You’ve probably heard the saying, “Curls are for the girls.” The idea is that building muscle requires a steady diet of squats, presses, chins, pulls, and all of the wonderful movements you can do with a barbell that are worth a damn.
I couldn’t agree more, really.
Anytime I get an e-mail from someone about aesthetics, my first reply is nearly always, “Do you strength train? How strong are you in the basic barbell exercises?” Of course, I’m then met with, “Well, <insert excuse here>.”
It’s simple: if you’re weak, and you want a better physique, find a way to get strong. Nothing improves your body composition quite like it.
As for what exercises you should do, I have two tips:
If there’s a barbell in your hands and you’re standing on your own two feet, it’s probably good for you.
If you’re hanging from something and moving your body weight through space, it’s probably good for you.
This whole “strength” thing may or may not be news to you. From a general perusing of the athletic fitness scene, getting stronger is one of the most common pieces of advice.
And that’s exactly why I’m going to add a note here: don’t forget about your muscles. If there’s an underrated, underused, underappreciated, underwhatever aspect of the aesthetic fitness game, it’s feeling the targeted muscles work during any given exercise.
So more weight is better…until you can’t “feel” the muscles execute the movement.
“If you really want to experience the greatest benefits from your training, you must enter a stage of deep concentration. Do not let your concentration be broken by anyone or anything.”
- Steve Reeves
In the quest for strength, it’s easy to forget feel. Often, training is a tao of slapping more weight on the bar, hiking it in the air, and rubbing the joints down after.
MORE STRESS = MORE POTENTIAL
The muscles that encounter the most stress have the greatest potential for growth. Short track speed cyclist are a great example of this. Their quads are huge because they encounter the most stress.
Increasing the mind-muscle connection increases the stress on the muscles. And if greater growth potential wasn’t enough, it also decreases stress on the joints.
Lackluster mind-muscle connections throw more stress on the joints. It’s like the muscles tell the connective tissue, “Hey bro, take this.” And then they give them something to hold. This happens until the joint can’t carry anything else, eventually dropping what they’re already carrying.
One of my best anecdotes comes from the principles of An Athlete’s Guide to Chronic Knee Pain. Sometimes, people instantly get rid of knee pain by simply putting their mind to use in a new way.
I just finished your book. I was having patellar tendon pain EVERY TIME I stood up from a chair. I’m now extending the hips similar to the way you described in your RDL chapter, and the pain has disappeared. I’m already impressed. Now to translate this to Olympic weightlifting…
Unless you’re Olympic weightlifting, the question isn’t to find out “what” exercises need more mind-muscle connection, the question is “when” you’re going to get your mind in gear. Every exercise could use refinement.
Start with places you have joint pain. I’m a firm believer that a lot of the injuries we like to claim are a result of “x” “y” and “z” imbalance are nothing more than terrible mind-muscle connections with the muscles that are supposed to be working. Lo and behold, “Here, hold this bro.”
If you have regular “flare-ups,” follow my three day rule.
If I train and feel it in your joints more than your muscles for one day, I ignore it. Could be a fluke.
If it extends into a second day, draw back the weight. Train with higher repetitions. Try to fix things.
If it extends into a third day, evaluate the problem. Something is wrong.
As for how to increase your connection, I like Frank Yang’s “anatomy book” technique of pretending the working muscles are a different color than the rest.
1. I credit this to Frank Yang . During every repetition of every lift, picture your body as nothingness except forthe muscle you’re targeting. Check out the dudes in anatomy text books with different colored muscles. Envision that. Seriously. Try it. It works. Close your eyes and practice it before every set. Think of the targeted muscle lighting up bright red in a sea of white.
But the color strategy won’t matter unless you’re training in the right repetition range. Anything below six reps usually trips the body’s “holy shit, I just need to survive” mechanism. Thinking about much of anything is difficult. Contrary to popular belief, you can still get strong training with reps in the 6-10 range. It’s done the same way: add weight to the bar over time. A novel concept, I know.
And before I get the hatred, I’m not downing the importance of strength. Dan John hits it when he said: “You need to do two things to get stronger: add weight and do more reps. The answer has never been: lift light weights for high reps, or lift heavy weights for few reps. The answer remains: Lift heavy weights for high reps.”
But my addition to this is: heavy weight, high reps, with the mind in control of the muscles at work. (And by high reps, I’m talking about 5-10, which is “high” compared to the “few” reps referenced by Dan.)
For quite some time, I’ve been mingling with the idea of getting some interviews up on this website. When I texted (read: threatened) JC Deen about being the first lovely face on the first lovely episode, he had no choice but to accept. (Unless he wanted shanked at a dark hour outside of his house.)
So I’m proud to introduce to you the very first interview in what is hopefully a long stretch of interviews with people that I believe are worth checking out when it comes to wisdom of athletic fitness.
How JC dropped out of school and still found a way to fitness.
Why JC hates “clean” eating.
Reasons JC summons unearthly demons to fight against fitness marketing.
Some of JC’s recent training that has him jacked and looking great naked.
LGN365, which is JC’s recent course that teaches people how to look great naked. More on this below.
ABOUT LGN365 AND LOOKING GREAT NAKED
LGN365 is JC Deen’s recently launched course. As we mention in the interview, the product really is about…well…looking great naked. And as we also mentioned, this is much more than a “program.” JC corralls interviews from the far reaches of the internet, not necessairly the fitness community. For instance, inside LGN365 is an interview with Leo Babauta, author of legendard blog zenhabits.
As usual, if you have any questions about what JC’s got going on, shoot me an e-mail. If I can’t answer it myself, I’ll make sure it gets taken care of.
Audio isn’t perfect, I know. Such is the “feeling out” process of this kind of thing.
It’s long, listen to it in your car on your commute or something.
The audio version isn’t available on iTunes, but it can be downloaded here.
LET’S TALK
What do you think about training with means of looking great naked? How much of your training is split between athleticism or performance and looks? Drop your comments below.
Tired of seeing your muscles deflate and dilapidate when you’re trying to lose fat?
Withering into nothingness as the weeks wane on traditional cuts isn’t uncommon.
Luckily, there are some things you can do to combat the carnage of cutting.
Getting lean and staying muscular is possible, and it’s not as difficult as you think.
OLD ADVICE THAT HOLDS TRUE
Get lean first.
That was my advice in 3 Reminders for the Skinny-Fat Ectomorph, as well as many other articles and e-mails, because muscle is difficult to maintain when dieting down. Yet I still get e-mail after e-mail saying: “Every time I try to lean down I lose my muscle.”
Yeah, I kind of told you that would happen. But I guess I never explained why it would happen. So here’s the deal: If you plan on losing weight in a short amount of time (ie: a “cut”), you’re going to take some muscle with you unless (and this is a big unless) your nutrition and training are 100% spot on.
Usually, the faster you try losing fat, the more muscle will go with it.
The changes you have to make to lose fifteen pounds in eight weeks will be more drastic than the changes you have to make to lose fifteen pounds in twelve weeks.
These are the same changes that sabotage muscle mass.
(Hypothesis: This, I think, is why distance running is seen as a pacman of muscle tissue. When “cutting,” most people do some running while dropping their calories. Muscle goes bye bye and “cardio” gets the blame. But is it the aerobic training? Or is it that you’re going into short-term starvation?)
WHY YOU LOSE MUSCLE
Your muscles grow in response to training and nutrient intake: eat enough of the right food (see my Diet to End All Diets), train intensively and consistently with the right lifts (see a sample program in Skinny-Fat to Superhuman), and get enough rest.
To ensure weight gain, most people overshoot their nutrient intake on “bulks.” They gain both muscle and fat, knowing that they will “cut” the fat after. Most “cuts,” however, alter both the training and nutrient intake.
Let’s think about this.
Two things that went into building muscle (nutrient intake and training) are changed. So what was responsible for all of your progress is suddenly non-existent or altered. How couldn’t your muscles also be affected?
WHAT NUTRIENT DEPRIVATION DOES
People usually say it takes 500 calories above your maintenance level to build muscle. (I’m not sure this is true, nor do I care to find out as I’m not a fan of exact numbers when it comes to nutrition.) To lose fat, however, the opposite is recommended: 500 calories below maintenance.
So if you come off of a 500+ calorie bulk and go on a -500 calorie cut, you’re swinging your intake 1000 calories and expecting muscle tissue to maintain the same level of homeostasis.
Even without adjusting your training routine (even though most people do), this change in calories in enough to effect levels of muscularity.
LOSING FAT AND GAINING MUSCLE
Most times, short-term fat loss programs also affect muscle tissue. To test this myself, I dropped 1000 calories from my diet for five consecutive days. The amount of food I ate wasn’t that far under what I would normally eat on an “off” day. The main difference was that I ate like it was an “off” day even on training days.
Over the course of the week, I noticed my muscles wither into apparent nothingness. This only took five days. Imagine what would happen over the span of eight weeks.
This consistent nutrient deficient mindset of most cuts is what propels my recommendation: get lean now. Be done with it. For the natural trainee, being lean and muscular simultaneously is much easier if you build slowly from a solid base.
WHAT IS THIS “SOLID” BASE?
Right, I keep talking about a “solid” base and not really quantifying it. First and foremost, don’t confuse “solid base” with “disgustingly lean six-pack.”
If I attempt to maintain a sickening level of leanness, a few things happen:
Strength (even slow cooking it the way I do) stagnates.
I lose motivation to train.
I get injured (likely trying to train at my previous level and pushing through days I have no motivation or mental clarity).
I would never be able to maintain a decent lifestyle or training regimen if I tried to stay as lean as possible every day.
Note that I said day.
My nutrition philosophy is based off of something I like to call nutrient autoregulation. While I touched on this in a previous skinny-fat article, it’s basically cycling calories (carbohydrates and fats for the most part) on a daily basis depending on both mood and feel.
