Copyright 2005 by Zananda Incorporated, PO Box 4088, La Mesa, California 91944,
All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
Manufactured in the United States of America. First printing October 2005,
2nd printing August 2006
Cover photo by Jack Mitchell, 1979
The Zane Body Training Manual ISBN 0-9636167-3-0
CONTENTS
Why the Zane Body?
The bodybuilding equation
Knowledge of results
2 types of motivation
The Full Body Routine
Elements of good form
Stretching
Zane Nutrition
The Caloric Equation
Food journal
Easy recipes
Your Workout Diary
The 2 Way Split Routine
Upper body workout
Lower body workout
Variations for men & women
The Growth Program
How I did it then, How I'd do it now
Bodybuilding's 3 Rs
Zane Experience Workout Program
Training Cycles
Day 1: Torso
Day 2: Abs, thighs, calves, aerobics
Day 3: Triceps, Biceps, Forearms, abs, aerobics
Healing Injuries
Mind, body and metaphor
Psychological steps in healing injuries
Physique Competition
Pre contest workout routine
Day 1: Torso - Back, shoulders, chest, abs
Day 2: Abdominals, thighs, calves, aerobics
Day 3: Arms (some emphasis on torso definition)
The Art of Posing
Relaxed Round
Compulsory Poses
Free Posing
12 Tips for Contest Preparation
Pre-Contest Dieting
Helpful Goods and Services
Exercises are illustrated throughout the book. The first time a new exercise is
introduced, the start and finish position is shown along with a description of how to best
perform it. Next time it is used in a routine one photo is shown, so you remember what
it is, and a page number given so you can get all the details. All stretches found here.
Before beginning an exercise program be sure to check with a medical professional.
Why the Zane Body?
Only three times in the last century has the epitomized physique been aesthetic,
proportioned, and not overly huge. First it was Eugene Sandow at the turn of the 20th
century. His physique is appropriately sculpted in bronze, fashioned into the Mr.
Olympia trophy. Seemed like bodybuilding was off to a good start, butafter Sandow
began an era of size and strength, bigger is better. The old time strongmen portrayed
this look, men like Louis Cyr and in bodybuilding John Grimek, very strong and big for
his height. Grimek beat Steve Reeves for the Mr. Universe title in 1949, possibly on his
posing ability - he had a sensational posing routine featuring handstands and full splits but he didn't have the classic good looks, development and proportion of Reeves.
Grimek was thick-waisted from the front and didn't show much definition; Reeves had
ide shoulders, small waist, perfect proportion, his posing was nothing sensational but
his body was perhaps the most perfect to exist on this planet.
Next came the 1950s and 60s, size was king again, the monarchy led by Bill Pearl and
Reg Park, well-proportioned but huge and strong. I know them both personally and like
them very much as individuals, but it's bodies I'm talking about, not personalities. Then
came Sergio Oliva, and many years of Arnold Schwarzenegger. It was all about how
much muscle mass a body could attain and these men were the standard of their times.
"A good big man is always better than a good small man" became bodybuilding's
slogan.
A brief window opened in 1977 after Arnold retired and I managed to win Mr. Olympia
three times in a row 1977, 78, and 79 at a bodyweight between 180 and 190 at 5 feet 9
inches tall with emphasis on proportion and definition. The window of opportunity for
physiques less than 200 pounds closed in 1984 and Lee Haney won the title 8 years in a
row, followed by Dorian Yates 5 years running, and now by Ron Coleman's 7 straight
Olympias. Each year physiques grew larger and larger. In the Pearl, Park, Sergio,
Arnold era, the top competitive weight was under 240. The last year Ron Coleman won
the title he weighed 296 pounds at 5 feet 11 inches!
How much bigger will bodies become? With the steroid controversy raging, there is
pressure on bodybuilding competitions to downsize the winners. The 2005 Arnold
Classic awarded Dexter Jackson at 210 pounds the title, triumphing over 300 pound
giants. He truly deserved to win, his definition and proportion were sensational, there
as no doubt in my mind. Bodybuilding fans watchingthe show agreed as well, so why
all this emphasis on large freakiness? September 2005 Iron Man Magazine explains:
"The argument is that hardcore fans, the one's who pay the big bucks for tickets to pro
shows, want to see the biggest, freakiest dudes onstage. Anyone out there want to
comment? We're listening. By the way in our online poll, the question was Which
physique would you like t o have 24/ 7? Results: Frank Zane beat Steve Reeves 26 to
25%. Others in the running were Arnold 22%, Dexter Jackson 13%, Ron Coleman 7%,
and Lee Haney 6.6%."
So there you have it. The public is deluged by the bodybuilding media with big freaky
physiques because that's what the buff fans paying big bucks in the audience want to
see. Not that many of the public want to look like those monsters, they don't, but some
of the fans at the competition do. It's all about them, not about the millions of readers of
muscle magazines who see only big freaky muscle, accompanied by practically 3/4 of
the pages devoted to paid advertising on how to get big freaky muscles. Admit to the
average person on the street that you're a bodybuilder and the usual response is "You
take steroids".
In spite of the fact that only a small percentage of people want to be as big and freaky as
possible, the bodybuilding magazines continue to focus on how to look unreal. That's
hy I began publishing Building the Body Quarterly Magazine, devoid of paid
advertising, devoted to the question "How can I develop the Zane like physique?" The
muscle
magshow
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but I will
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ane body.
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50 years
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The Bodybuilding Equation
Building your body requires more than just lifting weights. Your progress depends upon
the quality of your effort in each of four areas: Exercise, Attitude, Recuperation, and
Nutrition. The bodybuilding equation states that your success is a product of regular
exercise, positive attitude, deep relaxation, and good nutrition.B = E A R N. Since
the relationship between these four factors is multiplicative, you must do your best
at e ach one to make maximum progress.
The exercise factor is determined by your efficiency at weight training, stretching, and
aerobics. This factor measures how hard you train and is usually given the most
attention in people's bodybuilding programs. But by itself, exercise is catabolic. It
doesn't build the body, it destroys it. Exercise must be compensated with anabolic
factors.
The anabolic factors are rest and nutrition. Rest includes sleep and the energy
conservation produced by the relaxation response which you can learn to evoke during
the day; together they constitute how well you relax. Nutrition includes the quality and
right amount of protein, carbohydrates, and fat you eat along with the amino acids,
vitamins, minerals, enzymes, antioxidants and essential fatty acids contained in these
foods. Taking food supplements is a good idea to insure you're getting the essential
nutrients you need.
The catabolic factor of exercise must be balanced with the anabolic factors of rest and
nutrition in order to recuperate, develop muscle and lose fat. This balance is achieved
ith right attitude, which is manifested in your thoughts, speech and behavior and is
reflected in the choices you make in your training, eating, and relaxing.
Not only is it important to maximize your score in all areas of bodybuilding represented
by this equation, it is essential to remember to practice to the best of your ability in all
four areas of exercise, attitude, relaxation, and nutrition. If you leave out a factor
your score becomes zero and so does your progress.
You might ask yourself at the end of every day if you did your best in each of these four
areas. Then give yourself a score ranging from 1.0 for perfect down to 0.1 for minimal
effort. Suppose you rate a 1.0 for exercise, a 0.9 for attitude, a 0.8 for relaxation,, and a
0.7 for nutrition. Multiplying these four factors gives:
1.0 x 0.9 x 0.8 x 0.7 = 0.504 which means your score is approximately 50% of what it
could be. You will still make progress but, only about half as much as you could be
making if you did your best in each area.
Knowledge of Results
Before you can change anything you must first become aware of it. This is called
feedback which means knowledge of results. How well you are doing in your training
progress will be reflected in how your body is changing. Two practices are important
here. The first is to keep a workout diary or journal where you write the exercises,
eights and repetitions, along with a food journal where you keep track of what and
how much you eat and then look up the values (more on this in the Zane Nutrition
chapter). Keeping records of how you train and what you eat will give you the
opportunity to compare this information to how you look.
In bodybuilding it's important to learn to see yourself as others see your body. Looking
in the mirror is not enough, you see what you expect to see. Taking photographs is the
best method. I've done this in the past, especially when preparing for competition and
even now when I have a distinct goal in mind that I'm training to reach. Every 3 to 4
eeks out comes the camera to give me proof of my progress. Seeing how your body is
improving is the best ongoing motivation you can have to sustain your training drive.
With the advent of digital cameras keepingrecord of progress becomes very easy. You
have someone take your photos in relaxed front, side, and back positions and with hands
on hips from the front, arms flexed from the front and back. Outdoors is best when the
sun is at a 45 to 60 degree angle with the horizon so there are no distinct shadows on the
body. I've always preferred 9 am to 11 am depending on the season. Try to duplicate
the lighting conditions each time so you can get accurate comparisons.
Most people who train are only incidentally aware of their improvement. Their trousers
may become loose around the waist, they may drop a few pounds on the scale, their
friends my mention they look younger. But photos don't lie and they should become part
of the archives of your progress. Digital photos can be stored on CDs and last forever.
You'll be glad you did this later on and these records will become valuable. Mine
have. What you see in this training manual is evidence of this practice.
Age 37 (left) and Age 41 (right)
2 Types of Motivation
The reason anyone begins exercising is caused by dissatisfaction with their physical
condition. They don't like the way they look or feel. They've dropped to the lowest
level their sense of self esteem will allow and now is the time to do something about it.
This is call ed de ficiency motivation. You are drive n into a ction be cause you don't
like whe re you are . Your goal is to be s ome whe re e lse , in a more desirable place,
looking and feeling better.
It happens every year. Go to a commercial gym in December, especially late in the
month and it's relatively empty, everybody is eating, drinking, partying, celebrating the
holidays, overindulgence is the norm. Go back in January and the gym is packed with
people who have gained mounds and pounds of fat. And they don't like being this way.
Getting in shape by summer is on their minds and the gym stays crowded during January,
starts to taper off in February, and by March and especially when the weather warms
up, the place is back to normal.
Now if the only reason people have to drive or motivate themselves is this new distain
they have for their out of shape bodies, this training enthusiasm will not last. If you can
become motivated to act only by how low you sink physically then you will train,
improve, not become fully aware of your improvement, stop or slow down because
something more interesting comes along, maybe some new exercise or eating fad that's
going to do it for you, and you gradually return to your out of shape condition. If you are
not made fully aware of the progress you are making, then it is very likely you will not
persist and continue to improve in your training.
Being made aware of your progress is called success motivation. You are motivated by
your accomplishment. And you want more, so you continue to train and continue to
improve. I've already explained how to become aware of your progress and that is by
taking photographs over time andstudying them. That's why there are progressive
training programs in this book, the full body program for beginners; make it past that
stage and move to the two way split routine; persist in your workouts and improvement
and graduate to the three way split routine. But if you can only be motivated by how out
of shape you let yourself become by giving up training after you lose interest due to lack
of feedback, then you only need a beginners routine.
Awareness is the key. Before you can change anything you must first become aware of
hat needs to be altered. Photos tell you this. You must do it. If you don't, you will not
ust stay in the same shape. You will regress. The body is always changing either for
better or worse. It's your choice.
Many people don't realize that they make the choice as to how their bodies develop over
time. Bodybuilders make this choice consciously - they follow a specific training
routine, a nutritious diet, get enough rest, and have the attitude of expectation of
progress. The average out of shape person is not like this. Fatso has something on
hich to blame his out of shape condition. He doesn't realize that every choice he's
ever made has contributed to the creation of his body as it is today. Yes, choices were
made but they were not conscious choices. You either choose consciously or your
conditioning, your belief system, what you've learned about how circumstances should
be, all these things choose for you. The choice is made unconsciously.
Now since everyone is creating their bodies minute by minute, consciously or
unconsciously by their choices, this means that we have tremendous power as creators.
We don't have to let bad habits change us, we can take control and make the choices that
lead us in the right direction of getting in shape. This training manual describes these
right choices.
Later I'll explain how what we think and what we say effect what we do. Think the right
thoughts and say the right words and you will perform the right actions to get you
moving and keep you moving in the direction of your goal. As I've continued to do this
for the last 50 years I realize that this path I'm traveling in the direction of peak
condition is the goal itself.
Age 18
Age 52
The Full Body Routine
In the beginning, whether you are starting to work out with weights for the first time in
your life, or if you are starting over again after having not trained for some long period
of time, a full body routine is best. You exercise your entire body in one session two or
at most, three times each week.
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routinebench,
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But allow
me to warn you,
unless you have a well-equipped good traiing atmosphere as your home gym, you are
not likely to continue training with enthusiasm. That's why it's more motivating to go to
a well-equipped health studio. 1. All the necessary equipment is there, you just need to
learn how to use it properly, and2. The atmosphere is more motivating because there
are other people training there too. A word of caution - go to your gym when the more
serious people are training and it is not extremely crowded. Health studios are most
crowded between the hours of 5 and 7 pm (after work), early in the morning (before
ork), and sometimes at noon (lunch time). So choose a time that best works for you
and stick to it.
You might say that this is a program for someone out of shape. It's a beginner's routine,
the simplest workout you can do to make progress. There is an advantage o
t being out
of shape - that is youdon't need to do much exercise to get a good workout. Your body
is not ready for it yet. As you continue to train consistently, you body becomes
accustomed to this exercise and responds by becoming stronger and developing more
stamina. At the time this occurs you can do more, but for now, less is better. Here's the
program:
It's a good idea to start with abdominal exercise. Most people need to improve their
midsections and by doing it first you pay more attention to this area and are sure not to
neglect it. Training abs first in your program also serves as a warm up for the rest of
the muscles in your body, especially your legs, which come next in the order. Finally
upper body is worked. Bigger muscle groups are exercised first after abs, so it's thighs,
then calves (not a big muscle group, but working calves next will help you regain
stamina for the upper body work to follow). The sequence of upper body work is
according to biggest muscles first: back, chest, shoulders, triceps, biceps, forearms. By
orking bigger muscle groups first you force blood to flow into the area and stimulate
other adjacent body parts.
After you work abdominals, you should stretch the bodypart you will be working.
Stretches (see pages 14 & 15) are held for 15 seconds and are done immediately before
and after each set of weight training exercises. This helps warm up the muscles and
oints, enhances flexibility, and allows you time to let your pulse and breathing return to
near normal.
ABS
Leg Raise
Keeping knees slightly bent and abs tensed throughout the movement, only bring your
legs up to a 45 degree angle like in the photo. Do between 10 and 20 repetitions or up
to 30 if you can. This one works lower abs.
Crunches
With feet elevated, raise your head and your hips off the floor or surface you're lying on
and hold the contraction for one second. If you raise your shoulders up too far you will
not be able to bring your hips up far enough. This is your main upper abdominal
exercise so practice and get the form right. Do at least 10 to 20 repetitions or more,
they're not that hard. Your neck will get stronger too.
Seate d Twist
With a light pole (less than 5 pounds) on your shoulders, keep looking straight ahead
and twist gently to each side, increasing the speed and range of motion as you continue
the exercise. Don't force it, just relax and do at least 20 to 30 repetitions, it's an easy
exercise, before long you'll be able to do 100 of them. This one trims the sides:
obliques and firms the intercostals muscles.
THIGHS
Barbell front squat
Clean a barbell up to your shoulders and stand with your heels on a 2 by 4 inch block.
Keep your elbows as high as possible and slowly descend into the low position,
keeping your upper body as erect as possible. Do 10 repetitions followed by 1 leg
back stretch for 15 seconds. Feel the pump in your frontal thigh muscles (quadriceps).
Lunge
Place your front foot on a bench about 12 inches high holding a light dumbbell in each
hand and lunge as deep as possible so your knee stays behind your toes. Do 10
repetitions with each leg followed by 1 leg up stretch 15 seconds for your hamstrings.
CALVES
Sta nding c alf raise
You need a standingcalf machine for this one, or a Smith Machine or a Leg Blaster. If
you have none, strap some weights around your waist and stand on a step or calf block
and do 15 repetitions by raising your heels up in the air as high as possible and holding
at the top of each rep for a count of 5. You should feel a slight burning sensation at the
end of the set. Then do calf stretch 15 seconds and walk around your gym for a few
minutes, feeling the pump in your calves before you begin the upper body exercises.
UPPER BACK
If you don't have access to a lat machine for doing front pulldowns you can do wide grip
front chins instead. Problem is that some people aren't strong enough to do wide grip
chin ups, so if this is your case you can do negative chins, here's how. Stand on a box,
grasp an overhead chinning bar with your hands about 3 feet apart (I prefer a grip where
my thumbs aren't wrapped around the bar), jump up touching your chin to the bar, hold it
for a second and then lower yourself as slowly as possible. Do 10 to 12 reps this way
and soon you'll be able to do full chin ups on your own. But with a lat machine you can
adjust the weight and have more control over the range of motion of the exercise.
Front pulldown
Grasp the bar right where it bends with a thumbless grip and pull it down to touch your
upper chest, arching your back and leaning slightly backward. Do not pause there but
let it go back slowly to the arms extended position. This is called a "slow negative"
and will make the exercise more effective. Hint: Try not extending your arms as much
as shown in the photos and you will keep the pump more in your lats and not so much in
your shoulders. Choose a weight that allows you to do 12 repetitions then follow
immediately with 2 arm lat stretch 15 seconds.
CHEST
30 degree incline dumbbell press
A low angle of 20 to 30 degrees using a neutral grip on the dumbbells (your palms are
facing each other) will allow you to stretch deeply and work your pecs more. As you
push the dumbbells upward rotating them into the finished position you transfer some of
the effect to the front deltoids. If you keep a neutral grip throughout the movement and
don't lockout you'll feel the pump more in your upper pecs and not as much in the front
deltoids. Do 12 repetitions followed by doorway stretch for 15 seconds.
SERRATUS AND RIBCAGE
Dumbbell Pullover
Lie across a flat bench, grasp a dumbbell holding the plates with both hands, let your
head hang down slightly and lower the dumbbell with arms slightly bent as far down
toward the floor as possible as you inhale. Getting a deep stretch downward is the most
important part ofthis exercise. Exhale on the way up and stop when the dumbbell is
right over your face. This is a wonderful exercise for serratus (where the lats attach to
the ribcage) ribcage, lower pecs, and rear head of triceps. Do 12 repetitions, followed
by one arm shoulder stretch 15 seconds. Many people don't do this exercise but I've
done it ever since I've started weight training and that's why I had the world's best
serratus.
LOW CENTRAL LATS
Bent over Barbell Rowing
Keep knees slightly bent, take a shoulder width grip without wrapping your thumbs
around the bar (thumbless grip) and pull the bar up until it touches right below your
pectorals. Let the bar stretch down close to the floor and keep your upper body parallel
to the floor as much as possible during the exercise but it's OK if your upper body
moves up and down slightly. Do 12 repetitions followed by 2 arm lat stretch, for 15
seconds.
SHOULDERS
Overhead Dumbbell Press
This exercise became known as the "Arnold Press" although I first saw Larry Scott
doing it. Sit against a steep incline, about 70 degrees to support the upper back and
hold the dumbbells with palms facing toward you. Rotate hands outward as you press
upward and keep rotating as you stop just short of lockout at the top. Do 12 repetitions,
rear deltoid stretch 15 seconds each arm.
BICEPS
Ba rbell Curl
Is a good biceps developer because the hands are supinated at the completion of the
curl. The biceps contract when you curl and also when you turn the wrist outward.
Problem is that if you lower the bar to arms completely straight you can put stress on the
inner elbow, so stop short of arms going completely straight on the way down. Keep
rist straight while curling and tense the biceps at the top of the curl. Begin to lower
the bar slowly. Do 12 repetitions followed by pronated arms back stretch for 15
seconds.
TRICEPS
Dumbbell Triceps Extension
Do 1 arm shoulder stretch before this exercise. Keeping your upper arms close to your
head, grasp one dumbbell as in doing pullovers, and lower the dumbbell as far down
behind your neck as possible, then extend to an arms slightly unlocked position. Do 12
repetitions followed by arms back stretch 15 seconds.
FOREARMS
Gripper
The gripper shown in the photo is the Iron Man "Super Gripper" - tension is adjusted by
moving the springs up or down. Any hand grippers are OK, pick some that you can do
for at least 12 repetitions then follow with pronated arms back stretch 15 seconds.
This concludes your weight workout and now is a good time to do aerobic activity. My
favorites are walking at 3 to 4 miles per hour on a treadmill for 12 to 15 minutes or
recumbent stationary bike for the same amount of time. It's best to do your cardio
training at the end of your workout because your blood glucose levels are low and your
body starts converting stored body fat to give you energy. So you burn fat. Also, when
your blood sugar is low like it is at the end of your workout, your attention span is
compromised and your focus is not as keen. Although you must pay strict attention to
your form on weight training exercises, this is not necessary for cardio. It might even be
an
advantage
be a little
spaced
when Your
you are
walking
on a treadmill
stationary
biketogoing
nowhere.
It'sout
boring!
body
is on automatic
sinceorthepedaling a
movement is highly repetitive, so go on a mental journey, watch television, listen to
music, read a book (but don't lose your balance) and the aerobic time will be over
before you know it.
