DINOSAUR ARM TRAINING
BROOKS D. KUBIK
AUTHOR OF DINOSAUR TRAINING: LOST SECRETS oF STRENGTH AND
DEVLEOPMENT
l
t
NTRODUCTION
Back in 1993, I wrote a short course called BIG ARMS, which was edited by Stuart McRobert and published by CS Publishing,Ltd. As originally written, it featured Mike and Mike's Gym. Stuart thought readers would confuse Mike with Mike Thompson,4 popular writer for his bi-monthly
Hardgainer magazine, so he asked me to change the name. After kickirg aroun d a dozen or so different names, we settled on Flynn and Flynn's Gym.
The course was so well received that I wrote a second one called BIG BENCH - also set in Flynn's Gym - and on occasion, in my Hardgainer articles, I wrote a trainirg article set in Flynn's Gym. But in my heart,I always knew I was writing about Mike's Gym - which is about the best darn place in the world to train, and a place that every serious lifter should visit at least once in his or her lifetime.
Three years after writing the BIG ARMS course, I wrote and published DINOSAURTRAINNG: LOST SECRETS OF STRENGTH AND DEVELOPMENT, and the rest, as they s?y, is history. (And thathistory
included the original Dinosaur Files monthly newsletter, which often included training articles set in - you guessed it - a very Dino-style gym called by it's true name -- Mike's Gym.)
Today, nearly 20 years after writing that little course, I find myself besieged by readers who ask for an updated, revised, expanded course on serious, no-nonsense afin training for Dinosaurs - and for an update on Mike's Gym.
One day not very long 4go, after receiving yet another email makittg this
request, I decided to clear the decks, chain myself to the keyboardfor as long as it took, and hammer the little monster into existence. And that's how this course came into being.
This brand new course does several things:
1. It teaches sane, sensible, no-nonsense ann training as part of a complete, total body training program.
2.It gives you a complete three-stage routine for building strong,
powerful, large and muscular arms. (Yeah, I know the title suggests that we're only interested in building BIG anns - but actually, we're interested in building anns that are strong and powerful. If your arrns are strong and powerful, they'll be plenty big.)
3. It teaches you which exercises to avoid - because they can injure your shoulders or elbows.
4.It gives you an update on arrn training methods thatMike and I have developed over the past 20 years -because it's almost 20 years since that first little affn training course hit the market and astonished the world.
5. It gives you ALL NEW routines to build DNOSAUR ARMS -meanirg afins that are big, thick, strong
andpowerful.
I've enjoyed the work I've done on this course, and I've enjoyed bringing back Mike, Mike's Gym and Mike's world-famous canine companion, the inimitable Sam. Pay close attention to what they say. You'll learn a lot from them. I certainly have.
Yours in strength,
MIKE'S GYM
Mike's Gym is the perfect place for dinosaurs to train. The dumbbells go up to 200 pounds. The gym boasts eight full-si zedpower racks, four platfonns for deadlifting, and four more for Olympic lifting. It holds something like 30 Olympic bars - power bars and black iron plates for the powerlifters and for rack training, andhigh quality
weightlifting bars and bumper plates for the weightlifting platforrns. There are four competition style bench press benches, two sfurdy incline benches, four flat benches, two chinning bars (one with thick handles), four Gerard Trap Bars, a standing calf machine, two heavy-duty overhead pulleys for lat work, a vaiety of grip blasters, thick bars of various sizes and thicknesses, sledge-hammers, free standing squat stands to use on the lifting platfonns, thick handled dumbbells, keffle-bells, Indian clubs, climbing ropes, two sets of gymnastics rings, two adjustable sit-up boards, log bars, lifting blocks, & couple of heavy duty head-straps for neck work, bands and chains for the powerlifters, & wrestling mat for bodyweight training, and nothing else - unless you include the Pit in back of the gym and the special oocardio
for strength athletes" stuff that Mike uses to torture us.
I'11 tell you more about the cardio stuff and Mike's patented cardio torture routines some other time, but for now, let me briefly mention the Pit. It's an outside trainittg area that Mike uses primarily for strongman stuff and for conditioning work. You ought to see it! Mike has filled the Pit with heavy tires, sleds, sandbags, lifting logs, farmer's walk implements, steel suitcases, granite balls, ropes, wheel-barrows, enonnous anchor chains, anvils, barrels and
beer-kegs. He also has a complete set of outdoor climbing ropes, pull-up bars, 4 climbing wall and other fun equipment.
But other than the bars, the plates, the rest of the iron and the strongman tools in the Pit, that was it. You can look around from side to side, top to bottoffi, and even up on the roof, and you won't find a single chrome-plated, whrz-bang wonder machine. Nor will you find any of the typical pieces of 'ostandard" equipment you see at most bodybuilding gyms or in the muscle magazines. There's a rumor (and it may even be true!) that Mike actually purchased a pec dec once - and raffled tickets to give the guys the chance to smack it to death with sledgehammers. They say he sold the thing for scrap after it was demolished. The proceeds went to Sam's favorite charity - the local dog pound. Sam is
I
Mike's golden retriever, and every bit as demented as his thickly muscled owner.
People often tell Mike that he would attract more new members and make oodles of loot if he put in some "state of the art" training machines and a big cardio theatre complete with a 2000 channel giant-screen television set -- or even if he just put in a pec dec, leg extension machine, leg curl unit, leg press machine, and a few other "basic" pieces of equipment. But Mike refuses to do it. He has a theory about it. He says that if you cram a gymwith
non-essential pieces of equipment all you do is encourage people to avoid the result-producing basic movements in favor of lighter, easi er, far less productive exercises.
"If I put a hack machine in here " he said, "some poor misguided soul would probably use it. Same with a leg extension unit - or a leg press machine. And I bet he wouldn't even do squats. Imagine what a travesty that would be. I would feel so guilty."
A new guy heard him say that once and objected to the dismissal of the hack machine, saying that it worked okay for George Hackenschmidt, the old-time Russian strongman and wrestling champion known as "the Russian Lion." Mike told him to go find a photo of Hack using a hack machine. The guy came back a week later, dumbfounded and embalrassed, and admitted thathe couldn't find one.
'oThat's because he never used one," said Mike. "In fact, he never trained with any sort of modern-day idiot machine. That's why he was so strong. He used barbells and dumbbells.?'
"Then why do they call it the Hack machine?" asked the highly perplexed and confused gym member.
"Probably because all the other
names were taken," said Mike, and he went into the gym office and poured Sam an extra large bowl of puppy food. The guy scratched his head for nearly twenty minutes tryittg to figure it out, finally gave up, and went over to the power rack and started to do squats. (He ended up gaining nearly 40 pounds of muscle and becam e a state powerlifting champion, but that's another story and I don't have time to tell it now. Let me just say that George Hackenschmidt would have been proud of him - and proud of Mike, as well, for steering him straight. The new guy, I mean - not Hackenschmidt.) It was another example of Mike's sophisticated training and coachirg methods, and how well he has mastered the gentle art of combating the modern-day brainwashing so many guys seem to suffer from. Especially the guys who spend too much time (Mike says anything more than 30 seconds and a chuckle is too much time) lookin g atthe muscle comics each month.
Mike's training philosophy is nowhere more evident than in the special training courses he drops on beginners who want to bomb and blitz a particular body part to Herculean proportions. Take the Mike's Gym ann routine, for example.