Some days I just know that I need more calories or carbohydrates. (This comes from experience.) Or if I’m feeling especially lean, I’ll eat more. (I’m privy to eat a lot if I feel like I need to.)
So some days my body lives in a state of nutrient overload. Other days it lives in a state of nutrient deprivation. But I never go outside of my comfort zone and I always appear relatively “lean.”
In any given week, I rotate through having a no-pack to a two-pack to a six-pack. This fluctuation helps me maintain focus and have daily-to-weekly mini bulk-and-cut cycles. And I can only do this because I started out lean enough to afford the caloric fluctuations.
I live by the philosophy of never being one-to-two week away. So I allow fluctuations in body composition. Just nothing that can’t be undone within one week. This allows me to litter this website in half naked pictures of myself with a sick-pack and gain muscle at the same time.
When it comes to physique and “bulking,” part of me thinks that we should never be more than two weeks away from what we feel are “perfect” bodyfat levels. Perfect will of course be subjective.
But once we move beyond the two week feel, things get scary. You’re digging deeper. And it’s a lot harder to crawl from deeper holes.
So you can dig one hole, 50 feet deep, or you can dig 10 holes 5 feet deep.
Both work.
But finding a way out of the 50 foot hole is much more difficult.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR BULKING AND CUTTING
The one week philosophy is just what I prefer and can be summed up with:
Get to your ideal body fat level
Use nutrient autoregulation: overshooting nutrient intake some days, undershooting nutrient intake some days
Never wander out of your body fat comfort zone to the point of being able to undo the damage within one-two weeks (this takes some practice)
If the one week philosophy doesn’t sit well, you can still do traditional bulks and cuts. They essentially transform the one week rule into the eight week rule, meaning most people that bulk set themselves up to hit their ideal body composition after eight weeks of cutting.
But trying to lose fat in eight weeks requires the drastic and constant caloric swing. Therefore, most people simply aren’t big enough at the conclusion of their bulk to hit their ideal physique at the end of their cut.
This is why the cycle of bulking and cutting repeats yearly for most people. One winter of bulking and one summer of cutting simply doesn’t add the amount of quality of lean mass people want, so they repeat it over and over, year after year.
Say a twelve week bulk leads to twelve total pounds gained. Traditional bulks (read: natural, non-steroid) usually end in a 50-50 body fat to muscle split, so six of the twelve pounds is muscle, the other six is fat.
By nature of the caloric swing, a cut will take one to three pounds of muscle with it. (There’s a good chance that this isn’t lean tissue anyway, just increased glycogen and fluid storage that usually accompanies bulking. So even though it appears as solid muscle, it isn’t.) This results in three to five pounds of muscle gained over the entire body. Seems like a lot, but it isn’t readily noticeable spread across the entire frame.
So in order to be happy after a bulk and a cut, you will likely have to bulk beyond your ideal weight and escape the illusion of glycogen and fluid retention being “solid” lean tissue. This means gaining more fat—something most people aren’t comfortable with. (And let’s not forget the theory that fat sacks, once created, are there forever. They shrink, but don’t disappear.) Most people aren’t comfortable getting overly fat, which is why the cycle of bulking and cutting reoccurs yearly.
So it’s safe to generalize and say that your bulk—all bulks—aren’t as successful as initially thought, especially when considering the issue of glycogen and fluid storage.
GAINING MUSCLE AND LOSING FAT WITH FASTING
Fitness fads come and go, hence the word fad. But this intermittent fasting bit is different. The infamous clean bulk was infamous because it used to be damn near impossible.
Until intermittent fasting.
Now a day, a lot of people are able to get lean and gain muscle simultaneously. Or, at least, get lean and maintain muscle.
While scientific theories can be used to explain just why this is, I have a different “theory”. One that doesn’t involve hormones or any special scientific principles.
Just pluses and minuses.
Traditional cuts involve repeated days of eating below maintenance calories. These days are designated with a (-) symbol, representing coming in under your calorie goal. (-)’s doesn’t bode well for muscle. Muscle is metabolically expensive. The body won’t hold onto all of it if basic energy needs aren’t being met.
Traditional cuts log a (-) every day, so muscle isn’t prone to stick around.
But with something like intermittent fasting or nutrient autoregulation, there are (+) and even (o) days thrown into the mix.
(+) represents coming in above your calorie goal
(o) represents coming in at your calorie goal
(-) represents coming in below your calorie goal
Take Brad Pilon’s 24 hour, twice per week, Eat Stop Eat fasting for example. Two to four days per week log a (-) because of the fasts. But the other three to four days can log either a (o) or (+). These (+)’s and (o)’s, representing adequate or beyond adequate nutrient intake, go a long way in maintaining muscle. Starting from a solid base is advantageous because it allows for more (+) days as opposed to (o) days, making muscle gain more likely.
HOW TO DECIDE WHETHER TO CUT
With something like fasting or nutrient autoregulation, managing (+)’s, (o)’s, and (-)’s can be done to the point of losing fat, maintaining muscle, and even gaining muscle. But starting out with too much fat makes managing much more difficult. The solid base, however, affords more freedom. So it’s better to have a solid base, but it’s not absolutely necessary.
Although logging consecutive (-)’s can sacrifice muscle, it gets the fat loss job done faster. So ask yourself just how much muscle you really have and whether or not it’s going to be worth tip toeing around.
Using myself as an example, I wasn’t carrying around much muscle at the beginning of my journey. Although I didn’t know how to at the time, I technically could have used the (+), (-), and (o) system to try to lose fat and gain muscle. But going on a straight cut is beneficial for some because it gets you to a comfortable body fat level faster, reducing psychological baggage. It also allows you to monitor changes in body composition better. When you’re puffy, you’re always puffy. But when you’re lean, you can compare everything to your lean level — “bloat” is much easier to detect.
If you’re not immediately worried about body fat or don’t want to sacrifice muscle, however, spend some more time on the process and opt for nutrient autoregulation or some kind of intermittent fasting scheme that fluctuates between (+)’s, (-)’s, and (o)’s.
Here are some things to take home:
In order for muscle to grow, it needs “enough” nutrients at times. This “enough” will never happen on a constant caloric deprivation (ie: traditional cuts).
If you’re doing traditional bulks and cuts, recognize the swing you’re putting your body through.
Most bulks aren’t as successful as initially perceived because of fluid retention and loss from the subsequent cutting.
To get lean and maintain your muscle, it’s best to rotate between days of more nutrients and day of less nutrients.
Intermittent fasting allows adequate nutrient intake on most days, meaning muscle is prone to stick around.
Logging too many consecutive (-)’s increases potential for muscle loss.
Operating from a solid base makes muscle gain more likely, and makes it easier to run nutrient autoregulation from.
+++++
How do YOU normally gain and cut weight? Do you follow the traditional bulk and cut? Or do you do something different? See you in the comments.
You know those cool polyester shirts that feel oh-so-awesome in the summer time? The super athletic ones? The ones you buy twelve of because they look awesome in the store?
Yeah, I do too.
Even though I don’t wanna.
Because, despite my seeded desires, when I wear them, I somehow grow a pair of tits. With hard nipples, to boot.
The biggest sore spot for most guys has gotta’ be the upper chest. Wimpy arms are liveable. But being collapsed under the collar bone? Talk about a downer.
The upper chest is a life changer. It affects the clothes you wear and how confident you feel. Every. Damn. Day.
I know how you feel. Let’s fix it together.
Now, I don’t want to fool you: I don’t have a model upper chest. My pressing strength isn’t ideal either. But I’m writing this anyway because you can learn from my failures, and I’ve never seen an upper chest article that focused on principles rather than exercises.
I’ve listened to anecdotes about “just getting the bench press stronger” to fix my woes. But at my pressing peaks I was just as unsatisfied with my upper chest as I was at my pressing lows.
Writing about Evosport and long duration isometrics made me realize that I reprogrammed my glutes like a champ over the past few years.
Couldn’t similar concepts apply to the upper chest? Couldn’t it be repatterned to increase activation? Wouldn’t that then lead to greater size?
To give you a hint, I’m two weeks into this little “experiment” and my chest is the most proportionate it’s been in my life. Things are looking good. Here’s how you can say the same thing.
IS ISOLATING THE UPPER CHEST A MYTH?
Some say preferentially building the upper chest is impossible. Instead of butchering the words of Dr. Clay Hyght, I’ll just quote this piece from Building a Bodybuilder Chest:
You may have heard of the “all or none” principle of muscle contraction. Essentially, here’s what it means: When stimulated, a muscle fiber will either contract or it won’t.
Some people have erroneously adapted the all-or-none principle to mean that an entire muscle will either contract or it won’t. These confused individuals will go on to tell you that exercise variations are practically pointless when training the chest because the entire pectoralis major will either contract or it won’t.
This is some seriously misguided logic to say the least.
For starters, although still considered part of the pectoralis major, the clavicular pectoralis is actually a separate muscle with a separate nerve innervation.
Although the entire sternal head of the pectoralis major does share a common nerve innervation, the angle of the muscle fibers varies tremendously from top to bottom. For that reason, the line of pull is different throughout different areas of the muscle.
Luckily for us, your body (or brain rather) will recruit or call upon the portion of the muscle that’s best suited to perform the movement in question. So if you were to do a movement in which the lower fibers of the pectoralis major are in the best mechanical advantage to execute the movement, then those will be the primary fibers recruited to do the work —thank goodness!
So yes, you can emphasize different sections of the chest from top to bottom. But notice I said emphasize, not isolate!
So fixing the upper chest starts with repatterning the clavicular pectoralis—the triangle shaped muscle that creates the upper chest. Just like people do with the glutes, the goal is to better recruit the upper chest in every pressing movement. This hinges on two things: increasing overall activation, and using optimal mechanical positions during lifts.
