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You’ve heard the drumbeat so many times that you read right over the words: “Use good form, squeeze the muscle at the point of peak contraction, use a full range of motion.” Yeah, you already do all those things … or do you?

Arguably, at least 90% of the people I see at the gym make one crucial error on biceps curling movements even though they think they’re working their arms the best way possible. And what they don’t know they’re doing can be counterproductive to their goals of trying to build big biceps. Here’s why.

During many curling exercises, you start with your elbows by your sides, contracting your biceps to raise the weight. But if you’re going all the way up to the point where the bar is beneath your chin or at shoulder height, your front delts have assisted in the move, pulling your elbows forward.

“People tend to bring their elbows forward for two simple reasons,” says Ernesto Osorio, CSCS, a personal trainer with One2One Fitness in Houston. “The first is trying to achieve a greater peak contraction of the biceps. The second reason is that of pride and ego – you can typically use more weight when you’re not isolating the target muscle, a nice way of saying you’re cheating. And while it’s okay to occasionally use cheating techniques to spark growth, doing so on every rep can hamper your progress.

“Bringing your elbows forward can increase the workload, but this brings in the front delts and increases tension on the biceps tendon,” he adds. “Ultimately, this could lead to impingement and cause undue wear and tear.” And Osorio points out that when you need to use your shoulders to assist in curling heavier weight, you tend to lean backward, which could cause low-back discomfort or pain.

When you allow your elbows to travel too far forward, the weight is directly over the elbows, meaning the bi’s don’t have to work as hard against gravity. You may think it looks good, but the overall effect on just the biceps is less than if your elbows were firmly planted by your sides. And for those looking for an incredible burn and pump, try this strict form for an entire set. You’ll be surprised how full your biceps get when you don’t let your shoulders become too heavily involved.

Osorio suggests that if you’re one of the 90% of those who want bigger guns but don’t pin your elbows at your sides as you curl, start by backing off on the weight you use. “Remember, the biceps is only a small muscle group with two heads, so the key is to work smart and efficient with various angles,” he says. Then, on occasion, allow your shoulders to assist in moving more weight than you could otherwise when using superstrict form.

And while it’s often easy to overlook training advice that seems redundant, always turning a single-joint move, such as a biceps curl into a multijoint exercise could be doing your physique more harm than good.

Blow up your arms with this pump routine, straight from the training log of the M&F Fitness Director

FOCUS: Pump

In this new weekly column, we plan to take you into the fitness journal—and mind—of our very own fitness czar, the venerable Jimmy Pena, MS, CSCS. Pena a former competitive bodybuilder, is the architect of many of the programs you find on the pages of M&F. Problem is, even when he’s not training himself, training others or writing about training he’s still talking about it. So we figured we’d exploit that to your advantage. Today, we had him chat his way through one of his recent arm workouts with you, the reader, in mind.

“This pump-focused routine attacks the long heads of both your triceps and your biceps,” said Pena. “The long head of your triceps is the meaty, inner part of your horseshoes, while the long head of your biceps is the one most responsible for that peak when you hit a back double biceps pose.”

The routine includes a few free-weight moves to start with but for only eight sets. From there, you’ll move into two high-rep supersets using cables.

—The cables will help you maintain constant tension, which helps you get a crazy pump, especially in this rep range,” Pena says. “And it goes without saying, but even though you’re aiming for 25 reps, make it a challenging 25—don’t pick a weight you can do 40 reps with or you’ll be limiting your gains.”

What sets this program apart is how it finishes.

“Instead of finishing with descending, or drop sets, like many people do on a pump day,” Pena says, enthusiastically, “you’ll do an ascending set at the end, doubling the weight you used on your supersets and going to failure, even if that means 4-5 reps.”

Exercise				        Sets/Reps
Lying triceps extension			        2/10
Narrow-grip barbell curl			2/10
Dumbbell overhead extension			2/10
Incline dumbbell curl				2/10
Incline lying cable triceps extension		2/25
	-superset with-
Standing narrow-grip cable curl
Incline lying cable triceps extension		1/To failure
Standing narrow-grip cable curl		        1/To failure

Bonus Tips

1) Make sure to do a full-body warm-up and a muscle-specific warm-up prior to your first working set.

