MuscleMag International 2013-12

E!
EXCLUSIV
THE SILENT BODYBUILDER KILLER
pg. 100
Nicole Wilkins Reveals All
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DECEMBER 2O13 WorldMags.net

36 Add 50 lbs. to Your
Squat, Overhead Press, Bench, Bent-Over Row To build super strength and muscle size,
you need to work the secondary muscles that assist in the execution of the major lifts. Heres how to build power from the inside out. BY JIMMY PEA, MS, CSCS
46 Your 5-Week
Go from ab to abs by making your workout progressively more challenging, building up your strength and your sixpack. Heres a ve-week plan thatll make your abs pop. BY BILL GEIGER, MA
Ab Challenge
62 Jurassic Mass 70 Building a
MMI uncovers the truth about the popular ancestral Paleo diet and how it can keep your muscle gains from going extinct. BY MIKE CARLSON
Classic Physique MMI sat down with three legendary
Mr. Olympia champions to discuss the current state of bodybuilding and ask for their insight on how to build a physique for the ages. BY ERIC VELAZQUEZ, NSCA-CPT
78 Stackin for Mass
Combine the right supplements at the optimal times for muscle gains around the clock. BY DWAYNE N. JACKSON, PhD
Your Reps, 54 Double Double the Muscle

You can do twice the reps with a given heavy weight if you follow the rest-pause technique. Nows your chance to make muscle and strength gains like never before. BY JIMMY PEA, MS, CSCS
6DECEMBER 2013|musclemag.com
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THESE STATEMENTS HAVE NOT BEEN EVALUATED BY THE FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION. THIS PRODUCT IS NOT INTENDED TO DIAGNOSE, TREAT, CURE, OR PREVENT ANY DISEASE.
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DECEMBER 2O13
WorldMags.net Departments 88 Cheat to Win
100
Maintaining strict form will help you build muscle, but there are times when loosening your exercise execution can help you boost the intensity of your workout and reap even greater gains. The key is knowing how to cheat right. BY ROB RINALDI, MA
in the Gym
14
MUSCLEMAG ONLINE
Whats on musclemag.com this month
15 18 20
EDITORS LETTER
By Bill Geiger
94 Cheat to Win
Eating clean makes a bodybuilder start craving the wrong kinds of foods, especially those loaded with sugar and fats. MMI explains which cheat strategies will help boost your gains and which will bust your gut. BY TEAM MUSCLEMAG
FREEZE FRAME FEEDBACK
on Your Diet
FIRST SET 22 EXERCISE OF THE MONTH

By Jimmy Pea, MS, CSCS
24
MAKE ONE CHANGE
100 Is Your Muscle
Sleep Putting You in Deadly Danger? One side effect of bodybuilding is a
26
TROUBLESHOOTING 101
stronger, thicker neck, but that can cause you to fall victim to an insidious nighttime killer called sleep apnea. BY NICOLE MCPHERSON
27 28 29 30 31 32
PUMP QUIZ
By Bill Geiger, MA
FACE OFF
BODYBUILDERS CHOICE
By Steven Stiefel By Ashif Tejani
MUSCLE MEALS FOOD PICKS

By Matthew Kadey
NUTRITION R&D
By Steven Stiefel
108 After-Dark
Once your workout ends, the business of building muscle in the kitchen begins. Heres how to maximize muscle growth and fat loss with the right foods and supplements from your postworkout meal through bedtime. BY ERIC VELAZQUEZ, NSCA-CPT
35
ON SHELVES NOW
By Steven Stiefel
Muscle Building
ON THE COVER
Larry Vinette by Paul Buceta
114 Sports Med:
Your Achilles Heel in Your Pursuit to Get Lean If you do high-impact cardio, you
116
might be familiar with plantar fasciitis pain in the soles of your feet. Heres what causes the condition and how to treat it. BY GUILLERMO ESCALANTE, PhD, MBA, CSCS
116 Eye of the Tigress

We get up close and personal with Nicole Wilkins, whose erce determination to win earned her a third Ms. Olympia Figure title in 2013. PHOTOS BY ROBERT REIFF
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DECEMBER 2O13
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the Future A student of training, Toney
126 Back From
Freeman takes a cerebral approach to his back/rear-delt/ upper-traps workout thats as multidimensional as it is unconventional. BY ERIC VELAZQUEZ, NSCA-CPT
156
138 Vintage Vinette

Cover model Larry Vinette discusses the training philosophy that helped him earn his IFBB pro card. BY JIMMY PEA, MS, CSCS
goes high volume/ low rest in this raw, offseason chest-anddelts thrash. BY ERIC VELAZQUEZ, NSCA-CPT
Real-Time Chest and Shoulder Workout with Lee Banks IFBB pro Lee Banks
Muscle Machine Alejandro Cambroneros love for
146 Miami
iron has brought him to America and ultimately a pro card. Heres the Costa Ricans formula for building massive pecs. BY LARA MCGLASHAN, MFA, CPT
HARDCORE Departments
124 CONTENTS 166 ATHLETE PROFILE 168 STRONGMAN SUMMIT
By Alex Zakrzewski
By Mike Jenkins By Anthoneil Champagnie, IFBB Pro
170 BROOKLYN BUILT 172 174 177 MAKING GAINS MARKETPLACE FITMART
By Alex Zakrzewski
IFBB Pro Lee Banks Photo by Gregory James
ON THE INSIDE COVER
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Visit musclemag.com for exclusive videos, articles, galleries and more.
Biggest Bodybuilding Rivalries

Few sports give rise to rivalries quite as personal and polarizing as those found in bodybuilding. From Arnold vs. Oliva to Phil vs. Kai, these six monster matchups have left an indelible mark on the sport and will be argued over for decades to come. Be sure to let us know your alltime favorite.
Were HUGE on Facebook and Twitter! Follow us at Facebook.com/ MuscleMag and @musclemag.
Facebook: facebook.com/musclemag Twitter: twitter.com/musclemag YouTube: youtube.com/musclemagintl
Train Like Thor

Icelandic strongman champion and Game of Thrones star Hafthor Thor Bjrnsson, proled on pg. 166, is known for performing mindblowing feats of strength worthy of the halls of Asgard! Dont believe us? Check out these incredible training and competition videos courtesy of Icelands strongest man. 12DECEMBER 2013|musclemag.com
Making Even More Gains

Our much-loved Making Gains section is back! We want to hear your training success stories. Are you bigger, stronger or more shredded than ever before? Send us a message on Facebook, include a snappy photo of yourself looking Olympia-worthy, and much like the lucky gym rats on pg. 172, you just might nd yourself featured in the pages of your favorite bodybuilding magazine!
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DECEMBER 2013 ISSUE
GROUP PUBLISHER Cheryl Angelheart ACTING GENERAL MANAGER Todd Hughes EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Bill Geiger DEPUTY EDITOR Michal Kapral ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Donna Diamond ADVERTISING ACCOUNT MANAGER Laura (Flores) Thorne ART DIRECTOR Michael Touna A/R MANAGER Alice Negrete SALES MANAGER Holly Burns PRODUCTION MANAGERS Lisa Snow, Patrick Sternkopf ONLINE CONTENT MANAGER Alex Zakrzewski COPY EDITORS Kristi Haar, Angie Mattison CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Guillermo Escalante, Dan Filipe, Frank Hoffman, Matthew Kadey, Lara McGlashan, Rob Rinaldi, Steven Stiefel, Terry Webster
MuscleMag is printed monthly in the U.S.A. 2013 by Active Interest Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is strictly prohibited. The information in MuscleMag is for educational purposes only. Its not intended to replace the advice or attention of health care professionals. Consult your physician before making changes in your diet, supplement and/or exercise program. MuscleMag, 24900 Anza Dr., Unit E, Valencia, CA 91355 - Toll Free: (800) 423-2874 MuscleMag (ISSN 1086-3400) is published nine times per year (2013 cover dates: Jan 13, Feb 13, Mar 13, Apr 13, May 13, Jun 13, Jul 13, Nov 13, Dec 13) by Cruz Bay Publishing, Inc., an Active Interest Media company. Advertising and editorial offices at 24900 Anza Drive, Unit E, Santa Clarita, California 91355. The known office of publication is 5720 Flatiron Pkwy, Boulder CO 80301. Periodicals postage paid at Boulder, CO and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to MuscleMag, P.O. Box 420235, Palm Coast, FL 32142-0235. Subscription rates in the United States are one year $34.97. Canada: $49.97. Foreign: $84.97 (US funds only). The publisher and editors will not be responsible for unsolicited material. Manuscripts and photographs must be accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed return envelope. Vol. 16, No. 9. Printed in the United States by RR Donnelley, Strasburg, VA. 2013 by Active Interest Media Publication. Copyright 2013 by Cruz Bay Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. This publication may not be reproduced, either in whole or part, in any form without written permission from the publisher.
Efrem Zimbalist III Chairman & CEO Andrew W. Clurman President & COO Brian J. Sellstrom Senior Vice President & CFO Patricia B. Fox Senior Vice President, Operations
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A WORD FROM THE EDITOR
By Bill Geiger, Editor-in-Chief
Paying Your Dues

you measure those dues by time spent in the gym and quite literally, its measured in years. String together a week of good workouts and youre a bit closer to your goal, but success comes only to those who have the discipline to stick to it for the long haul. Its hard to imagine behemoths like Jay Cutler and Phil Heath as anything but Mr. Olympia champions, but even those guys started as rank beginners (albeit many years ago). Most of us think of beginners as skinny guys who get in our way on bench-press day, but for most rstyear lifters, the excitement lies in seeing the changes in strength that come almost workout to workout. For the guys able to advance to the next level, they see rsthand the adaptation process, how muscle grows stronger when its stressed in the gym and given proper nutrients and rest. Alas, one of the telltale signs of no longer being a beginner is that progress seems to come to a grinding halt. Those weekly increases in strength and reps on the bench press are a thing of the past. The irony of progressing to the next level in bodybuilding is that everything just got a little bit harder. For me and for countless others in the gym, stagnation was met with a commitment to train harder, doing more exercises, more sets and longer, even more frequent workouts to bust through training plateaus. In a lot of cases, however, thats exactly the wrong approach.
In bodybuilding, whether you compete or not, everyone has to pay their dues. If your goal is to not just look strong but be strong,
Today I see a lot of guys in the gym training hard but seemingly making very little progress. Many continue to toil away as if effort alone was the missing ingredient to their physique-building success. Yet ask any top bodybuilder and hell tell you that training is as much mental as it is physical. While that may seem counterintuitive in a sport in which youre lifting tons of iron a day, the fact is training harder isnt the same as training smarter. Longtime bodybuilders know there are a number of other variables that can be manipulated exercise selection and order, past-failure intensity principles, rest periods, time under tension that are critical to your ultimate achievement. The mental aspect comes in because you need to think and plan what youre doing rather just showing up at the gym and lifting. As editor-in-chief of a publication like MuscleMag, I dont want our writers to simply nd out what the worlds best bodybuilders are doing; I also want to know why and how so that you get an inside look into the inner workings of their mind. In each and every article we publish, I charge them with a simple task: Teach me something that I didnt already know. Im looking for more detail than whats just beneath the surface; many of these insider tips are pulled out into our Power Pointers so that you have a better understanding of the mental aspect of bodybuilding. This month, youll nd a number of articles from which we hope you can use a grain or two in your own workouts, especially if youre facing the same zerogrowth stagnation that confronts many lifters. Youll nd progressive programs in which you increase the intensity over time in both Add 50 Lbs. to Your Squat, Overhead Press, Bench, Bent-Over Row and Your Five-Week Ab Challenge. For boosting your intensity in a given workout, check out Double Your Reps, Double the Muscle, which explains how the rest-pause technique is used by top bodybuilders. And for pushing past failure, we show you how and when not to incorporate cheating into your technique to spur additional muscle gains. As usual, youll also nd interviews with some of the worlds foremost bodybuilders this issue with Toney Freeman, Alex Cambronero, Larry Vinette and Lee Banks, all IFBB pros to see what each man credits for his individual success. If gym smarts becomes increasingly important the further you go in bodybuilding, youll be glad to know that your investment in MuscleMag will continue to bring you the best and latest information on building your body, one workout at a time.
Bill Geiger
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF musclemag.com|DECEMBER 201315
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Freeze Frame
Not Just Anybody Gets Advice From the Champ
IFBB pro Toney Freeman is all business when it comes to a photo shoot, like the one featured on page 126. Oftentimes the bodybuilder is highly depleted the day after a contest, and such shoots require performing a given move time and time again for both the photographer and videographer. But all work ceases when Toney spots a young lifter in the gym who could clearly use a tip or two when it comes to mass building. Its a reminder to us that, ultimately, this shoot isnt about Toney as much as it is about helping you, our readers. Photo by Gregory James
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musclemag.com|DECEMBER 201319
Feedback WorldMags.net
Facebook.com/MuscleMag AND ON TWITTER @musclemag
Q:
The bigger question is: Who is good enough to beat him? Is there a guy ready to take the Olympia away from him? Is there a bodybuilder complete enough?
ERIK L.
Can Phil beat Ronnies record of eight wins?

Yeah he does! Hes young in comparison and has the best genetics since Flex Wheeler. As far as mass and shape, hes unstoppable.
JAKE ALAN L.
I dont think he does. With the amount of pure talent coming out of the woodwork like Ramy, it will be hard for him to maintain his crown. Dont forget about Kai, either. Hes a man who will put it all on the line!
CLAYTON D.
Never! Ronnie is the king! MIRCEA I.

Nope. The competition is too erce. It is only a matter of time before he is dethroned.
Its way too early for this talk.

@STHURMAN14
AGREED #CANILIVE PLEASE? @PHILHEATH

@STHURMAN14: @MUSCLEMAG.
@STEVEKWELI
@REALSUPERSIDHU
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ISAAC HINDS
Of course. Hes The Gift for a reason!
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Whats the craziest way youve destroyed a protein shaker?

Was at my hunting camp and decided to use it as skeet and blast it into pieces with a 12-gauge shotgun. #birdshot
@FITNESSCLAY
Mouthings
FROM THE PROS
Muscle
I dropped mine off of a hotel room balcony completely lled. It exploded on impact when it hit the ground. #wastedprotein
BONOMO27
One step at a time. Those steps whether big or small will nd their way along this journey we call #Life.
@KAIGREENE
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: SHUTTERSTOCK (4); ISAAC HINDS (2); GREGORY JAMES (2); COURTESY BURCH; MICHAEL TOUNA
Failed on a heavy dumbbell press, dropped it on preworkout cup, and bam! Everyone in the whole gym was coated in sticky drink. #unpopular
@UNKLELAY
Left it on my taxis roof then it drove off. Lol.

ALLEN L.
Had to pee into it when I was hunting this weekend. Threw it in the trash!
@BLANCHDANMAN
Didnt wash it out and let it sit in my car closed. The smell doesnt wash out of the shaker :(
@DAL_GD
Lol. NEVER! Its like the Holy Grail. Still using the same one for 4 years!
CRAIG B.
Set it down on the tailboard of the re truck. We got a call. It made it 6 blocks before taking a corner & exploding.
@R_J_FIRE
Next to every successful man is an incredible woman!

@FLEX_LEWIS
Another guy at the gym used mine by mistake. I threw it away.

@R_D_PHOTO
Cant wait to try the new peanut butter Pop Tarts after the Prague show!
@FSMALLS1
The Future Battle of Mr. Olympia?

Lewis Touna of Toronto, Ontario, (left) is denitely a born bodybuilder, but Easton Michael Burch of Ninety Six, South Carolina, is growing bigger every day. Are we seeing a preview of the 2045 Mr. Olympia showdown?
Bodybuilding has come a long way since PUMPING IRON! #GenerationIron

@LOUFERRIGNO
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FIRST SETWorldMags.net EXERCISE OF THE MONTH

THIS MONTHS EXERCISE
Smith Machine Drag Curl

THE START
Smith machine holding the bar in front of your upper thighs. up, shoulders back and eyes focused forward. close to the bar with your elbows by your sides, knees unlocked.
TARGET MUSCLE: BICEPS (WITH EMPHASIS ON THE LONG HEAD, OR PEAK)
Biggest Training Errors

1. Standing too far away. You need to
get up close and personal with the bar. Many lifters stand too far back, which defeats the purpose of this exceptional biceps move.
STEP 1: Stand inside a
STEP 2: Keep your chest STEP 3: You should be
2. Not pulling
STEP 1: Begin the move
EXECUTION
by pulling your elbows back as you drag the bar up your body toward your upper abs/lower chest. your torso as high as possible, pushing your elbows behind you. Youll notice the bar hits signicantly lower on the body compared to the standard barbell curl.
This sets up the entire move. If you pull your elbows back and keep them pulled back, youre far more likely to get it right.
your elbows back.
3. Shrugging the bar. Theres a bit of
STEP 2: Drag the bar up
a tendency to shrug the bar upward, but try to keep your shoulders down to ensure that the emphasis remains on the biceps. You may have to drop the weight slightly to do so.
STEP 3: Slowly return

the bar along the same path and repeat.
If you nish the move with the bar in front of your delts, the bar is too high and you didnt pull your elbows back behind you. The bar should come no higher than your upper abs.
BEST ALTERNATIVE
STANDARD BARBELL CURL
If you dont have a Smith machine, you can target the biceps long head with a drag curl using an Olympic bar or short straight bar. The Smith machine makes it a bit easier to focus on the biceps because you dont have to balance the bar, but the form is identical with a standard barbell. Remember, because the exercise removes the delts from the equation, youll need to reduce the weight; it doesnt take a heavy load to target the biceps. Were betting this quickly becomes one of your go-to moves for the biceps peak.
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Photos by Gregory James Model IFBB Pro Brandon Curry
During the standard curl, the bar travels over a natural arc that hits both the biceps and the front delts to a certain degree. The Smithmachine drag curl eliminates that arc completely and removes all deltoid involvement from the equation. Since your hands stay close to your body as the bar comes up, your elbows must travel backward.
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FIRST SETWorldMags.net MAKE ONE CHANGE

What Happens When ...
You Go Below Parallel When Squatting

The squat is arguably the most effective exercise for targeting the legs, but what happens when you push it way down low?
MAKE THIS CHANGE
TAKE YOUR SQUATS DOWN LOW: hips to heels. While some people argue that going just to parallel is better for your knees, research conrms that sheer forces on the knees are actually greater in a parallel squat than a deep squat. And for those who think the parallel squat is better for your lower back, a full range of motion has been found to be less stressful on the spine than a squat that stops at 90 degrees. Finally, if the safety of your knees and back isnt enough to convince you, scientists report that you increase the muscular activity of all three muscle groups (quads, hamstrings and glutes) by taking your hips to the oor compared to parallel squats. Because all three muscles are being required to power you through a greater distance, you naturally recruit more bers, which exposes you to greater mass opportunities.
The squat is head and shoulders above all other leg moves, targeting the quadriceps, hamstrings and glutes to fulll its demanding requirements. The key is to press through the oor with your feet rather than try to lift the bar with your upper body. You want the bar to feel attached to your traps as you move your entire body as one unit. With your abs pulled in tight, chest up and the energy surging through your feet and up your legs, theres not a better exercise in the gym.
SQUAT
Obviously, the most popular version of the squat is the parallel squat in which the thighs come parallel to the oor. You stop the downward motion when your knees approach a 90-degree angle, pause briey, then explode upward until your legs are straight.
Going Down
GET THE BENEFITS FROM BOTH
Both versions have their positive points, so be sure to do both kinds of squats. Before going super deep, however, be sure to warm up with very light weight. Do parallel squats often enough to work the upper range of motion, allowing you to use more weight than you could for a full squat. Try both versions inside a power rack whenever possible so that you can adjust the safeties downward as you work to increase strength as well as hip and low-back exibility. If you cant squat deep, be sure to work on your exibility and keep your entire foot in contact with the oor throughout the move.
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GREGORY JAMES
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HMB is developed, licensed, and marketed by Metabolic Technologies, Inc. Individuals providing testimonies in ads are sponsored athletes or have received the ingredient HMB as a gift from Metabolic Technologies Inc. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
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FIRST SETWorldMags.net TROUBLESHOOTING 1O1

TARGET
1
PRESSDOWN
2
One of these photos shows a critical but common mistake on the pressdown.
CAN YOU SPOT WHICH ONE IS WRONG?

About the Pressdown
The overhand-grip pressdown is an effective isolation move for all three triceps heads, with emphasis on the lateral head. The pressdown can help send much-needed blood to the elbow joints to help prepare them for the workout ahead, or can be used as a nishing exercise to pump the muscle. For a different feel, try using a straight bar, V-bar or even a rope from workout to workout. Finally, keep your abs tight, knees unlocked and chest up throughout the set.
Spot the Error

The key to executing the pressdown effectively is to keep your elbows pinned by your sides throughout each rep. If you permit your elbows to come forward as the bar comes up, youll remove emphasis from the triceps while inviting more abs, delts and even the lats to join in. Photo one is correct.
Many form xes begin when you reduce the weight. Once you get the hang of great form, by all means load it up. Step close to the stack so the cable runs right in front of your face. Grasp the bar, pull your elbows to your sides and pin them there. You want the movement to occur at the elbow joints alone, not the shoulders. After pressing to full arm extension, allow the bar to come up to where your forearms are about parallel to the oor; an inch or so above is ne. This range of motion might feel much shorter than youre used to, but its what makes the exercise so effective.
Fix It
BEGINNERS TIP Without any weight on the stack, look to your side in the mirror if possible. If you dont have a mirror, ask someone to let you know when your forearms are parallel. Youll notice that its much more difficult to stop the upward motion of the cable at parallel than to let it pull your arms up farther. Youll immediately feel a better burn in your triceps, as well. Once you get the hang of the short range of motion, slowly begin adding weight to the stack and practice that perfect form. Although its generally not a good idea to turn your head to watch yourself, its a bit safer with single-joint movements.
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Photos by Gregory James Model Victor Luna
TEST
FIRST SETWorldMags.net PUMP QUIZ

By Bill Geiger, MA
First Picks
A) ONE-ARM REVERSE-GRIP PRESSDOWN B) CLOSE-GRIP BENCH PRESS C) ROPE PRESSDOWN D) CLOSE-GRIP PUSH-UP
ANSWERS
1. Your rst exercise is critical because thats when your energy levels are highest; as you become fatigued over the course of your workout, your capacity to push heavy loads diminishes. Typically, you want to choose exercises that allow you to push the most weight, which in almost all cases are multijoint moves rather than single-joint exercises. The close-grip bench press and close-grip push-up are both multijoint moves, but the bench press is better because you can add resistance. With the push-up, youre typically limited to bodyweight and could end up training in a rep range thats suboptimal. B is the correct answer. 2. Because single-joint moves are eliminated for the reasons in answer No. 1 above, that takes out option A. Training for size is best done in the 812-rep range to failure, and most of us can do a lot more dips if we do them rst, so thats out. Reverse-grip benches are great for the upper pecs, but the hand position requires you to drop the weight considerably over what you can use for incline presses. Youll gain the most mass with at-bench presses as long as you train to failure in the 812-rep range. D is the correct answer. 3. These are all single-joint
moves, so the answer is a bit different. The rst two exercises target just one biceps head, making them less effective at building overall mass. The rst three are also done seated, which means its harder to generate momentum, so theyre better isolation exercises. But most bodybuilders want to use a little body english in their rst move to help keep a set going. Think about how much resistance you can use on each of those four exercises; you should push the most weight by far on the standing barbell curl. D is the correct answer.
Whats the best exercise to do first in your workout? Test your iron IQ with these 3 challenging questions.
is considered the best mass builder for triceps?
1 which of these moves
After warming up,
After completing your warm-ups, which of these exercises should come rst in your workout if your goal is to pack size onto your chest?
A) PEC-DECK FLYE B) BODYWEIGHT DIP C) REVERSE-GRIP BENCH PRESS D) FLAT-BENCH DUMBBELL PRESS
There are lots of good exercises for building big biceps, but which is best for packing on mass and should be done before any others?
A) CONCENTRATION CURL B) PREACHER-CURL MACHINE C) SEATED DUMBBELL CURL D) STANDING BARBELL CURL
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Photos by Michael Touna / Tauseef Asri / Greg James Model Bill Geiger / IFBB Pro Brandon Curry / Steve Webb
FIRST SETWorldMags.net FACE OFF

Overhead Dumbbell Press
vs.
Overhead Barbell Press
Both moves work the shoulders, but which one is best at targeting the middle delts?
Overhead Dumbbell Press
ADVANTAGE
Both moves are multijoint in nature and typically done rst in your shoulder routine. More than two sets of joints work together, in this case the muscles that attach to the elbow and shoulder joints, so the triceps assist. In case you missed it above, dumbbells require the most coordination but also allow the most freedom. Because you keep your elbows out to your sides during standard overhead dumbbell presses, the emphasis remains primarily on the middle delts. In contrast, the standard overhead barbell press requires you to bring the bar in front of your face to your upper chest. If you follow the path of the elbows, youll notice that they travel a bit more forward, calling upon the front delts to a greater extent. So while you can move more weight with a barbell, the winner in the middle delt category is the dumbbell version. Be sure to do both in your routine to gain the unique benets of each.
Dumbbell Press
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Photos by Gregory James Model Victor Luna
Arguably the greatest benet of dumbbells is that they allow a greater range of motion than a barbell does. With that comes greater time under tension and recruitment of the traps, which act to raise the shoulder blades. Using dumbbells also summons more stabilizer muscles to perform the move. In other words, more total muscle bers are hard at work to perform the overhead dumbbell press. Most of the time this exercise is done seated, but you can also perform it standing, which allows you to go slightly heavier by using your lower body and core to a greater extent.
The overhead press is a great multijoint exercise that works all three delt heads. If you dont have a military bench, try to work inside a power rack where you can adjust the safeties up or down so that its easy to rack the bar at the end of each set. Take a wide, overhand grip on the bar each time and be sure to wrap your thumbs around it for safety. If youre new to this move or have relied mainly on dumbbells for your overhead presses, be aware that youll have to lean your head back slightly on each rep to get your chin out of the way of the bar. However, avoid leaning too far back because that could cause undue stress on your lower back and cervical
FIRST SETWorldMags.net BODYBUILDERS CHOICE
By Steven Stiefel
Pork Bacon
2 strips cooked
vs. Turkey Bacon

1 oz. (16 grams)
84 6 6
Calories Fat (grams) Protein (grams)
61 4.5 4.5
Calories Fat (grams) Protein (grams)
The food Nazis went after bacon and red meat many years ago, demonizing them. Since then, though, research has shown red meat can be healthful in moderation, especially grass-fed versions, which are much higher in omega-3 fats. Bacon was considered to be a bad food because of its fat, calorie and nitrate content. And, thus, turkey bacon was considered a healthful substitute for pork bacon. The question remains: Is turkey bacon a better choice than pork bacon? The short answer: maybe. It depends on what youre looking for in your breakfast meat. Com-
parable amounts of pork and turkey bacon (16 grams cooked of each) derive a similar proportion of their calories from protein and fat. Pork bacon gets a little more than 28% of calories from protein; turkey bacon gets 29%. Comparable servings of turkey bacon have 28% fewer calories than pork. Both products have nitrates, which are common in many processed meats and have been linked to cancer in lab animals. If youre consuming bacon for its avor, fewer calories may make turkey bacon the better choice, providing you consider the avor to be equal. However, at only 84 calories
WINNER: Turkey bacon
during cutting phases. Its a toss-up otherwise.
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Photos by Robert Reiff / Shutterstock
for two slices of pan-fried pork bacon, its not the gut-buster its been demonized to be. Perhaps more salient factors to consider are taste and sodium content, which vary from brand to brand. Both turkey and pork are available in low-sodium versions, although turkey tends to be lower. If youre trying to avoid nitrates, though, skip bacon altogether.
FIRST SETWorldMags.net MUSCLE MEALS

By Frank Hoffmann
Seared Pork With Roasted Sweet Potato Fries

IME PREP T s te 10 minu IME T K O CO tes u in m 30
INGREDIENTS
2 medium sweet potatoes 2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil 2 dashes sea salt 2 dashes black pepper 2 6-oz. pork chops
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 450F. Peel the sweet potatoes, cut in half lengthwise and then cut into thin wedges. Place the cut sweet potatoes into a bowl and add 1 tbsp. of olive oil and a dash each of salt and pepper; toss with your hands, coating each piece. Spread evenly onto a foil-lined baking sheet and bake for 2530 minutes, turning each piece after 15 minutes. After you turn over the sweet potatoes, season the pork chops with salt and pepper. Add olive oil to a pan preheated to medium-high, and sear the pork chops in the pan until done about 4 minutes on each side. Let pork rest for a few minutes before plating; serve with sweet potatoes and enjoy.
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION Serves 2; per serving

Photos by Maya Visnyei
Calories
561
49 g
Protein
24 g
Carbs
29 g
Fat
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FIRST SET FOOD PICKS WorldMags.net
By Matthew Kadey,MS,RD
Top 6 Seeds & Nuts

Jacked with vitamins, minerals and beneficial fats, here are 6 food picks bodybuilders would be nuts not to keep in their pantry at all times.
PISTACHIOS
Pistachios have an earthy avor that telegraphs their health benets. The green nut contains more blood pressure-lowering potassium than other types and is rich in phytosterols, compounds shown to chip away at high cholesterol numbers. Chop pistachios and toss them into cooked rice or quinoa.
BRAZIL NUTS
This giant of the nut world is natures best source of the antioxidant selenium. European scientists recently found that men with high blood selenium concentrations had improved blood sugar control, which lowers the chances of fat gain and diabetes. Roast Brazil nuts in the oven with spices for a stellar snack food.
CHIA SEEDS
SUNFLOWER SEEDS
Tossing a handful of shelled sunower seeds into your yogurt or oatmeal is a surere way to load up on vitamin E. A study published in the Journal of Physiological Sciences determined that subjects who consumed higher amounts of vitamin E experienced less oxidative stress and muscle damage in response to resistance exercise, an effect that could speed recovery.
Once famously hawked to the tune of ch-ch-chchia, tiny chia seeds are a ber powerhouse with six grams in each twotablespoon serving. By slowing down digestion and keeping you feeling full, a high-ber diet can prevent the hunger pangs that lead to ice cream gorges. Sprinkle them on your salads, cottage cheese, yogurt and oatmeal.
ALMONDS
Consider almonds muscle food as they contain more leucine, an essential amino acid that is particularly important at instigating muscle growth, than most other nuts. These crunchy nuts are also loaded with heart-healthy monounsaturated fat. Bolster your post-workout shake by blending in a handful of almonds.
PUMPKIN SEEDS
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Also called pepitas, these jack-o-lantern castoffs offer a smorgasbord of nutrients, including bone-strengthening vitamin K, testosterone-boosting zinc, and magnesium, an often-underconsumed mineral shown to improve blood sugar control. Try toasting them in a dry skillet and then tossing them onto your salads.
FIRST SET NUTRITION R&D WorldMags.net
Get Your Glutamine

This crucial amino acid provides multiple muscle-building benefits
It ghts catabolism and supports recovery.

