Australian Iron Man - Bodybuilder's Bible Part 2 2016 PDF

AB-SOLUTE
POWER
BULLETPROOF YOUR
MID-SECTION
CK
CK
THE GUN
SHOW
BUILD YOUR
BEST ARMS
EVER
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GORILLA-GRIP FOREARMS
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CONTENTS
Bodybuilders Bilbe Part 2
10
Training
Jolt new arm growth and build
phenomenal abdominals with our intense
training section. Plus: can you really
injure your abdominal muscles?
16
15
19-Inch Guns
Triceps training to help you put
some new freak on your physique.
Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
show you what worked for them
to really bring up their triceps.
24
Six-Pack Attack
One of the reasons you dont see
very many examples of fit abs is the
quick-fix mentality. Whatever we
want, we want now. Well, Bill Starrs
ab-training article wont get you abs
overnight but it will get you there.
32
Building a Gorilla Grip

and Freaky Forearms
Most bodybuilders barely think of
their wrists and forearms but dont
realise how important they are for
overall strength and physique goals.
42
Full-Blown Biceps
Cory Crow takes you through
bodybuilder Dan Deckers full-blown
biceps attack. These techniques will help
you towards sky-high biceps peaks.
50
Building Triceps
How many people like to play
horseshoes? Okay, not that many.
How many people like to have a
huge horseshoe on the back of
their arm? Now were talking!
56
Summer Abs with

the KISS Routine
32
Layne Norton clears up some popular myths

about ab training and gives you his Keep It
Simple Stupid advice for building your core.
64
Sleeve-Busting Biceps
Muscle-building experts Steve Holman
and Jonathan Lawson have a plan to
create fast-mass precision blasts for
building bigger arms.
70
How to Burn More Body Fat

Paul Cribb, Ph.D., on fat metabolism
during exercise. He tackles how to train
your body to burn more fat, high-intensity
training for fat loss and whether spot
reduction is actually possible.
4 / The Bodybuilders Bible
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CONTENTS
56
92
76
Strong Arm Tactics

The importance of making sure
that your wrists and elbows
stay strong and free from injury
so that you can keep lifting
well into retirement age.
82
Ab-solute Power
The best methods to bulletproof
your midsection are here,
including exercise variety,
complementary muscle group
training and consistency.
92
EDITORIAL
EDITOR Daniel Hedger
ironman@blitzmag.com.au
EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS Molly Morelli
MANAGING EDITOR Ben Stone
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Paul Burke, Jerry Brainum, Joseph M. Horrigan, Pavel, Steve Holman,
Jonathan Lawson, Bill Starr, Greg Zulak, Cory Crow, Matt Weik, Layne Norton,
Paul Cribb, Eric Broser, John Little, Doug Brinole
ART
ART DIRECTOR Javie DSouza
GRAPHIC DESIGNERS
Jonathan Rudolph, Lysha Moniz, Diep Nguyen,
James Steer, Adam Summers, Zeenia Bhikha, Adibowo Rusli
More Arm Size
DIGITAL & ONLINE

HEAD OF DIGITAL STRATEGY Karl Nemsow
SENIOR WEB DEVELOPER David Ding
WEB DEVELOPER & LEAD PROGRAMMER Davide Pani
WEB DESIGNER Amanda Oliver
VIDEO EDITOR Justin Oleyar
ONLINE CONTENT EDITOR Christine Assirvaden
ONLINE CONTENT PRODUCER Zach Broadhurst,
Its no surprise that the most

popular training articles in
bodybuilding magazines are about
arms. Eric Broser shares his tips
for getting more arm size.
100
Building the
Ultimate Physique
PHOTOGRAPHERS
PHOTOGRAPHY Michael Neveux
COVER PHOTO Michael Neveux
These days, part of having the

ultimate physique is having
deeply etched abs that only can
come from training and nutrition.
Here is expert John Littles
incredible abdominal routine.
104
ADVERTISING SALES
ADVERTISING SALES MANAGER Mathieu Shellard
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Get Great Guns

with Extended Sets
Greg Zulak has a different
way to increase intensity and
trigger your arms to grow.
116
The Abs-olute Truth

Doug Brignole gives you
the lowdown on getting a
ripped-up midsection.
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Silvio Morelli

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EDITORIAL
Arm Yourself
elcome to the second volume

of The Bodybuilders Bible: Total
Arms and Abdominals. Last time
it was all about shoulders and chest. Now,
while those muscle groups are necessary
for a well-rounded physique and overall
strength and power, its this edition of The
Bodybuilders Bible thats going to help
you build the glamour muscles. These are
the famous muscle groups for a reason:
ask any girl on the street what the most
impressive and attractive part of the male
body is and she is going to say either arms
or the abs.
Every bodybuilder, physique or fitness
model and action star has to have these
parts well developed if they are to have
any hope of succeeding in their field. The
CONNECT WITH US
abdominals are especially hard muscles

to grow. Even when youve got the muscle
definition and strength, if you have a thick
layer of fat covering your mid-section,
nobody will ever know. Similarly, the triceps
and the biceps are definitive muscles: they
can make or break a physique. Now, while
it may be true that too many guys at the
gym or on the bodybuilding circuit dedicate
too much time working on their arms at
the expense of other muscle groups, its
definitely true that you need impressive
arms to have an impressive physique
overall. Nobody ever won a bodybuilding
show with a huge chest but scrawny arms.
The arms and abs are also integral
parts of becoming not only big but strong
as well. Having rock-hard abdominals is
ausironmanmag
ausironman
a key part of having good core strength,

which in turn enables your body to work
your other muscles more effectively. The
arms, of course, are used every day and are
constantly on display. Its the arms that, for
many people, signify what it means to be a
really strong person.
So go forth and pump that iron, do
those crunches, dips, squats, curls and
extensions. Take the expert advice given
here and try new things in your workouts.
After all, it is only through change that we
can break through our training plateaus
and rise to a new level. And when it comes
to arms and abs, Iron Mans Bodybuilders
Bible has you covered.
The Editors
ausironmanmag
GET THE BODY

AND THE RESULTS
YOU WANT
THE STRENGTH TRAINING ANATOMY
WORKOUT books are your guides to serious muscle
developme
ent. They include proven programming
for strength, power, bodybuilding and toning. Inside
youll learn
n the best exercises for building up and
strengthen
ning each muscle; how to determine
weights, re
epetition and frequency; and strategies
for accelerrating recovery. Its all here and in all the
stunning d
detail that only Frederic Delavier can provide.
AVAILABLE NOW FROM
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TRAIN TO GAIN
INCREASE YOUR MUSCLE, NOT YOUR GUT
How to jolt new arm growth

Lets say you have fairly large bones.
Lets also say you have an average to
above average number of muscle fibres.
I would predict that regular straight-bar
curls as heavy as you can handle for 10
fairly strict reps should be your numberone exercise for biceps. Do four sets and
then move to straight-bar preacher curls,
ensuring that your humerus rests against
a pad thats 90 degrees to the floor. The
vertical pad makes the pulling action all
biceps. Working on a 45-degree incline
wont give you the stimulation necessary to
make those biceps pop. Do three sets of
10 reps.
Finally, execute some type of dumbbell
concentration curl. You can do it with the
dumbbell hanging away from your body
( la Arnold in Pumping Iron) or with
the working arm resting on the inside
of your thigh. The key here is isolation
and supination. Turn your hand as far as
possible to the pronated position at the
peak of contraction. If, say, youre working
your right arm, put your left hand on your
Neveux \ Model: Steve Namat
Q: Im 55 years old, and Ive been

training with weights for 10 years. I
cant get my arms to grow any more
(theyre 38 cm in circumference).
Ive tried every exercise, and nothing
seems to work. My biceps are very
at-looking, and I can barely see the
triceps muscles. What do you think Im
doing wrong?
A: Where theres a will, theres a way.
I believe that your musculoskeletal
measurements determine which exercises
you should do for each body part. Lets
throw out the notion that there are three
body types. Instead, look at each joint
that your muscles attach to. Then look
at the amount of muscle and how its
shaped in this case, the biceps, triceps
and forearms.
The larger your wrist, ulna, radius
and humerus, the more likely you have
adequate muscle and the potential to
support a lot of weight with training. Its
all relative to the frame in this case, the
bones of your arms.
By Paul Burke
right biceps and turn the wrist of the right

arm clockwise as far as you can. Notice
that the more you turn your wrist to the
pronated position, the more the biceps
moves upward. Thats why its best to use a
straight bar for curling. Say good-bye to flat
biceps after three months of doing those
three exercises once a week.
As far as the triceps are concerned, I
like to challenge people who have what
they think are weak triceps with reversegrip bench presses. Yes, reverse grip
with a spotter to lift the bar off the rack
and put it back on. Use as much weight as
you can to get 10 to 12 reps for four heavy
sets. Be sure to lower the bar fairly slowly
and allow it to touch the lower part of your
pectorals; drive it up immeditely. Use a grip
that will make your elbows just pass your
torso as you slowly lower the bar.
Reverse-grip benches will fatigue the
triceps if you do them properly, so follow
with strict pushdowns. Use a straight
bar, and keep your elbows in. I see many
bodybuilders doing this exercise with their
elbows out. Keep your elbows close to
your body, and let the bar come up just
above parallel to the floor. Do three sets of
12 reps.
The last movement for triceps is
standing cable overhead pushes with a
small bar. Do them standing so that your
forearms collapse onto your biceps as the
handle moves behind your head. Then push
upward and lock the triceps for a second.
Do three sets of 10 to 12 repetitions. Hello,
horseshoe-shaped triceps!
Train your forearms with wrist curls. Use
a relatively thick, heavy bar, with your lower
arms resting on your thighs when youre
seated on the end of a flat bench. The bar
shouldnt move more than a few inches.
Start with your wrists straight, hands on
the same plane as your forearm, not down.
Then wrist-curl the bar inward as far as
possible toward the belly of your forearms.
Work at a fast pace for 20 to 25 reps and
dont stop until your forearms burn like a
petrol-drenched fire. Do three sets, and
after each one use another, lighter straight
bar and do reverse wrist curls attacking
the radial head. Use the same pace, and go
for the burn. Dont move the bar too much,
and always grip it as tightly as possible.
Keep it moving.
Browse more diet and nutrition tips at
ironmanmag.com.au/nutrition
I once watched Mike Mentzer train his

abdominals. As regular Iron Man readers
know, Mike was an advocate of highintensity training, or HIT short, highintensity, low-volume workouts spaced out
to encourage maximum muscle recovery
between training sessions. That day
Mentzer did sit-ups over a bench while
holding a 100-pound (45 kg) plate against
his chest. He did about eight reps per set
and did three sets total. Mike believed that
you should train your abdominals the same
way you would train any other muscle, and
thats precisely what he did.
The prevailing style of training abs
frequently with high reps didnt make
sense to Mentzer. He correctly pointed out
that the amount of fat in your midsection,
or more precisely the existence of muscular
definition, was more related to diet and
aerobics than to ab work.
Some suggest that abdominal training
is superfluous and theres some truth
to that idea. I once observed Casey Viator
change from having zero abdominal
definition to a pronounced six-pack merely
from dieting alone; he did zero directabdominal exercise. Conversely, you can
train your abs with thousands of reps
daily yet still not have six-pack abs unless
you adjust your diet. The notion of spot
reducing is clearly a myth, since the body
burns fat systemically rather than in one
particular area.
There are a number of good reasons
that you should train your abdominals. It
helps maintain proper posture. It helps
protect your lower back from injury by
stabilising your lumbar muscles. Many
people walk around with chronic back pain
because their protruding abdomens
usually caused by a combination of weak
ab muscles and fat result in a lordosis,
or inward curvature, of the lower back,
which places constant strain on the area.
The question that arises then is how to
best train the abs. One way is to examine
the muscle fibre ratio of the abs. The
rectus abdominus (I once referred to
them as the rectum abdominus, causing
a lot of guffaws in the gym. My excuse
was that I was 12 years old at the time.)
consists of 55 to 58 per cent slow-twitch,
or endurance, muscle fibres. Since theyre
slow to fatigue, it would appear that the
long-held bodybuilding practice of doing
higher reps for abs may have some basis in
fact. The abs, however, also contain 15 to
23 per cent type 2A fast-twitch fibres and
21 to 28 per cent type 2B fast-twitch fibres.
Those are the strength fibres and wont
be significantly affected by higher reps.
By Jerry Brainum
Neveux \ Model: Tamer Elshahat
Phenomenal abdominals
To work them, you need to add weight, as

Mentzer did. That way youll develop thicker
abdominal muscles.
Can you also strengthen your abs
without using any weight? That question
was examined in a 2009 study that featured
71 men and women, age range 19 to 40,
who were divided into groups depending
on how often they trained their abs. The
frequencies ranged from zero to three
to six days a week. The subjects did a
variety of traditional ab exercises, such as
crunches, for 11 weeks. The researchers
found that, regardless of frequency, training
the abs without adding weight doesnt
produce strength increases. That isnt
surprising muscle grows only when
resistance is added.
Thats the whole point of weight
training and explains why you can build
muscle by lifting weights but not by doing

calisthenics. The authors underscore
Mentzers philosophy by noting that
training to failure is more effective in
producing strength gains. Doing high reps
without weight, as is the usual practice in
ab training, rarely if ever involves training to
failure, although it often involves a failure to
train. The study also found that it made no
difference whether you trained abs three
or six days a week, meaning that those
who insist on training their abs daily with
high reps are engaging in what amounts to
self-flagellation. If you want stronger and
thicker abs, you need to use weight. End
of discussion.
Pintar, J.A., et al. (2009). Traditional exercises do not
have a signicant impact on abdominal peak force in
healthy young adults. J Strength Cond Res. 23:20832089.
The Bodybuilders Bible \ 11
BEYOND BODYBUILDING
Squats and arm size

body, a few years back Remer won his
first national title with no lower-body work
at all.
Before you let your squat rack get
overgrown with spider webs, though, you
need to know one thing about Jasons
training. Unlike a typical curl artist who
bounces, pumps and burns with sissy
weights and high reps, the arm-wrestling
champ treats his curls as serious strength
training. He lifts heavy, slow and tight. A
perfect and conservative triple with 150
lbs (68 kg) is a routine set of barbell curls
for Jason.
One of the top professional arm

benders in the Midwestern United States,
Marty ONeal, has 17-inch (43 cm) pipes
at 176 lbs (80 kg) of body weight on a
511 (180 cm) frame. When I met the
up-and-coming athlete a few years ago,
he was wiry but certainly not bursting out
of his sleeves. In other words, its not just
genetics. Its the training: heavy curls plus
arm wrestling, which is the ultimate in
time under tension.
Beyond Bodybuilding is available from www.sportzblitz.
net/onlinestore
Neveux \ Model: Joshua Bergeron
Q: I hear everyone saying that you

cant build big arms without heavy
squats and deadlifts. Is that true?
A: Id love to tell you yes because I like
making people miserable, but it would not
be true. Although heavy powerlifts will
definitely help your quest for big pipes,
18-inch (46 cm) guns have been built
without a squat rack or a deadlift platform
in sight. Just look at guys such as national
arm-wrestling champion Jason Remer,
who sports a great bodybuilding physique.
Although these days this rare gentleman
athlete is serious about training his whole
By Pavel, Beyond Bodybuilding
SPORTSMEDICINE
Weve been seeing more abdominal injuries

over the past 10 years. The term that came
out of them sports hernia really
doesnt tell us much, if anything, about
the injuries. Thats because the injury isnt
a hernia but a tear, or overstretch, of the
rectus abdominis muscle.
The injury started to be recognised in
the late 1980s and only recently is being
readily acknowledged. The two sports
with the most prevalent ab tears are
hockey and soccer, even though theyre
seen in football and basketball, and Ive
seen cases in weightlifting and marathon
running. The reason I decided to address
it is a recent case of a weight trainee who
has been dealing with the symptoms for
three years.
The trainee stated he felt the pain
shortly after performing crunches. He
said he was performing three sets of 70.
That certainly didnt seem to be enough to
cause the injury. Still, he became unable to
run due to his abdominal pain.
As it turned out, the trainee had
suffered a right shoulder injury, which
prevented him from performing much
of his upper-body training. So hed been
concentrating his time and energy on
ab training. He was performing flat
crunches, crunches across a Swiss ball,
side crunches and several other exercises.
Hed suddenly increased his volume of ab
training, added new exercises and wasnt
getting much recovery. The result was that
he tore his rectus abdominis.
The tears usually occur low in the
abdomen and can be adjacent to
the pubic bones where the rectus
abdominis inserts, or attaches or they
can be slightly higher. Theyre often near
an area where common hernias occur.
Many patients think they have strained a
deep hip flexor muscle, the psoas major, or
health care providers have told them that
theyve strained it.
The injury can come from several
actions. One is the forceful lengthening
of the ab muscles while they are trying
to contract that is, eccentric action, or
negatives. For example, if you perform
a dumbbell curl, the biceps works and
shortens as you raise the dumbbell in a
concentric action, or positive. When you
lower the dumbbell, the muscle is still
working but lengthening in an eccentric
action most muscle strains occur
during such moves. The negative in abs
can occur when two players collide, as
in hockey, football or soccer. It can occur
with overuse, which leads to a severe
strain or tear. The muscle can also be so
By Joseph M. Horrigan
Neveux \ Model: Tamer Elshahat
You can injure abdominal muscles
overstretched that the local area loses

its ability to contract. The ab muscle
functionally behaves as if it is torn.
You cant necessarily pinpoint the pain.
Rather, the entire lower quadrant of the
abdomen may feel sore and usually feels
painful during activities such as abdominal
training or quick or explosive movements
in sports; for example, direction change,
starting a sprint or jumping. I recall
watching one NBA player who had torn or
overstretched his rectus abdominis. When
hed jump and dunk the ball, hed land,
bend forward, place his hand on his lower
abdomen and wince.
Unlike a simple muscular strain, which
heals in weeks, the ab tear can last for
years. It may last until it is repaired. I have
seen patients lose a season because the
team physicians did not recognise the
injury. One first-round draft choice lost the
first three years of his professional career.
Once he had the problem repaired, he

returned to play. Those cases occurred in
the 1990s. Its less likely to take so long
today for a professional athlete to be
diagnosed with this injury. The term sports
hernia has circulated enough for most
doctors who work in sports medicine to
recognise it.
If you have similar symptoms but
havent had a proper diagnosis, you may
not have access to doctors who are
familiar with the problem. You may be
dealing with the injury and cant find an
answer, as happened to a recent patient
whos an avid weight trainee. If thats your
situation, perhaps you can find a hockey
or soccer team doctor who may be able
to help you diagnose the injury. The tear,
or overstretch, of the rectus abdominus
usually requires repair. There are now two
main repair methods, and the doctor you
see will choose which to use.
X-FILES
By Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
Neveux \ Model: Steve Namat
Etch amazing abs
Q: You guys dont seem to do many

sets for abs, but yours are pretty cut
and hard. Ive watched some guys
at the gym train abs for 30 minutes.
I want to develop my abs as fast as
possible, so shouldnt I do more?
A: Always remember that to see your abs,
you have to have low body fat. Anyone
who pares down the midsection layer and
has an overall body fat of around eight per
cent will see abs even without training
them. Thats because the dividing lines
are tendons that strap down the rectus
abdominis muscle. Theyre always there,
just usually hidden by a layer of fat.

Once youre lean, how deeply your
abs are etched the depth of where the
tendons sit is where efficient training
enters the picture. You need to build some
ab muscle to get deeper ruts so your abs
really pop. It doesnt take long workouts.
We train on our lunch hour, so weve had
to figure out the best ab-etching routines
that dont waste time.
We get it done with a couple of efficient
sets of two-to-three exercises max. Our ab
workouts usually take five-to-10 mins. We
train the hip-roll function first, with a leg-
raise exercise. Then we train the torso-curl

function, with a full-range crunch. Two
of our favourite precision ab moves are
incline knee-ups for hip-curl function and
full-range crunches for torso-curl function.
Performing two sets of each of those does
it. Thats the simplest of the five routines
in X-traordinary Abs. Keep in mind that
change ignites gains. To repeat and
this is damn important, a fact people dont
want to believe you will not get midsection perfection with ab exercises alone;
you must reduce your body fat so you dont
have a layer hiding your six-pack.
SPORTSMEDICINE
Forearm training and straining
aggravated by triceps training when

the wrist is not kept straight. When the
wrist bends upward wrist extension
theres a stretch on the flexor muscles,
and that pulls on the tendons and origin.
The stretch is magnified when the injured
trainee tries to force an extra rep or
two by accelerating the bar through the
movement. The strain usually resolves
when he or she learns to keep the wrist
straight during triceps training.
A strain of the wrist extensors on top
of the forearm at the elbow, known as
tennis elbow, can also linger. Its usually
the result of a combination of overuse
and the weakness of the wrist extensors.
Strengthening the wrist extensors will
improve tennis elbow. That idea is
circulating through the internet today as
if its a new discovery. It isnt. I learned

it in biomechanics courses in the late
1970s. The traditional reverse wrist curl is
a great exercise for the wrist extensors, as
is using a wrist roller.
Keep in mind that these muscles
are used in many activities. Thats why
its painful to shake someones hand
during an acute episode of tennis
elbow. While reverse wrist curls will
help start with very light weight
other exercises may aggravate tennis
elbow. I often see trainees in the gym
performing laterals with their wrists bent
downward, or flexed. That loads your
elbow unnecessarily.
A little preventative work can save
your elbows and keep you in the gym and
training. Train smart, then train hard.
Avoid forearm strain, pain and

overtraining by adhering to proper
form when you work your arms.
Neveux \ Model: Daryl Gee
Several common forearm injuries can

plague trainees. The best known is tennis
elbow, an acute or chronic strain at the
origin that is, tendon attachment of
the wrist extensor muscles on top of the
forearm. Strain and pain on the bottom of
the elbow are often called golfers elbow.
The last strain is to the large muscle of
the forearm, the brachioradialis. Strains
to that muscle can linger and be very
resistant to treatment.
The brachioradialis has a broad origin
on the lower portion of the humerus, or
upper-arm bone, and inserts, or attaches,
by a long tendon to the thumb side of
the wrist. Its the largest muscle of the
forearm and its function is to flex, or
bend, the elbow. It helps partially turn the
palm upward, which is called supination,
or downward, called pronation, and its
used strongly in pulling movements for
example, pullups, pulldowns and all types
of rows.
Those movements develop the
brachioradialis sufficiently for many
trainees. If you want more development,
you can perform hammer curls in
your arm workouts. Many powerlifters
incorporate hammer curls because they
feel that the movement helps supports
the arm and elbow during very heavy
bench presses.
Overtraining can strain the
brachioradialis. So can carrying heavy
items for long distances. Examples
include moving dozens of boxes to and
from trucks while moving in or out of your
home or carrying luggage through an
airport. Once that muscle is strained, you
become aware of how many exercises
involve it. Suddenly, your back and arm
workouts are compromised.
Trainees typically train lighter, hoping
that the problem will pass quickly,
but, as previously noted, the strain
tends to linger. The next step is to stop
training back and arms. Even so, a
trainee may have to travel and grabs a
suitcase. Halfway across the airport, the
brachioradialis begins to significantly
ache. Handling the luggage has
aggravated the injury, delaying recovery.
Medical treatment usually includes
combinations of anti-inflammatory
medication, soft tissue mobilisation,
ultrasound, electric muscle stimulation
and laser. For reasons that are not clear,
brachioradialis strains are resistant to
treatment. That means the problem can
last for many weeks or months.
A strain of the wrist flexors, on
the bottom of the forearm, is usually
By Joseph M. Horrigan
19-INCH
Triceps Training to Put Some
New Freak on Your Physique
By Steve Holman and
Jonathan Lawson
Photography by Michael
Neveux
16 / Australian Iron Man
fter youve been training for a while

weve got 40 years between us
adding more and more mass can
be an uphill battle, especially when youre
drug-free. Every once in a while, however,
you run across something that triggers a
sudden burst of muscle size that sends your
measurements into eye-popping territory.
In this case what we found turned our
uphill battle into a successful mountain
climb: A few key exercise tweaks and a
handful of quick, intense workouts led to
a 19 1/4-inch (50 cm) arm measurement.
Lets start with triceps, the meat of the
upper arm.
One thing we want to get across right up
front is that no matter who you are, you can
always learn new things. Sometimes what
you learn, or relearn, can trigger immediate
size increases. For example, wed been
doing decline extensions skull crushers
performed on a decline bench as our
initial triceps exercise for a while, but our
results had slowed. Obviously, we needed a
change. We thought that to save time, and
add mass, wed use dumbbells and switch
to a compound movement, close-grip
dumbbell bench presses. No need to load a
bar; this would be much more efficient. We
just knew an immediate mass increase was

only a few workouts away.
Wrong! New mass didnt happen. In
fact, our triceps started flattening out.
Thats the equivalent of a six-game losing
streak in a team sport depressing and
deflating. We refused to believe it at first
and kept plugging away. After all, so many
experienced bodybuilders say that the
close-grip bench press is a big-time triceps
developer. Finally we snapped out of our
trance.
SOMETIMES WHAT YOU