THE ROOKIE
A year ago a scrawny kid came into the gym, signed up for a one year membership, and proceeded to try to curl himself to death. He had one of those space -dge, high tech training programs that so appeal to teenagers. Where he found it, no one ever knew. The routine was endorsed by apopular bodybuilding star, who at 5'8" and (an alleged) 293 pounds of "ripped to the bone, super-shredded, maximum mass mega-muscle"
claimed to have built his arms to 27" in record time. I think he also said he could curl 450 pounds for 35 reps and do lying triceps extensions for 20 x 20 with 600 pounds. His arrns were so massive he couldn't eatby himself, so he had to hire hot babes in very small bikini's to feed him. There were photos of this in the
magazines and on the internet. I looked at the photos once, and the girls were definitely hot, but it still seemed like a difficult way to meet girls. I mentioned this to Mike, and he said not to wory because it was all the work of some publicist's fevered and over-active imagination, urhich was good to know.
Eugene Sandow
Anyhow, the kid trained on one heck of a crazy program. To begin with, even though he was a rank beginner he trained his arrns six days per week. He did hundreds of sets for the biceps and almost as many for the triceps. He did every upper artn exercise ever invented, and many that must have been invented exclusively for his training program. I had certainly never seen them before. Of course, the only gym I go to is Mike's Gy-, so I'm probably not up on the latest training breakthroughs. Mike's not into the modern sfuff.
The kid bombed, blasted and
blitzed religiously. He did tri-sets, supersets, giarrt sets, pre-exhaustion, compounds, breakdowns, running the rack, forced reps, negatives, isometrics, peak contraction, flushing, pumpitg, muscle spinnitg, crampitg, isolation exercises, slow motion reps, mental contraction,'opower training" (that's what he called it, but it really wasn't), muscle posiflE, and voodoo. Well, okay, not voodoo - but if the guy who wrote his program had told him to stick pins into a little doll to make his anns bigger, he would have done it. Heck, he would have sfuck pins into his anns if someone told him thatwas the way to make them bigger.
On the kid's first day atthe gym, Mike asked the kid if he would like to try a special workout for beginners.
'oIt's a good, time-tested program that a man named Bob Hoffman put together way back in the I930's," Mike said. "He called it York Barbell Cornse N o . 1 . "
"Why'd he call it that?" asked the kid. 'o'Was he from New York?"
'No, he owned the York Barbell Compdrry," said Mike. "In York, Pennsylvania."
'Never heard of it," said the kid. 'Never heard of this Hoffman guy, either."
. "'Well, it's just about the best course ever written for beginners," said Mike.
"Yeah, but I'm not a beginner," said the kid. "I trained for two weeks over at Fitness World before coming over here. So I'm ready for an advanced program.t'
"Why'd you quit Fitness World?" I asked.
"Conflict of interest," said the kid.
Fred Rollon "What do you mean?" asked Mike.
"I heard the owner bet another guy ten bucks on who was gonna win the Mr. Inter-Galactic Contest this year," said the kid. "That's one I'm planning to win. It will be my first win in a major contest, and that's how I'll get my endorsement deals with the supplement companies. So anyhow, when I heard that,I figured the owner had a conflict of interest and might not let me do enough sets of curls if he knew it about it. ''
Mike nodded.
"Yeah, I can see how that would have really tore him up," he said.
"Anyhow, that's why I'm here," said the kid. "Otherwise, I'd go some place where they have all the equipment I need. This place doesn't have much. Just barbells and dumbbells and stuff. "
Mike nodded again.
When Mike nods his head and doesn't say anythirg, he's usually countittg to ten silently. In this case, maybe he was counting to 100.
"You should move out one of those power racks and put in a pec dec," said the kid. "I heard they're pretty good for def and sep."
"I hear that Deff and Sepp enjoy training on them," I told him.
'oYeah, well def and sep are pretty important," said the kid. "I don't want to be one of those losers with nothing but maximum muscle mass. I gotta be shredded like wheat, man!"
Mike said nothing. He didn't even nod.
The kid hit a quick double biceps pose. Actually, it was too quick, because I didn't see any biceps.
"Shredded Guns!" he proclaimed.
"What's that?" I asked.
"That's what they're gonna call me!" said the kid.
Silence from Mike. I don't think he was very impressed with the kid's plans. We have tons of gym members with killer nicknames, but I don't think Shredded Anything has ever been one of them.
THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING LIFTER
So that was how the kid ended up skipping York Training Course No. 1 and jumping into the crary program I already told you about. If you forgot what he was doing, go back and reread it. It takes too long to write it out, and just thinking about it makes me tired.
After I typed it up, I had to go lie down for 15 minutes because I was so tired.
I think it made the kid tired, too. He started to get these great big bags under his eyes. Pretty soon, the bags under his eyes were the biggest part of him. Nothing else was growing. In fact, if anythirg, he seemed to be shrinking. Especially his affns. They hadn't been very big to begin with, but now they looked positively Lilliputian.
o'Is it my imagination, or is the new kid shrinkrng?" I asked Mike.
"He's shrinking," said Mike. 'oWhy is that?" I asked.
"Because he's following an atm speciahzatton program straight out of the muscle comics, and he's overtraining his arrns, and he's undertraining the rest of this body - and he's a beginner, andhas no business on a speciahzation program anyway -- and he probably lives on goory supplements instead of real food --and he doesn't do squats --and presses and
deadlifts and stuff like that -- and he trains for a pump instead of training for strength -- and he trains with midget weights -- and he tries to FEEL every rep and he's been brainwashed, and -did I mention thathe doesn't do squats and presses and deadlifts and stuff?"
I nodded.
"Yeah, you covered that one," I said.
"Well , it' s worth saying twice," said Mike. "Because that's preffy much where the whole problem starts."
'oI thought maybe it was because he wasn't taking enough Megabolic Maxi-Mass Magic Muscle Mix," I told him.
I said it real serious, but sort of casual, and kept my face real serious, just to see the big guy's reaction.
In retrospect, that was abad move. Mike ignored me, but Sam came out of the gym office with his fangs bared, growled menacingly, and began walking towards me the way a
prehistoric cave-wolf walked toward a nice looking dinner of meat on the hoof.
"Tell him you were joking and give him a puppy biscuit," said Mike.
'oI was jokiflEr" I said. Sam stopped.
"Here you gor" I added, and tossed him a puppy biscuit.
Sam snatched it out of the air and swallowed it in one gulp.
"He's not a fan of the Magic Muscle Mix, is he?" I asked.
Mike nodded.
"Not at all," he replied. 'oYou should have seen what happened the day some guy came over trying to sell the sfuff to our members."
Sam smiled and wagged his tail. He obviously enjoyed the memory.
"Well, what arc we gonna do about the kid?" I asked. "He needs
t
help."
"He's a hard case," said Mike. 'oHe needs another couple of weeks of spinning his wheels."
"What happens then?" "You'Il see," he said.
So I sat back and laid low for almost a month, waiting to see what rvould happen. I did notice that the bags under the kid's eyes kept getting bigger and darker. PreW soon he looked like he was a taccooll.
George Hackenschmidt TIME TO TRY SOMETHINGNEW!
One duy, the kid slogged through another of his four-hour arm-bhtzing sessions, and then sat on a gym bench sipping something from a thermos. f figured it was Magic Muscle Mix, but I
was afraid to ask.
Mike chose that moment to stop by.
o'How's it going, champ?" he asked.
The kid took another sip of his whatever-it-was-drink, swallowed quickly so he wouldn't taste the stuff, and looked np at Mike.
'Not so goo dr" he said. "The program doesn't seem to be working very well."
o'That's too bad," said Mike. 'oEspecially with that big contest coming up for you. The Mr. - what was it?"
The kid frowned.
"I guess maybe I'11 have to wait a few more years before I enter it," he said.
"Well , that's okay," said Mike. "That gives you more time for serious trainin g."
The kid nodded weakly. 'oYeah, I guessr" he said. He almost sighed as he said it. He looked so sad I started to feel sorry for him. Even Sam felt sorry for him. He came out and sat in front of the kid and looked np at him with big brown puppy eyes full of concenl.