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GREGORY JAMES
Lately, glutamine supplementation has taken a back seat to other amino acids or compounds such as creatine and arginine that provide noticeable benets almost instantly. But glutamine exists in the human body in greater amounts than any other amino, comprising up to 60% or more of free amino acids. Much of glutamines importance stems from the fact that it can be converted readily into other crucial aminos, so in essence, a dose of glutamine makes many other amino acids available for specic physiological needs. While supplementing with other aminos and compounds is benecial, glutamine should always be one of your basics for health and muscle building. Heres why:
When you train hard, your body enters a catabolic state in which it breaks down muscle tissue. Because your glutamine levels are depleted, your body needs to pull it from storage to help drive recovery and growth. Supplementing with glutamine before and after weight-training workouts saves your body much of this effort since it can almost immediately begin to use the
supplemental glutamine. This helps reduce the muscle breakdown that occurs to supply glutamine for other recovery needs. It boosts protein synthesis and anabolism. Besides pushing through a catabolic state brought on by intense training, you also want to encourage muscle protein synthesis. In an anabolic state,
GLUTAMINE SUPPLEMENTATION FOR NEW MUSCLE BUILDERS

Keep in mind that bodyweight is a factor in how much glutamine you need each day. This program is designed for a 180200-pounder who isnt taking glutamine now. Use this chart as a guideline for what you should take each day over a seven-week startup period.
WEEK 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
UPON RISING (g) 0 5 5 5 5 10 10
BEFORE WORKOUTS (g) 5 5 5 5 10 10 10
AFTER WORKOUTS (g) 5 5 5 10 10 10 10
BEFORE BED 0 0 5 5 5 5 10
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your body drives raw materials straight to your muscles, helping to create more muscle bers so that you continue to grow. Supplemental glutamine is one of the best ways to encourage muscle growth right after you nish training. It supports immunity. Glutamine also benets your immune system, helping you ght off infections and inammation, and reducing the impact of stressors on your body. Specically, glutamine reduces the impact of cortisol, a negative hormone thats generated by stressors including exercise. While you cant avoid cortisol release, the goal is to push through the period faster, reducing its ill effects on your body. This allows you to return to an anabolic (muscle growth) state. It improves your digestive system. A lesser-known fact is that glutamines immunity benets go beyond muscle building. The amino acid helps support overall health, including digestive repair. Every meal you eat causes wear and tear on the lining of your gastrointestinal system, and regular glutamine intake is one of the best ways to hasten repair. WHAT YOU CAN DO: Take 510 grams of glutamine up to four times a day. Ingesting up to 40 grams of glutamine daily may seem like a lot, but you can see benets at this level. Start with a smaller daily total of about 10 grams split over two doses preand post-workout. Add 5 grams per day each week until you hit a comfortable intake level.
By Steven Stiefel
Ginger Boosts Testosterone

The reputation of this root just keeps growing
Almost every guy who has ever watched Gilligans Island understands this on some level: Ginger raises testosterone and Mary Ann bakes a tasty pie. When you want to boost your T levels, you can eat gingery foods or take it as a supplement. Either way, itll make your Lovey Howell. Many animal studies have shown the testosteroneboosting effects of ginger intake, but a recent study performed in Tikrit, Iraq, may have been the rst human study to conrm these results. When married men with fertility issues were put on a ginger regimen, preliminary conclusions indicated that boosting ginger intake increased levels of luteinizing hormone, which is released from the pituitary gland and stimulates testosterone production. Although this study isnt conclusive, a body of research suggests that ginger supports testosterone production. Moreover, ginger provides multiple musclebuilding and health benets. Ginger is known as a digestive aid, helping to soothe the intestinal tract and reduce gas. It also provides anti-inammatory effects, crucial for those suffering from health problems or exercise-induced soreness, and it supports immunity by ghting off colds, u and even cancer. WHAT YOU CAN DO: Eat ginger, raw or pickled. Take in 100200 mg of Panax (American) ginseng with your nitric oxide boosters to enhance blood ow. Do both to cover your bases.
KAREN MAZE
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FIRST SET NUTRITION R&D WorldMags.net
Pick Piceatannol
Look for this resveratrol analog to appear in bodybuilding supplements
Thats Rich
A high-protein diet and multiple meals per day are effective for weight loss
Bodybuilders have known for decades that protein-rich nutrition plans not only help build muscle mass but also encourage the burning of bodyfat, depending on how many calories you consume. Along the same lines, a recent study reinforced long-held bodybuilding beliefs, including the benets of high-protein diets and multiple meals per day. Obese subjects who consumed diets rich in protein compared to comparable calorie intake lost more weight. Moreover, obese people who consumed the same amount of calories per day over six meals compared to three meals shed even more pounds. Conclusion: Bodybuilding nutrition programs are for everyone, including those who are extremely overweight. WHAT YOU CAN DO: Get in six meals a day, and make sure each meal contains at least 20 grams of protein while keeping calories moderate when you want to shed body fat.
One of the most controversial issues in sports supplementation has been the illegal use of erythropoietin (EPO). Ingesting outside sources of EPO, a glycoprotein hormone, boosts red blood cell production and ultimately increases oxygen delivery to muscle tissue. One way that athletes cheat is by withdrawing samples of their own blood, spinning out the liquid, then re-injecting the platelets at the time of performance to drive their exercise capacity. This procedure isnt illegal, but it is forbidden by many professional athletic associations. After all, theres plenty of reason to believe its medically benecial. Theres no doubt that increasing red blood cell production can boost athletic performance, and a lesser known supplement called piceatannol has been shown to help boost EPO production. Research demonstrates benets for those suffering from digestive issues like Crohns disease, and scientists have extrapolated these ndings to suggest athletic benets for endurance athletes in particular. Piceatannol is an analog of resveratrol, both of which come from black grapes. Supplemental piceatannol not only boosts endurance but also helps your body recomposition bodyfat levels, science speak that means it helps you lose bodyfat while gaining or maintaining muscle mass. While piceatannol is available from suppliers, its not yet readily available in bodybuilding supplements. WHAT YOU CAN DO: Keep your eyes peeled for piceatannol. Ask your favorite supplement company or point of distribution if they have any products that contain piceatannol.
Rice to the Occasion
How you can make the most of vegetarian proteins

Its typically thought that vegetarian forms of protein arent as effective as animal forms for building muscle mass. Thats often true whether youre considering whole-food or supplemental sources. But recent research shows that vegans dont have to go animal to get muscle-building results from their diets; they just need to add leucine. This crucial amino acid appears to be the limiting factor; its notoriously low in vegetable proteins but relatively high in animal sources. New data shows that adding leucine to rice protein helped make it as anabolic as animal-based supplemental proteins, including whey. While few serious bodybuilders are vegans, the takeaway message is this: Make sure you have plenty of supplemental leucine in your program to get the most from your protein consumption. WHAT YOU CAN DO: Add 6 grams of BCAAs to your vegetable protein. Most BCAA supplements contain a ratio of 2:1:1 of leucine:valine:isoleucine, which will give you the 3 grams of leucine you need to equal the anabolic effects of animal protein.
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SHUTTERSTOCK
FIRST SET ON SHELVES NOW WorldMags.net
Mesomorph from APS gets you jacked in every way

If your goal is to get the most out of your training, you need to jack yourself up before you hit the gym. Mesomorph from APS provides all the supplements you need to maximize energy, then backs this up by providing the raw materials your body needs for growth and repair after a great workout. The product contains a matrix designed for neuro stimulation. It includes methylxanthine anhydrous, also known as the dry form of caffeine, which research shows is superior for enhancing strength and energy. In addition, glucoronolactone an ergogenic chemical produced during glucose metabolism enhances physical performance while protecting the liver. Mesomorph also includes betaalanine and citrulline malate, amino acids that help drive better workouts and bigger muscle growth. Beta-alanine boosts strength and endurance during workouts, ultimately leading to greater hypertro-
phy. Citrulline malate is a form of the amino citrulline, which is known to enhance production of nitric oxide, the gas molecule that allows blood vessels to relax so more blood, oxygen and nutrients reach working muscles. Additional goodies include an
ample dose of creatine, agmatine sulfate and geranium oil extract, designed to help you power through your most challenging workouts. Regardless of what body type you were assigned genetically, Mesomorph can help you morph into the best, most muscular version of you.
Lose Your Inhibition, Gain Muscle

TOP PHOTO BY GREGORY JAMES; MODEL JACQUES VAN DER LINDE
Myo-X from MHP helps block myostatin to allow for greater growth
One of the limiting factors in human muscle growth is levels of myostatin, a naturally occurring protein that prevents muscles from expanding beyond a certain size. But now researchers at MHP have formulated Myo-X, a product that helps inhibit myostatin produc-
tion to provide greater potential for beastly muscle size. Myo-X relies on MyoT12, a proprietary formulation that contains 80 major proteins and hundreds of smaller peptides as well as growth factors that help modulate and inhibit myostatin activity. It includes fecunded G. gallus domesticus isolate, protein derived from fertile egg yolks. Clinical tests support Myo-Xs ability to suppress unwanted myo-
statin effects in all human subjects. In fact, the product can reduce myostatin levels by an average 46% in 12 to 18 hours after just one serving. Shutting down myostatins impact on lean muscle tissue accretion could dramatically increase your ability to build mass. While the benets are obvious to bodybuilders, they also extend to other athletes and even to older people seeking to add muscle tissue.
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THE INSIDE-OUT SPLIT

DAY
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
BODYPARTS TRAINED
Legs Chest, triceps, shoulders Back, biceps Rest Legs Chest, shoulders, triceps* Back, biceps*
STANDARD^
INSIDE-OUT PROGRESSION
To build super strength and muscle size, you need to work the secondary muscles that assist in the execution of the major lifts. Heres how to build power from the inside out for a stronger bench, squat, overhead press and bent-over row.
By Jimmy Pea, MS, CSCS | Photos of IFBB Pro Evgeny Mishin by Paul Buceta
Its written that a foolish man is he who builds his house upon the sand, where the winds and waves destroy it. The wise mans house, however, stands strong because hes built his upon the rock. The fact that youre reading this means youre into building stuff, but how do you hold up when the big weights come crashing down? When was the last time you tested the waters of strength? If you seem to have reached your limit, its probably time to fortify your foundation to nd out just how strong you can truly be. Nows your chance, so choose wisely. musclemag.com|DECEMBER 201337
^You can cater the rst three days of your week to
accommodate your current bodypart combinations and routine, keeping in mind the order of bodyparts youll work in days 57. *Optional: You can skip arm training in the second half of the week if so desired. Note: We suggest you test your strength and performance on four major lifts: 1) squat, 2) bentover row, 3) bench press and 4) overhead press. After the program, you can attempt the same exercises to test your newfound strength.
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THE INSIDE-OUT LEG PROGRAM
EXERCISE
Bulgarian Squat Squat Smith-Machine Squat Leg Extension Lying Leg Curl Standing Calf Raise
SETS
3 4 5 3 3 3
REPS
68 810 1012 1012 1012 25
REST
2 min. 2 min. 2 min. 12 min. 12 min. 12 min.
NEED-FOR-STABILITY RATING
HIGH Most stabilizer muscles required to complete lift. MODERATE Some stabilizers needed for exercise execution. MINIMAL Better for isolation; fewer stabilizers needed.
BULGARIAN SQUAT
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Most strength articles youll nd focus on a couple of important elements: load and rest. And you wont nd us in disagreement. Load (or intensity that is, choosing a weight that corresponds to your maximum lift strength) and proper rest periods are both crucial to the success of someone eagerly seeking great gains in strength. And those typical strongman articles rightly gravitate toward compound exercises and prime movers that dont rely so much on stabilizer muscles, since stabilizers limit the amount of force the big moves can create. Still no real argument here.
THE DEVIL YOU KNOW

However, thats exactly where this particular strength feature nds its independence. See, we want you to focus on the auxiliary muscles because they support the joints of the major muscle groups, and their ability or lack thereof could be the limiting factor in your own progress. Even if the muscles most responsible for a particular lift are strong and capable, the underlying and unseen structures that support the joints might not be able to keep up with what youre trying to lift. And when it comes to strength, sometimes the devil is in the inner details. If you know your weakness lies in stabilizer strength, then the devil you know beats the devil you dont. The most important detail in this strategy is the systematic order of exercises. Its the order of exercises for each muscle group that makes the greatest difference in progressive strength in both stabilizers and major lifts. The exercises in and of themselves are not earth-shattering or novel. But much like the correct numbers to a lock combination or a substrate to a chemical reaction, the order of exercises will trigger a response unlike any youve experienced. Each day, youll be training in a way that takes you from the exercises requiring the most stabilizer activity to those requiring the least. That way, as you move throughout the days program, as the synergistic muscles and stabilizers tire out, each new exercise you move on to will musclemag.com|DECEMBER 201339
SMITH-MACHINE SQUAT
BULGARIAN SQUAT
START POSITION: Stand erect, holding dumbbells atop your shoulders or hanging at your sides, with one foot raised behind you and resting atop a bench or step. MOVEMENT: Keeping your head neutral, abs tight and torso erect, bend at the knee and hips to slowly lower your body, until your front leg approaches 90 degrees. Press through your front heel to push your body up to the start position and repeat for reps. Give yourself a short rest and then repeat on the opposite leg.
SQUAT
START POSITION: Stand erect, holding a bar across your upper back, with your feet about shoulder-width apart, knees unlocked and your toes turned out slightly. MOVEMENT: Keeping your head neutral, abs tight and torso erect, bend at the knees and hips to slowly lower your body, as if you were going to sit down in a chair. Pause when your legs reach a 90-degree angle and then forcefully drive through your heels, extending at your hips and knees, until you return back to the standing position.
START POSITION: Stand inside a Smith machine with the bar across your upper back. Take a very wide stance. Keep your chest up and back at, eyes focused forward. MOVEMENT: With your abs tight, bend your knees and hips, as if sitting in a chair, until your thighs are parallel with the oor. Reverse motion by driving through your heels and pressing your hips forward to return to the start position.
SMITH-MACHINE SQUAT
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FLAT-BENCH DUMBBELL PRESS
THE INSIDE-OUT CHEST PROGRAM

EXERCISE
Flat-Bench Dumbbell Press Bench Press Smith-Machine Bench Press Incline Dumbbell Flye Smith-Machine Decline Press
SETS
3 4 5 3 3
REPS
68 810 1012 1012 1012
REST
2 min. 2 min. 2 min. 12 min. 12 min.
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require less stability (and thus less work on the part of those highly fatigued stabilizers) than the one before it. Youre basically working from the inside out, and by going deeper and training the smaller, intricate stabilizers rst, youll ultimately ensure progressive strength and size of the dominant muscles over the long term. On chest day, for example, you might go from a dumbbell move to a barbell move and then nish on the Smith machine. At the end of the day, youll have attacked the chest with exercises (using dumbbells primarily, then barbells) that tax the stabilizers of the joints responsible for working the chest, as well as with exercises (on the machine) that solely blast the chest without much stability. When you melt the benets of each exercise together over the course of four weeks, you can imagine how much stronger youll be. And your chest will look it. Big and strong isnt that what were all here for?
BENCH PRESS
STRONG TEMPTATION
You might be wondering whether were breaking a cardinal rule of training called specicity, which says that in order to gain strength in a particular lift, you have to perform that lift. Were absolutely not breaking the rule; were only enhancing the bodys ability to perform all major lifts. As youll see in each workout, the major lift is prominent, just strategically placed within each day. We realize that if you practice the leg press, for example, it wont necessarily translate to a better squat. However, if while you practice the squat you also attack unfamiliar muscles that are indirectly and directly related to your squat performance, then youll have the best of both worlds. You might also be curious as to whether were breaking our own rule that says to hit your major lifts early in your workout, when youre the most fresh. Again, no. This scheme isnt designed to replace your standard bodybuilding or strength-training plan; its meant to be a technical tool to be used in combination with your current routine. For the next four weeks, were going to have you training each major bodypart twice per week, following a three-day musclemag.com|DECEMBER 201341
SMITH-MACHINE BENCH PRESS
START POSITION: Lie faceup on the bench with your feet at on the oor. Hold a dumbbell in each hand just outside your shoulders. MOVEMENT: Powerfully press the dumbbells toward the ceiling and together, stopping when theyre an inch or so away from each other; then slowly return to the start and repeat.
BENCH PRESS
START POSITION: Lie faceup on a bench with your feet at on the oor. Grasp the barbell with an overhand grip that is slightly wider than shoulder width apart. MOVEMENT: Unrack the bar and slowly lower it toward your chest. Keep your wrists stacked directly above your elbows, and your elbows pointed out to your sides. When the bar just touches your chest, press back up explosively, driving the bar away from you until just short of lockout.
SMITH-MACHINE BENCH PRESS
START POSITION: Place a bench centered inside a Smith machine. Grasp the bar with a wide, overhand grip and rotate the bar to unrack it. MOVEMENT: Slowly lower the bar to your lower chest, pausing when the bar is just about an inch away from your pecs; then powerfully press the bar back up to full arm extension and repeat.
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THE INSIDE-OUT SHOULDER PROGRAM

EXERCISE
Seated Overhead Dumbbell Press Overhead Barbell Press Machine Overhead Press Dumbbell Lateral Raise Seated Bent-Over Lateral Raise
SETS
3 4 5 3 3
REPS
68 810 1012 12 12
REST
2 min. 2 min. 2 min. 12 min. 12 min.
OVERHEAD BARBELL PRESS
SEATED OVERHEAD DUMBBELL PRESS
OVERHEAD BARBELL PRESS
START POSITION: Sit erect on a lowback bench, holding a dumbbell in each hand above shoulder level with a pronated grip. Keep your head straight and eyes focused forward. MOVEMENT: Keeping your shoulders back, press the dumbbells overhead in an arc but dont let the weights touch at the top. Slowly lower to the start position and repeat.
START POSITION: Sit erect against the back-pad support at a shoulder-press station. Keep your lower back slightly arched and your feet at on the oor. Grasp the bar outside shoulder width with a prorated grip and with your elbows pointing down and outward. Carefully unrack the bar and hold it at shoulder level. MOVEMENT: In a smooth, strong motion, press the bar straight up to just short of elbow lockout. Squeeze your delts and then lower the bar under control to the start (i.e., front of head, but you can also do this behind the neck) and repeat for reps.
MACHINE OVERHEAD PRESS
START POSITION: Sit erect in the shoulder-press machine with your lower back rmly pressed into the pad. Keep your feet at on the oor. Grasp the handles at shoulder level, keeping your head neutral. MOVEMENT: Press the handles overhead to full arm extension, but dont lock out your elbows. Squeeze your delts hard for a count before slowly lowering to the start. Dont let the weight stack touch down between reps.
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split. The rst time you hit a bodypart, you can use your standard program; the second time you hit it that week, youll follow this inside-out approach. So lets go back to our chest example. On the rst chest day of the week, youll hit your typical routine, in which you begin with, say, incline barbell presses before moving onto at-bench dumbbell yes, decline presses and cable crossovers. Perfect. But on the second chest day, youll go from exercises requiring the most stabilizer assistance to those that require the least. The fact that youve never tried this will likely mean substantial increases in how much weight youll ultimately be able to lift after following this program for just a few weeks.
STRENGTH TO STAND
We realize that its not sexy and doesnt sell magazines, but we want it at the top of your mind: injury prevention and safety. Intentionally working to strengthen your stabilizer muscles will absolutely, positively help prevent injury over the course of your bodybuilding career. If most of us dedicated ourselves to this type of inside-out routine, there would be less nagging shoulder, elbow, hip and knee pain all culprits of both short- and long-term setbacks. Also, on the list of stabilizer muscles within this inside-out approach, the core musculature is near the top. Since the core is so involved with single-arm and other unstable exercises because of torque and required balance it also gets fatigued early in the workout before you move on to exercises that require less. Add a stronger core to the list of reasons why youll be much stronger on each lift you attempt at the end of the program especially on the major lifts. At the end of the day, the best way weve found to work the stabilizers is with dumbbells. So, for our inside-out approach, in the second half of the week, for each bodypart, youre going to be working rst with a dumbbell exercise, then with a barbell move and nishing with a machine move. Again, the reason we start with dumbbells is that dumbbell exercismusclemag.com|DECEMBER 201343
SEATED OVERHEAD DUMBBELL PRESS

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THE INSIDE-OUT BACK PROGRAM

EXERCISE
One-Arm Dumbbell Row Bent-Over Barbell Row T-Bar Row Straight-Arm Pulldown
SETS
3 4 5 4
REPS
68 810 1012 1215
REST
2 min. 2 min. 2 min. 12 min.
ONE-ARM DUMBBELL ROW
ONE-ARM DUMBBELL ROW BENT-OVER BARBELL ROW

START POSITION: Bend over at the waist and place one knee and the sameside hand on a at bench. Keep your other foot on the oor beside the bench and hold a dumbbell in your workingside hand. Let it hang straight down from your shoulder with your arm fully extended. MOVEMENT: Pull the weight up and back into your hip, keeping your elbow in close. Pull your elbow as high as you can, squeezing your shoulder blades together for a full contraction, and then lower the dumbbell along the same path down and forward. Repeat for reps; then switch arms.
START POSITION: Standing with your feet hip width apart, grasp a barbell with a wide, overhand grip. Keeping your knees slightly bent, lean forward at your waist until your torso is just above parallel to the oor. The barbell should hang straight down in front of your shins. MOVEMENT: Without rising up from this bent-over position, pull the barbell up toward your abdomen, bringing your elbows high and above the level of your back. Hold the bar in the peak-contracted position for a count and then slowly lower along the same path and repeat for reps.
T-BAR ROW
START POSITION: Lean against the pad with your torso and place your feet on the platform. With your arms fully extended, grasp the handles with an overhand grip. Wrap your thumbs around the bar for safety. Unrack the T-bar and allow it to hang in front of you. MOVEMENT: Pull the handles toward you, bringing your elbows as high as you can and squeezing your back muscles at the top before slowly lowering back to the start.
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es, which allow the greatest range of motion in all sorts of directions, require the stabilizers to work overtime to keep the bodypart on the right path of motion on each and every repetition. As you move on to the barbell move, that reliance on stabilizers decreases until you hit the machine, where you wont have to worry about balance or stability at all. How much weight you lift on each exercise (as a percentage of your max lift for each move) is referred to as the intensity, and on this program youll stair-step the weight, gradually decreasing it with each successive exercise. Thus, the heaviest sets will fall under those dumbbell exercises that allow a lot of freedom, which makes heavier weight even more challenging. Of course, the major target muscles are also highly at work, which is why, by the time you get to the machine moves, you can decrease the weight slightly, since theyll be somewhat prefatigued. Finally, weve focused our attention on the major bodyparts whose major lifts are the most crucial for overall strength. Its ne if you want to continue your standard training for bodyparts such as arms, traps and calves during the rst few days of the week, but keep in mind that you might want to modify the total number of sets and the intensity during the rst half of the week to accommodate the inside-out style later in the week. The inside-out workouts in the program for legs, chest, shoulders and back are designed for you to insert into your training split, specically, to build up your strength in the basic core lifts: squats, bench presses, overhead shoulder presses and bent-over rows. Youll also see that weve allowed you to train your biceps and triceps, but feel free to save those for the rst three days if you so desire. If youre not accustomed to training each bodypart twice a week, this will certainly be a shock, and the attention youll give your stabilizers will up the physiological ante. Ultimately, this program is a sound way to build strength and size, and it follows a logical progression, which is especially useful when other methods have come to a grinding halt or have failed. musclemag.com|DECEMBER 201345
T-BAR ROW BENT-OVER BARBELL ROW
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k e e W e 5 g n e l l a h C Ab
Your
ssively ck. e r g o r p workout and your six-pa r u o y g n by maki p your strength s pop. s b a o t ab r ab ng u Go from llenging, buildi thatll make you UL BUCETA a more ch ve-week plan OF ULISSES BY PA S PHOTO Heres a , MA |
L BY BIL GEIGE R
People tend to be creatures

of habit, meaning you probably do some things over and over again because they feel comfortable. Like eating regularly at a favorite restaurant, wearing a favorite tight-tting shirt on a date, or preparing the same breakfast every morning. While that may suit you ne and well in your daily life, when it comes to your workout especially when youre training abdominals its a sign of danger, at least so far as making progress is concerned. If youre like too many bodybuilders, your ab training consists of a few sets of crunches at the end of your training session. Do 20 repetitions, rest and repeat. The problem with that approach is that youre not challenging yourself. Compare that to how you once tried to keep pushing more weight on the bench press to test your upper body strength, constantly trying to add another ve or 10 pounds to
your lift. Do you take that same approach with abs? If youre not seeing results with your ab training, its time to put the progressive into progressive resistance. You may remember the fundamental principle of resistance training: To make a muscle grow bigger and stronger, you need to continually tax it with heavier loads or more repetitions as it grows stronger. Building a six-pack doesnt happen by accident unless youve got exceptional genetics; for the rest of us, it takes hard work, a carefully planned approach and proper manipulation of the training variables. This ve-week ab workout builds progression into both the resistance you use and the reps you complete for each set. If your abs have resisted getting bigger, stronger and more dened, its time to break out of that comfort zone, public enemy No. 1 if you want a washboard midsection.
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Heres a summary of the ve-week ab workout thatll take you from ab to abs.
YOUR AB PRESCRIPTION
The 5-Week Ab Workout

EXERCISE Hanging Knee Raise Lying Cable Crunch Decline-Bench Crunch Crunch SETS 3 3 3 3 REPS 10 10 20 20
The progressive ve-week program requires you to train your abs three times a week, resting at least 48 hours between ab-training sessions. That means you work abs on days 1, 3 and 5, or any other combination as long as youre not doing them on consecutive days. If you have a tendency to blow off your abs because youre tired after your regular workout, make ab training a priority for the next ve weeks and do them rst when your energy levels are highest. Theoretically, taxing your abs before an exercise like squats could adversely affect your leg workout, but unless youre pushing yourself with very heavy weights on leg day, its probably a minor concern.
Do the following ab workout three times a week, resting at least 48 hours between workouts. Do all four exercises each workout in the order presented below. Keep rest periods to 60 seconds between sets.
Choose versions of each move so that you can just reach the target rep. For example, if you can easily do the hanging knee raise, try a more difficult version that challenges you to do just 10 reps with good form. Do all three workouts this week for three sets for the target rep (either 10 or 20), resting only 60 seconds between sets.
WEEK 1
2 3
Do all four exercises each workout. The moves focus mainly on lower and upper abs, but you can make some adjustments to work the obliques as well. Follow the exercises in order because they start with the most-challenging moves, which are best done when your fatigue levels are lower.
During your rst workout of the second week, try to do an additional 12 reps on each set of every move. So instead of doing 10 reps of the hanging knee raise (or whichever version of that move youre doing), do 1112 reps on each set. Over the course of the six workouts for weeks 23, try to do 12 more reps on each set for each additional day. By the last workout of week three, you should be trying for at least 16 reps on each set of the hanging knee raise and lying cable crunch, and 26 for decline-bench crunches and at-bench crunches.
WEEKS 23
The key is to select the right variation of each move to reach the target rep. With the rst two moves you want to complete just 10 reps (both of which focus on building ab strength and thickening up the abdominal wall), so if theyre too easy you must increase the level of difculty. With the hanging knee raise, do this by straightening your legs (see under exercise descriptions for more advanced variations of each move); with the lying cable crunch, simply add more weight.
Increase the degree of difficulty of each exercise by one level (see under exercise descriptions). That means increasing the angle of the decline bench, straightening your legs with the hanging knee raise, adding two plates to the lying cable crunch, and choosing a more challenging body position with the at bench crunch. Start again doing three sets of all four moves for 10 reps, resting 60 seconds between sets. As during weeks 23, add 12 reps to each set of every exercise over the course of each of the six workouts during this two-week span. By the end of week ve, you should be doing about 15 reps of the more difficult variations of the lower-rep moves, and up to 25 reps of the more difficult variations of the higher-rep moves.
WEEKS 45
Continue to increase the level of difficulty of your ab moves while increasing the reps. If youre already near the most difficult variation of each ab move, reduce rest periods by 15 seconds to increase the level of difficulty.
WEEK 6 AND BEYOND
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Your
HANGING KNEE RAISE

Target: Lower abs Setup: Use ab straps to support
you beneath your elbows or hang freely from a pull-up bar.
Start: With a wide overhand

grip, hang at arms length, bending your knees about 90 degrees and locking them in this position for the duration of the set. Your hips should be slightly bent at the bottom.
Movement: Without swinging

your body, contract your abs to bring your knees at least to the point at which your quads are parallel to the floor (your lower glutes should curl up) and lower under control. Come to a full stop at the bottom so youre not generating momentum as you go into your next rep.
Make It Harder: Bring your knees as high as you

can, curling your lower spine up at the bottom and more effectively recruiting your lower abs.
Keep your legs straight throughout each rep. Hold a medicine ball between your straightened feet for the duration of the set.
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The other two exercises are both done for higher reps (to help increase the muscle burn, build muscle endurance and increase the total calories burned, which can help improve muscle denition); still, you need to select exercise variations so that you can complete just the target number of reps (20). During the rst week, do three sets of all exercises for the target rep (10 or 20) on all training days. Rest periods should be timed at 60 seconds consistently between sets. The abdominals are a fairly small muscle group that recover quickly and dont require the same amount of time between sets as larger bodyparts like chest or legs. In addition, you dont want them to be quite fully recovered as you begin your next set. Individual rest times may vary and you can increase or decrease that interval, but realize recovery has an affect on your ability to complete the number of reps on subsequent sets.
For each workout during weeks 23, strive to do 12 more reps on each set of each exercise than you did the previous workout. So for the rst workout of the second week starting with hanging knee raises, try to do 1112 reps each set; same with the lying cable crunch. Do 2122 reps for the other two exercises. On your next workout, try to do 12 more reps on each set of each move and so on for the duration of the two-week span.
LYING CABLE CRUNCH

