Jason Ferruggia to read it

click HERE.

Thanks for the great list Jason, awesome stuff.

To go to the home page of Mr. Ferruggia’s site

click HERE.

TRAIN HARD

Why just upper chest and not the whole chest?

Simple.

Most beginning bodybuilders focus on the bench, which, for most people, works mainly the middle to lower portion of the chest.

However, our goal remains, we want to separate ourselves from the pack—to stand out-so we will develop the overlooked upper chest.

THE PLAN

Barbell incline bench presses and dumbbell incline bench presses both work the upper pecs nicely, and the best way to fit them into your routine—just do barbell incline benches one week and dumbbell incline benches the next.

The variety keeps boredom at bay and each hits the upper chest slightly differently, which will help keep you growing.

THE ROUTINE

Since upper chest takes top priority—do either variation of the above benches first in your routine before you do any other chest work.

This way you will begin fresh and able to use maximum weight (that you can handle in PERFECT form) and concentration to really blast those upper pecs.

SOME TIPS

If you can’t remember the last time you did either of these movements or you never tried either of them, start slow, very slow, and work up from there.

I like the old but good (5×5), that’s five sets of five reps per set, program.

Incline presses work the upper chest very well, but they require perfect form, and cheating on them—not an easy task.

CONCLUSION

A well developed upper chest will help you stand out from the crowd either on stage or at the beach—not a bad thing.

Word of warning, the above exercises while effective demand perfect form and attention to detail.

Sloppy form and ego lifting will not get it done here—lift to build your upper chest—not your ego and you will achieve the goal.

I know using less weight never feels good, but just remember, your goal of getting an awesome upper chest.

TRAIN HARD!

You can read it by going

HERE.

If you are wondering what I disagree with, well.

The  only thing I really disagree with is the avoid, all diet foods rule.

I say this because I have read so much on this topic that I am of the opinion that if your one treat per day is to have a can of diet soda, then I really do not see any problems with it.

Especially if this keeps you on track and prevents you from eating five candy bars.

O.K.

So the above example is a bit extreme, but, If it keeps your diet on track, I do not see anything wrong with it.

Overall, though, this is a very good list.

Off topic, I know, but I really like the header on the site!

To go directly to the home page of this site, click,

HERE

HERE.

The only thing I would like to add to it is this, in order to gain muscle, you need to not only eat enough protein, but calories as well.

I have mentioned this before, but so many beginning bodybuilders fall into the trap of thinking all they need to do is train hard.

Not so.

You need to eat plenty of protein, good fats, and clean carbs if you want to gain muscle.

Especially if you are a hard gainer.

With a fast metabolism.

The other factor in this equation is that you must continue to do it.

You cannot eat six good meals for three days, and expect magic to happen.

You must be committed to eating every two to three hours.

To go directly to the home page of this site, click

HERE.

GO FOR IT!

To me, and remember I am an old-school bodybuilder at heart, real world strength is cutting the grass, shoveling snow, working in the yard.

You know, actually using your muscles outside of the gym.

I know some people will say  that this will lead to overtraining and the like, but to me, this is unimportant.

Think about it.

What good is all of the strength you have built in the gym if you cannot  move without pulling a muscle.

I know that the strength I have built up in the gym has helped me in the physical work I need to do in the real world.

And I am sure that the work I do outside has, in some way, helped my workouts in the gym.

So I will say it again, if you want real world strength, do real world stuff.

Yard work, hauling in heavy bags of groceries.

Running around playing with your kids.

You know stuff that has you running, moving, and using your body in ways that cannot duplicate in the gym.

UNTIL NEXT TIME

WORK HARD

To me the ideal physique consists of a small waist, wide wide shoulders, broad back, complete thigh development, and diamond shaped calves.

Of course I realize that all-of-the above might not describe a lot of people, however, just because you may never possess the super wide shoulders of some of the bodybuilders you see on the covers of the magazines does not mean that you cannot develop shoulders that, while not Mr. Olympia wide, surely look ten times more impressive than the average man’s on the street—which will make you stand out.

First up on the list as we begin the quest for a well proportioned body, which harkens back to the days when bodybuilders built their bodies with more than just mass in mind—shoulders.

I will repeat myself here, but to me wide, thick, and massive delts, set off any physique, does not matter what the situation calls for, three piece suits or ripped T shirts, rugged shoulders never hide.

While all three delt heads need work in order for your  shoulders to truly look great from any angle, the side head gets top billing here, because when well developed these add width to your frame.