You have done a total of14 exercises counting abdominal movements. Rest as long as
necessary between sets until your breathing returns to near normal. The sequence is
stretch 15 seconds, do the exercise, stretch 15 seconds, rest, move to next exercise. If it
takes you 45 seconds to do each exercise, 15 seconds to stretch, and a minute to rest
between sets, this means that you will complete each exercise and stretch every 2
minutes, so 14 exercises should take you about a half hour. Add aerobic activity at the
end of the workout and your should be in and out of the gym in less than an hour.
Do one set of each exercise for the first two weeks, or if you feel this is enough,
continue it for a month. You should feel a little soreness in parts of your body the next
day. Pay attention to where you feel the soreness. Are some parts ofyour body more
soar than others? If so, use a slightly heavier weight for those areas not feeling
anything. The weight you use should be heavy enough to do the suggested number of
repetitions or maybe one or two more in good form.
After 2 to 4 weeks you should be ready to add a second set of each exercise, doubling
the length of your workout. Try to go a little heavier on the second set, but if you find
you are needing to rest too long between sets to use more weight on your second set,
then
useeach
the exercise
same amount
weight
gotoeven
lighter
your second
set. 12
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minutes of cardio in less than an hour and a half.
If you are going heavier on your second set, don't go much heavier, maybe 2.5 to 5
pounds on dumbbells and 5 to 10 pounds with barbells. When you use more weight on
your second set, decrease the reps to 10 reps. So it's 12 reps on the first set, 10 reps on
the second set.
You get in shape because your body accommodates or gets used to what you are doing.
Each workout causes a condition of "micro-trauma" in the muscles, capillaries are
forced to bleed, waste products accumulate in the bloodstream, and rest and good
nutrition are necessary to allow your body to heal itself. And your body heals itself past
the point where it formerly was. This means you get into better shape. But you will
eventually find that with a full body workout there is not enough time to do everything
you need to do to continue to allow your body to make progress. The workout becomes
longer and longer and what you do near the end of your session gets neglected or
deleted.
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. With
this program you will be able to devote adequate attention to all parts of your body so
everything gets exercised thoroughly.
The full body routine can be used for a while if you are coming back to regular exercise
after a layoff. It's also a good compromise routine whenyou are traveling and don't
have the time or energy to train hard.
Elements of Good Form
1. Negatives should always be slower than positives.
2. Range of motion: Concentrate on moving the weight through the pathway where
you feel a pump in the muscles you are working.
3. Breathe: Inhale and exhale on each repetition, do not hold your breath. Count
each repetition to yourself.
4. Rhythm: Each repetition should be rhythmic, smooth and not jerky.
5. Stretch between each set, at least 15 seconds.
The better your form, the more shapely your muscles will develop. Each exercise you
perform in your routine is meant to isolate a specific area. If you cheat and use loose
form, the effect of the exercise becomes more global and is spread over a wider area of
the body. Doing cheating barbell curls can work your lower back and deltoids more
than your biceps. So use only enough weight to feel it directly in the muscle. Muscles
only need so much weight to develop. Using extremely heavy weights stresses joints,
tendons, and ligaments more than it develops the muscles.
Everyone knows it's easier to lower a weight than to lift it. This is due to gravity. If
you lower your weights quickly you lose the muscle building effect of the negative. The
negative is the eccentric part of the movement where the muscle fibers stretch back to
normal. If you resist gravity by doing your negatives more slowly, you will stimulate
the muscles more deeply and induce more growth. Because muscles stretch back to
normal length non-uniformly you are about 40% stronger on the negative.
The positive or lifting part of an exercise has in the past been considered the most
important part of an exercise movement. So bodybuilders did fast negatives so they
could lift more on the positive phase. This did build muscle but, as I found out after
training this way for some years, can lead to injury. Doing faster negatives, bouncing
the weight each rep can throw the weight out of the groove and you can cause pain.
Slower negatives keep the weight in the correct pathway more efficiently lessening the
chance of injury.
Slower negatives make lighter weights feel heavier, so you don't have to use a ton of
eight to build muscles. The positive phase of a repetition should be done with enough
force to bring the weight to the end of the range of movement you want on the exercise.
During the first few reps of a set, this may not mean too much effort, but for the last few
reps it usually does. If all your positives are easy, as in super slow rep training with
higher repetitions, you lose the effectiveness of the negative because you don't use a
heavier weight on the positive. This means your negative will naturally be lighter and
build less muscle. If you are using heavier weights that only allow a few positive reps
(I don't recommend it at this stage of the program) your positives will naturally be
slower because it's harder to push (or pull) the heavier weight. Do your positives in a
controlled explosive fashion, with just enough force to go to completion, then do a
slower negative.
In order to isolate a muscle you are working sometimes it is necessary to do partial
repetitions. A good example of this is the front pulldown. If you extend your arms fully,
locking out the elbows, you transfer the effect of the exercise from lats to deltoids.
Since you are doing front pulldowns to work your lats, don't bring your deltoids into the
equation by extending your arms fully. You'll get a better pump in your lats if you do
pulldowns this way. A pump is a swe ll fee ling in your muscles. You should be able
to get a pump on every exercise you perform in your workout
. Pumping up your
muscles and looking into the mirror at a new you is like looking into the future of your
body. You need to learn to send massive blood flows into localized areas of the body
to induce a sufficient catabolic state that when rested and repaired results in new
muscular development.
There
a tendency
to hold
your catch
breathyourself
when lifting
a heavy
Avoid immediately.
this by
alwaysisbreathing
freely.
If you
holding
yourweight.
breath, exhale
You should inhale and exhale on every repetition. I believe that since the body
instinctively knows how to breath by itself, you do not need to impose artificial
breathing constraints. Just breath freely and don't hold your breath. Pay attention to the
sensations your body is feeling as you do each repetition in good form; this is done
against a background of counting each repetition.
You can discern the muscle developing experience of a bodybuilder by the way he does
his repetitions. Each rep is rhythmic, controlled in a piston-like fashion. One's
attention is entirely on the performance of the exercise, nothing else exists, you become
one with the movement. Advanced martial artists know what I'm talking about. You
are not separate from what you do.
Stretching
Stretching between sets will double the effectiveness of your workout. Since you have
to rest anyway between sets, stretching is a perfect way to fill this time gap. When you
stretch don't force it, just relax into the stretch slowly without bouncing, hold it for 15
seconds breathing normally, then come out of the stretch slowly, ready for your next set.
The stretch involves the muscles you are working and gives these muscles more of a
pump. Think or say the breathing mantra "I am flexible and can stretch my limits."
Stretching is an activity that is neglected in bodybuilding routines. When it is done, it is
usually at the beginning of the workout. There is nothing wrong with this, it's a good
idea to begin each workout by stretching, you got to get blood flowing in the muscles
you are going to work with weights, it's a great warm up. But continue your stretching
throughout your entire workout. Be sure to stretch immediately after each and every
set. Some people like stretching antagonistic muscles during a workout. For example,
after chest work instead of doing doorway stretch they might do 2 arm lat stretch. I have
no objection to this, but do prefer to stretch the working muscles because it gives a
better pump.
It's hard to stretch too much. Just don't do ballistic bouncing stretching because you can
injure yourself with this. Once you reach your fully stretched position you should hold
it for 15 seconds, the stretch becomes static. Be gentle and your flexibility will
gradually improve. When you are sore the next day after a workout do some
stretching. Stiff in the morning when you get out of bed? Try taking a hot shower
followed by stretching. Swimming is also a good activity on days between workouts
because of the relaxing stretching effect it has on the body. I'm not talking about fast
competitive swimming.
Here's a list of the stretches and the areas of the body they affect:
Calf Stretch
Stand on a step or calf block and hold heels in the down position at first with knees
slightly bent, then straighten knees and feel the pull in your calves.
One Leg Up Stretch
Prop up your foot on an elevated bench (how much elevation depends on your lower
back and hamstring flexibility - I go about 3 to 4 feet off the floor). Lock the knee and
lean slightly forward and feel it in the hamstrings, buttocks, and lower back.
One Leg Back Stretch
With body in an upright position, bend your lower leg backward at the knee, grab your
ankle and try to touch your heel to your buttock on the same side. This really loosens up
the front of the knee and stretches the quadriceps, or frontal thigh muscles.
Two Arm Lat Stretc h
Grasp a vertical bar with both hands about waist height and feet placed inward near the
bar. Bend forward at the waist and let your butt stick out in the back pulling gently with
each arm. Feel the effect in your lower back, shoulders, and biceps.
One Arm Lat Stret ch
Stand sideways to a vertical bar and grasp the bar with your lower hand about 3 feet
above the floor and pull. With your other upper hand push against the bar. This gives
the lower lat (the one attached to the lower hand you are pulling with) a tremendous
stretch. Reverse foot position and repeat with the other hand. This is a great stretch to
do immediately after one-arm dumbbell row.
One Arm Shoulder Stretc h
This is a good one to start your upper body workout with. Begin by stretching both arms
overhead as far as your can reach, bending backward a bit. Then grab your right elbow
ith your left hand and pull straight backward. Next, grab left elbow with right hand
and pull. This really gets the shoulders and the triceps as well. I always do this one
before and after pullovers and one-arm dumbbell triceps extension.
Doorway Stretch
Stand in an opening, wider than a doorway if possible like a power rack or a Smith
Machine, hold each side of the vertical bar and lean forward with arms straight. Let
your bodyweight pull you forward and feel it stretch your front deltoids, upper pecs, and
biceps.
Rear D eltoid Stretc h
Bend one arm at the elbow and pull the elbow around in front of your neck with your
opposite hand. Then do the same with other arm. You should really feel this stretch in
the rear deltoids, a small portion of the upper lats and triceps and contraction in the
front deltoids
Arms Back Stretc h
Bend forward at the waist and with arms straight push them as far backward as you can.
Feel it in the triceps and rear deltoids. Arnold used to walk around the gym doing this
stretch between sets of triceps work.
Pronated Arms Back Stretch
This is the same stretch as above, but in addition, turn your thumbs up in the air
(pronation) and feel it in the lower biceps and forearms.
Zane Nutrition
You'll
never years
get inago
shape
you"You
eat right.
Well
maybe you
not.want,
I knew
prominent
bodybuilder
whounless
told me
can eat
whatever
as along
as you
train 6 hours a day". It's up to you. I'd rather eat right and train less than this. Most of
my life occurs outside of the gym.
The first step in a good nutrition program is to clean up your diet by minimizing or
better yet, eliminating the following foods. In general they are in the category of fast
foods or junk foods, containing excess fat and sugar, refined and lacking in fiber. Here's
a list:
Bread
The kind you buy in a super market which is refined and lacking in fiber. Doesn't matter
if it says "whole wheat" if you can squeeze it into a ball, you don't want to eat this
mush. Up to two slices of high fiber bread a day, the kind that will break or crumble
hen squeezed is OK. I personally eat one slice of sprouted flaxseed bread most days
ith breakfast.
Potatoes
An occasional baked potato is ok. I have one a week and scoop a little of the white out
of the inside and fill it with my wife's broccoli. Mashed potatoes, French fries, hash
browns, home fries are out.
hite rice
White rice is lacking in fiber, brown or wild rice is ok.
Pasta
Nothing will get you fatter than a big bowl of pasta for your evening meal.
If you must eat any of the above foods have small amounts early in the day. The best
time is right after your workout with a little bit of protein. Bread, potatoes, white rice,
and pasta all have a very high glycemic index. This means your body turns them into
sugar very quickly when you eat them, causing a rapid rise in blood glucose. As a result
your pancreas secretes large amounts of insulin (this is called an "insulin spike") to
absorb the blood sugar intothe muscles. Eating these and the foods that follow
throughout the day leads to formation of excess body fat. The only time you want to
spike your insulin is within a half hour after your workout. Then the result is glycogen
storage and the creation of an anabolic condition allowing for better recovery from
orkouts and more muscle growth. Research shows a ratio of carb to protein of 4 to 1
gives the best effect.
Glycemic index or GI is a numerical system ranging from 1 to 100 which measures how
much of a rise in circulating blood sugar a carbohydrate triggers. The higher the GI the
greater the blood sugar response. A low GI food will cause a small rise, while a high
GI food will induce a dramatic blood sugar spike. A GI of 70 or more is considered
high, a GI of 55 or less is low.
Glycemic load or GL gives a more complete picture than glycemic index alone. GI
tells you how rapidly a particular carbohydrate turns into sugar but doesn't tell you how
much of that carbohydrate is in a serving of a particular food. You need to eat smaller
servings of foods with a high glycemic index so you don't spike your blood sugar.
Watermelon, for example has a high glycemic index but a low glycemic load. A GL of
20 or more is considered high, a GL of 10 or less is low. For a comprehensive list of
the GI and GL of foods log on to www.mendosa.com.
So when you eat carbs, even those with a high glycemic index, combine them with
protein (especially after a workout) to lower the GI. If you eat carbs alone, use them as
a chaser for free form amino acids. The insulin secreted helps the aminos absorb. Eat
smaller portions of carbs with a high glycemic load (GL).
Other foods to cross off your list of regular eating ispizza (lots of refined carbs and
saturated fat); breakfast cereals (refined starch flakes with added sugar);instant
oatmeal (a bowl of mush with little fiber - the best oatmeal is the thicker flaked
variety like rolled oats, mother's oats, or oat groats); ice cream (has a low glycemic
index but is high in calories, sugar and fat); pancakes (starch usually smeared with
potato chips (high glycemic index starch with lots of salt);
sugary
butter);
pe anut syrup
butt e rand
(small
amounts
aren't too bad, but most people eat too much - best not to
keep it in the house);Mexican food (a combination of starch and lard);dried fruit
(dates, raisins have a very high glycemic index. Of course if you use small amounts
ith protein like cottage cheese you lower this index);fruit juice (has a high glycemic
index, but is ok when mixed with a protein powder - eating the whole fruit which
contains fiber to slow down the absorption of the sugar is much better, and a good
laxative since fruit has a short colon transit time);milk (a good source of calcium but
has one and a half times more sugar (lactose) in it than protein. A small amount of milk,
especially the low carb milks on the market today, in a protein drink is ok when sipped
slowly.); corn has a high glycemic index, but a cob of corn with a meal can be ok;
carrots have a high glycemic index too, but one never eats a lot of carrots (or corn for
that matter) at one time (raw carrots in a salad are OK) - both these foods have a low
glycemic load which means it would take a large amount to significantly spike your
insulin levels); fast foods in general have tons of calories from lots of saturated fat and
sugar (Did you see the movie "Super Size Me"?) Candy (lots of calories from fat and
sugar), pastries (lots of starch, fat, and sugar),soft drinks (carbonated sugar water, diet
colas are the worst because the phosphoric acid they contain can dissolve bone
calcium. Watch out for diet sodas that contain caffeine too). Beer and wine do have
food value but if you can't just have an occasional drink you shouldn't drink at all.
Hard
liquor has no food value. Mixed drinks contain sugar on top of the hard liquor, lots of
calories. There is no way you can get in shape if you drink a lot. Alcohol has 7
calories per gram, fat has 9, protein and carbs 4 calories per gm.
Watch out forexce ss sal t in your diet, more than 2 grams a day is not recommended.
Avoid use of white sugar in beverages, better to use the artificial stuff if you don't use a
lot, Splenda is probably the best one. Although it contains caffeine, both black and
green tea are good for you because they are anti-oxidants. Moderate amounts of coffee
seem OK, but only when consumed with food or after a meal. Caffeine stimulates
muscle contraction, and the oils in coffee tend to kill hunger especially after a meal. My
diet is usually so austere that I allow myself two cups of coffee a day, one in the
morning and another late afternoon. If you like the taste of coffee but o
yur body is too
sensitive to caffeine, use decaf made with freshly ground beans.
You don't have to be a fanatic to g
et into good shape, but you do have to eat sensibly. If
you eat too much of the above foods, make up for it the next day by eating very little.
Don't fall victim to fallacious reasoning like "Since I went off my diet, I might as well
stay off it for a while and really indulge myself". If you go off your diet do so for only
one meal, then get right back to eating right. You can do more cardio and abdominal
training also to compensate.
As you grow older your should eat fewer calories but more nutritionally dense
calories. Research shows that animals fed calorie restricted diets live longer than those
ho eat normal amounts of food. An explanation given is if you eat less you simply
secrete less insulin and too much insulin can be problematic. So eat less, live longer,
there will be less of you to carry around. One way to do this is to supplement your diet
ith vitamins, minerals, enzymes, essential fatty acids, protein supplements, and free
form amino acids. More details about that later in the book.
Here's a typical day of eating for me:
Upon arising- 6 to 7 am I ingest free form amino acids, especially L-arginine, and
follow with a small piece of fruit.
Breakfast is usually an hour later. My typical morning meal is two hard boiled eggs
sliced in half, placed on a slice of sprouted flaxseed toast covered with low or non fat
cream cheese, with a sprinkling of walnuts stuck to the cream cheese. I eat this between
sips of coffee.
Lunch is during late morning, not later than noon, and I have six ounces of low carb
yogurt with a scoop (two heaping tablespoons) of egg white protein mixed in.
Early dinneris around 3 to 4 pm and is some combination of meat (chicken, turkey,
beef, fish, pork, any kind of lean meat) and one vegetable or salad.
During t he e arly eve ning not later than 9 pm I have something similar to lunch, i.e.
yogurt mixed with a scoop of egg white protein and usually a small handful of pecans or
almonds and berries. Before bed I ingest a few grams of L-tryptophan or up to 10 mg of
melatonin followed by a small piece of fruit. I sleep soundly.
My eating plan to lose body fat is to eat one gram of protein per pound of bodyweight,
hich for me is around 180 pounds, one half gram of carbs per pound of bodyweight,
ith approximately 25% of my calories coming from fat. Every fourth day I eat more
carbs to bring my total consumption up to match my protein intake, i.e. 180 grams of
carbs daily. I may not wait until the fourthday if I have a hard workout coming up.
When I do, I eat half of my daily carb intake right after my workout to spike my insulin
and put my body in an anabolic condition. Protein always stays at one gram per pound
of body weight and fats at 25% of total calories. Of course this does vary from time to
time, but this is how it averages out.
The Caloric Equation
Since both protein and carbohydrate contain 4 calories per gram and 25% of my
calories come from fat (this means that 3/4 or 75% of my calories come from a
combination of protein plus carbs), here's how my caloric intake figures out:
Protein calories + Carb calories = 3/4 total calories, so 180 gm x 4 cal/gm + 90 gm x 4
cal/gm
= 3/4 Total
& /720
= 3/4calories
T, 1080per
= 3/4
solv
ing the
equation
formy
T
(total calories)
I getcal.,
(1080
3) x+4360
= 1440
day.T,On
days
when
I double
carbs the equation changes to 720 + 720 = 3/4 T, T = 1920 total calories.
Keep a F ood Journal
The fist step in determining how many calories you should eat daily is to learn how
much you have been eating. Get yourself a notebook which now becomes your food
ournal. Write down everything you eat. The rule is if you eat it you must write it
down. Estimate the portion size and look up the values of protein, carbohydrate, and fat
grams in a little booklet you can buy in any large bookstore. I use "Dr Atkins Low
Carbohydrate Gram Counter" which gives all these values. Do this for ten days, add up
your
total, let's
say
it'saverage
25,000 2500
calories,
then per
move
theThis
decimal
oneofplace
to the
left, showing
that
you
calories
day.
is theplace
amount
energy
you
are used to taking in to enable you to do the work you do and not get hungry. And if you
ant to lose body fat you will need to reduce this amount. I've found 10 to 12 calories
per pound of desired bodyweight is a good amount.
If you are a vegetarian it is essential that you get enough protein in your diet if you want
to stay muscular and not get flabby. It takes more thanbeans and rice to build muscle.
Eliminating flesh consumption should be compensated by adding food supplements that
are not from animal sources. Lacto-ovo vegetarians have it easier, they can consume
eggs and diary products, which are the two best sources of protein anyway. But vegans
have a real challenge. Protein supplements like egg white, whey, and caesinate are out.
It is essential that vegans consume free form amino acids with their carbohydrate
meals. Free form amino acids are not animal products but are biologically engineered
through a sophisticated fermentation process. Free form means not bound to a protein
molecule, but existing singularly. They do not require digestion and are taken up almost
instantly bythe body. Of course if you are a junk food vegetarian there may be no hope
for you.
Some authority once told me that the average person eats from a selection of 12
recipes. So if you are living on a dozen selections make sure they are healthy. Another
factor to consider is ease of preparation. Eating out at restaurants isn't such a good idea
if you want to get in top shape. You can order anything you want and eat unlimited
portions. We don't tempt ourselves by eating out more not than twice a week. When
e do we go to the same restaurants which have proven themselves to us and order the
same thing. You'll save a lot of money by eating at home (use the extra bucks to buy
food supplements) and get to choose the best ingredients. And you'll be more
motivated to eat at home if the preparation is simple. So here are some of our favorite
recipes from which you can choose your top 12:
Easy Recipes
Multi-Grain Cereal
This takes a little preparation but it is worth it. Buy oat grouts, barley pearls, and rye
grain at a health food store. At night before bed put 1/3 cup of each in a pot with a cup
of water and soak overnight. The next morning you will find that the grains have
absorbed the water, so add another few ounces and bring to a slow boil and cook for
about 20 minutes. This is one of the best carbohydrate mixtures I've ever eaten and
often have it on my higher carb days. It's excellent as part of breakfast or after a
orkout with protein.
