Shoulder Pain - Gregory Steiner (1999)

Yes, it's Greg Steiner, Brad's long lost son . . . 

A shoulder injury guarantees that your training will be painful, assuming you can train with an injured shoulder at all. Anyone who's experienced it will confirm this. In my clinic, I treat shoulder injuries and other similar symptoms far more often than anything else among athletes. And often, these strains, tears and bruises leave permanent damage. 

Rob, a big guy who owned a gym in Ireland, came to my clinic with a typical complaint: 

"Something's wrong with my bench press." 

"What?" I asked. 

"I can't bench! It hurts so much. It also hurts when I do overhead presses and barbell curls. I can't even pick the bar up off the racks before squats without shoulder pain." 

What was his problem, other than the idiocy of perceiving that there's "something wrong with my bench press" as opposed to there's "something wrong with my body." 

A case of which came first, the bench press or the ache. 

I asked him.

"I don't know," he replied, and it was a typical answer for patients complaining of the same problem as Rob. Rob had injured his rotator cuff, and he was suffering because of a series of mistakes.

His first mistake was exercise selection. Rob is generally very conscientious when it comes to technique, but his injury was caused by the overhead press . . . [NO, it wasn't caused by the overhead press, it was caused by the overhead presser and the technique he used. Givin' the Press a bad name in a subtle way ain't good!] 

It's better to do bench presses, they don't put as much stress on the shoulder joints as the overhead press. [Bullshit]

The situation was exacerbated by improper technique in pullups, which Rob had been doing for a while. He had followed someone's advice to relax his shoulders at the bottom position to "stretch" the muscles. Oops, this was his second mistake.

Hey, I remember a guy going so far as to recommend dropping into a full, unbraced loose hang on a chinning bar and repeatedly bouncing at the bottom to "stretch out" the shoulders. It's rarely the exercise at fault, it's almost always the exerciser and/or the bozo offering advice for a fee. Money. Quite a deal. We make Earth a hell for it. Ain't we sweet and evolved. 

Rob continued to bench press, even though his strength in the exercise had declined due to his loss of control and stabilization of the bar. At the time, he experienced a "strange sensation" when pressing, causing him to writhe on the bench, trying to engage other muscles to complete the movement. This only made matters worse. 

Ya figure? 

Finally, after even simple barbell curls and returning the bar to the rack after squatting began to cause pain, he decided to see a doctor. But by then, the problem had already become chronic. 

Shoulder problems are common, and too often seeing a doctor is delayed until these injuries (attributed to the athletes themselves) begin to interfere with training. The most common injury is to the shoulder blade, sometimes to the acromioclavicular joint (ACJ) at the end of the collarbone and shoulder. Less commonly, the sternoclavicular joint, where the collarbone connects to the chest, is injured. 

Let's take a look at the RMP first, and if I can't convince you not to injure your RMP in the first place, I can at least tell you when you should see a doctor and what to do if an RMP injury has already become one of the wounds you received in "battle." 

What does a person feel when they injure their rotator cuff, and what is it anyway? Answering these questions in reverse order, I'll say that the rotator cuff is a group of muscles that, in most anatomical positions, externally rotate the shoulder. External rotation of the shoulder, for example, occurs during the movement known as the "backhand" in tennis. It's precisely rotator cuff injuries that punish fools who do exercises incorrectly and teach others to do the same. Baseball pitchers also subject these muscles to tremendous stress at various points in the pitch.

So, what are the symptoms of being so fucking stupid you put poundage increases ahead of your own physical wellbeing, ruin your body's ability to lift more in the future and call this insanity dedication? Well, it starts with being born an idiot, feeling inadequate as a "man" and soon turns into a self-destructive fear-based blah blah blah . . . 

First of all, you should be wary of pain that occurs when bench pressing. The pain is "out there," deep down, and you can't pinpoint exactly where. Pain also occurs when pressing behind the neck. Remember that any press behind the neck or any pullup behind the neck is extremely dangerous, even for healthy shoulders. What's the point of "better isolation" if you could end up with such an injury that you'll never be able to body-build again for the rest of your life.

Also, pay attention to any pain that occurs when you return the bar to the rack after squats, and if your arm feels "dead" afterwards. Barbell curls can also injure your shoulders. When doing shoulder presses, you might feel something in your shoulder catching painfully on something else, and you can "cheat" the pain by turning your arm one way or another. Sometimes, just holding a dumbbell at your side while relaxing your shoulder slightly and lowering the dumbbell a couple of inches can cause pain.

