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Sometimes we all have lagging bodyparts, and usually we will complain about legs, chest, biceps etc. Yet many people never seem to complain about lagging triceps, but every time I visit the gym I see underdeveloped triceps galore!
The Triceps muscle is seemingly and unglamorous muscle, most non-co
mpetetive bodybuilders never give it a second look, yet well developed arms should consist of roughly two thirds triceps, and if you take a look at anyone with truly impressive arms you will see they are not lacking in this area.
Now you may have a horseshoe and thus you think you have decent triceps but a horseshoe does not make a big arm, you triceps need to look incredibly thick especially when viewed from the back. This workout gives it to you hardcore, there are no soppy kickbacks and none of those pushdowns where you lean into the stack and push as much weight as possible, nope this workout goes down the Yates route, it's failure and beyond, Just three exercises and only 4 work sets but this will get you fired up like nothing else.
We start with the classic Close grip bench press, an exercise that seems to have fallen out of favour recently, if you don't have a spotter then use a smith machine or power rack. Your hand placement is simple, put you hands together on the middle of the bar then move you hands so that your thumbs are roughly where the outside of your hands were, you can go a little wider or closer if this is not comfortable, but roughly 2 hand widths apart is where you should be. You need to warm up and pyramid the weight over 3 sets before moving onto a weight you can use to failure at about 8 reps. The first working set you only go to failure, your target is 8 but if you have more in you keep going. Take a breather, rest for 60-90 seconds then press out till failure again, 6-8 reps will probably be it, then if you have a partner do 2 or 3 forced reps then another 2 or 3 negatives, if you don't have a partner then re-rack the bar take 10 breaths and press out again till failure.
Second exercise is a little secret of mine, incline bench triceps presses, you need to lay back on a bench that is around a 45 degree incline. Do a couple more warm ups here. then it's one hard set till failure (again 6-8 reps) before taking 10 deep breaths and hitting out till failure again. There is a youtube video below which shows he form pretty well
Finally we finish with rope pushdowns, one warm up should suffice then it to failure again, this time at around 12-15 reps then 5 drop sets going down on pin at a time on the stack, each one till you fail.
There you go, 3 exercises, 4 sets and a killer triceps workout.
Full Photo's and results can be found courtesy of Muscular development
HEREOk, first things first, this routine has absolutely nothing to do with Egyptian warriors, nope this routine is cheesily named because it is based around the pyramid principle and is ideally suited to weekend warriors and other propel who are limited on the days that they can train. The thing that I find intriguing about this method is that unlike many sytems that are hard for the last few sets of an exercise this one is pretty damn hard from the first set!
The routine is split into 2 workouts although this could be tweaked around to suit if possible, but for this example we lay things out like this: -
Now down to the exercises, being geared more towards those with little training time we see a lot of basic compound movements, nothing fancy here at all although if you train alone use of a smith machine ore power rack is probably recommended on some exercises for safety.
Day 1 Looks like this:
Day 2 looks like this:
Every single exercise you pyramid up in weight whilst reducing the reps, 5 sets in total per exercise. This is where this routine is unique though, normally when pyramiding you always leave a little in reserve on the first couple of sets and use them as a warm up - not here though, we are looking at 100% effort right from set 1, There should be no need to worry about injuries though as the reps are quite high - you start off with a 25 rep set.
Each and every set you must reach your target reps, if you do then you add 10lbs (or 5kg) for the next set, if you don't you only add 5lbs (2.5kg). Every week your goal is to start your 1st set with 5lbs (2.5kg) more weight and progress from there, so if you start out doing 100lbs for 25 reps you will start at 105lbs the next week. for Biceps and Triceps Halve the above numbers .
The rep scheme is simple 25/20/15/10/5 reps, to determine just where you start if you use this routine take the amount you currently lift for 5 reps and subtract 50lbs. For example if you bench press 315lbs for 5 reps your 1st set of 25 reps will be with 265lbs.
This routine is ridiculously simple on paper and to look at it you would honestly thing it would be a breeze, but believe me you will struggle, some exercise will seem easier but most will test you right from set 1, you may not get all the reps for the 1st few weeks but persevere, if you really struggle then hold back on increasing the starting weight, if you seem like you are coasting then feel free to add 10lbs to start instead of 5lbs.
In a nutshell this is about it, it's not rocket science but it is one hell of a good power-bodybuilding workout.
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If you've ever found yourself short on time and needing to get a workout done in record time then this little shoulder workout could be just what you need. Only 2 exercise and it should be done in 20-30 minutes but this will pump your shoulders to a whole new dimension.
You start with lateral raises and pick up light 5-10lb dumbbells, you do 5 reps then pick up dumbbells that are 5lbs heavier and do another 5 reps. Keep repeating this progression until you cannot get 5 reps then work your way back down the rack in 5lb increments again doing 5 reps, when you reach the bottom it's back up again. By now you will be feeling it and breathing hard but keep going until you can't manage 5 reps with any weight.
Now you are warmed up it's time to hit a compound movement, for safety's sake I suggest Machine shoulder presses, again the method is simple; up and down the stack 5 reps at a time only this time in 10lb increments (some machines differ but try to stick to around 10lbs). Keep going until you are fried, puking is not an excuse to quit!
20-30 minutes later and you will be seriously pumped and drenched in sweat, your heart should be trying to beat it's way out of your chest. You are now done in a short time you have had a brutal shoulder workout and done a fantastic cardio session. Just don't expect to raise your arms above your head the next morning.
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IFBB pro Milos Sarcev has recently made giant sets popular again due to the workouts he performs with many of his elite clients. See below for an example.
The biggest problem with these for the average trainer is that gyms are crowded and it not exactly polite to hog several different pieces of equipment for a long time.
