Iron Man - USA №9 2006

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SEPTEMBER 2006

/

IRON MAN MAGAZINE—

WE KNOW TRAINING

™

MUSCLE

FIREPOWER

SEPTEMBER 2006

Please display until 9/7/06 $5.98 $7.98 in Canada

0 70992 37390 1 09>

www.ironmanmagazine.com

•X-Files: Etch In Detail for Freaky Mass

•Incredible Over-40 Natural Bodybuilder

™

MUSCLE

FIREPOWER

Poliquin on Building Big Arms • The Metabolic Syndrome

You Can Grind Out More

Growth Reps on Every Set!

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FOR SIZE

Workout-Construction

Tips and Tricks

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150 DECEMBER 2009 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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This DVD features Greg Plitt, one of the top ﬁ tness models in the country and up-and-coming Hollywood actor. Seeing Greg’s muscles in motion will motivate you, as he demonstrates the techniques to sculpt your own impressive physique. Greg is a former Army Ranger and was recently voted Hollywood’s top body.

• Key Exercises for Big Gains

• Intensity Tactics That Pack On Mass

• The Ultimate Fat-to-Muscle Method

• Perfect Rep Speed to Boost Results

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September 2006 Vol. 65, No. 9

Hardbody,

page 260

FEATURES

Repping for Results,

page 124

60 TRAIN, EAT, GROW 83

It’s the new F/X program, for shredded size effects.

94 DAVE GOODIN

Ken O’Neill analyzes how the 47-year-old Texas Shredder got to the top of drug-free bodybuilding.

114 A BODYBUILDER IS BORN 14

Ron Harris talks supplements.

124 REPPING FOR RESULTS

Christopher Pennington unravels the mystery of using repetition ranges to build size and strength.

140 READY, SET, GROW!

Jim Kimbrell, Ph.D., interviews mus-cle-training researcher Rob Thoburn on his controversial ROB method.

158 HEAVY DUTY

John Little HITs the Mentzer files.

174 FIREFIGHT FOR

FIREPOWER

Jerry Brainum interviews John A. Wise, Ph.D., about the revolutionary new supplement beta-alanine. More reps in the zone equal fast mass!

210 SPRINT TO NEW GAINS

Dwayne Hines on the forgotten resistance exercise that can rip you up and take your development to a new level.

216 THE METABOLIC SYNDROME

IM reseacher Jerry Brainum explores this sneaky epidemic

of insulin resistance that may be ruining your workouts, physique and health.

238 AEROBIC MUSCLE

Aerobic training for faster muscle growth? Jerry Robinson looks at the research—and the startling conclusions.

244 X-FILES

The latest muscle-building findings from the IRON MAN Training & Research Center.

260 HARDBODY

Bill Dobbins’ incredible shots of Viviana Soldano in the Mojave desert. Spectacular!

282 ONLY THE STRONG SHALL SURVIVE

Bill Starr shows you how to customize for strength and size—tailor your program for radical results.

SEPTEMBER 2006

Please display until 9/7/06

$5.98 $7.98 in Canada 070992 373901 09>

www.ironmanmagazine.com

•X-Files: Etch In Detail for Freaky Mass •Incredible Over-40 Natural Bodybuilder

™

MUSCLE FIREPOWER

Poliquin on Building Big Arms • The Metabolic Syndrome

You Can Grind Out More Growth Reps on Every Set!

CUSTOMIZE FOR SIZE

Workout-Construction Tips and Tricks

PLUS:

AEROBICS PACKS ON MASS

Cardio Burns Fat and Builds Muscle!

C1_sept06-1blBkg_F3.indd 1 6/30/06 1:30:11 PM

Sagi Kalev appears on this month’s cover. Photo by Michael Neveux

We Know Training

Firefight for

Firepower,

page 174

Dave Goodin,

page 94

FEATURES

™

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In the next IRON MAN

Next month we’ve got a classic mass-packing story for you, and it’s not from a rank beginner (that’s too easy). It’s from experienced drug-free bodybuilder Mike Semanoff, who packed on an amazing 20 pounds of muscle in only two months—and then won one of the biggest natural bodybuilding con-tests in the country. How did he do it? He’ll tell you then, but here’s a hint: He blasted out X-tra reps at every workout. Plus, you can check out Moe El Moussawi’s wicked biceps blast—many are say-ing he has the best arms in the sport—and peruse Lonnie Teper’s big Mr. Olympia preview (yes, folks, it’s almost here again: bodybuilding’s greatest muscle show on earth). Watch for the awesome October IRON MAN on newsstands the first week of September.