Try this test: 

Lie on your back, arms at your sides, as if you were being crucified. Have a training partner hammer nails, no, wait, don't. Bend your elbows 90 degrees so your fist point toward the ceiling. Then, keeping your elbows still, lower your fists to the floor - first down, then towards your head. 

Chances are, one of these movements will feel uncomfortable at best, and at worst, you won't be able to touch your fist to the floor at all. 

Another test: 

Try crossing your arms in front of your face. Elbows level with your mouth. Elbows higher, palms lower. Check for pain at various stages. 

Finally, the last test: 

Try to reach your wallet in your back pocket, and then try to move your arm up your back. 

So, do you have a problem with your shoulders or not? 

Any of these symptoms could indicate muscle stiffness or a muscle tear. Other tissues may also be damaged. Generally speaking, these symptoms can occur for a few days and then resolve in anyone, but if they persist or you experience severe pain, this indicates a serious problem. 

In this case, too, we need to remember the fundamental and basic rules. And let's finally use these words in their true sense. "Fundamental and basic" should be translated as "indispensable" and not "too trivial to bother with" - regardless of the context in which these words are used and regardless of what we're talking about, whether it's food, breathing, or proper training. 

The main prescription is . . . REST. Even if that means giving up your favorite exercise for a while. Ice, pressure points, and then rehabilitation and preventive exercises like L-flies and lying arm rotations (light arm circles while lying on your back on a bench, with a very light dumbbell). See a doctor if the problem persists. Healing can be measured by a return of strength, an increase in natural range of motion (without writhing or flinching), and finally, a reduction in overall pain. 

Small rotator cuff muscles can cause persistent, mild pain or even prevent you from doing certain exercises. Both of these scenarios can be avoided IF you have the courage and fortitude to do what needs to be done, and to avoid what you know you shouldn't. 

Enjoy Your Lifting! 

 

Grip - Ken Leistner

 

Success in sports is often determined by how firmly a person can grip the tools of the sport. In American football, for example, grip strength is the very factor that determines who controls whom. Kim Wood, the Cincinatti Bengals strength coach and a highly respected figure in his field, made several points in a recent conversation: 

1) Grip and forearm training is one of the most overlooked aspects of general conditioning programs. 

2) Most athletes have great potential to develop strength in these muscles. 

3) As the muscles and connective tissue of the hand increase, the size and density of the hand also increases, making it a more effective appendage. 

Powerlifters should not underestimate the importance of grip and forearm strength. The need to grip the bar when performing maximal deadlifts is obvious, but more importantly, well-developed grip strength allows the athlete to use more weight in various assistance exercises. I'm often amazed when I see elite lifters using relatively light weights when performing assistance exercises for the upper body because they can't grip heavy dumbbells or machine handles. 

Using straps is not the answer.

Straps have been trendy for several years because they allow you to more or less "attach" a weight to your hands, reducing the likelihood of it slipping during the movement. While this may seem like a plus, over time using them can lead to the grip muscles becoming disproportionately weak relative to the rest of your strength. 

When I reached 350x15 on the elevated SDL I used wrist straps, justifying their use by claiming I wanted to really hit my lower back and hamstrings without limiting myself to the weaker wrist muscles. When I finally made the decision to ditch the straps and vowed to reach my previous weights without them, I soon surpassed my previous performance. 

Moreover, the exercise became much more intense, and my overall strength and size gains reached a whole new level. This may be due to my increased concentration, as I now had to focus not just on lifting the bar but on holding it as well. 

Any neuroanatomist will tell you that the parts of the brain that control specific muscle groups are typically proportional in size to the muscles they control. The only exception is the part of the brain that controls the arm muscles - it's disproportionately large compared to the arm muscles. This is just a hypothesis, but it's possible that intense manual work increases neural stimulation of all the muscles involved in a given movement. My experience in this regard is unequivocal: time and effort spent directly stimulating the forearm muscles leads to increased ability to handle heavy weights in many exercises. 

For some reason, the forearm muscles are shrouded in mystery among so-called "physical education experts." I recently read a book that listed forearm exercises and other specific muscles that were supposedly worked in one way or another. In almost every case the muscles listed didn't correspond to the exercises listed. It's difficult to talk vaguely about the biceps, for example, but since the forearm muscles aren't that well known, many athletes aren't sure how to train them. 

