Mental Training: Franco Columbo once said that you shouldn't think about how much weight you're lifting during a heavy lift, just concentrate on your form. (the author)

Mental Training: Arnold once said in one of his books when lifting he would look at the bar and think: "You son of a b*tch, I'm gonna rip you off my chest, I'm gonna throw you over my head, I don't care how much you weigh. I'm the man who's gonna take you out." (the author)

Training Plateau: When reaching a plateau on a certain exercise, try dropping to 6 sets of a heavier weight for 1-3 reps for three weeks then take a week off. You'll come back stronger. (the author)

Training Plateau: Adding muscle mass or breaking a plateau could be as easy as adding intensity to your workout. Intensity comes in many forms, you can use one of the following or a combination: cut down rest between sets, Superset your exercises, add more reps, add more sets, try strength training for a few weeks (less reps but more sets at a higher weight), or pyramid your loads. BTW, check your diet and make sure you're getting plenty of rest. (the author)

Form: Remember that 8 reps at a slower controlled pace is better than 10 reps at a faster explosive pace. (the author)

Mass: When adding muscle mass, how about trying a powerlifting routine for 6 weeks. As a lifetime drug free powerlifter I have seen others do it and it WORKS. I know one natural bodybuilder who did this twice a year. He would do only 3 lifts and train 3 days per week. On day 1 he did heavy squats, medium bench press, then light deadlifts. Day 2 off. Day 3 medium squats, heavy bench press, medium deadlifts. Day 4 off. Day 5 light squats, light bench press, heavy deadlifts. Then 2 days off. (Al Wood)

Biceps: For building the lower Biceps, I read a article somewhere a few years ago and decided to incorporate it in my routine, I lacked lower bicep development. Use a straight bar and lighten the usual load, then stand in the normal curl position with hands out and instead of curling the bar up, you need to kind of drag the bar up the chest until you reach the top, then down the same way. After doing about 3 sets of about 15 reps you should feel cooked at the lower biceps. Heres another tip, just for fun, try changing your grip from hands out to hands in, this will stress your lower bis and your upper forarms, use the same sets and reps. I have more defined bicep bellies because of these movements, and a stronger grip. Good Luck to all. ( Adam K)

Techniques: WHEN MOST PEOPLE SEE A PLATEAU IN THEIR TRAINING AND THERE NOT GROWING THEY RESORT TO STEROIDS BUT THATS A BIG NO NO. I HAVE A HIGH INTENSITY TECHNIQUE FOR U BY THE END OF IT HOPEFULLY U WILL BE PUKING AND MAYBE U WILL GROW.

ITS CALLED THE STRIPPING METHOD OR RUNNING THE RACK. THIS METHOD CAN BE DONE WITH REALLY ANY EXERCISE PREFERABLY BENCH PRESS AND MILITARY PRESS. EITHER IF YOUR BENCHING OR DOING A MILITARY PRESS LOAD UP THE BAR WITH A WEIGHT THAT WILL LET U GET 8 GOOD REPS.WHEN LOADING THE BAR PUT SMALL PLATES ON NOT BIG ONES U WILL BE ABLE TO GO LONGER WHAT U DO IS EACH TIME U COMPLETE 8 REPS TAKE 1 PLATE OFF EACH SIDE THEN DO ANOTHER 8 REPS TAKE ANOTHER PLATE OFF AND KEEP GOING TILL U ARE BENCHING NOTHING BUT THE BAR.LIKE I SAID THIS CAN BE DONE WITH MILITARY PRESS. THIS IS CALLED THE STRIPPING METHOD

THE NEXT ONE IS CALLED RUNNING THE RACK. LETS USE DUMBBELL CURLS FOR EXAMPLE.LETS SAY U CAN CURRENTLY CURL 50 POUNDS WITH ONE ARM . TAKE THE 5 POUND DUMBBELLS THE 10 THE 15 THE 20 THE 25 THE 30 AND SO ON UNTIL 50 .FIRST TAKE THE LIGHTEST WEIGHT AND DO AS MANY AS U CAN THEN WITHOUT STOPPING THEN GO TO THE 10 BUST OUT AS MANY REPS AS U CAN THEN 15 DO AS MANY AS U CAN THEN 20 DO AS MANY AS U CAN AND SO ON. I PROMISE U THIS BY THE TIME U GET TO 30 POUNDS U WILL BE SCREAMING IN AGONY BUT DON'T STOP.