HOW TO INCREASE ACTIVATION
In my X Physique article, I touch on the bodybuilder mindset.
When it comes to lifting weights, the goal is to continually overload the muscles. The easiest and most trackable way to do this is by slapping more plates on the bar. The problem with this philosophy is that the muscles become secondary to the weight.
But the muscles are what actually lift the weights.
…
But when dealing with “carving” a physique, Arnold said it best: “The weights are just a means to an end; how well you contract the muscles is what training is all about.”
…
Control the weight, mentally and physically, through-out the entire range of motion. Make the muscles work in every phase. Think about them squeezing and lengthening.
Research proves that a greater mental connection with a muscle results in a greater activation. Old time bodybuilders will back that up. So instead of thinking general overload, think specific overload. It’s less about pressing and more about the upper chest. You no longer press. You power through a movement with the upper chest. Here’s how to make this happen.
1. I credit this to Frank Yang. During every repetition of every lift, picture your body as nothingness except forthe muscle you’re targeting. Check out the anatomy dude above. Envision that. Seriously. Try it. It works. Close your eyes and practice it before every set. Think of the targeted muscle lighting up bright red in a sea of white.
2. Pre-exhaust the upper chest with an abundance of activation exercises (see below) before any bigger pressing movement. Yes, your performance will drop on the bigger pressing movement. No, it doesn’t matter. The goal is to specifically overload the upper chest.
3. Do unilateral lifts. Put your hand on the upper chest of the arm at work. Feel it contracting. This sensory connection helps.
4. Start with isometrics. When trying to activate, don’t go too complex too soon. You need time to think about what’s going on — time to develop the connection with the mind. Dynamic contractions don’t often afford this.
5. Keep stress on the muscle at lockout. Too often, lifts are locked out with the joints. Learn how to lockout a lift and still feel the stress in the target muscle.
HOW TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF MECHANICS
The upper chest has two main functions: flexion (think of raising your hands) and horizontal adduction (think of clapping hands together). This means two things:
1. The elbows should be pinned to the rib cage during most (if not all) pressing.
2. It’s best to press in an upward and inward diagonal plane.
But we can’t stop there…
3. If a lift doesn’t target the upper chest, don’t do it. This means parting with both dips and bench presses. Deal with it for now. As Dan John says, “The goal is to keep the goal.” Down the line, if you even things out, go back and own those exercises.
4. Pack the shoulders in the correct position for optimal upper chest activation. Keeping them “back and down” opposes both of the upper chest’s main functions. Practice this by putting one hand on the opposing side’s upper chest, retract your scapula, and shrug your shoulder blade around. You will hit a position with the upper chest fairly active. This is your new lockout position. See #5 below for why.
5. Live on unilateral dumbbell exercises. According to Frederic Delavier, author of the Strength Training Anatomy books, “With bilateral work, both shoulders are driven backward supporting the weight, putting them on stretch and causing greater delt recruitment. Working one side at a time means using less weight, therefore the shoulder stays in place and doesn’t get as involved.” (The above information was taken from Sean Hyson’s blog post, Bodybuilding That Isn’t B.S.)
6. Shallower inclines may be better than steeper inclines. The latter tends to put more emphasis on the shoulders.
7. Don’t ever flare your elbows on any pressing.
8. Take the muscle through a fully stretched range of motion. This is a toughie that’s better explained during some of the actual exercise descriptions below.
9. On dumbbell presses, rotate the wrists when nearing the lockout so that the pinky fingers face towards the body. This adducts the arm — a function of the upper chest.
10. Try pressing in an arc. Understand the function of the upper chest: think of clapping and raising your hands at the same time. So to stretch the muscle you have to oppose this movement, which means bringing the arms down and out a bit. But to shorten it, it has to be returned to the clap position which means the arms not only have to drive away, but also up towards the head.
CHOOSING THE RIGHT EXERCISES
All of the numbered points above form the philosophy of building the upper chest. All of the exercises listed below, in some way, abide by the guidelines above. They are broken down into two categories. Activation exercises are used frequently to awaken the upper chest. Base exercises are more readily overloaded, making them better suited to traditional training guidelines.
As you read through these exercises, don’t forget mechanics and activation sections above. For instance, the elbow will always be in tight. Top half range of motion is often shorter. Remember, we aren’t pressing. We are overloading the upper chest. Flexing the arm above a certain point shifts the focus to the shoulders. That’s a no no. All focus stays on the upper chest.
CHOOSING THE RIGHT ACTIVATION EXERCISES
1. Isometric Band Work
On of the simplest ways to get the upper chest to fire is with isometric-esque band flies. I prefer hooking the band around a doorknob or something waist height, not necessarily under the foot as shown in the picture.
Put your non-working hand on the opposing side’s upper chest to make sure it’s doing it’s thang. Get maximal tension in the band and press into a psuedo-lockout. Rotate the wrist so the pinky faces the midline of your body. From here do little “pulses” bringing the band both up and across your body. Range of motion will be teeny tiny. The goal here is to increase blood flow to the area and to familiarize yourself with what it “feels” like to fire the upper chest.
2. Hyght Flies
Hyght flies are named after Dr. Clay Hyght, who has written extensively about the upper chest. Once again, I’ll let him do the talking:
My purpose for creating the exercise was to target the clavicular pectoralis with its most pure function, which is to fle (raise the arm up) and horizontally adduct (move toward the midline) the shoulder joint.
Begin by lying on your back on a bench inclined to about 60 degrees. After grabbing a light set of dumbbells. begin the movement with your arms hanging straight down and your palms facing forward. Initiate the movement by bringing your arms up and in across your body.
Think of forming a triangle with the path of the dumbbells, with the point of the triangle (the finished position) up over your nose. I have found it optimal to have the pinky side of the dumbbbells come together, forming a 90 degree angle. Make sure to perform the movement by pulling with your upper pecs, not the shoulder or biceps.
Just to note, Dr. Hyght finishes with an interesting note: pull with the upper pecs. This goes back to learning how to pack your shoulders correctly for optimal upper chest activation as mentioned in #4 of the mechanics section.
3. Modified Svend Press
Smash two plates together and hold them in front of your body. Instead of pressing them straight out, like in the regular Svend Press, press them up. Keep the elbows in tight. This isn’t really a “press.” It’s more of a front raise. Keep the stress on the upper chest.
4. Band V Press
The band v press is a great exercise because it fully stretches the upper chest at the bottom. Notice the start position. The elbow isn’t in tight, and the wrist is pronated. Focus on ripping the clavicular pectoralis from the bone to get a good stretch.
For the actual movement, bring the elbow in and rotate the wrist with the press. You can also press “out” at a 45 degree angle to get more tension on the band..
CHOOSING THE RIGHT BASE EXERCISES
1. 30 degree, Low Incline, Close Grip Incline Barbell Press
Throw away all other barbell pressing. Compared to a flat press, the upper chest isn’t necessarily recruited all that much more, but the lower chest is less recruited. Using the close grip and the shallow incline makes it all the better.
Note: The low incline is preferred to a higher incline because higher inclines tend to shift the focus to the shoulder.
2. 30 degree, Low Incline, Incline Dumbbell Press
Perhaps even better than incline barbell pressing is incline dumbbell pressing. Dumbbells make it easier to keep the elbows in tight, get a good stretch, and press in an arc up over the face.
You can also twist the dumbbells so that the pinky finger’s face each other at the top of the movement — perhaps even touching them and doing an isometric squeeze — to involve more of the upper chest.
Also, keeping in mind #5 of the mechanics section, it might be beneficial to do all of your dumbbell pressing unilaterally. Keep the non-working hand on the upper chest of the working arm.
3. 30 degree, Low Incline, Incline Fly
Flys can be good. They can also be bad if you don’t know how to pack the shoulders correctly (see #3 of the mechanics section). Keep the stress on the upper chest. Stay humble with the weight on this exercise.
4. 30 degree, Low Incline, Incline Squeeze Press
This exercise comes from John Romaniello. Squeeze two dumbbells together as hard as possible while doing incline presses. Keep the elbows in tight and emphasize pressing in an arc on this exercise. So bring the bells down to the nipple area and press them up to a position over your face.
5. Low to High Cable Fly
You can check out the interworkings of this exercise here.
6. Unilateral Dumbbell Floor Press
If I had to pick a “go to” exercise to learn how to properly pack the shoulder for upper chest activation, this would be it. Read about this exercise here.
7. The V Press
I “invented” this exercise in attempt to have a moderately overloadable exercise that would stretch and stress the upper chest in a way that met most of the guidelines above.
For this press, go through full range of motion at the bottom. Think about poking underneath of your collar bone with your thumb. As with most other exercises, keep the elbow in and only press as far as your upper chest can control.
8. Front Shoulder Raise With Thumbs Up
Raise the arms until they are 15 degrees above parallel. Do these with a plate and squeeze it during the reps.
THE INS AND OUTS OF REPATTERNING PROGRAMMING
As you know, I’m more of a minimalist when it comes to exercise selection. So don’t be confused by the wide array of exercises above.
I know that the bulk of our progress is going to come from a few things:
Increasing activation
Using and understanding proper mechanics
Avoiding any pressing that doesn’t preferentially hit the upper chest
Leveling up one or two big exercises over time
You can do all of the pump work you want, but if you aren’t continually overloading the incline press or one of the dumbbell presses while adhering to proper mechanics, your progress will be sub-par.
So the plan shakes out like this:
1) Do one of the activation exercises every day. You can rotate though if you want. Incorporate some kind of isometric contraction with each movement. For instance, do the modified Svend press with a five second pause at the top.
Something like three sets with 10-20 repetitions is ideal for these. If you want, do a different one every day. Do them more than once per day, too. When improving activation, frequency is fantastic. But, remember, the goal is always to increase the “feel” throughout the upper chest. Have your mind in every repetition.