As with other muscle groups, you first learn their function and then choose exercises that will target them. 

For simplicity's sake let's divide the forearm muscles into the lower group (those on the palm side), and the upper group (those on the back of the forearms). Again, for the sake of simplicity, let's say that the upper muscles flex the arm at the elbow, close the wrist and most of the fingers; while the lower muscles, generally speaking, unclench the wrists and fingers. The brachioradialis is a long muscle that connects the upper part of the humerus (upper arm bone) to the radius (lower arm bones). Since it crosses the elbow joint, this muscle flexes the arm at the elbow. It also assists in supination and pronation (movement of the forearm around its axis) when the arm is partially flexed at the elbow. 

Reverse-grip curls target the brachioradialis, as do all supinating and pronating movements, but the majority of the forearm musculature is recruited by wrist and finger movements. 

Like many strongmen of the past, Kim, the Bengals coach, trains with thick-handled dumbbells and barbells. The bars at his gym range from 6 to 7.5 centimeters in diameter; the Bengals use them for upper-body assistance movements and deadlifts. I think every powerlifter and football player should own at least one thick-handled bar. The wrist roller exercise, made from a section of pipe with a diameter of 5 to 7.5 centimeters also loads the hands and forearms, but this exercise should be done with the ELBOWS PRESSED TO THE BODY, AND THE UPPER ARMS SHOULD BE PERPENDICULAR TO THE FLOOR, so that the fatigue of the shoulder muscles does not prevent you from performing the exercise until the muscles of the hand and forearms briefly fail. 

Check this out: 

https://ditillo2.blogspot.com/2024/06/a-different-kind-of-wrist-roller-howard.html 

Wrist curls with a regular as well as a reverse grip target the upper and lower forearms, respectively, and don't require any fancy or exotic equipment. 

Leverage exercises using items such as a mop, off-loaded dumbbell, or axe will add variety to your workout and provide additional muscle stimulation. 

As a general rule, football players should train forearms twice a week, with both muscle groups worked in the same workout. One or two sets per group is sufficient. I would choose one movement for the upper forearms and one for the lower forearms, followed by another for the inner wrist muscles - either using a good gripper or wringing out a heavy wet towel over a bathtub or sink. Take a towel, soak it in the bathtub or sink, and then it out clockwise with one hand and counter-clockwise with the other, you know . . . wring the fucking thing out. Wet the towel again and repeat the wringing and squeezing. This will improve grip strength and your control over heavy dumbbells. 

It's true that the forearms receive indirect stimulation when performing basic movements, but only targeted work will take your forearm/grip strength to new heights. 

Enjoy Your Lifting! 

Staying Passionate - Bradley Steiner (2003)

 

Money's tight so I signed up for ads. 

The company guarantees they'll all be relevant and proven effective.

Here's an article on maintaining passion in whatever it is we choose to do . . . 

And here's a chart of Paul Anderson's squatting progression, from beginner to elder lifter. It's translated from Russian, I believe. No idea if it's all proven factual or not. 

Sports often place more demands on our psyche than on our body. Anyone who has spent significant time lifting weights will agree that the physical exertion in the gym is nothing compared to the patience, perseverance, discipline, and willpower required. 

From the emails I receive, it's clear that people most often give up on consistent, systematic training because their enthusiasm wanes. 

Sometimes, training can be enjoyable. 

But frankly, training is often the last thing on your list of favorite activities. 

Training can become boring. 

Don't underestimate simple boredom - it can sometimes be just as detrimental to your progress in the gym as training injuries, a poorly designed program, or improper exercise execution. 

* It can be interesting to look at boredom in the same way we look at "training injuries." How did it happen and how do you rehab it. No different, not complicated; mental leverages and techniques similar to those used in the physical lifting end of it.  

In some cases boredom clearly arises from what physiologists call "low frustration tolerance" . . . but when training becomes boring for someone who has previously toiled away in the gym for years, it would be wrong to attribute the problem to an infantile desire to get everything right away, and an inability to understand that effort precedes reward.