LEARN, OR RELEARN, CAN
TRIGGER IMMEDIATE SIZE
INCREASES.
We started analysing our workout.
Maybe we need to use a bar. Nah, that
wasnt it. That torqued our shoulders and
added even more setup time. (Now for
a Doh! moment.) In our own e-book
"&.#'. --),%)/., we classify

close-grip bench presses as the Ultimate
Exercise for triceps but heres the key
done on a decline! We were doing them
flat (you should now picture our palms
smacking our foreheads Doh!).
We were neglecting that critical tweak.
Then we recalled that on Jay Cutlers
DVD #**.)",-, one of his favourite
triceps moves is elbows-flared pushdowns,
which is the cable version of close-grip
decline dont forget the decline! bench
presses. We decided to follow Jays lead
and adopt the elbows-flared pushdowns
as our initial triceps move (no setup
necessary).
Results: New triceps sweep
immediately; shirtsleeves got tighter,
with apparent mass increases after every
workout. In fact, after only a few weeks
Jonathans arms taped 19 1/4 inches (50
cm) bigger than theyd ever been! Thats
with only four to five sets for biceps and
triceps. The switch to a decline triceps
movement in our program was key, but
there were other reasons, too, as well
explain.
First, heres the triceps program we
used:
X-CALIBRE TRICEPS PROGRAMS

WORKOUT A
(mid-range and
contracted positions)
Elbows-flared pushdowns
(drop set; X Reps)
SUPERSET:
Kickbacks
Bench dips (X-reps)
One-arm pushdowns
(X-reps)
WORKOUT B
(mid-range and stretch
positions)
Elbows-flared pushdowns
(drop set; X Reps)
Cable pushouts
(drop set; X Reps)
Overhead dumbbell
extensions (X Reps)
SETS
REPS
10(6)
1
1
1
10
8
10
REPS
REST
10(6)
10(6)
10
Drop set: Do one set to exhaustion, reduce the weight and

immediately do a second set to exhaustion.
X Reps: Do a set to exhaustion, move the resistance to the
semi-stretched position, to where the target muscle is somewhat
elongated, such as near the bottom of an overhead extension,
and do piston-like partial-rep pulses up and down through an
eight-inch range.
Australian Iron Man \ 17
19-INCH GUNS
NO. 1
Elbows-flared pushdowns (mimics closegrip decline-bench presses) 2 x 10(6)
We did a set to exhaustion around 10 reps with some X-Rep partials near the
top, semi-stretched position, then immediately reduced the weight and cranked out another set to
exhaustion, with more X Reps or an X Spot static hold. We rested about three minutes and did a second
round, or we did a drop set of decline lying extensions instead of a second round of pushdowns.
KICKBACKS
Kickbacks,
NO. 2 1 x 10,
supersetted
with bench dips, 1 x 8
We did kickbacks with chest support, firing

both arms simultaneously a dumbbell
in each hand. We kept tension on the
triceps throughout the set by lowering the
dumbbells only about two-thirds of the way
on each rep, and at exhaustion we launched
into a few straight-arm kickbacks to force
the lats into the action to fry the tris. Then
we rushed over to two flat benches set
up parallel to each other and did bench
dips but we used a partial X-Rep at the
bottom, after each full rep, and ended the set
with X Reps near the bottom. (By the way,
that between-reps-partial technique is one
Cutler uses a lot in his DVD.)
BENCH DIPS
19-INCH GUNS
NO.3
One-arm pushdowns,
1 x 10
We did these at one side of the cable crossover

machine, turned sideways with our non-working arm facing the
weight stack. Sometimes we used a palm-up grip; other times it was
standard palm-down. When full reps were impossible, we fired out X
Reps near the top, semi-stretched point, of the stroke.
[Remember those other details we mentioned? Heres the first: our
initial exercise, elbows-flared pushdowns, remained constant at
every workout, but the rest of the triceps routine changed at every
other session, as follows:]
NO. 4
Cable
pushouts,
1 x 10(6)
We did these using a rope attachment on a

high cable we faced away from the weight
stack, lunged forward and did extensions
behind our heads, extending our arms on
each rep till they were parallel to the ground.
We did X Reps or X holds at the semistretched point (hands behind the head),
reduced the poundage and fired out about
six more reps, with X Reps at the end or an X
hold. (That drop-set technique is a key mass
builder, as well explain in a moment.)
NO. 5
Overhead dumbbell extensions, 2 x 10
We did these with a dumbbell

in each hand, simultaneously
extending them. We did two
sets, each ending with X Reps near the
stretched position (close to the bottom of
the stroke).
Why did we switch the last part of the
routine, the more isolated exercises, at every
other workout? So that one workout stressed
arm-down contracted-position work (kickbacks,
bench dips), and then at the next workout we did
arm-up stretched-position work (overhead
extensions, cable pushouts). Both of
those positions have special massbuilding qualities, and by alternating
them, we kept the stress on the triceps
fresh and trained the muscles full arc of
flexion.
We wont go into Positions-of-Flexion
mass-training protocol here (see http://
bit.ly/1MJ53jx for more). We will
say that the stretch-position overload has been

shown to increase anabolic-hormone production
in muscle and to activate more muscle fibres
via the myotatic reflex. And it has been linked to
hyperplasia, or fibre splitting one animal study
achieved a 300 per cent increase in muscle
mass in 30 days. Very powerful stuff.
Contracted-position exercises are best
for occlusion, or blockage of blood flow to the
muscle. There have been some amazing recent
studies on the impact of that phenomenon
on muscle size and strength (see the Beyond
X-Rep Muscle Building e-book, available at www.
beyondx-rep.com, for more on occlusion and
stretch-overload studies and analysis).
With either routine thats only about five sets,
but aside from our using a decline exercise at
every workout and then alternating between
contracted- and stretch-position exercises, we
think there are some other reasons our quick
triceps mass blast is so effective.
19-INCH GUNS
X Reps
The end-of-set X-Rep partials at the
semi-stretched spot on the stroke help
activate an enormous number of fibres.
Thats verified by the size principle of
fibre recruitment: In any set you activate
the low-threshold motor units first, the
mediums second and the high-threshold
motor units last, during the most difficult
reps. The high-threshold motor units are
key because thats when youre blasting
the fast-twitch fibres with the most
growth potential. If you extend a set with
X Reps right at the max-force point on the
stroke, you stimulate many more fibres.
Drop sets
Doing two or three sets back to back
helps develop the endurance components
of the 2A fast-twitch fibres (like the
mitochondria and capillary beds), which
can add considerable size to a muscle.
Research indicates that the 2As are key
for bodybuilders because they have both

anaerobic and endurance capabilities.
That means you can get a double-layered
size effect in them if you use the right
training to beef up both components.
The right training includes tension times
that are long enough, usually around 30
seconds per set (10-rep sets done with X
Reps and/or drop sets or supersets, with
each phase being five to eight reps, fill the
bill). Longer tension times force the fasttwitch 2As to develop both anaerobic and
endurance characteristics, which results
in a much bigger muscle cell. Thats
the reason low-rep sets are considered
better for strength they stress only
one aspect of the 2As, the anaerobic
component, leaving the endurance
capability relatively untapped. If youre
a bodybuilder looking to max out muscle
size, you want to hit the anaerobic and
endurance components of the fast-twitch
fibres.
So while the decline angle on the

initial movement was the primary
new-size-on-the-tris catalyst, the
secondary details were very important
in amplifying the growth effect. As far as
the decline goes, its interesting to note
that in MRI studies decline extensions
light up much more triceps mass than
the flat version. Interesting! Thats
a clue that the decline version of the
close-grip bench press is a better choice
than the flat-bench version for building
arm mass. (It certainly is in our cases!)
We think its due to ergonomics and
the leverage factors we discuss in "
&.#'. --),%)/. e-book. (We
apparently need to reread our own stuff
more often; its available at www.x-rep.
com.)
Try out this workout to pack some
new size on your tris with this quick-hit
multi-angled attack and dont forget
the decline
Develop your dream physique
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12 week training program.
Principles of a solid and healthy nutrition plan.
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SIX
PACK
ATTACK
TT
In quest of those abominable abdominals
By Bill Starr
Photography by Michael Neveux
t Johns Hopkins I could always

tell when it was getting close to
spring break. The sit-up stations
would be busy all day. The quest for a
six-pack was underway in earnest for
both men and women. Knowing that
their bodies would soon be under full
scrutiny on a beach in Florida or Texas
was sufficient motivation for attacking
their abs.
When I trained at commercial gyms
across the country, I could spot the
men who were having an illicit affair or
who were recently divorced. Serious ab

work was suddenly an integral part of
their workouts.
Why abs? Simple. If you want to appear
physically fit and healthy for the opposite
sex or even your own you have to
have a toned midsection. Beer guts and
love handles just dont cut it. To most, the
condition of the abdominals is the best
barometer of a persons overall fitness.
A person with big arms and a big chest
may indeed be strong, but if his middle is
flabby, hes not fit.
Thats why Im not that impressed

with the current crop of bodybuilders.
They lack the eye-popping abs that were
standard for the top men when I first got
involved in weight training. There was
even a time when the best abs got special
recognition at the Mr. America contests.
I always thought that was a great idea,
enabling some of the smaller athletes to
gain rewards for their hard work on some
body part.
As most older readers know, Zabo
Koszewski dominated the Best Abs
TOO-QUICK FIX?
category at major contests for many years.

He had no peer, and that was long before
steroids and specialised ab machines.
Zabo and others like him achieved
extraordinary ab development the oldfashioned way lots of hard work on the
basics. I never verified it with him, but the
story goes that Zabo started doing situps to help repair damage from a double
hernia and ended up doing as many as a
thousand a day.
Which brings me to a salient point
about the abs they can handle a great
Model:Dan Decker
Should none of this

advice appeal to you, you
might want to try what a
physique contestant did at
a competition where I was a
judge. To convey the illusion
that he had a six-pack, he
shaved his midsection,
leaving thin, horizontal strips
of hair to make it appear
that he was well-defined. It
didnt work, but had I been
awarding points for creativity,
I would have given him high
marks.
deal of work. Once the base is solid, abs

can be exercised for extended periods
and several times during the day. Thats
why Im a bit doubtful about the programs
advertised in the media that promise
startling results in just a few minutes a day,
three times a week. A person whos already
trim may get noticeable results with that
approach, but anybody carrying excess
weight around the waist is going to have to
do a lot more than that. A whole lot more.
If it were as easy to achieve a sixpack as the marketers profess, then the
majority of those who train would have

them. Of course, we know thats not the
case, not by a long shot. To shed unwanted
pounds and transform your abs into
distinct rows of muscle takes time and
concentrated effort. If the spirit is willing,
then the flesh will respond, for the abs can
handle the work and respond favourably.
I witnessed an example of extreme ab
training when I helped a gym start up in
Edgewood, Maryland. Back then men and
women trained separately, so the facility
contained two workout areas. Donna and
SIX-PACK ATTACK
Model: Sonny Brown
Hanging knee-ups.
Tough but effective.
I were in charge of instructing the new

female members. I handled the primary
exercises, and she took care of the rest,
including ab exercises. Because she felt
that doing an exercise with a person helped
motivation, she worked right alongside
members she taught to do sit-ups and leg
raises. I agreed with her, although I had
no idea how she did those two exercises
all day and into the night. She told me she
figured that on one busy Monday she did
more than 1,500 sit-ups and almost as
many leg raises. Needless to say, she could
have done her laundry on her abs, and she
was an inspiration to the members to put
in more effort for their midsections.
One of the reasons you dont see very
many examples of fit abs is the quick-fix
mentality that dominates our present
culture. Whatever we want, we want now.
Forget lay-by; put it on the credit card.
Need to drop some weight? Take a pill
faster and a hell of a lot easier than dieting
and exercising. That attitude is what
prompts the marketing machines and
fitness programs to promise an easy, fast,
painless solution to getting rid of weight
around the middle.
Im not saying that all of those programs
and machines arent effective, because
some of them can be if theyre worked
consistently and vigorously enough. To
contend that dramatic results can be
achieved with a minimum of effort only a
few days a week, however, is totally false.
The masses always embrace comfortable
solutions to a problem over difficult ones,
but when your goal is to burn off fat and
build muscle in its place, you must take
exactly the opposite course: Seek out a
demanding routine and attack.
Creating a six-pack requires much
more than just exercising your abs
rigorously and consistently. Quite often
you have to alter your eating habits
drastically and become more active.
You may be able to build a nice set of
abdominals through hard work, but if
youre still carrying excess weight, nobody
including you will be able to see that
newly formed muscle.
I dont plan on going into depth on
diet. Excellent articles dealing with the
subject appear in ,)( ( each month.
Nevertheless, here are a few tips that
might help you get started on shedding
some unwanted pounds.
&#'#(.&&$/(% ))-().",-.".
only provide empty calories.
. 1,,-(/#&3)/,#.
around protein.
%-/**&'(.-.)(-/,.".
youre getting all the vital vitamins
and minerals as you lower your
calorie intake.
/.13%)(-/!,(*,)/.-
high in sugar content, which includes
many beverages.
Model: Joey Gloor
Sit-ups and crunches primarily

hit the upper abs and leg raises
and reverse crunches the lower,
so they make a perfect team
Model: Ceasar Martinez
At the same time increase your activity

level. It doesnt have to be an organised
class or regimen. Just start walking a bit
farther or participating in some athletic
activity. Heres a truism thats been
around for a long time: If you burn more
calories than you absorb, youre going to
lose weight. If you eat more than you burn
off, youll gain. Every little bit counts. Find
something you enjoy, and do it on your
non-training days. A friend of mine loves
to garden and work on his lawn, and every
summer he drops a dozen pounds doing
just that.
For older trainees the quest for a sixpack is even tougher than it is for the
younger set, and it has nothing to do with
eating habits or how active they are. It
all comes down to Mother Nature. Until
the age of 40, men produce an adequate
amount of testosterone and women
estrogen. That helps control fat allocation,
keeping it away from the abdomen, and
when the hormones begin to decline, the
fat starts flowing from the legs, hips and
arms to the abs, accumulating deep inside
the belly.
To add insult to injury, once you hit
30, your lean muscle mass decreases by
about a pound (.45 kg) a year. Those who
arent active enough discover that muscle
gets quickly replaced by fat. You cant
change the facts, but its not a lost cause.
SIX-PACK ATTACK
Excess blubber requires

extreme action.
BATTLING THE BULGE HAS MUCH GREATER IMPLICATIONS

THAN MERE VANITY. ACCUMULATED BELLY FAT CAN
CAUSE SERIOUS HEALTH PROBLEMS. RESEARCH HAS
ASSOCIATED IT WITH INCREASED RISK OF HEART
DISEASE, DIABETES AND SOME FORMS OF CANCER.
Cable crunches are a good alternative
to on-the-floor crunches, but dont jerk
your torso down. Feel your abs working.
Model: Tom Voss
Two studies that analysed the effects of

strength training in adults between 50
and 70 years old showed a 10 to 15 per
cent decrease in belly fat despite no loss of
body weight.
A study published in the
)/,(&) ."
',#( #&--)#.#)( in 2003
explained that women who exercised 30
to 45 minutes a day, five days a week, for a
year cut their belly fat by three to six per
cent. The more exercise they did, the more
belly fat they lost.
While we cant do a hell of a lot about
getting older, we can stay active and, if we
follow a sensible eating plan, keep from
becoming chubby with a protruding gut.
Hey, I like sweets and high-carb foods,
too, and cant say I really enjoy pounding
away on my abs six days a week. After a
trip to the supermarket, though, I come
home determined that I wont permit
myself to get so lazy that I look like 90 per
cent of the men I see waddling around like
whales out of water. Laziness is what its
all about in the final analysis, laziness and
lack of discipline, which in a way are the
same thing.
Battling the bulge has much
greater implications than mere vanity.
Accumulated belly fat can cause serious
health problems. Research has associated
it with increased risk of heart disease,
diabetes and some forms of cancer. Two
types of fat have to be reckoned with: 1)
the subcutaneous kind, which that lies
just under the skin, and 2) visceral fat,
which develops deep inside the abdomen
and is the more troublesome of the two.
The underlying fat hampers the livers
processing of cholesterol and insulin, as
well as the normal functioning of other
tissues and systems. A study conducted
by the VU Medical Center in Amsterdam
found a link between accumulated visceral
fat and capillary inflammation, which
contributes to heart disease, as well as
insulin resistance, a precursor of diabetes.
So if youve let yourself pack on too
many extra pounds around your middle,
its time to get rid of it. Change your
eating habits, get in motion, and begin a
systematic routine for your abs. The good
news is that you can alter the process, and
there are plenty of ab exercises to choose
from many that you can do at home
without any sort of equipment.
My favourite has always been bentknee sit-ups. You can do them lying flat on
the floor with your toes hooked under the
edge of a couch, but I prefer doing them on
a slight incline. Am I the only one whos
noticed that sit-up boards have vanished
from gyms and fitness facilities? They
were always an essential part of every
gym until the supposedly more effective
specialised pieces came along. Sit-up
boards are now considered obsolete. In
a pigs eye. Give me a sit-up board with a
Model:Dan Decker
ladder so that the angle can be changed

and a willing subject, and I can convert his
flabby middle to a six-pack. One reason I
like an adjustable sit-up station is that I
can start someone on the lowest rung and
then slowly elevate the incline so that he
or she has to continuously work harder.
Yet its not an abrupt change.
Im very aware of the criticism about
sit-ups, that they involve the hips and legs
too much. I dont consider that a bad thing.
Its the reason I have athletes do sit-ups
as part of their warm-up. I want the other
groups to be part of the act, and, regardless

of whether the hips and legs are helping
out, when you move your sit-ups from 100
reps to 200, your abs are carrying the bulk
of the load.
The adjustable sit-up station is
also great for leg raises, another of my
preferred ab exercises. Sit-ups primarily
hit the upper abs and leg raises the lower,
so they make a perfect team. As in all ab
exercises, you bend your knees. Start with
your feet just off the sit-up board, and then
lift them up until your legs are vertical.
Thats as high as they need to go. As with

sit-ups, start at a low angle, and when you
reach a certain goal, move the board up a
bit higher to increase the resistance.
Another excellent lower-ab exercise
you can do on an adjustable slant board
is the knee-up. You do it much the way
you do the leg lift, but instead of raising
your entire leg, you pull your knees only
up toward your chest. I like doing both
knee-ups and leg raises; each works the
abs a bit differently, and thats always a
positive factor.
Having an adjustable slant board
available at home is most helpful in your
quest for a six-pack. It enables you to do
ab work on your non-training days, and
that extra work will bear dividends over
time. Im not sure slant boards are even
sold anymore, but theyre not that hard to
make. Once I discovered that the Church
College Gym in Laie, Hawaii, didnt have
a sit-up board, I decided to get one and
use it at home, which was a small house. I
nosed around and found an old discarded
two-by-10 and carried it home. I propped
it on my back stairs, padded it with a
towel, used my lifting belt as a strap and
was able to do sit-ups, leg raises and kneeups rather easily. Whenever I reached a
certain number of reps, I raised the incline
to make the exercises harder. Not fancy,
but it sure worked.
When I went to the gym, I took
advantage of a chinning bar to do another
ab exercise, knee-ups while hanging from
the bar. They served as warm-ups for my
weight workout and helped add to the
workload for my abdominals. Theyre also
called frog kicks, and we used to do them
after an isotonic-isometric workout at
York, not so much to strengthen our abs as
to relieve stress to the back.
The only problem with hanging kneeups and knee-ups done while locked in a
piece of equipment especially designed for
the purpose is that you cant do very many,
and to scorch your abs, you need to do very
high reps. That doesnt mean you should
avoid the various forms of knee-ups. They
help strengthen the abs, particularly the
lower ones, and that, in turn, enables you
to do higher reps on other ab movements.
Plus, they add variety to the overall ab
program. Keep in mind that the lower abs
require more attention than the upper:
The upper abs are involved in numerous
exercises, while the lower arent. Squats,
triceps pushdowns, straight-arm
pullovers, benches, inclines and even curls
influence the upper abs much more than
the lower ones.
It should go without saying that every
ab exercise affects all body parts to some
degree. Crunches are helpful in trimming
belly fat. They have two advantages over
sit-ups: Theyre much easier to do and can
be done in almost any way. All you need is
SIX-PACK ATTACK
Model: Joey Gloor
Im very aware of the

criticism about sit-ups,
that they involve the hips
and legs too much. I dont
consider that a bad thing.
a floor. You can do crunches with your feet

on the floor, but theyre more beneficial if
you place your feet on a chair or couch. A
few form pointers:
*3)/,&)1,- &.()(.,.
throughout the exercise.
3)/,&)1,)'(2.(-/*(
down during the crunching movement,
the exercise is less productive.
.."() ",*-+/43)/,-
as tightly as you can.
A common problem with crunches is

that your neck starts hurting long before
your abs tire. That makes many people
stop doing the exercise, but thats the
wrong approach. Stick with them, and
increase your reps slowly. Your necks
hurting because its relatively weak. As
you increase the reps, your neck will get
stronger, so you can add even more reps to
the exercise.
Or you can take another course of action
to speed the strengthening of the weak

area. While recuperating from hip surgery,
I was unable to do either sit-ups or leg
raises, so I decided that crunches were my
next best choice. By the time I got to 100
reps at my first session, my neck started
cramping, and I had to stop. Knowing I
needed to strengthen my neck if I planned
on doing higher reps, I began dynamictension exercises for my neck at night
while watching TV. It helped right away.
The next day I was able to do 125 before
my neck gave out, and the following day I
reached 150.
Between the dynamic-tension exercises
and moving up each time I crunched, my
neck got considerably stronger so much
so that after a few months Id increased to
550 reps. I could have done even more, but
I figured that was enough. Plus, I was bored
out of my mind and was tickled when I
could finally do sit-ups and leg raises again.
I still work crunches into my program at
least once a week, however, because I think
BOOMER ALERT
While I dont think that men under
40 need to be concerned about
their testosterone levels, its a good
idea for those older than that to be
checked out by a doctor. Its a simple
blood test and will determine whether
your level is below normal and needs
to improve. If it does, the doctor can
prescribe testosterone in a variety of
forms: injections, cream, patches and
pills. Many of my contemporaries
use some type of testosterone
supplementation and swear by
it. All contend that the additional
hormone gives them extra energy,
helps them feel healthier and gives
them a more positive outlook on life.
And testosterone has been shown
in research to heighten fat burning,
especially in the mid-section.
A COMMON PROBLEM WITH CRUNCHES IS THAT