2) Pick either the barbell incline press or the dumbbell incline press and use that as your marker of improvement. So whichever you choose, focus on progressive overload over time. This doesn’t mean busting a maximal load every session. Sometimes you will need to sketch. But over the span of your training life: More weight. More reps. Less rest in between sets. Whatever. Just make sure you’re using proper mechanics.
Putting up an extra twenty pounds doesn’t matter if you’re squirming around like a salmon under the bar. Building the upper chest is a gut check. Only those that throw their ego aside will prosper.
3) Stick with high(er) repetitions. On the big lift(s) chosen above, stick with the 6-10 range. It’s light enough to ensure form. Heavy enough to be “heavy.”
4) Consider specializing. This may sound off to some, but think about training the upper chest three times per week. Even bolder, think about training it every day. There’s a template for this below, but it comes down to doing one base lift submaximally every day. You can recover as long as you play your cards right. Trust me.
5) Take smaller jumps during a warm-up. For example, if you’re working up to an incline bench press of 185 for 6 reps, your warm up might look like this:
45×6
65×6
95×6
115×6
135×6
155×6
185×6
Then, depending on your preferred method of overload, you can do sets across at your maximum weight, drop sets, whatever. (Or just stop there as that’s a hefty workload.) But, for the most part, the warm-up is the bulk of the workout because you don’t want to take a sudden jump that makes it difficult for you to maintain proper upper chest recruitment.
NORMAL GUY SAMPLE ROUTINE
Most guys train pressing once or twice per week. So here are two workouts. If you only train once per week, simply rotate through the workouts. So the first week, do the first workout listed. Week two, do the second. If you train twice per week, you’re good to go.
Every morning: 3 sets of 15, band v press, 5 second isometric hold at maximum contraction
Pre-exhaust (done right before pressing sessions): 3 sets of 10, modified Svend press, 5 second isometric hold at top
Workout A
Incline Barbell Press, work up to a heavy set of 8
V Press 3×15
Low to High Cable Fly 1x failure
Workout B
Unilateral Dumbbell Floor Press 4×6
Unilateral Incline Press 2×15
Low to High Cable Fly 1x failure
HIGH FREQUENCY SAMPLE ROUTINE
For the high frequency routine, it’s best to have two “main” pressing sessions per week.
Every morning: 3 sets of 15, band v press, 5 second isometric hold at maximum contraction
Pre-exhaust (done right before pressing sessions): 3 sets of 10, modified Svend press, 5 second isometric hold at top
Daily Workout
V Press 3×10
-Done with a weight that could be handled for 15-20 repetitions
Workout A (Tuesday)
Incline Barbell Press work up to a heavy set of 8
Workout B (Friday)
Unilateral Incline Press 4×8
BONUS: BODYBUILDER SPECIALIZATION ROUTINE
Every morning: 3 sets of 15, band v press, 5 second isometric hold at maximum contraction
Pre-exhaust (done right before pressing sessions): 3 sets of 10, modified Svend press, 5 second isometric hold at top
Workout A (Monday)
Unilateral Dumbbell Floor Press 4×6
V Press 3×15
Workout B (Wednesday)
Unilateral Incline Press 2×15
Low to High Cable Fly 1×15
Workout C (Friday)
Incline Barbell Press, work up to a heavy set of 6
Mechanical Drop Set, 3 sets
Do a set of incline flies to near failure. Without putting the dumbbells down, go right into incline dumbbell presses.
CONCLUDING REMARKS (AND MY PROGRAM)
The exercises listed aren’t special by any means, but that shouldn’t be surprising. Instead, focus on the principles: Not doing bench presses or dips. Keeping the elbows tight and in. Trying to press with an arc. Getting the upper pecs to fire better. Only using the range of motion controlled by the upper chest.
And as for the absurd amount of activation work, keep it around for about eight weeks. After that, tone it down to warm-ups and perhaps a mild pre-exhaust.
For those of you wondering where to include overhead pressing, ditch the second workout on the Normal Guy and High Frequency templates. Do your overhead presses there. But the specialization routine is “specialized” for a reason. Forego the overheads for the time being if you want to walk that path.
As far as the training program I’m currently on and seeing results from — it’s essentially the high frequency program. I’m in the summer haze of lifting every day, which calls for incline pressing to a moderate intensity 3-4 times per week. But I do v presses daily along with the activation work. Very sketchy. But, so far, very productive.
UPDATES AS OF 6/11
KEEPING “TUCKED” SHOULDERS
Keeping the shoulders close to the torso (or using a close grip) activates the upper chest because it adducts the arm. Self guided research by Bret Contreras showed that close grip bench presses active the upper chest nearly as much as incline pressing.
Keeping the elbows close to the torso is difficult on barbell exercises because the wrist is pronated (to hold the bar). So try holding them to a flare of 15-30 degrees. On dumbbell exercises, however, keep the elbows in tight. No more than 15 degrees of flare.
This puts more emphasis on both the shoulders and triceps, which is fine. If you’re worried either will fatigue before the upper chest gets “enough” work, consider intensive pre-exhausting with any of the activation exercises listed above.
Pick either the dumbbell or barbell incline presses as your main marriage lift.
On your low intensity days, pick any of the dumbbell exercises. Do them with a controlled tempo, short of failure. Focus on engorging the upper chest with blood. Get jacked. Simulate. Don’t annihilate. Incline squeeze presses, incline flies, unilateral dumbbell floor presses, and low to high flys all work well here. Try ‘em all. See what ones you can best get a mental connection with. Stick to higher reps .
THREE NOTES ON THE V PRESS
First, by nature of the movement, your lower back will be hyperextended. This freaks some people out. But old school pressers used to hyperextend the back a lot. I don’t find it a big deal as long as you do two things: squeeze the glutes and lock the abs. This creates a solid base to work from and will protect your spine.
Second, don’t just press up. Press out. I called it the V press because the angle of your body and arm form a “V” of sorts. This hits another one of the upper chest’s functions: shoulder flexion.
Now, don’t go extreme. Too far out limits the weight you can use. The goal of the V Press isn’t activation, it’s overload. (As long as the upper chest is the muscle doing the main work.) This takes some experimentation, but you might only be pressing 5 degrees out of the vertical plane.
Third, don’t think of this exercise as a “jab.” Most people are jab pressers that drive movement from the triceps. If you’re privy to fighting, think of the V press as more of an uppercut. Don’t really focus on the “extension” part. Drive from the shoulder and upper chest.
Uppercut. Don’t jab. Maybe I should have called it the uppercut press?
+++++
What do you think? Have any exercises that didn’t make the list? Any principles that I overlooked? I’d love to hear your opinion, so shoot a comment below.
Pick your physique: Steve Reeves, or Ronnie Coleman?
Of course, I know the answer.
That’s because it’s about proportional muscle mass.
It’s about the X Physique.
WHY THE X PHYSIQUE IS APPEALING
Growing up skinny-fat, I had narrow shoulders, small wrists, and a wide waist. While I always wanted big muscles, they were the means to the end, more so than the end itself. What I really wanted was proportion – wide shoulders, a narrow waist, and powerful legs. Together, these form something known as the X Physique.
For a long time—and for whatever reason—I associated this X Physique with athleticism and virility. I’m no oracle, but I was onto something.
According to that hypothesis [D. M. Bramble and D. E. Lieberman, "Endurance running and the evolution of Homo." Nature, vol. 432, pp. 345-352, 18 Nov. 2004], such well-known human traits as lack of body hair, high perspiration rate, upright stature, high arches, broad shoulders, and large gluteus maximus were selected through evolution to make it easier for us to run long distances.
…Using facial photos of male college students that were cropped at the neck, those with faces that women rated as attractive had more pronounced wedge shaped torsos (broad shoulders and narrow hips), a masculine feature many women prefer. In addition, these same males had stronger grip strength scores (see also Fink, Neave, & Seydel, 2007; Sell et al., 2009), and more sex partners…
Proportions alone are associated with physical attractiveness. In the crudest sense, the more you appear like a certain sex, the more attractive you will be be. We don’t like ambiguity. [My conclusion: Since the X Physique is so culturally recognized in males, it's what's deemed as attractive from first glance. Same can be said for females and the hour glass shape.] We look for immediate cues to tell us whether or not someone can be mated with.
YOU NEED TO EMBRACE SOME VANITY
Is it cultural? Is it evolutionary? Physiological?
Really, who cares?
Part of building a body that matters is being proud of what you look like.
The seed is implanted. And as long as it’s there, we have to address it. So embrace your vanity. When I was in 9th grade and a classmate told me I had “boobs,” I sure didn’t care about culture.
Of course, it’s not good to base the entirety of your existence on your physical-self. But let’s face it: feeling good about your appearance trickles to every aspect of your life.
How you perceive yourself is the most important step in any physical transformation – and why I started the Skinny-Fat Ectomorph series with a post on mentality.
Bottom line: If you have any semblance of aesthetic regard, and you don’t address it, you will fail. If you have no hook with how you look, don’t worry about it. But if one slice of your brain wants bigger arms, and you ignore it, you’re cooked.
YOU’RE SCREWED, SORT OF…
Shoulder and hip width are genetically determined, and you can’t adjust skeletal structure. So if you’re born with narrow shoulders relative to your waist (like me), you have a lot of work ahead of you to make yourself into an X.
Instead of hating your parents and cursing to the clouds, focus your energy on building muscles in the right places to give yourself a better shot at the X Physique.
It sounds easy, but I kind of already know your problem.
You’re focusing on the wrong places.
The term “broad shoulders” is a bit misleading. If you’re throwing all of your focus to the front deltoids, you’re wasting your time.
THE NEED TO KNOW 1: TRAIN LIKE A BODYBUILDER
Everyone wants programs. But programs pale compared to principles. You won’t often find me writing programs for free on this website. I’m much more concerned about you developing the right philosophy – a mindset that sticks with you for life.