"Maybe you should change things up a brt," said Mike.
"What do you mean?" asked the kid.
'oOh, you know- maybetry a new program," said Mike.
The kid brightened.
"That's a good idea!" he said. "Maybe I can switch from multi-angular blast-master curls to power-pump retro-gravity curls !"
"That's one option," said Mike. "Supersetted with inverted low-pulley triceps extensions!" the kid added. "For 20 x20 - with 20 seconds rest between sets."
Sam and I both worked hard to
mighty impressed.
keep q sftaight face. I have no idea how
Mike seized
his advantage.
Mike continued to talk to the kid without
"I happen
to have a copy of it
breaking into wild gales of laughter.
right here," he said. "But I have to warn
Maybe it was because
he felt sorry for
you, this is a liule bit different than the
him. Or maybe he was thinking how
program you've been following for the
much fun it would be to show the kid
past couple of months.
It uses some
how easy it was to build his arms - and
really new and exotic training principles.
the rest of his body - with the kind of
Special
stuffthat no one else knows
old-fashioned,
back to basics
training
about. Special
exercises,
too."
Mike loves so much.
"Like what?" asked
the kid.
Even so, he had to take a big
"Like squats
and presses
and
swig of coffee to fortiff himself before
deadlifts," said Mike.
he replied. In the meantime,
I tried to
o'Never
heard of them," said the
picture what inverted low-pulley triceps
kid.
extensions
would look like. Try as I
'Trlot too many people
have,"
might, I couldn't do it.
said Mike.
Sam looked up expectantly.
He
"Special exercises,"
said the kid.
had seen
this happen
so many times I'm
"I like that."
sure he lost count. You could almost see
"Yeah, they work pretty well,"
the wheels tuming inside his cunning
said Mike. "The guys here have had
canine
cranium:
"Here it comes!"
great success
with them."
Mike took a deep breath,
"What about your special
exhaled,
and tried to keep his voice as
training principles?"
asked
the kid.
casual
as possible.
By now, he sounded
downright
"How'd you like to try the
eager
to get started
on the new program.
Mike's Gym arm routine?" he asked.
"It's like the exercises,"
said
"It's a special
program for building big
Mike. "It's stuff you probably never
arms."
heard of. They don't cover it in the
The kid's eyes opened
wide in
magazines
you read."
surprise.
"Like what?" asked
the kid.
"You have a special program for
'ol-ike hard work and heavy
building big arms?"
he asked.
weights - poundage
progression
- basic,
Mike nodded.
compound
exercises
- divided workouts
"Sure," he said. "But it's a secret
- and abbreviated
training," said Mike.
progrum
- only for members
of Mike's
'Don't forget concentration
and
Gym."
hard work," I added.
That caught
the kid's attention
"I said hard work," said Mike.
fast. The word o'secret"
is near and dear
"That was the first thing I said.
to the hearts of skinny guys around the
"Well, yeah - but add
world as they desperately
search
for
concentration,
too."
THE PROGRAM that will transform
Mike sighed.
their bodies from toothpicks
to
"Okay," he said.
redwoods.
He turned back to the kid.
'o'Wow!"
said the kid. And by the
"Add concentration
to ttre list,"
way he said it, you could tellhe was
he said.
The kid nodded sagely.
"Concentration curls," he said. "Got it.
Mike glared at me. So did Sam. It was one of those "you're making this difficult and I'm not happy glares" that Mike and Sam send me every so often (like once or twice a day).
George F. Jowett
I pretended to be counting the weights on Bubba Johnson's squat bar. Bubba had loaded the power bar until it started to bend, so I figured counting the
weights would take long enough to get me out of trouble.
'Not concentration curls -concentration! " said Mike.
"What's that?" asked the kid. "'We'11 cover it Iater," said Mike. I continued to count the plates on the bar.
Mike pulled a piece of paper out
of his pocket, opened it up, and handed it to the kid.
"Here's the program) 'o he said. The kid took it eagerly, and quickly read it from top to bottom. Then he went back and read rt again.
"Where are the curls?" he asked. "And where's the triceps work?"
Of course, Mike had anticipated the question and had an answer all ready packaged.
"This is the latest update on Swedish somatotrophic hyperbole training," he said. "It's based on the scientific principle of neuro-bio-quadro-optimization."
He paused and let the big words sink in.
o'I'm
sure you've heard of itr" he added. "I know you read a lot about this stuff."
The kid nodded avidly. 'oYeah, they say it beats everything else hands down!" he squealed.
"Right," said Mike. "And the way we do it here at Mike's Gym, it really does."
"Wow!" said the kid. He was mesmetized. But then he looked at the program again and frowned.
"But why don't I do any curls?" he asked.
'oMolecular refraction," said Mike. o'Anyone cando curls, but only a true champion builds his anns
molecularly."
The kid nodded slowly. "That makes sens er" he said. Mike nodded.
'oYeah , it' s the little stuff that counts," he said. "Squats, deadlifts, presses and molecular refraction. They all go together."
The kid nodded.
{
"That makes sens ar" he said. "So here's the deal," said Mike. "Go take a shower, take a couple of days off, and come back on MondaY for Your first workout. Kubik and I will coach you through it. We'll show you exactly what to do!"
"Including the special secret exercises?"
Mike nodded.
oolncluding the special secret exercises," he said.
THE KID'S FIRST WORKOUT The kid came back on MondaY, ready to go. He looked real excited about doing a special secret routine filled with special secret exercises.
"Okay, so here's what You do," said Mike. "Start by grabbingthatbat over there and doing 10 or 12 fliP snatches."
'oWhat are those?" asked the kid. "Let's have Kubik demonstrate," said Mike.
I walked over to the bar, stood in front of it as if I was going to perform a deadlift, crouched down, keePing mY back flat, and grabbed the bar with a wide grip. Not collar to collar, because I have short artns, but pretty wide. I pushed down with my legs, and slowlY lifted the bar off the platforrn - and snapped it up and overhead with a fast, smooth movement. I held it overhead for a second or two, lowered it back to the platfo* and repeated the movement. fou do those with a wide grip," said Mike.
The kid nodded.
"Don't try to jerk the bar off the platformr" said Mike. "You start slow and accelerate all the way. Make it smooth."
The kid nodded again.
"The flip snatch is strictlY a wafin-up exerciser" said Mike. 'oDo them with a light weight and hit two sets of 12 reps. They'll make you puff and pant, and get the blood moving through your entire body. And since you use pretty much every muscle in your bodY when you do them, they get your joints loose and limber and ready for the serious stuff."
The kid did two sets of 12 rePs with a light weight. He started to do some serious puffing and panting before he was halfivay through the first set. But he finished his sets and asked what was next.
o'Indian clubs," said Mike. "What do those do?" asked the kid.
"They help loosen your shoulders and your upper back," said Mike. 'oMost people are pretty tight there from all the sitting they do - and from being in front of a computer so much."
o'What about going to school and sitting in class all day?" asked the kid.
"That, too," said Mike.
"Especially if you have a really boring professor."
The kid sighed.
"All of my professors ate borin 8," he said.
"What are you studYing?" I asked.
"Communications," said the kid, glumly.
I made a mental note to Pass on any Communications Courses if I ever went back to Central City Junior College for a second degree.
Meanwhile, Mike showed the kid some basic exercises with Indian clubs and had him drill them for a couple of minuttt.,
Ihat looks good," he said. "How do you feel?'
'oGood and loose," said the kid. "'Warmed up and ready to go?" asked Mike.
"Yeah!"
"Okay, then, let's get going. Your first real exercise is the military press. We do a lot of them here at Mike's Gym."