2) Rest 1-2 minutes between all sets and exercises. The only exception is when you move from exercise to exercise in the prescribed superset.

3) Focus on achieving a peak contraction on every rep to draw as much blood to the muscles as possible.

4) Make sure you are adequately hydrated prior to this workout to maximize the pump.

www. MUSCLEANDFITNESS.com

I loathe calf training. It’s just terrible.

It’s not that the load is too heavy or that I have to put in a lot of effort, and it’s not the shoulder-bruising I get from using the standing machine. I wish it were any of those. The reason I despise working my lower leg is because I just don’t feel anything.

I do standing one-leg calf raises next to a mirror (purely by coincidence and to surreptitiously “observe” the local Asian fitness model), and I don’t see anything happening! Granted I can see that my ankle is plantar flexing and my body is rising, but in terms of any semblance of an actual muscle contraction, there is none.

Even the burn that I used to get as a 160-pound teenager is gone. From a feeling standpoint, I’d probably have a better experience watching someone do them.

This mind-muscle (neural) connection is critical for any kind of muscle adaptation and is usually the first thing to occur when you begin training. But for some reason, after a decade and a half my calves seem to have become �dumber.� They just don’t know how to contract.

And then there’s something called the bilateral deficit. Applying this deficit means you’ll have a better contraction/muscle activation when doing unilateral work. The problem is that it doesn’t seem to work for my calves. I’d love to say this is a universal problem, but I’m sure it’s an isolated issue. I’ve thrown all of my applied anatomy, physiology and biochemistry at them, but my calves simply laugh (and it’s a very small laugh, indeed).

At this point I’m about ready to forgo science and try faith-based training (although I can’t quite imagine what that would entail).

1) What To Do When Told To Bend Over II

A couple of weeks ago a friend urged me to use the donkey calf machine. I had done donkey calf raises before with someone on my back (I know it’s lame today, but Arnold did it and that was enough for me), but I had never used the machine. I had tried almost everything up to this point � varying weight, exercise, foot position, tempo, range of motion � without success, so I was quite surprised when I hopped on the machine and felt a muscle contraction in my calves!

I promptly did five sets, which is nearly double what I’d do on any given exercise (and far too many for the first time attempting a novel movement). But there it was: the muscle contraction I had been seeking for years.

Why Here? Why Now?

This begs the question: Why does this exercise induce such a strong contraction in the superficial muscles of the gastrocnemius? The answer is simply due to a stretch in the hamstrings, which carries over to the calves. As both muscles are biarticular (crossing two joints), the hip flexion puts the gastrocs in an optimal position to contract, not unlike the strong contraction induced by performing incline biceps curls.

2) The “Other” Movement

Another problem with my calf work is that I�ve been training across only one joint. Again, the gastrocs cross two joints, each of which has different contractility. When I�d do leg curls (which is the other movement we�re concerned with), I�d point my toes down (plantar flex), essentially taking my calves out of the movement.

People invariably do this exercise with their toes pointed up because it allows for full activation of the gastrocs, thus making the exercise easier. I thought I was doing myself a favor by plantar-flexing and focusing on my hamstrings, but it turns out I’ve been missing a tremendous opportunity.

Try going through a full calf-training session and then some heavy leg curls (toes pointed up). You’ll notice the leg curls will be much more difficult if you pre-exhaust your calves. To mix it up, do the initial sets with a short range of motion at the peak-contracted phase, followed by partial sets using full range of motion.

Conclusions

These tips are for anyone who has a hard time developing calves. Most people don’t need to worry about working both joints, but if you’re a freak like me you’ll find stretched hamstrings and leg curls to be incredibly helpful.

For diet and supplementation tips on how to improve your calves (and every other body part for that matter), check out The Anabolic Index!

June 23, 2008

Written by the FLEX staff

Begin with leg extensions to warm up the thighs for the heavy-duty compound movements to come. Most people make the mistake of starting their leg routine with squats, which ends up placing too much pressure on the knees. Another important thing to remember is to never rush your workout. Take the time you need to warm up your muscles for optimal gains in size and quality.