Scrambled Eggs with c heese
Many people suffer from cholesterol phobia and are afraid to eat whole eggs. So they
throw away the yolk which contains valuable sulfur bearing amino acids like
methionine, choline, and lecithin as well as cholesterol and cook only the white. This
cuts the protein of the egg down from 6 grams to only 3 grams. (This is one reason I
developed my own Egg White Protein). Eggs are expensive enough, why waste them?
Eggs for breakfast provide some fat in the diet which is useful in retarding morning
hunger. This how I do it: Spray a Teflon frying pan with Pam, and turn on the heat.
After about 30 seconds add a slice of Swiss Alpine Lace Cheese (the best high protein
reduced fat cheese I know) and let it melt. As it melts add a sprinkling of jalapeno or
Tabasco sauce, then crack open 2 to 3 eggs and stir them in. Cook until you have the
desired consistency (I like mine "soft').
Hi Prote in Pa ncakes
Mix a half cup of oat bran with 6 ounces of yogurt and a cup of blended fruit (apples,
peaches, berries are delicious), then add a scoop of egg white protein in a blender and
mix
until
you
have aonthick
inch diameter
circles
Pam
sprayed
Teflon
pan,
brown
eachpaste.
side. Pour
They three
are delicious.
You can
addon
a to
little
low
fat cream
cheese or some trans fatty acid free butter or a little honey to taste.
We always keep a supply of hard boiled eggs in our refrigerator. I use them in my
egg/cream cheese/walnut/flax toast already described. Christine cooks up a dozen at a
time. She puts them in a large pot, fills it with water and brings it to a boil. Then the
heat gets turned off and the pot is covered with a lid for a half hour. The eggs are then
taken out of the water and allowed to cool a bit before they are placed in the
refrigerator in a bowl. Cooking eggs this way gives the yolk a creamy texture and the
hite a non rubbery feel. Crack them all over and run cold water over them when
peeling, it's easy. They make a good snack during the day.
Tuna with hard boiled egg
Tuna with a hard boiled egg was my lunch most days when I taught school. The
preparation was simple. Open a can of water packed white albacore tuna, squeeze out
the
water, put(Smart
into aBeat
smallisplastic
add
a tablespoon
or egg
2 ofon
non
fatto break
mayonnaise
a goodcontainer,
brand), and
put
a hard boiled
top
open when you are ready to eat. You can add some alfalfa sprouts for taste and texture.
Fish Ste w
Fish stew is a recipe I prepare when I'm in a lazy mood and don't want to spend more
than 5 minutes making lunch or dinner. Open a can of Minestrone chicken with wild
rice or chicken noodle soup, put in a sauce pan, add a can of drained water pack white
albacore tuna, a few drops of jalapeno or Tabasco sauce and heat for a few minutes,
stopping short of a boil. You can microwave this mixture too, but I think it tastes better
cooked. Then put a slice of Swiss Alpine Lace Cheese on top. You've got a meal
containing over 50 grams of protein, 25 grams of carbs, and very little fat in very little
time.
Roas ted Bee f
Buy a big piece of beef roast and put in a large baking pan sprayed with Pam. Before
you bake it fry each side of the meat until brown. Then put it in your oven and cook at
375 to 400 degrees for a good 3 to 4 hours, the longer the more tender. We love this
dish, which provides us with meat for salads and sandwiches for days. Served with a
vegetable like green beans micro waved a few minutes or a salad with raspberry
vinaigrette dressing makes a fortifying meal.
Turkey with Mushrooms
Turkey with mushrooms is a quick meal, you can also substitute a sliced up sirloin
steak, lean ground sirloin, or chicken. Spray a pan with Pam, heat for 30 seconds, then
add a bunch of slicked mushrooms, and you can add chopped onions too if you have
some on hand. Then add the meat along with a little Worcestershire sauce, and toss it
around with a Teflon spoon as it cooks. Just brown the meat and it's ready to eat.
M icrowaved chicken brea sts or t highs
Microwaved chicken breasts or thighs is a quick meal. Just place a few of them frozen
on a plate covered with plastic wrap and microwave for three minutes. Add your
favorite vegetable or salad and you have a very quick lunch or dinner. It makes a great
sandwich too, I put a slice of Swiss Alpine Lace Cheese in there on sprouted flaxseed
toast.
Chicken Salad
Chicken salad is a meal we eat at one of our favorite restaurants which serves a huge
portion for only $12.95. (Christine gets the normal size and we share). This particular
salad has chunks of blue cheese mixed in with oil and vinegar dressing. I take a few
chitosan capsules before eating to lessen the fat absorption.
Squash Casserole
Squash casserole is a delicious vegetarian dish that can be prepared in under an hour.
Cook four yellow crook necked squash until tender and then mash them, add 2
tablespoons trans fatty acid free butter, 3 beaten whole eggs, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, 1/2
pound grated cheddar cheese (you can use The Alpine Swiss Lace if you want to save
some calories), and one sliced onion. Pour this mixture into a casserole dish sprayed
ith Pam and bake in an oven at 350 degrees for 45 minutes until golden brown on top.
Turkey or ground sirloin burgers with zucchini
Spray a George Foreman grille with Pam, place two ground turkey burgers and zucchini
sliced length wise, close and cook for about 10 minutes. If you are cooking sirloin,
keeping the top of the grill open and flipping the burgers after 6 minutes will not cook
the inside and give you medium rare meat.
Cottage cheese, fresh fruit and nuts
How simple is that, just mix it all together. Add a little egg white protein to boost the
protein grams. This is a quick and easy snack.
Yogurt Berry Pudding
Microwave a dozen frozen strawberries or mixed berries for about one minute, add a 6
ounce container of low carb yogurt and a heaping scoop of egg white protein. I often
add a teaspoon of calcium caesinate (the slowest assimilating milk protein) to this
mixture. Stir with a spoon, add a handful of pecans or almonds & eat a delicious
dessert.
Your Workout Diary
You should be writing down everything you eat in your food journal. You can use your
food journal as your workout diary as well. On the left page is the food you ate and the
carbohydrate, protein, fat, caloric content and % of fat calories, on the right page is your
orkout with each exercise listed, the poundage you used and the repetitions you did.
Keep track of your total number of sets and how long it took you to do the workout.
When you use a heavier weight on the last set of an exercise (or do more reps with the
same weight) put a star by the exercise. By scoring stars on one third of your exercises
you will get bigger and stronger over time. Next time you do the same workout score
your stars on different exercises, this way all of your body will grow. This is called the
Weight Star Method. When you want to get more definition, strive to do the same
amount of sets in your workout in a little less time. This is called the Time Star
Method. I use both methods; the weight star until I reach the size I want o
t be (weights
should be increased very gradually), and then switch to the time star method, keeping
the same weights I've built up to but doing the same number of sets in less time (even a
minute less - or you can do an extra set or two in the same amount of time).
The 2 Way Split Routine
As your body acclimates to training harder and you get in better shape, you will want to
move up to the two way split routine. I've done two major variations of this workout
plan over the years: Torso one workout, arms and legs the next workout; and upper
body one day, legs the next day. In both programs abdominals and cardio are done each
orkout. By dividing your body into two parts, you will be able to do more exercises
for each body part and as a result gain more development. Each of these two way split
routines has different advantages.
I have a cardinal rule, and that isNEVER TRAIN UPPER BODY 2 DAYS IN A
ROW. It's just too hard on the shoulders in the long run. If you are young, say under 40,
you may not have issues with your joints yet, but if you keep training upper body several
days in a row, eventually you will. It happened to me. Every time you do any upper
body work your shoulders get exercised and over time stay sore, get injured, develop
bursitis, Any body part needs rest to grow, so never train upper body two days in a
row. If you choose to work arms and legs one day and torso (back, chest, and
shoulders) the next, make sure youtake a rest day between workouts. Training three
days a week will enable your upper body to recuperate, because when you work arms
you also work shoulders.
However if you choose to train upper body one day and legs the next, you can train
several days in a row because your shoulders don't get worked on leg day (unless you're
doing heavy barbell squats with bar on shoulders). If you are working this latter
variation of the two way split routine, you might train upper body on Mondays and
Thursdays, and legs with more cardio and ab work on Tuesdays and Fridays. The upper
body workouts will be longer, this is one disadvantage, because you have back, chest,
shoulders, biceps, triceps, forearms (six bodyparts) to work; whereas on leg day you
have thighs and calves. So if you do this, a good way to even out the time allotment is
to do lots more ab work at the beginning and some treadmill and/or stationary bike at
the end of the workout. When doing a two way split routine, I personally prefer to work
upper body one day and legs with more ab and cardio work the next. This way my
upper body and shoulders get a good rest.
Training upper body one day and legs the next is a good way for women to train as
ell. Women generally want to spend more time on hip and thigh work, because this is
the area fat accumulates on most women. This is due to the fact that their body center of
gravity is lower since they don't have the upper body muscle mass men do. So fat tends
to accumulate at the center, in men it's the midsection, in women it's the hips and upper
thighs. Consequently women can spend more time working thighs and doing cardio on
the leg days.
Another reason I favor this routine is I like to keep the blood in one area during a
orkout. When you work arms, then legs, the circulation has to move away from arms
and go to legs. I prefer to let the pump stay in a specific area during the workout, it's
given me better results. Here's the routine with stretches, upper body day one and lower
body day two:
UPPER BODY
Front Pulldown
For upper lats
12 reps
2 arm lat stretch
Increase weight
10 reps
Stretch again
Pullover with Dumbbell
Ribcage and serratus
12 reps
1 arm shoulder stretch
Increase weight do 10 reps
Stretch again
Low Cable Ro w
Let your upper body follow the weight forward and lean slightly backward as you pull
the weight to ribcage and squeeze your shoulder blades together. Feel it in your low
central lats.
12 reps
2 arm lat stretch
Increase
weight and do 10 reps
Stretch again
Bent Over Dumbbell Lateral Raise
Feel the pump in your rear deltoids and trapezius. Bending forward more will make
you feel the effect more in your lats and you will be able to raise the weights higher.
Turn the back ends of the dumbbells upward as you raise them.
With light dumbbells:
Do 15 reps
Rear delt stretch
Increase weights slightly and do 12 reps
Stretch again
1 Arm Dumbbe ll Row
Holding on to the dumbbell rack in the space provided by the missing dumbbell, lean
into the rack with knees slightly bent and distributing your bodyweight evenly. Let
dumbbell stretch all the way down to the floor without touching it and then bring it up to
touch the side of your ribcage just below the pec. This exercise when combined with
one arm lat stretch is the best way to pop out the lower outer lats.
12
repslateach
armeach arm
1 arm
stretch
Increase weight
10 reps each arm
Stretch each arm again
1 Arm Dumbbell Side Raise
This is a good exercise for isolating lateral deltoids without working the trapezius too
much, even more so if you lean outwards when raising the dumbbell. Keep end of
dumbbell turned slightly upward and raise it only to the ear and no further than the top o
your head.
12 reps each arm
1
arm shoulder
each
Increase
weightstretch
slightly,
10 arm
reps each arm
Stretch again
70 Degree Incline Dumbbell Press
Great for front deltoids and extreme upper pecs in the clavicle region.
Lower the dumbbells slowly while rotating them so palms are facing you when they
reach your shoulders.
12 reps
Doorway stretch
Increase weights
10 reps
Stretch again
30 Degree Incline Dumbbell Press
After doing the above 70 degree incline dumbbell press, lower your bench and do the
following for upper pectorals:
12 reps
Doorway stretch
Increase weight
10
reps again
Stretch
Dumbbell Flyes on a Slight Decline
This a great exercise for tightening and shaping up the lower outer pec. As men age fat
tends to accumulate around the nipple. This exercise cleans up this area. Do 12 reps,
then doorway stretch, increase weights slightly, do 10 reps and stretch again. Do not
touch the dumbbells together at the top but stop when they are about 12 inches apart and
tense the pecs.
Face Down Incline Dumbbell Curl
This is one of the best for peaking the biceps. Because you are leaning forward the
biceps experience peak contraction at the very top of the curl. If you were standing
straight up or leaning back you'd lose tension at the top of the curl and this is not
conducive for biceps development. Hold the dumbbells at the top for a second then
start the negative very slowly and go slow all the way down.
12
reps arms back stretch
Pronated
Increase weights
10 reps
Stretch again
Trice ps P ressdown
The triceps pressdown will develop all three heads of the triceps. Keep upper arms
close to the body and push down without touching the bar to your thighs. Lock out the
elbows, hold for one second, then return with a slow negative to start. Do 12 reps, arms
back stretch, increase weight, 10 reps, and stretch again.
12 reps
Arms
back
stretch
Increase
weight
10 reps
Stretch again
Reverse barbell curl
With an overhand grip slightly more than shoulder width, curl the bar up to your chin,
keeping your upper arms stuck to your sides. Feel it in your forearms & lower biceps
Squeeze the bar and do 15 reps on the first set
Pronated arms back stretch
Increase weight and do 12 reps
Stretch again
Lying Triceps Extension
Lying triceps extension with EZ curl bar will really work the rear head of the triceps if
you bring the bar down behind your head as in the photo. Another variety of this
exercise is "skull crushers' where the bar is lowered to touch the forehead, thereby not
giving a full stretch to the triceps. This method is harder on the elbows and works the
outer triceps more.
12
repsshoulder stretch with each arm for 15 seconds
1 arm
Increase the weight and do 10 reps
Stretch again
Abs
Hanging knee ups
Hanging knee ups are my favorite lower abdominal exercise on upper body workout
days. You can use straps as in the photos to make it easy on your grip or use the popular
Absrcionals upper arm supports for more comfort. The exercise gives good traction to
the lower back and defines the upper quadriceps. I like to super set sets of 30 reps with
sets of 30 to 50 reps of Crunches (see page 8), do several such super sets and then finish
off with Seated twist (see page 8)
The system of sets and reps is the same as for the full body routine. Choose a weight
that will allow only 12 repetitions in good form, stretch for 15 seconds immediately
after you finish your first set, increase the weight on your second set, stretch 15 seconds,
move on to the next exercise.
For abs do two sets of 25 to 30 repetitions on each exercise, super setting (a super set
means you do two exercises in a row without resting between them) hanging knee up 25
reps,
no to
rest,
seated
25 reps
easynoone,
you'll
have the
stamina
gocrunches
back and25
do)reps,
25 reps
on twist
hanging
knee(it's
up an
again,
rest,so25
crunches,
no
rest 25 reps seated twist. It's OK if you have to pace yourself with a little bit of rest
between exercises at first, but as you continue you want to cut down on the rest periods
between sets. This creates an aerobic effect with your ab work, which is especially
good at the end of this workout.
Follow the ab workout with 12 to 15 minutes on treadmill or stationary bike or
elliptical trainer, or 5 minutes on arowing machine . I use the Concept II Rowing
Ergometer, the industry standard, available directly from them, current price is $850.
Just rowing 1000 to 2000 meters a session will tighten up your waistline and strengthen
your lower back and work your entire body as well. This is a great device for men and
a good investment for the home.
LOWER BODY
Whereas you can do the upper body routine with a minimum of equipment, just an
adjustable flat to incline bench, dumbbells and a lat machine, for leg work you need a
bit more. Especially if you want to do a lot of thigh work from different angles. You
need decent machines to work your legs, a leg extension and leg curl machine at the very
least. These are the best two exercises to shape the front thighs and hamstrings. Here's
the problem: any combination unit that features both of these exercises will be a
compromise, i.e. one of the exercises will be better than the other. The best unit I've
found that does everything well is the Hoist V-1 machine for around $1100 (you also get
a lat machine, lower pulley system, and chest and shoulder press). If you want to step
up to designated leg extension and leg curl machines you're looking at $3000 each. It
might be best to go to a health studio.
A word of advice: you don't need to do heavy squats or leg presses unless you want to
build your thighs. Women who want to reduce hips and thighs should not do these
exercises. If they do them for shaping the thighs they should be performed at the end of
the thigh routine. The Leg Blaster is the best way to squat no matter what your leg
intentions are. It takes stress off lower back and knees when done correctly and you
don't need a lot of weight to get results. A great home gym for legs could be the V-1
machine and the Leg Blaster, you won't find either one of these in commercial gyms.
But you'll find other machines you can use: leg extension, leg curl, Smith Machine for
strict squatting, incline leg press for full leg work and calf raises, hip machine for inner
and outer thigh work. Here's the routine:
Abs
Superset
Leg raise 3 sets of 25 to 30 reps
Crunches 3 sets of 25 to 30 reps
Seated twist - 50 to 100 reps after first 2 exercises
Thighs
Leg extension
With the roller touching the front of your ankles push the weight just hard enough to get
it to go all the way up. Do not stop at full extension, but rather lower it very slowly all
the way down.
12 reps
1 leg back stretch with each leg
Increase the weight, do 10 reps and stretch again
Leg Curl
Contrary to the photos, look straight ahead when doing leg curls, turning your head may
put stress on your neck and lower back. Curl the roller up until it touches your butt, then
lower slowly until legs are nearly locked out. Do 12 reps, 1 leg up stretch with each
leg, increase weight, do 10 reps, stretch again.
12 reps
1
leg up stretch
Increase
weight with each leg
10 reps
Stretch again
Leg press
Your gym will probably have an incline leg press, not the vertical one as shown in the
photo, but instructions are the same for both. Place feet low on platform with heels at
the bottom edge, and lower deeply keeping knees in line. Women who do not want to
build their thighs may want to substitute lunges (see page 9) for this movement.
12 reps
1
up stretch
10leg
reps
Stretch again
Squat with Upper Body in Erect Position
With barbell on your upper back and heels on a 2 by 4 block, squat down slowly until
the tops of your thighs are parallel to the floor. This is a great size builder, but if you
have trouble keeping your body in an erect position you may want to do front squat.
Women may want to substitute Sissy Squat for this movement where the upper body is
erect and you squat deep down (don't lock out at the top of the movement) for 15 to 20
repetitions. This will not build size but will give a good pump to the thighs and tone
them.
12 reps
One leg back stretch for each leg
Increase weight and do 10 reps
Stretch
Calves
All sets of calves are done with a weight that permits a good 4 inches of heel travel,
pause for a count of 5 at the top of the calf raise and stretch deep on each rep. Hold the
calf stretch for 15 seconds between sets. Increase the weight slightly on the second set.
Standing Calf Raise
Using a light weight with knees slightly bent, do 2 sets of 15 to 20 reps, holding at the
top of each rep so you experience a burn in your calves at the end of each set. Do the
calf stretch for 15 seconds between sets holding the heels in the low position.
Calf Raise on Leg P ress Ma chine
Make sure the balls of your feet are on the platform, push toes up as high as possible
hold for a count of 5 at the top of the movement and feel a burn in your calves at the end
of the set. Do Calf stretch 15 seconds, increase the weight on the second set and do 2
sets of 15 to 20 reps, holding at the top of each rep for a burn.
Walk around the gym for a minute after each set and feel your calves pumping up.
Holding each rep at the top of each rep, creating a burn at the end of each set, will pump
your calves like never before when combined with stretching them 15 seconds between
sets. After your calf workout your calves will be pretty pumped up and you may find it
challenging to hop on a treadmill right away and run or do fast walking. I prefer to do
recumbent stationary bike after this kind of calf work for 12 to 15 minutes.
A bit about cardio vascular exercise: An exercise is considered to have an aerobic
effect when it raises your pulse to target level and you keep it there for at least 11
minutes. To find your target pulse, subtract you age from 220 and multiply this number
by 0.7. So for me at age 63, it's 220 minus 63 = 157, 157 x 0.7 = 106. You can see this
is not a very high target pulse but it is good when I am just getting back into regular
aerobic exercise. After my muscles get used to the aerobic movements I push my target
pulse up to 157 x 0.8 = 126 beats per minute. A total of one hour of cardio per week is
enough to keep me in good aerobic condition, but when I push it up to 2 hours of total
cardio a week the definition starts to come out. Experiment and find your own levels.
Lots of cardio is good if you want to get really lean, but if you want to carry more
muscle mass there's a limit to how much aerobic activity you should do.
Variations for Men and Women
Women may want to do more cardio, especially on lower body days. My wife
Christine does an hour on the treadmill several times a week at the end of each workout
to stay lean. Her workout consists of one set of 20 reps on each exercise, doing upper
body twice a week and lower body twice a week. She goes through the exercises
quickly, resting between sets only long enough to do the appropriate stretch for 15
seconds. Along with a restricted calorie diet, she keeps her bodyweight down to 120
at 5 feet 8 inches.
So determine what your priorities are. If you want to build more muscle, do less
aerobics. If you want a leaner look with smaller but firm muscles like most women do,
do less weight training (and do it for high reps with lighter weights) and more aerobics.