Target: Upper abs Setup: Place a flat bench
directly in front of a lower cable with a rope attached. by your ears and locking your arms in this position for the duration of the set. shoulder blades completely resting on the bench between reps.
When starting week 4, choose a more advanced variation of each move, again starting back at 10 reps. Over the course of the next ve workouts during weeks 45, try to increase your rep count on each exercise by 12 reps for each set of every exercise from the previ-
Movement: Contract your

abs to curl up as high as you can, trying to get your shoulder blades as far off the bench as possible and squeezing your abs at the top. Lower just short of your
Start: Lie face-up on the

bench with your knees bent and feet flat on the bench. Grasp the rope with a neutral grip, placing your hands
Make It Harder: Add more plates to

increase the resistance; you can do this many times to continue increasing the level of dificulty.
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Your
DECLINE-BENCH CRUNCH
Target: Upper abs Setup: Set the appropriate bench angle to match your level of ability and the rep range you want to train in. Start: Sit squarely on the bench, feet secured under the ankle pads. Cup
your hands behind your head to support it and go back (roughly two-thirds of the way down), making sure your chin isnt pressed into your chest.
Movement: Contract your abs to rise as high as you can to a point just short of perpendicular to the floor, trying not to pull through your hip flexors (quads) on your way up. Round your back on the way up to increase the abdominal contraction. Lower under control but dont allow your shoulder blades to touch the pad. Make It Harder: Use a steeper decline. Hold a weight plate against your chest or behind your head. Use a steeper decline and hold a weight plate against your chest or head.
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ous workout. By the end of your last workout on week 5, you should be trying to do at least 15 reps of your lower-rep moves (hanging knee raise and lying cable crunch) and 25 reps on your higher-rep moves (decline bench crunch and crunch). If even the most advanced variations of each move are too easy and you have no trouble reaching the target rep, reduce your between-sets rest period by 15 seconds (so its 45 seconds). Reducing your rest period is another way to increase the intensity of your workout. Write it down. Youll likely forget the weights you used, the degree of difculty and the number of reps, so youre going to forget the important variables from previous workouts. Write down what youve done so that you can check back and make sure you try to beat it your next workout. While progression is the key that drives this ve-week program, it would be a mistake to think thats all you need to build washboard abs. Youll want to pay particular attention to your diet watching carb and fat intake, monitoring your total calories and following a smart supplementation program while including cardio four times a week for 30-minute sessions to help strip the bodyfat. Only through a combination of cardio and ab-training exercises as well as a smart diet can you truly bring out your ripped six-pack.
10 11
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Your
CRUNCH
Target: Upper abs Setup: Place a flat bench in an
open space.
Start: Lie squarely on the bench

with your feet flat and knees bent about 60 degrees. Cup your head with your fingers dont pull on it.
Movement: Contract your abs to

raise your shoulder blades off the bench the range of motion is just a few inches. Squeeze at the top and slowly lower to just short of resting back against the bench.
Make It Harder: Raise your legs so theyre perpendicular to the bench, causing your lower abs to contract isometrically. With your legs raised, reach as if to touch your toes. If you do this to alternate sides, youll also work your obliques. With your legs raised, hold a small weight plate against your chest to increase the resistance on your upper abs.
8 Keys to More Effective Ab Training 1) 4) 7)

The range of motion is fairly small in many abdominal moves. Bringing your shoulder blades off the oor in the basic crunch, for example, works the abs through a full range of motion; you dont need to rise as you would in a full sit-up, which doesnt result in additional contraction or stimulation of the abs. Use a smooth, deliberate speed of movement. Use a slow, strict motion, which helps increase the intensity of the contraction and minimizes momentum. Momentum comes from using fast, explosive motions, and it reduces the quality of your workout because your abs are doing less work. Youll also be more susceptible to injury.
Hold the peak contraction at the top of the movement. Consciously squeeze and focus on momentarily holding the fully contracted position at the top of each rep; youll work your abdominals harder and be less inclined to race through your reps.
2)
5)
3)
Keep your head in line with your torso. When grasping your head to support it, dont interlock your hands; youll be more likely to pull on your head and disrupt spinal alignment. Lightly cup your ngers behind your head to support it dont pull on it. There should be about enough space for an apple between your chin and your chest.
Exhale at the top of the move. Hold your breath until youve reached the top of the move (the peak-contracted position) for a stronger, more intense contraction. Exhaling early reduces intra-abdominal pressure, so you wont be able to contract your abs as strongly.
Maintain constant tension throughout the set. The ab muscles recover extremely quickly, so if you rest between reps, even if for only a second, youll nd it difficult to adequately fatigue the muscle. Maintain constant tension by stopping just short of the resting point during the downward phase of the movement. For many movements, this means keeping your shoulder blades off the oor as best as possible.
8)
Make sure the movement is restricted to the waist. During most upper and lower abdominal movements, your spine exes (meaning your lower back actually rounds), so dont keep your lower back arched during the movement. Other joints should be stabilized so that the action occurs only at the waist.
6)
Take dened rest periods of about a minute between sets. After you complete your set, rest about 60 seconds to allow your abs to recover so you can complete your next set. If you start too early, theyll still be fatigued and you wont reach your target rep. In general, beginners should take a little longer rest between sets, as should individuals who are training to build maximal ab strength.
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Read it again: You can do two times more reps with a given heavy weight if you follow the restpause technique. Nows your chance to make muscle and strength gains like never before.
Photos of Lionel Brown by Gregory James
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If youre handy good with tools then you know full well how a new drill bit feels when tackling a tough job. Old bits are worn, smooth and just cant cut it, to say nothing of breaking through the wall. But after you make the switch, breakthrough comes easy. And if youve hit a wall when it comes to your muscle growth, then
its time to drop the old bit, because we have just the tool you need to break through. If youve never tried the rest-pause technique, youre about to discover the cutting edge when it comes to adding size onto your frame. Whether your aim is to bust through plateaus, push yourself to new limits or simply jump-start a stale routine, rest-pause is a proven place to start rebuilding your muscle. that you can do for just six reps (called a 6RM), and you tackle the set and fail at six. Nothing fancy there. But with rest-pause, its an entirely different situation. Take that same 6RM for example. After a thorough warm-up, you start your set of six, but when you hit three reps, you actually rack the weight and rest for a few seconds. Then you pick the weight up again to do three more reps. You string together multiple three-rep sets with very short rest periods. Thats it in a nutshell. The most important mental hurdle that most bodybuilders need to get over is that its not about getting as many reps as possible with a given weight, nor is it about achieving absolute failure on every set.
NUTS AND BOLTS

To start, understand this: The rest-pause technique is an advanced training scheme that builds extremely short rest periods between reps or blocks of reps. You can even think of them as mini sets if it helps you wrap your mind around the concept. As youll see, this tactic allows you to complete more total reps many more with a heavier weight than you could have accomplished using a straightsets approach. First of all, a straight set is exactly that: straight. You choose a weight, say a weight
TOUGH HABITS
We know habits are tough to break, which is why this technique helps you bust through barriers. But in truth, its all about the work the amount of force being applied to the muscle during a given time. The greater the force your muscle can produce, the more stimulus musclemag.com|DECEMBER 201355
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DOUBLE YOUR REPS, DOUBLE THE MUSCLE WorldMags.net

the muscle receives and the greater your ability to break through size plateaus. Diving deeper inside the muscle cell is really where we nd the justication for stopping short of failure and resting a few seconds. First and foremost, its all about replenishing adenosine triphosphate, or ATP; its the energy you use to perform any and every activity in your workout. You have some stored ATP inside your muscle cells, but as that source runs out, you lean on three energy systems to replenish it. When you start a heavy set, you rely primarily on creatine phosphate (CP) to restore ATP, and for that reason, CP is labeled as the primary energy source stored in skeletal muscle that fuels short, powerful bursts of activity. CP depletes rapidly, but fortunately it also replenishes rapidly, usually in 1020 seconds. So to capitalize on this process, the rest-pause method has you selecting a weight that causes muscle failure at, for example, six reps, but you perform only three before taking 1520 seconds of rest. You then get right back in and do another three reps. You continue this rest/work sequence until you cant perform even a couple of reps with that particular weight.
USING REST-PAUSE IN YOUR WORKOUT

DAY 1 ARMS
BICEPS EXERCISE Barbell Curl LOAD 5RM 7RM 10RM 5RM 7RM 10RM 5RM 7RM 10RM 5RM 7RM 10RM LOAD 5RM 7RM 10RM 5RM 7RM 10RM 10RM 10RM LOAD 5RM 7RM 10RM 5RM 7RM 10RM 5RM 7RM 10RM 5RM 7RM 10RM 5RM 7RM 10RM LOAD 5RM 7RM 10RM 5RM 7RM 10RM 10RM SETS 31 2 1 3 2 1 31 2 1 3 2 1 SETS 31 2 1 3 2 1 1 1 SETS 31 2 1 3 2 1 3 2 1 31 2 1 3 2 1 SETS 31 2 1 3 2 1 2 REPS/REST2 (SECONDS) 2/10, 2/11, 2/12, 2/13, 2/14, 2 3/11, 3/12, 3/13, 3/14, 3/15, 3 5/15, 5/16, 5/17, 5/18, 5/19, 5 2/10, 2/11, 2/12, 2/13, 2/14, 2 3/11, 3/12, 3/13, 3/14, 3/15, 3 5/15, 5/16, 5/17, 5/18, 5/19, 5 2/10, 2/11, 2/12, 2/13, 2/14, 2 3/11, 3/12, 3/13, 3/14, 3/15, 3 5/15, 5/16, 5/17, 5/18, 5/19, 5 2/10, 2/11, 2/12, 2/13, 2/14, 2 3/11, 3/12, 3/13, 3/14, 3/15, 3 5/15, 5/16, 5/17, 5/18, 5/19, 5 REPS/REST2 (SECONDS) 2/10, 2/11, 2/12, 2/13, 2/14, 2 3/11, 3/12, 3/13, 3/14, 3/15, 3 5/15, 5/16, 5/17, 5/18, 5/19, 5 2/10, 2/11, 2/12, 2/13, 2/14, 2 3/11, 3/12, 3/13, 3/14, 3/15, 3 5/15, 5/16, 5/17, 5/18, 5/19, 5 5/15, 5/16, 5/17, 5/18, 5/19, 5 5/15, 5/16, 5/17, 5/18, 5/19, 5 REPS/REST2 (SECONDS) 2/10, 2/11, 2/12, 2/13, 2/14, 2 3/11, 3/12, 3/13, 3/14, 3/15, 3 5/15, 5/16, 5/17, 5/18, 5/19, 5 2/10, 2/11, 2/12, 2/13, 2/14, 2 3/11, 3/12, 3/13, 3/14, 3/15, 3 5/15, 5/16, 5/17, 5/18, 5/19, 5 2/10, 2/11, 2/12, 2/13, 2/14, 2 3/11, 3/12, 3/13, 3/14, 3/15, 3 5/15, 5/16, 5/17, 5/18, 5/19, 5 2/10, 2/11, 2/12, 2/13, 2/14, 2 3/11, 3/12, 3/13, 3/14, 3/15, 3 5/15, 5/16, 5/17, 5/18, 5/19, 5 2/10, 2/11, 2/12, 2/13, 2/14, 2 3/11, 3/12, 3/13, 3/14, 3/15, 3 5/15, 5/16, 5/17, 5/18, 5/19, 5 REPS/REST2 (SECONDS) 2/10, 2/11, 2/12, 2/13, 2/14, 2 3/11, 3/12, 3/13, 3/14, 3/15, 3 5/15, 5/16, 5/17, 5/18, 5/19, 5 2/10, 2/11, 2/12, 2/13, 2/14, 2 3/11, 3/12, 3/13, 3/14, 3/15, 3 5/15, 5/16, 5/17, 5/18, 5/19, 5 5/15, 5/16, 5/17, 5/18, 5/19, 5
Preacher Curl
TRICEPS Close-Grip Bench Press
Overhead Rope Cable Extension
DAY 2 LEGS
EXERCISE Smith-Machine Squat
Leg Press
Leg Extension Lying Leg Curl EXERCISE Incline Bench Press
DAY 4 CHEST + SHOULDERS
MORE WORK
When you add those reps together, you realize that you did more work with more weight than you ever could accomplish had you not stopped to rest briey throughout the set. Put some actual numbers to it and its eye opening! Think of your accomplishment strictly in terms of total pounds lifted per exercise. Muscle growth is the result of cumulative work, correct? Therefore if youre normally benching 225 to failure for four sets of six reps, thats 5,400 pounds worth of reps. If you apply the rest-pause technique and do 200 pounds for three reps, six times for two sets total, youve moved 7,200 pounds. Thats an additional 1,800 pounds of muscle-building work that results in bigger, fuller, thicker muscle bellies from head to toe. Unmistakably, the crowning achievement of employing restpause training is that youll have lifted
Hammer-Strength Chest Press
Smith-Machine Decline Press
Smith-Machine Upright Row
DAY 5 BACK
EXERCISE Bent-Over Barbell Row
Wide-Grip Seated Cable Row
Front Lat Pulldown

1 2
Doesnt include 12 warm-up sets. Never take warm-up sets to muscle failure. Rest 23 minutes between each change in the working RM or change in exercise.
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Pause or Play?
Use rest-pause with any exercise that easily allows the weight to be moved into the start position, and avoid those movements where its overly difficult to rack and unrack your weights. For example, the overhead dumbbell press takes a lot more effort in the set-up than the machine overhead press. In addition, unilateral movements, such as concentration curls and one-arm dumbbell rows, dont work unless you do all the reps for one side before switching sides. Heres a quick guide when selecting the best exercises for rest-pause:
MUSCLE GROUP Biceps Triceps Legs Chest Shoulders Back DO Standing Cable Curl Pressdown Hack Squat Pec-Deck Flye Hammer-Strength Shoulder Press T-Bar Row AVOID Spider Curl Weighted Bench Dip Front Squat Flat-Bench Dumbbell Press Seated Overhead Dumbbell Press Prone Incline Dumbbell Row
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more total pounds in a given set simply by mixing in these short and cogent rest periods. And thats how it helps destroy plateaus: muscle damage. The greater your ability to cause muscle damage, the higher your chances of continuous changes in size. However, the more experienced you are, the more difcult it becomes to trigger growth because your body has adapted to the stresses you apply to it from one week to the next. Thats how rest-pause can be so refreshing. Even for the most experienced bodybuilders, utilizing this tactic can feel like youve uncovered the holy grail of growth. In addition, the more work you perform at a given weight, the greater your chances of swelling the muscle bers. The ber swelling that comes from muscle damage
can also encourage muscle growth. When a muscle cell lls with uid, it places a stretch on the muscle cell membrane. This stretch signals the cell to increase the size of its structure permanently.
TOOL BOX
Now that you have the concept down, be sure to understand that there are a few important cogs in the system, none as important as the amount of rest you take. You dont want to rest so long that you waste time, but if you dont rest long enough, you wont replenish enough CP to get you through as many reps as possible. A safe spectrum is 1020 seconds. The work-to-rest ratio is paramount, so either wear a cheap watch or keep an eye on the clock to make sure you stay on track. You may even consider using a
journal to help you remember what you did in previous workouts so that you can make necessary adjustments. As critical as taking precise rest periods is selecting the ideal amount of weight for each set. If you go too light, you risk working the muscle aerobically with no sufficient amount of force. If you go too heavy, you may not get enough volume. So there will be some trial and error as you embark on the rest-pause technique. Its helpful to know your 3, 5, 7 and even 10RM. (If you dont, its easy to compute; see Determining Your Weights.) The goal for your sets in the program weve developed will be to repeat the work/rest sequence ve times before giving yourself a full 23 minutes of rest. Remember, all those segments constitute just one set; youll do multiple such sets over the course of your workout.
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Can Strength Trainers Use Rest-Pause?
If your focus is on strength training rather than building muscle, thats no reason to fear occasionally trying the rest-pause tactic. Whats clear is that a bigger muscle has more strength potential than a smaller one, but most strength athletes tend to rest three minutes between lifts of low reps. The fact that rest-pause allows for very little rest goes against the strength grain. However, as youve seen, recovery time is all about the replenishment of ATP (the energy currency in all cells). Reps of 16 rely mostly on the stored ATP in the muscle bers, which is replenished relatively quickly by the creatine-phosphate system. Sets of 10 or more reps use even more creatine phosphate but also rely on muscle glycogen, and that takes the longest of the three to replenish. So if youre a strength-focused athlete, and if reps 16 rely mostly on stored ATP, which replenishes extremely quickly, why do you rest so long between those heavy sets? In fact, researchers from the University of Memphis studied squats at 1RM, with varying rest periods. They had 17 weightlifters do two one-rep max (1RM) sets of squats with either one minute, three minutes or ve minutes of rest between sets. After resting just one minute between sets, 13 of the 17 lifters were able to lift their max weight again on the second set. After resting three minutes, 16 of 17 were able to complete the second set, and after ve minutes, 15 of 17 were successful. In summary, even as little as one minute of rest was ample for 13 out of 17 lifters to complete the second set. This study appears to indicate that resting longer than three minutes isnt as productive as resting exactly three. In short, the rest-pause technique can help you become even more efficient within the strength-specic rep ranges at recruiting the powerful CP to replenish ATP. If you can recruit those powerful muscle bers with less rest time, imagine how strong youll feel when you do rest your customary three minutes between lifts. Of note, if you train for strength, the research is clear that strength is hindered when you take each set to muscle failure, but taking only your last set to failure is the best scenario. The restpause technique ts nicely into that wheelhouse, because you dont take those heavy sets to absolute failure, but rather stop long before that point of fatigue. Both the efficiency with rest and the limited failure points will help you promote strength gains.
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Heres how to include the rest-pause technique in your workout with this sample exercise:
LEG PRESS
LOAD SETS REPS/REST (SECONDS)
5RM 7RM 10RM
3 2 1
2/10, 2/11, 2/12, 2/13, 2/14, 2 3/11, 3/12, 3/13, 3/14, 3/15, 3 5/15, 5/16, 5/17, 5/18, 5/19, 5
So on the rst set of the leg press, youll select a weight that would normally allow you to fail at ve reps, but youre going to do only two reps before resting 10 seconds. After 10 seconds, do another two reps before resting 11 seconds, so on and so forth. Youll link ve such two-rep segments for a total of 10 reps with your 5RM and thats your rst set of three. (Remember, take a longer 23-minute rest before beginning your next set or exercise.) Whats evident is that its impossible to fully recover between blocks of reps, but adding another second of rest will prove marginally benecial throughout the exercise. And because youre not going to complete failure, your form is almost guaranteed to be solid throughout the exercise, meaning proper muscle recruitment from start to nish. In the above example, also notice that the heavier the weight, the shorter the rest. The lighter you go, the more reps you perform and the more rest you need between them.
Determining Your Weights

REPS: 1 100% 2 95% 3 93% 4 90% 5 87%
Use this simple calculation to estimate your weights for rest-pause training.
ESTIMATED REPS AT PERCENT OF ONE-REPETITION MAXIMUM
6 85%
7 83%
8 80%
9 77%
10 75%
11 67%
12 65%
Use the chart above to compute your max weight on a given exercise, and then estimate your working weight when youre required to use a 5, 7 or 10RM. If you know your 1RM (your max weight on a given movement using good form without help for one and only one rep) you
can skip the rst step. 1) Determine how many total clean reps you can do with a given movement with a given weight. Say you can do four reps on the bench press with 225 pounds. Four corresponds to 90% of your 1RM. Hence your one-rep max would be computed by dividing
225 by 0.9, which equals 250 pounds. Thats your estimated max bench press (1RM). 2) The program requires that you choose weights that correspond to your 5, 7 and 10RM. For your 5RM, choose a weight of 87% of 250 pounds, or a working weight of 217.5 pounds.
You can round up or down a few pounds. On your 7RM sets, use 207.5 pounds (83% of 250) and on your 10RM use 187.5 pounds (75% of 250). These are the approximate weights you should be doing on your working sets.
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The most important mental hurdle that most bodybuilders need to get over is that its not about getting as many reps as possible with a given weight, nor is it about achieving absolute failure on every set.
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By Mike Carlson
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ISAAC HINDS
MMI uncovers the truth about the popular ancestral Paleo diet and how it can keep your muscle gains from going extinct
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Think of all the medical advances of the last 100 years:

X-rays, MRIs, articial joints, arthroscopic surgery, all things that can help you live a longer, more active life. Now think of the nutrition inventions: high-fructose corn syrup, partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, articial colors, preservatives. It quickly becomes obvious that Nobel Prize-winning, lifesaving interventions Paleo is about getting back to basics have barely kept pace with the healthin terms of all the stuff that destroying strides that the commercial has crept into the North food manufacturers and fast-food American diet over the years. Its marketers have made. about cutting out all the foods that This is a primary reason why the dont come naturally from the Paleo diet has exploded in popuearth or from an animal. Its fruits, larity over the past few years. vegetables, nuts, seeds and While skeptics like to cast Paleo adanimal protein. If it comes in a box or a package, herents as simple-minded barbarians dont eat it. who like to eat bacon at every meal (that statement is only half true), Paleostyle eating is as much about what it rejects as it is about what it embraces. Paleo is about getting back to basics in terms of all the stuff that has crept into the North American diet over the years, says Kristen Bell, a registered dietitian and certied sports nutrition adviser who has a private practice in West Los Angeles. Its about cutting out all the foods that dont come naturally from the earth or from an animal. Its fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and animal protein. If it comes in a box or package, dont eat it. The CrossFit community has unofficially adopted Paleo as the nutrition program that goes hand in hand with its brand of functional tness. But many of those success stories are from people who needed to lose weight to do the rope climbs, pull-ups and handstand push-ups
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LEFT:SHUTTERSTOCK; RIGHT: ROBERT REIFF
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The Higher Cost of Organic
Buying organic foods on the Paleo diet is clearly more expensive, so you need to weigh the cost against the benets. Heres a sample basket of foods showing the difference in average prices.
PRODUCT Milk Ground Beef Eggs Chicken Breast Lettuce Salad Mix Spinach Tomatoes Strawberries Bananas Apples AVG. PRICE NONORGANIC (USD) 2.28/half gallon 3.58/lb. 1.35/dozen 3.46/lb. 1.78/head 3.85/lb. 4.44/lb. 2.82/lb. 3.23/lb. 0.57/lb. 1.57/lb. AVG. PRICE ORGANIC (USD) 4.43/half gallon1 8.39/lb.1 3.99/dozen2 5.07/lb.2 3.54/head 8.14/lb. 8.59/lb. 4.05/lb. 5.14/lb. 0.89/lb. 2.34/lb.
1 Refers to grass-fed cattle. 2 Refers to free-range poultry. Source: USDA Economic Research Service calculations using Nielsen Homescan data.
that are part of daily workouts. The fact is that there are almost no CrossFit Games competitors who follow a strict Paleo diet. Their need to build and maintain strength and muscle mass, as well as fuel longer and more frequent workouts, represent a greater nutritional demand than Paleo can fulll. I nd that people who have more fat mass and need to lose 2030 pounds usually have the most success with pure Paleo, says Bell. Petite women, who may have only 5 pounds to lose, see a pretty positive response to it. But for men who want to gain muscle, its harder for them to do that eating 100% Paleo. Strict Paleo hasnt been associated with the bodybuilding crowd because Paleo eliminates cereal grains (wheat, corn, rice) from the diet, and sugar is strictly forbidden. That means the limited amount of simple and complex carbohydrates keeps your level of insulin, a highly anabolic hormone, fairly low. Still, Paleo has a lot to offer those interested in hypertrophy. Its bedrock of organic produce, grass-fed meats and pastured poultry and eggs can vastly improve the nutrient levels and fat proles in a diet, leading to less inammation, faster recovery and a reduction in bodyfat. Changing the quality of your food is huge, says Bell. People feel better knowing they ate foods from a farmers market and organic choices as opposed to going to the supermarket. When people start to eat higher-quality meats and vegetables, the body will break it down much more efficiently and be exposed to fewer chemicals and hormones. By incorporating the tenets of Paleo with some smart choices concerning your carbs, you can put together a bodybuilder-friendly program that promotes muscle building along with overall health and wellness. Its a strategy that speaks to short-term physique goals as well as the bigger picture. Every seven years our body regenerates every single cell, so that means every organ is 100% replaced, says Bell. So what youre eating right now determines how youre going to be in the future. With musclemag.com|DECEMBER 201365
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How to Shop Smart
Organic. Pastured. Free range. All natural. Local. These are phrases to look for in the supermarket. Unfortunately these terms often translate into expensive. The Environmental Working Group, a leading environmental health research and advocacy organization, has come up with a list that can help you get the cleanest food for your funds. The Dirty Dozen are foods that tend to have the highest pesticide contamination, and whose organic varieties are thus worth the extra money to buy. The Clean 15 are the lowest in contaminants, so conventionally farmed versions are safe to consume.
The Dirty Dozen

(Buy Organic)
that in mind, do you want to eat highquality organic foods or the cheap stuff? mostly bereft of nutrients and should be avoided by those looking to drop fat, is reasonably well-tolerated by many. Young hardgainers can use steamed white rice as an effective carb source in their quest to build muscle. Wheat, on the other hand, is best left alone by almost everyone. Thanks to genetically modied strains of wheat crops, gluten levels in breads and wheat products have skyrocketed over the past few years, contributing to an epidemic of gluten sensitivity. According to the National Institutes of Health, 510% of the population has some form of intolerance to gluten, a type of protein thats found in wheat, barley and rye. Most people dont match well with wheat, and its getting worse because its more hybridized and contains more gluten than ever, says Stu White, co-owner of BodyWork Lifestyle, a personal-training and nutrition consulting rm in Huntington Beach, CA. It can give you an immune reaction that makes you sluggish and tired. The last thing you want to be doing is eating foods that make you lethargic and burpy. For the last few years, the darling of
1. Apples 2. Celery 3. Sweet bell peppers 4. Peaches 5. Strawberries 6. Nectarines (imported) 7. Grapes 8. Spinach 9. Lettuce 10. Cucumbers 11. Blueberries (domestic) 12. Potatoes
RULE 1 BEAT THE WHEAT

Those who experience the greatest bodytransforming success on a Paleo program tend to react positively to the elimination of allergenic foods from their diet, namely, corn, rice, legumes and especially wheat. Even though these foods come from nature, they require a signicant amount of processing and cooking to make them edible. You cant pick a stalk of wheat and start chomping away the way you can with, say, blueberries. Grains and legumes contain lectins, phytates and gluten, substances Paleo devotees say can inhibit mineral uptake and irritate the stomach lining to the point that it becomes permeable, which initiates the inammation process. This can be the cause of bloating and discomfort (which makes a workout tough on everybody) that when left unchecked may eventually lead to autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. Not all grains are created equal. White rice, while a high-glycemic carb thats
The Clean 15
(Buy Organic or Conventional)
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SHUTTERSTOCK
1. Onions 2. Sweet corn 3. Pineapples 4. Avocado 5. Cabbage 6. Sweet peas 7. Asparagus 8. Mangoes 9. Eggplant 10. Kiwi 11. Cantaloupe (domestic) 12. Sweet potatoes 13. Grapefruit 14. Watermelon 15. Mushrooms
WorldMags.net Paleo Adaptations for Bodybuilders

For the Hardgainer
THE HARDGAINER Naturally slender guys with fast metabolisms will need to take the most liberties with a strict Paleo program and add substantially more carbs including more starchy carbs to their daily meals. Eliminating wheat and other grains will improve digestive efficiency, so consuming the necessary calories wont amount to gas and bloating. (Based on the caloric needs of a 180-pound bodybuilder.)
BREAKFAST MIDMORNING LUNCH PREWORKOUT POST-WORKOUT 6 free-range eggs, 2/3 cup oatmeal mixed with almonds and dried cranberries 4 oz. bison jerky (or grass-fed beef jerky), handful of strawberries or blueberries 9 oz. baked chicken breast (with skin on), 1 large sweet potato and asparagus Small apple with 2 tbsp. almond butter Protein shake with 1 1/2 cups coconut water, 2 tbsp. raw cocoa, 2 oz. organic spinach, 2 oz. organic kale, 1/2 avocado, 1 oz. organic raspberries, 1 oz. whole cranberries, 2 scoops whey protein powder, 1 scoop greens drink mix (optional) 9 oz. wild-caught salmon llet, 2/3 cup quinoa, 3 cups steamed broccoli 3,240 calories, 244 g carbs, 264 g protein, 117 g fat, 70 g ber
DINNER DAILY TOTALS
For Building Muscle and Health

For anyone who has achieved desirable levels of muscle mass and bodyfat, a balanced, slightly adapted Paleo program can still provide a slew of benets. The nutrient density on this diet will be much higher than on a conventional bodybuilding plan, the fat sources will improve joint health and minimize inammation, and less exposure to pesticides and genetically modied foods will provide health and physique benets that are still being quantied. (Based on the caloric needs of a 180-pound bodybuilder.)
BREAKFAST MIDMORNING LUNCH PREWORKOUT POST-WORKOUT 4 free-range hard-boiled eggs, berries, a few macadamia nuts 4 oz. bison jerky (or grass-fed beef jerky), handful of strawberries or blueberries 8 oz. grass-fed ground beef in marinara sauce over 1 1/2 cups steamed vegetables 4 oz. grilled shrimp and a handful of almonds Protein shake with 1 1/2 cups water, 2 tbsp. raw cocoa, 2 oz. organic spinach, 2 oz. organic kale, 1 oz. organic raspberries, 1 oz. organic blueberries, 2 scoops whey protein powder, 1 scoop greens drink mix (optional) Lettuce wraps with 8 oz. chicken, vegetables, guacamole and salsa 3,060 calories, 197 g carbs, 234 g protein, 100 g fat, 53 g ber
DINNER DAILY TOTALS
For Fat Loss