The following will be hard to swallow. But stop thinking about maximal strength. Just stop.
The goal here isn’t to break powerlifting world records. The goal is physique. That’s all.
YOU NEED TO TRAIN LIKE A BODYBUILDER, NOT A POWERLIFTER
I’m not talking about doing machine work or a host of isolation exercises, either.
When it comes to lifting weights, the goal is to continually overload the muscles. The easiest and most trackable way to do this is by slapping more plates on the bar. The problem with this philosophy is that the muscles become secondary to the weight.
But the muscles are what actually lift the weights.
This is different than most athletic performance methods. Plyometrics and the likes are more suited to train the nervous system and the entire musculoskeletal complex. So muscular control isn’t as concerning.
But when dealing with “carving” a physique, Arnold said it best: ”The weights are just a means to an end; how well you contract the muscles is what training is all about.”
This shift away from muscular control — in my opinion — is at fault for a lot of barbell related injuries. You should be lifting weights — unless you’re doing a complex or overspeed movement — with your mind in your muscles.
Control the weight, mentally and physically, through-out the entire range of motion. Make the muscles work in every phase. Think about them squeezing and lengthening.
And before I get the hatred, I’m not downing the importance of strength. Dan John hits it when he said: “You need to do two things to get stronger: add weight and do more reps. The answer has never been: lift light weights for high reps, or lift heavy weights for few reps. The answer remains: Lift heavy weights for high reps.”
But my addition to this is: heavy weight, high reps, with the mind in control of the muscles at work. (And by high reps, I’m talking about 5-10, which is “high” compared to the “few” reps referenced by Dan.)
The goal is to “sculpt.” Remember, it’s about proportional muscle, so what muscles get stressed the most in movement is important. And you can control this with the mind-muscle connection.
THE NEED TO KNOW 2: IT’S LESS ABOUT PRESSING
Broad shoulders are a hallmark of the X Physique. But it’s not about pressing, really. Pressing is secondary. Maybe even tertiary. So if you’re benching to grow the upper body for the X Physique, you’re missing out.
It starts with the back. Hands down. Most famous poses for showing off the X Physique don’t even involve the shoulders.
More specifically, it starts the the lats. The lats are the number one muscle to give someone a wider look. Some people even call lats “wings.” And I’m all about wings and taking flight (metaphorically) here at Life As Sport. Hell, even birds expand their wings to intimidate others. Big lats are a big mental boost.
THE NEED TO KNOW 3: BIG ARMS HELP
After building wings, building big arms helps create an a wider look. Yes, I said it. Big arms. But this only applies is you have the right back development.
Big arms without the wide lats means you just look like another goon. But taking one look at Don Howorth will help you understand what I mean.
THE NEED TO KNOW 4: PRESSING POSITION MATTERS
Of all body parts, the chest is the most finicky. And despite what I said earlier, pressing is still important. It’s just not the end all.
One thing to note about the X Physique and pressing is that puffy chests usually lose. Arnold had a great physique, but he rarely gets put in the same category as others for having the X Physique.
In this regard, the chest and pressing exercises chosen are important and should tailor to your body type. Blindly flat benching because powerlifters do won’t get you very far in the aesthetic column.
THE NEED TO KNOW 5: IT’S NOT ABOUT SIZE FOR THE SAKE OF SIZE
Although I touched on this earlier, if you’re in the running for an X Physique, it’s less about gaining a set amount of weight. Being 200 pounds reveals little about how that muscle is packed on your frame. It might be more beneficial to be 190 with the muscle in the right places.
It’s important you pick exercises and divide your time among what will propel you towards your goal. In other words, everything you do should have a specific goal or meaning attached to it. Don’t do anything for the sake of doing it. Make sure its specific rationale fits in with your entire rationale.
In most cases, a good physique is an illusion between muscle groups built in the right proportion when compared to one another. Anyone with an X Physique will immediately be perceived as more muscular, even if they are smaller or lighter.
This is the beauty of proportion, and is something that has been lost over time.
Again, not to dog basic barbell training — it is certainly is important — but the idea of not tailoring your program to your psychological wants (getting an X Physique, for instance) has cursed the population of people that pick up weights. The vast majority lift to look better — even if they lie and use the “it’s all about strength” excuse.
For someone that never wants to compete in powerlifting, there’s no reason why they can’t forego flat benching for incline benching, if that’s something that will work better for them. It’s not like swapping out benching for bosu ball one arm semi sumi functional presses. It’s one basic barbell lift for another. And I’m all about basic barbell lifts. Just the ones that are best suited for each goal. Consider it basic barbell training with a twist.
MOVING ON FROM HERE
Take the above advice and use it to adjust your program or fix your mindset as needed. I’ve been saying it for a while: if you want big arms, curl. Sure, do your chins and rows. But curl too. Make sure your program address your psychological desires, first and foremost. And then ask yourself if you have a specific type of physique that you’re reaching for, and if you’re actually doing anything to reach it.
Future articles in this series will give more specific advice on how to build an X Physique through exercise selection and whatnot. I don’t want to give you too much at once, of course.
But let me ask: What do you think of “sculpting” a physique? And what do you think of training for looks? Is it short-sighted? What’s the difference between lifting weights in front of a crowd and posing in front of a crowd? Should it be all about performance?
Drop your comments below. And most importantly, send this article to a friend if you think they’re lost or caught up in a philosophy that isn’t best for their long term progress.
When I was a youngling, I wanted to be a concept artist. I was never really good at drawing, but I held high ambitions after falling in love with Joe Mad’s Dragonkind pieces. (And if he does a Zelda comic, I might just pass out.)
Like most wannabe artists, I expected every drawing to be a masterpiece. But I quickly learned that becoming a better artist meant becoming a better sketcher. And becoming a better sketcher meant dealing with dissatisfaction.
Sketching is unlike drawing in that it’s an unrefined adventure of loose lines that somehow flow harmoniously.
Most training sessions are sketches—learning processes with a lot of “feel” and “flow.” Just like an artist can’t expect continuous masterpieces, athletes can’t expect continuous personal records and doing everything “right” the first time around.
Show up and put in the work, no matter how dissatisfied you are with the results.
Don’t be the person that sketches for one minute, gets frustrated, and starts over. (Or even worse, stops.)
Sketch consistently no matter how bad you perceive the short-term result. You will get better.
KEEP SKETCHES SKETCHY
Don’t try turning sketches into masterpieces. Masterpieces require time, detail, and preparation. They are predetermined greatness.
Sketches are different. There are no expectations. They are open to the feel, composition, mood, flow, and attitude at the time of work.
Sketches provide a way to practice and improve your craft without insane emotional investment.
A FINE BALANCE
Sketching is important. But completely foregoing masterpieces in favor of sketches is a smooth path to mediocrity.
From personal experience, I sketched my way through tricking. And to this day, I continue sketching. Training is a standardized process to retain and (hopefully) regain skills slowly. This is why I never realized my tricking potential.
Masterpieces require standing up and saying, “I’m going to do something great,” and then blocking off time to follow through with the idea. This can be an eight week hypertrophy stint. Or an eight week fat-loss crush. The main idea is that you’re increasing expectations, effort, and attention to detail.
But be careful. Taking this mindset too frequently does two things. First, it abandons the subtle benefits of sketching. Second, not all masterpieces pan out. And when they don’t, it’s frustrating.
The wrong way—albeit common way—of dealing with these frustrations is to immediately try creating more masterpieces. The right way is to go back to sketching for a while to refocus.
LOVE YOUR SKETCHES
A sad truth is that few appreciate their sketches. They’re crumbled and tucked away in the garbage.
It’s normal to think your sketches suck. But don’t undervalue them. Your sketchbook is the coolest and most interesting thing about you. It shows your progression and maturation over time. It caps your unique style.
Sketches are personality.
So while the masterpieces are nice, the sketchbook is even nicer. So keep at it because sketching strength and performance separate the good from the great.
You’re not going to be very good at first. You will program hop, even though I tell you that it’s worse than clubbing baby seals. But that’s OK. It took me six years catch on. It would have been easy to quit after year three. But I didn’t. And now I not only get to live the stuff, but also write about it to the world. So stay consistent. Produce work, no matter how great. Try for a bigger production here and there. And over time, you will find yourself.
242 Program Update & FREE Stuff
I just wanted to thank everyone that took the time to read and critique my upcoming eBook, The 242 Method. It’s still being edited and I’m deciding its ultimate direction. But thank you for picking out spelling errors and offering feedback. (For those of you lost, this all went down on Facebook. Should have either been following or been paying closer attention to my feed, fools.)
If you want to be added to the VIP List to get early access to the 242 Method (which should be released within the next month), make sure you sign-up for my newsletter. My friends always get first priority, and I love every single last one of them. So if you aren’t signed up, you can either scroll to the top of the page and put your name and e-mail into the cool graphic or you can just use the form below.
BUT ABOUT THE FREE STUFF…
Here’s the deal: my web designer funked out on me. This is good because I get to contemplate my redesign further. This is bad because, well, I have no designer. So since I have the time, I’m asking for your help (once again). If you answer the following six questions, I’ll e-mail you an advanced copy of The Death of H.I.I.T – Fatal Fitness Myths, and How They Shortcut Your Body’s Potential. But you have to follow the two rules: 1) you must reply to this post, 2) your answer must contain more than 1,000 words. So don’t get all upset if you don’t hear from me after giving baby answers. There isn’t room for stupid people here. So don’t be stupid.
1) What are your biggest programming hang ups? (You can copy this from Facebook if you already answered over there.)
2) What are your biggest reasons for set-backs?
3) What, personally, gets in your way of satisfactory progress?
4) What “brand” do you think I occupy in the fitness world?