Serious athletes aren't particularly childish or capricious when it comes to putting in the necessary effort, and they often face it with the courage of stoics. However, they too sometimes suffer from boredom, because they are human. Despite all our discipline, we sometimes feel that lifting heavy weights becomes unbearable, progress stalls, and our psyche goes on strike, refusing to withstand further stress. 

Another problem is stagnation. Unlike simple boredom, stagnation indicates a combination of physical and mental factors that halt progress in training and lead to staying in one spot, neither gaining or losing, simply standing in place. 

Let's try to think about what measures can be taken to ensure that you don't lose the desire to lift. Let's also try not to turn this site into a fucking "self-help" bozo-farm for losers too anal to be lifting in the first place. How in hell am I gonna draw ad traffic from that lot and what in god's name are those three old broads shoving in their mouths up there. 

Boredom is a purely psychological concept. Unless it's in animals, then it's zoological. I had a three-toed sloth for a pet so I know this. Boredom often overtakes those who become willing victims of their own habits. Let's say a person trains according to the same program, in the same way, at the same hours, week after week, month after . . . year! 

Married to the method, till death do us part.  

To some extent, consistency and discipline are necessary (a living death is not). Without these qualities progress is not possible; however, without variety we experience boredom. It can be a creeping affair, that frog in a pot of water brought slowly to boil. If you're a seeker of raw bulk and power we can change that metaphor to hippos being boiled in their tanks, if you like. 

Basically, we all train quite similarly, that's just the nature of lifting and the limited number of effective exercises. There are variations available to us when needed, yet boredom creeps up, you start feeling it before you even KNOW what's happening. I trained Willy, my three-toed sloth housepet to wank himself, strictly to relieve his boredom, nothing sexual, no sir. It was financial in nature. I figured we could hit the road with a club act . . . Worlds Slowest Living Wanker . . . Willy! Three toes at sloth-speed. Turns out no one wanted to look at the act, much less book it. So much for "progressive comedy" I suppose. 

Hey, who hasn't gotten bored with training? You lie! Let that man cast the first dessicated liver tablet. The mice who ate the liver tabs lasted twice as long before succumbing to death by stoning. 

Hey, who hasn't gotten bored with training? It happens. What can we do? 

We can minimize the bouts of boredom by reducing the likelihood of it happening. Here are some ideas: 

1) Intentionally change your program from time to time. Avoid following the same program month after month if it's dried up and near-dead for you. 

What matters more to you . . . the method or making headway?  

2) Change your goals occasionally. Reset your foundation. Focus on your leg and back muscles periodically. This will lead to new growth throughout your body and help you regain enthusiasm for training. 

Set the stage for future rewards, you won't regret it. 

3) Learn as much as possible about how to train properly. Some people stick to the same program because they don't know what their choices are. Once we find a program that works, it can be hard to give it up, even if it's no longer producing results. 

Go figure. We're human. 

We get attached to approximately 10,000 things in the space of a day, damnit. 

4) Try training with just dumbbells, or do more dumbbell lifting in your training. This is a simple and interesting way to quickly add more variety to your workouts. Owing to adapting to the greater stabilization involved, you may find your barbell lifts are more solid from the dumbbell training. 

5) Be interested in things other than lifting. If you have allowed your life to become tiresome outside of the gym, why would it be any different inside the gym. Do something interesting to you and see if it doesn't turn things around. 

Boredom is mental, stagnation is physical. 

Ironically, those who have a strong desire to train often hit a plateau. It is almost always the result of over-working, and it's the most serious, dedicated athletes who over-work the most often. Their bodies stop progressing, and without progress going to the gym starts to look pointless, all ritual and no reward. 

Stagnation is accompanied by physical weakness and fatigue. You'll find the weights you used to handle are now unbearable. It's not just the desire to train that's lacking, it's the energy. You watch with disappointment as not only your strength fades but your muscles shrink as well. Add to this the humiliation of being asked to screen-test for a remake of The Incredible Shrinking Man and you get my drift here. Incidentally, if you ever teach a three-toed sloth housepet to jerk off make sure you know how to make it stop as well. 

Most programs work at their peak for between six weeks and three months. Once you've reached what you believe to be maximum results with a given program, stop. Take a few days off, and then resume training with slightly reduced weights. 

Or, change your program and restart the growth progress on a similar but different road. Vary the basic exercises from time to time, and periodically change your goals. Try higher reps for a while, then try low reps for a time, and so on.

Diet and rest are, duh, important. 

