With Friday comes another random thoughts of the week post, where I am going to cover what has gone on this past week in bodybuilding.

Enjoy!

Up first I want to go back to something I touched on before, Dennis Wolf at the just past Mr. Olympia.

Reason being, is that, there is a big thread on what happened to Dennis at the Olympia, on one of the more popular bodybuilding sites on the web.

A Lot of people are saying that he should dump Chad Nicholas and switch to someone else.

Personally, I was not aware of all the people Chad has trained, but after reading the posts, I agree, I think he should get rid of Chad and try Pit Trenz or Charles Glass.

But again this is just my opinion.

Another thing that was pointed out on the thread was words to the effect that since he placed so low he will have less pressure, I agree with this, he can go back home, get his head together and just train and grow.

However, one point that Dennis needs to deal with now is qualifying for the Mr. O, as last year he was already in based on him placing in the top ten.

This means he will have to do at least one show, but maybe more, to qualify for the O.

But, in fairness to Dennis, this could be EXACLTY what he needs, because if something happens at the first show he enters, say he comes in flat, he can learn for this mistake and try and fix it for his next show.

Which can help him come prep time for the O.

I touched on this before, but Dennis has, according to what I’ve read, an extremely fast metabolism, so this can be a factor in why he just can’t get is condition spot on.

Another factor with Dennis, could be that his metabolism while still fast, it has started to slow, and since it was always very fast, he did not know how to deal with this.

Dennis is still young, as noted in a prior post I believe he is still in his twenties or just thirty, so he has plenty of time.

With another year of solid training under his belt Dennis can come back next year and really surprise a lot of people.

HANEY OR CUTLER

I saw this poll question and wanted to comment on it.

They are asking who has the better physique, Lee Haney or Jay Cutler

For those who don’t know Lee started his run of eight consecutive Olympia’s in nineteen eighty four.

To me it is no contest, Lee Haney all the way.

Better shape, small waist, to me he just looks better.

I realize Jay Cutler is big than Lee, but to me, again Lee just looks better.

O.K.

That’s all for this week.

HOPE YOUR WEEKEND GOES GREAT.

Until Next Week

WORK SMART

Just like well developed shoulders, I feel that one reason a well developed set of upper pecs is so impressive is that, well you really do not see too many people that have upper pecs that are well developed.

To me this can be attributed to one thing, the flat bench press.

While it is true that some genetically gifted bodybuilders can develop very balanced (meaning all areas of the chest, from lower to inner to outer to upper to all areas in between) chest development from just doing flat benches, most of us, myself included, see more in the way of middle and lower pec development from doing flat benches.

Of course, some people see very little growth at all in their pecs from benching, with most of the growth coming in the form of well developed triceps and front delts—and while muscle growth is muscle growth, most people want chest growth for their benching efforts, not growth in the aforementioned body parts.

ENTER THE INCLINE PRESS

Do you know what exercise was the number one choice for most people looking to build up their upper bodies’ back-in-the-day? (the 50’s and 60’s)

If you guessed the flat bench press—you must step to the back of the line.

However, if you guessed the over head press with a barbell—go to the front of the class you are correct.

O.K.

You might be thinking, what does the over head press have to do with building a massive chest, after all I thought it was primarily a shoulder exercise.

You are correct, it is, however, just like the over head press fell out of favor, another exercise, that never quite reached a high level of use—ranks as a better over-all upper body—and chest builder than the flat bench.

The exercise I am referring to is the incline press done with a barbell or dumbbells.

Why?

Truthfully it comes down to a number of things: First, unlike the flat bench, the incline press requires stricter form which helps prevent injuries. Second, it works those all important upper pecs, which ranks up there with the most neglected of body parts. Third, the incline press carries over far greater on the athletic field than does the flat bench press.

SOME POINTS

The incline press done with either a barbell or dumbbells is a great way to build your upper chest—however please don’t be overly concerned with how much weight you can lift, especially if you haven’t tried this exercise before.

Always remember, your goal as a bodybuilder is to work your muscles (in this case the upper pecs) hard enough so that they must grow—NOT to see how much weight you can get from point A to point B.

Also, if you have any shoulder discomfort from using a barbell, try giving dumbbells a go.

THE ROUTINE

In the beginning stick with the tried-and-true 5 x 5 program (that’s five sets of five reps per set, for a total of twenty five reps) and really learn or re learn how to do the lift properly.

After you’ve got the form down—then you can worry about changing rep schemes and adding weight.

