JP

 

 

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