It's time to come clean. For the most part, training articles are designed to be page fillers. I can sum up every training article in three sentences:
Pick weight up. Put weight down. Repeat.
That's about it folks -- which is what makes me crazy when I hear about exercise experts, or worse "strength coaches" who devise "secret programs" that promote MIND BLOWING MUSCLE GROWTH!
Most workout routines have absolutely no science behind them. They can't -- building muscle isn't an exact science. Most of the time, the articles that appear in print are just a bunch of "made up" stuff. And do you know who strength coaches are? They're usually whomever the magazines declare an authority. Quite often they're just muscular guys who lend their names to the by-line and the articles are actually written by a fat, bald ghost writer.
True, there are some legitimate strength coaches who know what they're talking about, but the only reason they obtain acclaim is because they happen to be naturally strong dudes - which has nothing to do with teaching you or anyone else how to get strong. Still, they have credence because they walk the walk. (Who wants to listen to guy who can't bench more than you do?) But just because they're strong doesn't mean they know the secret. Do you want to know their secret? They have good genes.
Many of the higher echelon coaches work with professional athletes and use the accomplishments of the pros as testament to their methods. Well guess what? Not everyone is a professional level athlete. And for every success story, there are hundreds of others who fall by the wayside -- but those aren't mentioned, of course.
The bottom line is, if you took 1,000 men and pushed them to the limit, there will be a select few who survive and excel. That doesn't mean it was due to the coaches' methods. It just means they were the best of the bunch.
I'm always amused when someone says; "I did so and so's workout and I was sore for days!" Big deal. Do 100 set of squats and you'll be sore for weeks. Anyone can concoct an infinite variety of set and rep schemes (the basis of most muscle magazine articles), but in the end, it all comes down to how much work you subject your muscles to. That work can come in many ways. As a matter of fact, it can come any way.
There are a handful of top notch bodybuilding authors, (such as Dennis Weis) who write detailed, in-depth routines that are wonderful. There's a place for that. Everyone is different and everyone likes to follow a different style of training. Instead of specific routines however, I've always tried to write quirky training features that are fun and unusual -- something you may not have thought of yourself. If such an article gets you to go to the gym and try it, then I've succeeded.
The following chapters are examples of some of my favorite workouts for each bodypart. Some employ tactics which are original discoveries. (Such as "A Different Ab Exercise" and "Quick Calves") while others are arrangements of more traditional exercises which incorporate methods I've learned from world class bodybuilders with whom I've associated throughout the years.
Note: You may want to read each workout prior to training a specific bodypart. In this way, the techniques are fresh in your mind. For more "expose'" material centering on the falsehoods surrounding bodybuilding, jump forward to the next post -- The Truth About Nutrition.
Pick weight up. Put weight down. Repeat.
That's about it folks -- which is what makes me crazy when I hear about exercise experts, or worse "strength coaches" who devise "secret programs" that promote MIND BLOWING MUSCLE GROWTH!
Most workout routines have absolutely no science behind them. They can't -- building muscle isn't an exact science. Most of the time, the articles that appear in print are just a bunch of "made up" stuff. And do you know who strength coaches are? They're usually whomever the magazines declare an authority. Quite often they're just muscular guys who lend their names to the by-line and the articles are actually written by a fat, bald ghost writer.
True, there are some legitimate strength coaches who know what they're talking about, but the only reason they obtain acclaim is because they happen to be naturally strong dudes - which has nothing to do with teaching you or anyone else how to get strong. Still, they have credence because they walk the walk. (Who wants to listen to guy who can't bench more than you do?) But just because they're strong doesn't mean they know the secret. Do you want to know their secret? They have good genes.
Many of the higher echelon coaches work with professional athletes and use the accomplishments of the pros as testament to their methods. Well guess what? Not everyone is a professional level athlete. And for every success story, there are hundreds of others who fall by the wayside -- but those aren't mentioned, of course.
The bottom line is, if you took 1,000 men and pushed them to the limit, there will be a select few who survive and excel. That doesn't mean it was due to the coaches' methods. It just means they were the best of the bunch.
I'm always amused when someone says; "I did so and so's workout and I was sore for days!" Big deal. Do 100 set of squats and you'll be sore for weeks. Anyone can concoct an infinite variety of set and rep schemes (the basis of most muscle magazine articles), but in the end, it all comes down to how much work you subject your muscles to. That work can come in many ways. As a matter of fact, it can come any way.
There are a handful of top notch bodybuilding authors, (such as Dennis Weis) who write detailed, in-depth routines that are wonderful. There's a place for that. Everyone is different and everyone likes to follow a different style of training. Instead of specific routines however, I've always tried to write quirky training features that are fun and unusual -- something you may not have thought of yourself. If such an article gets you to go to the gym and try it, then I've succeeded.
The following chapters are examples of some of my favorite workouts for each bodypart. Some employ tactics which are original discoveries. (Such as "A Different Ab Exercise" and "Quick Calves") while others are arrangements of more traditional exercises which incorporate methods I've learned from world class bodybuilders with whom I've associated throughout the years.
Note: You may want to read each workout prior to training a specific bodypart. In this way, the techniques are fresh in your mind. For more "expose'" material centering on the falsehoods surrounding bodybuilding, jump forward to the next post -- The Truth About Nutrition.
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