For big guys who have some extra bodyfat to lose, this meal plan will look very similar to a strict Paleo diet. This is because classic Paleo is very effective for retraining a body to be sensitive to insulin. There will be no starchy carbs on this plan, only brous vegetables and a little fruit. (Based on the caloric needs of a 180-pound bodybuilder.)
BREAKFAST vegetables MIDMORNING LUNCH PREWORKOUT POST-WORKOUT Omelet made with 4 free-range eggs and 1/2 cup sauted 4 oz. bison jerky (or grass-fed beef jerky), handful of blueberries Large spinach and kale salad with onion, garlic, parsley, 8 oz. freerange chicken or turkey and 2 tbsp. olive oil 1 tbsp. of almond butter on celery Protein shake with 1 1/2 cups water, 2 tbsp. raw cocoa, 2 oz organic spinach, 2 oz. organic kale, 1 oz. organic raspberries, 2 scoops whey protein powder, 1 scoop greens drink mix (optional) 8 oz. grass-fed rib-eye steak and 1 cup mashed cauliower 2,880 calories, 134 g carbs, 233 g protein, 84 g fat, 53 g ber
DINNER DAILY TOTALS
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High-quality dark chocolate is great, says nutrition consultant Stu White. Cocoa is extremely high in magnesium, calcium, iron and manganese. Raw cocoa in a protein shake is amazing. and tubers, such as sweet potatoes, parsnips, squash and yams, are good choices as are green vegetables like kale, spinach, broccoli and asparagus. Fruits that arent loaded with sugar, such as strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and apples, are on the menu as well. Oats are verboten on a strict Paleo plan and many types do contain gut-disrupting gluten. Gluten-free steel-cut oats are widely available and can be accommodated in the hypertrophic Paleo strategy. Quinoa, also gluten-free, falls into the same category. If youre going to eat a grain, quinoa is a good bet, says White. Its not Paleofriendly, but a study from Sweden found that quinoa signicantly boosted IGF-1 [insulin-like growth factor 1], especially compared with brown rice. When youre trying to initiate a postworkout insulin surge, dont be tempted by cheap rened sugars. They might be effective for that purpose, but theyre hardly necessary. Bell recommends her clients use fruit to initiate post-workout insulin response in order to minimize recovery time and replenish glycogen stores. Since most fruit has adequate sugar, branch out from boring bananas or grapes. For post-workout, I like pineapple and dates. You can throw them into your shakes for that fast glycemic hit, says White. And protein still causes a reasonably strong insulin spike, especially whey protein.
mainstream nutrition has been whole grains. Some manufacturers even emblazon the number of whole-grain servings their product supplies as if theyre a nutrient instead of a food. Imagine a bag containing a dozen apples that reads, Now with 12 servings of apples! In fact, the 23 grams of ber and smattering of B vitamins, iron, zinc and magnesium that wheat offers can easily be replaced with some nutrient-rich vegetables. Grains are nutritionally irrelevant, says White. There are no unique qualities that make them necessary.
RULE 2 CHOOSE GRAIN-FREE CARBS

One of the ways people lose weight on a Paleo diet is through carb modication. Paleo is not a low-carb program youd be surprised how many carbs you can get from fruits and vegetables but when grains are eliminated from a diet, overall carb intake tends to drop. This adapted plan allows for eating more carbs than youd nd on a strict Paleo program and offers more leeway in the selection. For slow-burning carbs that might be eaten in preworkout meals, vegetables
RULE 3 GET SERIOUS ABOUT GROCERIES

You dont settle when it comes to choosing a wife, a school for your kids or a workout program, so why settle for food thats cheap and nutritionally barren? One facet of the Paleo lifestyle that should be adopted by everyone is the sourcing of the highest quality foods possible. Organic produce has been shown to be nutritionally superior to conventionally grown fruits and vegetables, and fewer pesticides in your food ensures fewer chemi-
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cals in your body. But the benets of naturally raised food are most apparent when you start talking about protein. Grass-fed beef, butter and cream, wild-caught sh and free-range birds and eggs are getting easier to nd all the time. The demand for them continues to rise for a number of reasons. These farming practices are innitely more humane and far easier on the soil and atmosphere than the horrors of factory farming. But mostly theyre just nutritionally better for you. A study published in the Journal of Animal Science detailed 10 major nutritional advantages of grass-fed beef over grain-fed beef. Grass-fed beef was shown to be lower in total fat but richer in omega-3s and CLA, a nutrient that helps your body burn fat. (It contains more vaccenic acid as well, which can be transformed into CLA.) Grass-fed beef is also higher in beta carotene, vitamin E, thiamin, riboavin, calcium, magnesium and potassium. A study published in the journal Animal Feed Science and Technology showed that eggs from free-range hens contain 10 times the amount of omega-3 fatty acids as eggs from factory hens. You can see the nutrient difference and you can see the actual ratios of fat when you look at the full breakdown, says White. You look at corn-fed animals and they have a different spectrum of fatty acids than a grass-fed animal. They have less CLA and more omega-6 fatty acids, which are inammatory. Theyll also have a higher fat total. While they might seem complex and confusing and maybe even silly if you get too caught up in the caveman part the theories of Paleo and how they can be applied to a muscle-building program are really pretty simple. The hard part is maneuvering around the manufacturers wholl stop at nothing to get you to buy their products. A lot of stuff is coming out thats Paleoapproved but comes in packages, like Paleo granola bars, says Bell. Obviously, thats great for marketing, but too much of that can easily become the typical highly processed American diet. Keep it simple and stick with the above principles.
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Strictly speaking, alcohol is not allowed on a Paleo eating plan, but even the most diehard athletes will still cheat once in a while on this one. When it comes to happy hour, tequila and red wine are your most Paleo-friendly choices. Beer is the worst because of its yeast and grain content.
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MMI sat down with three legendary Mr. Olympia champions to discuss the current state of bodybuilding and ask for their insight on how to build a physique for the ages
With Eric Velazquez, NSCA-CPT Photos by Bill Dobbins and Robert Reiff
We may think we know training and nutrition,

but we all collectively shut our mouths, stop tapping the keyboard and soak it all in when former Mr. Olympias Larry Scott, Samir Bannout and Franco Columbu have something to say. Because when you get the chance to hear from three Mr. O winners guys who have been victorious on the sports ultimate stage after years of trial and error in the gym and kitchen its time to forget about what you think you know about bodybuilding.
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LARRY SCOTT, MR. OLYMPIA 1965-1966
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WorldMags.net LARRY SCOTT

The two-time Mr. Olympia offers a simple formula for making gains.
The winner of the rst two Sandows in 1965 and 1966, Larry owns the most famous biceps in bodybuilding history. MMI: Dieting today has become so precise and so complicated. What was your general approach to nutrition? Larry: Honestly, dieting today has become too complicated. No one diet will work for everyone and the truth is, theres no one-size-ts-all plan. At contest time, when it came down to dieting and nutrition, I was constantly watching my ratios. Id go 2:1, protein to carbs. I ate in the offseason the same way Id eat during contest time. Consistent nutrition not seasonal was part of my daily routine. It didnt stop just because I wasnt onstage competing. I didnt allow myself to eat any other way. MMI: Theres a stark contrast to the training approach of todays pros versus the bodybuilders of your era. What do you think is the right amount of time to spend in the gym for max results? Larry: Great question! I would typically spend 23 hours a day in the gym. This would help keep my workouts from becoming stale. Im 74 now, and as much as Id like to be in the gym all day long, I simply cant. Several years ago I came across the concept of compound intensity,
OLYMPIA TRAINING SEMINAR LARRY SCOTT BICEPS

Something I think people forget is that all muscle groups are important. Your body works as a whole, so everything to me is a favorite. But even now at 74, I still nd myself looking in the mirror and constantly critiquing my biceps. To this day, Im amazed at how well the preacher bench performs.
EXERCISE
Standing Dumbbell Curl Standing EZ-Bar Curl Scott Curl
SETS
3 3 3
REPS
612 612 612
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My best advice? Nutrition, nutrition, nutrition. I cant stress it enough.
which allows me to still obtain great results in a reduced amount of time. Compound intensity basically states that the intensity exerted by a muscle is inversely proportional to the weight of the load times the square of the time under the load. I dare anyone who lifts weights to apply the concept of compound intensity and tell me it doesnt work. MMI: What specific changes did you make at contest time to get lean? Larry: My exercises would stay virtually the same. It wasnt until I got with Rheo Blair that I took my training to the next level. He told me if I wanted to get bigger and stronger, I needed to use a certain set of [macronutrient] ratios. If I didnt want to gain weight but just wanted to maintain, I switched to another set of ratios. And when I wanted to get really lean with almost no bodyfat, I changed them again. This was really important for me because
when it got right down to contest time, I wanted to get rid of every ounce of fat to show as much muscle as possible. As professional bodybuilders we were extremely disciplined in our routines, so there wasnt much variance between sets, reps and weight. I enjoyed focusing on what my competitors werent working on. MMI: Whats the best advice you can give to todays generation of bodybuilders, both pro and aspiring? Larry: My best advice? Nutrition, nutrition, nutrition. I cant stress it enough. Make sure that your ratios are dead on. Use instinctive training because no one size ts all. Use compound intensity to maximize your results and time in the gym. Constant change keeps your workouts exciting. Bodybuilding requires discipline, hard work, patience and determination. Keeping your goals foremost in your mind will help you maximize your results.
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WorldMags.net SAMIR BANNOUT

Getting BIG without the BS in your training and nutrition.
MMI: What are your thoughts on the professional bodybuilding physiques of today? Samir: To be honest, I dont like this look at all. Im very disappointed. Bodybuilding is not just about how big you are; mass is not everything. Unfortunately, it has really taken off. Its a bit ridiculous. I dont like that these guys are eating 810 times a day. Maybe Im still living in the past, [but] I look back at Arnold, Pearl, Draper and Zane; the way those guys looked is how it should be. They had the tiny waist and the shredded physique, and I thought they were more than big enough. I like Dexter Jackson and his overall look. I liked Phil Heath three years ago more than I do now. Having said that, Flex Lewis won the 212 last year. If he had a little more back or chest, Id say hes the best in the world right now. Hes got small ankles, small knees, small wrists. I like Shawn Rhoden; he could get better still but his whole physique is very nice. I hope he doesnt mess it up. If he put on 78 pounds, Id put my money on him. [But] I wish bodybuilding would just go back to the art and [that bodybuilders would] perform onstage as artists, focusing on detail. And that potbelly should not exist. MMI: Dieting today has become so precise and so complicated. What was your general approach to nutrition? Samir: I had an advantage in that I couldnt get fat even if I tried. For me it was easy to get in shape. In general, you should never go below 250 grams of carbs per day. When I won the Olympia I was on 100150 per day, then 75100 per day before the show. That was too low. You need the glycogen to train as hard as necessary. I was overtraining back then, and undereating. If I knew then what I know now, I couldve won the Olympia again. In the offseason I went up to 254 pounds but I looked like a bull. Id diet mostly on chicken, which I hate; I felt like it was poison for my body. Later on I found out that I have type B blood, and I dont think chicken is well-tolerated by people with my blood type. Bread can also mess you up because of the gluten. At least for me, its important to avoid bread and our at all costs. I was eating chicken, egg whites, salad, broccoli. Now I eat sweet potatoes, white potatoes, rice, broccoli. Meat is important for bodybuilding. People talk about cholesterol and all this baloney. My grandfather lived to 106, and he ate red meat and drank 10 cups of coffee a day! And he died from getting hit by lightning seriously! A good bet is to go with 10% [of calories from] fat from healthy sources, 55% from carbohydrate and 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight a day. Thats perfect for todays bodybuilders. Youve got to nd a happy medium. MMI: Theres a stark contrast to the training approach of todays pros versus bodybuilders of your era. What do you think is the right amount of time to spend in the gym for max results? Samir: After trial and error, I think that if you train each bodypart once per week, its
I had an advantage in that I couldnt get fat even if I tried. For me it was easy to get into shape.
Known as The Lion of Lebanon, Samir won the 1983 Mr. Olympia at a reported bodyweight of 195 pounds, and was revered for his symmetry and dense muscularity.
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enough. Its all about diet and intensity. It should take more than 23 days [to recover]. If youre training hard, itll take a week to recuperate. For me, I nd its effective to train a bodypart once every ve days. I trained each bodypart twice a week when I won the O in 1983, and I wasnt even eating a lot. Todays bodybuilders need to realize that, hey if you dont want to train in the nal week, dont. The muscle wont disappear; its not going anywhere! If your body needs the rest, just take it. MMI: What specific changes did you make at contest time to get lean? Samir: There were many, many factors. When I won in 1983, I wasnt completely full. Some said I wasnt even 75% of my best. Honestly, I agree. If I could go back, I wouldnt have cut my sodium until 34 days out. Instead I would allow my body one entire week of rest and just pump up the day before the show with very light weight. Id eat more to make sure I have enough glycogen in the muscles before rening. Back then, we spent too much time over-posing and worrying. Treat it like theres no contest. Let your mind relax. Let your body recuperate.
MMI: Whats the best advice you can give to todays generation of bodybuilders, both pro and aspiring? Samir: First of all, dont overtrain. Train extremely hard but dont overtrain. Make sure youre able to show the muscle you worked on. Dont pose like a bonehead. Try to copy guys like Frank Zane and Lee
Labrada. Practice the art of bodybuilding. Hire a guy like Zane to show you how to be a professional poser. That will separate the men from the boys. And listen to your body; dont deprive it. When it says its tired, rest up. If youre thirsty, drink. I also provide this kind of information through my website, bannoutnutrition.com.
OLYMPIA TRAINING SEMINAR SAMIR BANNOUT BACK

I wasnt a believer in counting reps at all. It was all by feel. In addition to this workout, Id do weighted hyperextensions every other week and deadlifts every three weeks. When I did either of those, I would train for the max. I could deadlift 745 for three reps. In general, Id vary my grip from set to set on back moves to hit a slightly different area of the muscle.
EXERCISE
Pull-Up Close-Grip Pulldown (from oor) Bent-Over Barbell Row
SETS3
41 3 3
REPS
Varied2 Varied 812
1 On pull-ups, Samir performed two sets with a wide grip and two with a narrower grip. 2 On his rst set hed get 2530 reps to engage his back muscles, but he didnt count reps on the following sets. 3 After the workout, Samir performed 30-second static holds at the halfway point of a pull-up.
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WorldMags.net FRANCO COLUMBU

This Mr. Olympia focused on strength rst.
MMI: What are your thoughts on the professional bodybuilding physiques of today? Franco Columbu: If you look at the old photos of me, Arnold, Larry, Sergio Oliva, you see small waists. We used to measure them all the time. I could pull mine in to 2628 inches. At the Olympia today, the guys are more massive with very thick muscles, but the stomachs are so big. Frank Zane was more elegant than me, very proportional. My goal was strength. I wanted to be the strongest and I wanted to look strong. By doing that, I felt that I was really muscular and my waist was really small. [Former MMI publisher] Robert Kennedy had a saying about muscles that had to do with good looks; he wanted men and women to look sexy, not just have thick muscles. When it comes to bodybuilding, it goes to the bottom line: Do you want to look like that guy? Yes or no. MMI: Dieting today has become so precise and so complicated. What was your general approach to nutrition? Franco: My nutrition changed very little between contest and off-season. Back then, most of the bodybuilders would gain [weight] and get up to 250280 [pounds] two to three months before
[competition], getting as big as possible, then losing 20 pounds to go compete. On the other hand Frank, Arnold, Sergio and I were [at our] heaviest the day before the competition. We would work to gain as much muscle as we could all the way up to the contest and show up ready to win. I think its too much stress to the organs to go that far overweight, then bring it back down. I never followed that theory. MMI: Theres a stark contrast to the training approach of todays pros ver-
sus bodybuilders of your era. What do you think is the right amount of time to spend in the gym for max results? Franco: If you train each bodypart once per week, youll never get enough frequency. Wed usually divide the body into three workouts: chest-back, shoulders-arms, thighs-calves. It takes a minimum of 48 hours to restore all the glycogen from a two-hour workout. Id train each bodypart twice per week; for mass, thats enough. For denition, maybe three times one week, then twice the next week.
OLYMPIA TRAINING SEMINAR FRANCO COLUMBU CHEST

I always trained to be as strong as possible. For chest, and most other bodyparts for that matter, Id just pick the best 34 exercises and train hard. Then afterward Id go to the mirror and pose. The brain gains more control over the muscle, so thats why I felt when I posed I showed the muscles better than anybody. I got the best results by following this system.
EXERCISE
Bench Press Incline Barbell Press Dip superset with Dumbbell Flye
SETS1
7 34 34 34
REPS2
20, 20, 12, 8, 6, 5, 4 12, 10, 68, 68, 46 15 15
1 Franco increased weight on every set of presses, doing as many reps as he could at each weight. 2 The listed rep ranges are merely suggestive of where hed reach failure depending on the increases in load on each set.
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MMI: What specific changes did you make at contest time to get lean? Franco: A few days before a show, [sometimes] a week to 10 days, I skipped the last set, which was the heaviest. I would cut out fruit on certain days because I discovered that it was making me smooth. Fruit causes slight water retention because of the sugar.
MMI: Whats the best advice you can give to todays generation of bodybuilders, both pro and aspiring? Franco: The best advice I can give is to select an intermediate workout thats neither too heavy nor has too many exercises. Keep rest periods down. Choose basic exercises. Select the best 23 exercises for each bodypart and work them hard. Do more free weights than machines because machines arent as efficient for the body.
If you train each bodypart once per week, youll never get enough frequency. Id train each bodypart twice per week.
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A two-time Olympia winner who took the Sandow home in 1976 and 1981, Franco was known for his focus and is considered to be, pound for pound, one of the strongest bodybuilders ever.
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STACKIN
FOR MASS
Combine the right supplements at the optimal times for muscle gains around the clock
By Dwayne N. Jackson, PhD Illustrations by Mark Collins
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STACKIN
FOR MASS WorldMags.net
In the not-sodistant past,

bodybuilding was considered a hit or miss science, whereby most successful training programs and diets were created on a trial-and-error basis. With the tness explosion of the 1990s, however, there was an inux of scientic efforts to maximize athletic performance safely, legally and naturally. As a result, the supplement industry experienced exponential growth literally ooding the market with new, innovative products. Today, in a gargantuan supplement world, there are many sciencebacked products designed to push your muscular potential and maximize your gains. This is both a blessing and a curse after all, you have a ton of choices, but you also have to sift through the good, the bad and the downright useless to come up with the most effective supplementation regimen. Read on for a walkthrough of the best supplement stacks to take at key markers of the day to amp up your mass-and strength-building efforts. (Editors note: This schedule assumes your training occurs in the afternoon and before dinner. Make adjustments as necessary, according to your training time.)
There was an influx of scientific efforts to maximize athletic performance safely, legally and naturally.
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WAKE AND SHAKE
Your body is starving for nutrients when you roll out of bed, especially your recovering muscles. After a 710-hour fast, you need some fast-absorbing nutrition. Heres a stack thatll surely shut down catabolism (i.e., muscle wasting) and get your body refueled for growth.
Weight Gainer
When youre trying to gain lean mass, you need to pack in as many benecial calories as possible weight gainers provide 5001,000 supplemental calories, depending on serving size. The product you choose should be composed
mainly of high-quality proteins like whey protein isolate (WPI) and micellar casein. Ideal weight-gain products are high in protein (5060 grams per serving) and carbohydrates with a modest amount of fat. Because the goal is to gain lean mass and minimize fat accumulation, steer clear of products with more than 50% fast-digesting carbohydrates (e.g., simple sugars like high-fructose corn syrup or sucrose) and more than 5 grams of saturated fat per serving. Drink one shake immediately upon waking (i.e., about 30 minutes to an hour before breakfast).
No other mass-building supplement works as well as creatine. Research illustrates that creatine is a potent cell volumizer that increases muscle water content and glycogen resynthesis (signals for anabolism). Creatine also boosts muscle creatine levels for short-term energy and bolsters anabolic signaling through insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1). Mix 5 grams of creatine monohydrate into your shake. Use the German or American pharmaceutical grade to avoid gastrointestinal distress. Most weight-gain formulas already contain small amounts of creatine. The addition will ensure adequate dosing for faster muscle gains.
2 Creatine Monohydrate
The BCAAs (leucine, valine, isoleucine) are unique essential amino acids that share a branched-chain structure and are preferentially taken up by skeletal muscle and broken down during exercise. New research illustrates that BCAA ingestion directly stimulates anabolism by acting as an anabolic switch. In addition, this supplement trio is anticatabolic, reduces exercise-induced muscle pain and decreases mental fatigue during intense exercise. Mix 510 grams of BCAA powder into your weight-gainer shake.
Amino 3 Branched-Chain Acids (BCAAs)
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BREAKFAST STACK
protodioscin has the greatest effect on increased LH production and testosterone release. Therefore, you must use high-quality products standardized to contain at least 80% total saponins and 40% protodioscin. Take 500750 milligrams with breakfast on training days. sion and increases LH secretion. The end result is greater testosterone and receptors for interaction. LCLT also reduces exercise-induced muscle tissue damage. Take 2 grams of LCLT with breakfast.
As youre planning out your overall nutrition and supplement regimens, remember whole foods should make up the majority of what you fuel your body with. Supplements are just that products made to supplement (not replace) a quality diet. Assuming your diet is in check, there are a few key products that absorb more completely when taken with a meal to give your breakfast an extra anabolic kick.
4 L-Carnitine L-Tartrate (LCLT)
This group of fatty acids cant be synthesized by the body and therefore must be taken in through diet. There are two families of EFAs: omega-3 (alpha-linolenic acid) and omega-6 (linoleic acid). In terms of mass building, these healthy fats promote growth hormone secretion, increase protein synthesis and increase insulin sensitivity. Take 23 grams of a balanced omega fatty-acid blend with breakfast.
1 Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs)
LCLT is a stable form of L-carnitine and is completely absorbed by the body. Recent research has demonstrated that LCLT supplementation upregulates the skeletal androgen receptor (the receptors that testosterone binds to) expres-
A naturally occurring beta amino acid, beta-alanine is the rate-limiting precursor to the production of carnosine in the body. Research has shown that powerful fast-twitch muscle bers have higher levels of carnosine, and it buffers skeletal muscle pH. In a recent study, dietary supplementation with beta-alanine for 24 weeks was shown to increase
5 Beta-Alanine
2 Multivitamin
Micronutrients are essential for proper cellular function and nutrient absorption. Many a bodybuilders diet has been known to contain very little variety, so a daily multivitamin will ensure youre not lacking certain micronutrients. Furthermore, vitamins act as catalysts for many important internal processes; heavy training boosts metabolism, therefore making the vitamin requirement needed to catalyze cellular reaction go up. Use a multivitamin formulated for athletes; take as directed on label.
Tribulus terrestris is a owering plant that contains natural steroidal compounds called saponins. When ingested, these saponins tell the brain to pump out luteinizing hormone (LH), which signals the testes to make more testosterone. Research has shown that a saponin called
3 Tribulus Terrestris
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vastus lateralis carnosine concentration by more than 60%. In terms of performance, science has shown that beta-alanine supplementation for as few as four weeks can result in 13% greater gains in total work completed during training with no change noted among the control group. On nontraining days take 2 grams with breakfast. ing your body a calorie boost. This is an ideal opportunity to help load up with nutrients for a busy day.
JUMP-START
WITH AN INTRAWORKOUT SNACK
Weight Gainer
RECOVERY
Drink one 500-calorie weightgain shake 12 hours before your high-protein lunch.
PRE-LUNCH MUNCH
LUNCH
A few hours after breakfast and about one hour before lunch think about giv-
Since weve assumed lunch comes before your workout in this supplement schedule, you should be consuming a well-balanced, high-protein whole-food meal that meets your nutritional needs.
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Photo by Robert Reiff Model Derek Duszynski
The post-workout meal is generally considered the most important of the day for the bodybuilder, but now supplement companies are eyeing a new opportunity: intra-workout nutrition that can begin even before you nish your last set. (Theoretically this is especially plausible for bodybuilders who train bodyparts sequentially, and nutrients can start working for one area after its been trained while youre still training the smaller muscle groups in your workout.) According to MuscleMag writer Scott Stevenson, PhD, LaC, Science has demonstrated that a pre- and/or intra-workout recovery supplement with both protein and carbohydrates can mean better maintenance and promote faster recovery in muscle glycogen stores [stored sugar], less muscle damage and strength loss, improved protein turnover (more synthesis and/or less breakdown) during and after exercise, less catabolic cortisol and more anticatabolic insulin levels, and in the long haul, greater gains in muscle mass. Moreover, research suggests that the mid-workout protein and carb combo elevated protein synthesis to a greater degree than a drink taken immediately post-workout. As Stevenson says: The research is fairly clear: While protein metabolism is elevated for days after resistance exercise, the time for most dramatically affecting muscle growth nutritionally is just before and during the exercise itself. As for what to consume and how much, a whey-based supplement high in leucine helps trigger protein synthesis. For rapid absorption we recommend 25 grams of whey hydrolysate, which means the whey has been broken down into low molecular weight fractions that are more easily transported into the bloodstream, thus resulting in a rapid increase in blood levels of branched-chain amino acids. Carb intake should be in the form of glucose, sucrose (table sugar) or maltodextrin, and can vary from 0 grams for the dieting bodybuilder to 100 grams for the mass-gainer.
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PREWORKOUT
to trained muscles continues to enhance nutrient delivery and ushes out byproducts to optimize recovery. L-arginine also increases anabolic substrates like growth hormone and insulin. With long-term supplementation, L-arginine ingestion upregulates mitochondria (the cellular energy powerhouses) in skeletal muscle, resulting in heightened metabolism and greater capacity to use energy for contraction. In addition, extended use has been shown to increase the growth of blood vessels in skeletal muscle and the heart, resulting in an even greater capacity to deliver nutrients and remove metabolites during and after your workouts. Ingest 5 grams of pharmaceuticalgrade L-arginine, one hour before training, on an empty stomach.
Protein 5 Whey Isolate (WPI)
When training for mass, you want to be sure the bodys cellular environment is primed for performance. To achieve this state, there are a number of supplements designed to feed your muscles and minimize catabolism throughout the training session. The following preworkout stack is designed to optimize energy and muscle performance while blunting muscle breakdown during training.
This is the most abundant nonessential amino acid in the body, and years of research have uncovered its several direct and indirect performance-boosting benets. Glutamine supplementation has been shown to enhance cell volumization and serve as a potent anticatabolic factor and muscle-building aid during heavy training. Its major effects on muscular growth result from the fact that glutamine increases leucine concentration and maintains positive nitrogen balance in skeletal muscle. Further muscle-building support comes from glutamines ability to boost growth-hormone and steroid production. Finally, through augmenting bicarbonate production, glutamine signicantly increases skeletal-muscle-buffering capacity, thus delaying muscular fatigue during exercise. Ingest 5 grams of pharmaceuticalgrade L-glutamine one hour before training on an empty stomach.
1 L-Glutamine
Whey protein isolate is the best source of protein to ingest before training. It digests rapidly and completely, lling your blood with amino acids, including BCAAs and other essential aminos. Science has shown its the hyperaminoacidemia that gives WPI its great anabolic properties. WPI also provides the body with additional mass-building support, as research indicates WPI ingestion upregulates glutathione (a powerful antioxidant) production because of its large fraction of the amino acid cysteine. Consume a shake with 2540 grams high-quality, cross-ow microltered WPI 30 minutes before training.
Terrestris 3 Tribulus
Take 500750 milligrams about 3060 minutes before training.
This preworkout dose is intended to ensure substrates for carnosine production are maximized for the upcoming training session. Take 2 grams of beta-alanine 30 60 minutes before training.
4 Beta-Alanine
This metabolite of leucine has been scientically proven to prevent muscle breakdown, increase strength and promote fat loss. The anticatabolic effect of HMB is more pronounced in beginners than intermediate or advanced bodybuilders, but HMB is a potent strengthand recovery-boosting supplement for all levels of trainers. To maximize strength, take 36 grams with your preworkout protein shake.
6 Beta-Hydroxy-BetaMethylbutyrate (HMB)
In the body, this conditionally essential amino acids primary role is in nitric oxide (NO) production. Thus, arginine supplementation elevates skeletal muscle blood ow, especially during your workout. The end results are more efficient delivery of nutrients and complete metabolite clearing in working muscles, enabling you to work out longer and harder. After exercise and during rest, the augmented blood flow
2 L-Arginine
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POSTWORKOUT
In terms of mass building, scientic data suggests proper post-workout nutrition and supplementation are vital because cells are depleted of nutrients and can quickly slip into a state of catabolism. This period is termed the anabolic window and represents an approximate two-hour time frame when the body is hypersensitive to any nutrient intake. The following stack has been designed to capitalize on the anabolic window by augmenting anabolic hormones, replacing amino acids and maximizing recovery.
This dose of creatine is vital to restore the creatine pool in your muscle. Itll also re up key anabolic pathways for a more complete and faster recovery. Ingest 5 grams of creatine monohydrate immediately after training.
1 Creatine Monohydrate
L-Tartrate 2 L-Carnitine (LCLT)
Research shows that ingesting a 2-gram dose of LCLT immediately after training will augment LH responses and increase androgen (testosterone) receptor expression in skeletal muscle.
Take 36 grams of HMB immedi- Consume a shake with 2530 grams

ately after training.
Taken post-workout, L-glutamine is a proven agent for blunting catabolism. Research shows that ingestion of L-glutamine immediately after exercise enhances recovery and muscle growth. Take 5 grams of L-glutamine immediately after training.
L-Glutamine
Protein 5 Whey Hydrolysate (WPH)
of high-quality WPH immediately after your workout.
4 Beta-Hydroxy-BetaMethylbutyrate (HMB)
Scientic data suggests that HMB supplementation post-exercise augments the recovery process. The outcome is more strength and size in a shorter period of time. As well, among novices, HMB will signicantly blunt the catabolic response.
Whey protein hydrolysate is made from WPI by enzymatic degradation (hydrolysis). Essentially, manufacturers use special enzymes to predigest the proteins in WPI. The end product is digested high in the gastrointestinal tract and enters the blood almost immediately upon ingestion. WPH is the fastest-digesting protein source, and studies illustrate that the faster amino acids enter the blood after exercise, the greater the anabolic response. The rapid digestion of WPH also loads water into muscle cells (cell volumizing), speeds recovery, drives anabolism and supports immune function. The drawback is that WPH is costly to manufacture and thus is relatively expensive.
This D-form of glucose is a small monosaccharide and one of the simplest sugars. Its digested high in the gastrointestinal tract (beginning in the mouth) and is very high on the glycemic index. The rapid absorption rate of dextrose makes it an ideal post-training carbohydrate supplement that enters the blood immediately to cause a great spike in blood insulin and drive sugars into depleted muscles. In addition, insulin is very anabolic, so combined with high amounts of protein, dextrose serves as a mass-building agent. Mix 2550 grams of dextrose into your WPH shake and drink immediately after training.
6 Dextrose
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DINNER
Since weve assumed that dinner follows your workout in this supplement schedule, its imperative you consume a large, well-balanced, high-protein dinner.
Fatty Acids 1 Essential
Take 23 grams of balanced EFAs with dinner.
BEDTIME
The day is done and its time for some high-quality rest and recovery. Since youll be fasting for the next 710 hours, its crucial you give your body the appropriate nutrition before hitting the hay. Heres a stack thatll feed your muscles and help prevent catabolism while you sleep.
This is the purest casein protein available, and its unique properties make it seem like a custom food supplement designed specically for sleeping bodybuilders. Its slow digestion results in a sustained release of amino acids into the blood, which produces anticatabolic effects in the body. In fact, research has shown that ingestion of micellar casein inhibits muscle breakdown by over 30%. Additional data illustrates that casein ingestion produces a seven-hour sustained plateau in blood amino acid levels and that it offers the best muscle nitrogen retention and utilization needed for substantial mass gains.
1 Micellar Casein
BASIC BEGINNERS MASS-GAIN STACK

When you begin undertaking a bodybuilding program, your body responds quickly, so you need to create an environment thats conducive to growth. Consuming the most critical raw materials will help ensure that your body remains in an anabolic state throughout the day. Here are four that should be on every beginners list.
MORNING
Whey Protein Isolate Creatine Glutamine Multivitamin 30 grams 25 grams 25 grams As per label directions
PREWORKOUT
30 grams 25 grams 25 grams
POST-WORKOUT
30 grams
BEDTIME
30 grams
25 grams
25 grams
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Immediately before bed, drink a shake with 3050 grams of high-quality micellar casein.
Zinc Monomethionine 2 Aspartate and Magnesium Aspartate (ZMA)

ZMA is an acronym for zinc monomethionine aspartate and magnesium aspartate, a proprietary zinc supplement reported to increase growth hormone and testosterone levels when taken before bed. A bonus side effect of ZMA supplementation is that users have reported falling asleep more quickly and deeply. In a recent study, it was found that subjects who took ZMA during eight weeks of training had 250% greater strength
gains than the placebo group. The ZMA group also had a 20% greater increase in testosterone levels as well as over 20% greater insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF1) levels compared to the placebo group. ZMA supplements are formulated in the following ratio: 11 milligrams vitamin B-6, 450 milligrams magnesium, 30 milligrams zinc. For optimal results you should try taking this supplement on an empty stomach approximately 30 minutes before drinking your micellar casein shake before bed.
Dwayne N. Jackson, PhD, is a professor and scientist in medical biophysics at one of Canadas top medical schools, the University of Western Ontario. He has over 12 years of university education in physiology and has attended the University of Ottawa, the University of Western Ontario and the Yale School of Medicine. He also has over 20 years of competitive and recreational bodybuilding experience and is an expert in the areas of performance nutrition and supplementation.
SUPPLEMENTAL MASS THE CHECKLIST

Optimizing muscle anabolism means eating a clean, protein-rich diet and combining supplements that meet your metabolic needs depending on the time of day. Heres an overview of how you can jump-start your natural muscle-building engines with supplements. Note: This schedule assumes you train in the late afternoon and before dinner.
WAKE AND SHAKE BREAKFAST STACK PRE-LUNCH MUNCH PREWORKOUT MIDWORKOUT POSTWORKOUT DINNER BEDTIME
Weight Gainer Creatine Monohydrate Branched-Chain Amino Acids (BCAAs) Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs) Multivitamin Tribulus terrestris L-Carnitine L-Tartrate (LCLT) Beta-Alanine L-Glutamine L-Arginine Whey Protein Isolate Beta-Hydroxy-BetaMethylbutyrate (HMB) Whey Protein Hydrolysate (WPH) Dextrose Micellar Casein
Shutterstock
5060 g protein 5g 510 g 23 g As directed on label 500750 mg 2g 2g
5060 g protein 5g 5g
23 g
500750 mg 2g 2g 5g 5g 2540 g 36 g 25 g 25 g 36 g 2530 g 2530 g 3050 g 11 mg 450 mg magnesium, 30 mg zinc 5g
Vitamin B-6 ZMA
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Maintaining strict form will help you build muscle, but there are times when loosening your exercise execution can help you boost the intensity of your workout and reap even greater gains. The key is knowing how to cheat right.
By Rob Rinaldi, MA
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RICH BAKER
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JASON MATHAS
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Cheat to Win in the Gym
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considerations for experienced bodybuilders who want to implement cheating in their exercise form.
Use strict form on every set.