"I never heard of them," said the kid. "What do they buil d?"
"They build the shoulders and the triceps," said Mike. "And they make you strong. Really strotrg."
He had me show the kid how to do presses. I began by cleaning the bar, and then pressed it for five strict reps. No leg drive, no knee kick, no backbend - just five perfect reps, up and down, in the military style that Mike always requires.
'oI don't get it," said the kid. 'oHow can something like thatbuild your triceps?"
"A lot of people think the military press is the very best exercise for the triceps," said Mike.
"Like who?"
"Well, like John McCallum, for one."
'Never heard of him." "Peary Rader, for another." oNever heard of him, either." "Bradley J. Steiner."
"Nope."
'oJohn Grimek."
"That draws a blank, too." Mike pointed to abrgphoto of Grimek on the wall of the gym.
"That's Grimek," he said. The kid walked over to look -and then stopped - -and then walked closer and stared at the photo for something like half a minute. Maybe longer. If I'd been thinking,I would have timed him. But whatever it was, it was a long time.
'oGeez" I never saw anyone like that!" he said.
'No one has, unless they saw Grimek in his prime," said Mike.
"And he said that those military press things were good to do?"
Mike nodded.
"He always said they were the very best exercise for the triceps. And he was serious about doing them, too. He set a couple of United States national records in the military press - and came darn close to seffing a World record. He could press close to 300 pounds at a bodyweight of about 185 or so."
The kid nodded without answering. He was still starin g at Grimek's photo.
'oSo what do you think?" asked Mike.
"I'll do them!" the kid almost shouted, and he ran back to the platfonn so fast that Sam and I had to jump out of the way.
ooYou're going to do 5 x 5 on your presses," said Mike. 'oln fact, you're going to do 5 x 5 on pretty much everything you do."
"Why 5 x 5?" asked the kid. "Did John Grimek do 5 x 5?"
'No, but Reg Park did," said Mike.
"Reg who?"
Mike pointed to the gym wall again.
"That EUyr" he said.
Once again we went through the whole deal of the kid walking over to the photo, taking a look, taking a second look, staring in amazement, and then standing like a stone statue for half a minute or more.
'oThree time Mr. Universe," said Mike. "Best built man of his generation. Strong as heck, too. Pressed 300 pounds. Bench pressed 500 pounds. In fact, he
I
was the second man in the world to bench press 500 pounds. Doug Hepburn was the first."
The kid nodded absent-mindedlY. He didn't even bother to ask about Doug Hepbrlrrl. He just stood and stared at the photo of Reg Park.
And that's how Mike sold him on doing 5 x 5.
There are lots of different waYS to do 5 x 5. Mike had the kid do one that's perfect for guys who are relatively new to the lifting thing. He did two progressively heavier warm-up sets, followed by three "working sets." Since this was the kid's first real workout (the silly stuff he had been doing before didn't count), Mike had him use light weights, so it was fairly easy for him to get five reps on all three of his work sets. Later ofl, as he got stronger, he added weight to the bar, and eventually he had to work preff hard to get those five reps on each set. Sometimes he didn't make it. When that happened, Mike made him stay at that weight until he got the five reps. When he did, he added weight
again.
Mike explained that adding weight to the bar was an important paft of the program. Of course, the kid said he'd never heard about that. Mike explained by showing before and after photos of Reg Park, who went from a
tall, skinny beginner who could barely handle the empty bar to a massivelY muscled235 lb. Mr. Universe winner who played Hercules in the movies and really looked the part- and who handled heavier weights than just about any other bodybuilder of his era - and who could go head to head with most Heavyweight weightlifters on squats, bench press, dumbbell press, dumbbell incline press, bent over rowing and similar
movements. That sold the kid on the
importance of adding weight to the bat. The next exercise in the Program was one of the biggies - the squat. Now, you may not believe it, but the kid actually said he didn't want to do them! He said thatleg training would tire him out so much that he wouldn't be able to do curls. I thought Mike would blow a gasket, for sure, but the big guy took it in stride. He explained that Grimek and Park were both extremely strong
squatters, and that both men always said that the squat was one of their favorite (and most important) exercises. The kid took another look at the Photos of Grimek and Park, and once agarn, he was sold.
Joe Nordquest
Mike started him very light, and taught him to do full squats right from the get go. Mike prefers full squats to
t
parallel squats for anyone who can perform them safely. Of course, the powerlifters at the gym do parallel squats because that's what they do in competition, and the Olympic lifters always do fulI squats because they need to be able to drop into the low squat position to catch the weight when they do squat cleans and squat snatches.
Here's an important note. Doing fuIl squats means you need to wear Olympic lifting shoes with a high heel so you can squat all the way down and keep your back straight. If you do full squats with a rounded back, you're asking for trouble. Plus, you're not getting nearly as much benefit from the exercise as you would if you were doing them the right way.
Older guys may find it difficult or impossible to do full squats safely. That's especially true for guys who have done lots of heavy parallel squats. The parallel squats will actually tighten your leg and hip muscles so that it becomes very hard for you to do a full squat. You CAN make the switch, but it takes time and patience and lots of stretching and plenty of common sense training. And even at that, for some guys it's just plain impossible. So Mike treats each of his members as a unique individual, and helps him perfect the best squat form that he can master - which is parallel for some lifters and full for others.
After the squats, Mike had the kid do a single set of 20 breathittg pullovers with a pafu of light dumbbells. These were purely for chest expansion, and the stretch was the important thing, so the weights were very light.
Next, the kid did the barbell bench press. Again, he did 5 x 5. Mike made him do the bench presses strict, with a pause at the chest. Mike doesn't allow dropping and bouncirg, raising the
hips or any other form of cheating bench press. And he doesn't allow that "spotter grabs the bar and deadlifts it while the lifter pushes and then the lifter claim she did it all on his own" nonsense you see in so many other gyms. If you bench heavy in Mike's Gym, believe me, YOU bench heavy. (Of course, you either bench in a rack with pins to catch the bar if you miss, or you use a spotter for safety in case you miss. Never try
benching heavy - or going for maximum reps -- without a power rack or a
spotter.)
The kid didn't bother to
complain about doing the bench presses, but Mike still told him that they were excellent for building the triceps. He also told him that the bench press was one of Reg Park's favorite exercises. (Grimek rarely did them - they were not a big deal when he was lifting, and he preferred the military press in any case.)
The kid followed the bench press with the barbell bent-over row.
Amazingly, he didn't question what must have been a very novel and
surprising movement for him. If he had, Mike would have told him how Reg Park and Marvin Eder trained together on bent over rows and piled on weight until the bar started to bend!
Mike taught the kid to perform bent-over rowing with his knees slightly bent and his back flat. He pulled the bar up along his thighs, close to his center of gravity, and finished with the bar
presse d against his lower abdomen. Mike says thatyears 4go, many instructors taught doing the bent-over row by pulling the bar up to the chest while the lifter was positioned with his back at a 90 degree angle (i.e., his back parallel to the floor). Mike says that's a tenible way to do rowing. You place tremendous strain on your lower back,
{
and you can't handle anywhere near enough weight to build your lats and other upper back muscles.
Mike made the kid do his rowing with arm, shoulder and upper back power alone - no bobbing, no jerking, and no heaving. Nice and strict all the way.And Mike made him pause briefly in the finish position, and then lower the bar slowly back to the starting position.
'oDo them strict or don't bother to do themr" said Mike. 'oIt' s not a bent over power clean or an ugly looking sort of high pull."
'oWhat are those?" asked the kid. "Those are - heck, we'Il cover it another time," said Mike. 'oJust do the rowing nice and strict."
The kid nodded, and did five sets of five reps.