Eat to Grow,

page 50

Train to Gain,

page 30

News & Views, page 254

30 TRAIN TO GAIN

Big-back attack and lateral lunacy with Toney Freeman. Also, Joe Horrigan’s Sportsmedicine.

44 SMART TRAINING

Top strength coach Charles Poliquin outlines his postex-haustion routine for bigger arms.

50 EAT TO GROW

Do low carbs mean low intensity? Plus, stubborn-fat prevention and the carnitine sex machine.

78 CRITICAL MASS

Steve Holman talks bloodbath bodybuilding and muscle-fiber morphing.

82 NATURALLY HUGE

John Hansen solves protein problems and retools rou-tines for better mass building.

248 BODYBUILDING PHARMACOLOGY

Jerry Brainum looks at soy, muscles and hormones.

252 MUSCLE “IN” SITES

Eric Broser wanders the Web. Hey, look, it’s Adela Garcia. Wow!

254 NEWS & VIEWS

Lonnie Teper’s world of bodybuilding.

272 PUMP & CIRCUMSTANCE

Ruth Silverman’s monthly foray into the fitness fray.

292 MIND/BODY CONNECTION

Randall Strossen, Ph.D., says there’s more to being a champion than picking the right parents—plus, loads of hot shots in Graphic Muscle Stars and Serious Training.

304 READERS WRITE

Catastrophic coverage, great Scott, Dante is hot and X-tatic reaction.

Pump & Circumstance,

page 272

Muscle “In” Sites,

page 252

WEB ALERT!

For the latest happenings from the world

of bodybuilding and fitness, set your

browser for www.IronManMagazine.com

and www.GraphicMuscle.com.

DEPARTMENTS

Contents_Sept06_F.indd 22 6/30/06 3:59:46 PM

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30 SEPTEMBER 2006 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

SIZE MATTERS, SO…

Be sure to cover

all the angles of

pull in your back

routine.

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Picture this... you with tight, shredded abs, serratus and intercostals all sharp, sliced and visible from across the room or on the sun-glared beach! And from the rear, lower lumbars that look like two thick steel girders supporting your muscle-studded back. Imagine looking like a Greek god... in street clothes... in the gym... or anywhere.

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Big-Back

Attack

B O D Y P A R T B L A S T S

The back, in my opinion, is the most complex muscle group in the entire body and the most chal-lenging to fully develop. It’s also the most impres-sive when bodyfat is low and all of its muscles are standing out in bold relief. There are a lot of muscles to think about when you approach back training— the lats, the teres, the rhomboids, the posterior delts, the upper and middle traps, the erectors and, yes, the muscles that lie deep within the back that aren’t visible.

More than any other muscle group, the back needs many different exercises, angles and grips if it’s going to reach complete development. Some people’s backs are wide, others are thick, and some have pretty good detail—but few have it all.

You need to stimulate every portion of your back during each workout and do so without overtraining or spending three hours in the gym. That means not trying to do every exercise in existence.

Here is a strategy that can transform your back from a weakness to a strength:

Use three basic angles of pull:

•one vertical pulling movement (pullups, pulldowns) •one horizontal pulling movement (seated cable rows, machine rows)

•one bent-over movement (bent-over rows, dumbbell rows, T-bar rows)

Use one upper-lat isolator:

•stiff-arm pulldowns or pullovers (machine or dumb-bell)

Use one upper-trap movement and one midtrap movement:

•upper: barbell shrugs, dumbbell shrugs, machine shrugs

•middle: upright rows (bar, cable, dumbbell), behind-the-back shrugs, behind-behind-the-back upright rows

Use one lower-back movement:

•hyperextensions, rack deadlifts, good mornings (I’m partial to deads)

Use three types of grips for your pulling exercises:

•one exercise with close or V-handle •one wide and overhand

•one medium and underhand

(Note: I change which exercise/pulling angle gets which grip each time I train.)

To clarify, a typical back day might look like this:

Machine pullovers 2 x 12-15 Wide-grip overhand pulldowns 2 x 10-12 Close-grip seated rows 2 x 8-10 Underhand-grip bent-over rows 2 x 6-8 Rack deadlifts 3 x 4-6

Superset

Dumbbell shrugs 2 x 8-10 Barbell upright rows 2 x 8-10

Do rear delts, which you definitely need for a com-pletely trained back, on shoulder day for part of the year and on back day for part of the year.