YOUR NECK STARTS HURTING LONG BEFORE
YOUR ABS TIRE. THAT MAKES MANY PEOPLE
STOP DOING THE EXERCISE, BUT THATS THE
WRONG APPROACH. STICK WITH THEM, AND
INCREASE YOUR REPS SLOWLY.
it activates the abs in a manner different
from other exercises.
Reverse crunches provide variety, and
I often mix them in with regular crunches.
You can do them lying on the floor or on
an incline bench. Place your hands behind
your head or on the floor should you need
them to aid with balance and elevate
your legs to a vertical position while
keeping your glutes flat. Now lift your hips
and glutes up for about six inches. That
slight movement may not seem like much
until youve counted a few dozen reps.
Then youll feel it in your lower abs.
Its another ab exercise that you can do
anywhere, so its good to know how to do it.
The ab wheel is an apparatus thats been
around for some time and can definitely
help you gain that elusive six-pack. Its very
handy, can be used in a small space and
travels well. What you need to understand
about the ab wheel, however, is that its an
advanced piece of equipment, not a toy.
When it was first introduced, hundreds of
men and women injured their shoulders,

backs and abs at the initial workout.
Once you start the wheel in motion, you
must have sufficient strength in nearly
all your muscles to be able to control it.
Otherwise, it will just keep on rolling.
With that in mind, start out cautiously.
Stay on your knees until youre confident
that you can handle the stress, and then
get up on your toes. One drawback to the
ab wheel is that very few people can do
high reps due to a weakness in some area.
That means you have to do several sets
to achieve significant results which is
okay. Intersperse the sets throughout your
workout, or use the wheel on your nonlifting days.
If your fitness facility has a lat
machine, you can make it into a useful ab
station. Some machines come equipped
with a small V-shaped attachment for
that purpose. On some you can face the
machine, whereas on others you must have
your back to it in order to get a full range
of motion without the cable bothering

you. Also, certain machines let you sit on
a bench and do the exercise. On most, you
have to kneel.
Wrap a towel around the bar or
attachment, lock it against your forehead,
and pull down into a tight crunch. In the
event a lat machine isnt available, get help
from a training partner. Roll up a towel,
grip the two ends, and hold them against
the sides of your head. Your partner locks
on to the centre of the towel and provides
resistance as you crunch. Both forms of the
exercise are extremely effective, as youll
quickly learn.
Try to do at least one exercise for the
lower abs and one for the upper at every
session. I like to break them up by doing
sit-ups as part of my warm-up and leg
raises to finish off. Theres no reason you
cant do additional ab work on your nontraining days. Theres plenty you can do
without any specialised equipment. Its
mostly a matter of how badly you want an
impressive midsection.
Eat a healthful diet, get active, and hit
your abs diligently. Even though you may
not achieve that elusive six-pack, at least
you wont look as if youre carrying a keg
under your shirt.
#&&.,,1--.,(!."
()(#.#)(#(!)".
)"(-)*%#(-
(#0,-#.3 ,)'.)-."
/."),) The Strongest Shall Survive
Strength Training for Football
Ab-solute sex appeal.
A tight, toned
midsection makes
you more confident
and attractive.
CONNECT WITH US
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U GA
Model: Michael Ryan
GO LLA
GRIP
&FREAKY FOREARMS
HUGE, POWERFUL LOWER ARMS CAN BE YOURS
5.!#1('$+0+#.,$55 %$!(!2!14

he forearms are made up of

several muscle groups that are
used primarily for arm extension
and flexion. The five major extensor
muscles on the top side of each forearm
are responsible for extending the wrists.
Three major flexor muscles on the
bottom, or underside, of each forearm
bend the wrist down.
Most bodybuilders barely think of
their wrists and forearms. In their haste
to develop their upper arms, chest, back,
shoulders and thighs, the wrists and
forearms get overlooked, the same way
the calves get overlooked. Most bodybuilders dont realise how important
forearm development is for total arm
symmetry, balance and impressiveness
not to mention strength on a number
of key exercises. Very few work their
forearms directly. They do maybe 12-to-15
sets each for biceps and triceps and then
throw in a measly three sets of wrist curls,
and then they wonder why their forearms
arent better built.
Forearms and calves are similar in
composition, made up mostly of red
muscle fibres, tendons and ligaments.
They both respond best to high
repetitions, in the 15-to-25 range. That
means its painful to train them, although
the pain of developing the calves is worse
than that of training the forearms. In both
cases muscles have to be engorged with
blood and pumped like balloons. In terms
of structure, you might say that the calves
are to the thighs as the forearms are to the
upper arms. Theyre two muscle groups
that are impossible to overdevelop.
Another way the forearms and
calves are similar is that both are highly
influenced by genetics. Just as some
people are born with great calves and
never have to train them, some fortunate
athletes have gotten fantastic forearm
development just from gripping the bar
when performing chins, bent-over rows,
T-bar rows, shrugs, cleans, upright rows,
barbell and dumbbell curls, preacher curls
and other upper-body exercises.
Several bodybuilders come to mind
in that regard: Mike Mentzer of Heavy
Duty fame never had to train forearms
directly, and neither did his brother Ray.
Mohamed Makkawy and Steve Brisbois,
both world champions and top pros, had
incredible forearms that were almost as
big as their upper arms. (Brisbois had the
most impressive forearms Ive ever seen.
In some poses they actually looked bigger
than his upper arms.)
Other top bodybuilders, past or
present, noted for their great forearms
are Dave Draper, Casey Viator, Sergio
Oliva, Chuck Sipes, Bill Pearl, Larry Scott,
Lou Ferrigno, Jusup Wilkosz, Dorian
Yates, Arnold Schwarzenegger and just
about any of todays top bodybuilders.
Keeping your thumbs on the same

side of the bar as your fingers will
give you more power on wrist curls.

You dont fare well in pro competition
with poor forearm development not
if youre standing next to the likes of
Ronnie Coleman, Jay Cutler, Kevin
Levrone and Lee Priest all of whom have
great forearms.
All you have to do is see a good
photograph of these men or, if youre
lucky, see them in person to realise how
impressive big, muscular and vascular
forearms are. It looks as if they could rip
steel bars in half. Old-time strongmen
always did more work for their forearms

than their biceps because they did so
many lifting feats that required strong
gripping power and powerful forearms.
Unfortunately, genetics can work
against you. Some people have what are
sometimes called Indian club forearms,
in which all of the mass is at the top,
near the biceps and brachialis, while the
lower forearms and wrists are small and
underdeveloped. Theres not much you
can do with that type of forearms because
there are very few muscle fibres in the
lower area to develop. All you can do is
work your forearms intensely and make
them as big and as muscular as you can.
Albert Beckles, the ageless wonder of
the 80s, had Indian club forearms, and it
didnt prevent him from winning many
pro contests.
If you happen to be one of those lucky
devils who have naturally large forearms,
or whose forearms get all the stimulation
they need from holding the bar on upperbody exercises, then move on to another
article. (On the other hand, if you want
to make your naturally large forearms
even bigger and more vascular, with
Make a conscious effort to grip bars and

handles hard during your workouts to
build neuromuscular efficiency.
veins the size of garden hoses, you may

want to read on.) But if your forearms are
underdeveloped, then you definitely need
to do specific forearm exercises such as
wrist curls, reverse wrist curls, reverse
curls, reverse preacher curls and hammer
curls. And you must work them with high
intensity for the right number of sets, not
just a few measly low-intensity sets done
as an afterthought at the end of a workout.
If you need a good reason to train
your forearms, Ill give you three. With
the exception of neck muscles, the
forearm muscles are the most exposed
on your body. They can be seen from any
angle. Having massive forearms gives
you a sense of power, and others see
you as powerful because you have such
powerful-looking forearms.
Second, the chicks really dig them.
Watch women around top bodybuilders
when theyre socialising. The women just
love to stroke and caress their forearms.
They cant help themselves. That in itself
should be enough motivation to train
your forearms.
Lastly, working your wrists and
forearms hard increases the strength

Stronger forearms can help you
squeeze out more reps on the big,
compound exercises, which will in
turn trigger more growth.

of your grip, making it possible to use
heavier weights on basic movements and
to force out a few extra reps at a point
when your grip would normally give out.
If you really think about it, youre almost
limited by the strength of your grip and
your forearms on nearly all upper-body
exercises. A weak grip means using
lighter weights, which means slower or
no growth. The forearms can become
tremendously strong with consistent hard
training. When you train your forearms,
youre not just training for muscular
development; youre training the tendons
and ligaments for strength and power and
a vice-like grip.
If your grip is weak, I recommend that
you stop using wrist straps on exercises
such as chins, rows, deadlifts, shrugs,
cleans, upright rows, and all back and
biceps movements. Straps can become a
crutch, and if you rely on them too much,
your grip has no reason to get stronger.
An example of how helpful hands,
wrists and forearms can be is illustrated
by the following true story. Dave Draper,
the Blond Bomber, a Mr. America and
Mr. Universe winner, was doing posing
exhibitions in South Africa, and he was
staying with three-time Mr. Universe Reg
Park, who lived there. One day Reg and
Dave were driving somewhere, and their
car got a flat tyre. When they went to put
on the spare, they discovered that while
they had a spare tyre and a lug wrench to
remove the nuts on the flat, they didnt
have a jack. No problem for Reg and Dave.
They simply took turns lifting up the car
while they replaced the tire. If youve ever
done a heavy deadlift for 10 seconds, you
know how tiring it is for the grip and the
forearms. Now imagine lifting up a car for
minute or more. That was one time where
Regs and Daves tremendous forearm
strength came in handy.
One bodybuilder who really trained his
forearms for maximum size and strength
was Mr. America, Mr. Universe and twotime Mr. Olympia Larry Scott. As he did
with nearly all body parts especially
arms and shoulders Larry made a
science of developing the forearms. It
was actually one of his favourite muscle
groups to train the complete opposite
of most bodybuilders. One reason for
Larrys obsession with forearms was that
Model: Daryl Gee
Hammer curls blast the brachialis muscle

under the biceps, but they also train the
forearms hard.
early in his career he made the connection

between the development of his wrists
and forearms and the development of
his biceps. In short, the stronger his
wrists and forearms were, the heavier
the weights he could use on his biceps
exercises, especially the barbell preacher
curls and the dumbbell preacher curls
aka Scott curls he masochistically
savours so much. In his prime, Larry
could use 100-pound (45 kg) dumbbells
for six reps on the preacher bench
supersetted with barbell preachers with
150 pounds (68 kg) for six reps, which he
said would have been impossible for him
if his grip and forearm strength had been
lacking. He could also do reverse barbell
preacher curls with 130 pounds (59 kg)
for six reps.
In his book )/(-, Larry says
the key to using heavy weights on the
preacher bench is to have wrists and
forearms strong enough to get the bar
moving. He starts each rep of preacher
curls by wrist-curling the bar upward a
few inches, then letting his biceps take
over. Whereas its often impossible to
complete a full repetition of preacher
curls because you get stuck at the very
bottom of the rep with the bar fully
descended, it is possible, if your wrists are
strong enough, to wrist-curl the bar to get
it moving.
Says Larry, If we can get our wrists
curled, we can go deep into the movement,
where all the treasure is buried, with a
heavier weight. To do this, we need raw
power in the forearms, power that can
curl wrists holding weights that even the
biceps cannot handle. I know I cant curl
the weight on biceps curls unless I can get
my wrists curled first, and the curling of
my wrists is accomplished completely by
forearm work.
To get that kind of power, you must
train your forearms just as intensely as
your biceps or even more and be
concerned with forearm development as
much as biceps development.

Models: Quincy Taylor, Ernie Taylor and Ahmad Haidar
Most of the top bodybuilders have

exceptional forearm development. It looks
as if they could rip steel bars in half.
Model: Jonathan Lawson

Larry said he was inspired to develop

his forearms to their maximum size and
strength after meeting Bill Pearl (Mr.
America and four-time Mr. Universe
champion) at the gym Bill owned in
Los Angeles. Pearl had big, meaty
forearms that stunned Larry when he
first viewed them. He asked Bill how he
developed them, and Bill, the modest
man that he is, just said, Oh, I train my
forearms regularly. Bill then showed
Larry the special forearm bench he and
his members used to do wrist curls. It
was an odd little bench, just 12 inches
by 12 inches (30 cm by 30 cm), and
approximately 14 inches (35.5 cm) high.
Although the bench was thickly padded,
it had two parallel deep indentations
running across it. Larry quickly made the

connection between those indentations
and Bills massive forearms. He could tell
that Bill had done quite a few sets on the
forearm bench. Larry asked Bill what kind
of weights he used on his wrist curls. Bill
replied modestly, Oh, about 250. Larry
wasnt sure if Bill meant 250 pounds (113
kg) or two 50-pound (23 kg) dumbbells,
so he asked to make sure. Yes, about 250
on the Olympic set, said Bill. To make
a long story short, after seeing the size
and development of Pearls forearms,
Larry was inspired to train his own with
new vigour.
Larry went back to Vince Girondas
gym in North Hollywood, where he
regularly trained, armed with new
knowledge of what it takes to work

the forearms properly. He found that
many small details made significant
differences in how his forearms
responded to training. Although he briefly
experimented with performing wrist curls
on a regular flat bench, he found that such
benches werent padded enough, which
caused pain in his wrists, and that they
were too high, so the body was not in an
optimal place for stressing the forearms.
Larry had a forearm bench built
just like Bill Pearls 12 by 12 by 14. A
bench of that height enables you to use
an Olympic bar without having the 45pound (20 kg) plates hit the floor when
your wrists are fully extended. Barbells
that are soldered together usually go up to
130 pounds (59 kg) max, which makes it
impossible to do heavy wrist curls.
The hips should be lower than the
forearms. If you squat down and hug the
bench with your knees and calves, you get
leverage on the bar, which really enables
you to do your set purely, with only the
wrists and forearms working.
I have learned lots of things that make
or break a good forearm program, says
Larry. Whenever I see an article about
someone doing forearm work and their
thumbs are wrapped around the bar,
Remember, if you retire your wrist straps

for a while, your forearms have no choice
but to improve.
rather than underneath it, I know they are

not forearm experts.
You need to position your thumb on
the same side as your fingers, using a
thumbless grip. That helps you to use
heavier weights. For Larry, forearm
development was all in the details plus
tremendous effort and a hearty lust
for pain. And, says Larry, Its almost
impossible to overtrain your forearms. If you think about it, you use your
forearms every day. You use them in every
upper-body movement and even on leg
days, when you have to load and unload
squat bars, leg press machines and hack
squat machines.
Most people like to do their forearm
work after theyve trained biceps because
biceps curls also work the forearms to
some degree and it gets the pump started.
You can also train forearms after back for
the same reason.
Larry Scott used a heavy/light superset
attack when training his forearms. He
began his assault by targeting the five
extensor muscles on the undersides of
his forearms. On one side of the forearm
bench he placed a 250-pound (113 kg)
barbell. On the other side he placed a
100-pound (45 kg) barbell. He then did
back-to-back sets of heavy and light wrist
curls, taking as little rest as possible
between sets.
Starting with the 250, Larry would
hold the bar with a thumbless grip and
shoots for 20 repetitions. But heres a key
point. On the heavy wrist curls he did not
perform full repetitions. He did threefifths of a repetition, and on the final
reps he might only get half reps followed
by a few burns, where the bar is hardly
moving. That wasnt important to him.
Whats important is stressing the wrists
and forearms with very heavy weights to
build power, then immediately training
them with a lighter weight for pump and
blood engorgement.
Once Larry completed the heavy bar
reps, hed hurry to the 100-pound (45
kg) bar. Again hed shoot for 20 or more
repetitions, but these done very strictly
and to full extension of the wrists. By
that Larry didnt mean just lowering the
bar down as far as your wrists bend. He
meant letting the bar roll down to your
fingertips, forcing it back into your palms
and then wrist-curling it back to your
starting point. Larry would do his first 10
reps that way, but on his final 10 hed stay
strict, not allowing the bar to roll down to
his fingertips.
After three supersets of heavy/
light wrist curls hed shift focus to the
five extensor muscles on the top of the
forearms. While you can work those
muscles with reverse wrist curls off your
thighs and knees, as anyone who has tried
it can attest, you are ridiculously and

Model: Peter Putnam
Reverse curls on a preacher

bench are difficult but can give
your grip strength and lower-arm
development a new dimension.
pathetically weak in that position. You

just cannot use a heavy weight to work
the tops of your forearms. At best, reverse
wrist curls are a finishing movement, or
do them first in your forearm workout
when your grip and forearms are at their
strongest. Then go on to the heavy/light
wrist curl supersets.
Reverse curls done with an EZ-curl
bar are good for the extensor muscles
on the tops of the forearms, but again,
youre limited by your grip strength. By
the final reps youre barely holding on
to the bar with your thumbs. Hammer
curls are also good for the forearms, as
are Zottman curls; but Larry said that the
best exercise he found that truly enabled

him to work the tops of his forearms with
heavy weights and a true blood-engorged
pump (not a false pump from light weights
and very high repetitions) is reverse curls
done on a machine.
Once again, Larry didnt use full
repetitions. He did three-fifths of the arc
of the rep on the reverse-curl machine,
never allowing his arms to fully straighten
and never completing the reps at the top.
Larry used 250 pounds (113 kg) for three
to four sets of six to eight reps. Then hed
do drop sets on the machine (three or four
drops per series). He said the pump is
unbelievable, and the gains are incredible.
The heavy/light wrist curls and heavy

machine reverse curls worked Larrys
forearms completely. Sometimes hed do
it as tri-sets: a set each of the heavy and
light wrist curls followed by drop set on
reverse curls on the curling machine,
all without a break. He suggested three
tri-sets.
For those who dont have access to
a forearm bench like Larry Scotts (and
99 per cent of all gyms will not), you can
make do by performing wrist curls on a
regular flat bench with a 10-inch block
set under the back end of the bench. This
turns the flat bench into an incline bench
(its not as good as a forearm bench, but
its better than doing wrist curls off your
thighs and knees). You can also do your
reps across the bench, kneeling, not at the
end. That puts your hips lower than your
forearms. Use a folded towel on the bench
for extra padding to avoid wrist pain.
Lower the barbell slowly and let it bend
your wrists as far down as possible. Then
smoothly curl the weight upward, holding
for a count of two before lowering again.
If you choose to, you can have a
heavy and a light barbell already loaded
so you can superset the way Larry did.
Mode
M
odel: Aaron
Aa
aron
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Bru
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If your grip is weak, stop using

wrist straps on exercises
such as chins, rows, deadlifts,
shrugs, cleans, upright rows
and all back and biceps
movements.
Remember that you dont have to curl the

heavy bar for full reps. Three-fifths to half
reps will be fine. Three or four supersets
should pump your forearms like balloons.
Then go right to reverse curls. Do them
on a curling machine, with an EZ-curl
bar or on a preacher bench with a straight
bar. Pick a heavy weight that limits you
to no more than six to eight reps. These
can be done for three-quarter reps, as the
extensor muscles youre targeting are
worked mostly in the middle portion of
the rep.
You can also do drop sets on the
machine reverse curls. If your gym doesnt
have a curling machine, do reverse curls
with an EZ-curl bar or with a straight bar
on the preacher bench. It will be harder
to do drop sets with the free bars and
preacher bench, but if you train with a
partner, he can slip the weights off and
steady the bar as you continue for your
first drop. Anywhere from two to four
drops will be right, depending on your
development and level of training.
Need I say that you should do tri-sets
of the heavy and light wrist curls and the
reverse curls for maximum effectiveness?
Ive worked forearms that way in the
past, and I can attest to the way the
combination blasts the forearms and
pumps them to the max.
Another exercise you can do to make
your hands and wrists a lot stronger is the
partial deadlift, held for 20 to 30 seconds.
Place a heavy barbell in a power rack
set at about the middle of your thighs.
Without using straps, lift the barbell off
the supports and count in your mind
how long you can hold the barbell. At
every forearm workout, try to increase
the time you hold the weight say, 225
pounds (102 kg) for 30 seconds or use
more weight for the same amount of time.
Believe me, this is no easy task, but after a
few months of training on it, youll have a
grip you can be proud of.
The forearms are tough to develop.
Dont expect to pack on inches overnight.
Expect to gain approximately a half inch
(1.3 cm) for every inch (2.5 cm) you put on
your upper arms, which is the amount you
should shoot for if youre keeping your
forearms and upper arms in balance. If
20-inch (50 cm) arms are the benchmark
for upper-arm development, 15 inches (38
cm) is about the benchmark for forearms.
I hope youre challenged to train your
forearms hard and consistently. In three
months they should be stronger, larger
and more vascular. In six months your
new wrist and forearm gains should be
paying off in the form of larger upper
arms, lats, traps and deltoids.
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By Cory Crow
el Neveux
Photography by Micha
ou dont want to be that guy. You

know who I mean: the guy walking
around wearing the Welcome to
the Gun Show T-shirt whos got popguns
barely stretching the sleeves? Thats right
that guy.
My guess is, if youve spent the money
to buy this magazine and are taking the
time to read this article, you already know
what good biceps development looks like.
You know that spindly arms in a Gun
Show T-shirt arent going to get the job
done (unless ridicule is your goal). You
also know that soft, fluffy biceps arent
going to pass muster either.
Youre here because you want to
expend the effort to build dense, full
biceps resembling softballs under the
skin, right? To do that youre going to
need a plan, and chances are that plan will
involve doing curls. No, not the Olympic
competition with the big stone and the
brooms. Im talking curling weights
dumbbells, barbells, you name it.
Outside of curling, however, theres
very little consensus as to what goes into
building the perfect pair of biceps. Some
adhere to the hard-and-heavy principle,
where low reps and high weights are the
norm. Still others will tell you that high
volume is the key, the object being to
engorge the muscle with blood to ensure
growth. Whos right? Well, they both are.
Thats because everyones body works
differently and responds to different
stimuli. How do you know whats the right

method for you? The answer lies in trial
and error. Come on now, you didnt expect
this to be easy, did you?
Biceps anatomy
Whenever I want to learn about
training a body part, I seek out someone
whos known for having exceptional
development in that area. For biceps I
tracked down Dan Decker, an IFBB pro
bodybuilder. Dan is known as much for
his aesthetic physique as he is for having
well-developed arms. I thought hed be
the perfect candidate to dispense some
biceps-training knowledge that can help
you not be that guy in the T-shirt.
Biceps are funny muscles, and a lot of
people dont do them justice when they
work out. Most trainers tend to neglect
the outer head and brachialis when they
work biceps. That was one of the first
things Dan mentioned. The biceps brachii
actually consists of two heads: the shorter
inner head and the longer outer head, with
the outer head providing the most mass in
the muscle group. Underneath the biceps
is the brachialis, which is visible on the
side of the arm between the triceps and
biceps if youre lean and the muscle
is developed. When training biceps, you
want to make sure that you fully exhaust
every muscle in the group, not favouring
one section over the other, to ensure
full development.
FULL-BLOWN BICEPS
YOU WANT TO TAKE