Do a light warm-up set of 15 leg extensions, before two working sets of eight to 10 reps. Pause for a count of one at the top of the movement, and don’t let the weight drop as you return to the starting position. The goal is to maintain continuous tension throughout the full range of motion.

Leg presses are next on the agenda. Even after leg extensions, the knees are not ready to handle heavy squats. Either the vertical leg press or the standing 45-degree leg press will get the job done. The vertical leg press is a favorite since you get a better feel for the movement. Unfortunately, many gyms no longer have this machine since many of them are now “fitness facilities” or something of that (weaker) nature.

With either leg-press machine, do a warm-up set of 12 reps, followed by three working sets of 10 to 12 repetitions.

Finish with the good ol’ fashioned squats. Your legs are warmed up and ready for this leader of mass building. Don’t expect to max out on the weight, as your quads will be somewhat fatigued from the leg extensions and leg presses. And it’s no wonder because you should pyramid the weight for all of these exercises, using progressively heavier poundage for each set.

If you can usually squat 400 pounds, don’t expect to move more than 300 during this routine. Work your way up to the top of the pyramid. We can assure you that 300 pounds will feel like a ton after all those leg extensions and presses.

Do one warm-up set of 12 reps and then two or three working sets of eight to 10 reps.

If you can do more than one day per week on thigh training, then congratulations, you are a god. But normally, that’s all it takes to build those trunks to a massive size. As long as you’re doing the exercises correctly, and training heavy, that’s all you’ll need.FLEX.

BARBELL CURLS
Objective – To pack size onto the biceps. This is the best mass builder, because it enables you to handle heavy weights with strict form.
Technique – Position yourself so that your feet are approximately shoulder–width apart. Take a palms–up, shoulder–width grip; let the bar extend down to arms’ length to upper–thigh level; curl out and up in a wide arc, keeping your elbows close to your sides. Flex at the top of the movement, and resist on the negative motion.
Comments – “Never cheat by rocking back and forth or relying on momentum. A straight bar offers more total biceps contraction and peak than a cambered bar.”
Volume – Four sets of 6–8 reps.

CAMBERED BAR PREACHER CURLS
Objective – To develop the lower biceps.
Technique – Sink the top of the pad into your armpits, with your triceps planted onto the working side (angled or vertical) of the bench. Grasp the bar with a thumbs–up grip, and, while keeping your body fixed, curl until your biceps are fully contracted at the top. Resist on the negative motion.
Comments – “The bench locks you into position so you cannot and should not cheat. Don’t try, because the preacher position places so much isolated stress on your biceps joints, tendons and ligaments that you could easily tear one.”
Volume – Three sets of 6–8 reps.

ONE-ARM PREACHER CURLS
Objective – To develop the lower biceps, but this time with more versatility to emphasize the inner or outer heads.
Technique – Fix your upper arm onto the working side of the preacher bench. Curl from full extension to maximum contraction at the top.
Comments – To focus on the inner head of the biceps, curl through an arc straight out in front of your body, supinating as you go. To focus on the outer head and brachialis, use more of a hammer-curl motion parallel to the pad, with your hand pronated.
Volume – Three set of 6–8 reps, each arm.

CABLE CONCENTRATION CURLS
Objective – To add quality; fine–tune and peak the biceps.
Technique – Hold onto a fixed support with your nonworking arm, for stability. Grasp the cable handle with your working arm. Keep your elbow stationary, and curl only by contracting the biceps. At the top, squeeze out a peak contraction; thus, reaping maximum benefit from the continuous tension offered by this cable movement.
Comments – This is an ideal exercise for utilizing the mind–muscle connection, as you “think” full power into the precise target spot of your biceps.
Volume – Two sets of 6–8 reps.

EIGHT-WEEK BICEPS BLAST

July 18, 2008

Written by FLEX Staff

Regardless of genetics, everyone can make dramatic physical changes by bodybuilding. Understand your genetic strengths and weaknesses, and then use that knowledge to help you achieve the muscularly proportionate physique you desire. Although few people fit entirely into one category, it is best to think of your shape when you were a teenager to see which category fits you best. Here are the three most widely accepted somatotypes, or physique classifications, and some training suggestions.