These tips should help you improve your back con-siderably. They made all the difference for me when I put this together a few years ago—and for my many clients

as well. —Eric Broser

www.PRRSTraining.com

Neveux \ Model: Robert Hatch

Neveux \ Model: W

ill Harris

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P U M P I N G W I T H T H E P R O S

B E T T E R B E N C H I N G

Ah, the bench press. Perhaps the most beloved exercise known to man. What’s the first question most often asked of a bodybuilder? “How much can you bench?” Of course! Seems pretty simple: Just lie down, unrack the bar, bring it down to your chest, and push it back up. Do that week after week and lift progressively heavier weights and— Bam!—massive pecs, right? Wrong!

The bench press can be an excellent builder of chest mass; however, the way it’s most often performed, it ends up taxing the front delts and tri’s far more than the pectorals. I hear it all the time: “I don’t understand, man. I can bench 365, but my chest is still small! Every time I bench, the only thing that ends up sore are my tri’s and front delts.”

If that describes you, do not fear, my friend. Some slight adjustments in form and position, and the bench press will swell your pecs to Colemanesque proportions. Here’s what you need to do before you even unrack the barbell:

•Lie down on the bench, and set your feet firmly on the floor

•Arch your lower back slightly •Raise your rib cage high •Squeeze the scapulae together •Pull your shoulders downward Now you’re in the correct position to achieve maximum pectoral recruitment with far less triceps and delt interference. The key is to keep your body in that po-sition throughout the set. It’s not enough to simply start there; learn to lock your body while you bench press—or perform any chest press or flye movement, for that matter.

Once you begin your set, make sure to keep your elbows wide and under your wrists. Lower the bar to just about nipple level under full control—bouncing is a major no-no—and then push to the top in an explosive fashion.

This may feel strange to you at first, but once you master it, I guarantee it will be time to shop for bigger shirts!

—Eric Broser www.PRRSTraining.com

If you want huge thighs, the barbell squat is your only salvation. There are going to be times, however, when you’d be wise to use an apparatus such as the Smith machine or a leg press, or else risk injury. If you haven’t had much sleep or are oth-erwise overly fatigued, performing squats will be exceedingly difficult. They demand total focus and attention to form and body alignment.

In Ronnie Coleman’s newest DVD, “On the Road,” he trains legs late at night after a very full day of signing autographs and guest posing. We all know Ronnie is a squatting machine because we’ve seen him rep out front squats with 585 and go up to 800 pounds on back squats in previous videos. But even the world’s greatest

bodybuilder shrewdly uses a Smith machine to squat when the situation calls for it. With the weight already balanced and in no danger of crushing him, he’s free to rep away and pump up his massive quads.

Vince Lombardi said that “fatigue makes cowards of us all.” I would add that fatigue makes form break down even in the best squatters. When form breaks down with 300, 400 or 500 pounds draped across your back, a lot of bad things can happen. If it’s leg day and you’re scheduled to squat but are run down from lack of sleep, a cold or stress in general, give yourself per-mission to whack your wheels some other way.

—Ron Harris www.RonHarrisMuscle.com

Permission

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Sir?

Press for Your

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Not your delts and tri’s

TRAIN TO

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Neveux \ Model: Chris Cook Neveux \ Model: Greg Blount

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(13)

He was big. He was pissed. And he wanted to kick my butt. There was no way out, so I extended my arm for the opening hand shake— and then I crushed his hand like a Dorito. Fight over thanks to the Super Gripper.

If you’re after huge forearms with the crushing power of an industrial vise, get the Super Gripper. It’s the ultimate forearm- and grip-building tool on the market because it provides your muscles with the two essential requirements they demand for awesome size and strength: speciﬁ city (mimics gripping action) and progressive resistance.

You’ll develop a bone-crushing grip fast by adding one or a number of power coils for that critical progressive-resistance effect. Remember, when you wear short sleeves, it’s the lower arms that are exposed for all to see. You’ll want your forearms to be huge and vascular to match your thick, beefy upper arms—and now they will.

HE WANTED TO

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Until I Crushed His Hand!

(14)

I’m always on the lookout for ways to improve my shoulders because I truly believe that they’re the corner-stone of any great physique. As far as I’m concerned, a bodybuilder should display a pro-nounced V-taper. If you’re looking for the most exagger-ated V-taper in the business, all signs point to IFBB pro Toney Freeman. At 6’2” and a competi-tive weight of 275 to 280 pounds, Toney possesses a waist that’s a mere 30 1/2 inches! A small waist by it-self is all well and good, but it’s only made astonishing when the owner also sports a pair of superwide, round melon delts—and Toney does.