That ended the barbell portion of the workout. Mike had him finish with two sets of bent-legged sit-ups on a slight incline (on a sit-up board), doing about ten reps per set, and curling his body up into a ball nice and slow so that he really worked his abs. Later, &s he got stronger, Mike had him do the exercise with abarbell plate pressed against his forehead.
When the kid finished his workout, he was covered with sweat (and even with chalk, rvhich he had never used before), and panting like a race-horse after a fast quarter-mile with an overweight hippo as the jockey. He was so tired he didn't even bother to ask when he was supposed to do his curls and triceps pumpers.
Mike told him he had done good, to hit the showers, to go home and get some food, and to come back in 48 hours for his next workout.
The kid nodded, wearily. He looked so darn tired that I actually wondered if he would come back.
'Not to woff!," said Mike. o'He'11 be back."
'oBecause he had a life-changing experience by doing squats and presses and stuff?" I asked.
Mike shook his head.
'No, because Sam swiped his i-pod while he was trainittg. The kid will come back looking for it."
I looked at Sam. He looked back at me and grinned with satisfaction. The i-pod lay next to his pillow.
THE KID'S SECOND WORKOUT For his second workout, the kid followed a similar program - all 5 x 5 other than wann-ups and gut work - but he used different exercises. Mike likes to mix things up like that when he sets up a program for someone. Almost all of his programs involve two or three different workouts: Workout A and Workout B, or Workout A, Workout B and Workout C. He calls it the "divided workout system." I guess that's as good a name for it as anything else. But whatever you call it, rt works pretty darn well. Many guys who never gained very much strength and muscle doing the same total body workout three times per week have
Otto Arco
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made gteat gains by switching to a divided workout schedule. (I should know - I'm one of them!)
In his second workout - Workout B - the kid began with two sets of 12 reps in the clean and press. Once again, this was strictly for wanning up, so he used arcaIly light weight.
Mike had me demonstrate the power clean for the kid. You probably know how to do it: stand in front of the bar like you're going to do a deadlift, keep the bar over the toes, legs bent, anns straight, flat back, tight arch, push the legs through the floor to get the bar started, move the knees back, keep the bar close to the legs (and later, close to the body), pop the hips forward as the . bar passes the knees - and make it a
combined l.g, back and hip movement rather than a slow deadlift followed by a cheat-style reverse curl the way so many guys do it. Be sure to keep the bar close to the body at the top. LIFT your elbows. Do NOT reverse curl the bar - and never let it swing out and away from the body. You lose all your leverage and all your power if the bar swings out and away from you.
Many well-intentioned writers have said thatthe power clean is a good arrn builder. 'Well, it's not. It's a lousy ann exercise - and if you try to make it an atm exercise, you're doing it wrong. It's not a reverse grip cheat curl or a reverse grip swinging curl or a reverse grip anythirg, and it's not a deadlift followed by an upright row. It's aleg, back and hip movement, and that' s how you need to do them. (Note: all of the same points apply to high pulls. They are a total body, all-out strength and power exercise, NOT an afiTr exercise, as so many effoneously believe !)
Of course, in this program you do the power cleans only as a wafin-up
exercise - but do them the right w&y, regardless !
Next, the kid did more work with the Indian Clubs. Some guys think
Indian Clubs are silly, but they're wrong. It's really important to get those
shoulders nice and loose before you hit the iron. Tight shoulders can mess up the nerve impulses as they run down the arrns and forearms - and that can make it difficult or impossible to pack strength and muscle into your anns! (Remember that sometimes a pinched nerve in the neck or shoulders can cause the atm muscles to atrophy. Tight shoulders do the same thing, only in less dramatic fashion.)
After his warrn-ups, the kid did the standing alternate press with
dumbbells. Once again, Mike made me demonstrate. You do this one by cleaning the dumbbells to your shoulders, standing tall and looking straight ahe ad - and then pressing the dumbbell in the right hand. As you lower the dumbbell in your right hand back to your shoulder, you begin to press the dumbbell in your left hand. It's right hand, left hand, right hand, left hand, etc. Do five presses with each hand and then lower the dumbbells back to the floor.
"What kind of grip should I use?" asked the kid - which was one of the better questions he has asked so far, if you'rc paying attention to that sort of thing.
ooThe old-timers used to twist their wrist so the palms of their hands were facing each other. That positions the dumbbells so the front of each bell is to your front and the back of each bell is to your rear. Your arrns and shoulders are stronger in that position, and the dumbbells balance better."
"So you can use more weight, right?" asked the kid.
I
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Mike nodded.
"That's rightr" he said.
He shot me a quick glance. The kid was catching on! (And after only one workout.) This was beginning to look promising.
o'More weight is good, right?" asked the kid.
"More weight is goo d," said Mike.
"I thought it worked better to pump up the muscles with light weights," said the kid. "That's what everyone always saYS. That's whatl always read."
"That's what theY saY," said Mike. "But it's a big Pile of horse patties."
Dave Mayor
"What's that?" asked the kid. Mike translated.
"Oh!" said the kid.
"Here's the way it reallY is," said Mike. 'oYour muscles aren'tjust big chinks of solid tissue. They're actually composed of millions and millions of muscle fibers. The muscle fibers form little ropes all along the length of the muscle. When you PumP Your muscles up, all you do is fill the atea in-between the muscle fiber ropes with blood - and when your workout is over the blood goes away, and you're right back where you started. It's like a ballooll. You take a balloon, and you blow it uP, and when it's filled with ar rt gets maYbe 50 or
100 times bigger than when you started. But when you let the air out, the balloon goes right back to its original size. Filling it full of hot air doesn't make the balloon any bigger. It just stretches it for a while. Pumping Your muscles with blood doesn't make them any bigget - it
just*'IT*l'ffi
".[3:??:ffi::1fi
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pump up your muscles?"
"Because that's what the muscle magazines have been teaching people for the putt.:0 or 60 years," said Mike.
Why did they start doing 7t?" "Because they were looking for something new and different with a catchy name. The factthat it was an EASY way to train made it all the easier to promote. Remember, there was a time *h.tr pretty much everyone who trained with weights did heavy weightlifting and
strength training. They developed great physiques as a natural by-product of their strength training. Latet on, more people were interested in bodybuilding -in how they looked - than -in
weightlifting, so the magazines catered
to
the':il|;l,ttr;*,nu,,,
Not many peoPle do. Most people have been brainwashed, andthey never figure it out."
Well, I know what you're thinking. You're wondering if Mike just kept talking or whether he let the kid finish his workout. I won't keep you in suspense. Mike let the kid finish his workout. At Mike's Gym, lifters ALWAYS finish their workout!
'oHow do people ever figure this out?" asked the kid. o'I meufl, how do they un-wash their brains?"
That was another good question. I waited for the answer - but it never came.
"Hold the thought for now," said Mike. "You've got a workout to finish!"
"Oh - right!" said the kid. He grabbed a pair of light
dumbbells and hammered out his first set of alternate presses.
'oThat was good," said Mike. The kid did a second warm-up set with heavier dumbbells, and then hit his first "work" set. On the third or fourth rep he started to dip a bit to the side on each rep. When he finished the set, he put the dumbbells down and looke d at Mike sheepishly.
"I did it wron5, didn't I?" he asked.
'No, that's okay," said Mike. "In fact, the old-timers used to call it the see-saw press. You're allowed to rock a bit from side to side to get the dumbbells up. Just be sure to keep your legs
locked."
The kid brightened. "Got it!" he said.
