TRAINING

Push Ups for Pecs, Tris & Abs

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That’s right, abs too! As we all know, push ups are an excellent exercise that you can do just about anywhere. They work the chest and triceps and to a lesser extent, the shoulders. Put your feet up on an exercise ball or a chair and you can do inclines to focus more on the upper chest. Move your hands closer together and you have yourself a very challenging triceps exercise. But what most people don’t realize is that they work the abs also.

You see, the abs are required to keep the body stabilized when you assume the push up position and the movement puts extra stress on the muscle as you complete each rep. Many cutting-edge exercise physiologists and strength coaches are now recommending that the most effective way to work the abs is using movements that don’t involve too much movement of the abs like crunches but to instead use movements like “the plank”, which stimulate the abdominal muscles without contracting them. It’s also becoming clear that crunches and sit ups may increase the risk of back problems.

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Pull Ups Best for Upper Body?

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If you were only allowed to do one exercise for upper body, what would it be? To answer this question, you would probably want to consider a movement that worked as many major muscle groups as possible, something you can do just about anywhere and that allows you to adjust the intensity.

Probably the best exercise to satisfy all of these needs is the pull up. Pull ups primarily work the lats (the upper, outer back) and the biceps but they also involve the rest of the back, the traps, chest, deltoids (shoulders) and forearms. No other single movement can work that many upper body muscles. You also don’t even need to belong to a gym to do pull ups, you can use an inexpensive chin up bar that fastens easily into a doorway, rafters in a garage, the branches on a tree, you could even rig up a bar or rope between any two sturdy objects.

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Cumulative Fatigue Training

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Here are some guidelines on how to make cumulative fatigue training work for you.

  • Experiment first with just one single-joint exercise, e.g. the curl, or calf raise. Take an accurate measurement of the muscular girth, and then once a week, or three times every two weeks, train the exercise exactly as described as before. After two months measure the muscular girth again, and if it has grown, even by just a little, then you have a technique that works for you. If it didn’t grow, and assuming that you trained as directed, along with all the recovery factors, then just put the experiment down to a learning process.
  • If you were happy with the test, then apply cumulative fatigue training to no more than two exercises for each routine, but remembering to rotate which two exercises you select. As your gains diminish in any given exercise, revert to another format for that exercise, and if you like select another exercise for cumulative fatigue training. The reason for only selecting two exercises per routine is that the six sets per exercise of this type of training exert a severe demand on your recovery system, and that is why you should be conservative and use only one or two exercises per routine in this format. If you do use cumulative fatigue training on two exercises, make sure only one of them is a major core movement, because if you apply it to two core movements you are likely to be over training.

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How To Avoid Training Injuries

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Here are some very important tips on how to avoid injuries. Adhere to them and you should be able to train for a long time without suffering anything more that perhaps occasional minor injuries.

  • Ensure you use immaculate exercise technique, never cheat, take shortcuts or use loose form.
  • Ensure you stick to a smooth and controlled rep speed.
  • Even if you feel your body can tolerate singles and very low-rep work, avoid using such high-force training for long periods, and use maximum-effort singles only very cautiously. If your body is not accustomed to singles and very low reps, stick to medium and high reps and use a rep counter for a given exercise that suits your body.
  • It is true that no exercise is good for you if it hurts you. Therefore only use exercises which are appropriate for you, and where any modifications are required that you make them safe for you.

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Police officer Dennis Hopson’s back casts a shadow over New Jersey crime and a light on the amateur ranks.

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In his bliss, Dennis Hopson can be found sequestered in what he calls his “Loud Library.” There he peruses the classics, contemplates their wisdom, recurs the techniques that gave the physiques of Flex Wheeler, Bob Paris, Shawn Ray and Kevin Levrone their ancient Greek aesthetic of perfect symmetry and dramatic proportions. Immemorial volumes of bodybuilding are written there in the chalk-smeared walls of the gym, in the rough cast-iron plates, in the glorious symphony of crashing weights — their inspiration is palpable to Dennis. “It’s weird,” he muses. “As much noise as there is in the gym, I don’t hear anything because I’m so involved in my workout and my own zone.”

Dennis had that ability to tune out external sounds, he says, right from the start. New Jersey has long been home, and still is, for the extended Hopson family; it was there, at age 12, that Dennis first touched weights. “I happened to be at my older cousin’s place,” he recalls. “He had a gym in his garage, and he had friends who were close to Rich Gaspari. I was told I could have a glass of iced tea afterward. I never forgot that experience. Ultimately, I asked my parents for a weight set, which I got for Christmas, and it went from there.”

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MEL SWELLS HIS BI’S

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Biceps ballooning tips from Melvin Anthony, Jr.

Despite being arguably bodybuilding’s greatest showman and, at his best, sporting one of the most dramatic rear double bi shots of all time, Melvin Anthony, Jr. is the stealth pro. He rarely grabs headlines but just as rarely finishes out of a money slot. In an 11-year career, he’s won only three of the 36 shows he’s entered, including this year’s inaugural Phoenix Pro, and yet in 21 of those contests he made the posedown, and that includes three consecutive Mr. Olympia’s (2006-08). In every battle, he’s come well-armed, so we got Mel’s thoughts on biceps training and a typical “good bi” routine.

