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Also by Health For Life: ■ Legendary Abs ■ Beyond Legendary Abs A synergistic performance guide to Legendary Abs and SynerAbs
■ Power ForeArms! ■ Maximum Calves ■ The Human Fuel Handbook Nutrition for Peak Athletic Performance
■ SynerAbs: 6 Minutes to a Flatter Stomach ■ SynerShape: A Scientific Weight Loss Guide ■ SynerStretch: For Whole Body Flexibility
Although all the material in this course is useful to beginners as well as more advanced lifters, Secrets of Advanced Bodybuilders is not intended to be an introduction to weight training. Health For Life assumes the reader is familiar with the bodybuilding basics: barbells, dumbbells, sets, reps, and supersets, how to warm up, the importance of exhaling while exerting, etc.
Special thanks to
Santa Monica Bodybuilding Center for the use of their equipment Please note: This program contains exercises that, depending on your physical condition, may be hazardous to your health. Consult with your doctor before attempting these exercises. User assumes all risk for performing the exercises described in this course. Use of this course constitutes a covenant not to bring any lawsuit or action for injury caused by performing exercises Illustrated in this course.
ISBN 0 944831 07 9 -
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Copyright @ 1985 by Health For Life. All rights reserved. The material in this document may not be reproduced in whole or in part in any manner or form without prior written consent from Health For Life. Health For Life 8033 Sunset Blvd., Suite 483 Los Angeles, CA 90046 (213) 450-0070
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TABLE OF CONTENTS C C
IT ALL BEGINS WITH THE REP.. The Exercise Program Wholon
3 4
THE REP
C C FORM C Lines of Force Levers and Resistance C Planes of Motion LEVERAGE 0 THE REP — A QUICK REVIEW
7 7 8
10 12 13
O 0
THE SET, EXERCISE, AND BODY PART ROUTINE
C THE FATIGUE/TENSION PRINCIPLE Fatigue O Tension C. Load Leverage O 0
C L., O 0
C
15 16 18 18 19
THE BODY PART ROUTINE AND DAILY WORKOUT: EXERCISE SEQUENCE INTERDEPENDENCY OF MUSCLE GROUPS Interdependency Application # 1 Interdependency Application # 2
21 23 24
Interdependency Application # 3 Interdependency Application # 4
24 25
FUNCTIONAL STRENGTH AND ISOLATION Balanced Development Train from the Ground Up
25 27 27
TECHNIQUE AT A GLANCE
28
THE EXERCISES THE UPPER BACK Close-Grip Pull-Downs Modified Seated Row Scapular Rolls Close-Grip Pull-Ups Behind the Neck Pull-Ups Wide-Grip Lat Pull-Downs HFL Decline Dumbell Rows One-hand Dumbell Rows Seated Single-handed Pulley Rows Twisting Momentum Pull-Ups
32 34 36 37 38 40 41 43 45 47 49
LOWER BACK Hyperextensions Alternate-side Hyperextensions Good Mornings
51 52 53 55
CHEST Supine Bench Press Incline Bench Press Incline Dumbell Press Dips for the Chest Cross-body Cable Pulls
57 58
DELTOIDS
68 69 69 70 72 73 74
61 62 65 66
21s
Lateral Deltoid Flys Anterior Deltoid Flys Posterior Deltoid Flys Upright Rows Military Press BICEPS Preacher Bench Curls Standing Supinated Dumbell Curls Seated Supinated Bicep Curl
75 77 79 82
vi
TRICEPS Lying French Press Tricep Press-Downs Tricep Bench Dips Tricep Bar Dips Tricep Push-Ups Tricep Kick-Backs
84 85 87 89 90 91 93
LOWER BODY Open Joint Exercises Squats Hack Squats 1/4 Hack Squats with Machine 1/4 Hack Squat with Rope Leg Extensions For outer quads For inner quads Leg Curls Sustained Tension Side Leg Raises
95 99
100 101 103 104 105 105 105 107 109
THE ROUTINES APPROACH 1 — BODYBUILDER POWER, CONDENSED Level A Level B Level 1 Level 2
112 115 116 117 118
APPROACH 2 - BODYBUILDER POWER, EXPANDED Lower Body, Levels A through 2 Upper Body Upper Back, Levels A through 4 Chest, Levels A through 3 Delts, Levels A through 2 Biceps, Levels A through 2 Triceps, Levels A through 4
124 126 128 128 130 131 132 133
THE WEEKLY AND MONTHLY/YEARLY ROUTINES "HOW MUCH, HOW OFTEN" THE WEEKLY ROUTINE Beginners Intermediate & Advanced
145 145 146
THE MONTHLY/YEARLY ROUTINES Overtraining
147 147
vii
APPENDIX A THE COMPLETE BODYBUILDING WHOLON
149 C
rAPPENDIX B OTHER TRAINING RECOMMENDATIONS
153
GLOSSARY
155