Unlike most guys

with awesome shoulders, however, he doesn’t give all the credit to presses and, in fact, feels that lateral raises are the real key to building those boulders. “Learning how to do a perfect lateral raise,” he says, “is the real beginning of

exceptional shoul-der development.” He’s a stickler for perfect form, and he has two very intense variations on the standard set of lateral raises that anyone craving more side-deltoid mass should try.

The first is a down-the-rack scorcher that will pump up even the most stubborn pair of delts. You start with the heaviest weight you can use in good form for just five reps. Simple enough, right? You then proceed all the way down the rack in five-pound dumb-bell increments, getting five reps with each pair, until you reach the little-bitty fives and rep out to failure. One of these rack-run-ning sets should be all it takes, but if you have the fire and the guts, do it twice. Just be sure you aren’t in the middle of a crowded dumb-bell rack at your gym’s peak time, monopolizing 10 pairs of ’bells.

The other lateral lasher is seated dumbbell side raises—with an eight-second pause at the top of each rep, during which you con-tract your medial delts for all they’re worth. This is a humbling experience, as even the strongest among you will find it brutal to perform eight to 10 good reps with anything more than 20 or 25 pounds in each hand, and most trainees won’t need more than 12- or 15-pounders at most. Presses will always be a crucial part of building shoulders, but don’t underestimate the value of lateral raises. Trying either or both of the above will show you why.

—Ron Harris

Editor’s note: Check out Ron Harris’

Web site, www.RonHarrisMuscle.com, featur-ing his online trainfeatur-ing journal, The Daily Pump.

TRAIN TO

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B I G G E R B O D Y P A R T S

Lateral Lunacy,

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Neveux \ Model: T

odd Smith

Comstock

Free download from imbodybuilding.com

(15)

8

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How would you like a surge in upper-body power and a bigger bench press—say, 20 extra pounds on the bar—after only a couple of workouts? Sure, adding 20 pounds to your bench in two or three training sessions may sound crazy, especially if your bench press poundage has been stuck in neutral for a while. But nine times out of 10 this stall is due to an easily correctible muscle weakness—not in the pecs, delts or triceps but in a group of muscles known as the rotator cuff.

The rotator cuff muscles stabilize the shoulder joint. During the bench press and almost all other upper-body movements these muscles protect the shoulder joint and prevent ball-and-socket slippage. If these muscles are underdeveloped, they become the weak link in the action and your pressing strength suffers, or worse, you injure your shoulder. One of the best ways to strengthen this area and create an upper-body power surge is with direct rotator cuff exercise. Once you start using the ShoulderHorn for two or three sets twice a week, your pressing poundages will skyrocket. This device allows you to train your rotator cuff muscles in complete comfort and with precise strengthening action. After a few weeks you’ll be amazed at your new benching power. There have been reports of 20-to-30-pound increases in a matter of days.

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S P O R T S M E D I C I N E

I’ve written several times about the ill effects that twisting can have on the lower back. The spine has limited rotation, usually three to five degrees between vertebrae. If spine rota-tion is isolated, it can be very harmful. That most often occurs when trainees perform twists with a broomstick while sitting on a bench, which can cause a shearing effect on the disks between the vertebrae and weaken the disks.

Many people have said to me, “Many sports involve rota-tion, and those people are fine.” That’s a very good point—but the action is different. If you look at slow-motion video of a baseball player swinging a bat, a golfer making a swing, a shot-putter making a throw, you’ll see the pelvis rotate slightly ahead of the shoulders, and then the shoulders quickly catch up to the hips. That rotation is far less than a trainee perform-ing twists with a broomstick.

This month I asked for a counterpoint to my position on twisting and the spine. William K. Bergman, Ph.D., of the Structural Wellness Center in Los Angeles, has been provid-ing MedX rehabilitation exercises since 1989. The MedX system was developed by the legendary Arthur Jones, who also created Nautilus equipment. MedX equipment includes a machine to train the lower back or neck in flexion (forward bending), extension (backward bending) and rotation (twist-ing). Bergman was trained by Arthur Jones on both the Nauti-lus and MedX equipment.

“I don’t like the broomstick twists either,” Dr. Bergman said. “The movement is ballistic, and the facets are chewed up. [Facets are joints that guide movement in the spine.] The trainees are also not stabilized well.