This workout gets around this problem by allowing you to set up at a lat pulldown station with a sets of dumbbells and a loaded barbell and two different attachments for the pulldown machine. Choose your weights wisely as later on you are going to feel this! Check it out!
There you have it, DO NOT! rest between exercises and go to failure on each and every set never limit yourself to a number.
Do this giant set rotation 3-5 times and you will fry your back and experience a pump you have never felt before.
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Have you ever noticed that rugby players all seem to have impressive calf development? I bet you presume they get it from all the running, well you are wrong! if this were true runners, soccer players and other athletes who do a lot of running would have similar calf development but they don't.
I myself am a former rugby player and I know the secret. There is something that rugby players do a hell of a lot of both in games and training that really fries the calves. Take a look at the calf development of new IFBB Pro James "Flex" Lewis or Lee Priest, both of these guys played rugby as youngsters and both have great calves. I bet you want to know the secret? Well that little secret is running backwards!
It is said that once upon a time the legendary bodybuilder and actor Steve Reeves once gained one and a half inches on his calves in two months simply by running forwards and backwards on the beach for two miles every day!
Simply running backwards will help anyone bring up lagging calves, so if you have somewhere you can do this give it a try!
If you want a gym method then take a leaf out of Ronnie Coleman's book and head out to the parking lot with a set of dumbbells.and do the two following exercises.
First up is backwards strides, simply take long strides backwards whilst holding your heavy dumbbells try and cover 200 metres or more with this method.
The second exercise is the backwards farmers walk, here you walk briskly backwards carrying heavy dumbbells, depending on the size of your gym parking lot aim for 5-10 lengths at least.
Do these two exercises three times per week as a finisher to a standard calf workout, If your gym has an elliptical trainer machine that has a backwards program use that for cardio and also add some backwards track running if possible, then in a couple of months I guarantee you will be sporting much improved calves!
There is a very interesting PDF article you can download here
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Big bench press numbers are seen around many gyms but in all honesty how many huge impressive chests have you seen? Probably not as many. Checking the ego at the gym door and actually working the pecs can be a godsend for developing a huge full chest. Try this simple workout to add new life to you chest.
Pec Dec Flyes 5 sets of 10 reps
Incline Dumbbell Flyes 4 Sets of 10 Reps
Machine Bench Press 4 sets of 10 Reps
Inclend Barbell Bench Press 3 sets of 6 Reps
Nothing too fancy here, just pre-exhausting the chest so that the shoulders and triceps do not take over. You will need to drop you bench press weights at first but given time you will get them back up to previous levels and when that day comes your chest will look so much more impressive.
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This is the bastard child of the great widowmaker concept devised by the legendary doggcrapp, a concept which forces you to do a 20 rep set after completing a heavy 6-8 rep set of a leg exercise.
Bitchmakers are an extension of this concept. You will do your normal workout for quads then when done you head over to the leg press machine and load up 50% of the weight you usually use. Your goal is 100 reps! but there are not many breaks to be had, you will rep out to failure then take the amount of reps you have left till you hit 100 and rest for that amount of seconds. Below is an example
35 reps (rest 65 seconds)
25 more reps (rest 40 seconds)
15 more reps (rest 25 seconds)
8 more reps (rest 17 seconds)
5 more reps (rest 12 seconds)
3 more reps (rest 9 seconds)
2 more reps (rest 7 seconds)
2 more reps (rest 5 seconds)
1 more rep (rest 4 seconds)
1 more rep (rest 3 seconds)
1 more rep (rest 2 seconds)
1 more rep (rest 1 seconds)
1 more rep you are done!
God cardiovascular conditioning is a must, this one is not for 300lbs fat bastards. If you puke you can clean it up when you are done, screw the gym owners.
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Experienced bodybuilders have probably used the 21's technique at one time or another in their quest for huge arms. The technique was quite popular back in the days of Arnold and co. This 21:21 workout will give you an amazing yet painful pump which should spur your biceps into new growth! at the very least you will be very sore for a few days :)
For those not familiar with 21's basically what you do is take a loaded barbell and curl 7 reps in the lower half of the rep then immediately do another 7 reps in the upper half of the rep before finishing with 7 full reps.
The 21:21 method uses 21's as it's basis but consists of 3 exercises done in a tri-set (consecutive sets with no rest) for 7 rotations, so in total 21 sets of 21 reps hence the name 21:21.
The three exercise you are going to use are barbell curls, cable curls and hammer curls so load up a barbell and take it over to the cable station, then take your dumbbells there too! you will need roughly 50-60% of the weight you would usually use for a 8-10 rep set.
Now start with a set of 21's with barbell curls, when done don't rest and do the same with the cable curls then it's straight to the hammer curls (curl both arms simultaneously). Are your biceps pumped yet? they should be burning already! Rest for about a minute, 90 seconds at the most then repeat until you have done 7 rotations. That's it nothing complicated but try it and I guarantee you will hate me :)
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Congratulations to Big Sean Allan who won the Junior Nationals overall prize.
Class winners are below
Full Results including women's results and Contest pics can be found at Musculardevelopment.com
Welcome to the Workouts from Hell blog!
I'm sure at one time or another we have all had an amazing workout where the intensity levels are through the roof yet somehow we can't seem to replicate that workout again. This is exactly what this blog is for, each and every workout listed here is a "Workout From Hell" designed to blow the lid off your usual intensity and take you to another level. Bear in mind that these workouts are not to be done each and every time you train, they are to be used sparingly when a fresh boost is needed.
Prepare to be taken to another level, this is not the usual soft "Hardcore" BS you read in the magazines, the are real "Workouts From Hell"
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