i see dante lurking..i know the guys got some jewels to drop...drop em DC!!
My opinion on bringing up weak bodyparts? It has mostly nothing to do with more sets, more of this more of that, training them every day etc etc etc......
Two things (in my opinion) bring up bodyparts whether strong or weak
1) Using the most productive exercises for your unique body and then getting really progressive with it....right up the ladder....taking that productive exercise and going from 55 x 12 with it to 255 x 12 will change a bodypart dramatically whether its weak or strong. For example what exercise would virtually everyone say builds big quads? leg extensions, sissy squats, or squats? Squats obviously....deep controlled squats with heavy weights and higher reps work for virtually everyone in building big quads. So you show me a guy who does a 185x12 in the squat and over years and supplements and drugs and training hard eventually squats 455 x 20 deep reps and Ill show you a guy who has some bigtime wheels now. If you have a weak upper chest and just cannot find the right exercise for it over time but then happen upon the right angle and the right tweak for upper chest where it starts responding......taking that beginning poundage and on that productive tweak and angle you have come across (lets say it was 185 x 10) and over time and supplements and training hard and drugs turn that into a 365 x 12.....you are going to have another inch of muscle mass on your upper pecs
2) And i think this is of the utmost importance and its where 98% of bodybuilders fail. YOU GOT TO GET WEIRD WITH IT! And what i mean by that is if you have been training for 6-14 years and it still isnt working for you.....ITS NOT GOING TO WORK UNLESS YOU TWEAK IT SOMEHOW TO MAKE IT WORK FOR YOU. For example lets say a guy has sucky biceps and he has used the plethora of bread and butter movements for the last 8 years.....the rigomoro barbell curls, dumbell curls, that curl this curl, cable curl, machine curl etc etc etc......and your biceps still suck.....obviously the mode of operation of that curling exercise is not doing it for you
yet you keep doing variations of the exact same thing which are going to continually produce what you have gotten over the last 8 years (
which isnt much bicep growth)...so you HAVE TO GET WEIRD WITH IT and discover productive exercises that are totally out of the norm........ and unlike what you have been doing previously that has already proven to you = minimal results.
I will stay with biceps and show you what i do with guys who no longer get anything out of the bread and butter exercises (that do work good for some people...im not saying they dont...im talking to people who are not getting the results from the tried and true)......i have them do a few things
a) Preacher curls usually get people to react where regular bicep and dumbell curls do not because of the stabilization of the elbow (
not always but its a starting point that i use)....never ever ever ever bounce out of the bottom of a preacher curl....go down to the bottom, pause and then lean over the bench a little bit to make a crook in your arm, and then curl. Id use a higher rep range also
b) I put peoples arms in back of them when they curl....which means....your arm is pulled backwards (either done single or two arms at a time) and you curl......for example low pulley that your facing away from ...your arm is straight and pulled back and you curl from that position.....you also curl up into your armpit not out in front of you...try this while your seated at your computer...do a regular curl like you would do it....now curl with your elbow going backwards like your trying to bring your upright clenched fist into your armpit....see the difference? Use that tweak on your bicep exercises and on this one described in #2
c) Hammer curls...again seated and curl your fist into your armpit while your elbow flows backward instead of curling out in front of you....do seated hammer curls like that higher rep
d) get a rope extension like used for tricep pushdowns and slide the attachement all the way to the far end (you will be curling with one hand on the other side of the rope)...attach attachement to a low pulley and stand far enough away that the plates are off the stack (always tension)...now (while facing the stack) hammer curl it up out in front of you with one arm (again higher rep range 12-20 reps)
So are you guys getting my gist? You HAVE TO GET WEIRD WITH IT....the biggest disservice you can do to yourself training wise is sticking with the same exercises that have NOT worked for you over the last 6-12 years!
I did this above for biceps....i could go all day what i do for other bodyparts but you have to think things out and do exercises that are outside your box of familiarity.
The two most important things in a bodybuilders training regimen to me are
1) progressive weights over time for safe reps on exercises that he finds out works awesome on his individual physique
2) Exercise selection and finding unique intricate exercises that ACTUALLY work for him. If you have been incline pressing dumbells at a 45 degree angle for the last 8 years and still have a suckass upper chest....what the hell are you doing? Find something whether its a unique angle or a unique exercise or hand position or machine that will ACTUALLY CHANGE YOU....than wasting any more time on an exercise that you have proven to yourself hasnt done jack crap for you. Get weird with it.
If you guys pick up the new flex magazine with arnold on the cover (march issue its in the grocery stores now)...I did an interview where i showed what i mean by getting weird with it...
.gif "IP Gear")
