Routines

Okay so you want a good idea of how to attack your body? Well sure you do, what else would you be reading this for? listed on this blog are few ideas and routines that I use and found good results from.

Rules!

1. Listen to your body
   - Don't over work yourself
2. Sleep a lot
3. Try your best not to hit the same group more than once a day.
   - Experiment here; this works for me because my body takes a little while to recover you will need trial and error.

The exercises:
I start on the three day routine; WO - Off - WO - OFF - WO - OFF - OFF.
To begin, I hit the large groups first (except my quads). Chest, Backs and I throw in Calves too.

Mass Days reps 10 - 12 (MD) Using light to medium weight

Chest
Flat Bench Press: 2 - 3 sets with a 60second rest
Decline Fly: 2 - 3 sets 60 second rest
-or-
Incline Fly: 2 - 3 sets 60 second rest

Back
Bent Over Barbell Rows: 3 sets 45 - 60 second rest*
Standing Lat Machine Pull Down: 2 - 3 sets 60 second rest

Calves
Standing Single Leg Calve Raise 2 sets (per leg) 15 reps 45 second rest

Explanations:
Well most people would say that is not enough, well it works for me. I get a good pump* and I have a fatigue at the end of the final set. Why the range of ten to twelve reps? This is from the age old idea that "12" is the magic number.

Honestly the truth be known (to my knowledge) there is no "proven" data that says 12 reps is the magic number for hypertrophy* to occur. Most people can experience hypertrophy* in the rep ranges of 6 - 12. This simply depends on how your body recovers and adapts. So keep in mind you can always change this range to fit your bodies need (refer to rule #1).

Many people forget about the Bent Over Barbell Row, I like to keep it out in the open and remind people how beneficial it is. Even those great folks in the north (Canadians) agree with me... "the bent over row may be the best exercise for building your back... the standing bent-bent over barbell row activates more muscle across your upper and lower back, 1" now there is a risk here.

If you have back pains, problems or suspect you may do not do this exercise. You are also placing a great amount of pressure on your spine. With that said keep in mind if you do this form IS MOST IMPORTANT.

References and works cited:
1 Edited by Adam Bornstein, "ROW MORE, GROW MORE." Men's Health, June 2009
*Hypertrophy is the process in which your body "creates" muscle mass
*Pump when the blood is being pumped into your muscles you begin to feel the muscle "tighten."
WO: Work Out Day
Off: Non Work Out Day

The arch...

So there was the guy working out today and I saw my (2nd) pet peeve hard at work. This guy was hammering away at his biceps (no pun intended) and he was actually taking more away from his biceps then he was adding to them. What I am getting at is the guy was curling the dumbbell and arching his back. I can't stress enough how bad this really is for the work out. Now many people will say that it is okay to cheat by arching your back. Sure every now and then it is okay but for the most part it is not recommended by me for any one to do it. The biggest problem here is that when you arch your back you are not only risking a back injury but you are also taking away from the stress you are supposed to be placing on your arms. In addition to the back injury, less stress on the bicep, you are working your deltoids more than anything. I know it is hard to imagine this with out images I know but please try.

The bicep curl:

1. Start by placing your feet firmly on the ground about shoulder width apart
2. With a straight tight core (mid section/abs) curl your arm(s) palms facing up toward your face
3. Squeezing your biceps tight at the peak of the movement and then lower your arms back to the starting position.
4. If you feel yourself coming to your sticking point, Bend forward slightly. This decreases your range of motion (ROM) and makes the last few reps easier.
   

Getting Big Guns!

Okay there are many people out there who want huge arms but not a big chest or set of legs to go with them. To me that is like having a pistol that shoots blanks. There is really no point to having a gun that does not fire a real bullet. As well it is silly to get big arms and not focus on the rest of your body. Think about it, you are flexing some major biceps and look like you could bench about 25olbs as a warm up but your one rep max is about 130lbs. Do you see what I mean?

I am all for getting results so lets move past my tangent. You want big arms? Put the dumbbells down. No seriously drop them right this instant (seriously). Now this raises a big question why drop the weights if I want to make them bigger? Simple we are going to use our bodies. Huh? I mean use your body weight. The chin up! It is an amazing work out that hits your arms and back. We can't lose. If you weigh 160lbs and can complete 5 sets of 5 chin ups (complete no cheating) you are lifting a lot more than you are at 30lbs per dumbbell. And trust me, you will see faster results because a lot of us don't do the chin ups so when you shock your muscles with this routine the body will recruit more energy and rebuild your muscles much faster. Then you can incorporate routines that have chin ups one day then later in that week do some dumbbell curls or hammer curls.

Now lets say you try some chin ups but only crank out 1 or 2. It is okay to take your time. If you rush for results you're more likely to injure yourself. So to start slow keep it simple if you can only do one or two reps keep doing that until you can complete a full set of five. When you get to a full set work on adding one or two more after the set of 5 until you hit 3 sets of 5. A way you get there faster is to do underhand grip pull downs on the lat machine. This is a good way to get your body use to the idea of this routine if you feel like start out with chins might be too much. More to come on this later.