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You can have the ultimate workout program! ...A program that gets you maximum results in minimum time. A program that builds incredible strength, definition, and bulk (any or all, it's up to you!). A program that doesn't injure your lower back, or destroy your knees, or overstress your other joints. A program that will make you the best bodybuilder you can be—or if you prefer, build you a phenomenal conditioning foundation for other sports, like martial arts or mountain climbing. This course unlocks the secrets of that ultimate program. Secrets of Advanced Bodybuilders is the result of 12 years of research conducted at institutions ranging from Stanford University to some of the best-known bodybuilding gyms in the U.S. It synthesizes, into a coherent whole, information from many sources: interviews with successful bodybuilders, studies performed on bodybuilders and other athletes, and the laws of kineseology (the scientific study of the mechanics of human movement).
. Q 0 O It works. Because it is specific. The research behind the program was aimed not 0 only at determining which exercises are most effective, but more importantly, at discovering the optimum way to perform and combine them. This is Synergism: creating a whole greater than the sum of the parts. The individual exercises described become many times more effective when used exactly as indicated. It is the details O of performance, and the specific sequence and timing that makes our program such a powerful conditioning tool. I
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Secrets begins with an explanation of the biomechanical basis for the special techniques. First, it explores concepts behind optimum exercise form. Then it moves on to concepts concerning exercise combination—how to structure your workout to maximize results (which body part when, how many sets, reps, etc.); how to put together an intense, but short, routine; how to guarantee that each part of your workout makes every other part even more effective. This technical material is vital, because it gives you the tools you need to understand, monitor, and update your program—to fine-tune it to your personal needs and goals. Next come illustrated descriptions of the exercises included in our routines. These also serve to illustrate the guidelines discussed in earlier sections. The descriptions are arranged by body part (chest, back, biceps, triceps, deltoids, quadriceps, and leg biceps; calves are left for a future course; abdominals and forearms are discussed in prior ()nest). Secrets explores special training information related to each body part and explains in detail how to optimize each of the exercises.
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Following the exercises, we come to the routines. Here, you will find two complete programs, each progressing from beginning to advanced. Although they have different goals, each in its own way is designed to
0 tiggemlary Abs, Power ForeArms! O
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get you maximum results in minimum time. The first is called Bodybuilder Power, Condensed. If you have limited time to train, or if you want a quick program to supplement your martial arts or other sport pursuits, this one's for you! It will help you develop incredible strength and/or bulk in just three 30 minute workouts per week. For the pure bodybuilding approach, there's Bodybuilder Power, Expanded. The individual body part workouts here are divided into levels so you can mix and match as you progress. For example, if your tricep development lags behind your bicep development, you can continue to use, say, the Level 3 tricep routine while moving up to the Level 4 bicep routine. Finally, in "How Much, How Often," the course covers organizing your program into a three, four, or six-day split (different body parts on different days), and dispells some myths about the weekly routine. It explains, for example, why a six-day split is not beneficial for the advanced bodybuilder. Good luck. We hope you will use Secrets to achieve the results you have always dreamed about!
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C C C
IT ALL BEGINS WITH THE "REP"
any bodybuilders conceive of a workout program as an almost random M arrangement of exercises—a few for the
Person Organ Systems
chest, a few for the back, and so on through the body. Actually, though, one of the most important secrets behind creating the ultimate program is understanding that nothing about a workout should be arbitrary or random.