5) What kind of name would you give said “brand?”
6) What’s your opinion this website from both a design and content standpoint?
On Sunday, I wrote The Origins of the 242 Method. When all is said and done, I wanted the 242 Method to be an eBook about my “go-to” program. And after I wrote the first part Sunday, my mind was whirling with ideas. But when I opened up the Word document Wednesday morning, I was blank. Completely. Blank.
After whining and throwing temper tantrums for an hour, I did something I should have done from the get-go: I breathed, I read Rework, and I simplified.
Rework is my baby because it reminds me that compelling need not be complex. And that there’s no harm in breaking down individual thoughts into individual sections. And that one sentence in itself can be one small idea, not necessarily conjoined to its surroundings. And that starting a sentence with “and,” even if three in a row, is quite alright.
So instead of trying to architect a grand piece of prose, I simply broke each of my thoughts down and said what needed to be said.
The organization is a bit skewed. Some ideas are repeated. But I kind of like how it turned out.
The Philosophy of the 242 Method
The downfalls of choice
Every week, I try a different coffee because I can. Because the selection is available.
When it comes to training and hopping from program to program and exercise to exercise, even the littlest bit of equipment gives multitudes of choice.
This past year alone I program hopped. Yeah, me. The same guy that once compared program hopping to clubbing baby seals.
We can’t run from choice, or our desire to try different things, without causing problems. Instead, embrace it.
The fitness industry’s problem
The fitness industry has a problem. Not an information problem, but a direction problem. There are so many paths; the paths themselves are overwhelming—even though they all lead to the same place.
Popular set exercise programs
Most programs out there are three or four day per week training routines centered around the squat, bench press, overhead press, and deadlift.
They are popular because they are safe, reliable, and generally decent programs. For an average person, they are almost fool proof.
If I recommend one to you—a popular practice—and you don’t see results, you’re at fault. Not me. So they are always recommended to people looking for programs.
It’s just like any recommendation. It better be reliable. No one recommends a crapshoot. No one refers a friend to a new restaurant unless they visited it themselves and have verified its worthiness.
Program hopping
People hate choice. But they love thinking they have the ability to choose. So even if a program has choice built in, no one really wants it.
They want to know what rowing variation to use. They want to know the best bench press assistance exercise. They want to know how many sets and reps to do.
They want to do what’s best. And since they trust the program maker, it’s the maker’s job to take decisions out of their hands.
People want reliability. They want their chocolate chip cookies to be the same as everyone else’s. They want to fit in with the masses.
But this is short lived.
Initially, no one really wants choice. They just want the feeling of having choice. But eventually, everyone wants the actual choice. Safe and reliable programs are only appealing for a little while. And when that little while ends, riskier “new age” becomes appealing.
The same thing that attracts eventually repels.
Traditional scheming
The classic four day per week template—regardless of the specifics—is usually an upper and lower body split with one main focus daily. Assistance work and other shenanigans are thrown in to enhance the main exercise. So all four days end up being rather exhaustive.
Take an overhead press day, for example. After doing overhead presses, assistance exercises like upright rows, lateral raises, dips, and skull crushers fill in the rest of the workout. But because they are designated as “assistance,” they are usually taken to failure.
But assistance work is assistance for a reason. Does it make sense to expel so much muscular and nervous energy performing it?
Rethinking traditional scheming
On most four day templates, each day has some mentally stressful or boundary pushing exercise, whether it’s repping out a main lift or taking an assistance lift to failure.
There’s also exercise overlap. Rows and chins intertwine with front squats and deadlifts. Just because something is “upper” and something is “lower” doesn’t mean they are mutually exclusive.
So there’s mental recovery and physical recovery issues on most four day programs.
Rethinking assistance work
If assistance work is nothing more than assistance, should it be taken to failure? Or is going through the motions with some intensity and meaning “enough?”
Wouldn’t training it exhaustively turn it into a main exercise?
From a mental and energy expenditure perspective, most people put more stock into assistance lifts because they aren’t as physically demanding. Is it sensible?
If turkey is the main attraction on Thanksgiving, shouldn’t it get the most prep attention?
What if the turkey was left to burn in favor of concocting a slew of mashed potatoes? And the mashed potatoes were awesomely presented in massive proportions? (I’m not sure I would complain about this.) Wouldn’t the potatoes—a usual side dish—now be the main attraction?
Shouldn’t the side dishes compliment, and not exhaust, the main dish?
The concept of main lifts
I think the concept of main lifts is a bit dysfunctional because everyone associates “main lift” with barbells. Why can’t a chin-up be a main lift? A dip?
The popular answer to this is: they can’t be loaded or progressed as easily, readily, or tangibly.
So?
Does that automatically bump them down to a second tier of care?
By the same logic, using front squats as a main lift over back squats freaks some people out. But does it matter if the back squat can be loaded more?
The front squat can be overloaded by the same mechanism (barbell and plates) and it’s still a squat.
Isn’t that what matters?
All about the weird
The fitness industry is in a mass rut. Go to any beginner forum and see how many people recommend either Starting Strength or 5/3/1.
Hint: it’s a lot because they are safe, reliable, and easy choices.
If you can’t progress on these program, well then that’s your problem. After all, everyone else progresses.
But do they?
And what did people do before these programs existed?
Sadly, I’ve even fielded questions like, “is it possible to get strong without Starting Strength?”
Of course it is. But everyone (or so I’m told), in today’s world, does Starting Strength.
But I’m not interested in everyone anymore. I’m interested in those that are willing to de-conceptualize the idea of main and assistance lifts.
I want to talk to those that have weighted muscle-ups as their “main lift,” because they’re bold enough to break away from the pact and create new methods.
Rescheming
Even assuming a traditional four day split centered around the bench press, overhead press, squat, and deadlift, why are each separated on their own day? Can’t they be tiered?
For instance:
Day One – Squat, Bench, Best Squat Assistance, Best Bench Assistance
Day Two – Deadlift, Overhead Press, Best Deadlift Assistance, Best Overhead Press Assistance
That way there’s only two big mentally and physically taxing days per week.
Of course, the question then becomes, “What do I do the other days of the week?”
My response: “Does it matter?”
High level athletes
Go heavy or go home.
That’s the modus operandi of most lifters. But perhaps it’s why Pavel and Mark Reifkind can joke about something they call the “tough guy cycle”: Heavy, heavier, even heavier, injury, light…(this originally appeared on Tim Ferriss’s blog).
Some people are adverse to “light” days.
But nearly all high level athletes have “light” days. Sprinters jog and do aerobic work when they aren’t sprinting at max speed.
“Light” days promote blood flow and recovery to tissues stressed the day prior. Even though the same muscles are trained, the lower intensity work becomes somewhat stimulating, meaning they feel better after having done it.
Rethinking recovery
The 48 hour rule states a muscle needs 48 hours to recover.
The 48 hour rule needs to die.
What if I do one set of squats at 60% of my max weight for 50% of my max reps? How much recovery do I need?
How do I walk up steps after a heavy squatting session if my muscles need 48 hours to recover?
Lighter workouts
Lighter workouts are side dishes to the main course. Sometimes, they just need to be there. And most times, the meal is never ruined by their presence, but rather enhanced.
The big problem
People want cookie cutter. They want to fit in with the masses. That is, until they see someone with a gigantic unique cookie and get jealous.
It’s like learning how to drive. When you first learn, you can’t look anywhere but the immediate road in front of you. One year later, you’re texting and mooning school busses.
Set programs only work as long as we’re comfortable with the settings. The fact that the program works is secondary.
Although contradictory, people rarely want something that works. They want immediate progress.
How many people abandon ship after realizing that doing 5/3/1 and starting at a 10% drop off means it will be months before any sign of progress is had? A lot. And one of the many reasons people don’t start at the 10% drop.
And since no program, unless you’re a beginner, yields immediate results, long term results are irrelevant.
Any set program, no matter how well constructed, gets boring.
This quest for immediate progress fuels program hopping. New exercises lend themselves to immediate results and instant gratification, so everyone wants to incorporate them into previously set programs.
“When should I do “x” exercise in “y” program.”
In nearly every case, however, progress isn’t a result of assistance exercise. The assistance work is there only because it’s expected to be there and it gives a semblance of choice.
You can’t have a hotdog stand without hotdogs. But most hotdog stands have condiments. Are condiments necessary? No. But they’re there.
New designations
Instead of having “main lifts” and “assistance lifts,” it’s better to have three categories:
Best – A select “forever” lifts—the one’s you never want to stop doing. It could be as little as two or as many as four.
Better – A pool of useful lifts that interest you that you wouldn’t mind regularly doing without as much focus as the Best category.
Good – Where most things are, especially those things that don’t readily interest you.
A better program
Consistency is one the most important aspects of any program. So the best program is one that promotes consistent training with the Best lifts.
Having four mind blowing days is a tough operation because four days of the week you have to be “on.” What if you slept bad? Had to stay up late? Had bad eating patterns?
And you have to show up. What if you can’t make it to the gym one day? Bye bye consistency.
So on most programs, four days consume your week. Hair cuts are rescheduled. Doctors appointments, cancelled. And before you know it your entire week is shot because your schedule revolves around four days that have to be perfectly planned to maximize results on each day.
A note on frequency
I’m looking at hockey schedules right now—one of the most grueling sports, schedule-wise—and more often than not, there aren’t more than three games per week.
Yet we choose to have four heavy, mind blowing sessions per week. We’re afraid of training the entire body in one session and we’re afraid of foregoing our wonderful assistance exercises. And the only way to accommodate both is to spread the workload over four days.
Power of two
Sticking to just two “heavy” days per week—not to be confused with two total training days per week—does a few things.
It means we only have to be “on” and “in the game” half the time.
It promotes consistency. Bring it twice, that’s all.
It’s easy to work around schedule conflicts.