YOUR TIME AND FOCUS
ON HAVING THE TARGET
MUSCLE MOVE THE
WEIGHT DONT THROW
THE WEIGHT AROUND.
The full-blown workout
The keys to any biceps routine are form
and range of motion. Poor form on curls
can lead to shoulder and elbow injuries,
and a poor range of motion can lead to
decreased movement in the arm. If youre
lucky enough to ever see Dan train arms,
youll see firsthand what good form is
all about.
Dans biceps workout is typically
coupled with his triceps workout, but he
took the time to break out the specific
biceps movements so wed get the fullblown info regarding his development.
(&#("'',/,&-This is Dans
favourite starting movement, and he very
rarely removes it from the lead-off spot
in his biceps batting order. Remember
the brachialis? Incline hammer curls
specifically target that muscle and the
outer head of the biceps.
Dans standard plan is to start off with
a manageable weight. For him that usually
means 50-pound (23 kg) dumbbells for
a warmup and then 70-to-80-pounders
(3236 kg) for three to four work sets of
eight to 10.
Dont rush it, he warned. You want
to take your time and focus on having the
target muscle move the weight dont
throw the weight around.
Dont get too weight happy when it
comes to working biceps either. If he had
to choose between good form and pushing
around more weight, Dan would choose
the former every time. Big weights may
seem cool at the time, but theres nothing
cool about shoulder surgery or having an
injury that keeps you out of the gym for
weeks or months.
.(#(!,&&/,&- If ever there
was a basic exercise for a body part, the
standing barbell curl is it for biceps. Odds
are you can walk into any gym in the land
at any time and see at least one person
performing barbell curls. The bottom
line is, they work. The standing barbell
curl is a mass builder for biceps that
has no equal, and using the barbell gives
Dan a lot of flexibility, which, again, lets
him put equal stress on every part of the
target muscle.
Dan uses a pyramid approach on this
movement, starting out with a 10-pound
(4.5 kg) plate on each end of a 45-pound
DAN DECKERS BODY

PART SPLIT
MONDAY
Chest
TUESDAY
Back
WEDNESDAY
Off
THURSDAY
Shoulders
FRIDAY
Arms
SATURDAY
Legs
SUNDAY
Off
Note: When hes on a contest diet, Dan
performs cardio every morning on an elliptical
machine for 33 minutes. He does limited cardio
in the off-season.
He goes a little on the lighter side for three

sets of 15, which engorges the muscle with
blood and increases the fibre activation.
FULL-BLOWN BICEPS
Incline hammer curls or
standard hammers hit the
brachialis muscles that
snake under the biceps.
Developing them gives the
biceps new dimensions.
DECKERS FULL-BLOWN BICEPS ATTACK

EXERCISES
SETS AND REPS
Incline hammer curls (pyramid the poundage)
34 x 8
Standing barbell curls (pyramid the poundage)
4 x 10
Reverse EZ-curl-bar preacher curls
4 x 810
Standing cable curls
3 x 15
Machine one-arm preacher curls
3 x 8-10
RUNNING THE RACK

Although this intensity technique
isnt officially in his workout, Dan
recommends occasionally using it as a
finishing move in place of the machine
preacher curls. He suggests using the
fixed barbells that you find on a pyramid
rack in the free-weight portion of most
gyms, or you can use fixed dumbbells.
Choose a weight that allows you
to complete 12 reps at or near failure.
Perform the set, and then, taking no rest,
move to the next lighter-weighted barbell
and complete 12 reps. Continue moving
to the next-lighter-weighted barbell until
you complete 12 reps with the lightest
weight available.
This technique is called
running the rack or going down the
rack because it is typically done with
dumbbells, in which case youd be
working down the rack of dumbbells,
choosing progressively lighter weights.
Its not something that you can do at
every biceps workout because you
could become overtrained. As an
occasional growth shocker or plateau
buster, however, Dan finds it to be just
the thing he needs. Just make sure you
have a spotter to assist you if you start
hitting failure so that you dont drop and
damage the weights or hurt yourself.
(20 kg) bar. Then he adds five to 10

pounds (2.274.5 kg) per set for around
10 reps each. Dan will do three to four
sets total, and he varies his grip width on
each set, which changes the force point
of the lift. That way he involves the entire
muscle group equally.
In discussing his curling technique,
Dan warned again about never sacrificing
form for weight. He also advised that
its essential to have a spotter, if at all
possible, on this movement.
One final tip, he said, is to keep
your wrists cocked back to really
focus on the biceps and to keep the
forearms disengaged.
0,-/,&,*,",
/,&- A reverse [palms-down] grip is
a simple way to spread the workload,
Dan said about this exercise. By holding
the bar with a reverse grip, you increase
the workload on the brachialis. That
also activates the pronator muscle on
the underside of the forearm, a seldomworked area thats responsible for
supination. Because of the risk of injuring
the shoulder with a reverse grip, Dan
keeps things relatively simple, using the
same grip width, a moderate weight and a
consistent eight-to-10-rep count.
I have to rest about three minutes
between sets because Im getting close to,
or hitting, failure on almost every rep, he
said. This is where having that spotter will
pay dividends as well.
.(#(!&/,&-By this
point in his workout, Dans biceps are
FULL-BLOWN BICEPS
BY HOLDING THE BAR

WITH A REVERSE GRIP,
YOU INCREASE THE
WORKLOAD ON THE
BRACHIALIS. THAT
ALSO ACTIVATES THE
PRONATOR MUSCLE ON
THE UNDERSIDE OF THE
FOREARM, A SELDOM
WORKED AREA THATS
RESPONSIBLE FOR
SUPINATION.
screaming for mercy. After working to

failure with heavy weights on the previous
movements, Dan switches to more of a
concentration move: standing cable curls.
He goes a little on the lighter side for three
sets of 15, which engorges the muscle with
blood and increases the fibre activation.
Dan performs the reps at a moderate
speed, focusing on keeping his form on
both the ascending and descending halves
of the movement.
"#()(,'*,",/,&-
For his finishing move, Dan likes to take
advantage of a machine and really isolate
the inner head of the biceps by choosing a
weight thats going to take him almost to
failure in eight to 10 reps. He does three
sets at a moderate speed, focusing on
getting the full range of movement until
he hits failure.
The gun show

Even if you follow this workout to a tee,
I guarantee that you wont build biceps
like Dan Deckers. Remember, Dan has
chosen bodybuilding as his career, so he

lives a lifestyle that allows him to spend
more time in the gym than someone who
works a nine-to-five job would. He also
has exceptional genetics.
Does that mean youll never have good
biceps? Not at all. You should take a look
at Dans routine and learn the basics of
what hes saying. Ultimately, your own
work ethic and your genetics will
determine what size biceps youll have
stretching the sleeves of your T-shirt. You
can try his program with fewer sets, or
pick out a few key exercises and give them
a go. Of course, if youre experienced and
have the time, you can put his full program
into practice and see what happens.
The bottom line is that if you work
hard, you can have people gawking at your
guns, even if your genetics arent that
great. Use Dan as a role model: hell be at
the gym almost every Friday working his
arms. The guy in the Gun Show T-shirt
will probably be sitting on his couch
dreaming.
HIGH-INTENSITY 300 is the ultimate

workout guide. Featuring 300 of the most
effective and challenging workouts, its packed
with programs that push you to your limit and
maximise results.
BUY NOW FROM SUBSCRIBEANDSHOP.COM

OR CALL 03 95748999
Building
Triceps
$!!/0.%%,/* .%*%*#.+#.)/
5 00!%'$+0+#.,$55 %$!(!2!14
ow many people like to play horseshoes? Okay, not

that many. How many people like to have a huge
horseshoe on the back of their arm? Now were
talking!
The triceps is somewhat neglected in many
bodybuilders massive arm workouts. Too many want
bulging biceps, but in reality the biceps is a smaller muscle
than the triceps. There are many triceps-building choices
in the gym, including dumbbells, cables, barbells even
your own body weight.
The best thing you can do is try as many exercises as
possible and see which ones work for you. First, though,
you should get up to speed on triceps form and function.
Anatomy of the triceps

The triceps brachii has three heads that connect the
humerus and scapula bones to the ulna, one of the forearm
bones. The three heads are known as the lateral, medial
and long heads.
The lateral head is located on the outward-facing side
of the humerus. Its most responsible for the horseshoe
shape of the triceps. The medial head is located toward the
midline of the body. The long head runs along the bottom
side of the humerus; its the largest of the three.
The primary function of the triceps is to extend the
elbow, straightening the arm. The secondary function is
fulfilled only by the long head of the muscle, and that is
bringing the arm down toward the body, called adduction.

TRICEP EXERCISES
+3*/
1 1((!5,1/$
A basic movement, it stresses the entire triceps
muscle complex, particularly the outer and medial heads. Grip the
bar overhand with your index fingers three to five inches apart
in the middle of the handle. Your feet should be shoulder-width
apart, about 10 to 12 inches back from the handle.
Fully bend your arms, pressing your upper arms against
your torso, where they should stay through the duration of
the set. Leaning slightly forward, move your forearms down,

slowly straightening your arms. Hold the straight-arm position
momentarily while flexing your triceps intensely. Slowly return
to the starting point.
A good variation is to use the rope handle or V-bar. You can
also do the exercise with an undergrip on the bar and with
different grip widths.
2 5%*#.!((
40!*/%+*/
These fundamental favourites

isolate intense stress on the triceps,
particularly the medial and outer
heads. Taking a narrow overgrip in
the middle of a moderately weighted
barbell, lie on your back on an
exercise bench. Keep your feet on
the sides of the bench to provide
balance.
Extend your arms straight above
your head. With your upper arms
remaining motionless throughout
the set, bend your elbows. The
barbell should travel downward in
an arc until it slightly touches your
forehead. Reverse the direction of
the movement of the bar, using only
triceps strength to slowly straighten
your arms.
There are many effective
variations. You could use different
grip widths, do them seated, use an
undergrip, or use a decline or incline
bench.
%*#1)!((40!*/%+*/
3 0*
This movement stresses the
head. Thats the start position. Lower the
entire triceps muscle complex, particularly
the inner and medial heads. Grip the
dumbbell so that your palms are facing
the inner-top plate and the dumbbell is
hanging straight down, perpendicular to
the gym floor. To keep the weight from
slipping, lock your thumbs around the
dumbbell handle.
Lift the dumbbell straight up above your
weight slowly behind your head until your

arms are fully bent. Without bouncing in the
bottom position, slowly raise the dumbbell
back to the start position.
You can increase the strictness of the
movement by sitting at the end of a flat
exercise bench or on the floor with your
back braced against the bench. A good
variation is the one-arm version.


4 *!1)!((40!*/%+*/
This movement stresses the
entire triceps muscle complex, particularly the
inner and medial heads. Grip the dumbbell so
that your palms are facing the inner-top plate
and the dumbbell is hanging straight down,
perpendicular to the gym floor. To keep the
weight from slipping, lock your thumbs around
the dumbbell handle.
Lift the dumbbell straight up above your head.
Thats the start position. Lower the weight slowly
behind your head until your arms are fully bent.
Without bouncing in the bottom position, slowly
raise the dumbbell back to the start position.
You can increase the strictness of the
movement by sitting at the end of a flat exercise
bench or on the floor with your back braced
against the bench. A good variation is the onearm version.
TOP
THREE
Here are the best of the best

triceps training plans:
Beginner Routine
Close-grip bench presses
Pushdowns
Intermediate Routine
Parallel-bar dips
Incline extensions
Advanced Routine
Pullover and presses
Lying extensions
Dumbbell kickbacks
SETS REPS
3
2
12-6
8-12
SETS REPS
3-4
2-3
12-6
8-12
SETS REPS
4
4
4

12-6
8-12
8-12
More great triceps exercises

Heres a list of other effective triceps
exercises that you should check out:
0,-!,#*("*,-- ("#* (,'/'&&2.(-#)( 1),'/'&&2.(-#)( 0,-!,#**/-")1( (,'*/-")1( #!"*/&&3*/-")/. (&#(!"#!"*/&&3*/-")/. (,'"#!"*/&&3*/-")/. /'&&%#%% (,'&%#%% ..#%!,/. ,)'((..
(#0,-#.31#."!,#(%#(-#)&)!3-
)3/#&,(*,-)(&.,#(,),'),
) "#-,.#&-0#-#.111)3/#&#(!)'
TOP 10
Routine 1
Lying extensions
Pushdowns
Lying dumbbell extensions
Bench dips
Routine 2
Pushdowns
Bent-over rope extensions
One-to-two-arm dumbbell extensions
Routine 3
Lying extensions
Pushdowns
One-arm cable extensions
Routine 4
Seated one-dumbbell extensions
Lying extensions
Decline barbell extensions
Pulley pushdowns
Routine 5
Seated barbell extensions
One-arm dumbbell extensions
Pushdowns
Routine 6
Lying extensions
High-pulley cable extensions
Kneeling high-pulley cable extensions
Routine 7
Pushdowns
Cable extensions
Seated one-dumbbell extensions
Routine 8
Pushdowns
Seated one-arm dumbbell extensions
Routine 9
Lying extensions
Pushdowns
Routine 10
Decline barbell extensions

SETS
REPS
3
4
4
3
10-12
10-12
10-12
MAX
SETS
REPS
4
4
4
2-3
6-10
8-10
10-12
10-12
SETS
REPS
3-4
3-4
3-4
6-15
6-15
6-15
SETS
REPS
3-4
4
3
2-3
6-15
8-12
8-12
8-12
SETS
REPS
6
6
6
10-15
10-15
10-15
SETS
REPS
4-6
4-6
4-6
6
6
6
SETS
REPS
4
4
4-6
8-12
6-8
8-10
SETS
REPS
4-5
4
3
12-6
8-10
8-10
SETS
REPS
5
5
5
6-10
6-10
8-12
SETS
REPS
3
3
10-12
10-12
SUMMER
ABS
WITH THE KISS

ROUTINES
By Layne Norton
Ive heard so many theories on training

abdominals that if I gained an ounce of muscle
for every time someone talked about a crackpot
method of working abs, I would be accepting
the Sandow instead of Phil Heath. Lets clear up
a few popular myths about abs.
SUMMER ABS
HANGING SIDE KNEE
RAISES
Ab Myths
3."You can work abs every day
because they recover faster than
other muscles.
.Ha ha, Im getting a great ab
workout from all the laughing Im doing at
that one. Muscle tissue is muscle tissue.
It responds to stimulus weight training
to grow larger and stronger and needs
sufficient recovery time to do so.
3." You need to use super-high reps to
increase definition in your mid-section.
. Yeah, right. You can do a thousand
crunches per night, but if your diet isnt
correct, youll never see abs.
3." You dont need to train abs
because they get enough work by being
supporting muscles during squats, presses
and deadlifts.
.Im sure the same people who
believe that also dont train biceps or
triceps because they are supporting
muscles during back, chest and shoulder
work. I think not.
3."You shouldnt train abs with
weight because it will make your abs big,
which will make you look fat.
.Oh, my goodness, thats the biggest
misconception of all time. Ill explain
why later.
Abs made simple

When it comes to training abs, the phrase
KISS keep it simple, stupid should
apply. The abs arent as complicated as
everyone thinks. They grow the same as
other muscles with overload. When
they are trained with weights that are
heavier than the body is used to handling,
hypertrophy is stimulated. Of course,
the muscles need nutrients protein,
carbs, fats and vitamins, to name a few
and recuperation time to grow bigger
and stronger. Would you train your chest
every day? Of course not. Youd never
make any progress. So why would you
train abs every day? Theres absolutely no
reason to.
The abdominals can become
overtrained just like any other muscle.
One day of intense work per week
is enough.
So how should you train your abs?
Heavy. Thats right heavy. But if my
abs get big, theyll make me look fat. Not
in the least. First of all, what we call the
abs is a very thin sheet of muscle and thus
very hard to enlarge. If you could make
them grow, however, what would be wrong
with that? Heres an analogy that involves
a different muscle group.
Say there are two people: A and B. A
has 12-inch (30 cm) arms with seven per
cent body fat; B has 17-inch (43 cm) arms
with 11 per cent body fat. Whose arms are
CABLE CRUNCHES
SUMMER ABS
Model: Joey Gloor
REVERSE CRUNCHES
going to look more defined? It will be B

because the muscle sticks out farther from
the body. The same thing applies to abs.
If your abs were bigger, they would pop
out farther, and it would appear that youre
carrying less fat around the mid-section.
Thats what everyone wants visible abs,
even when youre bulked.
Now, I know what some of you are
thinking: If my abs are bigger, it will make
my waist look bigger. Not in the least.

If your abs stick out farther from your
body, it will appear that theres less fat
between the rows. The converse is true for
the obliques.
You do not want to build your obliques.
Large lower obliques will make your
waist appear wider. You should still train
them but only with a couple of light sets
per week.
AB BENCH CRUNCHES
SIT-UPS
Sit-ups hit the entire
abdominal complex with
the help of the hip flexors
Model: Joey Gloor
The Ab Bench has a rounded back

pad that enables you to train the
abs from full stretch to complete
contraction on every rep
Ab training
For training purposes, the abs are split
into four parts: the upper and lower abs
and the upper and lower obliques. Your
workout should include exercises that
hit each of those areas. The following is a
list of exercises and the part of the midsection they hit.
,/("- The bench press of the
abdominals. Crunches hit all of the
abdominals, with special emphasis on the

upper abs.
&#(,/("- Emphasise the
upper abs.
&,/("-)(1#.",)*
Hit both parts of the abdominals with
emphasis on the upper abs.
0,-,/("-Hit the entire
abdominal complex with special emphasis
on the lower abs.
SUMMER ABS
HANGING LEG RAISES
(!#(!&!,#-- Hit mostly the
lower abdominals.
(!#(!%(,#-- Hit mostly the
lower abdominals.
#./*-Hit the entire
abdominal complex.
&#(,/("- Emphasise the
upper abs.
&#+/,/("-Hit the upper and
lower obliques, with a bit more emphasis
on the upper obliques.
(!#(!-#%(,#--
Emphasise the lower obliques.
,/(%.1#-.-)(1#.",))'
"(&,)--."-")/&,-
Emphasise the obliques.
)'#(&'"#(-Hit the entire
abdominal complex.
When training the upper and lower
abdominals, keep your repetitions in the
eight-to-15 range. When training the
upper obliques, keep them in the 12-to-20
range. When training lower obliques, keep
the reps over 30. Here are a few sample
KISS workouts.
KISS WORKOUTS
WORKOUT 1
Hanging leg raises (warm-up)
Hanging leg raises
Cable crunches (warm-up)
Cable crunches
Side crunches
Trunk twists
WORKOUT 2
Hanging knee raises
(warm-up)
Hanging knee raises
(dumbbell between feet for
resistance)
Crunches (warm-up) 1 x 12
Crunches (do on a decline
or holding a weight plate on
chest)
Side crunches (per side)
Trunk twists
SETS
REPS
2
2
1
2
1
2
12
812
12
812
1220
30+
REPS
REST
12
812
1
2
12
812
1
2
1220
30+
Do all sets other than warm-ups to muscular failure.
Model: Derik Farnsworth
Also, serious bodybuilders who are

training with a focus on competing should
practise stomach vacuums. These are very
impressive when done on stage and can
help you achieve great abdominal control.
They can also help tighten your waist.
Okay, get to it. Its time to etch in your
summer abs!
3(),.)("-#(
#)"'#-.,3(#-"#((/.,#.#)(&
-#(-*,) --#)(&,/! ,
)'*.#.#0)3/#&,#(." (

G
RI
Delaviers Core
Training Anatomy
is your guide for increasing
core strength, stability,
flexibility, and tone.
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SLEEVEBUSTING
BICEPS
Fast-Mass
Precision Blasts
for Building
Bigger Arms.
Is there another muscle on your body that is more recognisable

than the biceps? No chance. So you want it bursting through
your skin as much as possible. And who better to take you
through the bicep-buliding steps than two of the experts, Steve
Holman and Jonathan Lawson?
50!2!+()**
+*0$*3/+*$+0+#.,$55 %$!(!2!14
SLEEVE-BUSTING BICEPS
e could start by trying to sell

you on the idea that you want
bigger biceps, but is that
really necessary? Have you ever heard a
bodybuilder say, Wow, my arms are just
too big? No way. Arms can never be too
big (unless theyre bigger than your legs;
then youve got a problem). So instead of
telling you that you need bigger biceps,
which you already know, well shift to
the next gear and tell you that to get giant
arms, you dont really need loads of sets
just more precise training.
In fact, thats the first thing most
people ask us about when they see our
workouts: Dont you guys think youd
make better gains doing more sets for
each body part? Maybe maybe not. The
thing is, we have families, jobs and /,
)/,(."/-#-' episodes to watch, so
we have to train on our lunch hour and
we think most bodybuilders are in similar
situations. Who in the hell has two and a
half hours to pump out set after set in a
sweaty gym before or after working a
full-time job? Less than one per cent of
the population is our guess.
That means were continually looking
for ways to pack on muscle as efficiently
as possible without wasting time. We
simply cant afford to do endless sets that
are only somewhat effective; our gains
stall or worse, fall. If youve got hours to
train every day, great! Precision is not so
critical (although overtraining is no doubt
a serious concern and a big reason so
many bodybuilders resort to steroids).
But even with our shorter workouts,
overtraining can be a problem. Once
again, we have to be careful and precise.
After all, were drug free, and thats where
analysing and identifying the key anabolic
triggers enters the picture. Anaboliccause-and-effect analysis can help you
pack on the most muscle in the shortest
time possible no camping gear in the
gym required. Lets take a look at those
critical hypertrophic factors and apply
them to biceps so you can start using them
to bust some sleeves!
Size factor 1: Max-force

generation
Getting a muscle to generate maximum
force appears to be the biggest player
in building bigger fibres. That means
you want to prioritise and attack that
factor up front before too much fatigue
accumulates. How? Your first exercise
should be a multijoint move that puts
the target muscle in the best position
to forcefully fire on every rep. A good
place to start for each body part is with
its so-called ultimate exercise, which is
described in our &.#'. --),%)/.
e-book.
But even with the ultimate exercise,
you may not get all-out force production.
A proper warm-up, one that brings some

occlusion, or blood-flow blockage, and
uses the right poundage percentages, is
key. It primes the muscle for exceptional
firing capacity. Remember, were after
efficiency, and prepping the muscle as
quickly as possible to exert max force
is vital.
The next factor is rest: You must
rest long enough between sets of your
big exercises, or your force output
diminishes significantly.
Thats right, moving too quickly to
your next set on your ultimate exercise
GETTING A MUSCLE TO
GENERATE MAXIMUM
FORCE APPEARS TO BE
THE BIGGEST PLAYER IN
BUILDING BIGGER FIBRES.
THAT MEANS YOU WANT
TO PRIORITISE.
can hold back size and strength gains.