You read these words on this magazines pages so many times that you likely just gloss over them. Yet you look around the gym and bodybuilders of all levels are bouncing bars off their chest, throwing their hips forward to generate momentum or otherwise leaning into a move for biomechanical advantage. It seems like no ones using what youd consider to be decent, let alone good, form. When your exercise execution strays from textbook form, its called cheating. And perhaps as with the IRS, but hopefully not with your wife or girlfriend, everyone does it. Even top bodybuilders get a little sloppy from time to time. In the context of bodybuilding, cheating is the application of a high-intensity training technique that allows you to take a set past failure and boost muscle growth. The danger inherent in cheating thats not present in other advanced training techniques is the increased risk of injury associated with poor exercise form. Cheating means other muscle groups are involved at the expense of proper exercise execution, so the brunt of the force can unintentionally fall on a vulnerable joint or connective tissue. Whats important is to know when and how to cheat, because while you should indeed complete each and every repetition with proper technique, it would be a mistake to think theres not a time and a place to loosen up your form.
The Cheat Sheet Here are 12 important

Start with a good warm-up before using cheating motions because of the higher risk of injury to muscle, joints and connective tissue. Always include several lightweight sets of the given move in your warm-up as well.
1)
2)
Dont cheat on Be an expert on every set. Do it on good form. If you dont know the difference your last 12 sets of an between good form and exercise to get a few poor exercise technique, extra reps. you wont be able to apply cheating as an advanced technique. Read bodybuilding books or magazines like MuscleMag, or hire a certied personal trainer. Cheating is also more commonly done with free-weight moves rather than with machines, which generally lock you into a predetermined biomechanical pathway. On the ipside, its far easier to exceed your range of motion with a heavy free weight, which can put a joint in a vulnerable position. Cheat just enough to get a weight past its sticking point, then allow the target bodypart to take over again so that it gets maximally worked.
3)
4)
Because momentum is most easily generated through your legs, its far more common to see cheating motions with standing exercises than seated ones.
5)
6)
Use cheating infrequently during your workout. Doing other advancedtraining techniques can work the target muscle group in different ways to help break through training plateaus and sticking points.
7)
Know which exercises are best and worst to cheat on. Some exercises put your spinal column and rotator cuffs at risk, and theyre especially bad choices to cheat on. With others you need to be very careful.
8)
9)
Cheating should be an intentional approach, not something that just happens because you put too much weight on the bar or are unfamiliar with a given exercises proper execution. Use a challenging weight but not one beyond your abilities.
HOW TO CHEAT
Physical therapist and amateur bodybuilder Guillermo Escalante, DSc, ATC, CSCS, PTA, who runs SportsPros Inc., an athletic- and personal-training business in Claremont, California, describes cheating as a method employed by bodybuilders using momentum or bad form as a way to lift the weight. But used properly,
10)
Cheat only when your energy level is high, toward the beginning of your workout. If youre fatigued, mentally or physically, its easier to get sloppy and thus increase your risk of injury.
11)
Keep strict form on your heaviest sets. Bad form in combination with heavy weight signicantly boosts your risk of training injury. Use cheating motions for moderate-weight sets when your muscles and joints arent under such extreme stress.
12)
Cheating isnt recommended if you have a pre-existing injury, especially if the added stress is generated at the damaged joint or muscle thats assisting. If youve got a herniated disk, rotator-cuff injury or knee trouble, youll want to limit stress thats increased when cheating moves are added.
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cheating is a premeditated and intentional movement rather than simply bad form. Some bodybuilders may use poor form unintentionally because they dont know how to correctly do a given movement and therefore dont know how to properly isolate the target muscle. Whats certain is that using bad form increases an individuals risk of training injury to muscles, tendons and/or joints. But Escalante doesnt condemn cheating outright, saying instead that applied correctly, it can boost muscle gains. Knowledge is critical here, and cheating should be used only by bodybuilders who are experienced and really know the difference between good and bad form. They can apply cheating as a technique to push past muscle failure. In that sense its just another method to shock your body in a manner different than what its accustomed to, allowing you to complete more reps with a given weight or use a heavier weight than you might normally be able to handle. The downside is that it can lead to injury if done improperly or even too frequently.
Therefore, its an approach that should be reserved for every once in a while rather than on a workout-to-workout basis. From my experience, beginners rarely know the difference between decent and perfect exercise form, and they generally make good gains in strength and size from more traditional means, so its not recommended for them to cheat. Whats the most common way to generate momentum? A slight thrust of the hips and bounce in the knees. Essentially it allows you to do an extra rep or two when you hit a sticking point. Instead of ending your set, you use additional muscles that arent directly involved in the execution of the lift to help you work past the point of muscle failure. You can cheat on just about any exercise, but one of the most common is the standing barbell curl. While strict exercise form enlists only the biceps, when you hit muscle failure with a given weight you can continue the set by using your back (leaning backward) or legs (bending and extending at the knees and hips) to overcome the sticking point and help you lift the weight.
While additional muscle groups are called into play and the biceps arent working as hard as when doing strict curls, theyre still highly involved, as long as you keep the cheat move to a minimum. The other involved muscle groups merely work to make up the difference between the remaining strength of your fatigued arms and the force necessary to overcome the sticking point. Escalante argues that the key to cheating correctly is to use this strategy at the end of your set, not the beginning. Bodybuilders who are cheating on their rst rep are simply going too heavy, he says. Its only after you take the target muscle to failure by completing 68 reps on your own with strict form should you begin to add momentum or a little body english. Then it should be just enough to keep the weight moving. Good form is still important, but adding a little extra momentum or assistance from other muscle groups would be considered an acceptable form of cheating that wont cause undue harm. Therefore, a set includes both perfect reps and cheat reps, the latter added at musclemag.com|DECEMBER 201391
LARRY MCCMUSKER
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Cheat to Win in the Gym
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The Cheat List
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JASON MATHAS
the end. Because cheat reps require you to start your set with textbook technique, the bodybuilder must know the difference between good and bad exercise form. That kind of knowledge takes a bodybuilder a good couple of years to learn. Escalante warns that anyone who doesnt know good form versus poor exercise form should probably refrain from using cheating techniques. Of interest to advanced bodybuilders is the addition of the cheat at the end of a set, which allows you to train past muscle failure when the alternative is to put the weight down and end the set. In that sense, it increases the overall intensity. Compare that with an individual who uses bad form from the very rst rep. Here, the bodybuilder is actually making the set easier (as he cant even complete one rep with good form and must resort to recruiting additional muscle groups), not harder. Whats more, there are any number of ways to add body english to keep the weight moving through the sticking point, and it takes a knowledgeable bodybuilder to know whats acceptable and how much. For example, in the standing barbell curl the cheat can be any combination of a slight knee bend and/or hip thrust and/or lower-back extension. In addition, you can bring your elbows forward from their position by the sides of your torso to recruit the front delts. Moreover, speeding up the rep can also help you overcome a sticking point. Combining any and all of these strategies will help you take a working set of barbell curls past muscle failure. Some of those suggestions are more risky than others. Overarching your back can strain your spine, while a slight bounce in the knees may be less chancy. Escalante recommends using several in conjunction to better distribute the force. Of course, each and every successive rep requires a little more assistance, so the amount of stress continues to increase. Therefore, keep your cheat reps to just a few because the more you do at the end of a set, the greater your risk of injury.
Some exercises are better than others when it comes to cheating (see Okay to Cheat, Cheat with Caution and Just Say No to Cheating). Essentially, the heavier you go the more dangerous it becomes when using bad form, and any time your spine is in a vulnerable position, the more risky it is to break form. Remember, you want to do 68 reps on your own with strict form before adding cheat reps; if you cant do even one rep with good form, any exercise is dangerous. Only more advanced bodybuilders who know the difference between good and bad technique should incorporate a few cheat reps. The cheating motion should be intentional not accidental and should be distributed as best as possible over several areas.
Okay To Cheat
Lateral Raise
These exercises are generally safe to cheat with, as long as your form breaks are in accordance with the suggestions listed and youre not maxing out.
Very few trainers do this move correctly in the gym, and the most common problem results from going too heavy. The outcome is compromised form, including a slight extension of the hips and knees to generate momentum. (Try this move from a seated position if you want to see what its like to reduce body english.)
Calf Raise
After the reps get difficult, a little bounce out the hole helps you overcome the sticking point. On straight-legged calf raises, dont lock out your knees.
Hanging Leg Raise
Alternating Dumbbell Curl
When you do these alternating sides, whether seated or standing, leaning into your working-side arm actually helps you get just a little more body into the move to assist with the lift.
If you use a bit of body swing at the end of your set, you can do a couple of extra reps past muscle failure. If you swing right from the start, very little work is ultimately done by the lower abs.
Seated Cable Row
You should be keeping your torso in an upright position, just very slightly extending back as you pull, and leaning only slightly forward during the release. Greater degrees of lean recruit the low-back muscles to help generate momentum. Just dont round your back.
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Cheat With Caution
Standing Barbell Curl
Restrict cheating motions to the end of your set as long as youre not doing extremely heavy weights; go strict on those sets.
Just Say No to Cheating
Good Morning
The danger is to your low back from generating momentum through your hips and leaning backward. You can also use a little knee bounce and bring your elbows forward at the top to get an assist from your front delts.
Any lower-back move, this one in particular, puts stress on the muscles protecting your lower spine. Dont cheat on moves that target your lower back. Keep your back at dont let it round.
Here are the ve worst offenders, exercises in which losing good form can compromise either the disks in your spine or your rotator cuffs. Use textbook form at all times. To boost the intensity of your training and work past muscle failure, instead of cheating try another advanced technique.
Squat
Bench Press
Bent-Over Barbell Row
Arching your back and lifting your hips off the bench turns this exercise into a decline movement in which most bodybuilders are stronger. A little bounce off the chest may also help.
Flat-Bench Dumbbell Press
Similar to the bent-over lateral raise (also a moderate risk) youre required to hold your body in a bentover position. Most bodybuilders typically use their lower backs to assist in the move (and hence they rise); the danger is in rounding the back when you become fatigued.
This is a highly technical lift that engages a number of muscle groups. Your low back is at risk if you cant hold your body upright. While just about every bodybuilder has bounced a few times out of the bottom, doing so is not good for your knees.
common mistake of bouncing the bar off the oor. Only in conventional deadlifts should the bar touch the oor.
Shrug
Deadlift
Probably a bit more risky than the barbell version, as you cant readily bounce the bar off your chest; instead, a bouncing motion will be absorbed in the shoulder joints and rotator cuffs.
Another highly technical lift with heavy force on the low back. Add heavy weights to the mix and youd better be using great form on each and every rep. Avoid training to failure with this exercise.
Stiff-Leg Deadlift
This may come as a surprise, but the tendency here is to put your head down when using heavy weights, which disrupts spinal alignment. Have you ever had a herniated disk in your neck from heavy shrugs, which then basically interrupts the nerve signal to an entire side of your body for almost a year? It happened to me, and its a total disaster for a bodybuilder.
During this exercise theres actually a slight rounding of your lower back at the bottom position, which means youre highly vulnerable to injury. Its cousin, the romanian deadlift, requires a at back throughout. Dont ever make the
Behind-the-Neck Shoulder Press
With a heavy bar behind your head, your shoulders are already in a highly vulnerable spot. If you bounce or otherwise get sloppy with form, you can damage the rotator cuffs.
JASON MATHAS
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Eating clean makes a bodybuilder start craving the wrong kinds of foods, especially those loaded with sugar and fats. MMI explains which cheat strategies will help boost your gains and which will bust your gut.
By Team MuscleMag Illustrations by Larry McCusker
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RICH BAKER
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MAYA VISNYEL
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Cheat to Win on Your Diet
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Heres the good news

from the bodybuilding nutrition trenches: You can eat any food you want without blowing your diet. Heres the bad news: You cant eat every food you want, and its crucial that you limit how much you consume when you do decide to cheat. Cheating, as you know, can really derail your nutrition program. An all-day binge on pizza, hamburgers, ice cream, cakes and pastries can practically ruin months of hard work and soften up a rock-hard bod. Not to mention one cheat day can lead to another one, and so on. Rome wasnt built in a day and neither was your physique, but it sure can be destroyed just that fast. Theres plenty of bad news for the
bodybuilders, but theres also an upside to cheating: Sometimes it can actually enhance your gains. For instance, you can consume fats and sugar at certain times of the day to provide benets to your body during most of your bodybuilding season. The key is to know what types of cheat foods are benecial, what types are neutral and what types are detrimental to your physique goals. Many bodybuilders tout the idea of following a bodybuilding diet year-round. But that protocol may not be the best option for young bodybuilders, especially those who have trouble growing. A moderate amount of cheating, which well dene as occasional straying off a clean, high-protein, high-complex carbohydrate diet accompanied by an otherwise solid bodybuilding nutrition (and training!) program can help provide
your body with necessary calories and nutrients including saturated fats and sugars, which are benecial for growth when consumed appropriately. Thats right, even some of those foods you swore to stay away from can be favorable when consumed appropriately. Of course, cheating is a double-edged sword: If you cheat too much, youll gain excess bodyfat; if you dont cheat enough, youll get ripped, but you wont be able to maximize your muscle growth. Learning how to strike a balance is the No. 1 key to success. MuscleMag spoke with IFBB pros Troy Brown and Mike Van Wyck to get their expert insights on how best to use non-bodybuilding foods in a positive way to accomplish your overall goals. With your nutritional success in mind, here is the MuscleMag sheet on the seven best ways to cheat.
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LARRY MCCUSKER
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CHEAT RULE 1 CHEAT RULE 2 CHEAT RULE 3
Build your diet Dont overcheat in Cheat to help get in around foods you like the offseason. all the nutrients you The ipside to overdieting is to overconsume that serve you well. need to maximize cheat foods in the offseason, believing the One of the ways to reduce your desire to growth. more bodyweight you add the more muscle
cheat is to satisfy yourself with foods that are in your diet regimen. When youre on a wellregimented plan, slow-digesting carb foods such as yams can taste quite sweet, helping to satisfy your cravings for sugary foods. Salmon and other fatty sh have an oily texture, which helps decrease your desire for unhealthy, deep-fried foods. Do you love chicken breast? Great eat it as many days a week as you want in the offseason or when youre preparing for a show. Or do you nd chicken dry and avorless? If so, youre probably not inclined to consume as much of it as you should at any given meal in the offseason to provide sustained muscle growth. A better strategy for you may be to eat cuts of beef that are slightly fattier than chicken breast. You will consume more protein as well as a few more calories, but gravitating toward beef will probably help you add more muscle mass in the long run. Toronto bodybuilder Mike Van Wyck offers this example: I dont like sweet potatoes so I dont eat them in the offseason. I eat them only when Im getting ready for a show because theyre such a great bodybuilding food. But I love rice, so I pound it in the offseason. To keep growing, you should emphasize the foods you like best that will help you reach your goals. mass youll gain. Beyond a certain threshold, this is false. Once you have reached a point at which youre slowly adding bodyfat, youve almost guaranteed that youre taking in enough calories to maximize muscle gains. Excess calories will only make you fatter, making it harder to lose bodyfat when you do want to get in shape to show off all your hard work in the gym. When you adopt this overeating offseason strategy, youre much more likely to win the title of Biggest Loser rather than Mr. Olympia. Remember, you have to burn those extra calories off to get in shape for a competition or for the summer season, which means extra cardio, former British champion Troy Brown says. Be wise in your choice of cheat meals, and dont go overboard with the eating, even in the offseason. Mike agrees that moderation with cheating is one of the big keys to success. I dont go over the top and eat everything I want, but I dont follow the strictest plan in the offseason because I need a lot of calories to keep growing. I also do cardio year round, and I work out pretty damn hard. Too many bodybuilders over-regiment their nutrition program. Guess what happens in many cases? These bodybuilders end up depleting their muscles, providing too few calories and nutrition to support growth. I train a lot of hardgainers who are trying to put on weight, Mike says. I tell them to order double the food they think they want. The problem these guys have is that theyre just not getting in enough calories to grow. You see, bodybuilders must surpass a threshold of many different nutrients to maximize their muscle gains. You need a certain amount of protein and a certain amount of vitamins and minerals (supplied through nutrient-dense foods from categories such as fruits, vegetables and numerous others). But bodybuilders also need a minimal threshold of calories just to hold their ground. Without consuming the appropriate total calories on a daily basis, you simply wont grow. Once youve included all the protein your body can use for growth (at least 1 gram per pound each day), consuming more protein wont really help boost muscle growth any further if youre still coming up short on the total daily calories you need to sustain or add bodyweight. In fact, a bodybuilder who follows an extremely high-protein diet thats low in calories will begin to lose weight. At this point, you need to bump up total calorie consumption not protein consumption to keep adding muscular bodyweight. Satisfying, easy-to-consume foods can be valuable for growth at this point. Those who over-regiment their nutrition programs often end up undereating total calories, diminishing their potential gains. As Mike explains, some cheating may be necessary for you to boost your calorie intake for maximal growth.
RICH BAKER
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Cheat to Win on Your Diet
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CHEAT RULE 5 CHEAT RULE 6
CHEAT RULE 4
Cheat at the right time of the week.

You might feel as if youll go insane if you dont get a cheeseburger or slice of pizza occasionally. However, something worse may happen as well: You may undercut your gains by not taking in cheat foods that help keep your metabolism revved to the max; you want your metabolism functioning in high gear to burn bodyfat while in the process of maintaining or building muscle mass. A moderate amount of cheating every few days is a little like a workout session for your digestive system. Think of these cheat meals as heavy lifting for your stomach, small and large intestines. As long as a bodybuilder doesnt go overboard and binge excessively, a cheat meal can help support normal thyroid function, says Troy. It can also help to reload glycogen stores [the stored form of carbohydrate] in muscle tissue of the dieting bodybuilder, which in turn will help to fuel their intense workouts. Many fatty cheat foods also provide building blocks for important hormones such as testosterone and give you the calories you need for sustained growth. These cheat foods will also help to create a metabolic ebb and ow. Youre better able to burn bodyfat in the periods between these cheat meals. Then, the additional calories help you restock, making you stronger at the gym and boosting your metabolic rate for additional fat burning.
Cheat at the right time of your contest schedule.

If you compete, you dont want to binge on a Philly cheesesteak the night before a contest, but you dont want to go into your show looking at and depleted, either. Taking in carbs such as buckwheat pancakes with syrup can help ll out your muscles so that theyre striated and full. This meal will make you feel like youre cheating, but youre really just maximizing the appearance of your hard work. Consume it the night before you want to look your best. Keep the total calories moderate (about double your bodyweight) for best results. If youre really out of shape, however, you have your work cut out for you. If youre 60 pounds overweight when you start to diet and you have set a goal of 12 weeks to get in tip-top shape (say, for a contest or just for the start of summer), youd better not cheat at all, Troy says. But if your starting point is just 1020 pounds from where you want to be at the end of those 12 weeks, you can have a cheat meal once per week after beginning with two weeks of strict dieting. You have to assess your situation to know how much cheating you can handle without compromising your goals.
Cheat at the right time of the day.

If you crave carbs or fats, you can nd a time of day almost any day when you can consume both to benet your gains, and likewise there are times when you can instead maximize the damage. When cheating at the right times, you may feel like youre getting off track, but youll really be enhancing your overall program. You see, sugar creates a boost in insulin release, and an increase in insulin around the time of your workouts helps drive muscle recovery and thus growth by delivering more nutrients where and when theyre needed. Fats can help slow down digestion so that protein is delivered more slowly, helping to sustain its availability in your body. To benet your gains, consume sugary foods before and after your workouts. Want a soda or even candy such as Skittles or Gummy Bears? You can have them on your way to the gym or right after your workout. Eating sugar at this time will help drive nutrients to your muscles for growth because these high-sugar foods boost insulin levels. This is a much better alternative than a protein shake without carbs (who wouldve thought?) before and after workouts. Just make sure to avoid fats while youre consuming these pre- and postworkout carbs because thatll slow everything down, including the insulin boost. Similarly, fatty foods can be worthwhile to your overall nutrition plan. First, many saturated fats from animal products support hormone production such as testosterone, which is essential for maximizing muscle growth. Second, foods with a higher fat content slow digestion. When you consume fats with protein, you effectively provide a time-released effect upon the amino acids in protein. These aminos will be available for use for much longer periods of time, helping to prevent your body from breaking down muscle tissue for stored aminos (catabolism). Eat fattier forms of protein (such as whole eggs, deli meat, cheese and nuts) before bedtime to make sure there are aminos oating in your bloodstream longer. Just make sure to skip the carbs during these meals.
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RICH BAKER
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The Treat Sheet
CHEAT RULE 7
When you cheat, cheat in moderation.

When you consume an excess of calories during the day, especially if you gorge out at a single meal, youre virtually assured of storing that surplus as bodyfat. Youre much better served by spreading your cheating around a bit. Instead of ordering a Dominos double-cheese pizza with all the xings and gobbling it down in one night, youd be better off having a couple of slices for your cheat meal that night and sharing the rest with family or friends. If youre eating alone, though, keep it to two slices. Then, the next day you can have one slice with a protein shake for lunch. Freeze the rest and have it several days later as your next cheat go-round. Troy offers this rule of thumb: If you have to undo the top button of your pants, you cheated too much. Never stuff yourself or eat until you feel uncomfortable. Take a look at The Treat Sheet to see how you can successfully include moderate amounts of cheat foods without blowing your diet.
Cravings are a beat-em-or-join-em proposition. Either you get over your craving or satisfy it. Often, the only way to satisfy a craving is to eat that particular food. But is there a best cheat food? No, says IFBB pro bodybuilder Troy Brown. If a bodybuilder is craving pizza, he should cheat with pizza. Only the pizza will curb cravings for pizza. That goes for any food. If you crave it cheat with it, but only if youre in good enough shape to afford to cheat and can put the brakes on after just a small portion. The good news is that any terrible cheat food can be turned into a reasonable bodybuilding meal by complementing a moderate amount of it with a protein food, rather than just stuffing yourself with a box of Oreos, a dozen doughnuts or an entire pizza. As a baseline, weve established 500 calories as the amount you should limit yourself to for an acceptable cheat meal. Here, we give you the cheat food and advice on how to make sure youre not just taking in empty calories.
Pizza
Having a couple of slices should be enough to curb those cravings and still allow you to feel good afterward, says Troy. Two slices of pizza (a 14-inch medium pizza from a chain such as Dominos) has about 23 grams of protein and a little more than 500 calories. Actually, its not terrible for a cheat meal. Nevertheless, nutrient breakdown is pretty bad for a standard bodybuilding meal since less than 20% of the calories comes from protein. You can add more protein with a tall glass of nonfat milk skip the beer.
Desserts
Dont desert your diet when you eat dessert. Keep your portions moderate (two medium cookies, a moderate wedge of fruit pie, a small piece of cake). All of these goodies have about 300 calories and very little protein. Add a cup of coffee and a protein shake to turn this into a more sensible meal. If youre eating this dessert on top of a meal, cut back to a much smaller serving. Itll be a true test of your willpower to stop at just that small amount.
Cheeseburger
Lean beef is a great bodybuilding food. Fastfood burgers are not. When youre cheating the key is to straddle the line between the two, making your cheat meal a justiable bodybuilding meal. A McDonalds quarter pounder has a little over 500 calories with 29 grams of protein. Whether youre ordering out or making it at home, avoid fatty condiments such as mayo or special sauce. Then, consider taking off the hat the top part of the bun. Doing so will cut empty calories while still delivering the beef relief that you seek. You can even go double meat. Also, avoid the fries and the sugary Coke if its the burger youre craving.
Ice Cream
Ice cream is a dairy product, but its little more than a cheat food. If you want to turn this frosty treat into anything but decadence, youre going to have to augment protein. Go ahead and have your ice cream (fatty versions close to bedtime; nonfat versions closer to your workout). An 8-ounce serving (two scoops) of regular ice cream has about 300 calories but only 5 grams of protein. Specialty brands tend to be higher in calories per ounce. If you want, throw those scoops of ice cream into a protein shake.
Doughnuts
Yes, theyre considered one of the worst foods for bodybuilders. But if thats what you want, thats what you want. Eat one large or two small doughnuts. One large glazed doughnut (about 4 inches in diameter) has approximately 300 calories with 5 grams of protein. Add two whole eggs and four egg whites to complete a 500-calorie breakfast that has almost 30 grams of protein.
ROBERT REIFF
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WorldMags.net One side effect of bodybuilding is a stronger, thicker neck, but that can cause you to fall victim to an insidious nightime killer called sleep apnea
By Nicole McPherson Photos by Paul Buceta Model Adam Headland
Is Y our
Deadly Danger?
100DECEMBER MONTH 2013| 2013|musclemag.com
Muscle Sleep Putting Y ou in