C
C C. C C C C
Organs Tissues Cells
Workout structure is special. It corresponds to something called a wholon. Although the word "wholon" is a bit strange, the concept is intriguing: A wholon is an interactive system with many elements, where each element is complete and a whole unto itself. Within the wholon, progressively more complex elements are built out of simpler ones.
Person Wholon Car Larger Components Individual Parts
For example:
0 C C C
A person is a wholon. A person is made up of cells. Cells combine to form tissues, tissues combine to form organs, organs combine to form organ systems, organ systems combine to form the person.
Car Wholon
C C.
A car is a wholon. Individual parts (screws, nuts, materials) combine to form larger components (carburetor, drive shaft, seats, frame), which combine to form the car.
A unique feature of a wholon is that every element from the simplest to the most complex is crucial to the wholon's overall
Fi g. 1-1
3
Monthly/Yearly routine Ar
Weekly routine Daily routine Body part Exercise Set Rep
Exercise Program Wholon Fig. 1-2
4
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0 .1 0 ' 0 0 0 0 0 C 0 0 .'0 0 0
THE EXERCISE PROGRAM WHOLON
C 0 0 0 0 C 0 C C C C C C C 0
0 C rTh
Operative Principles ■ Maximum gains without Overtraining
Number of workouts Intensity of workouts
Monthly/Yearly routine
■ ■
Weekly routine
■ Number of days ■ Workout sequence (which body parts, which days) ■ Rest length between workouts
■ Whole body vs Split training ■ Interdependency Principle
Daily workout
■ Number of body parts ■ Body-part sequence ■ Rest length between body parts
■ Maximum gains without Overtraining ■ Interdependency Principles ■ Fatigue/Tension Principle
Body part
■
Number of exercises ■ Exercise selection ■ Exercise sequence ■ Rest length between exercises
■ Athlete's experience ■ Functional Strength/Isolation Exercises ■ Interdependency Principles ■ Fatigue/Tension Principle
Exercise
■ Number of sets ■ Rest length between sets
■ Athlete's experience ■ Fatigue/Tension Principle
Set
■ Number of reps ■ Rep speed
■ Fatigue/Tension Principle ■ Fatigue/Tension Principle
Rep
■ Form
■ Line of Force, Plane of Motion Levers & Resistance ■ Leverage Principles
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Factors to Optimize
Wholon Element
■ Leverage
integrity. A person (the most complex element of the "person" wholon) suffers if his or her cells (the simplest element) are diseased. Likewise a car doesn't run too well if its screws fall out! What does this have to do with your workout? A workout program is a wholon with the rep as the simplest element and the long term program as the most complex. Just as in all wholons, every element is crucial to the effectiveness of the whole. It's not enough
■ Maximum gains without Overtraining
to do great exercises if they're combined
randomly or improperly. Nor is it enough to combine exercises properly if they're ineffective or poorly performed. To create the ultimate program, every element must be optimized. Specifically, you must take a close look at every element within the workout wholon, identify the factors that affect each element, and optimize those factors. Let's get started! The illustration above, which lists the different elements and the factors to optimize for each, will serve as our point of departure.
* * 5
• - ••••• • I■V•
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• -1
6
Factors to Optimize
Operative Principles
■ Form
■ Line of Force,
■ Leverage
Plane of Motion Levers & Resistance ■ Leverage Principles
along straight lines, too. These muscles are called straight muscles.
FORM he key to the perfect rep follows straight T from the old cliche: a picture is worth a thousand words.
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THE REP
-> -> -> ->
It's not enough just to know "the biceps flex the elbow" or "the quadriceps extend the knee." To optimize exercise form, you need to picture exactly how each muscle actswhat lines of force and planes of motion are involved, and how the muscle works against resistance. This is not difficult, but it is essential.
Muscle fibers contracting along straight line
To illustrate, we must begin at the beginning—with muscle fibers.