U WENT TO THE GYM TO GET BIG AND U ASKED FOR THE PAIN BY GOING TO THE GYM SO DEAL WITH IT .IF U WANT TO GET HUGE WITH OUT STEROIDS U HAVE TO BE BUSTING YOUR ASS. WHEN U GO TO THE GYM GO ALL OUT-OR GET OUT.. HAPPY TRAINING . (submitted by Brotherhood member Craig K, NY)

Heavy Partial Reps:I have been using these for a while to increase my maximum lift in thesquat and deadlift. For squats, I use a power cage, and set the safety bars to roughly 5-6 inches below my shoulder level. This allows me to do the most powerful part of the lift (and hence the most weight) without risking safety. My max is about 285 now, so I can do 6-7 partials with 405. This is a good way to strengthen the tendons as well as the muscles. In my understanding, you have to be able to do a partial repbefore a full one. Also, don't mess around with your safety. I usually don't have a spotter in my gym, so I ALWAYS use the safety bars. Never do heavy squats without them - even if you have a spotter. What if he can't help you enough? You just get flattened.

You can do partial reps in a power cage for bench press and military press, also. Just bring a bench over, set the safetys, and pile on the weight. Just don't overdo it. Use good form with the most weight for 4-6
partials. ( Adam B)

Training Plateaus: When you hit a plateau, or your workouts get "sluggish", the one factor that most people overlook is rest. Take five days to a week off, get eight hours of sleep a night, then continue to sleep this long per night as you begin your workout routine again. Start it where you left off. It's almost a guarantee that you will break the plateau without having to make any major overhaul to your workouts or diet. Rest plays a far greater factor than we sometimes give it credit. (Christian M)

Pause: If looking for a way to add intensity try doing a set to failure,
then counting to twenty and crank out another rep or two. (Chisel)

Technique: PRYAT'S HELL--------------this will bust your chest untill you want to cry, pass out, yak, or never look at a bench again. Start out doing what you can handle 6 to eight times on the bench press. Hit falure but don't get any forced reps in. Go straight from that to Flys. Do as many flys as you can then drop the dumbbells. Take about about 40-50% of your previous bench and do that untill falure. If you can handle it throw in some forced reps. Do two sets of this (Pryat's Hell) instead of your 4 sets of bench. (Big Pryat)

Technique: Here's a tip to develop some freakish calves, jump on the back of an incline bench spotters stand and do 1 legged calf raises do 1 set of 20 for each leg, then slap a dumbell in your hand and do the same motion for 1 set of 10 with each leg. (Be sure to break the level plain of the stand on the back of the incline bench to stretch) Repeat the process for 3 sets of each type (3 sets of 20 each leg, 3 sets of ten with each leg = 12 sets) don't worry, your calves recover quickly even with the high # of sets. Repeat until calves become cows. (Kazod)

Routine Technique: After using just about every technique I had read about ex. go heavy/low reps, light/high reps and so on I found that if I did it all, in three basic sets, I had amazing results in a short amount of time. I start with as heavy as possible, for example: my first bench will be 405 (hammer) for three or four reps (failure), then I drop a plate and do negative reps (very effective) to failure, then go light to failure. Three sets each exercise and I have gained a large amount of lean muscle mass (for a drug free lifter anyway). (Mark J)

Plateau: Having trouble breaking that weight plateau? Try focusing on a body part that aid in the lift. Increase your triceps strength and your bench will follow, increase your lower back strength and your high intensity squats will have better form. This theory can be applied to almost any exercise.. (Dan H)

Plateau: I hit a plateau in my training where the traditional exercises one uses for gaining mass in the lats and posterior delts weren't producing the
results I was used to.....Stand at a Lat pull-down machine and use about 50% of what you usually use on lat pulldowns...here's the catch....stand, don't sit...take a couple steps back and reach up and grab the bar with a shoulder width grip. Your arms should be as parallel to the floor as possible.Push the bar down to your waist (kind-of like tricep push-downs but with straight-out arms) This works your lats and shoulders like crazy!! and, as an added bonus, it works your abs quite a bit to counterbalance the weight that you are pushing down. (BJ Corbin)