“We begin the rehabilitation of the lower back with flexion and extension only for the first four to six weeks to stabilize the core. We then introduce rotation into the program. The

dif-ference between simply twisting with a stick while straddling a bench and MedX training is the fact that we fit the patient carefully into the equipment. The proper fit is imperative. The patient is then instructed to adduct his or her thighs against a pad on the inside of the legs. This adds a great deal of stability to the back and inhibits [relaxes] the gluteus medius muscle on the outer side of the hip. The rotation on the MedX machine is limited to 33 degrees. The rotation training always begins lighter than expected to allow the patient to adapt to rotation.”

When I asked if there are any precautions or concerns with rotation on the MedX, Bergman replied, “If a patient cannot tolerate flexion and extension, then we will not introduce rota-tion. Flare-ups can occur from the rotation, and this is usually caused by a few predictable conditions—the patient was impatient and tried to hurry the rotation in range of motion, poor technique from loss of focus and muscle imbalances. When this occurs, we reduce the resistance and gently build it back up again and instruct the patient again in the importance of proper technique.

“The MedX philosophy has been to obtain functional strength first and reduce pain second because as strength improves, pain often decreases from dynamic stability. Many of these patients are developing back muscles for the first time. Many are deconditioned, and this is why we see their strength quadruple during rehab. Once they have developed strength, they improve more quickly when they experience a flare-up of low-back pain. I think the important point is, we get people moving again.”

I’ve had many conversations with gym veterans, both ama-teur and professional, about training and injuries and about those who wrote or presented information on the subject. Trainees always trust opinions of those who train over those who haven’t, regardless of their education. Bergman, who earned his doctorate in kinesiology and certainly possesses a great deal of knowledge, also trains. He joined Gold’s Gym in Venice in 1975, was a charter member of World Gym in Santa Monica, trained at the famous Bruce Connors Gym in West-wood and trained at the Sean Harrington/Steve Davis Nautilus Gym in Brentwood, California.

I still have my reservations about the effects of twisting on the average trainee’s spine. Bergman’s comments illustrate the importance of having sophisticated methods of controlling rotation and careful monitoring by someone with the educa-tion and training to protect the trainee. If you don’t have the ability to train with equipment such as MedX machines, please respect the range of motion limitations of the spine, and you’ll be able to train in much greater comfort. [Note: Dr. William Bergman can be found at the Structural Wellness Center in Los Angeles, California, (310) 441-4319].

—Joseph M. Horrigan

Editor’s note: Visit www.SoftTissueCenter.com for

re-prints of Horrigan’s past Sportsmedicine columns that have appeared in IRON MAN. You can order the books Strength,

Conditioning and Injury Prevention for Hockey by Joseph

Horrigan, D.C., and E.J. “Doc” Kreis, D.A., and the 7-Minute

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Twisting

Counterpoint

For twisting motions to be safe,

hip movement must occur.

TRAIN TO

GAIN

Warning: Some twisting movements

can damage your back

Neveux \ Model: Joey Gloor

Free download from imbodybuilding.com

(17)

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Eight Ab-Training

Myths

If you want great abs, don’t fall victim to any of the myths of ab training.

Myth 1: Twisting movements will pare fat from the sides of your waist. Go to most

gyms, and at some point you’ll find bodybuilders with a light bar across their shoulders vigorously twisting from side to side, under the mistaken belief that they’ll whittle away the fat on their waists. Some bodybuilders have been doing that for years, with-out success.

Myth 2: Doing lots of ab work will pare more fat from the front of your waist.

See Myth 1. Muscle and fat are different types of tissue. It’s impossible to whittle away fat by work-ing the muscle beneath the fat. It’s impossible to reduce fat in a specific spot of the body through

exercise. The most effective way to spot-reduce fat is through surgery, which has perils and isn’t a long-term cure. The other way is to decrease your food intake and increase your activ-ity level so that you’re in overall calorie deficit; then your body will turn to its fat reserves to provide the balance of its energy needs. You could build great ab muscles, but whether you see them depends on how much fat covers your waist. You could do three hours of ab work daily, but if your food intake and activity level don’t yield an overall energy deficit, you’ll never reduce the fat around your waist. Ab work is irrelevant in de-termining the amount of fat around your waist. To build strong, well-developed abs, however, ab work is essential.