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Is Your Muscle Sleep Putting You in Deadly Danger?
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Imagine youre lying in bed, catching some ZZZs. Suddenly, a plastic bag is put over your head. You struggle to get it off and frantically gasp for air. Finally, after minutes that feel like hours, you rip the bag open and break free. Your heart is racing and you desperately inhale. You thank God youre awake and alive ... at least for now.
This isnt the beginning of a horror movie, but rather the story of amateur bodybuilder Carl Cheungs life before he was diagnosed with sleep apnea. Carl, who has competed in a number of Ontario (Canada) Physique Association championships, remembers many times like this when hed wake up suddenly throughout the night, desperate to catch his breath. Back then, he had no idea that he had a severe and dangerous sleeping condition called sleep apnea. It wasnt until his friends begged him to see a sleep specialist that he discovered the truth. The doctor was surprised I was still alive, Carl remembers about his sleep test results. Thats how severe my sleep apnea was. I stayed overnight at the sleep clinic to be tested and I was extremely shocked by the results. In a seven-and-ahalf-hour period, I woke up more than 300 times. One time, Id stopped breathing for a full four minutes. What exactly is sleep apnea? Characterized by repeated breathing interruptions during sleep, sleep apnea has been dened as a condition in which breathing stops for periods of time during sleep due to on-and-off blockage of air passages. In fact, the Greek word apnea literally means without breath. The culprit is typically excess and collapsed throat tis-
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sue thats blocking the airway, which is why sufferers often wake up gasping for air. When you experience ve or more apnea episodes per hour (i.e., waking periods with at least a 10-second interval between breaths), your level of sleep apnea is considered clinically signicant. Based on these criteria, Carls results were off the charts. Not surprisingly, being jolted awake so many times throughout the night had a staggering effect on Carls daily life. Because he was never able to fall into a deep, quality sleep, he was in a constant state of extreme fatigue. And his bodybuilding gains, as would be expected, were poor. The amount of sleep needed, of course, varies by age. Infants spend a majority of their time sleeping 1618 hours per day. Teenagers require a good chunk, too; approximately nine hours. Adults can go with less (about 78 hours), but most bodybuilders nd their needs are greater. After vigorous workouts, adequate rest is essential for growth and repair. While
your body rests, protein synthesis occurs. During this process, the muscles you trained are strengthened and repaired, thereby allowing better recovery and more growth. When youve got sleep apnea, youre extremely groggy when you rst wake up, explains 30-year-old Carl. As the day progresses, you can hardly focus. Having conversations is difficult, and youre always asking people to repeat themselves. When youre sitting in meetings at work, trying to pay attention and be responsive, you can barely stay awake. But you assume youre just tired because of the topic or the temperature in the room. You can even fall asleep while standing up. There were times when Id even fall into a deep sleep at a red light, until Id hear someone honking at me. But I had no idea I had sleep apnea, or what sleep apnea even was. Its difficult to diagnose yourself. My friends were the ones who noticed I was always falling asleep and unable to focus. They convinced me
to go see my family doctor, who referred me to a sleep specialist. Not long after, Carl went for a polysomnogram, an overnight diagnostic test where many of his bodily functions were monitored while he slept (including his brain activity, eye movements, muscle activity, heart rhythm, respiratory airow and respiratory effort). Results showed that Carl had obstructive sleep apnea, the most common form of the condition. During obstructive sleep apnea, the upper airway becomes narrow as the muscles relax naturally during sleep. As a result, oxygen in the blood is reduced, which causes you to frequently wake up. Desperate for a solution, Carl began using a CPAP machine, short for Continuous Positive Airway Pressure. A CPAP machine aids breathing by delivering a stream of compressed air via a hose to a nasal pill, nose mask or full-face mask. Although it took some time to get used to wearing his CPAP machine, Carl says his life has been much improved since. musclemag.com|DECEMBER |MONTH 2013103
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they affect in your life.
At rst you feel awkward using the machine because of the tubes and having things around your nose and mouth, Carl says. A lot of people refuse to use it because if theyre with someone, theyre afraid of what that person will think. Having gone through it myself, I know that people who have sleep apnea can be really sensitive about the condition and embarrassed about using the machine. Youve also got to bring it with you whenever you travel. But you have to realize this is the best solution. It can help resolve your sleep issues and every aspect
A BETTER LIFE, A BETTER PHYSIQUE

Aside from being more focused at work, more alert in social settings and safer behind the wheel, Carl claims that his better-quality sleep has also made him a far better bodybuilder. Everyone knows you dont build muscle in the gym; you grow and repair when youre asleep. So Ive denitely seen a difference in the amount of quality muscle Ive put on since using the CPAP, he says.
Within a month of using it I saw a 15-pound difference in my body, and I attribute that progress to just getting quality rest. Before that, I was stuck, hitting a brick wall. So for me gaining 15 pounds was huge. One possible reason for these gains is that human growth hormone (HGH), a peptide hormone that stimulates growth and cell reproduction, is produced during sleep. HGH levels typically rise about 3545 minutes after youve fallen asleep. HGH effects on the body are anabolic; if youre missing out on your sleep, youre missing out on muscle building. Mike Kelly, a competitive bodybuilder from Toronto, can relate. Like Carl, he was a victim of sleep apnea without even realizing it. He too would experience extreme fatigue during the day, to the point where hed easily nod off while talking to people. Episodes of waking up suddenly in the middle of the night were a constant occurrence. My wife actually stopped sleeping in the same bed as me out of fear, says Mike. She didnt want to look at me
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What Is Sleep Apnea?
Sleep apnea is a common disorder in which you have one or more pauses in breathing or shallow breaths while you sleep. Breathing pauses can last from a few seconds to minutes. They often occur 530 times or more an hour. Typically, normal breathing then starts again, sometimes with a loud snort or choking sound. Sleep apnea usually is a chronic (ongoing) condition that disrupts your sleep three or more nights each week. You often move out of deep sleep and into light sleep when your breathing pauses or becomes shallow. Poor sleep quality results, making you tired during the day. Sleep apnea is one of the leading causes of excessive daytime sleepiness. OVERVIEW Sleep apnea often goes undiagnosed. Doctors usually cant detect the condition during routine office visits. Also, there are no blood tests for the condition. Most people who have sleep apnea dont know they have it because it only occurs during sleep. A family member and/or bed partner may rst notice the signs of sleep apnea. The most common type of sleep apnea is obstructive sleep apnea. This most often means that the airway has collapsed or is blocked during sleep. The blockage may cause shallow breathing or breathing pauses. When you try to breathe, any air that squeezes past the blockage can cause loud snoring. Obstructive sleep apnea happens more often in people who are overweight, but it can affect anyone. OUTLOOK Untreated sleep apnea can: Increase the risk for high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, obesity and diabetes. Increase the risk for or worsen heart failure. Make irregular heartbeats more likely. Increase the chance of having work-related or driving accidents. Lifestyle changes, mouthpieces, surgery and/or breathing devices can successfully treat sleep apnea in many people.
Information from the National Institutes of Health.
A CPAP machine isnt pretty, but it can save your life. Many bodybuilders use one.
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da), has personally experienced sleep apnea and can attest to the stereotypes associated with the condition. When we think of sleep apnea, we sometimes assume just obese males are at risk. But in fact, I have some patients who are 100 pounds soaking wet. Anyone with a narrow or recessed jaw, a short neckline or a large neck can be predisposed to sleep apnea. Neck size is actually a good predictor of potential for developing sleep apnea. If your neck size is larger than 17 inches, the risk is typically higher. Thats likely why many bodybuilders have sleep apnea. But a lot of it is anatomical in nature. You might be predisposed to it or have small airways. There are three distinct forms of sleep apnea: Obstructive sleep apnea (which represents 84% of cases), central sleep apnea (representing 0.4% of cases) and complex sleep apnea (representing 15% of cases). Obstructive sleep apnea is caused by a blockage of the airway, typically when the soft tissue in the rear of the throat collapses and closes during sleep. Breathing is interrupted by a physical block to airow despite respiratory effort. With central sleep apnea, the airway isnt blocked, but the brain fails to signal the muscles to breathe. Breathing is interrupted by the lack of respiratory effort. Complex sleep apnea is a combination of the rst two conditions. Each time you experience an apnea episode, your brain briey arouses you in order for you to resume breathing. Its for this reason that sleep becomes so fragmented and interrupted and why sufferers can barely function the next day. In severe cases, the condition can even trigger a heart attack and death.
Lack of quality sleep at night makes you drowsy during the day.
while I was asleep and see how my chest would start heaving and how Id suddenly y up to take a big gasp of air. This would go on all night, and she couldnt bear to see me like that. While at a routine check-up with his family doctor, Mike shared his story of restless nights and over-sluggish days. His doctor immediately referred Mike to a sleep specialist, where it was conrmed that he had sleep apnea. Like Carl, Mike now uses a CPAP machine, and he feels like a new person because of it. Because Mike is a personal trainer, the extra sleep has helped his bodybuilding career in more ways than one. Before when I was personal training, Id have such a hard time staying awake. Your clients expect you to be upbeat, happy and energetic all the time, even when youre dieting for a show, which can be
hard. When you add lack of sleep into the mix, its really difficult. Now, all around, everything is better. I have so much more energy.
WHOS AT RISK?
Although high risk factors include being male, overweight and over the age of 40, sleep apnea doesnt just affect people like your beer-bellied relatives who are addicted to Twinkies and TV and who dont exercise. The condition is an extremely common one as common as diabetes. In fact, according to the National Institutes of Health, sleep apnea affects more than 12 million Americans. This includes men and women, young and old. Even children are susceptible. Cox Tan-Ngo, MD, founder of Clinical Sleep Solutions, Inc., a private sleep clinic in Vancouver (British Columbia, Cana-
BEING DIAGNOSED
Unfortunately, because the public is still relatively uninformed about sleep apnea, many people go undiagnosed and untreated. They assume their fatigue is just a symptom of something else. And many people dont even realize theyre waking up as often as they are during the night. Symptoms may go unnoticed for years,
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during which time sufferers may simply become conditioned to feeling tired all the time. As was the case with Carl Cheung, its typically friends or family who rst catch wind of the symptoms and suggest professional treatment. The biggest problem with regard to sleep apnea is that, although its a sleep disorder, most people who have it fall asleep easily and sleep through the problem, says Tan-Ngo. Its different than insomnia where you have difficulty getting to sleep. With sleep apnea, you can experience waking periods without knowing it or understanding why. Another myth surrounding sleep apnea is that its just a snoring problem, but Tan-Ngo urges people not to overlook their snoring habits. If people tend to snore quite loudly, the more important it is for them to look into sleep apnea as a condition, he explains. The last thing you want to do is leave mild sleep apnea untreated only to have it lead to high blood pressure years later. So assess your snoring as a rst screening tool, then look at your quality of sleep, how youre waking up, and then how you are during the day. As for treatments, the CPAP machine isnt the only option. Several choices are available, and research into additional options continues. One route is to have an operation involving the removal of some soft tissue of the palate, tonsil area and inner lining of the throat to create a larger air passage. The idea is to open up the throat area. Sound painful? Well, it can be. Some whove had this operation compare it to having gargled with razor blades. On the ip side, there are others who this surgery has worked wonders for. The important point is to speak to your sleep specialist about what the best option is for you. At Clinical Sleep Solutions, the CPAP is still the treatment method of choice. We consider the CPAP machine the gold standard for treating the problem, says Tan-Ngo. And thats why we usually start with it. When you go the surgery route, theres no turning back. If you remove tissue and then the problem isnt xed, you cant put that tissue back. Oral appliances are another alternative, but because of their limitations in managing all forms of sleep apnea, theyre hit or miss. Not all patients who get the CPAP machine, however, stick with it. Some would rather sleep on a bed of nails than sleep with a mask attached to their face. When Mike Kelly rst got his CPAP machine, he was unenthusiastic about using it. His wife was the one who convinced him to give it a fair shot. The rst week I had the machine, Id put it on and fall asleep, but then rip it off a couple of hours later, he remembers. Just getting those extra couple of hours sleep made such a difference though, and my wife and I started sleeping in the same bed again. Then sometimes Id wake up halfway through the night and rip it off, and shed leave the room again. So nally I just decided to stick with it. According to Tan-Ngo, what separates those who succeed with the CPAP machine and those who dont is mindset. I believe that people who buy the machine but then dont use it are the people who, when initially tested, didnt believe the problem to be as severe as it was. The people who use the machine are the ones who know it can change their lives. The last thing we want is to see someone who doesnt use the machine and their quality of life suffers. Thats why our main focus at the clinic is helping people follow through. The easy part is buying a machine; the hard part is continuing to use it. Left completely untreated, the sleep apnea picture isnt pretty. The condition can lead to high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke. It can also play a part in memory problems, weight gain, impotency and headaches. Feel like sabotaging your job or increasing your chance of getting into a car accident? Untreated sleep apnea can have a big impact in those departments, too. Put simply, your quality of sleep is crucial. If youve been letting it take a backseat to other aspects of your life, you need to switch your priorities. What I notice with my patients is that sleep is always the rst thing people sacrice if theyre stressed or busy, but its never what they consider to be the problem, says Tan-Ngo. People never think lack of sleep is causing them to feel sick, or that they might need more sleep. Their rst impulse is to think the answer lies in medications.
WHAT ABOUT YOU?

Just sitting on the problem isnt going to do you any good. In fact, it could do you a ton of harm. Rather than sabotaging your gains as a bodybuilder and literally putting your life at risk, take the time to get your sleep levels tested. Youve heard the stories: You could pack on more muscle, feel a lot more energetic and focused, and live an allaround better life.
Sleep Apnea Increases Early Death Risk

Individuals with severe sleep apnea have a 46% increased risk of dying early, according to a 2009 Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore) study. Sleep apnea is closely associated with obesity, high blood pressure, heart failure and stroke. The study looked at 6,400 men and women over eight years and found that those with major sleep apnea were 46% more likely to die from any cause than healthy individuals the same age, regardless of other factors. The study, published in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS Medicine, found that people with milder sleep-breathing disorders were not more likely to die early. Its estimated that 1218 million Americans have sleep apnea, and most are neither diagnosed nor treated.
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Once your workout ends, the business of building muscle in the kitchen begins. Heres how to maximize muscle growth and fat loss with the right foods and supplements from your post-workout meal through bedtime.
By Eric Velazquez, NSCA-CPT
Photos of Justin Lovato by Robert Reiff
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nutrition the kind that powers workouts and keeps you building lean mass all day starts when your alarm goes off in the morning. This crucial window helps to put an immediate and denitive halt to muscle catabolism as circulating glucose levels have dropped and your glycogen-starved body goes on the search for fuel. But what about the other end of the nighttime fast?
Most lifters tend to think their food and supplements schedule ends when theyve gone fork-to-mouth for the last time at the dinner table, but thats simply not the case not if you want to maximize your gains, anyway. Just as your morning routine is designed to stop the wasting of muscle, your nighttime routine can help to prevent it. As you sleep, your brain requires glucose to operate. As stored sugars become scant, your body starts to break down amino acids from other sources like circulating amino acids and even muscle to convert into glucose for energy purposes. Thats suboptimal for a lifter looking to add some extra pounds. In the evening, the body is in recovery mode, hormonally and energetically, as is the central nervous system, says Tim Ziegenfuss, PhD, CSCS, president of The International Society of Sports Nutrition. Therefore, an optimal nutrition program addresses each of these processes. Its not quite as complicated as your morning routine in that it involves fewer steps, but how you handle your evening nutrition and supplementation can go a long way toward determining just how big and lean you can become. Here are a handful of points you should consider at night to make sure youre holding on to your hard-earned sinew.
WorldMags.net By now, you know that bodybuilding
T MINUS 240 MINUTES
IMMEDIATELY POST-WORKOUT As someone who likely trains right after work or school, the most complex part of your nutrition plan is that its condensed into a few short hours before you hit the sheets. And though a few steps may follow, the most important feeding happens immediately following the nal set of your workout. This anabolic window is crucial for keeping gains on track because your muscles are begging for a fresh dose of amino acids to begin the repairing process and fast-digesting carbs to spike insulin and top off depleted fuel stores. In fact, skipping this meal on a regular basis can often result in a drastic backslide in strength and muscle gains. In the interest of expedience and in anticipation of the whole food meal to come the best thing to do is to take in a shake containing 4060 grams of protein to provide your muscles the building blocks they need to get on the mend. Whey is best, but studies show that a mix of whey and casein (faster-digesting hydrolysate is ne) post-workout can in-
6:45 p.m.
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7:30 p.m.
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crease muscle gains in the long run. And though you may have to ght your get-lean instincts, fast-digesting carbs are a must at this time. Having 60 100 grams of the stuff from sources like sports drinks, sugary snacks or white bread spikes insulin, which helps transport the carbs you eat into muscles where they can be used later for fuel. It also helps to increase protein synthesis and promotes creatine uptake in muscles. but the guy who busts his ass for an hour and eats dinner 23 hours before bed should take in about 0.5 grams of carbs and 0.25 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight, with only a few grams of fat, says Ziegenfuss. That averages around 40 grams of protein and 80 grams of carbs. If bodyfat is of particular concern, you can increase protein and decrease carbs at dinner, but slow-burning carbs such as sweet potato and brown rice are important for rebuilding muscle in the hours following high-volume training. Heres a case where not all carbs are created equal. While your dinner should have a slow-burning carb, avoid fast carbs. Mind you, if you trained before dinner, your post-workout meal should in fact be high in fast carbs (like waxy maize). But your post-workout meal is not or at least shouldnt be your dinner. The biggest difference between the two is the kind of carbs you choose (oftentimes the post-workout meal is a shake while dinner is a whole food). Thats why at dinnertime, to keep the scale moving in the right direction without adding those extra pounds of blubber, try to limit the amount of fastdigesting sugars you shovel in your face while youre watching TV. These foods spike insulin levels, which can trigger the storage of excess fat. Those fast carbs that did such a great job with your post-workout meal are now a bad idea. Before bed, avoid fast carbs such as white pasta, rice or potatoes, chocolate milk, ice cream, juices or sugary cereals like Lucky Charms, says Ziegenfuss. I also think most fruits should be avoided at night, even though theyre slow carbs. For many athletes trying to cut, fruit at night seems to make it near impossible to get really lean, probably because fructose helps rell liver glycogen. If your post-workout meal and dinner are one in the same, you need to follow the rules for post-workout nutrition, but by all means get it in as soon as possible after your workout.
T MINUS 180 MINUTES

DINNER If you train in the evening like most people, you cant just have anything for your evening repast. You have to take care to select the right balance of foods thatll maximize recovery and set you on your way to new size. It depends on workout length, intensity and how long after training you eat,
T MINUS 90 MINUTES
SNACK The biggest downside of training hard or following a carb-limited bodybuilding diet is that nighttime cravings are almost inevitable. Somewhere between 9 and10 p.m., you start getting the itch to forage through the pantry for something to satisfy your sweet tooth. Eating, in and of itself, isnt bad particularly if youre trying to gain size. But your food selection can go a long way to determining whether or not youre going to be adding inches to your biceps or your waistline. Yes, there are some good foods that you can eat at night thatll help you with gains, says Ziegenfuss. Foods
Is it worth it to consume a very, very late night (or very, very early) shake to stave off muscle catabolism? Food for thought.
There are tales of bodybuilders with visions of Sandows dancing in their heads who set their alarms for 3 a.m. every morning breaking their slumber so that they can pound down a 4060-gram shake before ambling back to bed. Is it worth it? Its really not needed unless youre up anyway, says Ziegenfuss. If you eat the right foods and supplements just before bed, youre good for at least 46 hours, maybe longer. Its more important to actually make sure that youre rested. If you wake yourself up, you interrupt your sleep cycle and some may not be able to get back to sleep at all putting yourself at risk for overtraining, excess stress or injury from lack of concentration in the gym. At the very least, your workouts (and workday) will be generally compromised. So its okay to skip the late-night feedings. Catch up on your Zs instead.
The Big Night

Follow this post-workout evening timeline to ensure complete workout recovery and prevent overnight muscle wasting.
TIME
6:45 p.m. 7:30 p.m.
MEAL
Post-workout meal (on training days) Dinner
WHAT TO TAKE
4060 g whey and casein protein 60100 g fast (simple) carbs 40 g protein 80 g slow (complex) carbs minimal fats 3040 g protein minimal carbs 10 g healthy fats ZMA (as directd on label) 35 g arginine 3040 g micellar casein shake with water 23 tbsp. axseed oil 1 tbsp. peanut butter (optional)
9:30 p.m.
Evening snack (optional)
1 0 : 4 5 p.m.
Bedtime supplements
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such as cottage cheese actually most cheeses are okay natural peanut butter, modest servings of sh, ax or olive oil are all good choices. Again, the key is to eat protein and fat with very few carbs, but still stay within your daily calorie goals.
T MINUS 15 MINUTES
PRE-BEDTIME SUPPLEMENTS Scientists say you have to do something 1621 times in a row before it becomes habit. Well, for the next few weeks, keep a shaker and some key supplements by your bedside table so that supplementation becomes part of your bedtime routine. As you begin to wind down, about 1015 minutes before lights out, you should take a 35 gram dose of stimulant-free arginine to help optimize growth hormone levels, which peak at nighttime. Ziegenfuss also recommends a dose of ZMA (zinc and magnesium). Zinc is a great anti-aromatase, and many guys have suboptimal zinc levels, he says. Magnesium is useful because it takes the edge off while promoting relaxation. In addition its a co-factor in several hundred chemical reactions. But before you put your head on that pillow, its time to focus specically on the fast ahead and theres only one choice for lifters here. Micellar casein is a slow protein that clots in the stomach and is released over a prolonged period of time, says Ziegenfuss. This effect helps reduce muscle protein breakdown, a major pain during sleep. Avoid the mistake of purchasing casein hydrolysate, which digests much quicker. Dont feel bad for casein it wont be all by itself in your shaker cup. Ziegenfuss also recommends throwing in 23 tablespoons of axseed oil to further slow the rate of digestion. The ax also helps to facilitate joint recovery and to aid fat loss. If you choose to blend a shake before bed, you can toss in a spoonful of peanut butter for added texture, taste and healthy fat.
10:45 p.m.
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WorldMags.net SPORTS MED
YOUR ARCHILLES HEEL
IN YOUR PURSUIT TO GET LEAN

If you do high-impact cardio, you might be familiar with plantar fasciitis pain in the soles of your feet. Heres what causes the condition and how to treat it.
By Guillermo Escalante, PhD, MBA, CSCS
114 DECEMBER 2013|musclemag.com
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ou wake up in the morning and step out of bed. But when you put your feet on the oor, it feels like you landed on a nail. The pain is sharp along the inside of your heel and extends along the entire sole of your foot. The pain slowly subsides after you walk for a few minutes, but may persist throughout the day.
This is what it feels like to have plantar fasciitis, the most common cause of heel pain1 to affect both athletes and nonathletes. Although the problem is more prevalent among runners, bodybuilders and other athletes may also encounter it, especially those who do a lot of cardio activity for heart health and to keep bodyfat levels low. The condition is usually caused by a biomechanical imbalance resulting in tension and inammation along the plantar fascia2, the thick connective tissue that supports the arch on the bottom of the foot. These imbalances may include a tight gastrocnemius/soleus, structural foot problems like at feet, and inexible joints or weak muscles farther up the kinetic chain like the gluteus maximus/medius that indirectly create tension in the plantar fascia.
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make sure you have proper, supportive shoes. You may have to switch to low-impact cardio activities such as swimming and cycling in the short term to reduce the impact to the bottom of your feet. Dont try to tough out this type of injury; it can easily make matters worse. If the pain persists, its always smart to consult a podiatrist, physician, certied athletic trainer or physical therapist to help you implement other treatment options.
References 1 Neufeld, S.K., Cerrato, R. Plantar fasciitis: evaluation and treatment. J Am Acad Orthop Surg. June 2008; 16(6): 338-346. 2 Barrett, S.J., OMalley, R. Plantar fasciitis and other causes of heel pain. Am Fam Physician. April 1999; 59(8): 2,2002,206.
Plantar Fasciitis FAQ

WHAT IS IT? The most common cause of heel pain in trainees and athletes, it occurs when the long brous plantar fascia ligament along the bottom of the foot develops tears in the tissue, resulting in pain and inammation. WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS? Common complaints include burning, stabbing or aching pain in the heel of the foot. Because the fascia ligament tightens during the night as you sleep, once you get up in the morning and place pressure on the foot, the ligament becomes taut and causes acute pain. Pain usually subsides as the tissue warms up, but it may return after long periods of standing or weightbearing physical activity. IS IT COMMON? Its estimated that about 10% of Americans will develop plantar fasciitis over the course of their lifetimes. Because its associated with long periods of weightbearing activity, its also linked with being overweight or obese.
Inammation of the plantar fascia
CONSERVATIVE TREATMENT OPTIONS

TREATMENT
Night splints
Plantar fasciitis can be successfully managed with conservative treatment in about 90% of cases
Wearing old or worn shoes and doing excessive-impact cardiovascular exercise such as brisk walking, especially downhill, or running without letting your body recover between runs can also contribute. Plantar fasciitis can be successfully managed with conservative treatment in about 90% of cases1 (see Conservative Treatment Options for Plantar Fasciitis). In addition, complete rest, ice and stretching over the course of 13 weeks often helps relieve the pain. For a full recovery,
HOW IT WORKS
These splints provide a gentle, prolonged stretch to the plantar fascia, Achilles tendon and gastrocnemius (calf muscle) while you sleep. Taken in a prescription-grade dosage as prescribed by your physician, these medicines can help alleviate inammation. If you have at feet or high arches, orthotics can help support your feet and may relieve foot problems or other orthopedic ailments related to poor foot structure. These usually include medicine that helps reduce inammation and a local pain medication to immediately relieve discomfort. Its important to note that while this may relieve pain in the short term, the original cause of the problem like poor foot structure must be addressed or the condition will persist. This can include modalities such as electrical stimulation, ultrasound, low-level laser and ice. Manual therapy techniques like joint mobilization, tting for custom orthotics, and therapeutic exercise to address exibility/strength imbalances may also be implemented.
Nonsteroidal antiinammatory drugs (ibuprofen, sodium naproxide) Foot orthotics
Corticosteroid injections
Rehabilitation
SHUTTERSTOCK
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of the
Eye Tigress
Photos by Robert Reiff
We get up close and personal with Nicole Wilkins, whose erce determination to win earned her a third Ms. Figure Olympia title in 2013.
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MAKEUP/HAIR: NANCY JAMBAZIAN; STYLING: ELISABETTA ROGIANI; BODY SUIT AND SHOES BY RICHARDBOWMAN.NET
The mainstream media love women to be skinny, but thats not me. I love muscle on women.
Nicole Wilkins
HEIGHT: 56 WEIGHT: 130 lbs. YEARS TRAINING: 13 BIRTHPLACE: Sterling Heights, MI WEBSITE: nicolewilkins.com TWITTER: @NicoleMWilkins FACEBOOK: /nicolewilkins01 SPONSOR: Met-Rx
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Nicole Wilkins
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show skin and be sexy without being trashy.
You can
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BOLERO AND BOOTS BY RSNBOHEME.COM
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Nicole Wilkins
Fans ask me some strange things. Recently a guy wanted to take a picture of my feet. Go gure!
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|DECEMBER 2013119
WorldMags.net I dont consider myself to
be superstitious, but I have a shirt that says determined that my friends gave me in Michigan that I always wear backstage at a show.
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The most attractive thing in a man is condence. They have to be very secure in their own skin. Second to that is humor.
Nicole Wilkins
BRA, PANTY, SHOES BY VICTORIASSECRET.COM; DRESS ON CHAIR BY RSNBOHEME.COM
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Nicole Wilkins
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I have never been a really skinny girl, and Ive always had an athletic physique, so it was nice to nd a sport that embraced that ideal.
CONTEST HIGHLIGHTS
3x IFBB Figure Olympia Champion; 3x IFBB Figure International Champion 2009: New York Pro Figure Champion; Europa Orlando Pro Figure Champion 2011: St. Louis Pro Figure Champion; Tournament of Champions Pro Figure Champion; IFBB Sheru Classic Champion
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KIMONO BY FREDERICKS.COM
Larry Vinette VINTAGE Montreals reveals the training system VINETTE that earned him his pro card WorldMags.net
The dumbbell advantage to bringing up your arms
iami uscle achine
How North American light-heavy champ Alex Cambronero uses a dual approach to make his pecs grow
E N A T C O H G I H Y D O B T R E S P UP A L B
LEE BANKS
THE
Freemans back n traps workout may be the toughest youve ever tried
TONEY AWARD
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DECEMBER 2O13
126 Back From the Future

A student of training, Toney Freeman takes a cerebral approach to his back/rear-delt/upper-traps workout thats as multidimensional as it is unconventional.
138 Vintage Vinette

Cover model Larry Vinette discusses the training philosophy that helped him earn his IFBB pro card.
138
146 Miami Muscle Machine
By Lara McGlashan, MFA, CPT
Alejandro Cambroneros love for iron has brought him to America and ultimately a pro card. Heres the Costa Ricans formula for building massive pecs.
168 The Need for Speed 166 All Hail the
Kick-start your quickness with these speed-training strategies and slash those seconds off the stopwatch.
By Mike Jenkins, Team MHP Athlete
156 RealTime Chest and
Mighty Thor!
Icelandic strongman champion Hafthor Thor Bjrnsson shows off his freakish physique in the fourth season of Game of Thrones.
By Alex Zakrzewski
Shoulder Workout With Lee Banks

IFBB pro Lee Banks goes high volume/low rest in this raw, offseason chestand-delts thrash.
170 Welcome
to the Gun Show
We pick the brain of IFBB pro Anthoneil Champagnie on how to keep your biceps and triceps
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ch w am i t Pro pionp h p T-S FR mo erf urc H E Co orm ha IR E de an se T : FR ce a EET .co t ED m GE
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GET THE EDGE
Rise above weakness. We know its hard work and discipline that make you extraordinary. Whatever, your goals, get the edge to rise above them with Champion Performance. Optimal, anabolic 8:1:1 BCAA ratio to help ignite protein synthesis, reduce muscle breakdown and support lean muscle growth! Advanced 10g amino acid formula designed to help keep your body in a constant anabolic state.
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These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
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TONEY FREEMAN
NICKNAME: The X-Man BIRTHDATE: August 30, 1966 BIRTHPLACE: South Bend, IN
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CURRENT RESIDENCE: Canton, GA WEIGHT: 280285 lbs. contest; 305 lbs. offseason CONTEST HIGHLIGHTS: 2013: Arnold Classic, 3rd, Arnold Classic Brazil, 2nd, Australian Pro, 2nd 2012: Masters Olympia, 2nd, Tampa Pro, 2nd, Europa Super Show, 3rd 2011: Pro World Masters, 2nd, Europa Super Show, 1st CONTACT: tfxman305@gmail.com TWITTER: @IFBBProTFXman
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K C BA E R U T FU
e h t m fro
re b r a l e c a s e k a t F re e m a n a p s wo r k o u t y e n o T , g n i t ra i n e r- t r nalBy A student of his back/rear-delt/upp tios n e v n o c n u o s t l asoistbiy Gregory Jame approach ltidimensionah muz, NSCA-CPT | P ot s as thatV elazque
Eric
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Toney Freeman was going to be an electrical engineer.