After he finished his alternate dumbbell presses, he moved on to front squats. Mike had me show him the crossed hands way of doing them and the regular w?y, where you keep your hands under the bar and your elbows up - just like you were an Olympic lifter performing a squat clean. Mike prefers to have his guys use the weightlifter's
grip, but he knows that some trainees are just too stiff and too to do it. If that' s the
case, he has the guy work on his
flexibility, but let's him use the crossed hands style so he can still do front squats. (Or he has the guy do his wann-up sets with the weightlifter grip and his heavier sets with the bodybuilder grip until the guy gets his flexibility where he needs it to be.) Mike is a big fan of front squats. He usually has most of his beginners alternate them with back squats. Back squats in Workout A and front squats in Workout B.
To do front squats the right w&y, you need to keep your torso in a straight up and down position. If your back rounds, you're doing them wrong.
Mike has everyone who does front squats do them full squat style, not parallel. That means all the way down to the platfonn on every rep. If you were doing them outside, it would be ass to grass.
The only way to maintain an upright posture when you go that deep is to wear the kind of liftitrg shoes that Olympic lifters wear (which is what Mike prefers his lifters to do) or stand with your heels on a 2 x 4 or a couple of thick barbell plates (the poor man's option).
Anyhow, I demonstrated the front squats, and then the kid did his 5 x 5. He did apretty good job, too. Of courso, I deserve at least some credit for that since I was demonstrating the exercises for him.
After the front squats, Mike had the kid do incline dumbbell presses. Mike thinks that incline dumbbell presses are one of the very best chest exercises out there. They also work the heck out of the shoulders and triceps. Once again, the kid did 5 x 5.
For guys who train at home and
don't have an incline bench, the
dumbbell bench press (on a flat bench) works pretfy well. And if a guy ever gets so strong that he can't get the dumbbells into the starting position, he should try the one affin dumbbell incline press or the one arrrn dumbbell bench press. That allows you to use two hands to get the dumbbell into position.
I once asked Mike if the dumbbell floor press (or the one hand dumbbell floor press) would be okay if a guy traine d at home and didn't have a bench. Mike said it would be fine, so there's really no excuse not to include this one in your program.
After the dumbbell incline presses, Mike had the kid do five sets of pull-ups. The kid had no ann strength to speak of, but he was light and skinny, so he managed to get 5 reps on each set in reasonably good form.
Mike had the kid do the pull-ups with his hands pronated, so his palms were facing away from his chest. He held the bar with his hands a little bit wider than shoulder width apart. I asked Mike why he preferred doing them that way instead of with the palms facing the chest (i.e., supinated grip, alWa the good, old-fashioned "chin-up"). Mike said he wants the exercise to be a total upper body pulling movement thatprovides a heavy load for the biceps, NOT a pure biceps exercise. The chin-up is pretty much pure biceps unless you're strong enough and advanced enough to do it with your back arched and your
shoulders back, pulling yourseHup until your chest touches the bar. Mike knew the kid wasn't strong enough to do that, so he had him stick to pull-ups.
If he had not been able to do pull-ups, Mike would have had the kid do pull-downs to the chest using the same grip as if he were doing pull-ups,
or pull-downs with a specralbar that let him use a parallel grip with the hands a little wider than shoulder width apart. Pull-ups are a better exercise than pull-downs, but if you can't do them, substitute the pull-downs. They'll work fine. For guys who train at home, the one affn dumbbell row would be a good substitute for pull-downs.
After the pull-ups, the kid did another of Mike's favorite exercises: the bent-legged Trap Bar deadlift. Mike is a huge fan of the Trap Bar deadlift, and has most of his beginners use the exercise instead of the deadlift with a straight bar. It's easier to learn the proper positions and the corect
movement, it's easier on the knees, hips and lower back, and it's an excellent strength and mass builder. For many guys, it's second only to the squat as a strength and mass builder - and for some
Ivan Sanakov
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men (often including older trainees or very tall, 'olong and lanky" lifters), it's actually more effective than the squat.
Mike had the kid finish the workout with two sets of leg raises. Fifteen reps per set. Mike told him that as he got stronger he would start to do them on the sit-up board (with his head at the top of the board, of course), and then he'd progress to doing them with ankle weights or iron boots on his feet. The eventual goal was to work up to hanging leg raises on the chinup bar -which is a heck of a tough movement, and a very effective *gut" exercise.)
Once again, the kid finished the workout covered with chalk and sweat -but he seemed to be enjoying himself. Perhaps he was discovering thatreal training is a heck of a lot more fun than the pseudo-stuff he had been doing before. Anyhow, he wiped the sweat off his face with a towel, and asked what was next. Mike told him to hit the showers and come back in 48 hours.
Before leaving the gym, the kid popped his head into Mike's office.
"What will we do next time?" he asked.
"'We'11 go back to Workout A," said Mike. "You'll alternate back and forth between the two of them for awhile."
I was waiting for the kid to say, "But what about my arrn exercises?"
But he surprised me. "Cool!" he said. And then he was gone. "That was amaziflg," I said. o'You're
right," said Mike. "He didn't say a word about that missing i-pod."
Eugene Sandow EATINGFOR STRENGTHAND MUSCLE
Before I for get,let me cover an important topic very quickly. Diet and nutrition for lifters. Don't worrlr, it won't take long. It's not too
complicated.
Mike told the kid to drop all the amino acid, mega-bolic, maxi-bolic multi-bolic, nutri-bolic, super-bolic and hyperbolic whatchyamacallit' s that he'd been chuggirg, and focus on eating some good old-fashioned food. And lots of it. Mike knows that young guys can gain like qary if they train the right way and combine it with plenty of good, healthy food. The emphasis should be on high quality protein. Me at, eggS, fish, chickon, and furkey. For those who can
digest it, milk, cheese, cottage cheese, and yogurt. Add lots of fresh green veggies, some fresh fruit, sweet potatoes, brown rice, whole grain bread, whole grain pasta, and nuts, and you've pretty well covered everything.
Older guys are different. Older guys need to focus on protein and fresh veggies (and not much else). This allows them to gain muscle without adding fat. One of the big problems that guys have is thinking they can eat like a teenager even though they're 40 or 50 or older. It's like they're in a time w&{P, where they keep focusing on the two quarts of milk, six-meal a day thing and trying to gain 30 pounds of muscle in 30 days. It's a classic example of how the stuff you read in the muscle mags when You'te a young guy stays with you for your entire life.
Oh, and whatever Your ?Ea, skiP the junk food. You don't need that stuff. That includes anything made with sugar or high fructose corn syrup - anything made with white flour - any "fast foods" - and anything made with hydrogenated fats (alkl a trans-fats).
I'11 cover diet and nutrition in depth in the not too distant future, but for right now, let me get back to arm training. After all, that' s the focus of this course.
Oh, and before I forget. Don't even think about taking steroids. If Mike hears about it, he'll send Sam after you. THE MIKE' S GYM ARM ROUTINE: LEVEL 1
When you put it all on Paper the first part of the Mike's Gym ann routine looks like this:
WORKOUTA
1. Warm-up with LIGHT flip snatches2
x 10 - 12, followed by Indian club drills for five minutes
2 . M i l i t a r y p r e s s 5 x 5 3. Squat 5 x 5
4. Bench press 5 x 5
5. Barbell bent-over rowing 5 x 5 6. Bent-legged sit-ups 2 x 8 -I2
7.Hang from thick handled pull-up bat 1 x as long as possible
WORKOUTB
1. Warm-up with LIGHT Power clean and press 2 x 10 - 12, followed bY Indian club drills for five minutes
2. Alternate dumbbell press 5 x 5 (5 reps with each ann on each set)
3. Front squats 5 x 5
4.Incline dumbbell press 5 x 5 5 . P u l l - u p s 5 x 5
6. Trap Bar deadlift 5 x 5 T . L e g r a i s e s 2 x 1 5
Remember, it's a three-daY-Per-week schedule, NOT a four-ddY, five-day or six-five-day per week split routine. That day of rest between workouts is important.In fact, it' s one of the reasons why the program works so well.