The Growth Program
I used this workout plan when training for Mr. Olympia and it was very successful for
adding muscle mass during those years I was at my best, between 1976 through 1983.
It's a three way split routine emphasizing pulling muscles on day one, legs on day two,
and pushing muscles on day three:
Day 1 - Back, biceps, forearms, abs
Day 2 - Thighs, calves, abs
Day 3 - Chest, shoulders, triceps, abs
This routine helped me grow because I incorporated one power lifting exercise into
e ach workout. On day one it was wide grip deadlift using straps (not reversing one
hand as this puts undue stress on the supinated hand and can cause a biceps tear - I've
seen it happen). I'd start my back workout with 6 sets of wide grip deadlift, the first
three from the floor: 135 for 15 reps warm-up, 185 for 12, 225 for 10; then I'd elevate
the barbell so the plates would sit on crates a foot high, or I'd use a power rack. My
first set would be 10 reps with 275 from the knees up . I'd rub oil on my thighs to slide
the smooth part of the bar up the thighs until my upper body was leaning slightly
backward, then lower the weight very slowly making sure that both ends of the bar
touched the power rack pins at the same time. My next set was 325 for 10 reps done the
same way. I'd do plenty of stretching with the 2 arm lat stretch between sets and take
my time before venturing into the next set. My final set was with 375 for 8 reps and
sometimes I did another sets of 400 pounds for 6 reps. My upper back, traps, and spinal
erectors got much thicker doing this and my back got wider. In 1982, training for Mr.
Olympia, I worked up to 6 reps with 555 pounds in this exercise and developed a great
deal of massiveness in this area.
Next came T bar or leverage row, 3 sets of 12, 10, 8 reps increasing the weight each
set and doing 2 arm lat stretch between sets. This is a great size builder for the low
central lats. My favorite way of doing it became using a 7 foot Olympic bar with one
end in a corner, small diameter plates on the other end and using an interlocking finger
grip right behind the collar. My upper body would follow the weight downward,
stretching low to the floor and the plates would touch my ribcage at the top of the rep.
The remainder of the back routine consisted of front pulldown, doing 2 arm lat stretch
between sets, and one arm dumbbell row
, doing one arm lat stretch between sets, all
for 3 sets of 8 to 10 reps increasing weight each set. That gave me a total of 15 heavy
sets for back.
Then it was on to biceps. A favorite routine of mine was to start with one arm
, 3 sets per arm heavier each (35,40,45) set 8 to 10 reps. I
dumbbell concentration curl
ould deliberately hold the dumbbell for one second at the top of the curl and squeeze
the biceps for peak contraction, and then start lowering the dumbbell very slowly.
Alternate dumbbe ll curl came next, 3 sets 8 to 10 reps increasing the weight each set
(I'd use something like 40, 45, 50 pounds). Each dumbbell would travel down and up
completely before I curled the other dumbbell. Each negative would begin very slowly
and I would pronate the dumbbell (turn it inward on the way down).
Finally 45 degree incline dumbbell curlwith lighter dumbbells, usually 12 reps with
30s, 10 with 35s, and 8 with 40s. I did a great deal of dumbbell work for biceps in
those days, because it was the best. You can curl and supinate (turn your wrist outward
at the top of the movement bringing your outer biceps into play).
After a total of 9 sets for biceps, I'd tackle forearms withbarbell reverse curl 12 reps
super-setted with se ate d barbe ll wrist c url 20 reps, two super sets of these. After each
set of curls and forearm exercise I held the pronated arms back stretch for 15 seconds.
This gave me a total of 15 sets for back, 9 for biceps, and 4 for forearms, adding up to
28 total sets in a workout, which proved to be enough for growth.
Because of the heavy deadlifts, I preferred to take the next day off from training because
squatting was my main movement. Not a good idea squatting with a sore lower back.
So after the rest day, I started my thigh routine with a few sets one
of legged top
extensions to get some blood in the knees, and then started my 6 sets of barbell squat
(see page 25): 135 for 15 reps, 185 for 12 reps, 225 for 11 reps, 260 for 10 reps, 285
for 9 reps, and 300 for 8 reps. I did below parallel squats doing slower negatives than
positives.
Next exercise was leg press (see page 25): 15 reps with 200, 12 reps with 250, 10 reps
ith 300 pounds. Leg presses always felt light after heavy squats and I did higher reps
to get a good overall pump in the thighs. I never went extremely heavy inthis one, but
concentrated on going deep into the negative and then not quite locking out at the end of
the rep.
Then it was leg curls (page 25)70 x 12, 80 x 11, 90 x 10 reps followed by one leg up
stretch between sets.
I ended the thigh work with 3 sets of leg extensions (page 24), 160 x 12, 180 x 10, 200 x
8 on my trusty old Nautilus machine. Training for Mr. Olympia in 1979 I became very
strong on this one, doing 10 reps with 275 pounds.
Calves were up next and I did calf stretch for 15 seconds after each set:
Standing calf raise (page 26) 3 sets of 15 to 20 reps. I usually started calf work with
this one, so it was always my lightest exercise, I wanted to get a good warm-up. Too
much weight gave me a sore neck or upper back so I seldom went over 150 pounds. I
kept my knees slightly bent so I could get a deeper stretch at the bottom of each rep.
Donkey Calf raise is probably the best calf exercise. Only rest you get is when you are
sitting on your partner's back 4 sets of 20 to 25 reps to a burn each set. Best if your
rider is heavier than you.
Seate d Calf Raise
Seated calf raise is great for the soleus, the large muscle mass underneath the outer two
heads of the gastrocnemius. Since it's hard on the Achilles tendon, I always do this one
last, usually one drop set, without rest doing 120 x5, 110 x 5, 100 x 5, 90 x 5 to a
maximum burn, then do calf stretch 15 seconds afterwards.
Ab work ended the leg day routine, which was usually anything except hanging knee ups
in order to give the upper body a rest.
My main exercise on day three program was barbell bench presswith a shoulder width
grip to put more emphasis on pecs, front delts, and triceps. I'd take the bar off the rack
and lower it to just below my pecs at the top of my ribcage very slowly, and as soon as
it touched my pecs I'd push it up with just enough force to get it overhead, ending with
my elbows not quite locked out. I'd do doorway stretch between sets and my weights
and reps were 135 x 12, 185 x 10, 225 x 8, 255 x 6, 275 x 4, 290 x 2. These were all
done with slow negatives, I was very strong in those days, especially when training for
1982 Mr. Olympia.
I would nor could neveruse weights this heavy todayin my workouts. But I was at the
peak of my training career, in my late thirties, with not a lot of injuries that prevented
me from handling the heavier poundages. You need to use heavier weights to stimulate
deep down into the muscle, causing enough micro trauma, followed by proper rest,
nutrition, and recuperation to enable the muscle to heal itself and grow bigger and
stronger. Don't think that by using weights as heavy (or heavier) than I did that you will
get the growth you want. If you are not very careful (I was) you may injure yourself, and
then it's back to square one, starting light again, resting more, and getting ongoing
therapy. It's better to select lighter weights and do slower negatives so your muscles
perceive the weights as feeling heavy, without being quite so heavy. This also allows
you to maintain good form during each of your sets and get a pump exactly in the area
required.
After I finished bench presses, I did70 degree incline dumbbell press
, doing something
like 60 pounders 10 reps, 70s for 8 reps, 80s for 6 reps, again with slow negatives, not
quite locking out at the top of each rep. By now my pecs and front delts were really
pumped and I'd keep doing doorway stretch between sets.
Next came 10 degree decline dumbbell flyfor lower outer pecs: 40s for 12 reps, 50s
for 10 reps, 60s for 8 reps. I'd keep doing doorway stretch between sets and right after
the stretch, do the "crab" most muscular pose holding it for 15 seconds to develop
striations in the inner pecs.
Then it was dumbbe ll pullover lying across a bench. This exercise worked a lot of
areas but was my main movement for developing serratus. It also expanded my ribcage,
pumped up my lower pecs, and really developed the posterior head of my triceps. I got
quite strong on this one and often did 12 reps with a 90 pound dumbbell, 10 reps with
100, and 8 reps with 110, doing the one arm shoulder stretch between sets.
My triceps were so pumped up after this one that I worked them next, starting with
close
grip bench press on the Smith machine (if you don't have one, use a barbell). Hands
ere 12 inches apart with my elbows pointed outward to emphasize my outer triceps,
and I lowered the weight slowly to my chest, pushing it up to an almost locked out
position. 140 x 12, 160 x 10, 180 x 8 were the sets and reps I'd perform and I'd do arms
back stretch for 15 seconds after each set.
One arm dumbbell extensioncame right afterwards, I'd hold on to a support and lean
slightly backwards, making sure to let the weight down deeply behind my back and then,
keeping my upper arm close to my head, not quite lock out at the top of the exercise. I
used 30 pounds for 12 reps, 35 pounds for 10, and 40 pounds for 8 reps, holding one
arm shoulder stretch for 15 seconds with each arm between sets. This one really
developed the rear head of my triceps.
My final exercise for triceps was pressdown with close grip on a V bar on the lat
machine. With elbows close to my sides, I'd lean slightly forward and press the bar
down to a complete locked out position, then hold the lockout for one second on each
rep. Then I'd let the bar return slowly back to my upper chest and then push it down
hard, again holding the contraction for a second. I usually did 70 pounds for 12 reps, 80
pounds for 10 reps, and 90 pounds for 8 reps doing arms back stretch between sets..
After triceps work I was ready to finish off deltoids. I'd already worked front deltoids
ith the overhead dumbbell press, so all that was left now was an exercise for rear
delts and something for side or lateral deltoids. Bent over dumbbell lateral raisewas
my preferred exercise in those days. I'd get behind a T bar or the leg roller on a leg curl
machine and lean as far forward as I could, grab not so heavy dumbbells and do
something like 20 pounds 15 reps, 22.5 pounds 12 reps, and 25 pounds for 10 reps.
Rear delt stretch followed each set.
My last exercise for delts was
. Holding a cable handle in front of my
side
cable
raise
legs, I'd raise the handle across the front of my body until it was as high as my ear. I'd
do 30 pounds for 12 with each arm, 35 pounds for 10, and then 40 pounds for 8 reps.
Sometimes I'd do 3 sets of 12 reps with 30 pounds non-stop with each arm, no rest
between sets to define the lateral delts and bring out the separation of the biceps,
bracio-radialis, and triceps of the outer upper arm.
Ab work was always at the end of my workout and my plan was to gradually increase
the total amount of reps right up until contest time until I was doing 1000 reps total each
orkout. Often I came back to the gym later in the afternoon to do ht is and it usually
took me a half hour of non-stop ab exercises to complete it. The minimum program was
leg raise, 4 sets of 25 reps super setted with abdominal crunches 4 sets of 25 reps,
followed by 100 seated twists. As I progressed in my ab work I'd add to this program
4 sets of 25 reps hanging knee ups super setted with 4 sets of 25 two arm cable crunch
ith 90 pounds, followed by 100 more seated twists.
After that I'd ride the stationary bike for 15 to 20 minutes or run a slow mile and a half.
How I did it then, How I'd do it now.
If you refer to my book,Mind Body Spirit Personal Training Diaries
, you will find
over 180 different workouts I did over a 40 year period of time. Variations of the
above routine will be found there as well. In general, I'd go to the gym with a routine in
mind but as I trained, I made slight variations in it, like changing the order of the
exercises,
or substituting
a new
movement,
drastic,
but Routine
no two workouts,
although similar,
were ever
exactly
the same.nothing
I used the
Growth
routine in my
training for the 1979 Mr. Olympia and something similar for the 1982 Mr. Olympia
competition too. I did a 4 day cycle, training 3 days out of 4, three days in a row and
resting the fourth day. It was hard and I got really sore from it. I needed lots of rest and
noticed a tendency to become overtrained after about a month on this 4 day cycle.
If I were to do that again, I'd do a 5,5,5,6 day cycle (train 3 days out of 5 three times in
a row, then train 3 days outof 6 once, repeat). This is something I recently thought up
and I like the idea of it because it forms a 3 week cycle and gives enough rest so you
can grow. When I did 3 days on , one day off (i.e. the 4 day cycle) I was tired a lot and
usually became over trained after about one month of this kind of torture. But with this
new cycle, overtraining has less chance of occurring. You'll get more rest between
orkouts, be stronger and grow more. Here's how it repeats itself every 3 weeks:
Remember day 1 is back, biceps, forearms; day 2 legs; and day 3 chest, shoulders,
triceps, R means rest day:
Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat Sun
1
R
2
3
R 1 R
2
3
R1
R1
R 2
R 2
R 3
3
R
And then the cycle repeats itself exactly in this pattern every three weeks providing you
don't miss. So every 3 weeks you train each workout 4 times, you have 9 rest days, and
12 workout days. Notice you always have Fridays off. And you can always have the
same day off depending on when you start the cycle. Start it on Monday get Fridays off,
start on Tuesday get Saturday off, start it on Wednesday get Sunday off and you can go
to
church,
start it on Thursday
and get
Mondays
Mondays
off is
a good days.
idea if you
train
in a commercial
gym because
Mondays
areoff.
always
the most
crowded
Of course there are other ways to arrange your workouts in this three way split, but why
do a three way split routine in the first place?
1. Since you divide your body into three sections instead of two youcan do more
work for each section.
2. You have longer to recuperate between each time you work a specific part of the
body.
3. It's easier to tolerate only a small part of your body being sore from exercising
instead of your entire body or entire upper body being wiped out.
Bodybuilding's Three Rs
Relax, Recuperate, Re create
Weight training is the catabolic ingredient of the bodybuilding equation. You create a
condition of micro-trauma when you are exercising; muscles heat up, capillaries
hemorrhage, waste products accrue, and after you are through your body is in a
catabolic state - it now needs repair. When you work out you are actually destroying
your body. You will never build it unless you practice the 3 Rs: relax (manage stress
and stay calm while awake), recuperate (get enough high quality deep sleep), and
recreate (engage in pursuits that you enjoy and make you happy). This is necessary if
you want to build your body.
Relax: During my Zane Experience programs at my private gym in San Diego, when I
ask people what they do for stress management they often answer 'train with weights'.
This is a way to reduce stress but it is not a true form of deep relaxation. Working out
is a positive form of stress, we feel better while we are training because it takes our
minds off our worries and concerns of the day. We must pay attention to what we are
doing when training in the gym. But true stress management involves deep relaxation
and this is the exact opposite of activity. It means doing nothing, or "no thing". It
involves eliciting the relaxation response, a condition where your body's metabolic
processes slow down. The best example of such a state is meditation, and more
recently "high-tech meditation" which employ the physics of entrainment. Other forms
of deep relaxation are acoustic vibration which is accomplished by playing music
through an amplifier or speakers that contact and vibrate the muscle of the body; using a
light/sound device (like theMind Muscle Machine) where LED lights on the inside of
sunglasses flicker to the beat of vibrating sound; electrical stimulation done by
administering a mild electrical current to certain points on the body. The body's
resonant systems (heartbeat, brain wave frequencies, nerve impulse transmission, rate
of breathing, peristalsis - all systems that vibrate within the body synchronize with the
vibrating stronger stimulus and a state of profound relaxation is achieved. This is
referred to as the process of entrainment, where your body's resonant systems exhibit a
fre que ncy following response. Meditation relies on this process.
Meditation is the opposite of thinking. It means to clear one's mind by watching
thoughts as they arise and pass away. The goal is to watch the mind stream and not get
carried away by it. This is often best accomplished by focusing on a stimulus such as
one's own breathing or repeating an affirmation to yourself. The rhythmic repetition of
breathing or saying an affirmation slows down the mind and allows easier access to it's
endless chaotic thinking processes. With practice, one is able to slow down the random
thought process and clear the mind, allowing a peaceful state to come about. The mind
empties of distractions and creates space for creativity.
Recuperate: Your muscles won't grow just by working out. After a workout you must
recuperate and heal. The major form of recuperation occurs duringsleep and it is
important to get enough high quality deep sleep. If you are training really hard you will
know what I mean. I remember in 1972 training hard and heavy for Mr. Universe,
getting two 2 hour workouts a day required I get 10 hours of sleep each night. Under
normal circumstances you should get close to eight hours sleep a night. During sleep,
especially the first four hours, is when the body does it's major repair work.
Here's how it works: As you close your eyes and drowsiness begins to set in, your
brainwave activity slows down. The rate at which brain cell impulses are transmitted
drops. With your eyes open, thinking about the events of the day, the brain is producing
scrambled beta waves above 14 cycles per second (14 hertz or Hz.). As you close your
eyes and become more relaxed this activity slows down to the alpha wave range of 13
to 8 Hz. Then in an instant we never recall, we are asleep. The brain's predominant
frequency has dropped past the crossover point into theta waves below 8 hz. For the
next hour, brain wave activity continues to slow down into the range of delta waves (3
to
Hz.). ItWhen
activity
it staysgland
theresecretes
for a few
minutes
and thena starts to
rise0.5
again.
is at this
pointreaches
that the0.5
pituitary
growth
hormone,
messenger substance that circulates in the blood stream and gives direction to the cells
of the body for repair. When brain wave activity increases into the beta range, we have
a brief dream (which is marked by rapid eye movement or REM), protein metabolism is
enhanced, and short-term memories convert to long-term memory.
Then brain waves begin to slow down again to 0.5 Hz. But this time stay there for a
slightly longer period before they begin to rise back up to beta waves. Result is more
growth hormone secretion accompanied by another dream longer in duration. These
two growth hormone secretions occur during the first four hours of sleep. After that,
brain waves do not descend as low and no more growth hormone is secreted. We
continue
dreams,
usuallyThe
about
5 a night
if we sleep
8 hours,
longer as to
wehave
continue
to snooze.
dream
we remember
most
vividlywhich
is the become
last one
e have upon awakening, which is close to an hour in length. So if you don't get
enough sleep your body will not repair itself adequately and you will be left short on
bodybuilding progress.
The first step to getting good quality sleep is to be able to fall asleep easily. Some
people have no problem with this. My wife Christine reads for about 20 minutes and
gets drowsy and she's out. If you work out hard it's easier to fall asleep. People who
have sleep problems are those who can't shut off their mental activity. Something is on
their minds and they can't let go of it. There are remedies of course and my
recommendation is to first use those that do not involve drugs. Two substances that
ork well for me are melatonin, a hormone made by the pineal gland, and L-tryptophan,
an essential amino acid that is a precursor for serotonin. Serotonin is an inhibitory
neurotransmitter in the brain. This means is shuts off brain activity and enhances
drowsiness. L-tryptophan taken a half hour before bed (recommended dosage is 500
mg.
perto50cause
pounds
of bodyweight)
withora vasodilatation)
little niacin (about
50 toby
100
mg. but
not
enough
uncomfortable
flushing
followed
a piece
of fruit
does the job for me. Niacin is important in this reaction because your body converts Ltryptophan to niacin in a 60 to 1 ratio, so by taking niacin you spare tryptophan to
convert to serotonin. Some nights I take melatonin or tryptophan, and others I take both
about one half hour apart. Melatonin doesn't agree with some people and they feel
groggy upon awakening. Usual dosage is 3 to 10 mg.
The most effective method of falling asleep I've found is to use a light/sound machine
like the Mind Muscle Machineright before retiring. I put on my Mind Muscle glasses
as I lie down and use a program (I've recorded it on CD and call it Sleep Waves),
hich consists of ocean waves and a low pitched beat that starts at 14 Hz. And
gradually
to this
deepprogram.
delta waves over a half hour period. Very rarely do I
experiencedescends
the end of
Another effective tool I found for falling asleep is a recording I've made called Sleep
Sound, it's part of a CD I've produced called Relax to the Max. Just listening to it in
bed puts me out every time. No one has ever heard the end of it. I think that mechanical
means of sleep induction like using a light/sound machine or listening to hypnotic audio
recordings such as I've produced should be the first resort if you have a challenge
falling asleep. Next is using tryptophan and/or melatonin. If you must resort to drugs be
sure you do so under the care of a medical physician. But maybe if you have a problem
sleeping it's because you're just not tired enough. Try training harder!
Recreation: Activities that are relaxing and you enjoy doing fall into this category.
They should not be strenuous and you should be very relaxed when you are doing them.
Some of my favorites are reading, listening to music, playing guitar, harmonica, or flute,
shooting archery, watching television (not the typical idiotic stuff on most of the time,
but humorous entertaining programs). Spending time with friends and loved ones is
important, people with whom you feel good hanging around with, not those who are
negative and drag you down. Arnold Schwarzenegger once told me to "only associate
ith people who help you grow in a positive way". This advice has certainly worked
for him.
My two favorite companions are my wife Christine and my dog Tyler. There's nothing
more rewarding than right company. This is the best kind of recreation, sharing what
you love doing with those you love being with. The days you don't train are good
times to forget all about working out and do something recreational. I don't mean
pigging out on junk food, but activities like traveling to new places, and sports or nonstrenuous activities. The brain needs a variety of stimulation to grow new neural
pathways, so do what makes you happy. You will re-create your body.
