Chapter 3
Revamping Your Training
With this strength training program, we'll be diligently tracking five different exercises
that directly contribute to the aesthetic Greek God physique. These key movements are
our "indicator exercises," and they'll be our way to ensure that we're making consistent
progress.
As you become stronger with these key movements, your body will transform. Your
chest, shoulders, arms and back will begin to fill out as you drop fat and gain muscle.
You'll move closer to a strong, V-shaped torso, a masculine, square chest, rock-hard
shoulders and dense arms.
By tracking your six indicator exercises, you'll have visual proof of the effectiveness of
your workout routine. Most people judge their routine based on how tough it is and how
sore it makes them. This is an ineffective way to track progress and often misleading.
The effectiveness of your training is directly related to the progress on these five
exercises. By accepting that, this training program will become 10 times more efficient.
Direct your efforts on what will make you stronger and muscular, and divert your
attention away from all other distractions.
Every exercise, every set, every rep has a purpose.
Kinobody Indicator Exercises
1 - Incline Barbell Bench Press
There is nothing wrong with the regular flat bench barbell press. It's a terrific exercise
at building the whole pectoral region (if done properly).
That said, I feel most people benefit more from the incline version, which develops the
upper pecs more effectively. In addition, in most athletic pressing movements the arms
push forward at a slightly upward angle, as opposed to directly straight out. An example
of this would be pushing a car or throwing a punch.
For this reason, the incline press might be more relevant from a functional standpoint.
2 - Standing Shoulder Press
This is my go-to exercise for shoulder development and true strength. This exercise also
contributes to the square chest look by filling in the top area of the chest, just below the
collarbone. In addition, standing presses will work the triceps hard.
I recommend avoiding seated shoulder presses with the elbows flared out to the side.
This is a very unnatural position for the shoulders and over time it could cause pain and
injury.
By performing standing shoulder presses, your core will be engaged to keep your lower
body steady, making it a wonderful compound movement that develops not only your
upper body, but your core too.
3 - Weighted Chinups
Chinups have developed my back so well that I’ve actually avoided doing any
additional work for my LATs. In addition, chinups hit the biceps hard. LAT pulldowns
and all the various rows don’t even come close to the effectiveness of weighted
chinups.
With chinups, you can’t cheat and use momentum or a swing like you can with rows
and pulldowns. Plus, chinups are a "closed-chain exercise," whereas LAT pulldowns
and rows are "open-chain exercises." What this means is that with chinups your hands
are fixed to the bar while your body is moving through space.

Open-chained exercises involve the hands moving with the entire body staying
fixed in position.
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Closed-chain movements have greater overall muscle recruitment and lead to
better muscle and strength gains.
4 - Weighted Dips
Weighted dips are an intense exercise that add massive amounts of pressing strength
and develop muscle in the triceps and pectoral region.
Some exercises are stubborn when it comes to progressing in weight. Weighted dips
are not one of those exercises. They tend to go up smoothly. And, if you train this
exercise properly, you should be able to add 45 pounds to this exercise in three months'
time. That is a huge gain and would result in bigger triceps, a fuller chest and a stronger
bench.
5 - Bulgarian Split Squat or Box Squat
In the program, you have the option of doing either Bulgarian split squats or barbell box
squats as your primary leg exercise. Both are effective movements that build strength
and stimulate muscle growth. In fact, my favorite approach is to alternate between these
two exercises. I’ll spend a couple months doing box squats and couple of months
performing Bulgarian split squats. This keeps me progressing, and it also helps me
avoid getting burnt out on a movement. Both of these exercises do an amazing job at
developing leg strength and building the quads, hamstring and glutes.
If you aren’t able to perform squats safely, then focus predominately on the single-leg
movement (Bulgarian split squats). However, focus on squats if you love doing them.
For box squats, I recommend using a box height that puts you parallel at the bottom of
the squat. Pause for one second, but don’t completely rest on the box; it’s best to keep
some tension. Feel welcome to perform free squats instead. However, the advantage of
box squats is that it ensures proper depth on each and every rep. The pause at the
bottom of the movement also increases power development. Finally, the box squat does
an amazing job at teaching proper squatting mechanics: sitting back, chest up and
weight in the heel of the foot.
6 - Romanian Deadlift (Barbell or Dumbbell)
The Romanian deadlift is my favorite deadlift variation. It does an amazing job at
developing your posterior chain -- hamstrings, glutes and low back. This deadlift
variation is performed by using as much hip drive and hip hinge as possible. It's also
safer than conventional deadlifts, plus it works best for higher reps (8-15 reps).
