Part Three is here:
Most beginning weight trainees do not have a clear understanding of the basic principles of bodybuilding. There is a great deal of confusion over which course or series of exercises is best.
This causes the novice to jump around from exercise routine to routine, following first one course and then another until he is thoroughly baffled. He usually ends up doing too many exercises, expending too much energy and the result is poor results, impatience, disappointment and often total exhaustion. The usual procedure for the confused novice is to prematurely change exercises, try a new theory, or possibly quit training altogether.
The basic principles of weight training have not changed over the years, but there are so many more outstanding bodybuilders around these days that beginners sometimes become confused when they hear and read of variations in the training programs of the champions they admire.
If you are a beginner, don't think that you can benefit from the training methods employed by every champion that comes along. Advanced training methods are usually adapted to the needs of the individual who has already spent many years going through the basic barbell courses, and who, from experience, can select specialized exercises that have proven to be the best for him in packing on that extra half-inch of hard-to-get muscle.
Although advanced training methods may vary from person to person, all beginners can benefit equally well from the same simple and uncomplicated basic exercises if they understand the principles of proper training and follow them regularly and consistently.
It is known that muscle fibers will thicken (they don't increase in number, they just get thicker) in response to work that is progressive in demands; barbell exercises are designed to make use of this physiological law in a controlled and scientific manner. Be beginning with light exercises and light weights and increasing the work load or resistance over a period of time, the muscles gradually become larger and stronger; and by performing certain exercises in certain ways you can actually mold the shape of the physique (thus the importance of well-rounded exercises).
In any one training session, muscular growth is stimulated when a maximum number of muscle fibers are used in a properly warmed up maximum effort (or near-maximum effort) that exceeds, even slightly, that made in previous workouts. This progression in maximum effort is automatic when you add weight to the bar as you become stronger.
After a maximum effort has been made in the final set of a particular exercise in one training session, additional exercise of a similar nature in the same training session can be hindered by fatigue and weakened contractions may result. This may build endurance and definition in the muscles involved, but it won't stimulate additional muscle growth. In fact, too much exercise may defeat the entire purpose of lifting weights for body-building purposes.
Thus, scientific barbell exercises calling for a certain number of repetitions in so many sets are designed to stimulate maximum muscular development without unnecessary and exhausting exercise . . . So there is a reason for the limitations placed on the use of barbell exercises, especially for beginners.
Go through your workout as instructed and then quit for the day . . . while you still have enough reserve strength and energy to allow complete growth and recovery before the next workout. Don't let your enthusiasm defeat you with overwork.
After you have spent three or four months doing the basic exercises, you may want to increase or decrease sets and repetitions, or alter the leverage of your exercises for special effects, but you can't do so effectively until you have acquired enough experience (which usually takes a year - instinctive training is not for beginners) to determine your needs and to gauge the effects of your training.
Don't wear yourself out by doing set after set of exercises with very light weights that are designed solely to "pump up" the muscles. The immediate increase in size that results from such exercises is the result of swollen capillaries that have been gorged with blood. This "development" is only a temporary effect that will "deflate" rapidly when you miss a few workouts. To employ such training methods as a beginner would be to sacrifice good, permanent, solid muscular development.
If you will follow the simple barbell and dumbbell exercises I've listed for at least three months - and follow instructions- you're bound to make gains and progress. After three months you may change some of the exercises if you like - or add new ones - but it's not a good idea to change exercises to often. As long as you're getting results with an exercise, stick with it.
The basic exercises shown in this article cover all the major body parts, and they still form the core of my own training program, which I started more than twenty years ago.
Remember that ever individual muscle fiber has an independent nerve supply; this, the number of fibers activated in an exercise will depend upon how well you concentrate on what you're doing. The more muscle fibers you activate in a properly warmed up maximum effort the more muscle you will build.
The Basic Rules
1) Select a weight in each exercise that can be used for about 8 repetitions (consecutive) without strain. Since some exercises will require more weight on the bar than others, and since some persons are naturally stronger than others, each individual shall have to decide for himself how much weight to begin with.
2) Always warm up with light exercise before making a heavy or prolonged effort.