See all the exercises & stretches in action - available at www.frankzane.com
The Zane Experience Workout Program
I'm not one to keep changing workouts. When I find something that works I stick with it
as long as it produces the results I want. The body thrives on routine. You need as
schedule to follow, a routine that answers the questions "Should I train today?" and
"What should I train today?" When I go into the gym to train I always have my program
in mind, I know what I want o
t do. But when I start working out I make decisions that I
didn't initially anticipate and the routine changes a bit. I may re-arrange the order of
exercises, substitute a new movement, super set or not super set, do drop sets on some
exercises, add an exercise or two, or forget to do an exercise. I can honestly say that
I've never done the exact same workout in 50 years of training.
I'm listening to my body. I might be really sore in a certain area and go lighter or not
ork it altogether. I might get a slight injury from being careless (it has happened) and
cut the workout short. A smart thing to do is not force yourself to go through your
orkout if you sustain an injury. Treat injuries with therapy and rest. More on this
later.
I followed the three way split program presented under the title Growth Routine for
over 20 years. It was always back, biceps, forearms, abs on day one; thighs, calves,
and abs on day two; and chest, shoulders, triceps, abs on day three. Why change
anything, it worked. I used this routine in training for my Mr. Olympia victories and
continued it well into the late 1990s, eliminating the heavy stuff like deadlifts and
barbell squats as I got older and accrued injuries. I had to stop doing barbell squats
after 1982 due to lower back problems and thanks to theLeg Blaste r, which I've been
using ever since, I can still get great thigh workouts without stress on my lower back
and knees.
Another problem I began experiencing as I got older was chronic shoulder soreness.
The pull, legs, push 3-way split routine was just too much direct shoulder work on the
upper body days. I needed something that gave me one hard shoulder day only.
Remembering back to pre-1978 when everyone trained like Arnold doing his of Chest
and Back on Mondays and Thursdays; legs on Tuesdays and Fridays; and delts and arms
on Wednesdays and Saturdays, I got an idea. Since chest and back day involve so much
shoulder work, why not add a few delt movements to this workout and take care of the
hole torso in one workout? That would make the other upper body workout arms
only, not much shoulder work here, and an easy day since biceps, triceps, and forearms
are all small bodyparts that can be trained quickly. Another advantage was that the
orkouts got easier as you went from torso day one, legs day two, arms day three. The
hardest day was torso, which always followed a rest day, legs was a bit easier, and
arms was the easiest workout. This is a great psychological advantage to have your
split routine get easier as you go through it on successive days.
The torso workout on day one works back, shoulders, and chest primarily, but since
pushing and pulling movements are involved it works arms too. This workout covers a
big area of the body but once you finish it, the other two workouts are easier. Leg work
on day two involves only two body parts, thighs - a tough workout because it's a large
muscle group, and calves which is much easier since it's a small muscle group. I give
special priority to abdominal work on this day (even though I work abs every day,
usually at the end of the workout) doing more sets and total reps and usually working
abs first in the routine. I like to take a day off after the torso workout to give my lower
back a rest, since bent over rowing motions work the lumbars. Thigh exercises like leg
curl, hyperextensions, leg press and squatting also work lower back, so I feel well
ustified in taking the day between these two workouts as a rest day. Arm work is
always done the day right after leg day since arms and legs have nothing to do with each
other, there is no overlap.
Training Cycles
So my Zane Experience 3 way split workout is torso day one, legs day two, arms day
three, with abs and aerobics being done every trainingday. One of the best procedures
I've ever followed that accounts for the fact that I'm still in shape and training hard at
over 60 years of age is the fact that I've always cycled the intensity and frequency of my
orkouts .
Look at nature. There are four distinct seasons, each a 13 week period of time where
nature follows a different trend to reach a specific goal. As I wrote in Mind Body
:
Spirit Personal Training Diaries
Winter is a season with maintenance as its theme
Spring time meansgrowth depicted by the color green
Summer's intensity is glowing lava red hot
Autumn is harvest,maturity, ripeness, not rot.
Simply put, there is a different emphasis on how one trains during a specific time of the
year. Professional athletes do it. Baseball, football, basketball players have a season
roughly 6 months long followed by an off season. They train the entire year but with
different goals in mind. How would this apply to bodybuilding?
Winter is my maintenance season. It begins after I reach my peak for the year during
the autumn. Now it usually starts at Thanksgiving since it takes me a little longer to
reach my yearly peak. This is something I do every year. It's not the best shape of my
life each year anymore, I don't try to look like I did in the best shape of my life at age 37
(although sometimes I have dreams of doing this), but it is my best shape for the entire
year. I train progressively harder and harder from spring up until autumn, reach my
peak, take photos for some project, then go into maintenance. Maintenance means
doing just enough training to stay in shape and for me it means not to get fat. My goal is
to keep my bodyweight the same, do regular abdominal work and aerobics, and although
I do relax my diet a little, I don't want to lose sight of my abs.
Maintenance lasts from Thanksgiving through New Years and maybe a bit longer. I do a
7 day cycle by training three time a week doing torso on Monday, legs on Wednesday,
and arms on Friday. It's called a 7 day cycle because I work each body part once every
7 days. I want to do enough exercise to not let myself get out of shape, because it's just
too hard and hurts too much to get back in shape. Since I'm training less frequently I
have time to specialize . I ask myself "What parts or part of my body need more work
relative to everything else?" Years ago when I was competing the answer was some
body part like back, or biceps, or calves. Now the answer is WAISTLINE. So I do my
abdominal work and keep up cardio vascular activity. The idea is to even out
development in all parts of the body to improve overall proportions. So when I get
back into more serious training in the spring time, my weak points are now stronger
relative to my former stronger points. I may even do less work for these stronger areas
during maintenance season. The idea is to create a new look to your body by changing
your proportions.
Usually by mid January or early February I go to 6a day cycle. This means I train each
body part once every 6 days. Doing a three way split, one workout every other day is a
6 day cycle. For example, I'd train like this:
Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat Sun
1
R
2
R
3 R 1
R2
R 3
R 1 R
2
R
3
R
1 R 2
It simply means training every other day. I usually follow this kind of rt aining right up
until the first day of Spring. I notice that I'm usually very strong for each workout
because I'm getting adequate rest between training sessions. So I consider maintenance
training or off season training (i.e. the 7 and the 6 day cycles) a time for specialization
to be done between Thanksgiving and the first day of Spring.
. As the days get longer and the sun is shining more and more,
Spring is growing season
my pineal gland gets stimulated and I feel like training more. The weather gets warmer
and less clothing is worn so people become more conscious of how they look. I am no
exception. So after my last 6 day cycle I go into myGROWTH ROUTINE, using the
5,5,5,6 day cycle. The 5 day cycle is train, rest, train, train, rest. Do three 5 day cycles
in a row and then do a 6 day cycle. If you don't miss any scheduled workout days the
program will recur in the same format every three weeks and you will feel stronger and
grow providing you get adequate rest and nutrition.
My goal for spring training is to gradually build up my poundages in all my exercises.
For me this is not the time to do a lot of extra sets - that's for peak training season. If
you are doing the growth routine (page 27), using the 5,5,5,6 cycle, you only do more
sets on your big muscle mass exercise which is top deadlift on pulling muscles day,
squat on leg day, and benchpress on pushing muscles day. I don't do the growth routine
anymore, I like the way my clothes fit already, so I stick to the torso, legs, arms 3 way
split routine and use the same 5,5,5, 6 cycle. For me this means doing two sets of each
exercise, the first set is with a weight allowing me 12 reps, the second with a weight
that allows me 10 reps. As summer approaches, I add a third set on some of my
exercises, increasing the weight and doing 6 to 8 reps.
. When I was competing, summer was always my
Summer is peak training season
hardest training season. For 13 years of my competitive bodybuilding career I worked
full time as a mathematics teacher and although I was busy during the year, I had the
summers free to train hard. By the end of the summer I was reaching peak condition
and I achieved this state by early October. In those days I trained on a 4 day cycle:
train, train, train, rest, repeat. I won Mr. Olympia three times training that way, but
these days this is just too much training for me. Seems as you get older you should train
less frequently but harder. Although I still do train three days in a row when I have
Zane Experience clients, I usually take two days off afterward to allow my body to get
enough rest. Even when I was competing I found that the 4 day cycle (three on, one off)
led to overtraining after about one month and then I had to take a few extra days off.
The more frequently you train the more defined you will become but you won't be as
strong for each workout.
I found a nice compromise for the 4 day cycle which I would certainly use if I had to do
it all over again. I call it the 5,5,4 day cycle. It is simply two 5 day cycles done
consecutively followed by one four day cycle. There are advantages to this way of
training.
1. You have the same day off every week.
2. They cycle recurs in the same pattern every 2 weeks.
3. It's a randomized routine that your body never quite figures out, so you keep making
gains.
4. It is serious training, you do each workout three times in two week, with nine total
workouts, and five rest days.
5. There's less tendency to over train since you only do one 4 day cycle after two 5
day cycles.
Here's
arms: how the 5,5,4 cycle pattern looks: Remember day 1 is torso, day 2 legs, day 3
Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat Sun
1
R
2
3
R 1 R
2
3
R1
2 3 R
So if you start this cycle on Monday, you will always be training on Mondays,
Thursdays, and Saturdays. You will be training the second Tuesday, first Wednesday,
and second Friday and always have Sundays off. You can have any day off depending
on when you start the cycle; if you start it on Tuesdays you will have Mondays off,
hich is not a bad idea if you train in a commercial gym because those places are most
crowded on Mondays.
Autumnhas two stages, in the early part you reach your peak for the year. After you
reach your peak you gradually go back into maintenance training. If you really want
sharp definition then a 4 day cycle (train, train, train, rest) might be a good way to train
but for no longer than the last 4 to 6 weeks before you reach your peak. Getting in shape
always leaves one overtrained. What always happened with me is I would be
overtrained a week before the competition and then ease up on the training the last
eek, rest more and practice posing. Overtraining can't go on for too long and must be
balanced by lots of rest and recuperation.
If you allow enough time to reach peak condition you may not need to do a 4 day cycle.
I think the 5,5,4 day cycle is the best method of serious training because you can keep
your muscle size up since you are getting two 5 day cycles for every 4 day cycle.
.
For muscle growth to thrive train 3 days out of five
After you reach your peak for the year you might go to a straight 5 day cycle for a month
or so, and then to a 6 day and eventually a 7 day cycle as you fall back into maintenance
training. I've been training this way for many years and it's one reason I'm still training.
Cyclic training gives you a chance to do other things in your life seriously during the off
season. It's always worked well for me.
So now that you know the different ways to do it during the year, here's the routine
itself: Day 1 torso: back, shoulder, chest, abs, aerobics; Day 2 abdominals, thighs,
calves, aerobics; Day 3 triceps, biceps, forearms, abdominals, aerobics.
These workouts are best done in a commercial gym where there is a good variety of
machines and free weights. Over the years I've collected some great machines: the
srcinal Nautilus single chain leg extension; Nautilus multi purpose machine; Nautilus
pullover machine; rear deltoid machine modeled after the Nautilus torso row machine;
leg curl; dip machine; hip machine; seated calf machine modeled after Icarian
machines; Hoist V-1 multi purpose machine; Leg Blaster; Smith machine; hyper
extension bench; pulldown/low cable row machine; horizontal leg press, adjustable
incline and flat benches; dumbbells in 2.5 pound jumps from 2.5 pounds up to 37.5
pounds, dumbbells in 5 pound jumps from 37.5 to 70 pounds; Pec Deck; treadmill,
recumbent stationary bike; Airdyne; Concept II rowing Ergometer; cable crossover
machine; preacher curl bench; Panatta curling machine, Modified Soloflex for
overhead pressing; hip machine for working inner (adduction) and outer (abduction)
thighs and rear obliques. I've got everything I need and it all fits compactly into 600
square feet of floor space.
Day 1
Torso
for one minute, not pedaling, using the upper body portion
Warmup on Schwin Airdyne
only to get blood into the shoulders.
- 150 pounds, 12 reps , 2 arm lat stretch for 15
Front pulldown with neutral grip
seconds, 165 pound for 10 reps, 2 arm lat stretch 15 seconds. I do not lock out my
elbows on this one. This keeps the tension onthe upper lats without putting it on the
shoulders. Neutral grip (palms facing each other) is also easier on the elbows. I do 2
arm lat stretch between sets.
Cable Cross ove r be hind ne ck works upper lats without tiring the biceps. Instead it
pumps up the triceps and can be used as the second exercise in a superset with
pulldowns or low cable rows. I do 15 reps with 30 pounds, then increase the weight to
40 pounds and do 12 reps, with one arm shoulder stretch between sets.
Arc overhead press on Soloflex pressing machine - I know you probably don't have
one of these, but the idea is to do an overhead press which arcs away from your body.
Some machines are like this, such as the Universal Press machine (A Smith machine is
not, it's a straight line press, this is not what you want). I do 12 reps, then 15 seconds of
1 arm shoulder stretch, increase the weight, then do 10 reps, and shoulder stretch again.
Low cable row - I position my low pulley about 3 feet above the floor and pull the
handles to my ribcage, touching it lightly and letting it slowly back to an arms slightly
unlocked position as I allow my upper body to lean forward slightly as I do so.
Keeping my knees slightly bent keeps stress off the lower back. I use the same sets and
reps as on front pulldown and 2 arm lat stretch between sets. This one really pumps up
the low central lats.
Shrug - again you probably don't have the Panatta curl machine I use to do this one, but
you can get a similar effect by doing shrugs with dumbbells with upper body leaning
slightly forward. This emphasizes developing the traps between the shoulder blades
ithout over developing the vertical height to the traps. I always like the squared off
shoulder look. Thick bunchy traps can make the shoulders look more narrow.
Rear deltoid machine- I push the pads back using my upper forearms right below my
elbows. This can also be done in a pec deck sitting or standing backwards in it. The
substitute for this exercise is bent over dumbbell lateral raise. I use 70 pounds for 15
reps, the 15 seconds of one arm rear deltoid stretch, 80 pound for 12 reps and more rear
delt stretching.
Pullovers - I did dumbbell pullovers lying across a flat bench for many years and this is
hat developed my serratus, lower pecs, and ribcage. After shoulder surgery in 1983
this exercise (along with several others) became uncomfortable so I secured the latest
plate loaded Nautilus pullover machine and use it all the time. On the machine I usually
do 130 for 12 reps, and 150 for 10 reps, doingone arm shoulder stretch between sets. I
occasionally do dumbbell pullovers too, I just don't go as heavy with the dumbbell
anymore.
Super setting dumbbell pullover with stiff arm pulldowngives a full range movement
like the pullover machine does.
One arm dumbbell row
This is the best exercise for lower outer lats. Instead of
propping myself up on a bench, I lean into a dumbbell rack and balance my body
between my two feet with knees bent and my supporting arm. My first set is with 60
pounds for 12 reps and then I jump to 70 pounds for 10 reps, doing the one arm lat
stretch after rowing with each arm.
70 degree incline dumbbell press- Next is an exercise for upper pecs and I've recently
discovered a way to get the effect of the "Arnold Press" which was done by pressing
dumbbells overhead as you twist them.
I use the Hoist V-1 machine for this exercise. Again, you probably don't have one of
these to use, so you might resort to doing dumbbell incline press on a 70 degree angle
ith dumbbell held in a neutral grip (palms facing each other). Press overhead but
don't lock out the arms, thereby keeping tension on the upper pecs. 12 reps on first set,
doorway stretch 15 seconds between sets, increase weight, 10 reps on second set
followed by more doorway stretching.
30 degree incline dumbbell press- Lower your incline bench down to a low angle and
do the same exercise as before again with a neutral grip. Palms facing each other
allows you to stretch deeply in this exercise and really works the lower section of the
upper pecs. Again, don't lock out on each rep. 12 reps on first set, increase weight, 10
reps on second, doing doorways stretch between sets.
Pec Deck - I secured a Paramount Pec deck over a dozen years ago because I had
difficulty doing dumbbell flyes with any kind of substantial weight. After shoulder
surgery it became hard to work my chest and this machine certainly helped. It's 130
pounds for 12 reps, 15 seconds doorway stretch, 145 pounds for 10 reps followed by
more doorway stretch. A good pec deck combines the effect of dumbbell fly with cable
crossover , which when super setted give a great overall outer and inner pec workout.
Final exercise is DB side raise for lateral deltoids. Bring the dumbbells down to the
sides of your thighs (not in front of your thighs to isolate lateral delts) and only up to the
top of your head, parallel to the floor at all times. Do 12 reps, 1 arm shoulder stretch,
increase weight 10 reps, stretch again.
This torso workout: 11 exercises, 2 sets each for a total of 22 sets. Believe me, 22 sets
done with slow negatives so that my last rep is my last successful repetition in good
form gives me a tremendous pump and a great workout. Some may wonder, why chest
ork at the end of the workout, aren't you supposed to start your workout with bench
press? The reason is that this routine gives priority to back and shoulders, chest has
already been prioritized in the Growth Routine. Big pecs just make your delts look
smaller. Pecs grow easily and are often overemphasized in trainingroutine with many
sets of bench press. You need to work those muscle groups you can't see, like back if
you want a complete physique. This torso workout takes you in that direction.
Abdominal workconsists of hanging knee ups (p. 32) tri-setted with crunches and
one
arm cable crunch
. A tri-set is three exercises done in a row without resting. My
minimum ab routine is 3 tri-sets of 25 to 30 reps each of hanging knee up, with 3 sets of
10 to 15 reps of one arm cable crunch with 50 pounds holding with each hand for both
left and right frontal oblique.
Hanging Knee Ups
One Arm Cable Crunch Start and Finish
Aerobics - 10 minutes slow rowing on the Concept II rowing Ergometer. My goal is to
go 2000 meters. This gives the whole body a workout, even the abs if you keep them
tensed as you row. A cadence of 25 strokes per minute is what I like with a full range
of motion.
Day 2
Abs, thighs, calves, aerobics
Abs - No hanging knee up on this day in order to give my upper body more rest. I super
set leg raise with crunches, doing 3 sets of 25 to 30 reps each (page 32), then do 25
reps with 50 pounds each arm one arm cable crunchat the end of my ab routine. I
balance on my knees and do not sit back on my heels. My arm left arm touches in front
of my left knee and stays bent, and the same with the right arm.
Then I use myhip machineto work outer thighs and rear oblique and inner thighs
(adductors) tensing my abs on each rep. I use 60 to 70 pound for two sets of 15 reps.
Thighs: Before I begin thigh work I warm up on the stationary bike or treadmill riding
or walking at an easy pace for 2 to 4 minutes.Leg curl - 70 x 12, 80 x10 super-setted
ith hyperextension 2 sets of 12 to 15 reps (sometimes I hold a 10 pound plate). This
super set really pumps up the hamstrings. I do one leg up stretch for 15 seconds with
each leg at the end of each super set.
Leg Curl
Hyperextension
Leg Extension - 160 x 12, 170 x 10 super-setted withhorizontal leg press 200 x 12,
220 x 10. I keep my feet low on the platform (heels hanging off) and go deep into the
leg press. I can hardly walk after each super set and I take a good three minute rest
before I do my second super set. I do one leg back stretch after each super set.
Erect Squat - The best way to squat and make your thighs do all the work without
putting stress on your lower back and knees is the Leg Blaste r. Thousands of people
have been able to continue squatting and retain that important lean muscle mass in the
thighs and glutes. I'm one of them. I haven't been able to do barbell squats since 1982.
Squatting with barbell on back bends the upper body forward as you go heavier and
heavier. This is even more apparent for tall people with long legs. With the Leg
Blaster your hands are free to hold on to the balance bar while you squat. I go deep into
the full squat, keeping my knees in line with my toes, upper body erect, and not quite
locking out at the top of the squat. The harness stays touching my ribcage the entire
motion. If it were to touch the tops of my thighs at the bottomof the movement it would
mean I'm leaning forward at this point and engaging my lower back to reverse the
direction from going down to coming up. I place my feet all the way forward on the
platform and look straight ahead.
I know many gyms don't have Leg Blasters, we focus on the home gym and personal
trainer studio market. There is no better way to squat if you use the Leg Blaster
correctly as just described. But what often happens in commercial gyms is the big boys
load the thing up with multiple 45 pound plates on each side and leave it like this when
finished. You don't need a lot of weight to get a great thigh workout with the Leg
Blaster, less than 200 pounds is sufficient. My best recent effort is 10 reps with 180
and lately I've been doing 12 reps with 135, and 10 reps with 150.
So if you don't have access to a Leg Blaster in your gym you have several choices. 1.
Convince the gym owner to get one and instruct trainees in it's proper use. It's best to
not keep more than two 35s, two 25s, four 10s, and two 5 pound Olympic plate on the
rear plate holders. 2. Buy one yourself and do your squats and standing calf raises (it's
excellent for that) and lunges too at home.