It makes recovery easier.
It promotes experimentation.
It keeps the focus where it should be.
It gives you time to have fun and experiment with other things.
It means you only have to have two perfectly planned days instead of three or four.
The other days
What about the other one, two, or three days of training? What should be done on those days?
Whatever you want.
CONCLUSION AND THANKS
The finalized 242 Method will be rolled out within — fingers crossed — the next month (with a new website). And I wanted to say thanks.
I take each comment to this blog seriously, and I respect everyone’s opinion. Rarely does a comment go by that doesn’t get my reply, holding true to Facebook, Twitter, and even email. I can’t thank you enough for participating and sharing your opinions. It’s an honor to get to know all of you more and more simply from your participation.
I’m going to release the 242 Method for free if enough interest is sparked. Is there anything that YOU would want in a book about a specific training method? What areas of programming are lacking coverage in the fitness world?
Every Sunday— my “cheat day”—I enjoy a cup of flavored coffee. Drinking coffee in itself isn’t anything out of the ordinary, as I drink it daily. But the flavoring adds a twist, and it’s a decision not taken lightly.
Like a pig being roasted, the K-Cup tower is slowly rotated. My eyes scan the packaging. I’m a sucker for good branding and design. Whatever catches my fancy is thrown in the Keurig, is brewed, and is mine to savor.
But there’s something that always prevents a fairy tale ending: 97% of the time, I hate the flavoring.
I like my coffee, or, even better, my Americano, just like my metal: black. (Mindless Self Indulgence, anyone? No? Fine.)
So if I’m continually disappointed by the failure of artificial flavoring’s ability to massage my taste buds, why do I return every week?
I have no idea.
Because it’s kind of fun? Kind of adventurous? (Great life I live, right? Getting a kick from drinking flavored coffee.)
And I can’t help but think this is how the majority of people construct training programs. They already have something solid—their black coffee—yet they’re compelled to extend their tentacles into different areas.
SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE, NOTHING FOR ALL
Unless my coffee adventuring gives me cancer (from the plastics or artificial flavoring), being dissatisfied every week isn’t a big deal. But when it comes to exercises and programs, getting caught up in mass selection leads to failure.
There’s something out there for everyone. But everything isn’t for everyone. Exercises, exercise methods, and programs are personal.
THE STRIP DISTRICT
Here in Pittsburgh there is a part of town called the Strip District. It’s a bunch of vendors, shops, and stores located on a centralized street.
About a year ago, I was on a quest for cheese. So I went to the Strip District, and went into this big Italian shop that sells over one-hundred varieties of cheese. One. Hundred. Different. Cheeses.
When my number was called, I was lost in a sea of choice. The monger asked me to name three cheeses I liked.
Mozzarella, provolone, and muenster.
Within thirty seconds I was out of the store, cheese in hand.
One cheese out of over one-hundred. (It was Alta Badia, by the way. And it was fantastic.)
It’s easy to see a big selection and want samples of everything.
“Ooh, hip thrusts.”
“Ooh, good mornings.”
“Ooh, incline flies.”
“Ooh, squeeze presses.”
Oohs and ahhs can last a long time. A lonnng time.
The reason why the selection is so vast is because everyone has different tastes. The backing behind the 242 Method and Program is to find what you enjoy most and narrow exercise selection into, at maximum, two lower body lifts and two upper body lifts.
FINDING YOURS
Finding your own Alta Badia is tough. It’s why the majority of people can’t write a program for themselves.
I couldn’t pick out a cheese myself. The monger did it for me based on what I liked. Without him, I would have been lost. But he delivered and that was it. I didn’t question him. I didn’t wonder about the other cheeses.
This all, of course, has relevance, and the 242 Method never “fully” hit me until I took a long look back at both my own training and my coaching client’s training.
THE ORIGIN OF THE 242 METHOD
A few months ago, I evaluated my training evolution across the six-and-change years that I’ve dabbled in this space. And, although embarrassing, I’m not afraid to spill the beans.
In 9th grade, a girl told me I had boobs. And that hits a self conscious kid hard. So over my training career, I obsessed over my chest because my lower pecs have always dominated my upper pecs.
At first, I listened to powerlifters and benched. My lower chest grew further out of proportion, leading me to more unhappiness. So I switched to a different angle press. Then after feeling weak, I hopped back to benching. And then benching did the same thing it did before, so I searched for another exercise. After that, another. Another. Another.
To this day, my pressing strength is awful—one of the reasons you never see me write much about pressing. (Outside of my dumbbell floor press article, which was my Alta Badia last year during softball and frisbee season as my shoulder was a wreck.)
In six years, I’ve gotten nowhere with my pressing exercises. Yet, from a muscular standpoint, I’ve surely gotten somewhere. So I looked back at the exercises I have progressed on, strength wise. To my surprise, there’s really only two: the deadlift and the chin-up.
Sure, when I first started I could only squat 95 pounds and have since squatted 405 (even though, both times, I hurt my back). But outside of the mileage put on my body with the sheer volume of exercise, the two primary drivers behind where I am today have been the chin-up and the deadlift.
The sad part is, lately, my deadlift is down because of the 20 Rep Squat Journey I went on. (For those that are unaware, it came to a halt because the nerve pain in my foot returned.) But the very fact that I went on the 20 Rep Squat Journey illustrates my dysfunctional in-search-of-cheese mind.
THE BIG QUESTION
If two exercises were the primary drivers of my own personal physical gains—from a strength standpoint—why are we worried about finding, testing, and using something that likely won’t work as well as what’s been shown to work for years?
So while I finish the second article in the series, I have some important questions for you:
1) What two exercises have been the primary drivers of your success?
When I was twelve, I wanted to be Goku from Dragonball Z. Too much to ask? I didn’t think so either. But higher powers had other intentions.
Something more than the fantasy of being a jacked anime guy drew my interest to the character. I wanted to do incredible things. After coming to terms with the impossibility of flying and creating balls of energy (despite what the internet told me), my sights were set on random feats of atheticism and, of course, saving the world from unforseeable disasters and villians. So when I found tricking, my heart oozed into lava.
In a sense, I’m lucky. Although I let myself turn into a pile of slop, I was always athletic. And I never doubted my ability in sports.
Athleticism was my survival skill. And survival skills often become strengths. My case was no exception. Being picked first in Phys Ed class and being recruited to play basketball, baseball, football, and track kept me away from swirlies. After all, I did like Dragonball Z so I had to cling onto something that made me “cool.”
When I started in fitness, aesthetics weren’t enough for me — a fact that showed through on the title of both my first and second blog — Simply Strong: The Age of Athleticism, and More than Muscle: Bridging the Gap Between Athletics and Aesthetics.
For a long time, tricking filled my performance void. Being long removed from competitive sports, it was my reason for training. In my heart, I was a trickster first (albeit a bad one), and a lifter second. Eventually, I adopted a die hard athlete mentality. Like, “if you’re not a professional athlete I don’t want to talk to you,” die hard.
But now I realize few “serious” athlete peruse blogs for training tips. Most people are average guys interested in looking good. Also dear to me, however, is feeling good and moving good. Some people call this mesh between athletics and aesthetics, “athletic bodybuilding.” Initially, I referenced it as Beast Mode Training. In an effort to claim new ground (it makes me feel special), I’m calling this breed Jackedthletes.
JACKEDTHLETES
Jackedthletes, of course, want to be jacked. But they also want to be incredibly athletic. So here are the adapted rules of Beast Mode Training to suit the Jackedthlete, which are principles that I currently abide by.
The warm up is the workout.
Strength is developed using a few basic movements.
The focus is on steady progress over time.
Tricking, gymnastics, and tumbling isn’t optional.
The lower body is trained for strength and explosiveness.
Selected compound lifts are arbitrary. Front squat instead of back squat? I’m not complaining.
The “X” look is the ideal physique.
If it’s important, do it every day.
Right, I know none of this makes sense to you. Over the next few weeks, however, I’m going to be rolling out some recommendations for the Jackedthletes at heart. Today’s information is about hitting aerobic work that isn’t the same old mind-numbing treadmill hoofing junk you’re used to.
JACKEDTHLETIC AEROBIC WORK
The aerobic system is grossly underrated. (This is especially true with tricking.) As explosive bouts are repeated over time, the aerobic system becomes more important with each successive go. (A trickster with good aerobic capacity can trick longer and with better mental clarity, lessening the chance of injury. The same goes for athletes of similar sports.)
But distance running sucks. Not only does it take forever, but it also zaps the legs of energy that is otherwise used to gain strength and explosiveness. So I’m all about creating upper body circuits that incorporate lifting weights, gymnastics, and tumbling. It sounds hectic, I know, but here’s an example to bring some clarity.
A1) Planche Work :20
A2) Dips
A3) Handstands :20
A4) Right Shoulder Rolls x 5
A5) Left Shoulder Rolls x 5
A6) Forward and Backward Rolls to Handstand x 5
Note: If you haven’t done rolls before, start with the kneeling version and keep the volume low. If you don’t, you’re apt to get headaches. Also, using incorrect rolling mechanics can put you at risk to hurt your shoulder blade. You’ve been warned.
And please, don’t knock my gymnastics form. I’m a trickster at heart so I’m used to watching, then doing, then tweaking. I don’t claim to be a gymnast expert.
Repeat this sequence three or four times with little to no rest between exercises. If you want more add inch worm walks, bear walks, crab walks, cartwheels, or any other unconventional locomotor movement. If you’re a sciency person that tracks hear rate, stay within 120-150 beats per minute.
YOUR THOUGHTS?
Aerobic work that’s actually fun? Is it too good to be true? What the hell is a Jackedthlete? Have any other principles that you think a Jackedthlete would follow?
Drop your questions and comments below.
Give the circuit a try and let me know how it goes. What would you change? Any additions? Subtractions?
