Zeus gave Prometheus—a Titan known for his forethinking mind—the responsibility of creating man from clay. As any artist could tell you, seeing the “bigger picture” from the start is an important part of creating. My bigger picture? Goku. But, seriously, I think “bigger picture” ideas are important because most of us don’t want to be [...]
Zeus gave Prometheus—a Titan known for his forethinking mind—the responsibility of creating man from clay. As any artist could tell you, seeing the “bigger picture” from the start is an important part of creating.
My bigger picture?
Goku.
But, seriously, I think “bigger picture” ideas are important because most of us don’t want to be random blobs of muscle — we have a specific look that captivates us. I always wanted to build a body opposite of my skinny-fat build (narrower shoulders, a wider waist), and so I set my sights on the fabled “X” physique (with some added athletic flare, of course).
But it wasn’t always this way. I was caught up in tradition; rules I didn’t have to play by. This led me in the wrong direction for a long time. Before getting to the eight essential exercises for the “X” physique, let’s talk about keeping your head on straight.
Don’t make the value mistake
When stimulating your way to the solid base, there are many ways to handle business. Being categorical thinkers, we tend to look towards those that have experience in the world of high intensity muscle work as our own backbone. This tends to land us somewhere in the powerlifter, bodybuilder, Olympic weightlifter, or even gymnastics world, as these are all athletes that say, in some roundabout way, “If you value what I value and train the way I train, you’ll probably spat out like we’ve shown to spat out.”
Key word there though?
Value.
Unless you are one of those athletes, diving into their culture and dying for their values will have you playing by rules you simply don’t have to play by. A powerlifter values three exercises in the flat bench press, the back squat, and the deadlift because they have to value them — their success depends on those; that’s what they compete with.
Unless you’re involved in a sport, you should value what you need to value.
Do exercises that get you closer to where you want to be, not because they’re popular.
Don’t make the detailing mistake
You’ll never be a completely random assortment of muscle blobs. Even the wackiest program out there won’t make your forearm bigger than your bicep or your calf bigger than your thigh. The body likes to develop in somewhat of a proportion, which is why most people that obsess over specific body parts regardless of overall development often don’t see great results. (I will talk about this more in the future, but the idea of being in some kind of portioned mathematical ratio or worrying about minor size differences from side to side is going to be more trouble than good.)
I think that most people could do a better job of training in a way that caters more towards whatever look they enjoy. There absolutely are certain lifts that will emphasize certain muscle groups, or certain parts of certain muscles more than other lifts, or certain lifts that will develop the strength and skill to do advanced exercises down the line that will be of huge use.
The following eight exercises are my push in that direction based on the fact that I’m a goonie in a garage gym (that was influenced a little too much by Dragon Ball Z). I was bit over zealous when originally selecting them, admittedly neglecting that everyone starts at a different skill level, so be sure to check out the notes for each lift. I should also mention that some of these exercises are selected for future potential. Again, read the notes.
1. The Front Squat
The front squat is the squat of choice. That’s not to say it’s better or worse than the back squat for other purposes, but the front squat is tops for the “X” physique because the upper back is called upon to stabilize the load. So not only are the glutes, quads, and hamstrings (to a lesser extent) going to get their work on, but so is the back.
The back is muy importante.
If you have any kind of knee pain during the front squat, check out An Athlete’s Guide to Chronic Knee Pain. I couldn’t squat at all in the past because of severe snapping, crackling, and popping knee pain, but now I can do anything — even pistol squats — pain free.
2. The 30 Degree Incline Press
Unless you’re a powerlifter, there’s little reason to flat bench. Most dudes that care about aesthetics likely have a chest out of proportion, and the flat bench press will only widen the gap. If you can save your ego, go with the incline. The incline press still gives us a little oomph behind pressing power and also gets our upper chest moving and grooving. The thirty degree angle helps for reasons mentioned in The Best Damn Guide to Upper Chest Size and Strength.
3. The Overhead Press
The overhead press fell on popularity over the years (so the old and wise tell me), but it’s making a comeback. Back in the early days of barbell training, the overhead press was supposedly tops for upper body strength. Most asked, “How much can ‘ya press?” Only recently has the bench press become the favorite.
Although this exercise is tough to progress on, it’s the main shoulder meat builder. You have to be patient with it. Coddle it at times. Attack it at times. Don’t get frustrated with it, just keep doing it. Old schoolers usually say that the key to pressing more is pressing often.