If you are not ready for the Leg Blaster you have two other options: to do your squats
on the Smith machine or to do front squats. Here's how: Using a light weight on the
Smith machine that enables you to do a deep squat, stand with your feet forward relative
to the bar so that when you squat deeply your heels do not lift up off the floor. This is
not as good as the Leg Blaster since your movement is restricted to a straight line
groove, whereas the Leg Blaster has more freedom of movement since it is a free weight
system.
Your other option is thefront squat. Get a pair of weight lifting straps and loop each
one around the bar so that the straight end sticks straight up into the air. Tighten it and
grab the straight end, holding the bar on your shoulders at the clavicles with your
elbows directly in front of your with upper arms parallel to the floor. You'll need to put
a block of wood (a 2 by 4) under your heels because as you go into the deep squat your
heels will raise off the floor. Front squat prevents you from bending forward too much
and although you can't use as much weight in it as with regular squat, it will work your
thighs more directly and it is safer and easier on your lower back.
Bottom line: Get a Leg Blaster before you hurt yourself squatting.It's an essential
exercise but don't wait until you are already injured to get one. If you are injured that's
all the more reason to get one now. Call me at 800-323-7537 and I'll set you up.
Calves
Standing
a good
one
to can
startdo
with,
you
canthe
useLeg
a regular
calf
machine ifCalf
yourRaise
gym is
has
one, or
you
them
with
Blasterstanding
or a Smith
machine. You do need a calf block to stand on, the ball of your foot should be securely
on the block and the block should give you a good 5 inch elevation off the floor. This is
so that you can stretch lower than the plane of the floor and stretch the lower calf
muscles while contracting the tibialis (shin muscles on the front of the lower leg). The
ay you do all your calf exercises is to do between 15 and 20 reps and somewhere in
that range you should experience a burning sensation in your calf muscles. Don't select
too heavy of a weight because it will limit your range of motion and balance, and don't
go too light either because then you won't get the burn between 15 and 20 reps. When
you raise up on your toes as high as possible, hold this position and count to 5, then
sink slowly downward so your heels are close to the floor and the up again and hold for
another 5 count. This will help you get a burn by the end of the set. This is crucial for
calf development, but don't get too severe of a burn when you are starting out or you'll
be sore for days and cursing me. Right after you finish your set do a calf stretch by
holding your heels in the low position standing on the calf block or on a step for 15
seconds.
A calf block is a useful piece of equipment to use but it's amazing how few commercial
gym have even one. That's OK is all your calf exercise have built in blocks to elevate
your
frontal
foot,machine,
like the standing
calf
machine
justproblem
mentioned,
calfifraise
on anhave
incline
leg press
or seated
calf
raise, no
here.orBut
you don't
this special equipment you need a calf block. Here's how you can make one:
Go to a lumber yard and have them cut you an 18 inch long piece of 4 by 6 inch lumber
(Douglas fir is most common, but make sure it's not too sappy). Then get two one foot
lengths of 2 by 4 cut, and fasten one at each end of the 4 by 6. You can simply use wood
glue and nails, or if you're a pro, drill holes and use wood screws. Using a wood rasp
round off one edge of the 4 by 6 (you may want to do this before you fasten the 2 by 4s
at the ends), sand it down a little, and buy some step adhesive - it looks like black
sandpaper 4 inches wide with and adhesive backing, peel off the backing and paste it
over the curve and you have a non skid surface. You can even stain, varnish, or paint
your calf block but it's not essential. Be really cool and put a handle on one end or at
the back of the block to make it easier to pick up and carry around. For less than $10
you have a nice calf block.
Donkey calf raise - This might be the best calf exercise there is and all you need is a
partner who weights at least as much as you do and your calf block you just made. In
the 1970s at Gold's Gym in Venice California we always did these. For the 1978 Mr.
Olympia I did 8 sets of donkeys 3 times a week with a 210 pound rider on my back. I
did my first set of 25 reps, then he did his set with me sitting on his lower back. Then
for my subsequent sets he put a 45 pound plate on my upper back and we did sets of 15
to 25 reps, resting only when we sitting on each others back. My calves were really
good that year.
One legged calf raise is another calf exercise you can do in your home gym if you don't
have much calf equipment. Stand on the block with one foot, hold a light to moderate
dumbbell in one hand and hold on to something to balance yourself with your other
hand. Do 15 to 20 reps with each leg and then do the calf stretch for 15 seconds.
Calf raise on the leg press machine is a very good exercise, make sure the balls of
your feet are on the platform. Be sure that youare getting a good 4 to 5 inches of
movement with this exercise, so don't use a ton of weight.
Seated calf raise is an all time favorite and good size builder because it works the
soleus, the band of muscle underneath the outer two heads of the gastrocnemius. This
one puts a lot of stress on the Achilles tendon so do it last in your routine. I do one drop
set on this one, 120x5, 110x5, 100x5, 90x5 without resting, providing I have someone
there to remove the plates.
What about foot placement? When your toes are pointed slightly outward it becomes
more conducive to keep the pressure on the ball of your foot and your first two toes so
consequently you work the inner head of the gastrocnemius more. With your toes
pointed inward you experience a tendency to roll outward with the pressure on your
little toes, thereby working the outer head of the gastrocnemius (this rolling outward
tends to happen when you use a heavy weight in either position).
If you get a burn on every set you shouldn't need to do more than 6 sets total (or less) of
calf raises twice a week at the most. Don't think working your calves every day will
make them grow. You will shock them at first and they may respond the first week or
two but then they will just become more defined. Like any other muscle they need rest
to recuperate and grow. The calves are weight bearing muscles and are adapted to
exercise since we use them when walking and running, so the technique of getting a burn
on every set is probably more important to use on calves than on any other muscle to get
them to respond and grow.
Pick any three of the above calf exercises according to what equipment you have access
to and do 2 sets on each one. And get a burn on each set.
After you finish your calf workout it may be challenging to spend much time walking or
running on a treadmill, especially if you use the elevated setting. Inclined treadmill
really works calves, hamstrings, glutes, and lower back. I personally prefer to ride my
recumbent stationary bike at the end of my leg workout, or maybe a little bit of treadmill
combined with a little more stationary bike. Be careful not to do so much calf work and
treadmill in the same workout that your calves cramp up at night when you stretch your
legs out. It's happened to me several times and it's not pleasant.
Day 3
Trice ps, Biceps, F orearms, abs, a erobics
The nice feature of this three way split routine is that subsequent workouts get easier
and arms is the easiest workout of all. Triceps, biceps, and forearms are all small body
parts and you don't have to rest a great deal between sets so you can finish it relatively
quickly. With aerobics, I can finish my torso workout in an hour 15 minutes, leg
orkout in an hour, and arm workout in 45 minutes. This kind of training can fit into the
busiest of lifestyles. But not if you waste time in the gym. My rule in the gym is once I
start I don't get involved in conversations, just simple yes or no answers if asked
anything. A good idea is to go to the gym when it is least crowded. The worst times are
usually 5 to 7 pm. You don't want to have to wait to use equipment. Unless you're there
for social reasons and your workouts aren't that important, avoiding conversation is
very conducive to good workouts.
By the time day 3 rolls around I'm psyched because I know I can breeze through the arm
orkout. There have been days where I've done the arm workout in 20 minutes with
little rest between sets. Triceps: After warming up on my Schwinn Airdyne for one
minute I do Smith machineClose grip bench press- With the inside of my hands twelve
inches apart using a thumbless grip and my flat bench on a very slight decline, I unrack
the bar and lower it very slowly to the bottom of my pecs. I don't quite lock out at the
top of the movement and keep a smooth rhythm with a slower negative than positive.
Last workout I did 12 reps with 140 and 10 reps with 155 doing arms back stretch for
15 seconds between sets. I found my triceps stay bigger whenI include this movement
so I almost always start out with it. Of course it works the front delts and inner pecs
too, but is focused mainly on the outer head of the triceps.
Then I head over to mydip machine. If you don't have one do parallel dips. The
important thing is to get a good lockout and hold it for a half second. This is pec and
front deltoid work too (like close grip bench press) and I go deeper with each
successive rep. I do 12 reps with 170 super setted with ove rhe ad cable e xte nsion on
the lat machine.
I do 12 reps with 50 pounds to a burn, then hold the arms back stretch for 15 seconds. I
get a good 3 minute rest after that super set. Combining a compound movement like dip
machine that also works front delts and triceps with an isolation movement like
overhead triceps extension immediately afterwards gives an unbelievable burn and is
the most effective way to train triceps I've ever found. When I'm ready I do my second
super set with 180 on dip and 55 on pressdown/extension, 10 reps each to a burn
followed again by arms back stretch.
Sometimes I'll do one arm dumbbell extensionif I feel like doing more triceps work,
especially for my right arm whose triceps is not quite as developed as my left arm due
to many years of shooting archery. Holding the bow in my left hand as right-handed
shooters do gave me a big left triceps and you can bet that's the one I showed in the
mandatory side triceps pose during physique competitions. After of twenty year layoff
from archery, I've taken it up again, this time being forced to learn to shoot left handed
due to a chronic shoulder injury incurred in 1979 to my left front deltoid. It's just too
hard to hold the bow up and aim accurately the way I used to so now I hold the bow in
my right hand. And my right triceps and right rear deltoid are getting more developed.
So when I do one arm dumbbell extension It's usually only for my right arm to help even
out my triceps development. This is one of the best exercises for the posterior head of
the triceps, something I have a lot of on my left arm and want more of on my right arm. I
do one arm shoulder stretch between sets of this exercise and usually do around 10 to
12 reps with a 25 pound dumbbell, leaning backward and stretching deep down behind
my head with my upper arm close to my head.
Biceps
: Ifsets
I'meach
training
by12
myself
I like55
topounds,
use myPanatta
and do one arm
curls, two
arm,
reps with
10 reps curl
with machine
66 pounds.
But if I'm training with a Zane Experience client who does not have access to such a
onderful machine, I doone arm dumbbell concentration curl
, which is really a very
good exercise. I sit and brace my elbow against my inner thigh bending forward at the
aist, and curl the dumbbell up as far as it will go, keeping my wrist straight, and
supinating slightly (turning my wrist outward) at the top of the curl. I hold the
contraction for one second at the top of the movement and then very slowly lower it
until my arm is almost perfectly straight. I usually do 12 reps with a 30 pound
dumbbell, and 10 reps with a 32.5 pound dumbbell.
A favorite exercise for biceps is face down (leaning f orward) on a 70 de gree incline
bench dumbbell curl
. Normally when you curl you reach peak contraction with your
biceps about 2/3 of the way up in the curl. If you curl past that point your biceps relax
and the effect of a good set of curls is lost. You always want to contract and squeeze
the biceps hard at the top of the curl. When you lean forward as in this face down
incline curl, the peak contraction occursat the very top, where you stop and hold the
dumbbells for a second before lowering slowly. I do 12 reps with 22.5 pound
dumbbells, then 10 reps with 25 pound dumbbells in this one. You don't need a lot of
eight.
The rules for maximum biceps development:
1. Keep you upper arms glued to your sides. If you raise your arms up in front of you
when you curl you work your front deltoids.
2. Keep your wrists straight and supinate. If you turn your wrist inward as you curl
you transfer the effect frombiceps on to forearms and may never develop a peak to
the biceps. Supinating or turning the wrist outward as you curl upwards brings the
outer biceps into play and it's harder to develop the outside of the upper arm than
the inside. Supination helps get the job done.
My last and most grueling biceps exercise is drop sets on thepreac he r cable curl.
Using a curved bar attached to a cable and a lower pulley I position myself on a
preacher bench a few feet in front of the pulley with my pecs against the preacher bench
and only my elbows hanging slight over the top of the bench. Lowering the weight
slowly, I curl the bar all the way up and pause for a half second at the top. I do 6 reps
ith 110 pounds, 5 to 6 reps with 100 pounds, 4 to 5 reps with 90 pound, and 4 reps
ith 80 pounds with only a few seconds rest between set, only enough time to take the
eight off. What a burn. I only do one drop set like this and my biceps are pumped to
the max.
Forearm work starts with Rope Reverse Curls on the preacher bench
. It's the same
rope everyone uses for triceps extensions, but not me, it give a hammer curl effect. Not
only do I feel this in the top of the forearms, but in the lower biceps too. I do 8 reps
ith 80 pounds then immediately drop to 70 pounds and do 7 more reps with no rest.
Then I do one set of 35 fast reps onbarbell wrist curlwith 80 pounds and finish up by
squeezing mygripper for 20 reps. My forearms are really pumped and I'm finished
orking arms.
Ab work consists of a sequence of 30 leg raises, 30 crunches, 30 hanging knee ups, and
10 one arm cable crunches with each arm using 50 pounds on my pulley. I go through
this sequence twice totaling 200 reps, and on some ambitious day I do three round for a
total of 300 reps. Then it's a good 12 to 15 minutes on my recumbent stationary bike
and/or treadmill (walking at 3.5 miles per hour).
Healing Injuries
There is always a risk that you can get injured when you are exercising, whether it is
eight training, cardiovascular exercise, or even stretching. Using weights that are too
heavy without warming up properly, doing repetitions to failure, cheating and using
poor form on an exercise can lead to injuries that stay with you the rest of your life.
Once you get an injury you must rest it and do therapy for it. It's best to seek
professional help, a medical doctor whose specialty is your injury (especially if
severe), a chiropractor (providing you can find a good one), or a physical therapist (if
your health insurance will pay for it). I've used all three, but currently rely solely on
medical advice initially to learn the severity of the injury. Then I do my own therapy.
I'll describe what I've found to work the best for me.
Slight injuries like muscles that are too sore from a hard workout often vanish with
adequate rest. But the more severe variety never seem to go away completely. They
heal through rest and therapy, then lie in remission waiting for the opportunity to return
full blown when you make a mistake in your training. In weight training many injuries
occur when you are not focused entirely on what you are doing. Injuries can result from
accidents caused by being distracted or making wrong choices in your workout. Don't
ear adequate footwear to the gym and there's a good chance you will hurt your feet.
So diagnosis is the first step after an injury. You must find out what's wrong and what
exactly to do. Recently I was dong leg curls too heavy and let the weight stretch down
too far and felt a sharp pain in the back of my knee. That was it for leg curls for a week
and then I started doing them light again and everything seemed OK. A week later I did
a lot of walking with a back pack, then some hard calf work. The following day I was
ust standingaround and felt an intense spasm in my calf. Upon examination, my calf
had swollen up an inch. A cyst had developed at the site of the injury - I had torn my
inner gastrocnemius at the knee insertion point - and the stress afterwards caused the
cyst to rupture, the fluid draining down my leg causing the swelling. I was limping for
days but when it felt a little better, I did some light leg work and then tripped over my
dog that night and it was back to square one.
The pain from the spasm was severe, especially at night and I kept the leg elevated with
an ice pack on it several times a day. After showering at night I applied a local
analgesic called Sombra along with DMSO. These two treatments helped a lot, and
after a 7 or 8 weeks of not training legs I was able to train them again, light at first,
gradually building up the poundages according to how sore the area felt afterwards. My
calf had changed shape too. I'd gained a fullness in the inner upper calf but lost the
development at the lower calf since I wasn't able to flex my foot. Now since I've been
dong calf raises again the lower calf development is coming back. I always wanted to
get that calf bigger because it was a little smaller than my other one, now it is bigger.
You have to be careful what you wish for - you will get what you want, you just never
know how or when.
I've had so many injuries, major and minor that I feel like an expert. My goal is not to
be an expert in getting any new ones or reactivating any old ones, but to practice my
expertise in healing what injuries I have to deal with. I'm happy if you can learn from
my experience and not go through the painful trials and limitations of injuries. Injury is
hat stops you from training and improving. When we push ourselves training to failure
e find what our limits are rather quickly. And it is always accompanied by injury. I'd
like to tell you my history of injuries, how they occurred and what I do to cope and
hopefully heal them.
As a teenager in high school I was very studious, got all A's and once I discovered
bodybuilding at age 14 this was all I wanted to do in the way of exercise and sports. I
anted to build my body and I did, from a lean 140 pounds at 5 foot 9 inches to a solid
170 pounds when I graduated from high school four years later.
I attended a small high school, there were 60 students in my graduating class and only
two sports a kid could earn a letter in, basketball and football. My younger brother was
a good athlete. I was faster, but he was very coordinated and learned fast. So when he
ent out for football in his freshman year, I went out in my junior year and made the
starting lineup as a blocking back. I really wanted to catch passes, I was good at it.
Instead I never got to carry the ball, or catch a pass, just block, which I hated. Why hit
somebody on purpose when it might not even matter.
The jarring took it's toll and I split the bursa on the inside of my right calf. The bursa is
the sheath covering the muscles. My therapy was hot whirlpool on the calf every day
for a few weeks and it got better. I was back and became the punter for the team. I
kicked the ball with my right leg and the constant leaping into the air with right leg
extended
to meet Ithe
ball drove
my pelvis backward
my left
side.
In my
entire
years of football
scored
one touchdown.
I was on aon
losing
team,
happy
when
the two
season ended in my senior year and I could focus on my weight training.
There were a handful of bodybuilders in the area where I lived in Northeastern
Pennsylvania and they were the first power lifters. It hadn't been recognized as a sport
yet (this was the early 1960s), there was only Olympic lifting with meets around Pa.
nearly every weekend we would travel to. They began to organize competitions called
"Odd Lifting" I guess because it was odd that they weren't the Olympic lifts, press,
snatch, and clean and jerk. Everybody in those days did some kind of weightlifting.
You had to if you competed in Amateur Athletic Union bodybuilding contests to get full
points for athletic ability. Weight lifters always won the physique events.
The odd lifts consisted of curl, bench press, and deadlift. There was no squat, mainly
because one of the organizers couldn't squat very well but he was a great deadlifter. I,
on the other hand, was a strong squatter, able to do 10 reps with 300 pounds without too
much trouble. I didn't care for deadlift, hardly did them, but when the first meet came up
I began training for the deadlift. At a bodyweight of 168 pounds I was able to curl 165,
bench press 285, and deadlift 425, placing second in my class. I also won the Mr.
Keystone State title after the powerlifting meet concluded that evening.
But in attempting heavy deadlift from the floor I developed a tendency to come up
crooked with my pelvis, it had become misaligned from kicking the football and I
experienced my first severe lower back injury at around age 20. I had to be careful
squatting too, I threw my lower back out severely squatting 10 reps with 405 with
Arnold in 1972. Now I can't squat with the barbell at all, and I'm thankful for having a
Leg Blaster.
The condition became really aggravated at age 52 when I attempted to squat with the
barbell again, coming up crooked radiated pain out to my right oblique and it bothered
my for many months. Finally a friend sent me some Nikken body Magnets and I began
earing them daily and the pain subsided about 50 percent. The theory is that the
magnets draw fresh blood (hemoglobin contains iron) to the site and fresh blood to an
area is what brings about healing. Sometimes I even wore themto bed. But since then
my lower back is sore and stiff when I get up in the morning. The longer I sleep the
stiffer it gets. So I seldom sleep longer than 6 hours at night and make up the rest of my
snooze time by taking an afternoon nap.
When I get up in the morning, I rub an analgesic on my lower back (Sombra) and sit in
my I Joy massage chair (a great investment from Sharper Image, they cost about $700).
This gets the blood flowing and then I eat breakfast. Right afterwards I have a half hour
to
hour long
period
(it's still
quite early
in the
withthe
a heat
pad
onone
my lower
backmeditation
sitting in my
reclining
meditation
chair.
Themorning)
heat relaxes
muscles
and I'm fine after that.
In my late 40s I incurred myfirst inguinal hernia. Living in Palm Springs on a
large gated estate, one day the gate was left open and my dog ran out. I quickly ran after
him and as I stated I felt a sharp pain in my right groin area. That night taking a hot
shower I noticed a bulge in the area, saw a doctor who confirmed it was an inguinal
hernia. A few months later this quack operated on it, just stitching it up like he would
for any of the 70 year old men on whom he usually performed this operation. Six
months later I was training, doing standing one arm dumbbell extensions, and I felt a pop
in the area. The hernia had broken through the bursa below where it was stitched up. I
coped with it for four years, wearing a truss, but as the tear got larger and descended
down toward the scrotum I realized I'd need surgery again and this time went to the
Lichtenstein Hernia Clinic in Los Angeles. They put in polypropylene mesh, stitched it
up and it's been good ever since.
But the stitching on the right side pulled up on my right leg and made it shorter than my
left, putting more stress on my lower back. At first I had to avoid leg work, and do as
many upper body exercises as possible in a seated position. I use a traction table where
I lie in a decline position for a few minutes several times a week and it has helped even
out my leg length.
In May 1983 I was involved in a bicycling accident where I had to slam on my brakes to
avoid hitting a car. I flew 10 feet over the handlebars and landed on my right shoulder.
I couldn't raise my right arm for a month and I had the Mr. Olympia contest to train for in
October. My goal was to win the title 4 times. I trained the best I could, after the
shoulder started feeling better but I couldn't work my upper body as heavy as before. I
couldn't lock out my right arm. I competed in very muscular condition at a lighter
bodyweight of 183 and came in fourth. Already 41 years old, I realized this was the end
of
competitive
butat
at the
least
I went
in fantastic
the photos taken
by my
Artie
Zeller andcareer,
Christine
1983
Mr.out
Olympia
showcondition,
this.