Myth 3: The abs need high reps. To strengthen and

develop the abs—which is all that ab work can do—keep your reps moderate and effort levels high, use sufficient resistance to keep the reps down, and keep adding resistance as you develop strength. Treat your abs like any other muscle. Ex-treme amounts of ab work can consume sufficient calories to make a contribution to energy output over the long haul, but that’s an inefficient way of burning them. For efficient calorie burning, perform an activity that’s easier, involves more mus-culature and can be sustained for long periods, such as walk-ing. No matter how many calories you burn through activity, if you eat excessively, you won’t be in calorie deficit, and unless you’re in calorie deficit, you’ll never reduce your bodyfat.

Myth 4: The abs need daily work. Although the ab

muscles may tolerate more frequent work than most other bodyparts, they can be overtrained, too. Train your abs only two, or, at most, three times a week.

Myth 5: The abs are two separate muscles— upper abs and lower abs. The six-pack, or washboard, is

the rectus abdominis muscle. It’s the visible, frontal part of the ab wall—visible provided there’s minimal fat covering it. The ab wall includes the external abdominal obliques and internal

abdominal obliques—the sides of the waist—and the transversus abdominis beneath the rectus abdomi-nis. The rectus abdominis, however, is one long, flat, continuous muscle that runs from the lower ribs to the groin. While it’s not possible to isolate the upper or lower abs, the two sections may respond differently to flexion that requires the shoulders to move toward the hips than to flexion that requires the hips to move toward the shoulders.

Myth 6: You need gadgets to train your abs. Some gadgets,

prop-erly used, do target the abs; however, there’s nothing a gadget can help you do that crunches can’t, provided you perform the crunches correctly. But many of the gadgets are ineffective and poorly made, and some are dangerous. Don’t be misled by hype. Stick with crunch-es, which don’t require special equipment, and do them well.

Myth 7: Electronic muscle stimulation is the easy way to get great abs. Electronic stimulation of muscles is

a way of making some people think they can exercise effec-tively without moving. There’s some use for electro-muscular stimulation in physical therapy, but for healthy bodybuilders it’s a joke. You have to move, sweat and push yourself, progres-sively, if you’re going to change the form of your body. Even if the electronic gadgets stimulated muscle the way regular progressive-resistance training does, you’d still need to lose the fat to see your abs. No electronic stimulation will remove the fat.

Myth 8: It’s undesirable to develop the abdominal obliques. The external abdominal obliques and the internal

abdominal obliques are parts of the ab wall. Many bodybuild-ers avoid direct work for their obliques thinking—wrongly— that developing them will thicken their waists. Strong obliques are desirable for torso stability during many exercises and for increasing resistance to injury. Even if well-developed, the obliques add little muscle. They do add an attractive sweep to the waist if it isn’t covered with a thick layer of fat.

—Stuart McRobert www.Hardgainer.com

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Hany “the Pro Creator” Rambod says, “Sometimes the hardest thing is not competing.” What he means is that often you won’t be able to move up to the next level until you make certain improvements to your physique, and having the patience to hold off on further competition until those improvements are made isn’t easy.

Let’s say you failed to make the top five at your most recent contest. When you asked the judges for some con-structive criticism (always a good idea), they told you that your upper body overpowered your legs. Your task was to build those legs up to match your top half, and you diligently plugged away on squats, leg presses, lunges and the like. Six or eight months later your legs have indeed grown. But are they truly up to par? If not, competing soon wouldn’t be a good idea, because your physique still has that obvious flaw, giving the judges a reason to place others ahead of you.

For a good example from the pro ranks, consider the case of Branch Warren. After tearing his triceps in the fall of 2004, he could have been ready to compete in the May 2005 shows in New York and Toronto. But he knew that judges wanted to see improvements in his arms and upper body in general, and the only way he could deliver those improvements was to bide his time and not compete until the fall. Did the strat-egy pay off? You tell me—Branch won back-to-back titles at the Charlotte Pro and Europa Supershow before placing eighth at the Mr. Olympia.

Consider also Chris Cormier, who had a disastrous show-ing at the ’05 Olympia. Rather than jumpshow-ing right back into a contest diet to try again for the Arnold Classic title (he had been runner-up there six consecutive times), Chris realized he was exhausted from too many contests (70 pro shows in 12 years) and needed a break. His goal now is the ’06 Mr.

Olym-pia, so he’ll have a full year away from the stage.

Even if you’re competing at the local or regional level, you can learn from Chris. Though you don’t necessarily need to work on gaining overall size or improving a bodypart, you still can’t get into peak condition very often. Unless you’re one of the rare bodybuilders who naturally stay shredded year-round,

the process of preparing for a contest, with all the strict dieting and cardio it entails, is too much to ask of your body more than once a year.