Combined with Bulgarian split squats, you can build strong, powerful legs.
I like to utilize both the barbell and dumbbell variations of this movement. A barbell
typically allows you to lift more weight, but the dumbbell version allows for a greater
range and improve on imbalances. I recommend utilizing both variations. Focus on the
dumbbell version for a couple months, then switch to barbell.
Kinobody Assistance Movements
I always include additional exercises into the workout routines I create. You could
exclusively train with the five indicator exercises and build a great physique. However,
it's likely that, over time, you'll have lagging muscle groups and hit strength plateaus .
To ensure complete physique development and optimal muscle gains, I include
assistance movements. These are my favorites:
Close-Grip Bench Press
The close-grip bench is a phenomenal pressing movement that builds a powerful chest
and triceps. By using a close-grip -- with the elbows tucked into your sides -- you
increase muscle recruitment in the triceps and upper chest.
Barbell Curls
The barbell curl is the best exercise for developing the biceps. With this movement, you
can make gradual progress in resistance.
In most biceps exercises, little strength increase is actually seen. For this reason, I use
barbell curls as my main biceps exercise. You can eventually build up to barbell curls
with 135 pounds for reps, increasing by 5 or even 2.5 pounds per session.
Incline Dumbbell Curls
Incline dumbbell curls are also very effective for the biceps because your arms are
locked to the sides and your back is flat against the bench. In this position, you're
unable to use any back swing; the biceps are forced to work in isolation.
I like to alternate between barbell curls and incline dumbbell curls for 3-4 weeks for
each. This lets you escape plateaus and keeps your biceps guessing.
Skull Crushers
Skull crushers hit the triceps like crazy and allow for regular loading in weight. For this
reason, skull crushers should be your main triceps movement.
As with barbell curls, you can build up to 135 pounds for several reps. This is a killer
exercise and will translate to better pushing strength, specifically in the lockout
position.
Rope Extensions
Rope triceps pushdowns (a.k.a. rope extensions) are another great triceps exercise. This
movement is better suited for higher reps, less weight and short rest periods. For that
reason, I like to use them for Kino rep training and rest-pause training (which we will
get into in a later section).
Lateral Raises
To ensure solid shoulder development, I always include lateral raises in my workout
programs. The medial head of the deltoid never gets fully worked with shoulder
pressing. Most of the stress for shoulder pressing is placed on the anterior head. For this
reason, the medial head can slightly lag behind in overall growth. Therefore, lateral
raises should be incorporated to ensure even muscle growth.
In addition, by adequately building the medial head of the shoulder, you'll contribute to
the V-shaped frame that we're looking for.
Bent-Over Flyes
Strong rear deltoids will help keep your shoulders balanced and healthy. This will keep
you injury-free from heavy pressing movements. Well-developed rear deltoids will
complete the shoulders, giving them a full, rounded appearance. However, make sure
you have correct form with these. Your rear deltoids are rarely utilized in normal
motions and could be very weak starting out. Don't try for a heavy weight, or you might
get injured in the middle of your back, putting you out of commission for weeks.
This is the last exercise to create the full, capped shoulders that scream power and
strength.
One-Legged Squats (a.k.a. Pistols)
Pistol squats are an unbelievable exercise that I regularly incorporate into my routine.
The benefits of mastering the pistol squat are enormous. The pistol requires great
balance, leg strength, flexibility and coordination. For most people, building up to 6-10
reps per leg -- slow and controlled -- is enough for adequate leg strength and
development.
You can perform this exercise holding a weight in your hands to increase the difficulty.
Another option is to perform jumping pistol squats, where you explode up from the
bottom position into a single leg jump. If you can get to this level, your legs will be
looking the part.
Elevated Single-Leg Calf Raises
I feel it's important to do some direct lower leg training. Small calves create the illusion
of chicken legs, which deters us from our goal. By training your calves and keeping
them around the same size as your upper arm, you'll help yourself with balance and
proportion.
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For chinups and dips, you need a belt that A) you can attach additional weight in the
form of barbell plates to, and B) doesn't bunch you up and have you feeling
uncomfortable.
That's where the Kino Belt comes in. The belt feels amazing, even with multiple 45pound plates attached in the front. It distributes weight in an ideal way and allows you
to focus on what's most important -- the reps.
Click here to learn more about the Kinobody Weight Belt