After the competition I went to the hospital for diagnosis and they revealed that I had
torn a hole the size of a half dollar in my right rotator cuff, it was hanging on by a
thread. Surgery and recovery were traumatic. This was no arthroscopic surgery, they
had to cut deeply into the deltoid to repair it and I wore an airplane brace holding my
right arm out to the side for 2 weeks afterwards. When the brace came off, my arm hung
limp by my side and it took me another two weeks before I could raise my arm over my
head. Then it was daily therapy with light weights. My legs were fine so I walked a lot
and did ab work. Three months after the surgery I was able to begin light weight
training and gradually got into really good shape six months after the surgery, a kind of
reverse motivation.
What really helped was a suggestion from my surgeon (the same doctor who operated
on Arnold's knee in 1972), that I do ultra-sound for 10 minutes twice a day around the
incision. So he gave me a prescription to buy one, cost me $1000 and I followed his
recommendation. I still have this machine and use it whenever I have some kind of
intense spasm or soreness in an area. But this rotator cuff surgery operation changed my
training, it marked the end of my competitive career. I had trouble working chest, no
more heavy barbell bench press or incline or dumbbell flyes. All I could do was front
press on my Soloflex machine with the rubber band and weights attached to the bar, and
cable crossover. So I sought out a good pec deck, one that didn't hurt my shoulder, and
that brought my chest development back.
A few years after the surgery I was doing high repetition seated side dumbbell raises
ith 25 pound dumbbells, when I heard a snap in my right shoulder and my arm fell to
my side. I thought "There goes my rotator cuff". But when I examined the area I found
nothing and could move my arm around. But that night when showering (my place of
discovery) I noticed a soreness in my upper outer biceps where it attaches to the deltoid
accompanied by a slight gap. The biceps had moved down my arm slightly and now I
had more separation in this area and more of a peak to my biceps. I always wanted
more peak to my biceps, but of course, not this way, again be careful what you wish
for. The result was a different shaped more peaked right biceps which was not quite as
strong as my left one because my left biceps now had a stronger attachm
ent. I've
compensated for it by always starting my curling with my right arm.
All these injuries occurred on my right side. Not that my left side was spared from
agony, I'd experienced a sharp pain where the biceps tendon inserts between the front
and the lateral deltoid in my left shoulder. It happened doing very heavy alternate
dumbbell
curls My
in training
forhave
1979taken
Mr. Olym
pia. from
It stilltraining
flares up
evenand
now,
it's like
myI
Achilles heel.
shoulders
a beating
heavy
careless
and
must give them adequate rest to continue training. So if you get injured you need to first
get a diagnosis of what's wrong, then get therapy to heal it, and rest adequately until you
can start training again. Do exercises that don't hurt the injured area, train around it, use
machines that have a built in groove to avoid strain on the area. Indeed my gym is now
full of great machines, there's free weights too but I just don't use them as much,
especially barbells. My slogan is "If it hurts, don't do it", the anti-thesis to the popular
bodybuilding maxim, "No pain, no gain". Pain is not a good word.
Mind, Body & Metaphor
An accident in 1980 taught me the most about how I create what happens to me by what
I think, feel and say. After winning Mr. Olympia three times in a row mygoal became
to win it one more time before I retired. I hoped that year would be 1980, the next
consecutive year after I'd won it most recently.
So
there Ibeing
was massive
and muscular
at 208standing
pound 8inweeks
before the
1980 Mr.in Palm
Olympia
held in Sydney,
Australia,
my weekend
house/gym
Spring looking out at my pool, getting ready to get a few hours of sun to deepen my tan.
I was under a lot of pressure being on top of bodybuilding those years, and as I stood
there I felt a sense of anger and resentment about the sacrifices I'd made and what was
still ahead in my training for this competition. I thought "Oh hell, another 8 more weeks
of torture, I have no life but this. It pisses me off." I stepped outside to lie in my
lightweight lawn chair near the edge of the pool. As I did the chair slid on the slippery
et astro turf surface into the pool with me in it. I felt a sharp blow just below my
testicles, sunk to the bottom and when I pulled myself out a minute later, blood was
gushing from my penis.
Christine rushed me to the hospital, the doctor finally showed up taped me up to stop the
bleeding and inserted a catheter. As I lie in bed, the tranquilizers began to kick in and
he explained to me that I had smashed my urethra and it would be in the hospital for a
hile. All I remember after that was going unconscious, I'd lost a lot of blood and
probably went into shock. I felt like I was dying and it was not at all like I'd imagined.
Peaceful and serene, I felt "Now I have nothing to worry about anymore, no more
bodybuilding competitions, I'm going to Heaven". Then I woke up in pain and realized
hat had happened and the suffering that was ahead. After a week in the hospital I had a
chance to put the pieces of the puzzle together and realized my part in this catastrophe. I
had created the situation of being literally pissed off (having a catheter inserted in my
penis is about as pissed off as I could get) with my anger and resentment. I even used
the expression "that pisses me off" frequently when things didn't go my way. I realized
that what I say is what I get and learned to practice positive speech and not resort to
negative body metaphors to express my negative thoughts and
A negative body metaphor is an expression, a figure of speech that bring your body into
your dissatisfaction. They can all be translated as "I don't like that', but instead of
stating your dislikes in this manner, we say 'that makes me sick", "I can't stand that", "I'm
tired of this", "Get offmy back", "You're a pain in the neck", "That gives me a
headache", "It is to die for" (be careful with this one), "I can't handle that", "It's hard to
swallow". Habitual use of such negative body metaphors can result in what you say
manifesting itself literally on the physical plane. Your body hears every word you say
and behaves accordingly. If you learn to speak positively you can change your life.
There is much to this topic. I've recorded a self help CD called Positive Attitude
hich addresses it in detail. Your attitude is determined by what you spend your time
thinking about, talking about, and acting out. Observing your thoughts, you'll notice
negative stuff comes up, just observe it, and let it pass away. If the negative banter
sticks in your mind, start to say a positive affirmation, my favorite is "I take refuge in the
sustenance of life". It will crowd out negative thinking.
Another part of our thought process is visual, what we see internally: our mind movies
and visualizations. If you are obsessed with pictures of gloom and doom, close your
eyes and focus ona spot in the center of your forehead. Hold your focus here and your
negative self talk will cease. Then see in your mind's eye what you really want, what
you wish for. Practice this whenever you observe a dark mood taking you over. This
is what meditation is all about, clearing your mind of psychic garbage. Take time to
cultivate a positive mind frame and your perception of your surroundings will change.
And so will your life experiences.
Thoughts are cognitive, your own private property. If you work on cultivating positive
productive self talk and images, your speech will become more positive. Speech is
important because it is a behavior. Your body hears what you say and reacts
accordingly and other people hear your vocalizations and do the same. Eliminate
negative body metaphors and your bodybuilding will improve, accidents and injuries
ill diminish and disappear. Don't use expressions that begin with "that makes me…"
because they are admissions of your lack of power over circumstances. You do have
power, you can make conscious choice if you realize:
The psychological steps to healing injuries:
1. Ask yourself what part did you play in the injury. You did it, you are the one
experiencing it, no one else. How did you create this situation for yourself? Take
responsibility by not blaming something or someone else.
2. Find the negative body metaphor associated with the injury or accident by paying
attention to the words and phrases you use.
3. Restructure your speech by substituting positive affirmations or power phrases for
negative body metaphors. Listen to my Positive Attitude CD.
4. After you accomplish the above you will find that the therapy you use to physically
heal the injury will work much better.
If and when you do get injured ask yourself, "what can I still train?" Train around the
injury, it's an opportunity to specialize on weak points. An injured shoulder should not
prohibit you from doing extra abdominal or leg work. Spend more time stretching and
arming up with lighter weights before you go heavier and always keep the injured or
eakened area warm while you are training. If your shoulders are sore don't train in a
tank top in a cold gym. Applying liniment to sore spots is helpful, my favorite is
Sombra.
Physique Competition
Why do it? The strongest motivation comes from your environment. When you train for
competition you will work harder than if you are just "training for yourself". I learned
this after I retired from competition. For 23 consecutive years I competed and spent the
last 3 months peaking for physique contests. I was motivated and knew that I had to
train hard and regular and stay on a good diet if I wanted to win. The thought of
standing in front of thousands of people in skimpy posing trunks was enough to force me
to make training a priority in my life. It was important to do my best.
When I retired from competition at age 41, in great shape but injured, my motivation
as first to heal myself. After I did, Christine and I opened Zane Haven, a
bodybuilding learning center in Palm Springs, California. My motivation now and still
is to stay in good enough physical condition to be able to get vigorous workouts with
clients who do the program. We've moved to San Diego since then and I still teach the
program, now called the Zane Experience, working with people from all over the world
individually, who want to get the most from their training. By doing the program they
save years of trial and error experimentation and $$ on ongoing personal trainers.
Many come back on a regular basis to upgrade their workouts and move to the next
level. Lots of my clients want to compete.
I urge clients who want to enter competition to do so because there is no stronger
training motivation than this. Many have done well because they have practice posing
properly. Think about it: bodybuilding is the only sport where you train in a different
ay than you compete. You do weight training to develop your body but compete with
posing. Most competitive bodybuilders don't practice posing enough, they put all their
energy into training. They get great development, problem is that they can't display it as
good as possible.
Training for physique competition breaks down into three categories:
Workouts
Posing
Diet
You won't do your best unless you devote adequate effort to all three areas. Let's
consider each:
Pre Conte st Workout R outine
What you do the last three months before competition is most important. Allow 13
eeks to put the finishing touches on your body. Of course the 13 weeks preceding this
matter too. Your training starting 6 months out should progressively become more
intense to enable you to go all out in your effort the last three months. If you are in not
such good shape three months before competition it's best to forget about it.
Six months out I'd focus on gradually building up my weights to gain more muscular
size. I'd use the weight star method described on page 20 and over time gradually use
more weight for all the exercises. You'll be stronger if you don't train more than 3 days
out of 5. A good plan would be to do the 5,5,5,6 cycle which repeats itself every 3
eeks (page 36). Do four such 3 week cycles cover a 12 week period and you should
be bigger and stronger by the time you begin your final 12 weeks of finishing touches
training. It would be a good idea to take photos at the end of each 3 week cycle to see
how everything is shaping up.
You will probably find some areas are developing faster than others. This is a good
time to specialize on the weaker areas by doing an extra exercise for it each workout. I
cannot tell you what to do here, you must judge for yourself from your photos and from
feedback from other people who will give you an honest opinion of your development,
not someone who is afraid of hurting your feelings.
Ideally, 13 weeks out from your contest date all your body parts will be equally
developed, bigger, but somewhat smooth. For the next 8 weeks step up to the 5,5,4
cycle, taking photos every 2 weeks at the end of each cycle. You will do 4 of these
cycles and for the final four weeks go to the 4 day cycle, training 3 days in a row and
taking the fourth day off. This takes you up to one week before your contest and you
should be feeling somewhat overtrained. Workouts don't matter so much the last week.
If you are competing on the following Saturday, your last workout should be on
Wednesday and it shouldn't be a hard workout, just gettinga pump is enough. Put your
extra energy into practicing your posing and dieting (more on that later).
Be sure to take more photos as you get closer to your show. You should get some really
good
anda th
ese you
use forwill
publicity
in the
future.
Plus, and
tensing
the muscles
that
occursones
during
posing
session
bring out
your
definition
vascularity.
I always
had posing sessions with Joe Weider and his photographers the last few weeks before
competitions because I was in my best shape. These are the photos you see in the
magazines, it's not that bodybuilders look like this all the time. I'd set up photo sessions
ith different photographers so there would be some variety to all the shots I'd taken.
The idea with the training routine is to do more total sets in each workout by adding
exercises and going up to 3 or even 4 sets per exercise. In general during the final 12
eeks you should not be too concerned about using heavier weights. Rather your goal
should be to rest less between sets. Super setting is a good way to do this. Use the time
star method described on page 20 and do more sets in less time. Your workouts move
in the direction of volume training and you will become more defined. You must get
plenty of rest and relaxation to be able to avoid overtraining. Judge how much you
should do in your workouts by how sore you get after your workouts. If you are too sore
you should do less. What follows is a guide for your own experimentation.
Remember that the map is not the territory.
I suggest doing the torso, legs, arms three way split and adding extra exercises to it. I
ill list the entire routine and show photos only of the new exercises to add.
Day 1
Torso - B ack, shoulders, chest, abs
Warmup 2 minutes on Airdyne
Super sets: 3 sets, 12, 10, 8 reps increasing weight
On each set for all exercises
Front pulldown
Overhead arc press
1 arm shoulder stretch
Low cable row
Shrug
2 arm lat stretch
Rear deltoid machine
Dumbbell side raises
Rear deltoid stretch
One arm dumbbell row
1 arm rear deltoid machine
1 arm lat stretch
30 degree incline dumbbell press
Pec deck
Doorway stretch
Dumbbell pullover
Stiff arm pulldown
1 arm shoulder stretch
Finish off pec work with 3 sets of 20 reps of cable crossover (p. 40) doing doorway
stretch between sets.
For abdominals:
Hanging knee ups
Crunches
1 arm cable crunch
12 minutes rowing machine
Day 2
Abdominals, thighs, c alves, ae robics
Pulley knee in - lie on floor and clip ankle straps into a low pulley. Put your hands
under your butt, keep head off the floor and do a total of 100 reps. You can increase the
eight every set and decrease the reps (for example 20 pounds 30 reps, 25 pounds 25
reps, 30 pounds 20 reps, 35 pounds 15 reps, 40 pounds 10 reps)
Or do 5 sets of 20 reps with 30 pounds. Lie there and rest between sets for as long as
necessary to do the total 100 reps. Not only will this exercise define and thicken the
lower abdominals, it will define the upper quadriceps as well.
Super sets
Leg raise
4 sets of 50
Crunches
4 sets of 50
200 Seated twist
Thighs
Hip machinefor outer thighs and rear obliques
Inner thigh workwith ankle strap attached to top pulley. If you have a hip machine you
can use this or the adduction machines found in some gyms.
1 Leg top extension
4 sets of 25 reps each leg non-stop will bring out the details in your quads. I did this
one every day the last month before competition. I'd use 40 to 50 pounds.
Follow with 1 leg back stretch
Leg Extension super setted with Leg press
12, 10, 8 reps, increasing weight each set on each exercise. You'll need a good rest
between super sets, spend some time doing 1 leg back stretch.
Leg curl super setted with hyperextension
12, 10, 8 reps increasing weight on each set of each exercise. Rest until you catch your
breath, doing 1 leg up stretch between sets.
Erect squat
3 sets of 12,10, 8 reps increasing weight each set. Leg Blaste r is best, if you don't
have one use the Smith Machine or do front squat. Do 1 leg back stretch between sets.
Go deep into the squat and keep your back straight and knees in line with your toes.
Discontinue
squatting
thedefinition
last 2 weeks
your competition and do more 1 leg top
extensions and
your thigh
will before
increase.
Standing calf raise
3 sets of 15 to 20 reps holding the contraction at the top of the movement for a count of
5. Increase weight each set and do calf stretch between sets.
Donkey calf raise
3 sets of 15 to 20 reps super setted withseated calf raise 3 sets of 15 to 20 reps. Do
calf stretch right after donkeys so you have enough strength to complete the seated calf
raise. Stretch again and rest a few minutes between super sets. You should get a
tremendous burn on each super set.
Caution about burns
:
When you first start this routine take each set to the onset of the burn. Judging by the
degree of soreness you experience the next day, keep going further into the burn on
subsequent workouts. If you don't get sore the next day but get really sore 2 and 3 days
later it means you did too much and need to cut back a little. This is called soreness
latency - it is the time it takes for the onset of soreness. If you are in great shape you
ill experience the soreness more quickly and get over it more quickly. Then you will
have to increase the intensity (do more work in less time) to get the burn again. Don't
do so much at first that your calves go into spasm the evening after your workout. It's
happened to me and it is very painful.
I walk around a bit, feeling my calves pump up as I do and after a few minutes begin
aerobics, doing a combination of walking on the treadmill using a program that goes to 3
degrees incline for a minute then 2 degrees decline for a minute. Incline works the
calves even more along with hamstrings, gluteus, and lower back; decline works the
quads and tibialis. I walk at 3.5 miles per hour and go as long as 15 minutes before I
hop on my stationary bike and ride at a moderate speed (about 12 to 14 miles per hour)
for another 15 minutes. Using straps over the top of your foot will put tension on your
quads and define them. Stationary bike is easier than treadmill after a hard leg workout.
Day 3
Arms (some emphasis on torso definition)
Start the workout with Airdyne for 2 minutes warm up, then do a super set for lats:
Close grip pulldownsuper setted with Cable crossove r be hind ne ck
3 sets of 15, 12, 10 reps increasing weight each set on each exercise. Do 1 arm
shoulder stretch between super sets. Without much rest go right into super setting1 arm
side cable raise with one arm cable row, 3 sets of 15, 12, 10 reps,increasing weight on
each set of every exercise. Start with your "weaker arm" and do a set of one arm side
cable raise (increase weight for rows) and immediately one arm cable row (for lower
outer lats), then do the same for the other arm. Do one arm lat stretch between super
sets.
Doing these 3 back and one delt exercise will give you more definition in these areas
and balance out the routine because there is some chest and delt work on the triceps
movements, and warm up your upper body. Now you're ready to start direct arm work:
Triceps
3 sets of 15, 12, 10 reps on close grip bench pres s using Smith Machine or a barbell.
Do a very slow negative and keep the elbows pointing outward as much as possible for
outer head of triceps. You will also feel it in the inner pecs and front deltoids. Do
arms back stretch between sets.
Parallel Dip (machine)super setted with ove rhe ad cable e xte nsion
3 sets of 12,10, 8 reps each exercise increasing weight each set on each exercise.
Continue doing arms back stretch between super sets.
Finish off triceps with 1 arm dumbbell extension
Do 3 sets for each arm of 12,10, 8 reps increasing weight each set. Do one 1 shoulder
stretch between sets.
Biceps
Start with one arm dumbbell concentration curl
12, 10, 8 reps each arm. Rather than stretching between sets flex your biceps after each
set.
Face down incline dumbbell curl
15, 12, 10 reps increasing weight on each set. Do pronated arms back stretch between
sets.
Preacher cable curl drop sets
Select a weight and do 10 reps and then drop 10 pounds and do as many more reps as
you can, maybe 8 with little rest between sets. Increase the weight and do two more
drop sets like this. Your biceps should be burning. Do pronated arms back stretch
between drop sets.
Forearms
Super set EZ bar reve rse preac he r curl 2 sets of 12, 10 reps with barbe ll wrist curl
20, 15 reps. Continue pronated arms back stretch between super sets. Finish off your
forearm routine with 2 sets of 20 reps on gripper. Shake your hands out after each set.
Abs
Do 100 total reps on pulley knee in as you did on leg day. Then superset 4 sets of 30
hanging knee ups with 4 sets of 2 armcable crunch (holding the rope overhead). Then 4
sets of 30 leg raise super setted with 4 sets of 30 crunches, and finally for obliques, 4
sets of 25 1 arm cable crunch super setted 3 sets of 50 seated twist.
To tighten up the lumbars do 3 sets of 20
hyperextension super setted with 2 minutes of
fas t rowing (cadence of 30 full length strokes per minute) on the Concept II Rowing
Ergometer, or any other good rowing machine you have access to.
Do a combination of 20 to 30 minutes walking on the treadmill with stationary bike.
These are intense workouts and you'll need adequate rest to recuperate. I could only do
contest preparation during the summer when I was on vacation from teaching school. I
as tired all the time and can't imagine working a strenuous job while preparing for
competition. After I won Mr. Olympia the first time in 1977 I retired from teaching
school and could train full time. It's not that the actual training takes that long, maybe a
total of 3 hours a day, it's that it takes a lot out of you. Along with the strenuous dieting
to lose body fat, energyis at a premium. You must find as many ways possible to
conserve all the energy you can so you can train effectively. There is also the practice
of posing which becomes essential to do a lot of the last month before competition.
The last month before competition I took time away from my aerobic
activities - I was doing up to 3 hours of aerobics a week - and put it into my posing
practice. I'd begin by practicing posing a half hour every day. A little posing and
stretching is good first thing when you get up in the morning, but I did most of mine after
my workouts later in the day. Since the competition is all about posing, you need to put
the time in so you make it look easy and that you are enjoying it during the competition.
If you are breathing hard and shaking during the poses it doesn't look professional and
you should have practiced more. The last week before the competition I'd practice
posing several hours a day because I'd cut down on the intensity of my weight training
orkouts. It paid off.
The Art of Posing
I always considered bodybuilding to be more of a performing art rather than a sport. To
me a sport has objective standards for selecting the winner. Who runs the fastest, lifts
the most weight, who has the best form (as in gymnastics - there is some subjectivity in
this one) is the winner. Not so in bodybuilding, the judging is subjective, a matter of
preference, a value judgment, and although an experienced eye can tell who should win,
ho does win is often a matter of opinion.