One point, the incline press requires stricter form that the flat bench, so you might have to swallow your ego a bit and go down in weight more than you’d like—but remember your muscles don’t know how much weight is on the bar.

A TIP

Lower the barbell or dumbbells slowly to your chest and then pause for a couple of seconds before pressing the bar or dumbbells back up.

You want your upper chest taking the brunt of the work, not other muscles.

NUTRITION BASICS

As good as the incline barbell or dumbbell press is for building the upper pecs not much will come from all your hard work if you are not eating correctly.

If you are looking to gain mass—combine the above exercise with other big lifts like squats, dead lifts, and bent over rows, etc.—make sure your are getting one gram of protein per pound of bodyweight (so if you weigh one hundred and fifty pounds you would take in one hundred and fifty grams of protein) from sources like, lean beef, chicken, turkey, and eggs.

Up next are plenty of high quality carbs like oatmeal (preferably steel cut oats) brown rice, yams, and a wide variety of fruits and vegetables.

Along with this take in good fats from fatty fish like sardines, nuts, seeds and a good quality fish oil supplement.

A WORD ON POST WORKOUT NUTRITION

You see ads all over the magazines touting amazing sounding products.

However, lets cut the baloney, while some of those products are great, tons of quality muscle has been built over the years with nothing but good old fashioned hard work and good quality food.

No secret ingredients, no hype.

So please if you can’t afford those expensive post-workout (or any supplements for that matter) supplements don’t worry about it, just take in a good quality meal like white meat chicken and white rice after your workout (as you don’t want to much fat and fiber in your post workout meal as this will slow absorption) and you will be fine.

CONCLUSION

Honestly, I know if you give the incline barbell or dumbbell press an honest try, not only will you be well on your way to building another part of your X Frame Physique—

You might have to buy new shirts to make room for all of your new chest size!

Until Next Time

NEVER QUIT

There has been a lot of talk on the forums and in one of the major muscle magazines about which diet is better, the low or no carb diet, or dieting with carbs.

For me, personally I have always been a low carb guy.

Why?

Simple.

I gave the carb thing a try and it did not work for me.

And this is the main point of this post—regardless of if you are into low carbs no carbs or carbs—the best thing you can do is try everything and see how it works for you.

Reading about the benefits of low carbs is great, but if you never try it, how can you really know for sure if it works—for you.

Heck, you might feel wonderful on low carbs—but then again you might feel terrible—but you would have never known this fact if you didn’t try it.

Same goes for different methods of training, some people can gain doing singles and while this approach might look goofy or appear to be without merit—the only thing that counts is that this method works for that particular person.

So even though it might go against all you thought you knew about building muscle—lets say the next time you go stale on a routine—you think back to that guy you saw doing singles—and give them a shot.

Hey the worst thing that can happen is that they don’t work for you—no big deal—lesson learned and you move on.

SOME POINTS

One thing most people forget is that the body is always changing, so you know that super mass gaining routine that you did when you were eighteen—well now that you are thirty five it just might not work anymore.

Same goes for your nutrition—you know that all day pig-out fest you’ve been having for years on Tuesday—worked great up until six months ago—again your body could have changed.

A WORD ON LOW CARBS

As long as I brought up the low carb, no carb, and carb debate, I might as well chime in with my two cents.

Honestly, I feel that most people eat way too many carbs—for the reason being that most people’s lifestyles are VERY sedentary.

Even if you lift weights hard for an hour four days per week, the rest of the time you might be sitting at a desk somewhere eight or more hours per day.

There are exceptions of course, the guy who busts-his-but in the gym four days per week and has a physical job eight hours per day will obviously need more carbs (and calories) than the rest of us.

However, for the most part, I think people (after getting the O.K. from their doctor or health care provider) would do better on a lower carb diet.

To me though, there is a limit, the whole no carb or trace carb diet, where the only carbs that are found in the diet are the ones found in nuts and seeds and vegetables—for example—is pushing it WAY too far.

People will only stick to something that they can live with and I don’t think too many people can live with the no carb thing—for very long anyway.

O.K.

That ends my rant on the carb debate.

CONCLUSION

Trying new things can be hard, but if you don’t try you will never know.

So the next time you are at a loss for a new way to train—how about having the courage to try something out-of-the-ordinary.

Who knows, you might just discover a new favorite way to train.

Until Next Time

KEEP AN OPEN MIND

In the last post we talked about building wide shoulders, by building up the side delt head using the overhead press, either done with a barbell or dumbbells.

To reiterate what I said in the last post—to me wide shoulders—tell the world I am strong and in shape—and yes building up your shoulders is a terrific way to start building YOUR X Frame physique.