Train with light weights periodically. It won't maximize your strength and no one is saying you should train only with light weights. Just allow yourself a little slack for a month or more to renew your passion for heavier weights. 

Soften up then surge ahead. 

Enjoy Your Lifting! 

Damnable ads

Shall we dance,

On a bright cloud of music

Shall we fly?

 

Program for an Experienced Dinosaur - Brooks Kubik

 

It's rough, tough, and requires a lot of effort . . .

just the kind of workout dinosaurs love. 

Monday

1) Dumbbell Clean & Press. Clean each rep.  

5x5. Or 6 progressively heavier singles. 

2) One-Arm Barbell Deadlift. Bar between your legs or in front of you. 

5x5, or singles with increasing weight. 

3) Barbell Curl. 4x5, or 4x6.

4) Dips, or Incline DB Presses. 4x5, or 4x6. 

5) Gut Work. 2 x 25-30.

Wednesday

1) Snatch-Grip Pull. First rep from the floor, the rest from the hang. 

Use straps if you prefer. 5x3. 

2) Press from Rack. 5x3.

3) Bentover Barbell Row. 4x6-8. 

4) Towel Pullups, or Thick Bar Pullups, Pullups! 

4x6-8. 

5) Neck Harness. 4 x 8-12. 

Saturday

1) Squat. 5x6. 

2) Stiff-legged Deadlift. 5x6. 

3) Bench Press, thick bar, bottom-position start. 

5 singles with increasing weight. 

4) Bench Press Lockouts. 

5 singles with increasing weight. 

5) Farmers Walk. Plain and simple. Two trips, as far as possible. One going there, one coming back. Two trains. Two railroad tracks. Try overhydrating with water before you leave. This can increase your speed on the trip back.  

6) Hanging Leg Raise. 2 x 15-20. Add weight when possible. 

Enjoy Your Lifting! 

 

This is new, to me anyhow.

6% milk.

Reasons for Failure - Abe Goldberg (1951)

 

It's not difficult to avoid and overcome errors in training, if you know HOW. This article will help master many oopsies and aid you in better organizing your routines.   

"Hello, Abe . . ." 

At the sound of my name I turned to see a good looking young chap standing by my private desk, smiling, but a bit troubled looking with it all. This greeting took place one of the first days after I had officially opened my new gym in New York City, and I had been busy putting a few pieces of equipment in place.

I stopped my work and walked over to shake hands with the visitor, who I learned was Pete Graisalia, a bodybuilder of some experience. In talking to him, I learned that for the past year or so he had made little or no progress with his training, and while he was thankful for the results he had received so far, he knew he could go further, and was now seeking my advice. 

A professional gym instructor has an ideal opportunity to observe the common training faults of many bodybuilders. 

At least 80% of all gym pupils have had previous experience and the majority of them join a gym for one of two main reasons. The first is that after training at home for a while, they are dissatisfied with their progress and want more personal guidance     

 

so they join a gym. The second reason is that some individuals do not have the space to set up a home gym which boasts all the advanced apparatus and choice of weights that a gym has, and they join a gym to take advantage of this apparatus. 

As each pupil comes to me, I study his case closely, question him exhaustively and them place him on a routine which suits him best. By paying such close attention to the requirements of my pupils I have been able to compile a list of general training errors which hold back the progress of the average bodybuilder. 

The solution of these problems will help ALL bodybuilders, regardless of whether they train at a gym or at home. They are common errors. Once corrected, the bodybuilder will go ahead at a fast clip and again find himself pleased with his progress. I want to explain some of these to you in this article but chose to ramble here for a while first. Now that I'm done with that . . . 

Without a doubt the MAJOR reason for failure on the part of the bodybuilder is incorrect instruction. Too many courses are either obsolete, or else do not take the bodybuilder all the way. He is given a routine, or possibly several routines and then left on his own. After a few months he has outgrown his regular routines and then has to fend for himself and experiment. FAILURE is the usual outcome. 

Therefore, whether the bodybuilder trains at home or at a gym, he must be certain that he will regularly receive instruction which will carry him from the beginner's stage right up to the advanced phases. 

I have made it my business to study every printed course available, and say without any question that in my opinion only the Weider System okay then, no more-a that now.  