So a competitor must do his best to convince judges he is the best, he must act like the
inner. I could do this most effectively when I knew I was in my best shape, I couldn't
pretend. If there was the slightest doubt in my mind, I would unconsciously project it in
my mannerisms on stage. That's why feedback on what you look like before competition
is so important. When I knew I was as good as I could possibly be, I felt "I have
already won" and this became my mantra. The secret to winning is to win it ahead of
time, be so thoroughly convinced and sure of success that your impressions on everyone
leaves no doubt in their minds. After all, there is no doubt in your mind.
Don't worry about anyone else. If you do, it just drains you of energy that you could be
focusing onyour preparation. Your training has nothing to do with what anyone else
looks like. All that matters is what you do, how well you prepare. This kind of attitude
is very important. I had it the three years I won Mr. Olympia, other years were less than
perfect. Now here's how to prepare your posing for your big event.
Relaxed Round
There are three rounds you are judged on so there are three ways you must practice:
The first is the standing "relaxed" round. But nobody is standing relaxed, they're up
there on stage with their arms sticking almost straight out to the side looking like
robots. The idea is to stand out, look different, so don't do what everybody else does.
Stand like this in a posture of excellence:
Abs and thighs tensed at all times, hands closed (makes your arms appear shorter and
bigger), lats semi tensed and arms close to your thighs. You should be able to stand like
this for hours. And you may have to. It's very important to look great in the standing
relaxed round because it's in this position you make your first impression and from this
position you are called up for comparisons. You will be asked to make quarter turns to
the right so you can be seen from each side and from the back. The last few weeks of
my posing preparation I'd go out and get a tan standing like I was in the contest for a full
hour, 15 minutes in each position. After doing this it was easy on stage.
Compuslory Poses
Next comes the compulsory poses. Judges call them out one by one and you strike each
pose. It's best to hold each pose until they call the next one and then flow to the next
pose just like you would in your posing routine. Don't look like an amateur, hit the shot
and hold it, rotating to left and rightso all the judges get a good look. Do not look them
in the eyes, instead look at their foreheads and do the poses for each judge. Make them
feel important. You are doing a special show for them. First pose is front double
biceps:
Front Double Biceps
Notice the position of the feet, one leg is profile and the balance of the other foot is on
the ball of the foot and the first toe, bringing out the calf. The knee is not turned too far
out. This is called asymmetrical posing - you always show one side of your body
differently than the other. Hold one arm up a little higher and tilt the torso. This gives
lines to the pose and makes it look interesting. The monster physiques usually pose
symmetrically and it does not look very interesting. Be sure to tense all your muscles don't forget your thighs.
Next pose is front lat spread:
Front Lat Spread
It took me a good deal of practice to perfect this pose. The more I held the pose for
longer and longer periods of time, up to one minute, the better it looked. Posing puts the
finishing development on the muscles. Fine definition and vascularity come out when
your practice. Keep your legs tensed and ogether
t
in this shot to make your upper body
look wider. Look confident.
Side Chest Pose
Side Chest pose comes next. Press your thighs together on all side poses to force your
leg biceps to jut outwards. From the position show, lift the left arm up until it comes
under the ribcage. I would pump the arm back and forth a few times in this shot
showing my triceps and deltoid to advantage as well as pecs. Bring the right shoulder
around and lift it up slightly to show striations in the inner pecs, turn you neck to the
side to bring out neck/trap development. Feel proud as you do this pose. Then make a
quarter turn right intoback double biceps.
Bac k Double B iceps
Put one leg back and press down on the floor with your toes to bring out the calves.
Tighten your gluteus, lift your chest and turn your head toward one of your biceps (this
brings out upper back muscularity). Rotate your arms slightly backward to show biceps
development. Your elbows should be in a straight line with each other.
Back Lat Spread
Back lat spread comes next.
Keep your legs in the same position, drop your arms down to your sides and put your
thumbs on your obliques. Spread those lats, keeping your elbows in line with each
other. Do not hunch forward or no one will see your lat spread. Remember the judges
are lower than you looking up to you, so keep your upper body straight and don't lean
forward. Look straight ahead. Then make a quarter turn to the left or right, whichever
is your best side and do theside triceps pose.
Side Triceps Pose
The best way to bring out the triceps for this pose is to interlock your middle fingers
from each hand, bendingthe wrist on the arm you are showing the triceps. Press your
arm against your flexed lat and you will bring out the triceps even more. Lift the hip on
the same side as the triceps you are showing, this brings out the intercostals between the
serratus and obliques. Be sure to keep your waist sucked in and your abs tensed. Bring
your opposite shoulder around to bring out definition in your pecs. Press your thighs
together and you will bring out the curve of the hamstrings.
Abdominal P ose
Abdominal pose is the final shot.
Put your arms behind your head, exhale completely, tense your abs, tense everything
except your face. I always put a slight twist in this pose, it makes it look more
interesting. It's important to have great abs and look good in this pose because it's the
last one. When I did it I snuck in the stomach vacuum which is not a compulsory pose,
but should be. It would eliminate some of the big bellied monsters competing today.
Free Posing
This is the final round where you put a posing routine together in synch with music. In
most contests one to one and a half minutes is allowed for the presentation, so you need
about 12 poses. Start with your best pose and finish with your best shot, these are what
people remember most. Arrange the poses in order so that you do not do more than one
pose from each foot position. Strike each pose to the high points in the music.
Instrumental music is best with crescendos. Pick music that builds in intensity, start out
posing easy and hit the shots harder and a little faster with each pose. This arouses the
audience. When you get a lot of applause, smile in acknowledgement, but don't keep
smiling. Pose for someone in the audience who you see while you are posing from the
stage and rotate slightly during each pose so everybody has a good view.
First step is to place your feet and then follow through with your upper body. Each
successive pose should be an easy foot position change. And each free pose is a
variation of a compulsory pose. A variation of front double biceps might be the arms
overhead pose:
Or this front pose flexing one biceps with the other arm behind the neck.
Free poses don't have names, the best way to learn them is to take photos of yourself in
these poses and arrange them in the order you want to do them. Next, you might twist to
the side and do a side triceps pose with arm in front of your thigh.
Each pose is done by making a quarter turn to the right or left. There are no rules as to
how to do this, just so your movements from one pose to the next are well executed,
graceful yet powerful. Hold each pose for a good five seconds and let the judges and
audience get a good look at the great shape you're in. You could follow with a
twisting back three quarters shot with one or both arms flexed.
It's good idea to study photos and take pictures of yourself in each pose to judge what
looks best for you. Next you might swing forward into what I call the Michelangelo's
"David"
pose,
whichas
was
good pose
me don't
as soon
I took
stage.in Be
sureyou
to
tense all the
muscles
youa strike
each for
pose,
flexastoo
hardthe
(when
shape
don't need to) or you might shake.
Then drop into a lunging front biceps pose with one arm extended, be sure to keep the
thighs flexed in this position, then come erect and finish with a most muscular pose.
Hit each pose exactly intime to the music. You're dancing. Practice by posing to your
music, and to keep your routine fresh in your mind, listen to your music, close your eyes
and visualize each pose. I've helped a lot of competitive bodybuilders get their posing
routines together inthe Zane Experience program. Many have won their competitions .
But I can only guide, it's up to the individual to do the work.
12 Tips for Contest Preparation
The secret to being your best for a competition is the preparation. Anyone can get in
shape, but the mark of a champion is to get into peak condition exactly at the right time
for the contest. Not a week before or a few days after, but ready for the afternoon
prejudging and the evening presentation as well. Here some tips to help make that
happen:
1. Practice posing every evening for a half hour the last month. During the last week
push the practice time to one hour or more each day.
2. The sequence of your practice should be the relaxed round where you stand with
abs and thighs tensed front, each side, and back; the 7 compulsory poses, practice
holding each one for up to one minute - this will give you great control and
increase your development; your free posing routine while listening to your music.
3. Never practice on a full stomach. Your waistline should be small when you
compete. Practice stomach vacuums by bending forward at the waist and exhaling
all the air out of your lungs with your abs. Then instead of inhaling, suck in your
stomach as far as possible creating a hollow below your ribcage. Then do this
with your arms behind your head going from abdominal pose to vacuum.
4. To keep your waistline small eat smaller meals every few hours the last 2 weeks.
Do not stop drinking water to dehydrate. This is very dangerous. Just don't drink a
lot of water at one time, sip water throughout the day. Do not take diuretics like
Lasix or you may cramp up when posing.
5. Start working on a natural sun tan several months before the show. I don't stay
tanned all the time anymore but when I make a personal appearance I get a little
sun, starting with a half hour a day, never between 11 am and 1 pm, using
sunscreen especially on lips and nose and don't burn. A good tan is a natural
diuretic and will make you look better.
6. Do not shower excessively the last few days before the show. Apply skin oils
several times daily and let it soak in before wiping off the excess with a paper
towel. Do not get your tan out of a bottle. Layers of suntan makeup absorb light
onstage and can make you look flat. Use makeup only to highlight separation
between body parts.
7. Remove excess body hair several months before the show so you can see what you
look like far enough in advance. Keep hair trimmed with sideburn trimmer from an
electric razor or with a blade if you prefer.
8. Sunbathe in the same cut trunks you will compete in. Best to have several pairs of
the same trunks for the show. Dark color trunks make your midsection look
smaller.
9. In your final stages of practicing your posing don't use a mirror. There will be no
mirror when you are on stage. Practice and imagine your audience and judges are
right in front of you.
10. Don't pump up too much before judging. About 10 minutes of dips, chins, and pullups is plenty. Use a rubber expander (which is great to use the last month before
competition to bring out the definition in your upper back) or light dumbbells to
pump up. You should get a good pump as you pose onstage.
11. Do a mental scan of all your body parts as you strike each pose to make sure all
muscles are tensed. Do not forget to tense your abs and thighs.
12. Keep face relaxed and smile occasionally during your routine, especially when you
get lots of applause. Do not tense too hard - it causes shaking.
Most competitors don't practice posing enough. Remember physique contestare about
presentation, not about working out with weights. You will have an edge if you put time
in on your posing.
Pre-Contest Dieting
Micro nutrients are what's contained in the foods we eat, some are already present in
our bodies; vitamins, minerals, enzymes, amino acids, essential fatty acids. They are
essential for a healthy metabolism. Nowadays, it's impossible to get all the nutrients
you need for optimum nutrition from just the food you eat to make maximum
bodybuilding progress. The solution is to supplement the diet. I've been doing this for
as long as I've been training, and feel it's one of the major reasons for my successful
bodybuilding career.
I take capsules, tablets and powders several times a day, every day, even on days I'm
not training. To learn what products Ipersonally use and recommend, log on to
ww.frankzane.com/supplements.htm for a list and description. Supplementation to the
diet is something I relied upon heavily the last three months before the competition. I
ould not eat large meals, but 6 or 7 smaller feedings each day and consider this food,
hich I ate very slowly, a matrix to hold the capsules and tablets in place for optimum
digestion. I would take several bites of food followed by some capsules and continue
this way throughout the meal. I would sip carbonated water with my meals and it made
the capsules easier to swallow. When taking capsules, it's best to let them sit in your
mouth for about 20 or 30 seconds and let the saliva soften the capsules before you wash
them down followed by a few bites of food.
I'd take several hundred milligrams of all the B complex vitamins (micrograms of B-12,
folic acid, and biotin), at least 5000 mg of ascorbic acid and the C complex vitamins,
Fat soluble vitamins E 800 I.U., D 400 I.U. , and A 10,000 I.U.
Minerals and electrolytes: Calcium 1500 mg per day in the form of calcium citrate.
This was my total calcium intake. If you are cutting down on dairy products like milk,
yogurt, cottage cheese, and cheese, and whey protein, you need to take more calcium in
supplement form. Magnesium was at least half as much as calcium intake, sodium was
less than 2000 mg. per day, and potassium was about equal to the amount of
magnesium. I also take 90 milligrams of zinc per day to keep estrogen levels down
(also take several DIM tablets - di indolyl methane for this purpose). I'd take up to 150
micro grams of trace minerals selenium and chromium picolinate. I'd limit my iron
intake to less than 20 mg per day. Many bodybuilders believe - I used to do this too that taking lots of desiccated liver tablets is good for contest preparation. Studies show
it increases energy. There is some evidence that too much iron like is found in liver can
accelerate the development of hardening of the arteries. So I don't take much liver, just
a few capsules of concentrated liver extract daily.
I'd take extra amounts of lipotropic (fat carriers in the bloodstream) agents choline,
inositol, and the sulfur bearing amino acid methionine. These helped me get more
definition but too much can cause diarrhea (so can too much vitamin C). Lecithin is a
good natural source of choline, and whole eggs (I'd eat several a day) a good source of
sulfur bearing amino acids. I'd also take a teaspoon of flaxseed oil or a teaspoon of cod
liver oil, both good sources of essential fatty acids daily with meals.
On an empty stomach I'd take increasing amounts of a mixture of 19 different amino
acids in free form (means not part of a protein molecule, but free to enter your
bloodstream without digestion), along with anti-oxidants alpha lipoic acid and Co
enzyme Q10. I'd follow the aminos with carbohydrate to facilitate insulin secretion to
help the amino acids absorb into the tissues. My main amino acids ingestion was first
thing in the morning, right after a workout (with extra carbohydrate) to build back
glycogen stores, and upon awakening from my afternoon nap.
In addition to the baseline amino acid complex above, I take up to 15 grams of Larginine for hypertension and release of nitric oxide into the bloodstream, 3 to 6 grams
of L-tryptophanbefore bed, 5 grams of L-glutamine before workouts (seems to help
inhibit loss of lean muscle tissue when dieting), 5 grams of creatine after workouts.
With meals I always take a few pancreatic digestive enzymes with meals, my favorite
brand is Megazyme by Enzymatic Therapy. I take with meals
Saw Palmetto Berry Oil for prostate, and Milk thistle for liver protection, Some nights
I take Melatonin, 3 mg an hour before bed, Valerian Root - 3 or 4 capsules before my
afternoon nap to relax muscles, one Aspirin to keep my blood thinned, and one Ginko
Biloba with each meal for memory (unless I forget to take it).
When I use the word "supplements" some people think I'm referring to anabolic
steroids. It's well known that steroid use is widespread throughout many forms of
athletics. Bodybuilders get most of the credit or blame because it looks like they take
them, they are so huge, especially nowadays. The fact is that your body can only carry
so much muscle, cells can only divide approximately 50 times, and if you force it
beyond
this, as in the case of taking steroids, you do so at the expense of your length of
life.
I'm not against the use of small amounts of testosterone, growth hormone, thyroid
hormone, DHEA, melatonin to combat andropause, the hormonal slowdown that begins
in men at age 40 and after. But I think it's best to go as far as you possibly can without
using steroids or hormones in your training. Young people, especially teenagers and
those in their 20s can build lots of muscle because they have adequate hormone levels.
Hormones should be taken only if they are necessary as determined by blood tests, and
under the supervision of a medical doctor trained in this field. There are many MDs
hose specialty is "anti-aging medicine", who prescribe hormones to bring the body's
levels back to the upper two thirds of normal range. This can make a big difference to a
man in his 50s or 60s who cannot train as he would like to, who is sore for days and
days after hard workouts.
The difference between what aging men and competitive bodybuilders use is a matter of
quantity and variety. Example: a doctor injects a man in his 60s with 300 mg. of
testosterone cypionate a month and 1.3 I.U. of human growth hormone per day, whereas
a competitive bodybuilder might use ten times that much, plus a host of other anabolics
ithout medical supervision.
Undesirable side effects can occur like acne, high blood pressure (although there's
evidence that men with high blood pressure have low testosterone levels), aggressive
behavior, bitch tits (swelling of the male nipple caused by estrogen build up due to too
much testosterone), premature baldness, high LDL cholesterol, prostate, liver and
kidney problems. It's risky business and I do not recommend it. But athletes are under
pressure to get bigger, stronger, faster, and if big bucks and fame are at stake they seem
to be willing to resort to anything. Bodybuilding used to be about health. It still is with
me.
The best reference book I know about the use of supplements and drugs, including
hormone use and acceptable blood levels, is published by the Life Extension
Foundation, Disease Prevention and Treatment, Expanded 4th Edition. It's a big thick
book, cost around $50, and can be ordered online at www.lef.org.
The final factor that needs to be dealt with in contest preparation is the pre contest diet.
Please refer back to pages 16 through 18 Zane Nutrition. Foods to avoid should be
followed and you can use the easy recipes given. I follow the eating plan where I keep
my protein intake at 1 gram per pound of bodyweight, fats 25% of total calories, and
carbs one half gram per pound of bodyweight for 3 days in a row and on the fourth day
increase carbs to one gram per pound of bodyweight (double it). When I competed I ate
up
to days
1.5 grams
per usually
pound of
bodyweight
of per
protein
my carbstolower
for theon
three
in a row,
around
50 grams
day,and
thenkept
I'd increase
150 grams
the fourth day, along with food supplements.
One of the problems with large amounts of protein and low carbs is dehydration and
constipation. I drank enough fluids each day (2 liters of water), and took psyllium, an
intestinal lubricant with my vitamins and minerals. The psyllium coated the inside of
my colon with a slippery gel so that the stool slid through.
Every now and then I would eat a higher fat meal if I felt low in energy, my favorite was
lamb. Now when I eat a high fat meal I take several chitosan capsules (contains a fiber
hich inhibits fat absorption) before the meal. Eating too much fat will make you fat,
but when I was younger it didn't seem to matter as much as it does now.
So how should you eat the last week before competition? First rule is not to get too
dehydrated. Keep sipping water throughout the day, keep your sodium intake low
(about 1000 mg per day), and rely on sunbathing to pull the water out. Herbal diuretics
and vitamin C should be adequate for this. Keep fats low (less than 60 grams per day)
and carbs low too (40-60 grams per day). Carbs should be ingested only right after
orkouts to keep glycogen stores adequate.
The last 2 weeks I ate more fish and organ meats like liver and ground heart. I actually
ate standing up so I'd eat smaller amounts at any one feeding to shrink my waist. I'd take
a break in the middle of a meal for 5 minutes and relax, eating slowly throughout the
meal. I allowed myself to get hungry before I ate a small meal combined with
supplements. When I got hungry I'd practice stomach vacuums which delayed hunger
and allowed for more fat burning. Hunger is a cry from the fats cells on your body to
feed them so they don't die. Have no mercy.
I would stay on my carb cycling program right up until two days before the contest.
This was 250 grams of protein per day, 50 grams of fat per day, 50 grams of carbs per
day, doing this for three days in a row. On the fourth day the protein and fat intakes
remained the same but carbs increased to 150 grams per day, most of which were
consumed early in the day and right after my workout. Here's the countdown starting the
Saturday two weeks before the competition (Carb means 150 grams of carbs, my
loading day, X means low carb day): Saturday - Carb, Sunday - X, Monday - X,
Tuesday - X, Wednesday - Carb, Thursday - X, Friday - X, Saturday - X, Sunday Carb, Monday - X, Tuesday - X, Wednesday - X. That takes us to the Thursday before
competition and on that day I increased carbs from 50 grams per day to 100 grams.
Friday, the day before the competition, carb consumption went up to 150 grams. My
primary carb loading day was the day of the competition and here's how: I'd get up
early after a good nights rest (lots of tryptophan), about 6 am and eat a breakfast of 3
poached eggs, 6 ounces of broiled calves liver, and 2 ounces of baked yam, with a
small cup of coffee. Then I'd sit in my easy chair with blindfold on and conserve
energy. I visualized my posing routine and kept saying my affirmation over and over
again - when I opened my eyes I wanted to see a new world victorious. I'd take off my
blindfold
every
45 minutes
and4 ingest
free
formyam
amino
capsules
1 gram right
of
L-glutamine
powder
and 2 to
ounces6of
baked
. I'dacid
do this
everywith
45 minutes
up until noon when I had a small cup of coffee, my final amino acid/yam feeding and go
to the pre judging from the nearby hotel where I was staying. I'd take some yamwith me
and nibble on it at the prejudging, main thing was to not feel hungry but not be full.
By the time the pre judging started, I'd pump up just a little bit right before I went out on
stage. From not working out several days before and the carb loading, my muscles were
stimulus hungry for a pump and I felt huge and full of energy. After the prejudging I ate
a steak and baked potato, and took a short nap in my hotel room or meditated.
Sometimes I listened to music, especially my posing music, which to me was the sweet
sound of success.
You can win. Do everything I've suggested, persevere, and you will reach your goal.
You know what to do. The rest is up to you.
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Goods and Services to help you build the Zane Body. For a complete description log
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Published 4 times a year, Frank's Building the Body Magazine contains informative
truthful articles on training, nutrition, motivation, self improvement, deep relaxation,
stress
managementWritten
with noentirely
paid advertising
(other
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magazines
contain up to
75% advertising).
by Frank and
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physical culture
field, you will keep up to date on what works best and what's going on in the world of
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