Posted Sunday, January 20, 2008
Filed under Optimal Eating, Supplements
Do fat burners really work? That depends on what you mean by the term "fat burner." First of all, every decent study on healthy fat/weight loss points up the necessity of two i elements for success: exercise and diet. There's no way you can do it without them.
Continue reading Do Fat Burners Really Work?
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Posted Friday, January 18, 2008
Filed under Chest, Vince's Gym
I would like to know how to develop a split between my upper and lower pecs like Franco Columbu, the former Mr. Olympia? I saw a photo of him in a magazine and it really freaked me out to see that deep groove between his pecs. How did he develop it? How can I develop a split like Franco's?
It is purely a genetic thing.
Some people have diamond-shaped calves, some don't.
Some have peaked biceps, some don't.
Some can develop a split between their pecs, as Franco did. Most cannot. This is purely a case of either you have it or you don't.
Personally, I think it looks ugly. Why would you want ugly pecs?
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Posted Thursday, January 17, 2008
Filed under Optimal Eating, Vince's Gym, Training
I am 21 years old and have been training for quite a while. I love bodybuilding. It's definitely my number one sport.
My goal is to have a physique like Lee Labrada's. We have almost the same size measurements, except that I weigh a soft 200 pounds, while Lee weighs 185 pounds of pure muscle.
What would be the best way to lose my excess fat and still gain muscle at the same time? I want to weigh a solid 185 like Lee. Most importantly, what is the best training method?
My friends say, I should train six days a week, while in the magazines they say to train three days a week. Can you please lead me in the right direction?
Firstly, just because you are the same height as Lee Labrada, and weigh the same, doesn't mean you'll look like Lee, unless you have identical proportions to him. If you do, you should be a top professional and winning pro shows. Don't expect to look like Lee just because you get your weight down to 185 pounds.
As to the best training method to lose fat and gain muscle, I suggest you utilize my Four Sides to a Muscle course, using four exercises per muscle group, for four sets each. Keep the reps down in a 10-8-6-15 format. I suggest you rest only 45 seconds between sets. Train each muscle group twice a week. Train four days a week, splitting your body in two.
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Posted Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Filed under Vince's Gym, History
Tell me about Larry Scott. I know that he trained at your gym during the time he won his Olympia crown. The reason why I am interested in him is that he did not have a big frame, yet he still built enormous arms. Vince what was Scott's arm secret?
Scott trained at my gym during his heyday. He still trains very hard, incidentally, even though he's over fifty years of age. He may never win another Olympia title, but then again that is not a priority with him.
Larry's secret was hard work. He really does go all out. He was definitely a heavy duty advocate before Mike Mentzer publicized the method. However, Scott did perform more overall sets then Mentzer advocated. Larry's first few reps were quite often as difficult as most trainers last reps.
Frequently he would struggle with his first rep. For his biceps Larry would do five sets of barbell preacher curls, followed by five sets of dumbell preacher curls. About one minute rest allowed between sets, just time enough for Larry to take a sip at the water fountain.
Scott found that his triceps responded well to combining two movements, one isolation and one compound. He alternated the close grip bench press with EZ curl bar with longpull triceps extensions (face down) on the cradle bench. At the time my gym was the only gym in the country with a cradle bench.
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Posted Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Filed under Vince's Gym, Training
I have a question regarding sex and its effects on training. I am a healthy guy, but I was wondering if too much sex will interfere with my training progress?
I have just started to make really good gains at a time when I have become sexually involved with a very beautiful woman. She is very beautiful and I find her irresitable.
We seem to have sex at least twice a day - sometimes more. Sometimes I really find myself dragging when I get to the gym. What should I do Vince, cut back on the sex or accept less gains?
Sex is a very natural act. It is also natural to have sex more frequently when you first become involved with someone. If you're having sex two or more times a day more power to you.
I say enjoy yourself. Just make sure you are eating well and taking your supplements and the sex shouldn't hinder your gains at all, as long as you keep training. If, however, the sex prevents you from getting to the gym, than you should consider cutting back a little. Ah, isn't love grand?
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Posted Friday, January 04, 2008
Filed under Balanced Legs, Training
I enjoy full squats, going right down to the low position, and I have increased my bodyweight to 205 pounds at 5'8" height.
Why are you so against squats? I think it's ridiculous that you have no squat racks in your gym in North Hollywood.
Bodybuilders always ask this question: "Why do you ad avise your gym members not to do full squats?" The answer is simply that full squats spread the hips!