Triceps :I saw this exercise with the triceps that totally intrigued and mystified me. It was done using a bench that declined with the leg restraints(to keep you from falling off the thing) and using the E-Z curl bar and whatever weight that you could do. I call it decline triceps extension. This exercise really got the top portion of the triceps and they just tore me up. I love (and hate) the way it really explodes the top head of the triceps. It hurts but man, after you see the results and feel the results it will be a part of your routine. Its' GREAT!! (Hadjr)

Squats: If you want some awesome quads try this. Take a weight you know you can handle for 12-15 reps with high quality form. Now knock that down to about 75%. Start squatting but you count to five on the way down pause for a
second at the bottom and then slowly start upwards again counting to five.
Each set should last anywhere from a minute and twenty seconds to a minute
and forty seconds. Do six to eight sets of that and you'll be crying like a little school girl but you'll have legs the size of the Texas Panhandle. (Ben H)

Plateau: change your tempo. ie: 3210... 3 count down, 2 second pause at the bottom, 1 count power up, 0 pause at the top. (Jonnyel)

Quads: You do 2-4 giant sets beginning with leg extensions. Do 8 reps to failure and then the same with leg presses. Then do sissy squats to failure and then squat to failure with a weight you could normally handle for 12-15 reps. If you can do more than 8 reps with this, increase the weight. (Mike A)

Triceps: I got a great tip for trashing your triceps. Its one of my favorite all time ways to make em burn. First you do close grip bench, I prefer the cambered bar myself, and do a set of ten to all out failure. Sometimes I get a couple of forced reps in. Then right after that, I do a set of bench dips to failure, DONT LOCK OUT AT THE TOP! I set a flat bench right next to where I do my close grip bench presses, so I don't waste any time, or allow my muscle to recover at all. After doing hitting the last couple reps on the bench dips my arms give out and I fall to the ground. Thats what I call failure. I usually can't do more than 2-3 sets of this. Give it try, you wont regret it. (Silverman)

Rock On

1 set of leg extensions with the whole stack to failure, then 3 forced reps, then 3 negatives(by this time, your already having trouble walking). Immediately hop on Leg Presses: 8 reps of whatever weight, then 2 forced, then 2 negatives. Immediately hop to squats for as many as you can get with 225(the weight I used).

insano

quote:

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Originally posted by Captain_insano:
i that a leg day or a quad day? I want to try this today but i need to know if you did hamstrings too? Leg presses and squats use the hams but do you so an isolation exercise like leg curls or stiff legged deads?

insano

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No dude, just quads & thats it. I always train Hams on a separate day. In case you were curious my regimine is every other day & goes like this:

Day1: Quads/abs/cardio
Day2: Chest/a/c
Day3: Back/Traps/abs/cardio
day4: Arms(including 10 sets of forearm work)abs/cardio
Day5: Hams/calves/a/c
Day6: Shoulders/a/c

My workout routine (recently updated)

Monday:Shoulders
Tuesday: off
Wednesday: Legs, Calves and Biceps
Thursday: Chest and Triceps
Friday:Back and Traps
Saturday: Off
Sunday: Off

I will stick with this split for 3 months and then reevaluate my goals.

This article in particular i found motivating.

Day 1 heavy squats, medium bench press, light deadlifts
Day 2 off
Day 3 medium squats, heavy bench press, medium deadlifts
Day 4 off
Day 5 light squats, light bench press, heavy deadlifts
2 days off.

Today is Pryat's hell for chest and some curls for the girls!

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quote:

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Originally posted by GangGreen:
DOMS is delayed onset muscle SYNDROM, isnt it???

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I was taught by the American College of Sports Medicine. I was taught Delayed onset muscle soreness....Here is proof. I went to school for this shit dude!

10 STEPS TO MUSCLE REPAIR AND GROWTH
You've just finished a super-intense training workout, causing microscopic tears in your muscle fibers and leaks in your muscle cells. By time you towel off, inflammation is already setting in and the white blood cells are on the scene to mend the damage and fix the leaks. During the next 24 to 48 hours, muscle protein will break down and additional muscle glycogen will be used up.

During recovery, your body replenishes muscle glycogen and synthesizes new muscle protein. In the process, muscle fibers are made bigger and stronger to protect themselves against future trauma. Actual muscle growth occurs not while you're pumping weights, but in the recovery period following your workout.