So before you start planning your competition schedule, honestly ask your-self whether the time is right to compete, or if you might be better off waiting. Just think: Wouldn’t it be cool to be the guy backstage whom everyone whispers about, as in, “Who the hell is he, and where has he been hiding?” I know I still dream about it.

—Ron Harris

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Q: I’ve trained for several years, and my arms are now 17 inches. What do you suggest I do to jolt my arms into new growth?

A: I recommend using a postexhaustion routine.

Per-form a compound (multiple-joint) exercise that recruits a lot of motor units, and follow it immediately with a supe-rior isolation exercise that also taps into the motor-unit pool. Just the amount of delayed-onset muscle soreness you’ll get from the routine on your first go will convince you of its effectiveness for building large, muscular arms. The routine looks like this:

Superset 1

A-1 Close-grip chins 4 x 4-6 reps, 4/0/1/0 tempo A-2 Low-incline dumbbell

curls 4 x 6-8 reps, 5/0/1/0 tempo Rest 10 seconds between A-1 and A-2

Rest three minutes between A-2 and A-1

Superset 2

B-1 Parallel-bar dips 4 x 4-6 reps, 3/2/1/0 tempo B-2 Overhead rope

extensions 4 x 8-10 reps, 3/1/1/0 tempo Rest 10 seconds between B-1 and B-2

Rest three minutes between B-2 and B-1

Do the close-grip chinups with your palms supinated (facing you), with four to six inches between your two little fingers. If you need to substitute close-grip lat pulldowns for the chinups, you’re too weak to do this advanced rou-tine. The same goes for dips; it’s a nonsubstitution rourou-tine.

The 10 seconds’ rest between the close-grip chins and the incline dumbbell curls should be the time it takes you to go from the chinup bar to the incline bench. At the end of 10 seconds you should be curling the dumbbells. Keep the 10-second rest interval strict. If you’re strong enough, use additional weight tied to a chin-and-dip belt for extra resistance.

For incline curls the lower the angle on the bench, the greater the stretch placed on the long head of the biceps brachii. Be sure to fully supinate your hands in the bottom position of the incline curls. Curl the dumbbells, keeping your upper arms perpendicular to the floor for at least the first 90 degrees of elbow flexion. That’s to minimize anteri-or-deltoid recruitment. After 90 degrees, particularly if the

Bigger

Arms

Want giant, jutting peaks and full, sweeping tri’s? Try postexhaustion supersets.

Charles Poliquin’s

Smart

Training

Neveux \ Model: Binais Begovic

SMARTTR_Sept_RF.indd 44 6/21/06 1:24:05 PM

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dumbbells are heavy, your elbows will tend to move for-ward slightly. As long as you keep the first 90 degrees clean, you’ll maximize isolation of the elbow flexors. By the same token, fixating on keeping your upper arms perpendicular to the floor through the full range of motion will only acti-vate the rear delts.

On the first workout of this routine it’s normal to lose a lot of strength on each succeeding superset. For ex-ample, you may be able to do six chins with a 50-pounder supersetted with eight reps of incline curls with the 45-pound dumbbells for the first set. By the fourth set you may squeeze out only four reps with your bodyweight on the chinups and curl a pair of 35-pound dumbbells. As you continue to follow the routine, however, besides see-ing your arm size increassee-ing significantly, you should be watching your strength endurance skyrocket.

Q: I just read your book Winning the Arms Race. I started training as you recommended, and

I have extreme soreness! I really love your training. I have two questions. The first is related to a prob-lem that I’m having executing the paused, standing, narrow reverse-grip EZ-curl-bar curl. I have to use a very light weight due to a serious weakness in the upper part of my forearms. I have great soreness in those muscles but not in the brachialis. Any sug-gestions? My second question is, Should I apply the same training protocol prescribed in the book to my legs, chest, back and shoulders?

A: To answer your first question, the problem will correct

itself as you go through the program. Because of an inher-ent innervation pattern, it is quite normal that you feel the brachioradialis more than the brachialis. Because most bodybuilding books and magazines primarily illustrate su-pinated forms of curls, the average trainee tends to have an unfavorable ratio of brachialis to biceps brachii strength.

To answer your second question, yes, you can apply the loading parameters to other bodyparts.

Q: I have problems with ankle flexibility that af-fect my ability to do deadlifts and squats. Any time I try to do these exercises, my heels rise off the ground. Any suggestions?