However, they do much more than that, they help you improve your V-taper, and give the illusion of a smaller waist (very useful if your waist always looks thick no matter what you do).

THE EXERCISES

First up, the overhead press with dumbbells, these work all three heads of the delts, the front, side, and rear head, plus the upper back, triceps, and rotator cuff muscles.

All-in-all they provide a great workout, and, if worked hard, will eventually build massively thick, wide, and powerful shoulders.

The reason I chose dumbbell presses instead of barbell presses, really comes down to joint health, to me dumbbells allow the joint to rotate freely and do not lock it into one plane of motion like a barbell, which to me means healthier shoulders long term.

However as stated above the side head of he delts really needs width to make your physique really look impressive, so up next comes what I like to call lean away laterals.

You really do not see these much so I will explain how to do them.

Basically, to do them, just grab a moderately heavy dumbbell in one hand and holding onto something sturdy with your  free hand, lean off  to one side (about a forty five degree angle, however experiment.)

Hold the movement at the top for a count and repeat, these done judiciously, will help build your shoulders to super wide proportions.

In up-coming posts I will discuss other exercises you can do for your side delts, and of course the other body parts as well.

SOME POINTS

I love training hard and heavy, however, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to grips with reality, the joints can’t always handle the heavy work, and shoulders really should never take a back seat in the lets-take-care-of-them department.

Warm up first with some light treadmill walking, ten minutes or so, and then please start out with tiny weights, find your groove and work up from there-on both the presses and lean away laterals.

Seriously, do not think that just because you warmed up for the presses you do not need to warm up for the laterals, or any other shoulder exercise you will take on that day.

Always, always, use weights you can handle in good form, never sacrifice form for more weight; nothing ever good comes from this approach.

Trust me; a shoulder injury never works out well.

TIME TO GET WIDE

If you wanted to build bigger arms and a massive chest, how would you go about doing it?

If you answered, I would do a ton of curls and benches please go sit in the corner because you are incorrect.

I know to a lot of beginners the above answer can be a bit confusing because after all if you wanted a massive set of arms, you would think training them would be the way to get them.

What if told you the quickest and best way hands down to getting that pair of massive arms that you so desperately want is to squat.

Yes, squat.

That along with a steady diet of other basics lifts like, bent over rows, overhead presses, power cleans, and dead lifts—along with plenty of high quality protein, carbs, and fat, will give you what you want.

The reason the above works better than just doing set after set of curls is because the whole body is not affected the way it is when you do a hard set of five reps of deep back squats.

Chances are, after your set of curls while you know you just did some work, after a hard set of squats you will really know that you just did some work.

This overall body work load, if you will, is part of the reason why exercises like squats and dead lifts are so good for packing on the mass.

The other reason being the hormonal response that you get when you put your body through a hard five sets of five reps per set (5×5) squat work.

A ROUTINE

For those of you who are beginning bodybuilders and are looking to put on some quality size, for my money the absolute best way for you to go about doing it would be to work your whole body at each workout.

You would pick one big exercise for each major muscle group, like squats for your legs and dead lifts for your back, for example.

At the end of the workout you can add-in some steep incline sit-ups for your abs and calf work and then call it a day.

Along with the three full-body workouts per week, focus on eating plenty of good food.

Things like chicken, whole eggs and fish for your protein.

Unprocessed carbs like sweet potatoes and brown rice and a wide variety of fruits and vegetables.

And high quality fats from natural peanut butter and fatty fish like sardines.

And yes, go ahead and add in a couple of trips to your favorite fast food place, but do not over do it.

CONCULSION

If you are looking to gain size, stick to the basics and work hard at your whole body workouts for a good six months.

I know if you do this, you will be more than happy with the results.

NEVER QUIT

And not just any kinds of weights, no.

Hard and heavy workouts rule-the-day.

That is if you want some muscle growth.

But I am here to tell you that you can build muscle without weights.

Can you build the amount of muscle you can build by going to the gym?

Probably not, of course this all depends on your genetics and drive, but you can build a body that is lean, hard, and has enough muscle to look good.

Really when it comes down to it, this is what most men want.

A body that is muscular, but not too much so.

A BODYWEIGHT ONLY ROUTINE

As with any weight routine, a solid bodyweight only routine must begin with squats.

Bodyweight only squats to be exact.

Yes, you will need to run the reps up on these—sets of one hundred reps or more—but trust me you will be surprised at just how hard these can be.