Those who are accustomed to taking a little exercise may warm up for a barbell exercise by doing a light set of the exercise (less weight with fewer repetitions) before attempting a full set at near-max effort (heaviest weight for 8 repetitions), thus doing 2 sets (including the warmup set) of each exercise.
A heavier weight can be handled when the muscles have been warmed up, and there will be less danger of pulling a muscle.
Those who are beginning exercise for the first time should begin weight training by doing only one set of each exercise with very light weight for the first three weeks (for conditioning purposes) before putting any effort into a second set.
3) After three months of regular training, three sets of each exercise may be done for maximum results (using the first 2 sets to work up to a maximum effort in the third set). The heavier the weight used, the more warmup required.
In three-set exercises, a safe and general rule to follow in warming up to a heavier weight is to use about 2/3 of your 8-rep max in the first set, and then divide the remaining amount in half for a progressive addition to the bar in making the 2nd and 3rd sets, making your maximum effort in the 3rd set.
E.g. 3 sets, 90-lb top set:
60 . . . 75 . . . 90.
More advanced individuals who use heavy weights may prefer to select an appropriate weight and then add weight to the bar in 10- to 20-pound jumps in 3 or more sets until maximum effort is reached.
4) Keep your exercise progressive, that is, as you become stronger, add enough weight to the bar to keep the repetitions down to the recommended number. For example, when you can do 12-15 reps in an 8-rep exercise, add 10-15 pounds to the bar, cut the reps back to 8 and start over like a good little Sisyphus, who, incidentally had quite a physique from all that so-called "pointless" boulder-rolling. So there, silly gods.
After several months of weight training, enough weight may be added to the bar to force maximum effort to 6 repetitions or less (after warmup sets) in order to stimulate further development of strength in breaking an 8-rep "sticking point." It would be all right to "cheat" a little in squeezing out a few repetitions in a final set - provided you do the exercise correctly at other times.
5) Allow a few minutes (60-90 seconds) of rest between each set of exercises so that the blood circulation will have an opportunity to carry out waste products and replenish energy stores in the exercised muscles; otherwise, early onset fatigue from accumulation of waste products will weaken your effort and lower the quality of your exercise.
6) Don't over-exercise. Every-other-day training (e.g. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) is sufficient for the novice bodybuilder. If a training session leaves you lame or sluggish the next day, the exercises are either too heavy or too numerous.
7) Do not strain or hold the breath during exercise while the lungs are filled to capacity, lest the high pressures created in the abdominal and thoracic cavities interfere with the flow of blood back to the heart and cause exhaustion or "blackout" from a diminished flow of blood through the heart, thus cutting down the blood supply to the muscles and the brain.
8) Eat fresh, wholesome foods in a balanced diet each day, with emphasis on such high-protein foods as eggs, meat, poultry, fish, cheese, milk (enriched with powdered milk), nuts, peanut butter, wheat germ and soybean products. If you can, add a protein supplement to your diet.
9) Get 8-10 hours of sleep every night. Your muscles grow during rest periods, so get as much rest as you can between workouts.
The Basic Exercise Program
To get the blood circulating and the body warmed up properly, abdominal exercises are ideal.
1) Bent Knee Situp.
This is a terrific abdominal conditioner as well as an excellent warmup exercise. It is more beneficial when performed with the legs bent because this puts more of the stress on the front abdominal muscles (rectus abdominus) rather than the hip flexors when performed with straight legs. If you are very weak for now, just touch your toes as you perform the sitting-up motion. As you get stronger, place the hands behind the head for greater resistance. Keep the knees locked in the bent position throughout the exercise. Exhale as you sit up, inhale as you lower the body back to the starting position. If you don't have access to an abdominal board, hook your feet under a barbell or some other suitable heavy object. Start out with 10-15 repetitions (or as many as you can currently do). Try to add one or two repetitions every workout until you can do 50 without stopping.
2) Bent Knee Leg Raise
Warms up the muscles of the trunk and lower back and keeps the waist in shape. Lying on your back on the floor, exercise bench, or abdominal board, raise the legs upward with the knees bent until the toes point directly overhead at the ceiling; lower them back to the starting position but don't let the feet touch the floor. Exhale as the legs are raised, inhale as they are lowered. begin with 10-15 repetitions (or as many as you can currently do), adding one or two each workout until you reach 50 continuous repetitions.