A: I just came back from teaching at the FitPro

conven-tion in Loughborough, United Kingdom, and I’m con-stantly reminded that most trainers have no clue how to fix the most basic problems in the gym. For example, what do you do when your client needs to rise on the toes when attempting to squat or deadlift?

There’s no simple answer to that, though there are myri-ad biomechanical reasons why it can happen. For example, your pelvic mechanics can be impaired, but without test-ing you in person, I can’t say if that’s really the case.

However, people are more likely to be restricted in the lower-limb areas. You may want to thoroughly stretch your

Too much supinated curling without enough

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Neveux \ Model: Ken Y

asuda

Neveux \ Model: Jeff Dwelle

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gastrocnemius and soleus muscles. First, check your flex-ibility by squatting with an empty bar on your back. Once you reach the bottom position, pay attention to your body mechanics by assessing the angle of your shin in relation to the floor. Then stretch your calves maximally. The standard calf stretches just won’t cut it. You need the extra resistance provided by weight machines.

The best way to stretch your calves is to use two calf machines—the standing one and the seated one. First get under the pads of the standing calf raise machine. Lock your knees and lower your heels as low as possible. That will ensure that both the soleus and the gastrocnemius muscles are fully stretched. If you unlock your knees, the gastrocnemius won’t have a full stretch. Hold the stretch for a full 15 seconds. Bend your knee to lower the shoulder pads and take a five-second break, during which you in-crease the weight by two to three plates. Repeat the stretch-rest-add-weight process for another three to five reps. Then go to the seated calf raise machine to give your soleus mus-cles a greater stretch. Use the same training methodology, holding the stretch for 15 seconds, resting five seconds, adding weight and so on for a total of five to six reps. By this time your calves should have achieved their maximum length for the day. Then go back to the squat rack and test your marker again. If your knees are moving farther than before your stretching routine, your calves were certainly limiting your range of motion. In any case, looser calves will enable you to squat with a more upright trunk posture, thus reducing the stress on your knees and lower back.

Q: What is your opinion of eating grass-fed beef? Is it really superior to cereal-fed beef?

A: Last weekend at the Chicago Poliquin Performance

Center, I had the pleasure of meeting Bill Kurtis of “Ameri-can Justice” and “Investigative Reports” fame. He gave a brief lecture to the attendees on the benefits of grass-fed beef. After his very well-received but too-brief lecture, we

went to lunch along with our hosts, Chicago PPC owners Mike and Debbie Bystol.

Kurtis certainly had interesting stories to tell us, as he’s done shows on just about every well-known serial killer or mass murderer. Like the one when cannibal and serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer had his mother over for dinner, and she told him, “Jeffrey, I don’t like your little friends.” To which he answered, “It’s okay, Mom. Just have the veggies.”

All kidding aside, we were very interested in why he got involved in promoting grass-fed beef. Hence his switch from reporting on serial killers to eliminating the cereal killer. Here’s why he says everyone should switch to grass-fed beef:

•Strong medical evidence that if the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fats exceeds 4-to-1, people have more health issues. Cereal-fed beef can have ratios that exceed 20-to-1, whereas grass-fed beef hovers around 3-to-1. In other words, grass-fed beef has a high content of health-enhanc-ing fats and a low content of the fats known to create in-flammation in the body. Inin-flammation has been implicated in cancer, autoimmune diseases, heart disease and a host of other ailments.

•Grass-fed beef has four times more CLA than cereal-fed beef, leading to better immune system health, insulin management and body composition.

•Typically, the omega-3 fats in grass-fed beef make up 7 percent of the total fat content, as opposed to 1 percent in cereal-fed beef.

•Since the average American consumes twice his or her weight in meat per year, it’s wise to eat only the best qual-ity. [Editor’s note: For more information on grass-fed beef visit www.GrasslandBeef.com.]

Editor’s note: Charles Poliquin is recognized as one of the world’s most suc cessful strength coaches, having coached Olympic med alists in 12 different sports, includ-ing the U.S. women’s

track-and-field team for the 2000 Olym-pics. He’s spent years researching Euro-pean journals (he’s fluent in English, French and Ger-man) and speaking with other coaches and scientists in his quest to optimize training methods. For more on his books, seminars and methods, visit www .CharlesPoliquin .net. Also, see his ad

on page 165. IM C h a r l e s P o l i q u i n w w w . C h a r l e s P o l i q u i n . n e t Bra df or d