Muscle Tips

DUMBBELL PRESSES
The Rep
I use a chair with a slight incline, or I create an incline with my body by leaning against the top of an upright seat. I start with the dumbbells near my shoulders, my elbows slightly below horizontal. I press up explosively, stopping short of lockout. This ensures that pressure is kept on the delts and not transferred to the triceps. I pause for a second at the top to really squeeze the muscles, then slowly lower the weight, controlling the motion with my deltoids, until my elbows dip slightly below my shoulders to give a good stretch.

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Written by: Markus Ruhl

Markus Ruhl’s Training Split
Monday: Chest
Tuesday: Back
Wednesday: Triceps
Thursday: Biceps
Friday: Legs
Saturday: Shoulders
Sunday: Rest

INCLINE BARBELL PRESSES
Why? For complete mass across the entire upper body, the incline barbell press is indispensable. Pressing through an elevated angle not only raises the fullness of your pecs higher on your chest, but it also works the front delts in direct proportion. In fact, there’s no other way to build size and separation all the way across the shoulders and upper chest, and no better way to add width to the shoulder girdle. This has been a specific goal of mine, and in that effort I’ve relied heavily on this exercise, specifically with a free-weight barbell.

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Written by: Nasser El Sonbaty

One-arm dumbbell rows
This effective exercise lets you squeeze and contract one lat at a time. Never pull too much with your shoulders, instead of your lats, especially when the weight is getting progressively heavier from one set to the next. Keep your back straight and bring your head up as you lift the weight; lower your head as the weight goes back down.

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Written by: Melvin Anthony

Standing barbell “21” curls with Pressdowns
First, place the barbell on the floor near the pressdown machine you’ll be using so you will be ready to move back and forth quickly. Before you begin, concentrate on the areas that will be worked in each muscle group. These are essential mass-building exercises; the curls build overall rounded biceps fullness, or volume, and the pressdowns pop out the wraparound effect of the horseshoe area of the triceps.

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Written by: Kevin Levrone

Note: Warm up thoroughly prior to your working sets. I suggest two sets of barbell presses and two sets of dumbbell side laterals, 30 reps each.

BARBELL PRESSES
I alternate between front and behind-the-neck presses, depending on how I feel that particular day. The behind-the-neck version is often criticized for putting you in an unnatural position. I don’t agree with that. The angle is fine as long as you do the movement strictly and correctly. Both exercises hit the front and medial delt heads, though behind-the-neck presses tend to bring the medial delts into play in a big way.

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Canadian bodybuilder Greg Kovaks
reveals his secret for massive biceps.

WARMUP
Two sets alternate dumbbell curls and 1 set Standing EZ-Bar Curl.

STANDING EZ-BAR CURL
“I opt for the EZ-bar on standing curls because it’s easier on my wrists,” Greg offers. He holds the bar with a shoulder-width underhand grip, spaces his feet shoulder-width apart as well, and slightly bends his knees.

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Arnold Schwarzenegger’s bicep-building routine stands the test of time.

Written by: Arnold Schwarzenegger

He left nothing to chance. The following are highlights of the psychological and technical innovations he employed in building his remarkably shaped biceps. His advanced cerebral approach demonstrates that Arnold was every bit as brilliant an architect of his body as he has been of his Hollywood career.

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Volume: Do two warm-up sets with a light weight for 15-20 reps. The warm-up sets are required because this is the first exercise of the back workout; you will need to prepare the targeted muscles for the rigors of the exercises to come. Follow with one heavy-duty set of eight to 10 repetitions.

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Written by: Paul Dillett

Thigh Mass 101: A 12-week quad-building program

Math was never my best subject in school, but I’ve never had any trouble calculating figures in bodybuilding. It ain’t, as they say, rocket science. All you have to do is be able to add weight, multiply your gains, and divide your time among training, nutrition and recuperation. If you can do that and count reps to 20, the rest is easy.

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