Research from the University of Kansas
verifies that. The study showed the
correlation between optimal rest and
force production in the bench press
(incidentally, the flat-bench press isnt the
ultimate exercise for your chest, but its
close). What did the scientists find? That
trainees who rested for three minutes
between sets did the best at producing
force on their second set more than
30 per cent better than the trainees
who rested for one minute. They also
found that resting longer, even up to five
minutes between sets, did not improve
force production.
So if you do two sets on your ultimate
exercise, you should rest three minutes
between sets. To further max out force
production, use X-Rep partials on the
second set, or both if youre advanced.
If youre new to X-Reps, theyre partial
eight-inch (20 cm) pulses that usually
begin at the max-force point on an
exercises stroke such as just above the
arms-extended position on undergrip
chins for biceps and go up to just below
the midpoint of the stroke.
In case you missed that hint, the
ultimate exercise for biceps is undergrip
chins. Theres muscle synergy from
surrounding muscle groups, and the

underhand grip puts your biceps in the
ideal position to fire with the most force
and dont forget the X Reps.
Size factor 2: Endurancecomponent work

On your next exercise, force production,
or anaerobic stress, becomes secondary as
you shift into expanding the mitochondria
and capillary beds in the target muscle.
Remember, muscle biopsies show that
the biggest bodybuilders have more fasttwitch type 2A fibres, and those fibres
have both anaerobic and endurance
capabilities. Max-force production on
your first, or ultimate, exercise primarily
attacks the anaerobic components, with
minor endurance effects; now you want
to reverse that priority and blast the
endurance facets with continuous tension
for longer periods while still achieving
some intense force production. How? You
use an isolation exercise that enables you
to maintain tension on the target muscle
throughout the set and you quickly do
two or three sets back to back, reducing
the poundage on each successive set.
Thats the double-drop-set technique.
The first phase will give you more force
production at first, but as you continue
with two more phases, you quickly shift

to stressing the endurance components
of the fast-twitch 2As. (Neglecting
endurance-component work is one of the
big reasons low-rep bodybuilders muscle
size stalls theyre training only one
facet of the muscle cells enough to trigger
growth: anaerobic force production.
Hardgainers, who are more endurance
oriented to begin with, really need
endurance work to grow!)
Have you ever heard a gigantic
bodybuilder say, You gotta feel
the muscle working!? Continuous
tension is what hes talking about.
The biggest bodybuilders know that,
in addition to force production, you
need enough tension time to max out
size. If you lose tension during a set,
that sets effectiveness is reduced
considerably. Remember that. A good
continuous-tension exercise for biceps
is concentration curls no resting at the
bottom. In other words, stop short of full
arm extension, keep the weight moving
and dont forget the drop sets.
Size factor 3:
Stretch overload
Exercises that elongate the target muscle
to the extreme have some very potent
SLEEVE-BUSTING BICEPS
mass-building properties. Some studies
even suggest that stretch overload can
cause fibre splitting, or hyperplasia
(one animal study achieved a 300 per
cent muscle mass increase after only
one month of stretch overload). Stretch
overload has also been linked to increased
anabolic receptors in muscle tissue and
anabolic hormone release.
THE BIGGEST
BODYBUILDERS KNOW
THAT, IN ADDITION TO
FORCE PRODUCTION, YOU
NEED ENOUGH TENSION
TIME TO MAX OUT SIZE.
SLEEVE-BUSTING BICEPS PROGRAMS

EXERCISES
SETS AND REPS
Concentration curls (continuous-tension double drop)
(X Reps)1 x 9(6)(4) seconds rest
Incline curls (bottom two-thirds of stroke only)
(X Reps or static X) 1-2 x 10-12
IF YOU DO UNDERGRIP CHINS OR PULLDOWNS IN YOUR LAT ROUTINE, USE THE FOLLOWING BICEPS PROGRAM:
Close-grip preacher curls or close-grip cable curls
(X Reps) 2 x 10-12
Concentration curls (continuous-tension double drop)
(X Reps) 4 sets x 10-20 repetitions
Incline curls (bottom two-thirds of stroke only)
(X Reps or static X) 1-2 x 10-12
DOUBLE-DROP SET: Do one set to exhaustion, reduce the weight, immediately do a second set to exhaustion, reduce
the weight, and then do a third and final set to exhaustion.
X REPS: Do a set to exhaustion, move the resistance to the semi-stretched position, to where the target muscle is
somewhat elongated, such as near the bottom of an undergrip chin, and do piston-like partial-rep pulses up and down
through an eight-to-10-inch (20-to-25 cm) range.
A good example for biceps is incline

curls reclining on a 45 degree incline
bench so your arms are behind your torso.
Ending a body part routine with a stretchposition exercise is an excellent massbuilding strategy because the extreme
elongation can trigger the myotatic
reflex, a phenomenon that activates more
muscle fibres. In other words, it can wake
up sleeping reserve fibres, which can
radically increase muscle size (and maybe
stimulate hyperplasia, although thats still
only theory).
Okay, those are the big three size
factors, and if you were thinking about
giant arms as you read, you saw a fastmass biceps program materialise:
(,!,#*"#(-,-..",'#(/.-
between sets, and add X-Rep partials to
the second or both sets.
)((.,.#)(/,&-)/&,)*
set (three back-to-back sets), and add
X-Reps to the last phase.
(&#(/,&-))(&3.")..)'.1)
thirds of the stroke for stretch overload
and add X-Reps or a static X.
Thats your fast-blast for sleevebusting mass! Should you apply those size
factors to all body parts? Precisely!
Beware of biceps-building
blunders
Those of you who check out our training
blog at *)' may be screaming after
seeing that recommended biceps routine,
Hey, you guys dont use undergrip chins
in your online biceps program!
Okay, thats a legitimate beef, but weve
got a simple explanation. We dont use
undergrip chins for biceps at the moment
because we include undergrip pulldowns
in our lat routine and we train lats at a
different workout.
Larry Scott achieved

amazing arm
development with
the help of end-of-set
partials, or burns.
ONE-ARM MOVEMENTS CAN ENHANCE FOCUS AND

MUSCLE FIBRE RECRUITMENT
One-arm movements
can enhance focus
and muscle fibre
recruitment.
Model: Marvin Montoya
Does that mean were overtraining

biceps because we hit them three or
four days a week? We dont think so.
In fact, a recent study suggested that
training a body part two days in a row
can improve recovery, but thats not
why we do it its just the way our
split is constructed at the moment.
Nevertheless, its improved our biceps.
That study aside, we dont want to
overdo our biceps attack in either our lat
workout or biceps blast, which occur on
separate days.
How do we prevent a biceps blowout
from all that work? Well, on lat day we
do our undergrips at the end of our lat
program, usually as the second exercise
in a superset. By that time our backs
are pretty well blitzed, so the weight we
can use on undergrips is fairly light at
least much lighter than it would be if we
did undergrips first.
And as we said, the other way we
prevent overtraining our biceps is by not
including undergrip chins or pulldowns
on biceps day. Instead we opt for more
isolated moves from start to finish. So
instead of starting biceps with some
form of undergrip pulling exercise, we
opt for preacher curls or cable curls as
our first midrange biceps movement.
What, no standing barbell curls?
Nope. Barbell curls have a significant
leverage shift at the bottom and so
arent at all conducive to X-Reps. Both
preacher curls and cable curls make for
those important fibre-activating endof-set partials. (Legendary bodybuilder
Larry Scott had some of the biggest and
best biceps around back in the day, and
he relied on preacher curls, usually done
with what he called burns at the top
and bottom. After our experience, were
convinced the burns he did near the
bottom, the X-Reps, gave his biceps the
extra beef. Thats the max-force point.)
Lets not forget that on any standing
curl, whether you use a barbell or
a cable, you should use a grip thats
slightly narrower than shoulder width
more of a close grip. Magnetic resonance
imaging (MRI) studies show that the
closer grip lights up both heads of the
biceps, while wider grips, even with an
EZ-curl bar, hit the inside head almost
exclusively, neglecting the outer side. So
a narrower grip is more efficient.
Bonus: The closer grip also blasts
the brachialis, the smaller muscle that
snakes under the biceps, so you develop
more peak; the wider grip misses the
brachialis almost completely.
So there you have a number of
biceps-building tactics that can trigger
bigger gunfire in your program. Put
some or all of them to the test, and youll
add mass fast. You want sleeve-busting
biceps? No problem!
HOW TO BURN
MORE BODY
FAT
Breakthroughs in research technology are providing new
information in exercise science and sports medicine at an
incredibly rapid rate. A lot of this new, exciting information has to do
with fat metabolism during exercise.
By Paul Cribb, PhD
hile this information can lead

to more effective strategies
that help people shed body
fat, interpreting new data in its correct
context can sometimes be quite difficult,
even for highly trained professionals.
On occasions, new findings can appear
to contradict what we already know in
terms of established recommendations.
However, in a lot of cases, the new
information isnt placed in its correct
context. Rather than providing clarity,
it promotes greater misconception
and confusion. If the new findings
are misinterpreted and then relayed
to the public, it can easily become
misinformation. This can make fat loss,
which is already a perplexing topic for
many people, even more confusing.
Therefore, in this report I aim to
present you with recent research on fat

metabolism and body fat reduction that
places the data in its correct context,
so you can apply the science-based
information to your training with
complete confidence.
Spot reduction is it
possible after all?
Spot reduction, by definition, is exercising
specific regions of the body to lose body
fat from that area. For years, the health
and fitness community told the public that
it cant happen; it wont happen and will
never happen. Well, guess what? A 2007
study has shown that it does happen
kind of.
A rather elegant and very
sophisticated study on fat metabolism
has been completed and published by
scientists from Denmark. This research

demonstrated that active muscles use
nearby fat stores as fuel during exercise.1
Technically, thats spot reduction.
Does this mean that performing
thousands of sit-ups will burn the fat off
the stomach to produce six-pack abs?
Based on this information, in theory, it
might. In reality, I doubt it.
We know that aerobic exercise
increases whole-body lipolysis (the
mobilisation of fat from fat cells). The
most important (relevant) finding
from this excellent research is that
lipolysis seems to be greater in fat cells
that are adjacent to working muscle.
Physiologically, this phenomenon makes a
lot of sense. Working muscles require a lot
of energy, particularly after exercise to fuel
recovery and repair; the most abundant
HOW TO BURN MORE BODY FAT

is slowly but surely dying, thanks to an
ever-increasing amount of research
that concludes the extent of this wholebody lipolytic effect comes down to the
intensity of exercise completed as well as
duration.2 That means to burn fat, youve
got to pay your dues with sweat; vigorous
(relatively intense) activity for a prolonged
amount of time. But you already knew that.
ACTIVE MUSCLES USE

NEARBY FAT STORES AS
FUEL DURING EXERCISE.
TECHNICALLY, THATS
SPOT REDUCTION.
source in close proximity to meet this

requirement is localised fat.
However, its important to explain
the protocol that provided this data. The
researchers reported this phenomenon
in thigh muscles after a two-hour bout of
exercise with one leg and two 30-minute
bouts using the other leg (completed 30
minutes apart).
If we try to apply this information to
our quest for six-pack abs it doesnt hold
up. Even if you were prepared to perform
several hours each day of neck-breaking
sit-ups and other abdominal exercises, by
virtue of the abdominal walls relatively
small muscle mass, only a proportionately
small amount of calories will be expended.

Therefore, I doubt youll see much of
a transformation to your mid-section.
Besides, the research shows us there is
an easier, more efficient way to get your
six-pack.
Teach your muscles to

burn more fat
Fat is mobilised from fat cells in response
to exercise so that muscles and other
tissues can utilise this fuel as an energy
source. Thats basically how body fat is
burnt. The misguided age-old adage of
long-duration, low-intensity exercise for
fat burning and body weight reduction
The problem with low-intensity

exercise is that the body is a very efficient
machine and quickly learns how to
expend less energy to complete a given
task. Gentle (low-intensity) exercise
doesnt burn many (fat) calories to begin
with. Furthermore, when performed on a
regular basis, fewer calories are expended.
The bottom line is, if you rely on lowintensity exercise as your sole means of
activity for fat reduction, youre in for a
life-long uphill battle with the pudge.
Studies confirm that trained muscles
burn more fat for fuel, regardless of
the exercise intensity. That means
regular exercise trains your muscles to
utilise more fat (and less carbohydrate
and protein) to fuel exercise. And this
appears to be the case whether the
person performs aerobic exercise at
moderate or high intensities.3 Therefore, a
commitment to year-round cardio exercise
will give you a huge advantage right from
the start; it teaches your muscles to utilise
a greater amount of fat for fuel.
Shorter duration, intense aerobic
(cardio) exercise is defined in the
laboratory as 70 per cent or above a
persons maximal oxygen uptake. It
has come to the forefront as a highly
effective strategy for fat loss. Outside
the lab, the term intense simply means
that youve got to be puffing during
your cardio activity. The term shortduration generally implies a time frame
of 20 minutes or less. The time frame is
proportional to the effort exerted. People
that are new to this type of exercise
merely need to focus on working hard
continuously for 20 minutes. The easiest
way to gauge this is with an intermittent
check of your heart rate; it needs to be
beating at 70 per cent or above of your
maximum heart rate (which is 220 minus
your age).
intensity exercise (regardless of the type)

fails to elevate the metabolism to any
significant degree after the activity.
Similar adaptations and

better results
When compared to traditional, longduration aerobic exercise, can you really
get more bang for your buck with shorterduration, high-intensity cardio training?
A recent study has shown that a highintensity interval-training program was
effective at promoting the same muscle
adaptations as traditional endurance
training but also yielded performance
results that were equal to or better than
the endurance program.4
The researchers at McMaster
University in Ontario, Canada, compared
the physiological and performance
effects of short-duration, high intensity
vs traditional endurance training using
16 men placed into one of two cycling
groups. The high-intensity group
performed sprint training; four-to-six
all-out maximal (30-second) sprints
separated by four minutes of recovery.
The traditional endurance-training group
As your fitness level improves, so
does your licence to push yourself. I
recommend a high-intensity approach to
cardio exercise at all times. Sometimes
the pain and discomfort you experience
can make a mere 1530 minutes seem
like an eternity. But dont worry, the
results youll see and the feeling of
accomplishment youll experience will
make this type of exercise a very positive
addiction in your life.
Why exercise at
high intensity even if your
goal is purely fat loss?
The fundamental rule of fat loss
still applies; fewer calories have to
be consumed than expended on a
regular basis. High-intensity exercise
ensures this calorie deficit. Highintensity exercise causes greater
metabolic disruption to the bodys
homeostatic systems: energyproduction, cardiovascular, respiratory
and thermoregulatory systems are all
challenged. In turn, this promotes a much
greater requirement for energy during
and after the activity, which ensures a
higher degree of lipolysis.
A study from the University of
Wisconsin has helped to explain why
high-intensity exercise is more effective
for body fat reduction. The Wisconsin
researchers showed that not only does
the body expend more calories during
exercise at higher intensities, the bodys
metabolism (rate that it burns calories)
remains elevated for longer in the hours
after exercise. In comparison, lowwww.ironmanmag.com.au
HOW TO BURN MORE BODY FAT

a week while the traditional endurancetraining program required 10.5 hours a
week. However, the high-intensity training
program yielded performance results and
muscle adaptations that were equal to or
better than the endurance program.4
LOW INTENSITY EXERCISE

FOR FAT BURNING AND
WEIGHT REDUCTION IS
SLOWLY BUT SURELY
DYING, THANKS TO
RESEARCH.
Im not suggesting that endurance
athletes should abandon their traditional
programs to focus on short-term work.
This study examined the effects of only
two weeks of exercise training at each
end of the fitness spectrum. However,
youd have to agree that the results are
extremely interesting to say the least. This
research highlights the benefits that can
be achieved by short-duration, vigorous
exercise. Most of us have a very limited
amount of time to devote to exercise each
week. If exercising intensely for 2.5 hours
a week as opposed to working for five
times that duration provides equivalent
physiological adaptations and better
results in terms of fat loss, youd be crazy
not to consider this approach.
The bottom line
performed continuous exercise for up to

120 minutes at an intensity of 65 per cent
of maximal aerobic capacity.
The program only lasted two weeks
and performance was assessed by preand post-training time trials and muscle
adaptations; samples were taken prior to
and after the two-week training program.
With regard to exercise performance,
the high-intensity group showed an
improvement of 10.1 per cent, whereas the

traditional endurance-training group only
improved by 7.5 per cent. Additionally,
both groups exhibited similar adaptations
in muscle oxidative capacity, buffering
capacity, and glycogen utilisation.4
The key aspect of this research was
the difference in the time commitment
to the two training protocols. The highintensity training required only 2.5 hours
The ability to shed body fat from exercise

comes down to intensity, duration
and frequency. You need to work long
enough and hard enough to challenge the
bodys regulatory systems, which in turn
elevates the metabolism and promotes
lipolysis. In terms of frequency, you must
train consistently; this will teach your
muscles to utilise more fat for fuel (thus
sparing protein and glycogen). The more
aerobically fit you become, the more you
can challenge yourself with a variety
of intense, short-duration workouts.
(Hint: employ a high-intensity approach
to all types of exercise, not just weight
training). As long as an equivalent amount
of emphasis is placed on your diet, these
strategies will ensure more efficient and
effective reductions in body fat.
,(1. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 292:E394-9, 2007.
2. Strength & Conditioning Journal 28;70-71, 2006.
3. European Journal of Applied Physiology 99; 245250, 2007.
4. Journal of Applied Physiology, 575:901-911, 2006.
Visit subscribeandshop.com or call (03) 9574 8460 to order
DUMBBELL CURLS
STRONG
ARM
TACTICS
KEEPING YOUR WRISTS

AND ELBOWS STRONG
AND INJURY FREE
By Bill Starr
Model: Jose Raymond
want to focus on two relatively small

joints that seldom get any direct
attention in a strength program: the
wrists and elbows. Although the wrists
and elbows play an important role in
our daily lives and we use them in a vast
portion of the exercises done in a strength
routine, rarely are they given much
consideration that is, until they get
injured. Then the reality of just how much
we depend on them becomes crystal clear.
Any movement that involves the arms
brings the wrists and elbows into action,
which is why these two joints frequently
get overworked. In fact, its rather difficult
to come up with any physical activity that
doesnt include the wrists and elbows.
Even the most simple tasks require their
support. My wrist is largely responsible
for the words I write on paper and is used
even more when I type them. Lifting a cup
of coffee to my mouth, opening a door,
tugging a box of books from a high shelf,
driving, bathing the list is endless. Yet
we take the movements for granted until
something happens that prevents us from
using our arms as we normally would.
Because arm work often takes up
most of your training time plus a great
deal more that includes the arms your
wrists and elbows can get overtrained
and, if changes arent made, injured. A
chronically sore or injured wrist or elbow
is extremely troublesome.
Ill begin with the wrist. Severe
injuries have to be dealt with right away,
and they take a very long time to heal.
Thats because the wrist is made up of
bones, tendons, ligaments and soft tissue
but very little muscle. Injuries to the
attachments always take longer to recover
than injuries to muscle tissue. Because
the wrists take part in such a wide range
of movements, from the simple to the
complex, they can be dinged rather easily.
The wrist joint is a marvelous piece
of work. The wrist, which connects the
hand to the forearm, is made up of not one
but three distinct joints radiocarpal,
intercarpal and carpometacarpal that
permit an unusual amount of hand
movement. The radiocarpal joint lies
between the end of the radius, which is
the thicker and shorter of the two bones in
the forearm; the intercarpal articulation
is a gliding joint between the two rows of
carpal bones; and the carpometacarpal
joints lie between the carpal and
metacarpal bones.
There is also a maze of cartilage,
synovial sacs and bones, which work
together synergistically to make the
wrist function properly. And function it
does. Together, the wrist joints permit
abduction, adduction, circumduction,
flexion and extension. The free rotation of
the shoulder and radio-ulnar joints (the
thinner and longer of the two forearm
bones on the pinky-finger side) let the

hand turn 270 degrees. Starting from the
straight extended position, you can flex
your wrist through from 60 to 90 degrees.
The brief anatomy lesson is to
emphasise that the wrist is a complex
mechanism, potentially capable of
performing amazing feats yet very
vulnerable because of its size.
My first injury in the weight room
was a sprained wrist. It wasnt because
of my stupidity or because of faulty form.
Rather, it was from faulty equipment. The
Olympic bar in the downstairs weight
room at the Wichita Falls, Texas, YMCA
had a tendency to freeze every so often.
All those who trained there knew that and
took precautions. We would spin the bar
a few times before doing any exercise that
required it to rotate freely. It had locked
up on me several times, but I was never in
a precarious situation, so I just dumped it.
Then one day I was doing full cleans, and
as I moved into the bottom position on my

third rep, the bar failed to rotate, and my
left elbow jammed into my thigh. A whitehot jolt shot from my wrist to my brain.
I dumped the bar and knew Id sprained
my wrist.
That was my first encounter with a
wrist problem, but I wasnt too alarmed.
I was a medical corpsman in the Air
Force, and over the years Id treated
many sprained wrists. I did understand,
however, that I was through cleaning for
the day. Then I quickly found out that
I was also through handling any more
weights. There was very little I could do
with a dinged wrist. Back squats were out,
as were pulls, presses and dips. I ended up
doing 20 minutes of ab work and left.
As soon as I got back to the hospital
where I worked on Sheppard Air Force
Base, I started treating my injury. I iced
it, then wrapped it tightly in an elastic
bandage. I followed the established
STRONG ARM TACTICS
Model: Bill Grant
REVERSE WRIST CURLS
procedure for icing, 20 minutes on, 20

off, and kept it snugly wrapped between
sessions. There was also an ultrasound in
the emergency room where I was assigned
duty, and I used that a couple of times
a day. The swelling subsided in a few
days, and I decided to go to the Y, which
was my second home, and do some type
of exercise. I would stay away from the
weight room for a while, just so I didnt
try something foolish. I tried swimming.
That didnt work out too well, and neither
did basketball because out of habit I kept
bringing my left hand into the action.
Finally I settled on multiple games of
handball and racquetball.
The bandage wasnt panning out either.
If I wrapped my wrist too tight, it cut off
circulation to my hand. If it was too loose,
it was useless. So I started using trainers
tape, which worked well. I managed to do
what needed to be done in the emergency
room without bothering my injury. Still,
suturing, moving patients off gurneys and
dealing with the floor buffer all required
two hands, and I did all those tasks very
deliberately. I started squeezing a ball
Id made from the trainers tape, which
was more effective than a rubber ball or
grippers. I would do that whenever I had
some free time, and I could tell that it was
helping the wrist get stronger.
I wanted to find some way to protect
the injured wrist when I started back on

the weights and recalled seeing a photo of
Paul Anderson wearing thick wrist straps.
Leather shops abound in Texas, and I
found one that was willing to design a set
of strong straps to fit my small wrists. I
would lock the weight down snugly with
trainers tape, then secure it with the strap
on my hurt wrist. On my healthy wrist I
used tape only. I was also doing everything
I could to speed healing. I dug into the
reference material in the emergency
room and came across a couple of ideas
soaking in Epsom salts and alternating
hot and cold. I did both. Id ice the wrist
for 20 minutes, then hold it under hot
water laced with Epsom salts for 10
minutes or so, then repeat the procedure.
After a week of therapy, rest and
squeezing my tape ball, my wrist started
feeling much stronger. Yet I remained
cautious because the injury had really
thrown me for a loop. Over the years Id
dinged several joints and strained a large
number of muscles playing a wide range
of sports, but all of those injuries had
healed rather quickly mostly because Id
been in my teens. This wrist, though, was
recovering very slowly. My biggest fear
was that Id hurt it again, and I knew what
that would mean.
So my first time back in the weight
room was with some trepidation. When
I checked to see whether I could do