Remember, your muscles don't grow while you're training. TheY grow afterwardsl If you don't give yourself enough time for rest and recuperation after each workout, you're pretty much wasting your time.
THE RESULTS
Mike had the kid train on the program three times a week for the next
12 weeks. He did onlY the exercises listed. Nothing else. No curls, no triceps pumpers - not even any close grip bench presses. And no dips. Mike's not a big fan of them. He's seen too many lifters hurt their shoulder doing dips. It seems to happen to everyone who does them
t
with added weight, no matter how strong they are, how much they enjoy doing dips and how much the dip helps them. Sooner or later it bites them - not in the butt, but in the shoulder.
Amazingly, after the questions on the very first duy, not once during the entire l2-week program did the kid ask about doing curls and triceps stuff. Mike has been droppittg his affin training routine on rookies for a long time now -like more than twenty years - and the guys usually cry and moan and fuss and holler about not doing curls and triceps exercises, and Mike has to tell them the
qaziest things to get them to keep them on the program. He told one kid they had to 'ooptimize the metabolic flushing factors" before they could do any direct arin work. He told another kid they were using the "blitz-pump system from Florid a" to'.vasculartze the lobotomy" before they added ann exercises to the program. These were whoppers, of course, but when you're fighting against muscle mag brainwashing and
mainstream silliness, you have to take strong measures.
But this time, all that was
necessary were Mike's initial references to "Swedish somatotrophic hyperbole," "neuro -bi o - quadro - opti mizati on" and [my personal favorite] molecular refraction training." After that,the kid went along with the entire program without any questions at aII. So maybe times are changing - or maybe kids are changing. I don't know. I just know the kid came to the gym and trained like clockwork - and added weight to the bar whenever he could - and started to get bigger and stronger and thicker so fast it surprised all of us.
You can guess what happened. At the end of 12 weeks, Mike weighed the kid and took his measurements. He
had gaine d 23 pounds of muscle and put 2 /, inches on his upper arns.
"This is amazing!" said the kid. "I gained 2 y2" on my arrns without even training them!"
Mike laughed.
"You've acfually been doing plenty of work for your arrns," he said.
"Like what?"
'ol-ike all the pressing exercises, the rowing and the pull-ups. The
pressing exercises work the heck out of your triceps, and the rowing and the pull-ups work the heck out of your biceps, forearrns and grip."
"You mean I was training my anns and I didn't even know it?"
Mike nodded.
otYep."
"I can't believe it!" said the kid. "I mean - I can't believe it worked!"
Mike laughed again.
'The Mike's Gym Arm Routine always works!" he said.
READYFORMORE!
After he finished the first 12 weeks of the Mike's Gym arm routine, the kid was ready for Level 2 of the program.
"What do I do now?" he asked. "Mike's got a program written up for you," I said. "But I'm not sure where he left it."
Herman Gorner
"fs it in his office?"
"I don't know. He just coPY a big shipment of old time lifting magazines -Strength and Health back to the I930's and I940's, Iron Man back to the 50's and 50's, and some other good stuff. Mike and I are indexing it all, and it's scattered all over the place right llow. The office is a mess. We actuallY lost Sam for a couple of hours."
'oHow could you lose Sam? He's the size of a small grizzly bear!"
o'I don't know how we did it, but we did it. He was buried under a pile of paper and stuff."
"How'd you find him?" "Mike ordered a double
pepperoni pizza and had it delivered to the gym. Sam dug his way out as soon as it arcived."
o'He must like pizza."
"He does. And pepperoni is his favorite."
The kid nodded. I knew it made sense to him. It wouldn't make sense if you didn't know about Sam and his world-famous appetite - or about Mike and his gym and the way he runs it. But after you've been here awhile, it all makes perfect sense. You get a ton of old magazines, you pile them uP, You lose Sam, you order aprzza, and Sam suddenly appears. What could be simpler than that?
"Well, tomoffow is mY workout day. Ask Mike if he can find that program for me. Or maybe just write up something ne'w."
"Will do!" I said, and I went back to the job of cataloging and
indexing the old magazines. Meanwhile, Sam lay next to an empty Przzabox at the foot of the stuffe d grtzzly bear in the back of the gym. Aside from the corner of Mike's office by his food dish, it's probably his favorite spot in the entire
gym.
Mike came in an hour later and I asked him about the kid's next training program.
"It's right here," said the big guy. "Somewhere."
He looked around the office and scratched his head.
"Maybe it's in the desk drawer." I suggested. o'Or somewhere in the filing cabinet."
'oIt's not in the filing cabinet. All I keep there is extra food for Sam."
He looke d at the desk. "But maybe it's in there." He walked over and opened the drawer, rummaged around, and Pulled out amanila folder full of papers with various plans, specs and training
program scribbled onto them. He started to flip through them rapidly.
"H.y, I forgot about this," he said.
He pulled out a Piece of PaPer and set it to the side.
'oWhat is it?" I asked. He handed it to me. 'oTake a look," he said.
It was a dragram of the gym with alarge X marked on the back wall.
"What's that?" I asked. "Is that where they buried Jimmy Hoffa?"
Mike ignored the joke. He was operating in serious mode todaY.
"No, it's where I'm going to Put two chutes that drop into an alligator pit."
"What do you want with an alhgator pit?"
"It's for muscle PumPers and steroid pushers."
'No kidding? That's a great idea!"
o'I knew you'd like it," said Mike. "But th;.1e's one Problem."
What's that? Finding the
t
alligators?" o'No,
that's easy. I can't decide whether to add a third chute for the guys who write the super programs for the muscle mags. They're getting to be as bad as anyone. In fact, they're probably worse than the muscle pumpers."
I looked at the plans carefully. 'oI don't think there's enough room for a third chute," I said. "Maybe you should just use one shoot for the muscle pumpers and the guys who write the super programs."
Mike nodded.
'oYou may be right," he said. "Thatwould make it easier on the
alligators. They won't have to watch as many chutes."
As he spoke, Mike rifled through
the file, scaffering papers everywhere. It looked like ablizzard. I wondered if we'd lose Sam again But before that happened, Mike stopped, held up a single sheet of paper, and smiled.
"Here it is!" he exclaimed triumphantly.
"What is it?" I asked. "It' s the second part of the Mike's Gym ann training routine!"
"Great!" I said. 'o'We'll be seeing those shredded guns in no time!"
Mike stood up, walked over to his filing cabinet, and grabbed a big pile of old Strength and Health magazines. He carried them over and set them down on the desk where I was sitting.
ooHere you gor" he said. "Read two of these every four hours and if you don't feel better, call me in the
morning."
THE MIKE' S GYM ARM ROUTINE: LEVEL TWO
The kid showed up right on time the next day. This time, Mike didn't have to say anythittg to convince him to train the Mike's Gym way. The kid already knew that it worked.
Mike once again asked me to demonstrate the exercises. It was easier this time because the kid had a much better idea of how to train, and because many of the exercises were ones he had used in the first 12 weeks of the
program. The main difference was a change in the sets and reps.
Mike put the kid on another three-day-per-week program. He uses three-day-per-week programs with most of his members, including the
powerlifters, the Olympic lifters and the guys training for strongman comps. And if three-times-per-week doesn't seem to be working for someono, Mike usually Andrew Passanant
has him try twice a week workouts. For some guys (especially older guys) , that works really well. It goes to show you how important it is to get enough rest and recovery in-between your workouts.
Mike has a simple formulathat sums up his entire training philosophy in just four words:
"Traino rest, gfow, rePeat." Pretty good, huh?