BODY TYPE NO. 1: ENDOMORPH
CHARACTERISTICS: Large bones, wide hips and waists, short muscles. Slower metabolism means easier ain fat easily.
TIPS: Focus on restricting and burning calories, Regular cardio is a must. Stick to moderate reps (8-15) to gain muscle mass, which will utilize more calories than fat. Don’t restrict carbs too much, because endomorphs frequently exhibit less energy than the other somatotypes. Don’t let your small clavicles, coupled with a larger pelvic girdle, dissuade you from trying to improve your V taper. Accentuate side-delt and upper-lat development, and do minimal work for hip and oblique muscles.
RECOMMENDED EXERCISES: Side laterals and upright rows with a shoulder-width grip. Pullups and pulldowns to the front will help add to your visual width. These recommended exercises should probably be done early in your workouts, when you are at your freshest.

BODY TYPE NO. 2: ECTOMORPH
CHARACTERISTICS: Thinner bones and longer limbs. Naturally thin. Narrow shoulders, hips and waists. High energy levels and a high metabolism.
TIPS: Consume more calories and protein, while conserving energy. For the most part, avoid cardio. Keep workouts short, heavy and intense, with low reps (6-10) for the basic compound lifts. Don’t train large bodyparts more frequently than once every four days. Get plenty of sleep for recuperation and strive to take in easily digested protein within two hours of bedtime. If you are too thin and want to fill out your limbs, fully stretch each bodypart before and after training it to help your muscles reach their maximum length.
RECOMMENED EXERCISES: Focus on movements that emphasize the lower area or lowest muscle of a bodypart, such as cable rows and one-arm dumbbell rows for lats, and hack squats and leg extensions for quadriceps.

BODY TYPE NO. 3: MESOMORPH
CHARACTERISTICS: Naturally muscular with larger-than-average bones and rib cages. Most pro bodybuilders can be classified as this somatotype. Tend to gain muscle easily, and yet they are the most prone to overtraining, because they tend to see gains quicker.
TIPS: Although a mesomorphic bodytype is the best for bodybuilding success, each bodypart should be worked only once a week, with routines that combine high intensity with moderate volume.
RECOMMENDED EXERCISES: As long as it’s working, stick to a traditional program with the right combination of compound and isolation movements, with reps in the 8-12 range for most.

By Jim Stoppani, PhD

FLEXONLINE.COM

>> Check out the full training program, as well as our bodybuilder trial, in the July issue of FLEX, on newsstands now.

As you read this, plenty of your gym brethren are busying themselves with debunking our claim: Add an inch to your arms…in a day! This bold assertion, which we make in our July issue, presents a dense, varied workout performed in small blocks of work each hour, on the hour, for 5-6 hours. Here, we explain the science behind the supplements that will help you achieve the craziest pump you’ve ever had, and leave you with a drastic, lasting increase to your upper arm measurements.

As we said above, you’ll perform work for your arms in several blocks of work each hour. At the end of the hour, it’s time to feed your wrecked muscle bellies with the building blocks of growth. So to be clear: if you are going through all six prescribed hours of work, you will be taking all of these supplements six times. Yummy.

Whey Protein: 20-30 grams
You take a modest portion of whey to keep muscle protein synthesis, and therefore growth, maximized during and after these six hours of torture. What many people don’t know is that whey will also enhance blood flow to the muscles to deliver more of these supplements to them, as well as more fluid for them to fill up with.

Vitargo: 50-70 grams
This extremely fast-digesting carb (about twice as fast as most sugars) rapidly restores the muscle glycogen you burn during this workout. This will help you to have the energy to keep going for six solid hours. Plus, glycogen holds water, which means it keeps the muscle cells fuller, for better arm-stretching results. Vitargo will also boost insulin, which will drive more glycogen, and the rest of the supplements you will be taking at this time, as well as boost muscle recovery and growth.

BCAAs: 5-10 grams
Branched chain amino acids (BCAAs) are critical during a brutal workout like this for several reasons. For one, when you are pushing your muscles to their limits like this, BCAAs are used as an important fuel source. If you don’t make BCAAs available by consuming them at this time, the muscle will consume itself to get BCAAs from the muscle protein. So consuming BCAAs will prevent muscle wasting and prevent fatigue as you try to hang in there through this workout. BCAAs also boost insulin levels and protein synthesis.