YOUR SECOND EXERCISE

While I truly believe that anyone can build cannon ball sized delts with the overhead press alone I also know that I would be cheating you out of growth if I did not include this next exercise.

LEAN AWAY LATERALS

Lean away laterals are a fantastic exercise for adding plenty of meat to your side delt head (the one that will truly make you look like you won’t be able to fit through a doorway).

To do them grab a moderately heavy dumbbell and with your free hand grab hold of something sturdy and lean until your body is at approximately a forty-five degree angle.

Raise the dumbbell until it is just about at head height.

The reason this exercise is so good at packing muscle on the side head of the delts is because a greater load is placed on the side delt at the top of the movement.

SOME POINTS

To get the most out of the above movements I would hit the overhead press hard using the tried and true 5×5 program (that’s five sets of five reps per set for a total of 25 reps).

Gradually trying to increase the amount of weight you use on this exercise.

For the lean-away-laterals I would not go as heavy (relatively speaking of course) and aim for a more traditional 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps per set.

Of course, the above are just guides and should not be thought of as the only way to do these exercises—once you get comfortable with them feel free to shake-it-up as you see fit.

DON’T FORGET QUALITY NUTRITION

Lots of people blast it at the gym and then wonder, why they are not seeing the results they want.

Plenty of times it is because of their nutrition or I should say lack of nutrition.

The above exercises are fantastic but to make optimal progress you need to treat your eating habits just like you treat your workouts—to important to miss.

Focus on eating every two to three hours and make sure you are getting one gram of protein per pound of bodyweight, so for example if you weigh two hundred pounds then you would need to shoot for two hundred grams of protein per day divided up into six meals.

Protein should come from lean beef, chicken, turkey, fatty fish, whole eggs, etc.

Carbs sources should be things like oatmeal (preferably steel cut oats) whole wheat breads (the kind that have at least five grams of fiber per slice), yams, sweet potatoes, and all kinds of fruits and vegetables.

Fats should come from fatty fish like sardines and salmon (for the omega 3 fatty acids) natural peanut butter (read labels to make sure the peanut butter you choose does not include extra sugar) and all kinds of nuts and seeds.

And yes, if you are young and your metabolism is running along, a couple of trips (every now-and-then) to your favorite fast food place won’t hurt.

A WORD ON POST WORKOUT NUTRITION

A lot has been made lately of post workout nutrition, but don’t let it be the determining factor in whether or not you make gains.

By this I mean, if you have the money and can afford a good post workout product or just a high quality whey product shake for that matter, great.

If not, just eat a high quality, highly nutritious meal after your workout—although you don’t want too much fat or fiber in this meal, so something like white meat chicken and white rice would be good.

Trust me on this point, plenty of world class gains have been made, on nothing but good quality food and hard work, so don’t let your lack of fancy supplements hold you back.

CONCLUSION

Overhead presses and lean away laterals give you the perfect one-two punch for building massive and wide shoulders.

Always remember to warm up first, and then hit it hard, but sensibly.

If you do this, maybe one day, someone will mistake your shoulders for boulders!

Until Next Time

WORK HARD BUT SMART

A few interesting things happened at this years (2009) U.S. Open Tennis Championships.

First was Serena Williams (the younger of the two Williams Sisters) outburst over a foot fault call—which finished her tournament.

And Roger (the five time defending champion) Federer losing his cool over a late challenge being allowed.

Considering that both Serena Williams and Roger Federer were the defending champs—to me it brings up the issue of confidence, with then brings up the issue of mental toughness.

Wouldn’t you be confident if you were Mr. Federer—knowing that you basically OWN the court at the U.S. Open.

Same goes for Serena Williams—as she was the defending champion.

You might be asking yourself, how exactly this relates to bodybuilding.

To me it relates perfectly.

First, while I am all for switching routines, I think to many people get ants-in-their-pants syndrome and lose confidence in their current routine, so they keep switching routines in hopes of finding that magic one.

Second, it applies to supplements; people drop hundreds of dollars a month on the latest wonder supplement, only to drop serious coin the next month when the newest hot thing comes out.

They never give the first supplement a chance to work (not that it would as most supplements are hype).

AN EXAMPLE

I know a gentleman that committed to a business years ago, now the business was not flashy, but the way he related it to me was, once he committed to it, that was it, no wavering or changing plans—he did his research and he KNEW that what he was doing was solid.

Honestly, I know something about the business he went into and it is a high effort affair, hours and hours per day need to be spent working the business.

And you cannot really take any time off, because you need to do it daily.