Since writing 11 Training Tips for the Skinny Fat Ectomorph, I’ve been bombarded with questions that go something like this: “Hey man, what you said in that article describes me perfectly. What routine should I go on?”
Big news: escaping the skinny-fat fate is more than performing a sequence of exercises, it’s living a certain lifestyle. So to help my skinny-fat brethren, I’m introducing the “Solutions for the Skinny Fat Ectomorph” series. What you’re reading now is Part I – The Basics. It’s not flashy, but it’s a necessary first step in a long journey. There’s no “routine.” No “diet.” Those things come later. Right now you need to know the why behind the how.
THE USUAL SUSPECT
Here are the defining skinny fat ectomorph traits:
Apparently thin in clothes, but bare skin reveals otherwise
Small wrists
Tall(er)
Weak and non-muscled arms
Love handles, lower stomach, and lower chest are main areas of fat accumulation
Before moving on, I have a confession: I was once a skinny fat ectomorph. (I’ll show pictures of my own journey soon enough.) I suffered through the talks of being “lanky.” And, by the way, the world should know the word “lanky” is a verbal knife for a tall and skinny person wanting to bulk up, even if it has complimentary intentions. “Bob’s not fat! He’s lanky!” Meanwhile, Bob is wallowing in sorrow, succumbing to syringes full of steroids. This is why life as a skinny-fat is tough. We’re at the mercy of lanky and the reality of chubby.
Most of my life, I ignored my unique body composition while questing for the holy grail of training programs. Anytime I saw a jacked dude I was hooked. I needed to know his routine because I thought a magical sequence of exercises was going to cure my problem. But during my expedition, I noticed something: most figureheads that undergo massive transformations are very lean beforehand. Here are some examples:
Now, I have tremendous respect for the people listed. What they did, regardless of the starting point, takes hard work and dedication. But their prior body composition can’t be ignored. They can follow normal “bulking” rules because they aren’t likely to store fat. So when these people load their plates with pasta and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and see amazing results, it’s no wonder this advice gets passed down to those on the lower end of the genetic totem pole. Yet if we follow a similar plan, we end up looking like dirty bulk kid.
WHERE SKINNY-FATS GO WRONG
I’m going abstract here and saying that skinny fat ectomorphs aren’t hindered by a lack of training and nutrition knowledge; they are hindered by a lack of psychological togetherness. Skinny-fats carry large emotional baggage about themselves and their body composition. They don’t stand a chance.
From a nutritional standpoint, skinny fat ectomorphs are a wreck. They will do damn near anything to get rid of their “pouch.” A skinny-fat asked me for tips on Facebook the other day. He gave me his daily food intake:
My diet right now is:
Breakfast: 6 egg whites, 1/2 cup oatmeal
Snacks: 2 scoops protein
Lunch and Dinner: Shrimp and broccoli
Let’s break this down:
6 egg whites ~ 120 kcals
1/2 cup oatmeal ~ 300 kcals
2 scoops of protein ~ 250 kcals
Shrmimp and broccoli x 2 ~ 300 kcals x 2 = 600 kcals
So we have a young, handsome lad eating a paltry 1000-or-so kcals per day and failing to lose weight. I’d guess this person is either very under muscled or obsessing over the tiniest bit of fat around their lower abs. Both showcase the dysfunctional mindset and damaging habits skinny-fats carry.
LIFESTYLE & PSYCHOLOGY
I don’t mean to go all Dr. Phil on you here, but understanding the stress response is an important part of understanding how to optimize physiology for muscle growth and fat loss. If you’re a constant subordinate filled with inadequate feelings, you’re losing out. This is troublesome, as skinny-fats often feel this way.
Worrying about the perfect routine. Worrying about losing weight. Worrying about gaining muscle. Worrying about what others are doing. Worrying about what others are saying. Worrying about their current body composition. Worrying about girlfriends. Worrying about gossip.
Sound familiar? Trust me, I get the e-mails. I know how you think. But this is a double whammy. Not only does it screw with your immediate physiology, but it also lessens your chances to follow through with, and dedicate yourself to, your training.
“I’ve been on this program for two weeks and nothing is happening!”
It takes longer than two weeks, Honey.
So on the lifestyle front, find a group of loving people to be around, whether it’s your family or friends (that don’t push you to get shitfaced three nights every week). De-stress yourself. Meditate. Take care of other people. Get a little cocky too. Don’t be an arrogant alpha-male. Just have a quiet confidence. Most of all trust in the process.
Do yourself a favor and pick up Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers. It’s one of the best training texts you can read, even though there’s no mention of training. It’s a book about stress and adaptation. And lifting weights, getting stronger, losing fat, and increasing performance—everything you want this article series to be about—is rooted in stress and adaptation. It’s important stuff.
TROUBLESOME TRAINING
In general, we get fat from eating more energy than what our body needs. (There are a lot of other things that affect this situation, but we’re simplifying.) The body is stingy. It won’t waste extra energy. So it stores the energy as fat just in case the rapture actually comes to pass. The body cares only cares about survival. If you want to be muscular with a low body fat, you have to live a lifestyle that trips the body into thinking, “the only way I can survive is if I have capable muscle with little excess weight.” Most people miss this.
Living a sedentary life tells the body that carrying around sacks of fat won’t damage its immediate ability to survive. But start running hill sprints—a reincarnation of primitive hauling ass from a chasing lion—and carrying those fat sacks suddenly hinder survival.
Excuse me while I go on a quick broscience rant:
<broscience rant>
Exercise, for all intents and purposes, doesn’t burn many calories. Most people can easily forego the Tastykakes and see the same net caloric reduction. So here’s the question: Does exercise cause fat loss because it burns calories? Or does it cause fat loss because the body recognizes that weighing less is better for survival? After all, we lift weights—which “burns” calories—and yet our muscles grow. So just because something has a metabolic cost doesn’t mean it’s all in the name of fat loss and catabolism. If our muscles grow to better survive the external stressor (weighted barbell), couldn’t our fat also “shrink” to better survive the external stressor? Let’s paint this.
Say you run ten hill sprints. Sure, you’re burning calories. But, to your body, what do the hill sprints mean? From a primitive standpoint, they probably mean you’re either escaping danger or trying to catch food—two things essential for survival. I doubt the Aztecs ran up and down mountains in the name of “hardcore” hill sprints and getting a visible six pack. So does fat loss come from the body’s attempt to better survive the stressor? Or from the calories it uses for energy?
The other side of the equation is nutrition. No matter how many sprints you run, the body isn’t going to lose weight if you’re consistently overstuffing yourself. From a primitive standpoint, overfeeding probably means a hibernation is near. So your body thinks you’re overfeeding for a reason—that it’s going to need the energy down the line because food won’t readily be available. The opposite of this—grossly underfeeding yourself—isn’t optimal either because the body assumes famine. It’s going to hold, and be efficient with, what energy it has for as long as possible, never knowing when proper nourishment will come. This is why very low calorie diets don’t often work for anyone but the morbidly obese.
Signed, Anthony Mychal M.D. Ph.D. Program Coordinator at Broscience University
</broscience rant>
Ahem, back to reality. Gaining muscle is also a survival mechanism. It doesn’t want to be squashed meat under a barbell, so it gets stronger. This adaptation can happen in two ways: improving the nervous system or improving the muscular system. If the right hormones are floating around, these adaptations happen simultaneously. Muscle, however, is metabolically expensive. The body won’t build it unless it knows it has the proper nutrient flow. But I’ll save this discussion for later.
PUMPING IRON
Skinny fat ectomorphs need to help on three levels: mindset, nutrition, and training. Hopefully, after reading this article, you have better grasp on how to carry yourself and live your life. It’s about time to break through and recreate your hormone profile, as your current one gives Aunt Tilly a run for her money.
So control unnecessary stress, gain some confidence, have some faith in what you’re doing, and find a caring network. When you see the guys in Pumping Iron living the good life seemingly without stress, ordering 12 eggs and a pound of steak for lunch, lounging and relaxing by the beach, being idolized by women, and growing into a tightly connected group of friends, it’s no wonder they were successful (steroids aside).
******
Check it out: soon, I’m going to start doing LIVE chats and Q & A’s on Google+. Yeah, yeah, I know. Google+ is for losers and whatnot, but it’s a cool platform that allows group video chats with ease. So here’s what you need to do to get in the running for a live chat. First, you need to be apart of my newsletter service. If you’re not, fill out the information at the top. This just works better for me because I can fire out an e-mail to the subscribers and have them reply with interest for certain dates and times. Second, and obviously, you have to add me on Google+. So to recap: sign up for my newsletter, add me on Google+, and await my e-mails. I look forward to speaking and meeting with you.
Addendum: Since writing this, I found out that Joel Marion was indeed a skinny fat ectomorph. I apologize for that little screw up. He has been removed from the list.
You’ve probably heard the saying, “Curls are for the girls.” The idea is that building muscle requires a steady diet of squats, presses, chins, pulls, and all of the wonderful movements you can do with a barbell that are worth a damn.
Some say preferentially building the upper chest is impossible. Instead of butchering the words of Dr. Clay Hyght, I’ll just quote this piece from 
Is it cultural? Is it evolutionary? Physiological?
After building wings, building big arms helps create an a wider look. Yes, I said it. Big arms. But this only applies is you have the right back development.
When I was a youngling, I wanted to be a concept artist. I was never really good at drawing, but I held high ambitions after falling in love with Joe Mad’s 
On Sunday, I wrote 
Every Sunday— my “cheat day”—I enjoy a cup of flavored coffee. Drinking coffee in itself isn’t anything out of the ordinary, as I drink it daily. But the flavoring adds a twist, and it’s a decision not taken lightly.
When I was twelve, I wanted to be Goku from Dragonball Z. Too much to ask? I didn’t think so either. But higher powers had other intentions.