0 O
Lines of Force
Every muscle is made of millions of tiny muscle fibers. Muscle fibers provide the force for movement. They do so by contracting() shortening—to about two-thirds of their original length. Individual muscle fibers always contract along a straight line.
O
Many muscles, like the biceps or triceps, consist of muscle fibers all running in the same direction, and so these muscles contract
Biceps contracting along straight line Fig. 2-1
7
There is a second kind of muscle, called fan-shaped muscle. Fan-shaped muscles, like a the pectorals (the fibers of which fan out from the shoulder across the chest), act like several straight muscles arranged in a fan. Each segment of a fan-shaped muscle contracts along a single line.
To generalize: although a fan-shaped muscle can contract along several lines, in effect, just like a straight muscle, it contracts along only one line at a time. This line is called the Line of Force. The Line of Force is always parallel to the muscle fibers in a muscle segment. There is only one line of force per muscle segment.
For example, the pectorals act as if they are divided into three segments, upper, middle, and lower. Therefore, you must do three movements, three separate exercises, to fully develop them: Incline Bench for the upper pecs, Supine Bench for the middle pecs, and Decline Bench for the lower pecs. The important point here is the idea of a single line of contraction per muscle segment.
■ For any muscle segment, there is one, and only one, way in which that muscle segment pulls. Each muscle segment has its own distinctive line of force.
Levers and Resistance Now, muscles by themselves can't do much more than contract. To cause movement, muscles have to work with bones. Together, a muscle and a bone create a lever. A lever actually has four parts, as illustrated in the Teeter Totter example below. The Teeter Totter board functions as what's called the lever arm (1), the pivot functions as fulcrum (2), the weight of the person at the high end provides the force to move the Teetor Totter (3), and the weight of the person at the low end provides resistance (4).
upper pecs
middle pecs
lower pecs
force
N lever arm
resistance
fulcrum (pivot point)
Fig. 2-3 The four parts of a lever.
In your body, bone functions as lever arm, joint as fulcrum, muscle pull provides force, and whatever you are pushing or pulling against provides resistance.
Fig. 2-2 Pectorals contracting along three different lines
8
And so on for every joint in the body. Through a muscle/joint/bone lever system, you can bring a muscle segment's single line of force to bear on external resistance, like a barbell. That's what you are doing when you lift a weight.
resistance
Now, every lever must be positioned properly to do its job. A car jack, for instance, won't work if you put it under a car at an angle. The weight of the car (resistance) is pushing straight down, and unless the jack is pushing straight up, you're going to have a difficult time getting the car off the ground!
fulcrum (pivot point) /
Likewise, for every exercise, there is a particular body position—a particular
resistance
orientation of the muscle/joint/bone lever(s) involved—that lets a muscle push or pull
most directly against the external resistance. This is called an exercise's Orientation.
Any deviation from Ideal Orientation decreases the effectiveness of the exercise by diminishing the stress on the target muscle segment.
fulcrum (pivot point) '
C (
CI C0
Fig. 2-4 In a muscle/bone lever, muscle pull provides the force, the bone is the lever arm, the joint is the fulcrum, and the weight is the resistance.
For example, when doing a bicep curl, the bicep's line of force is parallel to the upper arm—in this case, essentially straight up— and the direction of resistance is straight down.
Each muscle/joint/bone system is an individual lever. The {biceps + elbow + forearm} is one. See figure
2-4
Ideal
above.
Line of Force
The {quadriceps + knee + lower leg} is one.
resistance
Fig. 2-6
Fig. 2-5 The Quadriceps/Knee/Lower leg Lever System
9
Direction-J of Resistance
If you put your elbow out to the side and do the curling motion, the Line of Force for the biceps follows the upper arm, and is no longer aligned with the resistance; they are at right angles to one another.
■ Muscle segments work within lever systems against resistance. ■ There is an Ideal Orientation that aligns the Line of Force with respect to the direction of resistance. ■ Exercises that use Ideal Orientation minimize joint stress and wasted energy, and maximize concentration on the target muscle group.
Direction of Resistance—
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Planes of Motion Line of Force
Fig. 2-7
As far as working the bicep is concerned, one...