Full squats build the gluteus maximus (buttocks) by the forward position of the upper body and the depth of the movement.
The gluteus minimus is developed by the forward position of the body.
"All right, then," you must ask, "why can't I do full squats with the barbell in front of my shoulders?" But the answer is that you would still have a forward stress on the upper body. You cannot escape the position because of balance and gravity.
So, what do you do instead of full squats? - any exercise that allows you to lean back instead of forward: hack slides, sissy squats, Roman chair, Delinger squats, knee deeps or squatting on the bench pressing power machine with a bench under your hips, leaning slightly back with shoulders against the bar. In short, your back must be straight with the stress on the abdominals instead of the hips and back.
Another foolproof method of squatting is to place the barbell in your lap. Then it is of no matter if you lean forward or not, since there is no stress placed upon the gluteus minimus. However, remember not to squat deeper than hip level.
A few years ago football players learned that many of their knee problems were caused by one of their favorite movements - the "duck walk." This exercise overstretched the tendons in the knees which resulted in no protection in twists and turns.
Pay heed also that gluteal tissue, once developed, cannot be reduced as in the case of fat. I did not work my legs the first five years of training because I did not know how to develop my legs without also developing gluteus maximus - and you may be sure I have never regretted this, since discovering the right theory enabled me to develop my thighs and create an illusion of having longer legs by bringing the development up to my waist, not like a squatter's legs which stop at the bottom of the hips.
When I pose, I pull up my posing brief so that the length of leg muscle may be seen up to the hip attachment. As I view it, the perfectly developed thigh is the same measurement around the middle of the thigh as the top measurement. Today I am still working for this measurement. The only man I know who possesses it is the great Monty Wolford.
And if some of you "strength fiends" decry this method. feeling that it does not develop strength, I can only say that I was able to use 700 pounds in the hack slide machine and 200 pounds in the sissy squat. Let's see if you squatters can top top that!
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Posted Thursday, January 03, 2008
Filed under Abdominals, Training
I am getting my abdominals into rock-hard, punchproof shape by following what is called the Hollywood Abs Training System.
I'm doing exercises like the butterfly crunch, reverse butterfly crunch, vertical ergonomic crunches and a variation with a twisting crunch added. It's like doing one big triset with each movement taken to absolute failure.
The only trouble is that I am feeling the butterfly and reverse crunches in my hips more than my abs. Other than that I think the program is great for reducing the fatty overhang.
What's the skinny on the crunches anyway?
When performing any of the trunk and hip-rolling motions that you describe (crunches etc.), the most important factor involved is to keep the small of the back in constant contact with the bench or floor you are lying on. As soon as you arch your back, you will notice that the stress on the rectus is relieved, and the work load is shifted to the psoas muscles.
These psoas muscles, by the way, attach to the upper thigh bones and both sides of the spine. Their function is to pull the upper body to a sitting position. In the leg raises or vertical ergonomic crunches as you call them they pull the legs up. Also the psoas muscles help to stabilize the hips and trunk when a weight is held overhead or upon the shoulders.
The rectus abdominus has a very simple function. This muscle attaches to the pelvic basin and the sternum and shortens the distance between these two points.
Abdominal work, contrary to popular opinion, does not produce localized or spot reducing. Only nutrition produces fat loss. So do not labor under the delusion that abdominal work will cause a subcutaneous fat loss. However, minimum rest between sets is a must because rapid heart and lung action is very important to emulsify fat.
My observation in the gym is that very few bodybuilders ever break a sweat. They sometimes rest as long as five minutes between sets. This type of workout tempo is too slow to produce definition.
Its a good thing you are not doing full situps because this seemingly deceptive abdominal exercise is not a rectus abdominal exercise at all. Its function is to help stabilize the trunk by static contraction. The psoas major, minor, and quadratus lumborum perform the work by pulling the body up.
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Posted Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Filed under Shoulders, Training
Drop sets and down-the-racks are ideal for blasting the deltoids. Down-the-racks were a favorite method of Larry Scott, probably the best small-boned bodybuilder to ever develop delts as massive as those of the big boys.
Deltoid exercises are particularly suited to down-the-rack training. To perform down-the-rack sets, simply warm up for a few sets and then go to the heaviest bells you can get six reps with. As soon as you fail, be it five, six or seven reps, immediately return those bells to the rack and grab the next lighter pair, which will probably be five pounds lighter.
Don't take any rest. Do as many reps as you can and then return those dumbells to the rack, again immediately grabbing the next lighter bells and so on.
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