Putting himself through the paces at a technical institute, he looked forward to the salary promised him by faculty upon graduation. Up to $70,000 per year, they said. After two solid years, he started anticipating the coming conversations with recruiters and how he would manage his retirement plan once hired. Then came high-level math. Id been getting As and Bs but the math started kicking my ass, and those [grades] started turning into Cs and Ds, Toney says. The perfectionist in me couldnt handle that. I was working two jobs at the time and they were paying me more than I was going to make when I got out. So I dropped out and thats about the time I started bodybuilding. Now 47, Toney trained and ate his way through the amateur bodybuilding ranks, applying proven programs and one-sizets-all routines as needed to ensure his ascension to the pros. But an epiphany would come in 1995, an evolution of philosophy born out of misfortune. musclemag.com|DECEMBER 2013127
TRAINING SPLIT
DAY
1 2 3 4 5
BODYPARTS TRAINED
Quads, hamstrings, glutes Chest, front and middle delts Back, rear delts, upper traps Biceps, triceps, forearms Cycle repeats
Toney doesnt include scheduled rest days in his split, instead taking days off only when he feels theyre necessary or when hes traveling.
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the BACK from WorldMags.net FUTURE
I tore my pec during a Dorian Yatesstyle chest workout, he says. Im a huge fan of HIT and was at the time, but this routine just wasnt for me. [Editors note: High-intensity training, or HIT, requires just one all-out set after several warm-ups but because of the degree of intensity and weight, its hard on the joints.] After that happened, I realized that I cant bodybuild the way everyone else does. That opened the door to the way I think now. Im actually grateful for the experience. It forced me to get back to basics but also to stay within the realm of my genetics. Toney spends most of his days now trying to problem-solve. Like a 300pound mad scientist, he vigorously researches, hypothesizes and experiments to coax his body into doing what he wants it to do. In a word, his style of training is highly unconventional. He sits in on seminars, digs through journals and enlists the wisdom of training gurus, Frankensteining it all into a usable formula for success. His engineering hopes dashed by arithmetic, Toney has gone on to master the academics of physique artistry.
If youre doing this move for the rst time, Toney recommends doing it standing with a 45-degree forward lean. Think about moving your lower lats, then your shoulder blades, then your elbows.
TONEYS BACK/REAR-DELT/UPPER-TRAPS ROUTINE

EXERCISE SETS REPS Giant set done without rest until he nishes all four exercises Incline-Bench Straight-Arm Kickback 2 810 Supinated Dumbbell Row Pronated Dumbbell Row Neutral-Grip Dumbbell Row Neutral-Grip Dumbbell Row with Hold 1 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 (each side)1 Pull-Up x2 50 One-Arm Pulldown with Hold 3 7103 Wide-Grip Pulldown 35 810 Shrug Series 3 304 Rear-Delt Series 3 305
1 Toney holds both dumbbells in the fully contracted position. Keeping one weight up, he performs ve reps with the other arm, then switches. He repeats this in diminishing-reps fashion performing four on each side, then three, then two, then one keeping one dumbbell in the top position while the other arm is working. He does only this exercise this way every other workout. When he doesnt, he simply runs through his opening giant set a third time. 2 Toney completes as many sets as necessary to reach 50 total reps. 3 Toney keeps one handle in the lowered, peak-contracted position while the other arm works. He performs all reps for one side before switching and does all three sets consecutively without rest. 4 Toney does 10 reps of three shrug variations. First, he does 10 with his palms facing his glutes behind him, then he does 10 using a neutral grip with the dumbbells at his sides, then he nishes with 10 holding the weights in front, palms facing his thighs. 5 Toney does 10 reps of three different dumbbell bent-over lateral raises. For the rst 10, he brings the weights toward the tops of his ears. For the next 10, he performs standard bent-over lateral raises and takes the dumbbells straight out to his sides, upper arms perpendicular to his torso. For the nal 10, he decreases the angle between his upper arms and torso, bringing the dumbbells slightly toward his hips. He reverses the order from set to set.
Toneys Tip on the Giant Set

Do as many reps as you can with perfect form. You could probably do more reps on the rst movement than the last, but aim for 810. The number is only important because you have to do the same amount of reps per exercise for balance. Some people may be able to do only ve each way, but dont get too hung up on the number. When I train people, I tell them to focus on what theyre doing and what theyre doing is not counting. Thats where some trainees mess up: If you do all of them wrong because youre too busy counting, youre wasting your time.
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INCLINE-BENCH STRAIGHT-ARM KICKBACK

DO IT RIGHT: Toney does this lower-lat isolation move rst because he says the weak lower lats typically arent activated because the stronger upper lats take over. Lean squarely against a bench with a dumbbell in each hand and raise the weights directly behind you without bending your elbows.
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DEEP THOUGHTS
When Toney discusses training, nutrition and health, he sounds more like some bespectacled lab geek than a perennial topsix IFBB pro. Rarely will you hear a bodybuilder talk about cellular biology or multiplanar movements for mass, but it could be that kind of deeper thinking that has led Toney to his post-40 surge. Already this year, he has nished third at the Arnold Classic and second in the same show in Brazil. He took second in the Australian Pro as well as at the hotly contested Masters Olympia in 2012. Im like a sponge, he says. I like to know things. I just got back from Russia, but when I rst got there, I was quiet and didnt say much. I had an interpreter. They thought maybe I was just being solemn or unhappy, but I was being quiet in order to listen and learn. If you dont know something, you just need to be still and learn. Thats how I end up catching bits and pieces of information. Ive always been a student of the game, no matter what the game is. Toney traces his inquisitive nature back to his dads church, where he became something of a bible scholar from simply listening. Even when I was in construction, I was always looking at the blueprints, he says. It wasnt enough to just know that I needed to hang sheet rock, I wanted to know why. In 1995, after the injury, I did some soul searching to get my head together. Life was just different. I wasnt the same guy I was before the accident. I had to nd myself and reinvent myself. When he got back into training, Toney got other people involved. I worked with pretty much every guru out there. But Ive been doing this as long as all of them, if not longer. I basically paid them for their knowledge and information. I learned a lot and discarded some things that werent for me. I wasnt coming to them helpless. I wanted them to be part of my situation, I didnt want to be part of their situation. Toneys greatest critique of todays stable of experts as well as some wideeyed up-and-comers lies in the aban-
SUPINATED DUMBBELL ROW

DO IT RIGHT: This multijoint exercise hits the lower lats a bit higher up. Youre probably accustomed to doing a dumbbell row similar to this one, but the reverse grip ensures your elbows stay tight to your sides. This more strongly activates the lower lats while recruiting the biceps to a greater degree.
Elbow position relative to your torso is critical when it comes to muscle activation. An underhand grip shifts the emphasis from the upper to lower lats.
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WorldMags.net
You can shift the muscular emphasis by changing your grip. An overhand grip keeps the elbows out and away from your sides, which targets the upper lats, rear delts, middle traps and rhomboids.
PRONATED DUMBBELL ROW

DO IT RIGHT: Keep your body square to the bench and use an overhand grip. Pull the weight into your hip, bringing your elbow as far above the plane of your back as possible.
NEUTRAL-GRIP DUMBBELL ROW

DO IT RIGHT: A slight shift in hand position causes a slight shift in emphasis on the target muscle, one reason that its good to use a variety of grips. This is probably the most common variation of the dumbbell row and likely your strongest, so Toney does it last in his giant set.
The hammerstyle grip keeps the elbows in tight to your sides, best for activating the lower-lat bers.
To fully exhaust the muscle bers, Toney keeps his nonworking arm in the top position to keep his upper lats working overtime.
NEUTRAL-GRIP DUMBBELL ROW WITH HOLD

DO IT RIGHT: In this variation, hold your nonworking arm in the peak-contracted position as you train the other side. This requires the lower lats to isometrically contract instead of being allowed to rest.
Toney on Isometric Training
This exercise involves 15 reps per side, basically: You do ve on each side, then four, then three, then two, then one. The whole time, you keep one dumbbell in the up position. Thats very challenging for your resting side, so it becomes much harder than a normal set of 15.
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PULL-UP
DO IT RIGHT: The wide-grip pull-up is a staple upper-lat move that keeps the elbows away from the sides of the body. Use a strong motion going up, squeeze momentarily in the peak-contracted position and lower under control without swinging between reps.
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WorldMags.net
Toney doesnt do a predetermined number of sets. Rather, in a strategy similar to what Arnold did decades earlier, he sets a target rep total and completes as many sets as it requires to reach that target. Some days I may go for 100; usually at this point in my workout Ill get 68 at a time, he says.
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I always start with my right side, which is weaker. Using a towel for the grip makes the move more functional. To increase the intensity and make it more demanding, keep your left side exed while you train the right. By increasing the time under tension, you incorporate more bers and exercise stabilizer muscles, too.
donment of basic, proven training principles. No one teaches the basic stuff anymore, he says. Theyre so hardcore, and all about extreme this and advanced that. No one is learning the nuts and bolts of bodybuilding. He concedes that things once thought to be advanced are now considered commonplace, even for beginners, which is why he insists on learning as much as he can about emerging science. Toney takes a whole-body approach to bodybuilding, waxing philosophical on the dangers of articial sweeteners and the glycemic index, traveling halfway across the country for medical colonics and sending out for grass-fed bison to meet his red-meat requirements. Its not that other trainees dont share in some of this, its just that most dont have a bibliographical justication for it. There are a couple of guys I know who take it to the level I do, Toney says. Ben Pakulski is a lot like me. I met another guy from England whos similar. But I dont think they go to the extremes that I go to. Eventually they will because
ONE-ARM PULLDOWN WITH HOLD

DO IT RIGHT: As with the dumbbell row with hold, here one side is isometrically contracting while you actively work the opposite side. Notice how Toney uses an elastic band on one side and attaches a D-handle to use with the working side..
Toney on Adaptation
You may nd a particular style of training that works, but likely it works only once or twice, then your body adapts to it and you have to do something else. Theres no way in the world that you can do the same thing and continue making progress. When you take your body out of its comfort level, it ghts its way back by adapting, and progress diminishes. You just have to do something different. Thats why I went from guru to guru. At my rst pro show I was 252 pounds; at the last show I was 282. Training the same way over and over is known to give you imbalances, visual or physical. Thats why I do machines, free weights, kettlebells, all kinds of training. Sorry, but three sets of 10 aint gonna cut it.
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WorldMags.net
To better isolate the upper lats, avoid leaning back as you pull the bar into your upper chest.
WIDE-GRIP PULLDOWN
DO IT RIGHT: Most people would be done by now, but I can handle a bit more stimulus than most. So I choose an exercise I know I can perform properly. I dont have to use a lot of weight; Im basically doing a back double biceps against resistance.
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SHRUG SERIES
DO IT RIGHT: People do shrugs with enormous amounts of weight. Im not against that, but you cant do it forever. Its far better to train your traps in a more complete way. I see more striations in my traps lately because I work them the way I work my biceps, hitting them from three angles.
were sharing information, so Ill be doing stuff that theyre doing and the other way around. If you want to continue doing what you do, you have to do things that prolong your career and your health. I dont know if people think I just wake up this way [looking like a bodybuilder]. This takes a lot of work, a lot of preparation and a lot of money. He may have always been this way, but Toney is stumped on exactly why. Its easy to posit that he relies on his critical-thinking skills because itll help him reach the pinnacle of his sport, but more likely its pure survival instinct, with his gray matter being his most valuable and versatile weapon. Ive been on the brink of quitting a couple of times, he admits. I just couldnt handle it mentally, physically or nancially. So I do all this research and strategizing. Im just a problemsolver. When a problem gets in my way, I work through it. If I dont know whats going on, I ask for help. Thats what lifes all about. I want it all. My ears are always on alert. I might interrupt someones conversation if theyre talking about something that can help me. I want to be Mr. Olympia, but I dont want to dwell on it. Im a realist. There are so many other things to focus on, so its not my No. 1 objective. I want to be more well-rounded and will have to divide myself a bit to accomplish all my goals. If I get most of em, Ill be good. Im prioritizing myself more. Toneys physique has been crushing competitors for years. But ultimately and perhaps ironically, it may be his brain that carves out his lasting legacy.
Regardless of how you position the weights relative to your torso, shrug your shoulders straight up toward your ears and hold. Dont round your shoulders, and try to keep your arms as straight as possible.
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Keep your elbows locked in a slightly bent position throughout the set. Opening and closing at the elbow invites the triceps to help perform the exercise.
REAR-DELT SERIES
DO IT RIGHT: Most people use too much weight for rear delts and thats why they can train them only one way. But for your shoulders to develop all the way around so they look like parentheses facing each other you need to hit them from as many angles as possible. The reverse pec-deck ye hits your rear delts from just one. With my three-way bent-over lateral raises, I bring the weights to my ears on the rst set. As I fatigue in that plane, I change to a neutral grip and do 10 reps straight out to the sides. As I fail there, I go back toward my hips with another 10. Then I switch the order on my next set.
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Cover model Larry Vinette discusses the training philosophy that helped him earn his IFBB pro card
By Jimmy Pea, MS, CSCS | Photos by Paul Buceta
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has been said that the greatest leaders are those who spend the majority of their time serving others. The better a leader is at equipping those for whom hes responsible, the better hell be at taking care of the customer, anticipating needs and delivering a rst-class product.
Montreals Larry Vinette is one such leader. The Canadianborn champ started competing in 1994, nally earning his IFBB pro card in 2012 by taking the masters division at the Canadian Nationals. Although he competed as an amateur at 198 pounds, his current goal is to make his pro debut in 2014 at a big, hard and lean 212. That extra time off will help Larry recover from a serious training injury he suffered when he tore his triceps when visiting Las Vegas for the Olympia last September, an injury that required surgery for re-attachment. MuscleMag readers might be familiar with Larrys name: He was the only athlete signed to a contract with sister publication Reps, appearing on its rst cover and penning a training column in each issue. Now that he has moved up in weight class, Larrys making his rst featured appearance in MMI. We wanted to learn more about how he has continued to improve with age and what makes the training of one of the sports up-and-coming leaders so successful. So, Larry, lets not make the customers wait. MMI: Your personal philosophy is lead by example, so would you say thats your favorite quote? Larry: Actually, my favorite quote is tattooed across my chest: What doesnt kill you makes you stronger. MMI: You just won the Canadian Nationals. What are your goals now? Larry: Im taking a year off to add some weight for my pro debut. I turned pro at 198 pounds, but I want to tip the scales at 212 to be competitive. As far as business goes, Im still coaching athletes for contest prep like Henri-Pierre Ano, who graced the cover of this mag recently. He made a very strong showing at last years Canadian Nationals and should be a force
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to be reckoned with this year. I also work with MMA ghters with their diet and weight cut, like my girlfriend, pro female MMA ghter Valerie Trouble Letourneau. MMI: The 212s are a competitive bunch. What areas do you need to improve on and how do you tackle them? Larry: Im focusing on bringing up my arms, so I train them rst in my training cycle. Ill eat very high-carb the day before my arm workout, aiming for close to 1,000 grams of carbs.
LARRYS TRAINING SPLIT

DAY
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
BODYPART(S) TRAINED
Arms Legs Rest Chest, Calves Back, Delts Rest Rest
Putting a weak bodypart rst in your split is key to bringing up that muscle group. Doing it rst means youre the most fresh after a rest day or two. You may have a lagging bodypart because you neglected to fully train a particular area. Follow Larrys example and rearrange your training so that you hit that muscle group rst in your split.
Power Pointer
Larry: I currently train two-days-on, one-day-off. This allows me to fully recuperate from my workouts by giving my nervous system time to rest.
MMI: Whats your current training split and why does it work for you?
Power Pointer
Take a close look at Larrys training split: He schedules arms far away from chest and back days. This allows him
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to destroy his bis and tris on a day all their own, not preceded by a larger muscle group that might compromise his arm strength. He also gets arm work indirectly a second time when training back and chest. Then at the end of the week, he takes a full two days off before his next arm workout so that hes ready to go.
MMI: What types of equipment do you prefer? What does your day in the gym look like? Larry: I usually start my workout with free weights but then I may switch to machines, which dont require stabilizers to balance the weight. I sometimes use chains and bands for variety and to create a different stimulus.
When using chains, Larry starts with a lighter weight that gradually gets heavier the higher he lifts it. As more chains leave the oor, the load gets heavier. As Larry knows full well, you get stronger toward the top of the range of motion, and chains allow for maximal tension on the muscle being trained at the point of peak contraction. As Larry lowers the weight and the chains settle on the oor, the bar gets lighter.
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Used in a similar way to chains with free weights, bands provide Larry with whats called linear variable resistance. Thats a technical way of saying the bands get more difficult to move the more theyre extended. Although few bodybuilders understand their usefulness, bands are an integral part of Larrys training regimen.
MMI: What are some examples of high-intensity techniques that you utilize within your workouts?
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Larry: I use drop sets, forced reps and even the rest-pause technique. I usually use them on the last set of an exercise.
SET BY SET WITH LARRY

DAY 1: ARMS
EXERCISE
Scott Curl Incline Dumbbell Curl Alternating Hammer Curl Pressdown Close-Grip Bench Press EZ-Bar Overhead Extension
Every bodybuilder knows that breaking down the muscle is the key to growth. So when Larry cant complete another rep on his own, he doesnt end his set. After reaching failure, he quickly strips an equal amount of weight from each side of the bar or reaches for lighter dumbbells and continues repping until he fails again.
Power Pointer
SETS
5 4 3 4 5 3
REPS
68 812 1012 812 68 1012
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A common mistake guys make when training for maximum size is applying intensity techniques on all sets of all exercises. There comes a point and its sometimes too late to avoid when those efforts become counterproductive. Larry judiciously applies the proven tactics of going beyond initial failure, enjoying the benets without the unfortunate costs of overtraining.
DAY 2: LEGS
EXERCISE
Leg Extension Front Squat Walking Dumbbell Lunge Lying Leg Curl Romanian Deadlift Barbell Hip Thrust
SETS
4 5 3 5 4 3
REPS
20 68 20 68 1012 1012
MMI: What are your favorite exercises for growth and why? Larry: I dont have any favorite exercises per se; well, anything other than legs is my favorite, I suppose. But these days I like working my bis and tris because theyre the muscles that need the most improvement. I like the sleeve-busting feeling I get when I nish my arm workout. MMI: What are the most important keys to getting a great workout? If you had to narrow it down, whats your best piece of advice? Larry: Get a good nights sleep, and increase important neurotransmitters like acetyl-choline and serotonin to increase mental focus and motivation before your workouts. I take a supplement that contains huperzine, vinpocetine, bacopa extract, ginkgo extract, phosphatidylserine, acetyl-L-carnitine and N-acetyl-cysteine. And to stimulate the nervous system, I take a good dose of caffeine about 3045 minutes before I train.
DAY 4: CHEST, CALVES

EXERCISE
Flat-Bench Dumbbell Press Incline Barbell Press Weighted Dip Flat-Bench Dumbbell Flye Standing Calf Raise Seated Calf Raise
SETS
5 4 4 3 4 3
REPS
68 812 812 1012 1012 2025
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DAY 5: BACK, DELTS

EXERCISE
Pull-Up One-Arm Dumbbell Row Reverse-Grip Pulldown Supported T-Bar Row Dumbbell Lateral Raise Alternating Dumbbell Front Raise Bent-Over Lateral Raise
You may already know that caffeine binds to fat cells, enhancing the removal of fat, and can help you burn extra fat during your training session. But adding caffeine to your diet like Larry does can actually help you add mass. Researchers have found that weight-trained men who consumed about 200 mg of caffeine before training increased their max bench press by 58 pounds! Take about 200400 mg of caffeine 60 minutes before you hit the weights.
SETS
5 4 3 4 5 3 3
REPS
68 812 1012 812 68 1012 1215
MMI: How does your offseason approach differ from your precontest training? Larry: My workouts dont change much from precontest to offseason. My rest periods between sets might drop precontest, and getting closer to the show I might favor machines a little more to reduce the risk of injury, but thats about it.
Larry typically starts off each exercise with a lighter weight for higher reps and adds weight on each succeeding set, pyramiding down in reps.
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Miami Muscle Machine

His love of iron has brought him to America and ultimately a pro card. Heres the Costa Ricans formula for building massive pecs.
By Lara McGlashan, MFA, CPT | Photos by Gregory James
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Picture Alejandro Cambronero 90 pounds smaller.

Not an easy task, but when he came to Miami in 2000, he stepped on a scale and barely hit 130. The scale printed out his weight on a slip of paper, which he pocketed and keeps with him to this day, a reminder of where hes been and how far hes come. In actuality, Alejandro has come some 1,113 miles, relocating from Costa Rica. He was led to the States by the lure of a bodybuilding lifestyle, but he wasnt always so muscle-minded. When I was younger I was a BMX bike racer, says Alejandro. I raced motocross from ages 4 to 18, and I won eight national championships, three Central American championships and went to
the 95 World Championships. I was the number-one rider in my country and was beating guys who were much older than I was in the open class. I thought, I can do anything I want! But a cast-off magazine from a friend completely changed his denition of want. That magazine featured Lee Haney I saw his back, and I wanted that back! says Alejandro. It was so cool. And the pictures of Ronnie [Coleman] that were in there they were amazing. So Alejandro, all 130 pounds of him, began his journey into the weight room. While he made some progress, he decided he needed to make a change not just in the gym, mind you, but to come to America to realize his dream more quickly. Bodybuilding isnt very big in Costa Rica, he says. The only way to get into the training and the competition and the lifestyle was to come to America.
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BORN: Oct. 19, 1976 BIRTHPLACE: Costa Rica HEIGHT: 5'8"
ALEJANDRO CAMBRONERO
CURRENT RESIDENCE: Miami WEIGHT: 215220 lbs. offseason; 195 contest COMPETITIVE HIGHLIGHTS: 2013 North Americans, 1st light-heavyweight (pro card); 2012 Nationals, 7th light-heavyweight; 2012 USAs 7th light-heavyweight MARRIED: to gure pro Maggy Cambronero FACEBOOK: fello.cambronero@facebook.com TWITTER: @AlejCambronero
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So across the Gulf he came, settling into life as a busboy at Gloria Estefans restaurant, Larios on the Beach. He didnt speak much English. But his schedule gave him plenty of time to train, and as a bonus, he met his future wife, Maggy, when she came in one evening to dine. Even though he was a dedicated lifter, Alejandro didnt feel ready to compete until 2010 when he did the Ronnie Coleman Classic. Unfortunately that experience was nothing short of a disaster. I tore my pec before the show and had to have surgery two days later, he recalls.
But I competed anyhow, and I placed very, very badly. I even cried! A few months later, he took another shot, this time at Dayana Cadeaus competition up I-95 in Fort Lauderdale. There he redeemed himself by placing rst in the light-heavies and winning the overall and best-poser awards. Then, of course, I had to do the 2011 Ronnie Coleman show to prove I could do it, he laughs. I placed second in the light-heavyweight against [current IFBB pro] Cory Mathews. These days, the 37-year-old maxes out at 220 pounds offseason, trimming down
to a neat 195-pound package come contest time. After competing with some success on the national amateur stage, Alejandro nally found the winning formula when he took the light-heavy class at the 2013 North Americans last August in Pittsburgh. In less than three years Alejandro had grabbed a coveted pro card. I put on about 6 more pounds by extending my offseason, bringing up the backs of my legs, especially the ham/glute tie-in. Previously I had soreness in my lower back, especially after squatting, pain that would last a week. I determined it was
ALEJANDROS DUMBBELL CHEST ROUTINE

EXERCISE Incline Dumbbell Press Cable Crossover Flat-Bench Dumbbell Press Incline Dumbbell Flye Dip SETS1 4 4 4 4 4 REPS 1012 1520 1012 1012 2025 WEIGHT (LBS.) 100140 Half the stack 100140 4050 Bodyweight + up to 100
TRAINING SPLIT
DAY WORKOUT 1 Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday BODYPART Back, abs Shoulders Legs, abs Off Chest Legs, abs Off
(hams/glutes emphasis)
(quads emphasis)
ALEJANDROS BARBELL CHEST ROUTINE

EXERCISE Smith-Machine Incline Press Peck-Deck Flye Bench Press Hammer-Strength Machine Press Decline Barbell Press3 Dip3 SETS1 4 4 32 6 4 4 REPS 1015 15 612 820 12 2025 WEIGHT (LBS.) 225315 Full stack 135405 90450 225 Bodyweight + up to 100
WORKOUT 2 Monday Biceps Tuesday Triceps Wednesday Legs, abs Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
(hams/glutes emphasis)
(quads emphasis)
Off Shoulders Legs, abs Off
1 Alejandro does 12 warm-up sets for each exercise before getting into his working sets. 2 The third set of this exercise is a drop set starting with 405 for 6 reps, 315 for 8 reps, 225 for 8 reps, and 135 for 10 reps. 3 Alejandro supersets these exercises, taking a minutes rest after he completes both moves.
Alejandro trains calves on leg days. Offseason he does 20 minutes of cardio twice a week. Precontest that increases to 3050 minutes twice a day.
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Dont get locked into always using the same bench angle. With an adjustable bench, sometimes use a steeper incline, sometimes nearly at, to vary the point of emphasis on your upper pecs.
INCLINE DUMBBELL PRESS

SET-UP: Adjust an incline bench to 45 degrees and sit squarely on the bench, kicking the weights up to your shoulders with the aid of your thighs. Turn your palms to face forward, elbows pointing outward and down. EXECUTION: Press the dumbbells forcefully upward and together, extending your arms without locking out. At the peak, your arms should be perpendicular to the oor with the inner heads of the weights nearly touching over your upper chest. Reverse the motion, lowering slowly to the start. ALEJANDROS KEY TIP: This is one of my favorite exercises to develop thickness in the upper chest. I put it rst because this is an area that needs work and I want to do it when I have the most energy.
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related to at feet, so inserting orthotics into my shoes made a big difference and helped eliminate the lower-back pain. Though his contest resume was rather thin, and the best hed done before his big win in Pittsburgh was a seventh-place nish at the 2012 NPC Nationals and the USAs the same year, Alejandro credits his meteoric rise in part to his coach, IFBB pro Bill Wilmore. We worked on bringing up my legs. We trained legs twice a week, and I noticed a lot of gains in the last year. I also had to actually work out with Bill, who is a lot bigger and stronger than I am. He always pushes me out of my comfort zone; its denitely hard work! Besides having a motivational training partner who weighs nearly 80 pounds more than he does, Alejandro found that Bills style of supersets and FST-7 training worked especially well for him. Bill has really made the biggest difference hes an exceptional trainer and coach and I made huge improvements that I wouldnt have been able to make on my own. Alejandro made another move that paid big dividends: He gave up his fulltime job working for an electrical rm to become a personal trainer, which allowed for him exibility with his training schedule as well as the time to eat the requisite meals he needed to make the big gains. Though his win in Pittsburgh might have been somewhat unexpected, Alejandro already has new plans as he enters the pro ranks, setting his sights on making his pro debut at Aprils Europa Super Show in Orlando. Hes well under the weight limit, so he hopes to add another 10 pounds by then. In the meantime, he and Maggy are regularly seen on local television as theyre taking ABC news reporter Tamika Bickham through a 20-week transformation, all documented on video, as they prepare her for a local contest. In addition, hes signed contracts with Total Nutrition and Boca Tanning in South Miami. Hes come a long ways from the 130-pound cyclist living in Costa Rica, but Alejandros nally got a winning formula and no longer needs a bike to move swiftly in the right direction.
CABLE CROSSOVER
SET-UP: Attach two D-handles to the upper pulleys and grasp one handle in each hand, centered in the apparatus. Use a split stance with your knees bent, leaning slightly forward and positioning your arms out to the sides, maintaining a slight bend in your elbows. EXECUTION: Pull the handles forward and down toward the centerline of your body, keeping your elbows slightly bent and your torso steady. At the peak contraction your hands should be centered at your lower chest with your knuckles nearly touching. Slowly open your arms back out to your sides, resisting the pull of the weight stack on the return. ALEJANDROS KEY TIP: This isnt a boxing workout so dont punch the handles forward with this move. I see a lot of guys doing this, but that works your shoulders and triceps and lessens the emphasis on your chest.
Again, dont always get locked into doing the movement the same way. On occasion bring the handles more forward than down; at other times step forward so that the angle of pull changes to hit the pecs slightly differently.
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The dumbbell version allows for a longer range of motion and deeper contraction than the barbell bench press. Hence it makes a good substitute for adding variety to your workout.

