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You've
heard the expression "You can't teach an old dog new
tricks". Well, that doesn't apply in the bodybuilding
world. After more than 25 years of training, I am still open
to learning new ways to improve my physique. This applies
to nutrition, supplements and, yes, training.
One
of the worst things an advanced bodybuilder can do is to stick
with the same routine and the same exercises year after year
after year. Don't get me wrong, the basic exercises such as
bench presses, squats, deadlifts, barbell rows, military presses,
etc, etc, are proven staples to any training routine no matter
what level you are at. However, the body quickly adapts to
any training stimulus you give it and will stubbornly resist
change (growth).
In
order to overcome the tendency of the muscles to resist change,
you must constantly shock the body by using new exercises,
new training routines, new resistance, etc. If you've run
the gamut of basic exercises and don't want to resort to using
girly man machines and cables, why not come up with innovative
ways to make those proven free-weight mass-builders even more
effective? Call it variations on an old theme, if you will.
I
recently developed two new methods of performing some standard
basic exercises. I did this by observing some members of the
gym I train at, USA Gym in Bridgeview, Illinois. Yes, you
can learn new tricks just by observing your environment around
you. Especially if your environment is a hard-core gym whose
members are hell-bent on getting bigger!
Tricep
Extension-Press - This is a great combination of two proven
mass-builders for the triceps. By combining the Lying Tricep
Extension (skull-crushers) with the Close Grip Bench Press,
you have the best of both exercises. To begin the exercise,
grab an EZ Curl bar with a close grip and slowly lower the
bar to your forehead. From here, pull the bar across your
face until the bar rests on your chest. This is the beginning
position for the Close Grip Bench Press. Press the bar straight
up to full extension until the elbows are locked. From here,
lower the bar to the forehead again to begin another rep.
You will really feel this exercise in the belly of the triceps
muscle. It's great for adding more thickness to the middle
of the muscle. Try 3-4 sets of 6-10 reps increasing the poundage
each set.
Pause
Squats - I came up with this exercise as a way to avoid
adding more stress to my lower back while still incorporating
the best mass building movement for the thighs. I have been
using the leg press exercise first in my leg routine to "pre-exhaust"
(although the leg press exercise isn't exactly an isolation
movement) the quads before moving onto squats. At first, I
had to squat much lighter after doing heavy leg presses. However,
after several weeks of training, my squat poundages had started
to rise. The heavier I went, the more strain I could feel
on my lower back. Since I had so many problems last year with
my lower back and I didn't want a repeat of last year's disastrous
results, I knew I needed an alternative.
Instead of dropping squats and moving onto another, less-effective
exercise, I decided to just make the squats harder to do.
I was watching a guy from the gym doing squats one day and
I noticed that he was pausing on the bottom of each rep before
coming back up. This particular guy I was watching is a pretty
powerful individual. I've seen him squat with 495 pounds in
the past and he made that look easy. When he was doing the
"pause" squats, however, he was struggling with
315 pounds. I decided to adopt this new method of performing
squats.
My
current leg routine has me doing leg presses first followed
by pause squats. I love this exercise! Pausing at the bottom
of the movement allows the quads to really take over thus
removing most of the stress from the lower back. Have you
ever watched someone doing continuous tension style squats?
It's great for keeping the tension on the legs but the pressure
on the lower back also builds up with each repetition. Obviously,
stopping each rep on the top of the movement completely removes
the muscle tension off of the legs so that's not an answer.
Pausing the exercise at the bottom of the movement, however,
increases the tension on the quads substantially. Moreover,
the lower back is forced to stay extremely tight throughout
the exercise and the quadriceps have to be recruited in order
to return to the starting position. Try this exercise, you'll
like it!
I'm
currently up to 1150 pounds on the leg press machine for 8-10
reps before moving onto squats. I usually do 4 sets of Pause
Squats after the leg press. I am now up to 355 pounds for
my last set of 6-8 reps. I would like to build up to 1200
pounds on the leg press machine for 12 reps followed by Pause
Squats with 405 pounds. This is what I call my No Choice Leg
Workout. After training them this intensely, my legs will
have no choice but to get bigger!
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