In this program, unlike the first 12 weeks, Mike actually had the kid do some direct affn work. Not a lot of it, but enough to give the biceps and triceps some serious action. Basic sfuff, of course. No exotic super-duper curls and no crazy triceps exercises. I'll tell you about it in a minute -- but first I want to cover something very imPortant.
Mike once told me an imPortant secret. I'm going to share it with you now - but remembet, rt' s a secret, so keep it under your hat. Mike said you could probably add a SMALL amount of direct arrn training to Level 1 of the Mike's Gym ann training Program and do fine. Nothing too extreme - just three or four sets of barbell curls in Workout A and three or four sets of close grip bench presses in Workout B. The reason Mike saves the direct armwork for the second stage of the program is to show the guys that they can increase their arm
size ENORMOUSLY (like a couPle of inches) by training on nothing but basic compound exercises like military
presses, rowiflg, bench presses and pull-ups. It's an important lesson to learn, and for most guYS, the only way to learn the lesson is to try the program and see what happens.
Another reason Mike saves the direct ann work for the second part of the program is that he wants to be sure the guys devote I00% of their energy to the really important exercises (especially
the squats and deadlifts). If he tells a guy it's okay to do a couple of sets of curls and close grip bench presses, the next thing you know, the guy takes it easy on the big exercises so he eanhandle more weight in the arm exercises - or else the workout suddenly includes 10 or 12 sets of arm exercises - and then 15 ot 20 sets - and then 20 or 30 sets - and all of a sudden the guy is back to doing nothing but ann training.
Michael Salvane
And then there's reason No. 3 for saving the armwork until later. A
beginner needs to get stronger FAST in the major compound exercises. Too many sets of biceps curls can affect a rookie's rowing and pull-ups (because your biceps will be too tired and sore for maximum efforts), and too many triceps pumpers can do the same thing to your bench press and your military press.
Now you know the secret. So if you simply MUST do some direct arm work during the first 12 weeks of the progr am, you can do it. But keeP it simple: barbell or dumbbell curls (one of them, not both!), and close grip bench presses (as described below). And as for
sets, and reps, try this: 3 ot 4 sets of 5 reps, starting light and adding weight on each set so you do ONE set with Your top weight.
And now - back to the workout. As I said, it was a three-day-per-week program,just the same as before, but this time there were three different workouts. It looked like this:
WORKOUTA
1. Warm-up with light flip snatches 2 x 10 - 12,Indian Club drills for 5 mins, and light clean and press for 2 x 10 - 12 2.lMilitary press 3 x 5 (progressively heavier wann-up sets), followed by 5l4l3l2lI (adding weight as the reps are lowered). (Note: if 5l4l3l2lI is too tiring, try 5l3lI for your heavier sets.)
3. Squats 4 x 5 (progressively heavier wann-up sets), followed by 2 x 5 with your working weight
4. Bench press 4 x 5 (progressively heavier wann-up sets), followed by 2 x 5 with your working weight
5. Pull-ups 5 x 5 (add a small amount of weight after each set if you are able to do so - otherwise, do 5 x 5 with
bodyweight) (Note: if you have access to a thick handled pull-up bar and prefer to use that, then do so - just be sure you can manage five reps per set on the thick handled bar.)
6. Bent-legged sit-ups on sit-up board 2 x 8 - 12 wrth extra weight resistance 7 . Crush-style grippers 3 x max reps with each hand
WORKOUTB
1. Warm-up with light flip snatches 2 x 10 - Iz,Indian Club drills for 5 mins, and light clean and press for 2 x 10 - 12 2. Dumbbell incline press 6 x 5 (three progressively heavier warm-up sets and three sets with your top weight)
3. Pull-ups 6 x 5 (add a small amount of weight after each set if you are able to do so - otherwise, do 6 x 5 with
bodyweight) (Note: if you have access to a thick handled pull-up bar and prefer to
use that, then do so - just be sure you can manage five reps per set on the thick handled bar.)
3. Close grip bench press 5 x 5 (two progressively heavier waffn-up sets and three sets with your working weight) 4. 4. Standing barbell curls 5 x 5 (two progressively heavier warrn-up sets and three sets with your working weight) 6. Hanging knees to chest 2 x 10 - 15 (Note: if you're strong enough to do hanging leg raises, then do 2 x 5 - 10.) 7. Pinch grip lifting - 5 progressively heavier singles, working up to your top pinch grip lift, then drop back to about 70% of your top weight and do a timed hold for as long as possible
WORKOUT C
1. Warm-up with light flip snatches 2 x 10 - I2,Indian Club drills for 5 mins, and light clean and press for 2 x I0 - 12 2. Alternate dumbbell press 6 x 5 (four progressively heavier waffn-up sets and two sets with your working weight) 3. One ann dumbbell rowing6 x 5 (four progressively heavier wann-up sets and two sets with your working weight) 4. Trap Bar deadlifts 6 x 5 (four
Charles Poire
progressively heavier warm-up sets and two sets with your working weigh|
5. Bent-legged sit-ups on sit-up board2 x 8 - 12 with extra weight resistance 6. Thick bar deadlifts with double overhand gnp 5 x 5 (start light and add weight on each set) (Note: these are a grip exercise - you already hit your legs, low back and hiPs with the TraP Bar deadlifts.)
EXERCISE PERFORMANCE TIPS : CURLS AND CLOSE GRIP BENCH PRESSES
As I mentioned, the kid knew how to do all of the exercises, and only required coaching on the barbell curls, the close gnp bench press' and the grip work. On the curls, Mike taught him to use STRICT form. No cheating. Mike
says that if there's one thing that 99% of trainees do wrong , it's cheating in their curls. And YeS, Mike knows all about cheat curls, and he knows that
sometimes theY can be of benefit in a training program for an ADVANCED man - but he also knows thatthey're not nearly as productive as strict curls. Plus, he knows that cheat curls ate a great way to hurt your lower back. So rnrhy do them?
'
I asked Mike how the whole cheating curl thing started, and he told me it gave the magazine writers something new and different to write about. He also noted that cheat curls are an easy sell to readers because they let them use more weight than rnrhen they
are doing strict curls. So they can pretend they're getting stronger, when in fact they're just doing the exercise in bad form.
Mike remembers a toP
bodybuilding champ who supposedly did 10 reps in the curl with 185 Pounds'
Now, by point of reference, the World and Olympic Weightlifting champion in the Hear-yweight class at the time was John Davis - anenonnously powerful man who held ALL of the American, World and OlymPic records in the Heaq4weight class - and who could perform one-arrn chins while holding a dumbbell in his other hand. (I know, I know, hard to believe for a
Hear-ryweight. But I know a maflwho saw Davis do a one-arrn chin while holdin I a 50-pound dumbbell in his other hand!) Davis once did some heavy curls at alifting show where he appeared as a special guest |ifter, and cgrled 205 pounds in strict form. So the idea of a bodybuilder who weighed far less than Davis doing 10 reps in the curl with 185 pounds was just a little bit hard for people to swallow.
In fact, one man was so upset bY it all that he wrote a letter to Strength and Health in which he challenged the bodybuilder to perform 10 curls with
185 pounds IN PUBLIC, with certified lifting officials counting the reps. He even bet the bodybuilder a big chunk of change that he couldn't do it.
In response, the bodYbuilder admitted that he could NoT do 10 reps in the curl with 185 pounds. Those 10 reps he was supposed to do were CHEAT CURLS, not strict curls.
Mike once said that cheat curls are like kissing your kid sister, except no one brags about kissing their kid sister. And no one should brag about doing cheat curls, either.
The close griP bench Press requires li6le explanatioll. Of course, you do them strict, with no bounce. Touch and go is okay, but don't bounce. And don't arch,raise your hips or do any of that kind of stuff.
fhe really imPortantthing is to