Okay, back to my friend Pete. I placed him on a course closely resembling Weider Bulk Specialization course 

https://ditillo2.blogspot.com/2014/09/the-weider-system.html 

Pete was delighted when he gained 10 solid pounds in the first month on it. Needless to say he is no longer discouraged and is continuing to make good progress. 

It is true that any weight training is better than none. Even a poor course is bound to bring the beginner certain results. Another common cause of failure occurs when the pupil makes some improvement at the start, becomes so enthused by his intitial gains, and loses all sense of proportion. He figures that if a few exercises can give him such sensataional (beginner) gains in such a short (initial) period of time, well then, twice as much will do even better. 

Therefore he adds every exercise he reads about or sees another lifter doing, with the result that he soon becomes overworked and makes little if any progress. Then, he looks around hopelessly for another routine, usually one which is again too severe for him, and unless he receives personal advice to straighten him out, is lost. 

Over-ambition is dangerous. A good course takes into consideration all your requirements. It is not a haphazard affair and will reward you, if followed properly, with the results you seek. Be patient. Don't drown yourself in the deep end when you weigh 98 pounds soaking wet. 

Under-working is equally dangerous. Always being afraid of doing too much and/or straining yourself is a dead end. Don't use weights which are too heavy for you to handle appropriately for what you're trying to do; do not use weights which are too light to do much of anything. Don't listen to the foolish talk of others who hardly know you, if they know you at all. You must have confidence in your ability to learn about yourself and how you respond. 

Then, there is the bodybuilder who for unknown reasons practically worships one part of his body. This is usually the arms, chest or shoulders. Most of his exercises are for only this one bodypart; in time he comes up with lopsided development and finds himself being taunted and chased about the neighborhood by gangs of feral teenagers speaking languages unknown. Not good. 

It must never be forgotten that the human body cannot be thought of in individual parts. It is one unit and the strength and muscularity of any one part reflects upon the complete proficiency of the entire unit. To overly special-lose on one part will hold back the development of the body as a whole symmetrical unit.  

Muscular growth is not a local matter. It comes about from making the entire body growth-conscious. Heavy exercises which influence large masses of muscle such as the legs and lower back step up the processes of tissue growth, which once started, extends to all parts of the body and every living section benefits. 

Under such favorable growth conditions a minimum of work for any specific part will result in excellent gains. Obviously such a desired effect cannot be obtained through specialized measures covering the smaller masses such as the arms or shoulders. The result is that a bodybuilder who specializes on the smaller bodyparts in an attempt to make them extra-impressive will never get as far as another, more sensible bodybuilder who trains his whole body, only specializing when he is quite advanced, and then on the part or parts which have proven to be stubborn. 

The lack of suitable apparatus holds back many lifters. They pick up a set of second hand weights, usually in rough shape, and find themselves handicapped from the start. You owe it to yourself to find a way to obtain good equipment for your home gym and/or a decent commercial gym. 

The selection of your training quarters is important. Too many lifters pile a lot of training gear into a small space and find that everything gets in the way of everything else. Such a confused setup is distracting and hinders concentration, so spend some time setting up your gym so that everything is convenient and all your available space is put to good use. Let your training quarters be an expression of your own temperament; whatever feels like home to you will work.

In the more advanced stages of training, the element of personal contact cannot be overlookied. If you have a few training partners you get along well with you will find getting together with them a few times a month for a more competitive session will increase your desire and thereby your energy for lifting. Or not. You are YOU, if you haven't noticed yet. 

Another reason for failure among bodybuilders is a lack of knowledge of what heights the human body can be developed to. These individuals may look at the pictures in the various magazines and become highly enthused about the development of the elite champions, but they do not make it a point to see some of these men on stage when the opportunity permits, and there is always some feeling of doubt about their potential. 

I feel that every bodybuilder should go to contests that he can attend. Personally seeing what others have done is a great stimulant, and this can help keep you interested and excited. 

The problem of specialization and when to use it, as well as how, confuses many bodybuilders. I had a pupil who simply couldn't get his arms to up to where he thought they should be. He had tried every exercise under the sun, and yet made small gains. That was his trouble . . . he was doing too much for his arms. When I placed him on a saner, more limited arm specialization program, his upper arms began to grow. 

By following a preliminary course of setting the stage for gaining with mainly compound gaining movements first, when he moved to arm specialization not much volume with many arm exercises were required to get them growing again. 

Enjoy Your Lifting! 

 

Proof of the Afterlife