There is much you can do to enhance this recovery process, and the benefits are worth it: greater energy levels each time you train, better muscular development, stronger immunity so you don't miss soreness after your workout.

Here are 10 ways to achieve full-scale recovery:
1. Re-Fuel with Carbs: Your body uses carbohydrates to replenish its depleted glycogen stores. Consuming sufficient carbs following your workout is key to proper recovery. In the 24 hours following exercise, eat 8 to 10 grams of carbohydrates per kilogram of body weight. If you weigh 150 pounds (68 kg), for example, and you are in the high-intensity phase of your strength training program, you need to consume 544 to 680 grams of carbohydrates to refill your muscles glycogen tank. Most average strength training athletes, however, can do with less.

2. Repair with Protein: Equally vital for recovery is adequate dietary protein. Exercise dismantles muscles protein, which must be replaced by diet. according to most research conducted with active people, you can meet your protein needs by eating between 1.2 and 1.7 grams of protein daily per kilogram of body weight (between 82 and 116 grams daily if you weigh 150 pounds). Another way to figure your protein intake: Set aside 12 to 15 percent to your day's calories for protein.

3. Recovery: Research shows that consuming a mixed carbohydrates/protein supplement immediately after strength training does wonders for recovery in two important ways. First, the supplement initiates rapid uptake of carbs by your muscles. That's because blood flow to muscle cells practically sop up carbohydrates like a sponge. The addition of protein appears to speed up the body's glycogen making process more than when using just carbs alone.

Second, research shows that a carbohydrate/protein supplement triggers the release of two hormones insuline and growth hormones that are conducive to muscle growth and recovery.

4. Protect your muscles with Antioxidants: Antioxidants namely vitamine E and C help muscles to recover and regenerate more quickly following exercise. Vitamine E appears to prevent exercise generated free radicals from attacking muscles cell membranes. Vitamine C has been found to reduce delayed onset muscle sorness (DOMS) in the 24 to 48 hours period following exercise. How much vitamin E and C should you take? Most studies demostrate a protective effect with 400 to 1,000 IU of vitamine E daily and 500 to 1,000 mg of Vitamine C daily.

5. "B" recovered: Another nutrient that may boost recovery is the B complex vitamin thiamine (vitamin B1), which helps to release energy from carbohydrates. A study of male athelets found that thiamine supplementation (100 mg per day) was effective in preventing or accelerating recovery from exercise induced fatigue. Usually through, a high carbohydrate diet will supply all the thiamin you need. The best food sources of thiamine are whole grains, brewyer's yeast, legumes, seeds and nuts. A multivitamin containing B-complex nutrients provides good insurance as well.

6. The most abundant amino acid in your body, glutamine is an important fuel for the cells of your immune system, making it a requirement for tip-top health. Researchers have discovered that many athletes are deficient in glutamine. A shortage of which makes them more vulnerable to infections. Supplemental glutamine has been shown to elevate growth hormone levels thus theoretically influencing mucle growth.

If you're the victim of frequent colds or infections, however , consider supplementing with this amino acid. The usual daily dosage is 1 to 2 grams.

7. Save your joints: If your joints feel achy from exercise then give them some natural relief in the form of glucosamine sulfate. Glucosamine is a type of sugar molecule manufactured naturally by cartilage cells from glucose and glutamine. Where there is joint damage, the cartilage cells self destruct and stop making glucosamine, so the joint health continues to deteriorate.

A significant number of medical studies show that supplemental glucosamine reverses this destructive process and stimulates the cartilage cells to rebuild cartilage.

8. Sports massage is effective for relieving pain, swelling and muscle spasms if you've suffered an athletic injury. But can it enhance recovery? To date, research shows that massage may reduce DOMS, but doesn't seem to accelerate recovery. But, don't let this dissuade you from having massage, which are great stress relievers.

9. Rest your muscles for 24 to 48 hours after strength training. That's the amount of time required to remove toxins from the muscles and fully replenish muscle glycogen with the help of diet. If you repeatedly train a muscle before its glycogen stores are repenished, you risk damage or loss of muscle tissue.

10. Sleep is among the factors that elevate growth hormone, a natural chemical that makes cells multiply faster and is a factor in muscle building. Studies show that when athletes get too little sleep, they can't train as long as they normally do, and their aerobic performance is impaired.

Physical November 1998 Recovery Operation by Maggie Greenwood-Robinson Ph.D.

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