SET-UP: Lie on a at bench with your back arching naturally and hold a pair of dumbbells directly over your mid-chest with your arms straight (elbows unlocked) and perpendicular to the oor, palms facing away from you. The inner heads of the weights should be nearly touching. EXECUTION: Slowly lower the weights, keeping your wrists stacked over your elbows, your forearms perpendicular to the oor. Lower the weights to a point just outside your shoulders. Forcefully press the dumbbells back up, extending your arms and squeezing your chest to full arm extension. ALEJANDROS KEY TIP: While you cant bounce the weights off your chest as you can with a barbell, bouncing out of the bottom position is hard on the shoulder joints and reduces the contribution from the pecs. You never want to make an exercise easier to do.
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Dont stay vertical, as thats the triceps version of this movement. Raising your feet behind you helps push your center of gravity forward, key for emphasizing the pecs.
5 Things You Didnt Know About Alejandro

Hes a big Heat fan: Sure its hot in South Florida, but the Cambroneros are season-ticket holders for the NBAs Miami Heat basketball team. We even have a 90-pound Doberman named Udonis! Therefore, he hates the Knicks: The very rst Heat game I went to, they played the Knicks. Everyone just hates that team. So I do too, even to this day! He still has a yen for BMX: Im planning to buy a bicycle, but dont tell my wife and my coach they dont want me to ride! Im pretty sure Ill get one anyhow. Hes a man of inuence: I spent 23 years trying to talk my wife into working out and going to the gym when we rst met. And now shes a pro; she got her pro card before I did! Hes a good husband: My wife competed in the Toronto Pro gure division last June, so I ate what she did, doing the competition diet with her, even though I didnt compete till late August! Maggy placed 10th.
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As with all chest moves, keep your chest lifted by retracting your shoulder blades; dont cave in and let your shoulders round forward. This allows for a greater stretch and a more powerful contraction.
PARALLEL-BAR DIP
SET-UP: Stand inside the dip apparatus and place your hands on the rails, palms facing inward. Hop up and straighten your arms so that youre suspended between the bars. Cross your feet behind you and lean forward. EXECUTION: Bend your elbows and lower yourself down, maintaining control of your speed at all times and allowing your elbows to are out. When your arms form 90-degree angles, press into your palms and extend your arms to return to the start. ALEJANDROS KEY TIP: I like to start with just bodyweight, but then with each subsequent set add a little weight to a belt around my waist.
INCLINE DUMBBELL FLYE

SET-UP: Adjust an incline bench to about 45 degrees and sit squarely on the bench with the dumbbells positioned outside your shoulders, arms extended. With the weights facing upward and forward in your hands, lock a slight bend in your elbows. EXECUTION: Contract your pecs to bring the weights together not in a pressing motion but in a wide arc, squeezing your chest hard for a count in the peak-contracted position. Slowly open your arms out to the sides, maintaining the bend in your elbows, lowering until the weights come almost level with your shoulders, feeling a deep stretch through your chest. ALEJANDROS KEY TIP: This is a great move to develop separation in your pecs. Try to establish a solid mind-muscle connection to really feel the movement, really squeezing and holding each repetition at the top.
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Alejandros 6 Keys to Bigger Pecs
1) Every other week I change my equipment, so one week Ill use dumbbells and the next Ill use barbells. This allows me to work on building size and strength one week, then work on additionally strengthening the supporting muscles and stabilizers the next. 2) When I do pressing motions, I move the dumbbells in a vertical plane; in other words, I dont bring them in toward each other. I feel this better emphasizes my chest and decreases the input of the triceps. 3) For pressing motions I dont fully extend my arms, so you can see a slight bend in the elbows even at the top. I want the focus to stay on my chest completely. I nd that if I push all the way up to lockout, Im using more triceps than I want to. 4) For all my exercises, I do a warmup set using lighter weight and higher reps. Rehearsing the motion rst gets my mind and muscles in sync. Then I can go into the heavy sets completely ready. 5) I sometimes use machines on barbell day, and with those I really like to focus on the negative contraction. Machines have a predetermined movement pattern and you dont need a spotter to help you control the weight. I really like the Hammer Strength press for negatives. Ill use a 1-to-2 ratio of positive-to-negative rep speed. 6) I train pretty heavy in the offseason when I have more energy and carbs in my system. As I get closer to a show, I still lift heavy, but I do more supersets and giant sets. These help me with my detail while also enabling me to lean out quicker.
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Alejandros Total Nutrition Supplement Stack
Hard work is the cornerstone of success, but I also have to credit much of my bodybuilding success and progress over the last year to both my trainer, IFBB pro Bill Wilmore, and the pharmaceuticalgrade supplements I receive from my sponsor, Total Nutrition Superstores. I feel these formulas gave me a distinct advantage over the competition as each formula delivers full clinical dosages of every ingredient for awesome results. Heres a sample offseason massbuilding stack I used over the last year. My trainer will make modications and adjustments based on my conditioning in both the offseason and precontest. TEST-BOOSTING STACK: Nutracore Nutrition Massive-RX & Dianatest, used twice daily (a.m./p.m.) PREWORKOUT STACK: Pharma Fuel Engaged Extreme and 3 Capsules Nutracore Nutrition Hypertrim INTRA-WORKOUT STACK: Nutracore Nutrition Carbalean mixed with Amino Active (stimulant-free) POST-WORKOUT: 1 serving Nutracore Lean Active Gainer (2:1 carb-to-protein ratio) BEFORE BED: 1 serving Nutracore Anabolic Dreams ABOUT TOTAL NUTRITION SUPERSTORES: Total Nutrition Superstores is the fastest-growing sports-nutrition franchise in the world with more than 100 locations in the U.S. and new ones opening each month around the world. Visit TotalNutritionSuperstores.com for more information.
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Real-Time
Birthdate: Sept. 26, 1971 Birthplace: Jacksonville, FL Current residence: Jacksonville, FL Height: 5'9" Weight: 235 lbs. contest; 250 lbs. offseason Contest Highlights: 2013: PBW Tampa Pro, 6th; Wings of Strength (Chicago), 6th 2012: PBW Tampa Pro, 5th 2010: North Americans, heavyweight winner (pro card) Website: teambanksbodybuilding.com Twitter: @BanksLee
quez, N mes Eric Velaz a Gregory J

Photos by
lume/low rest o v h ig h s e o g s k an nd-delts thrash IFBB pro Lee B a st e ch n so a se in this raw, off SCA-CPT
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D N A T CHES R E D L U SHO
WORKOUT
If you looked at IFBB pro Lee Banks WorldMags.net
WITH
LEE S K N BA
and all 235 pounds of his lean, mean muscle mass and didnt know what he did for a living, what would you guess as his occupation? Bouncer? He certainly has the presence to work the velvet ropes. Super soldier, perhaps? Closer; he did serve a stint in the U.S. Army. But would you ever in a million years guess childcare magnate? Not likely. But for this Jacksonville, FL, native, kids have been his business for more than 15 years. At Super Duck Child Care, which employs 11 people at its two area locations, this sleeve-stretching bodybuilder is known simply as Lee. Most parents dont even know what I do, he says. Theyll just drop off the kids or pick em up. They dont even ask. Surprisingly, the parents all take pretty well to me. Lee, whose mother ran a daycare when he was younger, dove into the world of kiddie care after seeing his sisters bank account grow in her rst year of running her own facility. Ive done really well with it. Im very structured and detail-oriented because of what I learned in the military, and I think that helps me with the chaos of it all, he laughs. Keeping kids engaged and entertained for hours on end can mystify many, even parents, but Lee is no more intimidated by that than he is the daunting uphill climb of professional bodybuilding. A pro since 2010, he has managed a few top-six contest nishes but has yet to compete in the Olympia or an Arnold Classic. Not that Lee laments these shortcomings. Ever the laid-back gentleman, he sees competition accolades as merely the icing on the cake. By his measure and in the opinion of many others hes already a successful pro. I think Ive done pretty well to this point, he says, tightening his belt for todays real-time chestand-delts workout for the MuscleMag cameras. Maybe more of my success has been off the stage than on the stage, but that makes me happy. Im still getting published, which keeps my face out there. Im getting guest-posing appearances. And because Im sponsored by Champion Nutrition and making good money, I can go into these shows comfortable, not feeling like I have to win. I want to, of course, so I do the best I can. But my prep is always more relaxed. That makes a big difference for any bodybuilder. Stress levels can affect performance and make the difference between who looks best on a given day and who doesnt. With that, the conversation begins to trail off. Lee takes a deep breath and heads over to the dumbbell rack to get ready for his rst exercise of the day. Noticeably, his gait is less like that of a competitor with a show date approaching and more like a guy out for a stroll on a sunny day. For Lee, bodybuilding is more of a pleasure pursuit than a paycheck, and he aims to enjoy every minute of it. musclemag.com|DECEMBER 2013157
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e EXERCISE WorldMags.net Real-Tim

DUMBBELL PULLOVER
4 sets x 10 reps
Lee is training today in a tank and its hard not to notice his leanness. Unlike some pros, his weight doesnt uctuate much in the offseason. His heaviest is about 250, but when Lee stepped onstage during last summers Tampa Pro in Florida and Wings of Strength in Chicago, he weighed 235 and nished sixth in both contests. I started working with Chris Aceto back in March, and I didnt want to give him a raggedy base to work with so I got my diet straight, he says. But I didnt have to do any cardio or any crazy prep for todays shoot. I really go by how I look. I dont concern myself with the scale. Its healthier for me, especially at my age. Lee says he places the dumbbell pullover rst in his chest routine because hes focusing on building his upper pecs. Something about this move just puts a lot of blood in there for me. But its easy to get it wrong. You really want to keep your arms straight and extend on each rep. Think about tightening your upper chest so it engages properly and keep a nice arch in your back. It took me a while to get it, but it has really helped my upper chest. Lee, who keeps things moving with rest periods of 3045 seconds, adds that this move res his upper pecs for his primary upper-chest mass-builder thats next in line.
For even more emphasis on the upper pecs and to further reduce lat engagement, do this move seated on an incline bench set to about 45 degrees.
The concept of age lingers as Lee takes only one warm-up set with his pullovers before grabbing a 120-pound dumbbell for his four working sets. Im not really a warm-up guy, he jokes. With eight exercises on the days docket, this quickie practice set seems anything but adequate. When I was younger, Id go and start throwing up 120-pound dumbbells on overhead presses, he explains. Nowadays, I still dont do much. I just get in there and do one warm-up set and say, Lets do this! But the pump comes pretty quickly. I transform in the gym in like 15 minutes. Everything just blows up.
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EXERCISE WorldMags.net
INCLINE DUMBBELL PRESS
4 sets x 10 reps
The pullover engages my upper chest, and since Im focused on bringing up that area, I go right into another upperpec move, Lee says. With incline presses, he alternates between using barbells and dumbbells from week to week. When using dumbbells, he does all four sets with 120 pounds, banging out steady, controlled reps with only a brief pause at the bottom of each. I normally work my way up to 150s or heavier, but thats if Ive gotten enough food in, he explains. This workout is taking place midday and Lee has downed only two of the six meals he has usually slain by this time. Still, the impressively lean physique he sported before his rst working set has morphed into a stageready work of art. Full and vascular, Lee reminds us this is what he said would happen: Just 15 minutes into his workout and hes already fully pumped up. Each rep is smooth and steady. Lee prefers a controlled motion, never bouncing out of the bottom or slamming the weights together at the top, which would take tension off the muscle.
An oft-overlooked factor is the degree of incline you set the bench to. The steeper you go, the higher on your chest youll focus but the greater youll involve the weaker shoulder muscles. Vary the degree of incline from one workout to the next for more complete upper-pec development.
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musclemag.com |DECEMBER 2013159 musclemag.com |MONTH 2012

DECLINE BENCH PRESS
4 sets x 10 reps
Understandably, Lee is a fan of angles when it comes to training chest. And while a great many of our gym brethren choose to tackle incline moves rst we live in a very upper-chest deprived culture there seems to have been a mass migration away from the decline in recent years. Lee aims to bring it back. Loading the bar with 245 pounds, he explains, I noticed that guys who get into my age bracket, 40s and over, start to have their lower chests drop the way females lower glutes do! To keep the muscles up there, youve got to do declines. But for me it doesnt have to be heavy; I just want to get some blood in there to keep that part of my pecs squared off. Again keeping things simple, he goes through four sets of 10, taking a few seconds between sets to walk around and let the blood clear from his head. Intense but not strained on his last two sets, Lee says he does the two types of presses at the start of his workout to build size, and thats where he portions out most of his focus for the day. The rest of the chest workout is more detail and shaping work, he says. At this point Im pretty spent. I make it a point to focus on the presses for obvious reasons.
Here the range of motion is actually shorter than the other pressing angles for chest. And because your lats contribute to the action, most lifters nd that theyre stronger on the decline than on other types of presses.
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PECK-DECK FLYE
4 sets x 15 reps
es them together forcefully. Between sets and breaths, Lee elaborates: Now the focus is on detail, so Im focusing on squeezing my hands together on each rep. Mentally, Im visualizing someone doing their most muscular, and seeing those lines and striations all the way up the chest. This pec-deck pin is set at 120 pounds, which is where Lee likes to stay for all of his sets. This is perfect for me. Its not too heavy, and allows me to focus on getting a good stretch and contraction rather than just moving the weight.
He may have spent all of his explosive strength on his two pressing moves, but Lee still tackles the pec deck like a man on a mission. Locking himself into position, he rocks the handles toward each other in a wide, controlled arc. When the handles meet in front of him, he squeez-
Keep your elbows elevated and in line with your shoulders and hands. Its easy to drop your elbows, but that makes this single-joint movement less efficient.
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CABLE CROSSOVER
4 sets x 15 reps
Setting the pins at 60 pounds on the two opposing weight stacks at the cable station, Lee grabs the D-handles and takes a half-step forward. With his arms parallel to the oor, he takes a deep breath and muscles the handles down in front of his waist. As with the pec deck, he squeezes intently at the bottom of each rep before returning to the start position. Lee says its typical for him to include two isolation movements back to back at the end of his chest workout. Usually, as is the case today, the exercises are done at different angles. Hell use the pec deck, the crossover or even an incline bench ye to isolate various areas of his chest. At contest time, Ill do two or even three different angled, single-joint exercises, he says.
Make sure you lock a slight bend in your elbows for the duration of the set. If you extend your elbows youll instead press the weights, and this single-joint move is about isolating the pec bers. Keep your triceps out of the movement.
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HAMMER STRENGTH ONE-ARM INCLINE PRESS

4 sets x 10 reps
One day I was doing a chest press here, and when I changed the angle of my body I found that my front delt was popping more, he explains. I was like, Wow, this is working my delt more than my chest. Even though this is a compound movement, the most important part is to angle your body in such a way that you get your chest out of it as much as possible. I know it doesnt look that way, but if you experiment with it youll see. Lee performs a set for his left, then his right, then rests 45 seconds. Taking quick stock of himself in the mirror before moving on, he says, At this point, my shoulders are pretty much pumped. Theyre not capped yet because I havent done any middle-delt work, but theyre pumped. My whole upper body is kinda ooded right now.
Lost as weve been in chest exercises ve total are in the books its time for the second phase of todays workout: delts. In recent months, Lee has taken to training shoulders three times per week. Hell use a lower volume of 23 exercises after chest and back or do a dedicated shoulder workout with up to six moves. It works well for me, he says. Somewhat oddly, I have less pain or discomfort in my shoulder joints doing it this way compared to when I did just one all-out day for delts per week. Because Im training them more often, I dont have to try to use as much weight to force them to grow and the greater frequency has really worked. Strangely, Lee parks himself at a seated Hammer Strength chest-press machine. Loading a 45 and a 25 on each side, he takes a seat, places his left hand on the handle, then leans his entire body a bit to his left. This is where he begins each rep.
This upper-chest exercise can be made into more of a shoulder movement by angling your body to one side. It also allows you to work each side individually, which is a great way to bring up a weaker side if you have strength imbalances.
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A Champion in Lees Corner

Lee powers through his high-intensity chest and shoulder workout with the aid of these key supplements from Champion Nutrition:
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DUMBBELL LATERAL RAISE

3 sets x 12 reps
So about those uncapped delts: Dumbbell lateral raises are next, so Lee heads over to the rack and grabs a set of 40s. Its customary at this point, even for hardcore lifters, to mix in a lighter set to prep the delts for the stress of this
type of isolation work. But not Lee. Yeah, this is [the weight] I normally use. Theres no sense in warming up because Im already warm from all the other work. I just grab the 40s and keep it there for three sets. Deviating slightly from his four sets of 10 scheme, Lee cranks out three sets of 12, bringing the weights to the outside of his hips on each rep. I just feel more comfortable this way, he says. I
tried doing it with dumbbells in front, but I felt like it was a wasted motion. I get a good enough stretch coming to my sides, and it isolates that middle delt more than if I come to the front. Going to the front just gets too many other muscles involved. Still, Lees breaks are brief, lasting no more than 30 seconds. If I take any longer than that, I feel like Im getting cold, he says with a wink.
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ONE-ARM CABLE FRONT RAISE
3 sets x 12 reps
Lee heads back to the cable station for his nal exercise of the day: the onearm cable front raise. I want to go pretty light on these, he says, setting the pin at 35 pounds. Im already pretty done, but I want to nish strong. Doing these unilaterally allows him to concentrate on getting a quality contraction with each rep, and he says he enjoys cables for delt isolation work. I just love em, he says. You get a great stretch and good constant tension, and because of that you end up with those great striations. On each rep, Lee brings the handle to eye level before lowering back to the start with his arm by his side. He takes almost no rest between sides or sets, giving the impression that he senses the nish line just around the corner. After a third set with each arm, he brings the workout to a close.
THE LEE WAY

Unbuckling his belt and tossing it in his bag, Lee walks over to ll his protein shaker with water. Then he mixes a few heaping scoops of Champion Whey vanilla ice cream, in case you were wondering and gets to blending. He talks a bit about what shows he might do next year, but for the moment doesnt seem particularly concerned about any of them despite the fact that he looks like top-six material right now. His ability to compartmentalize so well is laudable.
I just separate myself from bodybuilding, he explains. I have the fantasy life of a bodybuilder but when Im at home or at work, Im just Lee Banks. A lot of guys get caught up in all this because thats all they do. To my parents Im a normal guy. I dont even show them my magazines because I dont want them to see me any differently! His easygoing attitude is also a powerful public relations tool, Lee says. I think humility is one of the greatest assets you can have in this line of work. It
can make you or break you. People always look at us as intimidating. So to nd out that we can walk around with all this muscle and be humble puts the sport in a good light and eliminates a lot of prejudice about who we are. His pecs and delts sufciently thrashed, this humble bodybuilder incongruously heads out to rub elbows with 4-year-olds to close out the workday at Super Duck. I love what I do, he says as the gym door swings shut behind him. musclemag.com|DECEMBER 2013165
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ATHLETE PROFILE WorldMags.net
Mighty Thor!
Icelandic strongman champion Hafthor Thor Bjrnsson looks like something straight out of Norse mythology, and this spring you can catch his freakish physique on the fourth season of Game of Thrones, where he ttingly plays a gigantic medieval war machine known as The Mountain.
HAFTHOR JULIUS BJRNSSON
AGE: 25 BORN: Akranes, Iceland CURRENT RESIDENCE: Kopavogur, Iceland NICKNAMES: Haffi, Thor, Lion, The Mountain TWITTER: @ThorBjornsson_ INSPIRATIONS: Jon Pall Sigmarsson, Bill Kazmaier
All Hail the
Strong Acting Skills
By Alex Zakrzewski
BIGGEST LIFTS
902 lbs. 772 lbs. 424 lbs.

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DEADLIFT
SQUAT
LOG LIFT
PHOTOS COURTESY HAFTHOR JULIUS BJORNSSON
Despite being on set for 12 hours a day, Bjrnsson has been enjoying the filming. I had four consecutive filming days, and believe me, its hard work especially for the first few days as I was in fullbody armor the whole time and wielding a very heavy sword, he says. The sun kept shining brightly every day and the heat was intense. But they took care of me. Three beautiful women waving handheld fans worked hard to cool me down, people carried platters of fruit and, as I told them I needed to eat every 23 hours, they brought me whatever I needed. At times I felt like a real medieval king!
JOINING THRONES
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1st Place 3rd Place 1st Place 1st Place 1st Place
STRONGMAN HIGHLIGHTS
The makers of Game of Thrones rst approached Bjrnsson through Facebook. I received a short message that read, Would you like to act in Game of Thrones? he says. I assumed this was a joke and didnt reply. It wasnt until the hit show began lming in Iceland that it dawned on Bjrnsson that it was a real offer, so he immediately approached the director and expressed his interest in auditioning. Like his Viking ancestors centuries before, Bjrnsson found that swinging a sword came naturally, and he quickly impressed coaches and crew alike with his strength and athleticism. Within a short time, he was offered the role of George R. R. Martins fearsome character, The Mountain Gregor Clegane.
2013 Strongman Champions League 2012 Worlds Strongest Man 2011, 2012 Icelands Strongest Man 2010, 2011, 2012 Strongest Man in Iceland 2010 Icelands Strongest Viking
BY THE NUMBERS 6'8" 375 lbs.

Weight: Height:
From Hoops to Stones
20"
Biceps:
Feeding the Odinson Bjrnssons day begins at 8

a.m. with what he calls a super secret boost of super food. Meals at 23-hour intervals always consist of a healthy combo of proteins such as salmon, chicken or steak, accompanied by brown rice and either sweet or baked potatoes. A helping of broccoli or raw salad adds some fiber to the mix.
Forearms: Given Hafthor Bjrnssons towering 6'8" 17" height, its no surprise Chest: that basketball was his 60" Hafthor Bjrnssonsfirst athletic passion. That Thighs: all changed in the sum31" mer of 2009 when he began training with Calves: Icelandic strongman 22" legend Benedikt Magnusson, who recognized the young up-and-comers talents and encouraged Bjrnsson to test his mettle at the Westfjord Viking Strongman competition. In just his first event, he set a new Icelandic record in stones and finished the contest in a respectable fourth place. It turned out to be the beginning of a long list of strongman laurels that today includes three consecutive first-place showings at Westfjord from 2010 to 2012.
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WorldMags.net STRONGMAN
SUMMIT
FOR SPEED
THE NEED
BY MIKE JENKINS, WORLDS STRONGEST MAN, TEAM MHP ATHLETE
Slow and steady may pay off for some, but todays top strongmen wont win the race moving like a tortoise. Kick-start your quickness with these speed-training strategies and slash those seconds off the stopwatch.
Being a successful strongman requires great agility and athleticism. Are there any events in which better footwork and speed almost always win out over pure brute strength?
Well, considering its strongman, you need that brute strength to be able to handle the heavy loads that are in contests these days. That said, without good foot speed youll struggle in events like yoke and farmers walk. Any kind of loading medley is also speed-biased. Most of the implements are liftable by all the competitors, but those who can literally run with them will do much better. The sport has become so competitive that you see lots of guys who are 375-plus pounds who run like theyre 225.
[A]
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STRONGMAN SUMMIT
Ive been competing in strongman meets for the past year and making huge gains in strength, but Im really falling behind in the timed events. How should I restructure my training to boost my speed?
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[A]
I tell everyone I train that youve got to run fast to get fast! That has stuck with me since my football days at James Madison University. In football you dont need to run 800-meter sprints, you need to be able to go hard for 46 seconds. Similarly in strongman, you obviously wont run a quarter-mile with a yoke, but you also wont get anything out of plodding along for 60 seconds with an extremely heavy implement. Start light and focus on your footwork, and over time your numbers will go up. Measure how far you can go in 10 seconds with a given weight; then each week try to go either a little farther or a bit heavier. When training for specic events, pick one that youll go light on during your event day and moderately heavy on another, but dont worry so much about moving fast.
"Measure how far you can go in 10 seconds with a given weight; then each week try to go a little farther or a bit heavier."
In training, Im very comfortable pushing myself for those extra reps and adding more weight to my lifts. Im far more cautious and hesitant to push myself during farmers walk, running with a keg or atlas stones, etc. Any tips on how I can train safely but still push myself to get better at these?
Tracking my progress in strength is second nature to me now, but how do I know if my speed and quickness are improving on pace? How do you track your speed progression, and what are some realistic goals I should set for myself from week to week?
Start by taking thesame weight farther or faster each week or a heavier weight for the same or for better time. It can be as easy as setting out
[A]
cones to where you made it to last week in 20 seconds so you know that this week you have to get there in less time. If its an event for distance, having a goal to shoot for, like a line or cone from a previous week, can really help you. Itll make you aware of the extra push you need to get another 10 feet, which could make the difference between rst and fth place. Basically a stopwatch and some cones or sidewalk chalk are all you need.
[A]
I think its easier to do this, actually. The key is to remember that you can always just drop the weight. Having someone time you may also help; having that clock running will make you push a little harder. If you nish a given event in 24 seconds on the rst run, have the timer make you aware of it so you can try to beat that time on the next run. And it may sound kind of simple,but I honestly think that visualization works. If you were to listen to me before an event, I keep talking to myself, saying, fast, fast, fast.
BUILDING STRONGMAN QUICKNESS

Rotate between heavy and light event days when training for a specic timed event. Save your event days for the weekend or whenever you typically have more time to train. Pick a weight and see how far you can go in 810 seconds. Use 60%70% of a contest weight and try to reduce your run time each week. Stick to 34 quality runs at max speed. Learn to keep accelerating through the contest nish line by going 10 feet farther in training.
Photos by Gregory James
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Built
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IN BROOKLYN
BY ANTHONEIL CHAMPAGNIE, TEAM MHP ATHLETE
Sleeve-splitting arms is a goal of every true gym rat, but getting your ticket to the Gun Show takes real work. We pick the brain of IFBB pro Anthoneil Champagnie on how to keep your biceps and triceps fully loaded.
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Photo by Gregory James
WELCOME TO THE GUN SHOW
You have some impressive arm development great size and everything looks in proper proportion. How do you make sure that your biceps and triceps grow evenly when youre trying to put on size?
(A)
Thanks. Making sure my arms stay in proportion to each other is something Ive always paid close attention to. I like to use a lot of single-arm exercises in my routine. Whether Im training biceps or triceps, the key is to make sure one arm isnt doing more work than the other. One-arm isolation exercises are great nishers, too.
BUILT IN BROOKLYN
Ive had some injuries in the past and my right biceps really lags behind compared to the left. So I try to avoid any barbell curls and stick to training each arm individually. What exercises should I do to make sure both arms develop evenly?
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(A)
In the offseason I like to train my arms once a week, but during contest prep I drop it way down. I may do arms two times a month, or sometimes I include triceps or biceps on a day with another bodypart. Mainly because Im training so much as I get closer to a show, I can easily get a pump in my arms while training back or chest. I also dont want to injure myself, so Im very cautious on days when my arms feel tight.
A signicant weakness in my arms is that my biceps look thin from the front, but from the side they look great. What exercises should I start doing to x this?
(A)
As a bodybuilder, genetics is always a factor. Some guys are born with great shape to their muscles. The rest of us sometimes have to focus a lot more on weak points. To build more thickness in the biceps from the front, try using a wider than normal grip when doing barbell curls, which better targets the short (inner) head of the biceps. Same thing on seated preacher curls, so be sure to use free weights and not the machine station.
I love to train heavy on arm day, but my elbows are starting to get sore. Any tips on how I can keep the stress off my elbow joints but still train my arms heavy?
(A)
Well, the rst thing youll learn sooner or later as a bodybuilder is that you cant go heavy all the time. Remember that heavy weight wont necessarily increase your arm size, but being able to contract and control the proper weight for quality reps will. That said, you could try using elbow wraps if you still want to lift heavy, but Im not a fan of this. Properly warming up can help, too, but your best bet is to cycle periods of heavy training with lighter-weight/higher-rep ones.
Photo by Jason Breeze
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WorldMags.net Making Gains
By Alex Zakrzewski, Online Editor
Have you crushed your training goals and made gains you once thought impossible?
Stop telling everyone at the gym and start telling us! Drop us a line on Facebook and let us know your incredible success story. Like these lucky fans, you just might find yourself featured in the pages of MuscleMag.
Craig Vigil
AGE: 25 HOMETOWN: Tooele, UT
PEC-TACULAR POPS
Craig was a 160-pound partier until his wife introduced him to the tness lifestyle. The father of three has since gone from being a party animal to an animal in the gym and couldnt be happier.
Shaun Hoisington
AGE: 33 | HOMETOWN: Burleson, TX
Jason Oliver
AGE: 33 HOMETOWN: Marydel, MD
THE SHREDDER
Four years ago, a 400-pound Shaun realized he couldnt play with his children more than 10 minutes before almost collapsing from exhaustion. After burning through every top training DVD you can think of, he has shredded down to a muscular 194 lbs. and is no longer pre-diabetic. Better yet, everyone in his family has become a tness fanatic, including his 4-year-old daughter.
ICE GIANT
Nine years ago, back spasms ended Jasons hockey career. His doctor gave him two options: Get surgery or join a gym. Jason smartly chose the latter, and today his back is healthier and more ripped than ever. He also looks like the meanest thing on ice since the 73 Philadelphia Flyers.
Dakota Jordan Brown

AGE: 18 HOMETOWN: Haysi, VA
Brandon Wickens
AGE: 22 HOMETOWN: Toronto, ON
Tyler Bell
AGE: 27 HOMETOWN: Valrico, FL
PHILOSOFREAK
Its hard to believe that Brandon was once by his own admission skinny, weak and insecure. Despite having built himself into an impressive specimen of solid muscle, he insists the real gains have been on the inside. The stronger I get in the gym, he says, the easier it is for me to battle the ups and downs of life.
CAPTAIN CRUSH
While on deployment in Afghanistan, Capt. Tyler Bell used weightlifting to help relieve stress. He even had his family mail him protein and tuna to ensure he kept his major gains. Now safely back home, he weighs in at an iron-dense 205 lbs. When on base, hes often mistaken for an M1 Abrams battle tank.
VASCULAR VIRGINIAN
At age 15, Dakota started lifting weights just for fun. Today, he still has fun in the gym, but his laughter is often drowned out by the gasps of envy he gets whenever he takes off his shirt.
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THE SILENT BODYBUILDER KILLER

Nicole Wilkins Reveals All

Your Best Six-Pack Ever!

Super Stacks for Mass

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DECEMBER 2O13 WorldMags.net

62 Jurassic Mass 70 Building a

Classic Physique MMI sat down with three legendary

78 Stackin for Mass

Your Reps, 54 Double Double the Muscle

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WorldMags.net Departments 88 Cheat to Win

Whats on musclemag.com this month

FREEZE FRAME FEEDBACK

FIRST SET 22 EXERCISE OF THE MONTH

MAKE ONE CHANGE

100 Is Your Muscle

By Jimmy Pea, MS, CSCS

Sleep Putting You in Deadly Danger? One side effect of bodybuilding is a

By Jimmy Pea, MS, CSCS

MUSCLE MEALS FOOD PICKS

114 Sports Med:

116 Eye of the Tigress

1995 - 2014 Beast Sports Nutrition. All Rights Reserved

126 Back From

138 Vintage Vinette

Muscle Machine Alejandro Cambroneros love for

By Mike Jenkins By Anthoneil Champagnie, IFBB Pro

IFBB Pro Lee Banks Photo by Gregory James

ON THE INSIDE COVER

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Biggest Bodybuilding Rivalries

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Train Like Thor

Making Even More Gains

1995 - 2014 Beast Sports Nutrition. All Rights Reserved

WorldMags.net First Rep

By Bill Geiger, Editor-in-Chief

Paying Your Dues

Eric Nelson Photography

THE RIGHT CONCEPT THE RIGHT OPPORTUNITY THE RIGHT TIME

RAPIDLY APPROACHING 200 LOCATIONS!

Can Phil beat Ronnies record of eight wins?

Never! Ronnie is the king! MIRCEA I.

Its way too early for this talk.

AGREED #CANILIVE PLEASE? @PHILHEATH

Of course. Hes The Gift for a reason!

Whats the craziest way youve destroyed a protein shaker?

Left it on my taxis roof then it drove off. Lol.

Next to every successful man is an incredible woman!

Another guy at the gym used mine by mistake. I threw it away.

The Future Battle of Mr. Olympia?

Bodybuilding has come a long way since PUMPING IRON! #GenerationIron

FIRST SETWorldMags.net EXERCISE OF THE MONTH

THIS MONTHS EXERCISE

Smith Machine Drag Curl

TARGET MUSCLE: BICEPS (WITH EMPHASIS ON THE LONG HEAD, OR PEAK)

Biggest Training Errors

STEP 1: Stand inside a

STEP 2: Keep your chest STEP 3: You should be

STEP 1: Begin the move