If you take them slow and make each rep count.

Up next we have the classic push-up.

I realize that push-ups do not sound too hard, but you can do them a ton of ways, regular, explosive, and there are even dive bomber push-ups.

Plus for those of you, who really want any upper-body workout, give handstand push-ups a try.

These are serious—so please be careful with them.

As for you back, chins and pull-ups rule-the-day here, any and all grips and any and all varieties (except for behind the neck pull-ups as these are not safe for your rotator cuffs).

Again, as with the classic push-up, you will be surprised at just how many different varieties of chins/pull-ups there are—and just how difficult they can be.

SOME ADVICE

The trouble with bodyweight only exercises is that nobody takes them seriously, by this I mean, they feel that they are not a real workout, so what happens, people goof around and then get hurt.

Believe me if you crank out sets of chins and combine them with either push-ups or handstand push-ups you are going to be sore the next day.

So, do not make the mistake of thinking that just because they are bodyweight only they are not real exercises—because they are and not only can they be used to build a great body by themselves, they can be used with traditional weight work to help you make even more gains.

For example, the next time you wrap up a shoulder workout, try finishing off with a couple of handstand push-ups for a final pump.

Or cranking out a set of one hundred bodyweight only squats after you have finished your regular leg routine.

CONCLUSION

Bodyweight only exercises work the body and work it hard and should be treated with respect.

So the next time you are looking for a way to grab a quick workout—or just something to break you out of a rut, give the above exercises a try.

You might be surprised at just how effect your bodyweight can be at giving you a hardcore workout.

WORK HARD

HERE.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, not only for weight loss, but just a better overall day.

One thing I would like to add to this would be to keep a container of high quality whey protein on hand for times when you do not have time to sit down and eat breakfast.

One scoop of whey protein, maybe throw in a little natural peanut butter and blend, and you are good.

Another fast thing is to hard boild up a dozen eggs and when time is tight, or anytime really, you can eat one or two for a fast, very good-for-you breakfast, that takes no time at all.

If you are looking to lose weight or just be healthy, try give the above article a read.

To go directly to the the home page of the above blog,

click HERE

After asking him about his training, this was my reply.

Most people fail to realize two things when it comes to the arms, and by arms I am referring to the biceps and triceps:  first they are involved in just about everything that you do in the gym, and second they are a small muscle group.

To take the first point a little further, if your training revolves around heavy work on the basics like, overhead presses, lots of rowing, and squatting, your arms are getting tons of work indirectly already.

Which leads to the second point, I almost always see people doing set after set of curls and various forms of work for their triceps and then wonder why nothing is happening in the way of growth for their arms.

Chances are, you simply are doing too much work for your arms to handle and they are not recovered, so they are not growing.

A PLAN OF ATTACK

If this sounds like you, the first thing I would do would be to stop training your arms completely for a week or two and then once you have given them the break they probably needed, try working them again, but this time try something like this.

Start off by doing only three sets ofeight to twelvereps (the reps are not really important, so use whatever you are comfortable with) however; the difference in your training will be this.

Make sure you keep CONSTANT tension on the biceps and triceps the whole time you are training them. No swinging, no cheating, nothing like that at all.

Yes, I realize the weight you can use might take a dip, however, always remember this, your muscles do not know how much weight is on the bar, so check your ego at the door when you come to train.

Here is the thing, you may dislike the thought of taking some weight off the bar, however look at it this way, not only will it give your joints a welcome break, but chances are your arms will be growing again.

Let me see, less joint pain, and bigger arms, sounds good to me!

Raise the weight smoothly and under control and lower it slowly—really concentrate on making the biceps and triceps work on every rep of every set.

SOME TIPS

I know this is going to sound silly, but for some of you reading this the thought of lowering the weight that you use for your curls and “skull-crushers” will be unbearable, so try this.

If you have a good home gym set-up train your arms at home, this way you can concentrate on your arms one-hundred percent and not worry about other people or simply train your arms at another gym where nobody knows you.

Resist the temptation to add more sets, especially if you are already blasting away with heavy presses and rows; remember the goal is to get your arms growing not shrinking!

CONCLUSION

I know the thought of taking some weight off the bar is not something most of us like, however, trust me, the results you will see (bigger biceps and triceps)  from focusing on the muscle and making it work, really work, instead of heaving up heavier and heavier weights, might just make you a believer in muscle over might!

HAPPY TRAINING