some exercise, I used light weights and
did the movement slowly. Any sign that
it was bothering my injured wrist was
a signal to stop. I was able to squat and
flat bench with light weights, and I could
also deadlift if I kept my arms perfectly
straight. I loaded the plates on the bar
with extreme care after I got a shock in
my hurt wrist when I didnt pay close
enough attention to that seemingly
harmless move.
After another week of nursing my
wrist, I decided to do more to strengthen
it. Id watched some of the wrestlers and
bodybuilders doing wrist curls with a
bar, and I started doing them. I was wary
of using the 45-pound (20 kg) Olympic
bar and so did wrist curls with palms up
and with palms down on the smaller bar
used on the lat-pull machine. I continued
the hot and cold soaks and kept the hurt
wrist taped around the clock, even when
I slept, because soon after Id injured it,
Id gotten up in the middle of the night
to go to the bathroom and inadvertently
flipped the flushing device with my left
hand. A stabbing pain shot up my arm
lesson enough for me. Wrapping the wrist
at night made sure I wouldnt roll over
and use my bad wrist. It also served as a
reminder to be careful when I got up.
It took nearly six weeks for my wrist to
The wrist is made up of not one but

three distinct joints radiocarpal,
intercarpal, and carpometacarpal
that permit an unusual amount of
hand movement.
INCLINE PRESSES
Model: Brian Yersky
Model: Dave Fisher
BARBELL CURLS
become strong enough for me to go back

to my normal workouts. I kept doing the
strength-training exercises for my wrists
and wrapping them. Indeed, it was an
education on how easily small joints can
get hurt and how ridiculously long it takes,
even when using proper procedure, for
them to get back to full strength.
Since that episode in Wichita Falls, Ive
found several other excellent exercises
for building wrist strength. They, like the
wrist curls, are also useful in rehabbing
an injury.
The very best exercise for
strengthening the wrists is a simple one,
and Ive used it with great success on all
the sports teams that rely heavily on wrist
strength in sports such as lacrosse,
baseball, the throwing events in track
and field and, of course, wrestling and
Olympic weightlifting. Its extremely
important for those athletes to have
strong wrists since those small joints are
responsible for transferring power from
the legs, hips, back, shoulders and arms up
into the shot put, discus, javelin, lacrosse
stick, bat and ball. A wrestler must have
them in order to take control of a match.
The exercise is called, quite appropriately,
the wrist roller. So is the apparatus that
you use to perform it.
Wrist rollers are available through
many weight equipment companies,
but they can be built rather easily. I
know because Ive done it, and I am
mechanically inept. A two-foot-long
section of broomstick will serve the
purpose, but something with a slightly
larger diameter is even better. Drill a hole
through the middle and insert a length
of clothesline through it. The clothesline
needs to be long enough so that when you
extend your arms straight out front, it
touches the floor. Next, attach a weight to
the end of the clothesline, and, presto! You
have a wrist roller.
Use an overhand grip with the wrist
roller directly in front of you at arms
length, and roll the weight up until it
touches the wood. Then slowly lower it
back to the floor. Both the up and down
movements should be continuous and
smooth. The most athletes can usually
manage the first few times are two ups
and two downs. Thats okay because you
can add from there. Some have to start
with a five-pound (2.2 kg) plate, while
others are able to use a 10-pounder (4.5
kg). The exercise must be pushed to the
limit to gain the desired results. If your
wrists and forearms arent screaming for
mercy, youre not working hard enough.
The most Ive ever seen anyone do is six
consecutive ups and downs with a 10pound (4.5 kg) plate.
When I see that an athletes shoulders
are giving out before his wrists and
forearms, I have him rest his upper arms
STRONG ARM TACTICS

across a bar in the power or squat rack
and do wrist rollers from there. This
apparatus can be used at home on nontraining days to give the wrists a bit of
extra work.
I mentioned two other excellent wrist
exercises earlier. Now I want to explain
how to do them. You can do wrist curls
with dumbbells or a straight bar with
palms either up or down. Sit on the end of
a bench or chair, and rest your forearms
across your thighs with your wrists
extended beyond your knees. Grip the
bar with your hands about 30 cm apart. If
you use a dumbbell, place your elbow on
your thigh, and do the wrist curls between
your legs.
Do as many as you can using one
version, and then switch to the other for
three to four sets or until you know youve
run out of gas. When doing the palms-up
version, let the bar roll down your hand
until you can just barely hold it with
your fingers. Then curl your fingers back
until youve firmly gripped the bar and
completed the curl.
Wrist curls are enough to strengthen
your wrists, but if you like variety, heres
another exercise that will bring desired
results. A leverage bar can be rigged rather
easily. You can use a short bar or even a
three- or four-foot piece of broomstick.
Attach a five- or 10-pound plate (2.27-4.5
kg) to one end. Tape will work. Hold the
bar or stick by your side with the weight
on the floor. Now, without moving your
upper arm at all, elevate the weight until
its vertical. Hold it for a brief second
and slowly return it to the floor. The
movements have to be controlled. If
the weight is swinging about or being
lifted in a herky-jerky manner, it wont
be effective. In fact, ugly technique can
be quite stressful to your wrists and
cause problems.
Then there are the grippers. If you
happen to be interested in grip strength,
you need to do some research. There are
a selection of grippers, from beginners to
very advanced, plus wrist rollers, leverage
bars, grip machines, pinch grippers and
a wide assortment of other gadgets for
improving grip strength. Some products
arent cheap, but theyre extremely well
crafted and are worth the money.
While the majority of wrist injuries
occur during an accident, such as a fall
or an athletic event, a great many happen
because of faulty form in the weight room.
Your wrists get stressed when they move
about doing a pressing movement, when
they stay in an extreme flexed position
with heavy weights, as in racking a heavy
front squat, and when theyre twisted
to the extreme. So take care to do every
exercise correctly, and as a precaution,
always wrap your wrists when doing any
movement that works them directly.
Elbow problems come about for the

same reason and also from overwork.
Typically, sloppy technique and
overtraining happen at the same time.
There are also a couple of exercises that
place the elbows in a disadvantaged
position and that I have on my taboo list:
skull crushers and French presses. Unless
youre very advanced, these movements
should not be in your program. I find
no reason to do them; many others
that do not place the elbows at risk are
more productive.
Using a jamming motion on any
exercise that involves the elbows is
inviting trouble. The biggest culprit is the
flat bench. Numbers take precedence over
technique, and the elbows get abused.
Also be aware that elbow injuries can
occur even when you use light weights. I
have an older friend who irritated both his
elbows just using a 45-pound (20 kg) bar.
The elbow is made up of two joints:
the elbow joint, which handles flexion
and extension of the radius and ulna with
respect to the humerus, or upper-arm
bone, and the radio-ulnar joint, which
handles pronation and supination of the
forearm. Together they act as a hinge joint
and are part of any arm movement. When
abused, the tendons become inflamed,
resulting in classic tennis elbow. Though
it may not be the most painful injury in
athletics, it ranks high. When your elbow

is out of commission, you suddenly find
that you can no longer do a great many
movements, and trying to train with an
injured elbow is out of the question.
Thats why you must pay close
attention when training. Use ideal
technique, avoid any exercise that places
undue stress on the joints, and dont
overwork. Keep in mind that the elbow is a
relatively small joint and can take only so
much. What most athletes dont recognise
is that the elbows play a key role in every
pulling exercise, along with every pressing
movement. In any program thats a great
deal of work, and Ive watched athletes
go through programs that involved the
elbows on every single exercise.
Knowing which muscles and
corresponding attachments are directly
responsible for securing and protecting
the elbow joints goes a long way toward
understanding what exercises to use to
keep them strong. Whenever I ask athletes
that question, they invariably respond,
The biceps and triceps. Thats half
right. The biceps play a minor role. The
key players are the triceps, the anconeus,
which can be thought of as an extension
to the triceps, the forearm muscles and
the brachioradialis and brachialis, which
are the two prime movers of the arm. The
latter two wrap around the elbow joint
SUPER GRIPPER
Model: Berry Kabov
BARBELL WRIST CURLS
and are potentially very strong muscles.

Thus the greater part of stabilising the
joint falls on them.
That means you need to be doing
plenty of pressing movements and lots
of heavy, dynamic pulling, as the two
prime movers respond favourably to those
exercises. So its power snatches, power
cleans and, even better, clean and snatch
high pulls, shrugs and bent-over rows. You
can use much heavier weight on those
lifts, and youll be able to overload the
brachialis and brachioradialis and make
them considerably stronger. Any type
of pressing movement strengthens the
triceps and anconeus. Flat and incline

benches, overhead presses, push presses
and weighted dips are excellent for
building power in the three heads of the
triceps. I said earlier that I discourage
athletes from doing skull crushers and
French presses because they put too
much stress on the elbows. In their place
I recommend straight-arm pullovers and
pushdowns on the lat machine, where
you dont let the bar come up any higher
CONNECT WITH US
ausironmanmag
than the bottom of your breastbone. I

really like straight-arm pullovers. You can
use a great deal of weight, and its not the
least bit stressful to the elbows because
they remain straight, or almost straight,
throughout the exercise. Plus, the
exercise hits the long head of the triceps
very directly the only one I know of
that can make that claim.
You do straight-arm pullovers as an
auxiliary movement for two sets of 20. I
had a host of athletes who were handling
120 lbs (54 kg) for the two sets. In most
of my programs theyre the only specific
exercise I use for the triceps.
For anyone who wants more work on
that muscle group, I prescribe pushdowns
on the lat machine. Those must be done
smoothly and deliberately. Any jerking
around will be counterproductive
because it will end up irritating
your elbows.
The keys to keeping your elbows
strong and injury free are as follows: use
perfect technique on any exercise that
includes your elbows, even seemingly
tame ones like curls; keep tabs on how
many exercises you have in your routine
that involve your elbows; and do at least
a couple of exercises that strengthen the
groups that support and stabilise that
rather small joint. If you get an earlywarning signal that youre doing too much
work or doing an exercise incorrectly,
such as a slight pain at the end of a set,
lower the workload on your elbows.
Other precautions will help you
avoid injuring your elbows. Make sure
you warm them up thoroughly before
you start lifting, especially in cold
weather, and make sure they stay warm
throughout the workout. Sweatshirts,
wraps and muscle rubs might be in order,
but theyre worth the trouble.
The same goes for the wrists. If you
have a history of wrist injuries or have
rather small wrists, wrap them prior to
every session in the weight room. Thats
particularly important if youre planning
on doing front squats, jerks or any other
exercise that places a lot of pressure on
your wrists. In addition, be sure to have at
least one specific exercise for your wrists
in your routine. You can easily do them
on your nonlifting days, and not only help
you prevent an injury but also enable you
to handle more weight on a wide range
of exercises.
Although your wrists and elbows
might be somewhat puny compared to
your other joints, theyre no less critical
to success in strength training. Take care
of them the best you know how. Believe
me, youll be glad you did.
ausironman
ausironmanmag
ABPOWER
SOLUTE
BULLETPROOF YOUR MIDSECTION
Throughout all my articles, I stress the importance of maintaining proportionate strength in all
muscle groups, both large and small. That certainly applies to the midsection, since all power
generated by the hips and legs must pass through it, and all power produced by the upper body
is thrust downward onto it. By midsection I dont just mean the abdominals or the lower back. The
midsection is not really two separate planes but rather a continuous girdle, and all the parts of
that girdle need some attention.
By Bill Starr
bs rank high on most athletes list

of essential muscles defined
abdominals are the ultimate
symbol in physical fitness. Out-of-shape
people dont have cut abs, period. And
no matter how large your arms, chest or
shoulders may be, if you have a flabby gut,
you wont be an object of admiration.
Of course, diet plays a key role in
developing impressive abs. The late Dr.
John Gourgott never did any specific ab
work, and he always had definition in his
midsection. He believed in doing some

aerobic activity and eating wholesome
foods for acquiring a fit midsection, and it
worked well for him. Im also a proponent
of aerobic activity in that regard. Burning
off excessive fat helps to highlight the
muscles you create with various exercises.
More than one athlete has told me that
his abs always look the best right after a
vigorous run or ride on an exercise bike.
Appearance aside, however, I believe
that you have to work your abs diligently if
IF YOU DO SEVERAL
DIFFERENT EXERCISES,
YOULL HAVE BETTER
OVERALL DEVELOPMENT
THAN IF YOU ONLY DO
ONE OR TWO.
AB-SOLUTE POWER
you want to keep them strong. A flat
stomach doesnt necessarily mean you
have strong abs and if youre planning
on squatting, pulling or pressing heavy
weights, you absolutely must have
strong abs.
I was reminded of the value of
midsection training and the need to do
something for all the various parts of the
abdominals when Uncle Buddy came for
his annual visit. For once hed actually
sent me a fax to warn me that he was

coming. Usually he just shows up at my
door unannounced. On this occasion,
however, he needed someone to pick
him up at the dock in Baltimore and, two
days later, deliver him to Philadelphia
International Airport.
I couldnt help but envy his lifestyle.
Uncle Buddy is a merchant seaman
who stays at sea for six months, never
taking any liberties, pulling extra duty
and saving all his pay. Then he takes the

next six months off and roams around,
visiting friends and partying with a bevy
of stunning females. I found out after he
arrived that he was flying to Stockholm
to stay with Catherine. I met her once
and have to state that she was the most
enchanting lady I ever had the pleasure of
talking with. How Uncle Buddy charmed
all these magnificent creatures was a
mystery to me because he was certainly
If you keep your knees bent

when you do sit-ups, they
shouldnt bother your back,
not much to look at. On the short side,

stocky, bald and with a wrinkled face
caused by long hours spent at sea and in
the sun he looked more like a bouncer
than a ladys man.
I once asked him if he ever planned to
give up his wandering lifestyle and settle
down. He provided me with a puzzled
look, broke into laughter and then asked,
Why should I?
For all his wanderlust, though, it was
Uncle Buddy who taught me the necessity
of training consistently. Wherever he was
in the world, he never missed training
three times a week. Sometimes he was
forced to do the workouts on three
consecutive days, but he still got them
in. He trained in cramped storerooms on
ships, often with meagre equipment, and
in some cases with no equipment at all.
One of the main reasons he always visited
me was that I provided him with a place to
train. For free. Now, Uncle Buddy was not
cheap. In fact, he was extremely generous,
always bringing me nice gifts and paying
for all the meals when we ate out, but
there was something that irked him about
paying a fee to train.
Until recently, we never had any
problem finding a place to train for free,
but Fielders Shed turned into a garage,
and the gym on the Army base has been
off-limits since 9/11. So I took Buddy to
the Harford Barbell Gym in the basement
of the old Aberdeen High School. The gym
is really a co-op, like the old Muscle Beach
facility, where all the money collected for
yearly dues was used to purchase more
equipment. Since I give free training
advice when Im there, Ive never been
asked for any dues.
I introduced Uncle Buddy to the other
members, and we started on our warmups: sit-ups and hyperextensions. Lonnie
was complaining to Kenny, who was
in charge of making yearly purchases,
that the gym needed one of the new ab
machines. Kenny informed him that there
wasnt enough money in the pot to buy one
yet, and he added that space was also
a problem.
We finished our warm-ups, and Lonnie
was still fussing. Theres no way I can get
a decent ab workout when all we got in
here is a slant board, he complained.
I knew better but kept my mouth shut.
Lonnie was the type of individual who
liked to argue just for the sake of arguing.
Uncle Buddy, who also enjoys a good
verbal battle, stepped right in. Son, I can
show you plenty of exercises you can do
for your abs with whats here in this room.
You dont need a machine to build strong
abs if youre willing to do some work.
Lonnie was a bit startled at this
outburst from an old man with a bald
head, but when Uncle Buddy lifted his
T-shirt and showed him a set of abs
MAKE SURE YOU WORK THE MUSCLES OF YOUR

LOWER BACK HARD WHILE YOURE CONCENTRATING
ON YOUR ABS.
AB-SOLUTE POWER
worthy of a physique contestant, his
frown turned to a friendly smile. Prior to
leaving his ship this time, Uncle Buddy
had concentrated on his abs, so he was in
prime condition.
I dont mind working hard,
grumbled Lonnie. What exercises you
talking about?
Well, for starters, you can do
crunches, sit-ups, leg raises on the slant
board, knee lifts sitting on the end of a
bench, frog kicks hanging from a chinning
bar, plus a few where all you need is that
broomstick over there. They all work. I
know because thats what Ive been doing
lately. I didnt even have a padded sit-up
board. Used a two-by-12 and propped one
end on some blocks to get an incline.
He had Lonnies full attention now,
along with several others. Swimsuit
season was only a few months away, and
none of them wanted to be seen on the
boardwalk at Ocean City with a flabby gut.
John, whod been listening to this
interchange, asked, Are regular sit-ups
safe? I mean, I heard this guy on TV who
was selling one kind of ab machine say
that sit-ups can hurt your back and that
they hit the hips more than the abs.
If you keep your knees bent when you
do them, they shouldnt bother your back,
Uncle Buddy replied. If they do, you need
to spend more time strengthening your
back, especially your lower back. The
abs and lumbars are closely connected.
Matter of fact, you should bend your knees
on all your ab exercises.
But that guy was right about the hips
being involved in regular sit-ups. Thats
one reason I do them as part of my warmup. Sit-ups are great for warming up the
many hip muscles and attachments, as
well as those in the higher part of the legs.
If sit-ups do bother your lower back, try
doing a set of hypers or reverse hypers
before you do the sit-ups.
Why not just do crunches? countered
John. I heard theyre better.
Im not sure they are better, said
Buddy. I think they hit the abs differently,
which is a good thing. I came to this
conclusion because for a time there just
wasnt any way I could do sit-ups on a
slant board, so all I did was crunches.
Then the first time I came across a slant
board, I did as many sit-ups as I could,
and I got sore to the touch. That told me
the two work differently. Not much but
some, so now I do both. Besides, variety is
always good. Sometimes I alternate them
from workout to workout, and sometimes
I do both in the same workout.
While Uncle Buddy took a break from
his presentation to do a set, I added,
There was a time when the only piece
of equipment for working the abs in any
weight room was a sit-up board. And
many of them didnt have a strap or any
Full-range ab work from full

stretch to complete contraction
can help produce faster midsection-perfection results
padding. We used our lifting belts to

secure our feet and put a towel under our
butts to keep from rubbing them raw. But
despite such primitive equipment, we
built some impressive abs just doing situps and leg raises.
I usually carry a few magazines in
my gym bag in case I end up training
alone, so I happened to have an old
Strength & Health with a photo of Zabo
Koszewski in it. I leafed through it until
I found the photo, held it up for John
and Lonnie to see and said, Heres the

best example of what Im talking about.
This is Zabo Koszewski, a legend in the
sport of bodybuilding for his great ab
development. There was a time when they
gave out awards for different bodyparts
in the Mr. America competitions, and he
dominated the Best Abs category for many
years. He built his abs by doing lots of situps and leg raises nothing else and he
sure didnt have any machine to work on.
Impressive, muttered Lonnie.
If you cant stand good

mornings, do lots of hypers and
reverse hypers.
AB-SOLUTE POWER
Knee-ups force
the lower abs to
contract hard.
Uncle Buddy resumed his lecture. The

main reason most people dont have good
ab development isnt because they dont
have the right equipment. Its because
theyre lazy. When its done right, ab
work is hard work and not the least bit
fun. Most people I watch like to do lots
of sets of 25 or 30 reps, take long breaks
between sets and never really have to put
out much. If their abs start hurting, they
stop. But what they should do is one set
to exhaustion, and that set should make
them grit their teeth. The abs just dont
respond if you stay in a comfort range.
They need to be punished, like the calves.
Are you saying I can get a six-pack just
by doing one set of sit-ups and one set of leg

raises to failure.
Not exactly. Uncle Buddy sounded
annoyed. Theyre good for starters, but
you should also hit the other parts of
your abs. And if you do several different
exercises, youll have better overall
development than if you only do one or two.
So mix in some crunches and some kneeups off the end of a bench. Frog kicks are
also good, and theres some real good ones
you can do just using a broomstick.
Will you show me how to do the leg
raises, those knee-ups and the frog kicks?
Lonnie asked. Im pretty sure I know the
form on sit-ups.
Sure, Uncle Buddy replied. He lay

down on the slant board, gripped the strap
tightly, bent his knees and then proceeded
to lift his legs and lower them for about
three feet.
Thats all the range of motion you do?
John asked.
Thats all you need to hit the lower
abs, returned Uncle Buddy as he got off
the board. Try them. See if you can do
a hundred.
John managed 50, got up and said,
You were kidding about doing a hundred,
werent you?
Nope. In fact, your goal should be 200.
Same for the sit-ups.
John and Lonnie each gave him

incredulous looks. But not right out of the
box, he added. That should be your goal.
Start out with as many as you can grind out,
and add a couple at each workout. Keep
adding to the number, and youll get to 200
in no time. He sat on the edge of a bench,
grasped the sides, bent his knees and then
lifted his knees up toward his chest. Now
thesere a lot tougher than leg raises on
a slant board, so you wont be able to do
nearly as many. No matter. Do all you can
and try to add to it each time you do them.
One thing I like about these is you can do
them anywhere. All you need is a bench or a
chair, and youre in business.
After John and Lonnie each did a set
of knee-ups, Uncle Buddy led them to the
chinning bar. There was a time in the
mid-1960s when these were as popular
as the machines are now. Bob Hoffman
named them frog kicks and wrote about
them every month. Of course he claimed to
have invented them, but he also claimed he
helped invent the telephone and light bulb.
You can use the straps if you want, but I
just use a hook grip. Lock onto the chinning
bar, bend your knees, and try to lift them
up just as high as you can. I used to be able
to touch my chest with my knees, but those
days are long gone. These are killers, so
youll never be able to do high reps. If you
decided to use these for your lower abs,
youll need to do a number of sets. He
dropped down, saying, Try them.
Being young and flexible, both John
and Lonnie were able to touch their chests
with their knees a fact that caused them
to beam in delight. Lonnie, in particular,
was excited about learning all this new
information. Let me see if I got this so far.
The sit-ups and crunches hit mainly the
high portion of the abs, while the leg raises,
knee-ups and frog kicks hit the lower.
Thats correct.
Well, that pretty well covers all the
bases, doesnt it?
Not completely. You have to deal with
your obliques.
You mean the love handles.
Partly and also the muscles that
turn the trunk from side to side. He
looked at me. Whatre they called? The
technical name?
Transverse abdominis, I replied.
I already do a good exercise for my love
handles, said Lonnie. I do them at home
on my non-training day. I hold 20-pound (9
kg) dumbbells and lean from side to side.
Lonnie demonstrated the movement.
I hate to burst your bubble, son, but
not only wont those help you get rid
of your love handles; theyll make the
problem worse.
Stunned, Lonnie mumbled, What do
you mean?
When you lose weight, you end up
making them stronger, but in the process
you also make them thicker. While they

may be more muscle than fat, theyre still
going to look like theyre all fat.
Damn! blurted Lonnie. Well, is
there anything I can do about them other
than diet?
Try these, Uncle Buddy said as he
grabbed the broomstick that was leaning
against the wall, held it straight over his
head and then leaned to one side, back
erect, and to the other side. These hit the

love handles, but the only trouble is, theyre
boring as hell. You have to do a couple of
hundred, minimum. You can do em at
home at night, when youre watching TV.
He stopped, handed Lonnie the stick and
said, Do 50.
Lonnie began, and Uncle Buddy
watched briefly. Go lower, he said. You
should feel your obliques stretch. Thats
WHEN YOU LOSE WEIGHT, YOU END UP MAKING THE