3) Bench Press.
Lying supine on a bench, press a bar from the chest to arms' length, straight up. Use a slightly wider than shoulder-width grip. The closer the grip, the more stress is on the triceps; the wider the grip, the harder the pectoral muscles of the chest work.
4) Bend-over Rowing Motion.
Bend over, with the back straight and the knees slightly bent, and lift a barbell from the floor to the belt buckle. Keep the elbows close to the sides. Use a wide grip. Rowing exercises build the latissimus dorsi muscles of the upper back.
5) Barbell Squat.
Supporting a bar across the back of the shoulders, squat down and come back up without pausing in the parallel squat position. Don't bounce on your heels in squatting exercises, and don't ever sit down on your haunches with a heavy barbell across your shoulders and try to "rest" by relaxing before coming up. Keep an even tension on the thigh muscles and come up immediately. A two or three inch board under the heels or lifting shoes with a raised heel will help maintain balance. Flatfooted squatting builds greater strength in the hips, thus more power, but tends to enlarge the hips. Breathe in as you go down, and then breathe out as you return to the starting position. Use a squat rack in this exercise.
6) Stiff-arm Pullover.
This exercise is designed to expand the rib cage and increase vital capacity. Since breathing is usually heavy after deep knee bends have been completed, chest-expanding exercises should be done immediately after squats so that forced expansion of the lungs will not make you dizzy. It is important for beginners to acquire maximum expansion of the rib cage before becoming more heavily muscled. Lie supine on the floor or a low bench and let a barbell back over the head - from arms' length over the chest - to the floor, keeping the arms fairly straight. Breathe in deeply as the weight goes back, lifting the chest high, and exhale as you return to starting position. Use a light weight in this exercise.
7) Raise on Toes.
Supporting a barbell across the shoulders, rise up and down on the toes, preferably on a thick board. You should do 15-20 repetitions on this exercise for a good result, and use as much weight as you can (use a squat rack). Begin with two sets and work up to three or more.
8) Standing Barbell Press.
This exercise builds wide, muscular shoulders. Using the same grip as you did in the bench press and the feet about 15-18" apart, press the weight from the shoulders to arms' length overhead; lower slowly and repeat for 8 repetitions. Exhale as you push the bar up, inhale as you return it to the shoulders.
9) Barbell Curl.
Here is the foremost exercise for building bigger biceps. Grasp a barbell with an underhand grip with the hands about shoulder-width apart. Keep the elbows close to the body as you curl the bar up to where it touches (or almost touches) the shoulders - momentarily tense the biceps for a more complete contraction before slowly lowering the bar to the starting position at the thighs. Exhale on the way up, inhale as the bar is lowered. Do not swing the bar up in a sloppy manner; instead, do the movement slowly so that the biceps do more of the work.
10) Elevated Pushup.
This is an excellent exercise for the chest, arms (triceps) and shoulders. It is also a fine warmup movement for the upper body. With the feet elevated on a bench, and the hands placed about 12" apart, inhale deeply as you lower your chest until it touches the floor; exhale as you push up back to the starting position. Repeat for 6-10 repetitions. Try to increase one repetition every other workout, or every third workout, until you can do 20-30 repetitions without stopping. Blast out at least three fast and furious sets of this tremendous upper-body pumping movement to wrap up your workout.
Next: Part Two.
Enjoy Your Lifting!
2026. 88 minutes. Los Angeles on the cusp of the 2028 Summer Olympics: a series of devastating livestock viruses have wiped out meat and poultry production across the nation, leaving genetically-modified cockroaches as the most viable alternative. Meanwhile, a cockroach infestation of biblical proportions overwhelms the city, triggering a rash of eminent domain abuses. Two young grifters dream up their next big score in a paranoid landscape perpetually reshaped by the collapse between legitimized and illegitimate forms of celebration and theft.
Shot on a motley mix of handheld, low-grade digital and Super 8 cameras and punctuated by kinetic montage sequences, Tycoon is laced with a raw DIY energy that refutes standards of narrative and documentary storytelling - to say nothing of the conventions of a Hollywood industry that shares the same city but may as well occupy another planet.
No comments:
Post a Comment