Creatine: 2-3 grams
What do we need to tell you about creatine that you don’t already know? Creatine pulls water into the muscle, which will help to swell the muscle cells more. Creatine is also an important form of energy during weight workouts. If you’re not currently taking creatine, a week before you peform this workout, load up on creatine by taking 5 grams four to five times per day, preferably with some fast-digesting carbs.

Beta-alanine: 1-2 grams
This amino acid forms carnosine in the muscle, which can help to delay muscle fatigue (which will be critical at getting through this workout, trust us). But beta-alanine has also been found to enhance creatine’s muscle-growth effects. If you are not currently taking beta-alanine, take 3 grams twice a day with meals. On workout days after this, you should take it with your pre and postworkout meals.

Glutamine: 5-10 grams
This amino acid will help to fight fatigue during the workout and boost growth hormone levels, which will further boost the muscle growth results you get from this workout. Glutamine is also a muscle cell volumizer, as it draws water into the muscle cell, helping to stretch your muscle membranes further.

Taurine:1-2 grams
This is another amino acid that helps to get you through the six-hour plan by delaying fatigue and enhancing muscle strength. Plus it also pulls more water into the muscle cells.

Arginine: 2-3 grams
This amino acid boosts nitric oxide (NO) levels, as you likely know. NO relaxes blood vessels, which means they widen to allow more blood flow through this means that you’ll get more of these supplements to your muscles, which will enhance muscle energy levels, recovery and growth. It also gets more fluid from the blood to the muscle cells for an even greater muscle pump.

Citrulline: 2-3 grams
This amino acid gets converted in the body to arginine, which as discussed above, gets converted in NO. So if you’re taking arginine already, how come you need to take citrulline? The answer is that citrulline is better at getting absorbed by the body than arginine. So taking citruline is an even better method of boosting NO levels than taking arginine.

Pycnogenol: 50-100 mg
From the French maritime pine tree, this antioxidant flavonoid enhances the conversion of arginine to NO by increasing the activity of the enzyme that catalyzes the reaction – nitric oxide synthase (NOS).

Water: 20-32 oz
Do not overlook water consumption during these crucial refueling windows. You need fluid to fill your muscle cells with. So it’s critical that you drink plenty of water during this workout. An easy way to get it in is to be sure to use plenty of water when you make your shakes.

GETTING HIGH “TECH”
As our test subject Tamer El-Guindy did during our shoot, you can get the same effect as the supplements above by taking the following MuscleTech products after each 40-minute workout block:

By Jim Stoppani, PhD

FLEXONLINE.COM

>> For the full “Add an Inch” training program, pick up the July issue of FLEX, on newsstands now.

Some people will doubt the validity of our “Add an Inch to Your Arms…In a Day” program. Stale biceps and triceps that they think have long since plateaued have turned them into growth cynics. But growth happens during this program, period. Your ability to sustain it long beyond your first rep, however, depends on how well you stick to the following training, nutrition and supplement guidelines.

>> Nutrition Guidelines. You should also maintain a higher carb diet for the next couple of months to keep your arm muscle cell fibers full. This will keep muscle glycogen levels, and therefore muscle cell volume, high. Be sure to consume 2-3 grams of carbs per pound of body weight per day. That’s 400-600 grams of carbs for the 200-pound bodybuilder. And also be sure to drink plenty of fluids. Shoot for about 1-1.5 gallons of water each day. This will ensure that there’s plenty of water to keep your muscle cells full for better sleeve-busting growth.

>> Training Guidelines. As far as future training goes, give your arms about 5-7 days of rest from solo training after completing this program. Then return to your normal arm training plan. If you want to go through this again and see if you can put even more size on, we suggest you give yourself at least a good two months before a second go round. Anything more frequent than that could lead to overtraining, or even injury.

>> Supplement Guidelines. During the maintenance phase, you’ll continue taking the same supplements but since you will have gone back to a more conventional training program, the doses and timing are altered. Follow this outline to help maintain your newly-minted bi’s and tri’s.