ABS STRONGER, BUT IN THE PROCESS, YOU ALSO MAKE
THEM THICKER.
Start out with as many as

you can grind out, and add a
couple at each workout. Keep
adding to the number, and
youll get to 200 in no time.
AB-SOLUTE POWER
better. When Lonnie finished, Uncle
Buddy said, While you got the stick,
let me show you another good exercise
for hitting those transverse abdominis
muscles, which are responsible for
rotating your midsection. Hold the stick
behind your head like you would a bar
for squatting, then twist from side to
side. Thats right. I do those as part of my
warm-up routine. And like the side-toside things you can do them at home.
Lonnie did about a hundred. Yeah, I

can feel them, and I like those side-to-side
ones for my love handles, he said. Whats
your take on the wheel? My wife bought
one about 10 years ago but only used it
once or twice.
I like the wheel, Uncle Buddy offered.
I used to carry one with me on my ships,
but somebody lifted it. The thing you have
to know about using the wheel is that
its an advanced piece of ab equipment.
Cardio plus a reducedcalorie diet will speed the
ab-sharpening process.
An awful lot of people tore muscles the

first time they tried them, so start out
conservatively and only do 10 or 12 reps.
Then work up from there. Thats another
good exercise to do at home.
So I gather that youre not a fan of the
ab machines?
Thats not true. If there was one in
here, Id use it. I think theyre great, but
theyre not always available. Here, let
me show you a way to duplicate how the
machine works. He sat on the lat machine
with his back to the weight stack. He put
the bar against his forehead and pulled it
downward until he was in a full-crunch
position. Its smart to put a towel around
the bar if youre going to do a lot of reps.
Try some.
A FLAT STOMACH DOESNT

NECESSARILY MEAN YOU
HAVE STRONG ABS.
Lonnie wrapped a towel around the
bar and knocked out several reps before
saying, Sure, I can feel those. Great. Oh,
I know what I wanted to ask you. Should I
use weight when I do sit-ups?
Some Olympic weightlifters used to
use weight because they wanted to get
really strong abs to help them with the
start of their presses. But like the side
bends with dumbbells, it will make the abs
appear larger. Since they didnt care about
that, they held plates behind their heads.
What is useful, if you can figure out a way
to do it, is to add weight to your feet when
you do leg raises.
How about ankle weights? I got some
of those.
They would work.
Lonnie held out his hand, saying, Well,
Im running late, so I have to go. I sure do
thank you for all your help. Hope you drop
by more often. Any final words of advice?
Make sure you work the muscles
of your lower back hard while youre
concentrating on your abs. If you
cant stand good mornings, do lots of
hypers with weights and also some
reverse hypers.
They shook hands, Lonnie left, and
we completed our workouts. That night,
over a huge meal at Grumpys, I noted,
You sure came up with plenty of ab
exercises today.
He laughed. A couple of days ago I read
an article you wrote on abs.
#&&.,,1--.,(!."
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)"(-)*%#(-
(#0,-#.3 ,)'.)-."
/."),The Strongest Shall Survive(
Defying Gravity
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With Higher Bis and Sweeping Tris

5.%.+/!.$+0+#.,$55 %$!(!2!14
he most popular training articles in

bodybuilding magazines and the
most common are about arms.
That makes sense because arms are the
most popular body part to train. When
someone asks you to make a muscle,
you dont flex a trap or whip out a calf.
Nope, you roll up your sleeve and squeeze
out a biceps flex for all youre worth. Of
course, when you flex a truly impressive
arm, you show off not only a massively
developed biceps but an equally awesome
triceps underneath.
Now, the most interesting thing about
most arm articles is that, well, they
usually arent very interesting. Maybe
thats because so many have been written,
theres little left to say. Or maybe its
because the people who write them are
not very creative with their own workouts,
and theyre simply passing that lack of
creativity along to you.
My goal here is to break that mold with
an arm-training article thats different
and interesting with information
that works. As the subtitle says, its about
getting higher bis and sweeping tris with
targeted training. That simply means
using techniques and exercises designed
to bring about specific attributes. In
addition, Im going to tell you about a
method of training called add-on sets
thats certain to throw an intensity

wrench into your normal routine.
Before I go any further, however,
lets talk genetics. If youre a fan of
bodybuilding, Im sure youve seen
pictures of the various champions of
our sport and noted how different all
of their arms look. All IFBB pros have
absolutely huge arms, but its amazing
how uniquely theyre all shaped. Some
guys have extreme peaks on their biceps,
while others have more roundness. Many
pros have biceps or triceps that are rather
short, inserting well before they reach the
elbow, while others have muscle bellies
that seemingly have no end. Look at
comparison shots of Coleman vs. Levrone,
Arnold vs. Lou and Beckles vs. Oliva, and
youll see six pairs of utterly massive yet
completely differently shaped arms.
The question is, did all of those unique
shapes come about from various training
techniques or special exercises, or are
they simply a function of genetics? The
answer is, a little of one and a lot of the
other. Yes, genetics plays a huge role, as
we can do nothing about how our muscles
insert or how theyre shaped (for the
most part). What we can do is use certain
exercises that either target a specific head
of a muscle or create the illusion that
you have enhanced a specific portion of a

While we cannot alter the genetic
map for specific muscles, we can
change the overall look of the
landscape by throwing a little extra
dirt on just the right spots.
muscle. In other words, while we cannot

alter the genetic map for specific muscles,
we can change the overall look of the
landscape by throwing a little extra dirt on
just the right spots.
As you curl, youll need to draw your

elbows back slightly and tip your
head forward in order to achieve the
exaggerated range of motion.

Can I sneak a peak?
Most of the bodybuilders I meet share a
great desire to achieve a more dramatic
peak on their biceps. They simply want a
higher, more mountainous look when they
flex their arm. The problem aside from
the limitations of genetics is they dont

realise that most biceps exercises will do
almost nothing to help them achieve that
goal. Yes, most curling movements will
help bring about hypertrophy of the biceps
muscle itself, which will then showcase
whatever natural height you might have,
but if you want to physically push the
biceps muscle higher, youre going to need
to specialise.
Specialise on what? you ask. The
brachialis, my peak-seeking friends. The
b-r-a-c-h-i-a-l-i-s. This often overlooked
muscle lies underneath the biceps and,
when its fully developed, looks like a thick
knot of muscle that pops out of the side of
the upper arm when its flexed and viewed
from the rear. The brachialis is a very
cool muscle because it gives the upper
arm a much more complete look, and as
it gets larger and larger, it helps shove the
biceps skyward.
Now, the problem with the brachialis
is that in most curling movements it
functions as a weak flexor of the upper
arm. The solution is to put the biceps
in a mechanically weak position during
curling movements so that the brachialis
has to be activated to a much greater
degree. It takes specific hand positions
and/or curling angles to force the
brachialis to take the brunt of the load.
The following is a list of exercises that
will let your biceps get a bit lazy while the
brachialis steps into the curling spotlight:
0,-/,&-You perform these
just like regular barbell curls but with
your palms facing down rather than up.
Make sure you keep your elbows locked
into your sides at all times, and keep the
movement strict. No need to go for record
poundages on this exercise. If you find it
uncomfortable to perform reverse curls
with a straight bar, try them with an EZcurl bar. You can also do them on a cable
machine or even on a preacher bench
for variety.
'',/,&-Do these either seated
or standing. Grab two dumbbells and
hold them at your sides with your palms
facing your thighs. Curl the weights up as
you normally would, but keep your palms
facing inward as if you were using a
hammer throughout the set. Again,
lock your elbows into your sides and do
a strict and controlled movement. At the
peak-contraction point squeeze extra
hard before lowering the bells back to
the straight-arm position. You can also
do hammer curls seated on an incline
bench, on a cable machine using a rope
attachment or even in concentration
curl style.
!,*,",/,&- For these
you curl off the vertical, not angled, side
of a preacher bench although some
gyms might have spider curl benches
just for that purpose. First, position
Sweeping triceps make arms look

incredibly impressive when theyre
down at your sides

yourself over the bench and make sure
your armpits are snugly pressed into the
top. If youve never done these before, I
suggest you start with about 50 per cent
of the weight you normally use for barbell
curls, as this is meant to be a very strict
movement, with no swinging or jerking.
Start with your arms completely straight,
and without allowing your elbows or
shoulders to move from their position,
slowly curl the bar to the fully contracted
position. Squeeze tightly at the top, and
lower the bar with total control until
your arms are once again straight. You
can also do these one arm at a time with a
dumbbell, with an EZ-curl bar or even at a
cable machine.
0,"&/,&-This is my
personal brachialis-bashing favourite,
although I rarely see it being performed
in any gym. Begin by placing a flat bench
in front of the weight stack on one side
of a cable crossover machine. Make sure
that the bench is at least a foot or so away
from the stack, as I want you to peak
your bis, not flatten your face! Lie on the
bench with your head on the side near the
weight stack, and either bend your legs
and place them on the bench, or simply
plant your feet on the floor. Have someone
hand you a short straight bar or EZ-curl
bar attached to the upper pulley. Start
with your arms perfectly straight and
then begin curling the bar both down and
back, so that at the full contraction point
the bar is actually behind your head. As
you curl, youll need to draw your elbows
back slightly and tip your head forward
in order to achieve the exaggerated range
of motion. Once again, squeeze as if you
mean it before slowly returning to the
straight-arm position.
Keep your palm facing forward on

overhead extensions
Got a broom? I wanna sweep!

You know what makes a truly impressive
arm? One that can simply hang down,
unflexed, and still look as if it belongs on
a gorilla rather than a human. That look
doesnt come about from huge biceps
but from thick, meaty, freaky triceps.
More specifically, it comes from a highly
developed inner, or long, triceps head.
Thats the triceps head responsible for the
sweep under the biceps thats displayed
in a front double-biceps pose, and the
dramatic thickness on the back of the
upper arm seen in a back lat spread.
Probably the most impressive arms Ive
seen in that regard belonged to Kevin
Levrone when he was competing. When
he hit that back lat spread, his inner
triceps heads would wrap over his arms
like mountains, threatening to burst
through his skin. And when Kevins arms
were simply hanging down relaxed, they
looked more like trees than arms. He
had more sweep to his triceps than most
bodybuilders have on their thighs.
Cable extensions can blast the triceps

for more fullness and sweep
Keep your elbows locked at your

sides during reverse curls.
What magic tricks do you need to

achieve a pair of sweeping triceps? Sorry,
Houdini, no need for illusions just
intelligent, targeted training. Just as it
takes specific movements to force more
brachialis than biceps recruitment, it
takes certain types of triceps exercises to
get more inner-head activation. The key
lies in choosing exercises that force your
elbows to be up by your ears throughout
the movement. Electromyographic, a.k.a.
EMG, studies have shown that to be the
optimum position for activating the fibres
in the long, or inner, head of the triceps.
Here are three of the most effective
sweep-producing triceps movements
around; luckily none requires a broom.
(&#()0,",&&
2.(-#)(-Lie on an incline bench thats
set at about 60 degrees. Make sure youre
up high enough on the bench so that your
head is just off the top. Have someone hand
you a straight or EZ-curl bar, and take a
grip at just inside shoulder width. Point
your elbows up toward the ceiling and keep
them locked in that position throughout
your set. Lower the bar slowly back behind
your head and allow for a deep stretch of
the triceps. As you bring the bar back up, do
not allow those elbows to creep forward, or
you will rob your triceps of major growth
stimulation. Lock your arms out straight
by intensely contracting the triceps, not by
hyperextending at the elbows. You can also
do this movement while holding a single
dumbbell in both hands.
.)(,')0,"/'&&
2.(-#)(-Sit on a bench that has a short
back support one that doesnt extend

past your upper back. Grab a dumbbell and
hold it with the meat of your hand by your
pinkie right up against one of the plates.
Hold the dumbbell overhead with your
palm facing almost completely to the front.
Make sure the elbow is pointing straight
toward the ceiling, and lock it there. Slowly
lower the dumbbell behind your head, but
keep the palm facing almost forward so
the bell angles toward the opposite ear
as it descends. Just make sure you dont
slam the dumbbell into the back of your
head (especially if there is a hot chick
around). The exact angle that youre able to
use during the eccentric contraction will
depend largely on your shoulder flexibility.
Make sure to get a full stretch at the
bottom before using pure triceps power to
restraighten the arm. You can use a heavy
weight on these, but never use a weight
so heavy that it turns into a half-press.
Thats a very common training mistake
that will rob you of much of the benefit of
this movement.
&)0,"2.(-#)(-/-#(!
,)*.."'(.Attach a rope to
an upper pulley at a cable crossover
station. Grab the ends of the rope, and
face away from the weight stack. Bring
one leg forward until youre in a lunge-like
position, and lean over until your torso
is about parallel to the floor. Your elbows
should be right by your ears, and they
should remain there throughout the set.
Starting from the stretched position, use
pure triceps strength to begin to straighten
your arms, but as youre doing that, turn
your palms from their initial position,
where theyre facing in, to a downward
position, facing the floor. That will cause
the ends of the rope to spread away from
each other and give you very powerful
cramping in the triceps.
Squeeze hard at the peak-contraction
point, and then reverse the movement,
returning to a full stretch once again. As
your strength begins to dwindle, it will
become increasingly difficult to continue
spreading the rope at the top of the rep.
When that occurs, simply keep your palms
facing in from stretch to contraction, and
you will find you can get a few extra reps.
Add-on sets to add on size
Regular preacher curls hit the peakproducing brachialis, but doing preachers
on the perpendicular side spider curls
can target it more directly.
Add-on sets are similar to supersets,

tri-sets and giant sets but with a slight
twist. Add-on sets allow you to set up a
hierarchy of movements based on what
you need most to target a specific area of
a body part. You decide which exercises
will be prioritised and so get the most work
sets. The result will be a radically intense
workout that sculpts your muscles with
laser-like precision!
Check out this bi-peaking and trisweeping add-on-set workout to see
exactly what my mad scientists brain
is thinking:

.!%/%+*)+2!)!*0/ !#.!!,.!$!.1.(/(5%*#(!1.(/
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EXERCISES
SETS AND REPS
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EXERCISES
SETS AND REPS
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Add-on sets are an extremely effective

hypertrophy-producing technique, but they should
not be used often maybe once every four weeks for
each body part. Otherwise, overtraining can set in.
Genetics shma-netics
Okay, now that youre armed with all the
information you need to change the shape of your
arms, I hope you will stop worrying about the
limitations of your genetics and instead will begin
to explore them. Use targeted training and precision
movements to sculpt the body youre after.
BUILDING THE
ULTIMATE
PHYSIQUE
An Incredible Abdominal Routine
By John Little
ts becoming more and more prevalent:

to even place in bodybuilding contests
today, you have to have tremendous
abdominal development. Im not just
talking about having a sufficiently low
body fat level for your abs to be visible. Im
talking about the actual development of
the abdominal muscles. The abs are, after
all, skeletal muscles and, consequently,
respond to the same stimulus for
development as all other skeletal muscles
high-intensity training.
Once upon a time, a bodybuilder could
get by on mass alone. But these days, with
definition levels reaching such extreme
degrees, a competitor must not only be
defined but also display development
which, of course, is the name of the game.
That means every muscle group must
be chiselled, distinctly separate from its
neighbours. Plus, the bodys fat stores
must be reduced to where abdominal
development or lack thereof is easily
detectable at all times.
THESE DAYS, WITH

DEFINITION LEVELS
REACHING SUCH EXTREME
DEGREES, A COMPETITOR
MUST NOT ONLY BE
DEFINED BUT ALSO
DISPLAY DEVELOPMENT.
Thats not meant to imply that unless
your abs look as sharp as Chris Cormiers
365 days a year, youre fooling yourself if
you consider yourself a bodybuilder. Thats
an unrealistic and, more importantly,
unnatural level of conditioning that
competitors cannot maintain for more
than a couple of weeks per year.
Rather, you should always be able to
see your abs all three rows, like Steve
Reeves or Bruce Lees. Then you can diet
down even more to bring out the deeper
cuts when zeroing in on a contest or photo
shoot. Its never a good idea to let fat
accumulate on your body. As Mr. Universe
winner Mike Mentzer often pointed out,
Whenever fat is allowed to accumulate,
its going to have to be eliminated someday
through undereating and overtraining a
fatal combination that leads to the loss of
muscle as well as fat.
In order to maintain a visible abdominal
musculature, its important to eat a
well-balanced diet that contains only
enough calories to maintain your existing
mass. You shouldnt be concerned with
maintaining higher levels of body fat when
BUILDING THE ULTIMATE PHYSIQUE
Incline knee-ups
Crunches
Dumbbell side bends
2 x ISR
2 x ISR
2 x ISR
The Ab Bench trains the rectus

abdominis from complete
stretch to full contraction with
resistance. Its superior, and
much more comfortable, than
doing standard crunches.
Model: Jamo Nezzar
youre building mass, as thats only excess

baggage youll have to get rid of one day.
Face it, most of us sport too much
adipose tissue. Is there a way to
actually increase muscle mass while
simultaneously decreasing body fat stores?
Fortunately there is, owing to the fact that
muscle cells and fat cells are two entirely
different entities and respond to entirely
different stimuli.
To increase your body fat, all you have
to do is live a sedentary existence and eat at
every opportunity. Increasing your muscle
is nowhere near as simple. To stimulate
your muscles to grow larger and stronger,
you must expose them to brief, highintensity-training sessions, then allow
them adequate time to recover and grow
and, finally, provide adequate nutrition to
feed the bodys growth and repair process.
Its nowhere near as simple as the process
of gaining fat, but the rewards in health
and appearance more than offset the
expenditure of labour.
To gain muscle and lose fat at the same
time, you use brief, infrequent, highintensity exercise combined with a wellbalanced, reduced-calorie diet.
The diet on which you take in 500
to 1,000 calories less than your daily
maintenance need will bring you a
gradual decrease in your body fat stores,
while the high-intensity exercise will
stimulate an increase in your muscle mass.
The key to developing your abdominal
muscles, then, is to perform low sets of
high-intensity abdominal exercise and eat
a low-calorie diet. Ill provide you with the
ideal exercise program for developing your
abdomen, but Ill leave it to you to choose
a diet.
Heres the abdominal routine:
)." ),'/& ),.,'#(#(!3)/,

#(#0#/&-*# #,*.#.#)(-), #-
2*&#()(*!
The routine explained
Model: Michael OHearn
(&#(%(/*- If youre a beginner,

you may have to do these while lying flat on
the floor till youre strong enough to move
to an inclined slant board, such as those
used for sit-ups. Lie on your back with your
legs almost straight. Pull your legs into
your abdomen, bending your knees, and
roll your hips up off the floor or bench, and
then return to the starting position. When
you can get 10 to 15 reps on both sets, you
can add weight by doing the movement on a
leg curl machine.
Lie on your back on a leg curl machine
and hook your feet under the rollers, with
your hands holding on to the sides of the
bench for stability. Slowly draw your knees
HOW TO CALCULATE YOUR

INDIVIDUAL SPECIFIC
REPETITIONS (ISR)
The following simple procedure can help
you determine the ideal repetition range
for each muscle group.
Step 1: Determine what your
maximum poundage is for a single
exercise in good form, and then, after
a brief rest of perhaps five minutes,
perform as many repetitions as possible
in good form with 80 per cent of that
one-rep-max weight.
For example, if your one-rep max on
the bench press is 200 pounds (91 kg), 80
per cent is 160 (72.5 kg).
Step 3: Add the number you have just

calculated to the number of repetitions
that you were able to perform. In this
case 1 + 6 = 7 repetitions.
That number becomes the high end of
the rep range; that is, the number of reps
you should shoot for before increasing
your resistance by five per cent.
Step 4: Subtract that same number,
1, from the number of repetitions you
were able to perform; that is, 6 1 = 5.
Thats now the low end of your rep range
for this particular muscle group; that is,
the minimum, or starting, number of
repetitions that you should shoot for in
order to stimulate a 20 per cent inroad
into your muscular reserves.
To gain muscle and
lose fat at the same
time, you use brief,
infrequent, highintensity exercise
combined with
a well-balanced,
reduced-calorie diet.
Step 2: Multiply the number of

repetitions you perform by .15, and
round off the result to the nearest whole
number. So, if you get six reps, its 6 x
.15 = 0.9, or 1.
up into your chest area, trying to make

them touch your chest.
Once you reach the fully contracted
position, hold for a count of two and then
lower the resistance slowly back to the
starting position. Repeat for your ISR.
Rest briefly, and then perform a second
set of your ISR. If the leg curl machine
is uncomfortable, you can also do the
movement on a slightly inclined bench
with your feet attached to a low cable with
ankle straps.
,/("- Lie on the floor with your
knees over the top of an exercise bench.
With your hands clasped behind your
neck, slowly draw yourself up until your
shoulder blades are approximately two
inches off the floor. Hold this contraction
tightly for a pronounced squeeze, and then
lower slowly back to the starting position.
Repeat for your ISR. After a brief pause,
do a second set for your ISR. Once your
abdominals get stronger, youll have to
add resistance. You can do that by holding
a barbell plate on your chest. Eventually
youll want to go to cable crunches or Ab
Bench crunches.
/'&&-#(-Hold a moderately
weighted dumbbell in your right hand and
stand erect. Slowly bend to your right side,
CONNECT WITH US
ausironmanmag
lowering the dumbbell toward your right

foot. Using a slow and controlled motion,
return to the upright position and repeat
for your ISR. Then transfer the dumbbell
to the other hand and repeat the entire
procedure for your left side.
Upon completing that set, immediately
switch the dumbbell back to your right hand
and do another set for each side.
Note: Some trainees may have a
tendency to look thick-waisted when
building the obliques with side bends.
If youre one of them, you may want to
eliminate this exercise or use very light
weights and only moderate intensity so
those side muscles dont hypertrophy.
These exercises, performed exactly
as listed, will build a midsection that
sets off a well-developed physique.
Remember to train your abs as you would
any other body part with high-intensity
training. Go to failure, which should
occur at your ISR and theyll respond
by strengthening your core, improving
your posture and separating into three
distinct sections that, when combined
with a reduced-calorie diet, will create
a look that will turn heads on a crowded
beach and, if competition is your thing, get
bodybuilding judges attention.
)"(#..&#-&#(!#(()0.),)
)3/#&#(!.,#(#(!
ausironman
ausironmanmag
Guns
EXTENDED SETS
GET GREAT
with
A different way to increase intensity and trigger your arms to grow
By Greg Zulak | Exercises performed by Dan Decker | Photography by Michael Neveux
odybuilders through the ages have

sought ways to make their workouts
more intense and effective. The most
common and the most popular method
is to extend your sets by cheating to failure
after you have performed every possible
strict rep. Why is it so important to extend
a set? Because you keep the tension on the
muscle longer, which overloads it better.
If you do six reps and stop, the muscle is
under tension for maybe 20 seconds. If
you do 15 to 20 reps, its under tension
significantly longer perhaps 45 to
50 seconds.
Techniques used to extend sets include
forced reps and negatives assuming you
have training a partner who can assist you
supersets, tri-sets and drop sets. They all
keep the muscle under tension longer and

make workouts more intense. Assuming
you are following a high-protein diet and
recuperating fully from your workouts, the
payoff will be increased muscle size and
better overall muscularity.
All serious bodybuilders should use
those methods to stimulate muscle growth
from time to time (not at every workout) to
shock your muscles into new growth and
keep them from adapting. Still, they arent
the only ways to increase intensity and
extend sets. One method that doesnt get
very much press is what I call extendedset combinations. It enables bodybuilders
working out on their own to perform more
repetitions and train with greater intensity
than would normally be possible without
resorting to supersets, tri-sets, drop sets

and forced reps and negatives.
Extended-set combos for

arms: start with triceps
With extended-set combinations you
train a muscle group by doing a particular
exercise to failure, and then transition
to a different exercise using the same
barbell, dumbbells or exercise machine. An
example is lying triceps extensions done to
failure, followed immediately by close-grip
bench presses to failure. On their own lying
extensions are a very effective mass builder
for the triceps, but when you switch over
to the close-grip bench press at a point
where you would normally end the set
you force the triceps to perform many more
GET GREAT GUNS
EZ-curl-bar lying triceps extensions to

ONE EZ-curl-bar close-grip bench presses
COMBO
An example of an extended-set
combination is lying triceps
extensions done to failure, followed
immediately by close-grip bench
presses to failure.
1 st
START
FINISH
2 nd
START
repetitions and ratchet up the intensity

level a few notches.
There are two ways to do extendedset combinations. The first is to take no
rest between exercises. As soon as you
fail on the first exercise, you immediately
transition into the second, and so on if
theres a third exercise. The second way is
to use the rest/pause technique between
exercises. As soon as you fail on the first
exercise, pause, take four or five deep
breaths, and then start the second.