However, he committed to it and now enjoys the rewards.

Same goes for the bodybuilder who commits to a course of action, say getting stronger on the basics—he did his research—found a solid routine—so he sticks with it—and over time builds an impressive level of strength.

Which, will, chances are, translate into more muscle when/if he switches back to a more traditional routine?

CONCLUSION

I know that the grass-is-always greener on the other side, but the next time you start a new routine—give it time to work.

Yes, it will be hard, but remember it is not where you start but where you finish.

Until Next Time

STAY FOCUSED

I’ve always trained my abs at first it was the very basic crunches and reverse crunches and it has evolved over the years, but I’ve always added in some ab work at the end of most workouts.

But as with anything, you keep reading and studying and you come to different conclusions than you had before.

I now realize that if you squat and dead lift your abs probably get enough work.

But does that mean I have given up training my abs—no way.

I know that it is probably just me, but I always feel better knowing that I did some ab work.

My favorite is steep incline sit ups done on a slant board.

However if you really haven’t done much ab work I would start with planks and then work up from there.

To do planks, position yourself like you were going to do a standard push-up except put all of your weight on your forearms.

Now you must keep your back flat as you don’t want your but sticking up in the air.

It sounds easy I know—but take this exercises seriously and work up to being able to hold a solid plank for a good two minutes before advancing onto harder exercise.

SOME POINTS

Of course, to be in total shape you need to incorporate some form of weight training and cardio into your routine.

A note on cardio—I don’t care what the expert’s say—the only cardio worth doing is one that you will do on a regular basis.

So if like walking—go for brisk walks—but if you’d much rather play a hard game of tennis go for it—you will only see results if you do it on a regular basis.

Also, I know what people say, but to me doing some form of ab work helps to lean out the waist faster than not doing any.

CONCLUSION

I know my abs are getting worked during my bodybuilding workout but I don’t care I still like the idea of doing some ab work at the end of my workout.

Give this approach a try as well—you may find like I do that it is the ideal way to end a good workout.

Until Next Time

EVERYTHING IN MODERATION

I don’t know of a single bodybuilder or just general fitness enthusiast out there that does not like doing curls.

Does not matter what kind, straight bar, ez-curl bar, dumbbells—they are all good.

But there is a catch.

You’ll get more bang-for-your exercise buck by doing bent-over rows or dead lifts.

I can already here you start to moan and say, but I don’t like doing those exercises.

Or how about a hard set of twenty deep breathing squats—not many people enjoy doing those.

But—

And this is the point, the men and women who can push themselves to do them and then push themselves past the pain—and not stop the set before it is truly over—are the ones who seem to keep improving.

Year-after-year these same people will continue to force themselves to work harder—not easier.

Yet another group of people will keep coming to the gym and for some reason always find a way of avoiding the heavy stuff—no surprise these people look the same year-after-year.

Now, I am not saying that you have to grind yourself into a pulp every workout—no that would be stupid.

What I am saying is that we should all strive to make the most out of every workout—and deep down we all know that endless sets of curls and bench presses really does not cut it.

SOME POINTS

If you haven’t squatted or dead lifted in a long time (or done any of the truly hard lifts in a while) start slow.

The next time you train legs do only one or two sets of deep—but-to-the-floor squats—in perfect form—does not matter if you need to use an empty bar to do it.

Then, call it quits for legs that day—I know it does not seem like much, but trust me if you have never squatted or haven’t squatted for a long time—you will thank me—and so will your legs.

Also, remember, making a move back to the hard stuff like, rows, chins, dead lifts, squats, etc., will require more energy, so pay close attention to your diet and make sure you are taking in plenty of high quality calories-not to mention some high quality post workout nutrition.

CONCLUSION

I know that a workout consisting of nothing but curls and press downs is fun—but will it really help you improve your physique—chances are it won’t.

So the next time you are in the gym break out of your comfort zone and try doing an exercise that you really do not enjoy—because of the sheer amount of work involved.

Sure your workout might not be a cake walk—but the muscle you will build will be sweeter than any piece of cake you could ever eat.

Unit Next Time

TRY HARD

I love bodybuilding as much as anybody—I love the pump—the all-out effort it takes to get that one-last-rep—basically I love bodybuilding.

But.

One thing I do not believe I have ever seen talked about in any magazine or online forum is training for the mind.

I am not talking about mental rehearses of workouts.

What I am talking about is making sure you are well rounded outside of the gym.

Sounds kind of strange, however, it really isn’t.

I know myself; I am always flipping through a muscle magazine or reading a book about bodybuilding.