4. The Row
The barbell row has really dropped out of popularity, but it will build your back as a whole unlike any other exercise. When combined with the last two exercises, your back will have a nice trifecta of stimulation.
To maximize working muscles through different angles, do the barbell with an overhand grip and with the torso parallel to the floor. Don’t rest the weight on the floor between reps. For us, it’s better to keep the muscles under tension. If you’re one of the ones that complains about feeling the row in the lower back, then you should probably use this tip.
Now, I this is one of the exercises I’ve grown to be on the fence about because in order to do it, you have to have a non-whack back and you also have to have good isometric strength in the bent over position. Until those things come to be, it might be best going with an inverted row.
5. The Parallel Bar Dip
The parallel bar dip is a controversial addition because it emphasizes the lower chest, but I also think it hits the triceps better than any other exercise and isn’t afraid of packing meat on the shoulders. Being engrossed in gymnastics exercises as of late, I’ve been doing my fair share of dips lately. Keep in mind though, I’ve cared less and less about my chest proportions as I get older. (Also, rings aren’t necessary.)
For those truly all in on developing the upper chest, I say that the parallel bar dip might be something to use down the road. For now, use the unilateral floor press. It’s a secret weapon of mine that I used a long time ago that essentially cured some seemingly permanent shoulder pain. But now I guess its not so secret anymore.
6. The Barbell Curl
The standing barbell curl is one of the most underrated exercises out there, despite what some groups say about curls being “for the gurlz.” Embrace the non-conformity: don’t listen to ‘em. (If you have any thick grip bar or thick grip attachment, use them for this exercise. I prefer Fat Gripz.)
Once upon a time, I strapped a heart rate monitor to my chest. Curls elevated my heart rate more than just about every other upper body exercise, which was something sort of crazy to me. Perhaps I’m just weird. Either way, they are a nice hit to the arms, and, well, you’re going to do them anyway.
7. The Chin-Up
I consider the chin-up to be the ultimate exercise for those questing for the “X” physique. It’s the exercise responsible for making lats that get stingrays feeling jealous. Traditionally, a chin-up is done with a “palms facing the body” grip. But if your elbow gives you problems you can switch to a neutral grip of palms facing away (pull-up) grip.
I don’t think you can do enough of these. I think the initial goal should be to five. Once you get to five, go for ten, but consider some kind of added resistance for lower reps. That might actually help boost you to ten. Once you get to ten and are also doing weighted chin-ups, I think it’s kind of like coffee: get addicted.
8. The Conventional Deadlift
When done properly, there’s really no lift as “full body” as the deadlift. The power of the deadlift for the x physique lies within strengthening and growing the entire backside. Perhaps more importantly than the conventional deadlift itself though is the avenues it opens up.
You can’t pull with a wide snatch grip unless you can conventional deadlift, and the snatch grip deadlift is a must for an “X” physique. It also leads to barbell rows, klokov rows, panda pulls, high pulls, low pulls, and a bunch of other things that have you pulling from the floor or pulling something to your chest with a weight at arms length.
I know there are a lot of people out there against pulling from the floor these days, as people usually lack mobility. But here’s the thing: just gain the mobility you nincompoop.
Here’s a simple way: hold a rock bottom squat for 5-10-20-30 minutes every day. Mobility isn’t magic, it’s comfort. Ease your way into being familiar with a position.
Conclusion stuff
I know it’s going to be asked, so let’s squash it: these are not the only eight exercises I do. I’m a huge fan of bodyweight exercises, too. Consider me someone that steals easy and practical things from Olympic weightlifting and gymnastics, as I think when you combine the two you get a practical output for both performance and physique.
As for programming, you first have to learn some mechanics to make sure you aren’t destroying yourself during the execution of the lifts. After that, doing anything more than 2-4 of these lifts per training session is too much (assuming you’re putting some emotion into them). If you want all the juice, just check out The Skinny-Fat Solution.
Coming soon is a revision with a better program that emphasizes both barbell and bodyweight training in my own way (like incorporating silent bodyweight volume to do more and stay fresh). There’s also a rather comprehensive movement and posture guide
No matter what, here’s a sensible plan:
- Do the lifts above
- Get better at them over time
Something tells me that would work too.