As indicated above, you can extend the
reps even further by using three exercises.
For example, you can do lying triceps
extensions to failure, followed by bent-arm
pullovers and, finally, close-grip bench
presses. The bent-arm pullover is seldom
used by bodybuilders anymore, but it was
very popular back in the 1940s, 50s, 60s
and 70s and was seen as a real triceps
builder by the top pros of those eras.
FINISH
Another example for the triceps is

one-arm dumbbell extensions to failure,
followed by one-arm kickbacks to failure,
followed by one-arm presses to failure, all
using the same dumbbell (see p. 108). Its a
good finishing combination because by the
time you get to the presses, you may have to
perform 50 to 60 repetitions (or more) to
work the triceps to failure.
With extended-set combinations you
get probably double to triple the number of
EZ-curl-bar lying triceps extensions to EZ-curl-bar bent-arm pullovers to

TWO EZ-curl-bar close-grip bench presses
COMBO
1 st
START
FINISH
2 nd
START
FINISH
3 rd
START
FINISH
GET GREAT GUNS

growth reps, which are those final one or
two hard reps at the end of a set that trigger
growth. In that last example, you might do
10 to 12 reps of one-arm extensions and
get a couple of hard growth reps. Then,
when you switch to the one-arm dumbbell
kickbacks, you do another six to 10 reps
and get another couple of growth reps.
Finally, you finish off the triceps by doing
one-arm dumbbell presses to failure for
40 to 60 reps and get another couple of
growth reps. Performing high reps on the
one-arm presses really works the red, or
slow-twitch, muscle fibres, developing
capillaries and what John Parrillo calls
cardiovascular density.
Heres another good extended-set
combo for triceps (see p. 109): strict
pushdowns, followed by cheating
pushdowns. To do strict pushdowns, keep
your upper body upright and your elbows in
tight to your sides. As you perform the reps,
keep your upper arms pressed into your
sides so only the forearms and hands move
up and down in an arc. When you hit failure,
switch to cheating pushdowns: Bend over
somewhat at the waist and change your
grip so your fingers and thumbs are draped
over the bar, rather than wrapped around
it. Push with your lower palms down and
away from your body.
Biceps combos:
lots of possibilities
For some muscle groups, such as biceps,
there are six or more combinations. Pick
one or two that should be enough to work
the muscle hard and thoroughly.
Biceps lend themselves to extended
sets very nicely. Just about every biceps
exercise you can think of can be used in
a combo. The most basic combination
is strict barbell curls to failure, followed
immediately by cheating barbell curls. Get
six to eight strict curls, and then cheat out
as many reps as you can, which probably
will be two or three if you take no rest
between exercises or four or five reps if
you use the rest/pause technique and
take three or four large breaths between
exercises. Repeat the combination
three times.
Heres another biceps grouping I
particularly like (see p. 110). Begin with
drag curls for six to eight repetitions. You
hold the barbell at waist level, with your
elbows pulled back as far as possible, and,
as the name implies, you literally drag the
barbell up your abdomen to your lower
chest, always keeping your elbows pulled
back as far as you can. Your chest should be
arched and thrust out as you raise the bar
as high as you can the fully contracted
position. For most people that will be the
lower chest. Pause and tense your biceps
hard, and then slowly lower the bar back
to the starting position. It never leaves the
body as you curl up and down.
One-arm overhead extensions to

kickbacks to
THREE One-arm
One-arm presses overhead
COMBO
1 st
With extendedset combinations

you get probably double
to triple the number of
growth reps, which are
those final one or two hard
reps at the end of a set
that trigger growth.
2 nd
3 rd
START
FINISH
Strict pushdowns to Elbows-flared

FOUR pushdowns leaning forward
COMBO
With extended-set
cominations your
workouts will be shorter
but more intense, and
youll grind out more
growth reps.
1 st
START
FINISH
2 nd
START
FINISH
You should feel a good contraction on

each rep. When you hit failure, switch to
regular barbell curls for as many repetitions
as you can do. When you hit failure again,
switch to cheat barbell curls for as many
reps as you can do. If you are training with a
partner, you can increase the intensity even
more by finishing off with several negativeonly reps.
Two or three of that combination
should work your biceps into the ground
and pump them like balloons. Some people
complain they have a hard time feeling
their biceps when they do curls, but if your
biceps are not on fire and if you dont get a
good pump after three rounds of the above,
check your pulse. You may be dead. If
necessary, take a four-to-six-second pause
between exercises.
Here are a couple of other highly
effective extended-set combinations for the
biceps (see p. 111):
BICEPS LEND
THEMSELVES TO
EXTENDED SETS VERY
NICELY. JUST ABOUT
EVERY BICEPS EXERCISE
YOU CAN THINK OF CAN
BE USED IN A COMBO.
Barbell preacher curls to failure,
followed by strict drag curls, followed by
strict barbell curls and then cheat barbell
curls, all to failure. If you take no rest
between exercises, youre probably looking
at six to eight reps on the preacher curls,
four or five reps on drag curls, five or six
barbell curls and two or three cheat curls. If
you use the rest/pause technique, you may
get one or two more reps on each exercise.
In any case, repeat that combination three
times. You wont be able to use heavy
weights on it, but man, oh, man, will your
biceps and forearms burn. And the
pump is unreal.
Heres a one-arm combo for biceps (see
p. 112): concentration curls followed by
several strict standing one-arm dumbbell
curls, followed by two or three standing
one-arm dumbbell cheat curls. You should
definitely use the rest/pause technique
between exercises on this combination
because your biceps are going to
fatigue quickly.
Seated dumbbell curls to standing
dumbbell curls to alternate dumbbell curls
is the same idea (see p. 112). When you do
seated dumbbell curls, you can be more
strict with your form because you cant use
GET GREAT GUNS
Barbell drag curls to

FIVE Regular barbell curls
COMBO
1 st
START
FINISH
2 nd
START
FINISH
your legs or shoulders to help you curl the

dumbbells. When you hit failure, stand up
and continue with standing dumbbell curls
for a few reps. When you hit failure again,
switch to alternate dumbbell curls.
Doing alternate dumbbell curls helps
you extend the set in two ways: 1) Youre
stronger when you lift a weight with one
arm, and 2) you give the resting arm a few

extra seconds to recover. Do that combo
for three sets, and dont be afraid to use the
rest/pause technique to help you keep your
strength if the muscle is totally burned out.
Heres a similar combo (see p. 113):
seated dumbbell preacher curls to standing
dumbbell curls to alternate dumbbell curls.
Its the same as the previous grouping only

your first exercise is dumbbell preacher
curls, rather than seated dumbbell curls.
Repeat the sequence for three sets.
This biceps blaster calls for four
exercises (see p. 114): one-arm preacher
curls to seated one-arm concentration
curls to strict one-arm dumbbell curls to
Straight-bar preacher curls to

SIX Drag curls to Cheat Barbell curls
COMBO
The idea is to hit

your muscles hard
and fast, and then get
out of the gym.
1 st
2 nd
3 rd
START
FINISH
GET GREAT GUNS
Concentration curls to
SEVEN Standing one-arm curls
COMBO
Extended sets
can be two to four
exercises done back
to back with the same
equipment.
1 st
START
FINISH
2 nd
Seated dumbbell curls to Standing dumbbell curls to

EIGHT Alternate dumbbell curls
COMBO
Doing alternate dumbbell curls helps

you extend the set in two ways: 1)
Youre stronger when you lift a weight with
one arm, and 2) you give the resting arm a
few extra seconds to recover.
1 st
2 nd
3 rd
standing one-arm dumbbell cheat curls.

Start by doing as many one-arm dumbbell
preacher curls as you can with a moderately
heavy weight, shooting for eight to 10.
When you hit failure, step back from the
preacher bench and do as many strict onearm concentration curls as you can. When
you hit failure, continue with as many
strict seated dumbbell curls as you can
realistically, you might get three to four
then finish off with as many standing
one-arm dumbbell cheat curls as you can

(maybe youll get two to four). Because you
are standing on your last movement, you
can put more body English into it more
cheating to drive the dumbbell past the
sticking point.
Two rounds of that combo should be
all you need to work your biceps into the
ground. If you do one exercise after another
with no rest, your biceps will burn out
quickly and the number of reps you perform
will not be so high. If you use the rest/pause

method, you should be able to perform an
extra two or three reps per exercise.
Another variation (see p. 114): seated
incline dumbbell curls to standing
dumbbell curls to alternate dumbbell curls.
Begin with seated incline curls for eight to
10 reps. When you hit failure, stand up and
do as many strict dumbbell curls as you
can. When you hit failure, continue the set
by cheating out as many reps as you can.
Dumbbell preacher curls to Standing dumbbell curls

NINE to Alternate dumbbell curls
COMBO
1 st
3 rd
2 nd
GET GREAT GUNS
One-arm preacher curls to One-arm concentration

TEN curls to Standing one-arm dumbbell curls
COMBO
1 st
Really accentuate the negative on the cheat
reps. Repeat that combo three times.
As I mentioned, Im not advocating
that you perform all these combinations at
each workout. Youd greatly overtrain, and
your gains would decrease, not increase. I
suggest you pick one or two combinations
for each muscle group per workout,
performing two to three extended sets of
each combo. Im also not suggesting that
2 nd
3 rd
you use this technique forever. Your biceps

would burn out, and you would get bored. I
recommend using it for no more than three
weeks, and then returning to more basic
heavy training.
Rotate your extended-set combinations
from workout to workout. The idea is to hit
your muscles hard and fast, and then get
out of the gym. Extended-set combinations
are a great way to shock your muscles, and
part of the equation is that you prevent

them from adapting to the work you do by
changing either the combinations or the
sequence of exercises at every workout. It
keeps the muscles guessing.
With extended-set combinations your
workouts will be shorter but more intense,
and youll grind out more growth reps. As a
result, your arm size will increase by leaps
and bounds I guarantee it.
Seated incline dumbbell curls to Standing dumbbell

ELEVEN curls to Alternate dumbbell curls
COMBO
1 st
2 nd
3 rd
Get
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THE
ABS-OLUTE
TRUTH
THE LOWDOWN ON GETTING
A RIPPED-UP MIDSECTION
5+1#.%#*+(!$+0+#.,$55 %$!(!2!14
THE ABS-OLUTE TRUTH
etting a lean and muscular

midsection could possibly be the
most common fitness goal, as well
as the most misunderstood. Yet its really
very simple. That doesnt mean without
effort. It just means uncomplicated.
There are three reasons that achieving a
lean midsection is so misunderstood:
Choose ab exercises that emphasise

spinal movement rather than hip
movement.
1) Misleading advertising and/or

misguided instruction
2) Wishful thinking
3) Lack of understanding of how the
body works
It might seem reasonable to believe that
abdominal fat can be reduced or eliminated
by working that area doing sit-ups, leg
raises, twists, side bends, etc. but if you
believe that, youre mistaken in a big way.
Companies trying to sell you an abdominalexercise product, a course or a book often
lie to you (what a surprise!) so they can
make a profit. They tell you that you can
exclusively reduce abdominal fat by using
their product and you believe them.
The truth is that your lifestyle created
the problem, and the solution must address
your lifestyle both your diet and your
overall exercise program. The idea that one
exercise, or a killer ab routine, alone will
make your abs ripped is wishful thinking.
For those of you who are guilty of that
sort of optimism, ripped abs will remain a
fantasy until you understand how the body
loses fat and then do the correct homework.
You cant specifically lose abdominal fat

by doing abdominal exercise. Period. That
bears repeating for the simple reason that,
although people have heard that they cant
spot-reduce their midsection and say they
understand it, they continue doing things
that demonstrate a belief in spot reduction.
Its impossible to lose any abdominal fat by
doing abdominal exercises.
When you perform abdominal exercise,
the muscle underneath the fat layer does
the work. Ab exercises benefit the muscle
under the fat but do nothing for the fat layer
that covers the muscle.
The jiggly stuff thats on your midsection
is not untoned muscle, nor is it flab that
can be firmed up or converted into muscle.
Its fat, and it can only be reduced as part
of a whole-body fat-loss plan. You might
indeed have well-developed abdominal
muscle under that fat, but youll never see
it until you address your overall diet and
exercise program regardless of how many
sit-ups or crunches or leg raises you do.
If you do daily abdominal exercises
and/or high-repetition ab crunches or
leg raises, youre demonstrating a belief
in spot reduction. Stop it. Its a waste of
time. It hasnt worked, and it wont work in
the future.
The myth of spot reduction
You cant choose where to take fat off

your body just as you cannot choose
where to add fat to it. Thats a physiological
fact. You must put your entire body into fatloss mode in order to lose fat around your
midsection. Have you ever seen anyone
with ripped abs who was fat everywhere
else? Of course not. And you never will.
You must get leaner overall if you want a
lean midsection.
How fat gets burned

Fat is stored on the body in a specific
molecular form: adipose tissue. The body
cannot and does not burn adipose tissue.
For body fat loss to occur, your body must
first convert adipose tissue into free fatty
acids, which are the usable form of fuel.
Only then can your body actually use it

spend it, burn it, whatever you want to
call it.
When that conversion takes place,
it does so systemically throughout
the entire body not locally. After the
conversion, free fatty acids enter the
bloodstream and go to the working
muscle. In other words, tiny amounts of
free fatty acids, which were converted
from tiny amounts of adipose tissue,
which came from all over your entire body
simultaneously, provide whichever muscle
is working with its necessary fuel. The
larger muscles like the leg muscles are
more likely to require that sort of fuel.
Thats why people lose fat everywhere
on their body including their face when
they pedal a stationary bicycle, even though

theyre peddling only with their legs. Fat
comes off the body only as a whole.
The process happens only if your diet
is right. If your diet is wrong and theres
plenty of fuel in the bloodstream from
foods youve recently eaten, your body
wont have to spend its fat stores. Further,
if your insulin level is high during your
workout because just beforehand you ate
some sweets, bread or other sugary, starchy
carbohydrate, mistakenly believing it would
give you energy, your body will resist giving
up its reserve fat even if your total calorie
intake is fairly low. Those are just two
Those who combine weight training
with aerobic exercise have a much
better rate of fat loss.
reasons people often dont lose body fat,

even though theyre exercising: Theyre still
eating too much, and/or theyre eating the
wrong kinds of foods.
How to get leaner overall

part 1: the diet
You must make dietary changes in order to
lose body fat. Specifically, you must reduce
your calories, but, perhaps more important,
you must reduce or eliminate certain
types of food and replace them with better
choices. Starches and sugars cause the body
to produce more insulin, and that will cause
your body to store more body fat and/or
restrict fat loss even if youre exercising

every day and even if your calorie intake
is not exceptionally high. Some people
produce more insulin than others. If you
tend to have a weight problem, its likely
that you are one of those people. Dietary fat
is actually a lesser problem in terms of
body fat than starches and sugars.
Starches and sugars are considered
high-glycemic, which means they convert
quickly to glucose and therefore result in
a dramatic rise in your insulin production.
Instead, try getting your carbohydrates
from vegetables such as broccoli,
cauliflower, zucchini, squash, tomatoes,
peas and carrots; from legumes, such as
lentils, black beans and kidney beans;
and to a lesser degree some fruits. Try to
avoid as much as possible flour products
breads, pasta, crackers and flour tortillas
as well as potatoes, white rice and sugar.
And dont be afraid to eat foods that contain
dietary fat, such as nuts, avocados, olive oil
or cheese.
Although some people still advocate a
low-fat, high-carb diet, theres plenty of
evidence that obesity rises dramatically
with that type of plan. Further, new
research has demonstrated that a reduction
of starches and sugars, and a slight increase
of healthful fats, has produced more fat loss
and better health.
Try eating four or five small meals, and
make sure that each of them has a protein
source, a low-glycemic-carbohydrate
source and a little fat. For example, grilled
chicken, steamed vegetables with a little
olive oil and an avocado. Or scrambled eggs
with ham and black beans. Or a steak, a
salad with dressing and some fruit.
How to get leaner overall

part 2: the exercise program
Model: Sebastian Siegel
The best approach is a combination

of aerobic exercise and whole-body
resistance training. Each type of exercise
has a different fat-loss effect. Resistance
training makes all of your muscles more
metabolically active, meaning they burn
more calories all day long, when theyre
strong. Plus, those who do only aerobic
exercise tend to become more efficient
at it, meaning their bodies eventually
learn to conserve fuel while doing aerobic
exercise, which means less fat loss. Those
who combine weight training with aerobic
exercise have a much better rate of fat loss.
Interval training works best when
youre doing cardiovascular exercise.
Low-intensity, long-duration exercise is
ultimately less effective than either highintensity, short-duration (15 to 20 minutes)
or alternating between high intensity (for
one minute) and then low intensity (for one
minute). High intensity burns more overall
calories in a shorter period of time, and it
stimulates your metabolism more than lowintensity aerobic exercise.
THE ABS-OLUTE TRUTH

When doing your weight training, try
to emphasise working the larger muscle
groups, like your legs, your back and your
pectoral muscles. The smaller muscles,
like the shoulders and arms, contribute
much less to the overall metabolism. For
best results, try weight training two to
five days per week, with either a full-body
workout or a split program on which you
work different body parts on different
days. The more often you exercise, the
better the result, obviously.
Abdominal exercise
Work your abdominal muscles the same
way you would work any other muscle in
your body two to three times per week
(not on consecutive days), approximately
three to eight sets of 15 to 20 repetitions,
with full-range-of-motion exercise and
a resistance that challenges the muscle.
In other words, think of your ab exercises
the way you would your chest or back

exercises. Youd never think to do 100
partial-range-of-motion reps of a chest
or back exercise. Instead, youd do slow,
deliberate, full-range-of-motion work for
15 to 20 repetitions. Do the same thing for
your abs.
Choose ab exercises that emphasise
spinal movement rather than hip
movement. Crunches are infinitely better
than leg raises. My favourites are decline
crunches and kneeling cable crunches.
There is no such thing as a lower ab.
The abdominal muscle is one continuous
muscle that begins at the base of the rib
cage and ends at the pubic bone of the
pelvis. Nor can you work one end of the
muscle more than the other end. The
whole muscle works evenly.
Anybody who says, This works the
lower abs, is either grossly mistaken or
fibbing for the sake of marketing. You
Model: Tony Breznik
START
cant lose lower-abdominal fat because

spot reduction is impossible, and you
cant work only the lower part of the
muscle because it isnt a separate muscle.
You also cant add notches to your
abs. When youre lean enough for men,
its usually around eight per cent body fat;
for women around 15 per cent and your
abs are visible, the shape and number of
grooves your ab muscle shows is fixed. Its
determined by genetics. You cant add a
third or fourth row of ab muscles simply
by working them. Its a fibrous divider
thats been either there or not since birth.
When the abdominal muscle contracts,
the rib cage and the pelvis get closer
together, which creates a curling of the
torso. And when the muscle extends,
or stretches, it enables the rib cage and
pelvis to get farther apart, which creates
an arching of the torso. That should be the
goal of any abdominal exercise to arch
the spine and then curl
the spine. Its a classic
crunching movement.
FINISH
Too often I see people
doing something they
might call an abdominal
crunch, but its little
more than a head and
neck lift. To say that
it uses an incomplete
range of motion is an
understatement. Its
about a 10 per cent
range of motion. You
gotta crunch the rest
of that 90 per cent if
you want to develop
the muscle. And if that
means you do fewer
reps, fine. Fifteen solid,
forceful repetitions of
full-range-of-motion
crunches done with a
deliberate contraction
on each rep is far better
than 100 reps of 10
per cent range of motion done with no
deliberate contraction. No question
about it.
If youre one of those people who do
endless reps of teeny-tiny crunches,
youre wasting your time and energy.
You wont get any sort of result that
way. Youre neither burning fat nor
developing muscle. Instead, use a threepronged approach:
1. Make the appropriate changes to
your diet.
2. Combine smart aerobic exercise with
full-body resistance training.
3. Work your ab muscles no differently
than you would any other muscle
nonconsecutive days, 15 to 20 reps
per set, four to eight total sets per
workout, using full range of motion
and deliberate contraction.
Model: Dave Goodin
START
Model: Dave Goodin
FINISH
That type of program will give you

the best odds of achieving your goal.
Genetics also plays a role in determining
your ultimate result, as do any hormone
or metabolic problems you may have.
It would be a mistake to assume that
everyone who uses the same program gets
the same result. As they say, Results may
vary. I recommend that the amount of
effort you use should
be reasonable, as
determined by your
own sensibilities
unless youre
preparing for physique
competition or you
have a temporary,
short-term goal, like a
high school reunion,
after which you can
return to a more
balanced program.
The bottom line is
that the only smart
way to achieve a lean
midsection is by
addressing the big
picture: your overall
body fat situation. The
way to do that is by
addressing your diet
and overall exercise
program of which
your actual abdominal
exercises are only a
small part, as ironic as
that may seem.
The Manta Ray is available online at
The Manta Ray
BRING
SAFETY
TO YOUR
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THE MOST SIGNIFICANT
ADVANCEMENT IN FREE
WEIGHT TRAINING IN
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OHWV\RXIRFXVRQ\RXUVTXDWWHFKQLTXHUDWKHU
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LEARN
ARNOLDS
TRAINING SECRETS
ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGERS ENCYCLOPEDIA
OF MODERN BODYBUILDING
The ultimate book on bodybuilding by
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preparation, diet and nutrition that have
evolved into modern bodybuilding are
compiled here in one must-have volume.
Call 03 9574 8460 or visit

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AB-SOLUTE

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How to jolt new arm growth

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right biceps and turn the wrist of the right

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I once watched Mike Mentzer train his

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To work them, you need to add weight, as

muscle by lifting weights but not by doing

Squats and arm size

One of the top professional arm

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Q: I hear everyone saying that you

By Pavel, Beyond Bodybuilding

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Weve been seeing more abdominal injuries

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You can injure abdominal muscles

overstretched that the local area loses

Once he had the problem repaired, he

By Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson

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Etch amazing abs

Q: You guys dont seem to do many

just usually hidden by a layer of fat.

raise exercise. Then we train the torso-curl

Forearm training and straining

aggravated by triceps training when

if its a new discovery. It isnt. I learned

Avoid forearm strain, pain and

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"&.#'. --),%)/., we classify