But what about other topics—I love reading about the Amazon rain forest, for example.

And, I will be totally honest, I check out tons of material, I do not always finish every book that I start—but I like to read and do not mind looking at a vast array of material.

Sure I am partial to books on bodybuilding, training or nutrition—but I realize that there is more to life than a steady diet of bodybuilding magazines.

CONCLUSION

Bodybuilding is more than just a hobby to me—it is a lifestyle—but I realize that I need to keep my brain sharp by reading about a wide variety of topics.

So the next time you are out-and-about, stop in at your local library and take a look around—you may not find something that you like as much as bodybuilding—

But you never know.

Until Next Time

KEEP YOUR MIND SHARP

Before I get into my review of Beverly International Nutrition’s Ultimate Muscle Protein I would just like to give you a little background info on them.

First, Beverly has been around since 1967 which certainly makes them a forerunner in my book in the world of sports nutrition.

Second, to me the name Beverly International Nutrition means quality—pure and simple.

O.k.

On to the review.

Right up front I will say that this review is based on the chocolate flavor of Ultimate Muscle Protein—as I am not a vanilla guy—any and everything chocolate.

SMELL:

The first thing I noticed when I opened up the can was the smell—Ultimate Muscle Protein smells great , to me it smelled like freshly baked brownies—to some I know this might not mean much, but hey first impressions do count.

EASE OF MIXING:

Again, I will be upfront here, I am a cup-and-spoon guy, and to be honest Ultimate Muscle Protein does not excel here.

I got it to mix up O.K. but it took me a little while to do it with only a spoon.

Next I tried my trusty shaker—a little better here but still not great.

So if you are into easy mixing shakes, this one might not be your cup-of-tea.

I love pudding (yes chocolate) so I took out one of my handy plastic food containers and tried mixing Ultimate Muscle Protein into a pudding.

Bingo!

Works great—mixes up into a good pudding consistency.

My ratings would fall like this:

In a cup—5/10 doable—but does take a bit of time

Shaker—7/10 better than in a cup but still not great.

Plastic food container—10/10 works great as a pudding.

TASTE:

Ultimate Muscle Protein tastes great even in the glass and shaker bottle despite not mixing all that well.

It has a pleasant taste, not to heavy or strong and not too weak tasting.

As a pudding it is great.

One point that I would like to make is this, I only used water for mixing and I would assume if you used milk especially for mixing it into a pudding Ultimate Muscle Protein would taste even better.

Of course, what you use would depend on where you were at, meaning if you were trying to lean out either for the beach or a contest, water would be the way to go.

However, if you were bulking—mixing it with milk would probably be the way to go.

NUTRITION BREAKDOWN:

Ultimate Muscle Protein per one scoop of the chocolate flavor has:

120 calories

3.5 grams of fat

20 grams of protein

4 grams of carbs

COST:

Ultimate Muscle Protein is not cheap, I know this turns off a lot of people, but you have to understand that Beverly uses only the highest quality ingredients for all of their products and of course, this costs more.

This is one area where only you can make the decision—to me it is worth putting out the extra cash for high quality products such as Beverly—but again this is just me.

OVERALL THOUGHTS:

Beverly International Nutrition has a fine line of products—and Ultimate Muscle Protein is no exception.

In truth, I wish it mixed better in a cup with just a spoon—but this really is not a big thing.

The can I used for this review I picked up from bodybuilding.com—they have good prices and super fast shipping—which is really great.

That’s it for today

TAKE CARE.

O.K.

Goofy title for a blog post, but I do have a serious point to make.

I was hanging out at arguably the biggest online bodybuilding forum the other day and in one thread people were getting all excited about the release of the next wonder supplement.

Chances are you have seen this company’s ads in the magazines as they run page after page of ads, but to me that’s not the point.

You have to worry about all of the beginning bodybuilders out there.

With so much stuff out there, it has to be very easy to get confused.

Not to mention broke—chasing the next wonder supplement.

When what they should really be doing is focusing on the training and diet.

I think if everybody who is looking to add serious weight to their frame went on a power cycle (the length being determined by age and current goals) and worked at getting strong or stronger on the basics there would be a lot more muscular people walking around.

Of course, I realize that diet plays a major role, and in order for the above idea to work said persons would need to be eating plenty of high quality protein, carbs and healthy fats, but—

My point here is that the basics still work, always have, and only when you have really nailed down your understanding of the basics of bodybuilding and are executing them on a regular basis, should you be worried about supplements super or other wise.

ALWAYS TRAIN HARD