MEL’S GOOD BI’S LESSON

  • “I used to lift crazy heavy weight, curling 225 pounds and all that stuff. I still go heavy on barbell curls; I just don’t do things like dumbbell preacher curls in the 90s, like I used to do back in the day. I ain’t going for strength; I ain’t trying to powerlift. That was just for show, ego, more than anything else #151; especially when the girls were walking around. I’d try to stop traffic. Me and my boys used to stop the gym. It was our goal to train so hard that we messed up everybody else’s workout.”

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Bench Like The BIG BOYS

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Marty Gallagher offers tips to build a massive chest

Strength coach Marty Gallagher, author of The Purposeful Primitive, serves up some extra big bench tips.

WARNING: This info is only for those who wish to build a massive chest.

It’s important to keep in mind that Gallagher’s main goal is to build strength. The goals of a bodybuilder may differ, but it’s important to remember that more strength can correlate into greater muscular size.

GALLAGHER SAYS:

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How To Estimate Your 1RM

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Estimate your one-rep max and utilize this chest program for serious results

If you don’t have a spotter you can trust, do not attempt a true one-rep max. Your best bet is to estimate your max bench press weight by doing a 10-rep max test.

HOW TO ESTIMATE A 1RM: Find a weight that you can do for 10 reps. The tenth rep is the absolute last rep you can perform with that weight. If you think you can get 11 reps, then you need to rest a good 5 minutes and add another 5-10 pounds to the bar and try again.

Yes, you will still need a spotter to do this properly, but at least the spotter will not have to lift a ton of weight off of your chest. Once you have the weight that limits you to 10 reps on the bench press, multiply that by 1.33. That will give you your estimated 1 rep max.

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Mass Construction

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6968 Youll often hear bodybuilding compared to building a house. To craft your physique, first you need to focus on the foundation, increasing your strength by concentrating on compound core lifts, such as squats, benches and deadlifts.

From there, you assemble the structure, expanding your workouts and watching your body take shape, much like a home with the walls going up. Adding the finishing touches the paint, the trim can be compared to an advanced athlete honing different muscles to bring his entire physique into balance.

The same analogy can be extended to your supplement plan. You begin with the foundation the basics and over time add new formulas and products as your body transforms. Here, well help you nail down a blueprint for growth in a three-step massgain stack thatll help you as a beginner or anyone who hasnt tried supplements before get started and gain the greatest benefits from each and every supplement you take.

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Not a Runner? 6 Reasons You Should Be

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athlete-runner1 Kids run all the time but once we get to adulthood we can be divided into two groups: those that run and those that don’t. If you’re not in the ‘those that run’ group here are 6 reasons you should be.

  1. It’s free and easy The human body was made to run, there’s no special skill or knowledge required and most everybody can do it. All you need is a good pair of shoes and a supportive sports bra and you’re ready to go!
  2. It burns more calories per hour than most other exercises. Running either outside or on a treadmill burns an average of 705-865 calories per hour, with the next best thing being the stair-stepper at 637 – 746 cals/hr.
  3. It’s GOOD for your knees, not bad like so many people think. It’s important to start slowly and wear shoes that give good support but when done correctly running builds up and strengthens bones and joints, it doesn’t tear down and weaken them.
  4. It’s one of the best ways to relieve stress, research proves it. A study by the University of Georgia found that an hour of exercise is three times more effective at reducing anxiety and stress than an hour of rest.
  5. It helps prevent disease. Various studies support exercise as a means of reducing the

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Dorian: TO HELL AND BACK

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dorian_lg Dorian Yates shares the high-intensity secrets for back building

In our March 2008 issue we ranked Dorian Yates’ back as the second best of all-time behind Ronnie Coleman’s, but we hedged our bet with the assertion that a strong argument can be made for Yates as number one.

A six-time Mr. Olympia (1992-97), Britain’s

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Testosterone Test

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Testosterone. Test. The Big T. Whatever you call it, as a bodybuilder, you need more of it in your system. The equation is unfortunately simple — if your body isn’t releasing an adequate amount of T, you flat out won’t grow. Now the good news. By manipulating your training and diet, you can naturally escalate your levels of this anabolic male hormone. Intrigued? If you call yourself a bodybuilder, you’d better be.

UNLEASH THE BEAST – A natural increase in your testosterone levels can have a dramatic impact on your ability to add muscle mass, improving your physique through several different mechanisms: by stimulating protein synthesis, it helps to increase muscle mass; by encouraging fat cells to store less fat and pull more from storage, it promotes fat loss; and by enhancing the firing of motor nerves that supply muscle fibers, it immediately increases muscle strength.

Of course, higher levels of testosterone are also associated with aggression in male athletes. Often, this is portrayed as a negative, but to a point, it can be a huge positive for bodybuilders seeking to improve results and performance in the gym. Both strength and aggression can be important tools for your workouts — if you train when your strength and aggression are highest, your intensity and your results will be magnified. Increasing testosterone is one of the best ways to get more from your bodybuilding program. With that in mind, FLEX designed this six-week training, diet and supplementation regimen to boost your testosterone levels and, ultimately, your bodybuilding results.

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