Q:   Are dips on a roman chair better than dips done on machines or with a plate on your stomach between two benches? A:   It's really personal preference and I recommend doing at least two of those because you hit different areas of the chest and shoulder and triceps. Dips with a plate on your belly, with hands on one bench and heels on another, really works the triceps alone, whereas Roman chair (depending upon whether you face the wall or face out) will work shoulders - at least - if not upper chest (facing inward) much more. Dips on a machine are certainly safest in terms of avoiding injuries. Remember, you greatly compromise your shoulders doing dips both other ways so you must be careful. I recommend dips highly, however, I think you really need a lesson on proper form from ...

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Q:  Are dips on a roman chair better than dips done on machines or with a plate on your stomach between two benches? A: It's really personal preference and I recommend doing at least two of those because you hit different areas of the chest and shoulder and triceps. Dips with a plate on your belly, with hands on one bench and heels on another, really works the triceps alone, whereas Roman chair (depending upon whether you face the wall or face out) will work shoulders - at least - if not upper chest (facing inward) much more. Dips on a machine are certainly safest in terms of avoiding injuries. Remember, you greatly compromise your shoulders doing dips both other ways so you must be careful. I recommend dips highly, however, I think you really need a lesson on ...

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Q: My bench has been “stuck” at 235 for the past 2 years! I’m 6’4” so I’ll always be a “pussy bencher” because my arms are so long! My goal is 300… any suggestion would be awesome! A: The first thing I suggest is a new bench routine (page 26) which I just wrote! Try it, it’s an amazing new theory on progressive resistance training! The second thing I suggest is some good old fashioned Testosterone for strength! After all, this is the drug all the great powerlifters love! It makes your muscles strong… but it makes you very aggressive and “mean”. And listen, when you back out of a squat rack with 800 pounds on your back… you better be aggressive and “mean” or you’ll get buried! One Testosterone compound I am very “high” on is Oral Testibol™! Oral ...

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Dear Friend and Fellow Iron Warrior, Back in the mid 1970's when I first started getting interested in bodybuilding, I used to order old issues of MD and read them cover to cover! I’ll never forget the excitement when a package from York, Pennsylvania would arrive with all the old back issues from the mid 1960's and early 70's! But back then, you hardly saw any supplement ads, just Hoffman’s protein powder and wheat germ oil! Almost the entire magazine was nutrition and training articles! That’s the way it should be because nutrition and training are far, far more important than supplements! Yes, supplements are awesome, but you need to train and eat properly to get really good in this sport! Anyway, one of my favorite authors was a guy named Bradley J. Stiener. His credo was that most bodybuilders over trained “with ...

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Q:  My workout partner wants to try a new routine. We've been doing HIT for so long that I can't imagine doing something that nets more gains. He said 5x5 training is the new mass gain trend. Is that true? A: Using 5x5 is a great strength routine, but I'm not sure it always follows that it's a good mass routine. Many would argue that if you are operating at maximum strength, your gains will logically follow, but I'm not sure that's true, since you can have great mass gains operating at average strength. When you do 5x5, you do it for every body part for about 2 months. I also recommend doing this routine with 2 day splits and a day off. So, do chest, back, quads, day off, shoulders, arms, hams, day off. Keep in mind that you ...

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Most bodybuilders have fairly well developed upper abs. A few sets of crunches, a few times per week, and the upper four abs (of the entire 8-pack) begin to emerge. Some bodybuilders don’t even have to do that much. Relatively low body fat levels, coupled with some stimulation from cardio and other compound lifts cause those lucky folks to possess those visible upper abs year-round. The lower abs, however, receive far less spillover stimulation from other exercise. Additionally, in most people, the body tends to store a fair deal of fat in the lower stomach area. For this reason, both cardio and specialized lower-abdominal training are required. Here are a few popular lower abdominal exercises. Leg Raises On Bench These are a very common way to train the lower abs. Lying on a bench, put your feet together ...

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“How much ya bench?” The question has been asked a million times in a million gyms. Perhaps the first exercise most bodybuilders utilize when entering the gym – and the measurement stick for gym prowess - is the bench press. Because of this, many trainers spend a disproportionate amount of gym time bench pressing, and not enough time on other chest movements. As a result, their chests become disproportionately built; thick in the middle, of course, but lacking in the upper and outer areas. This leads to a bunched-up look in the chest area on the bodybuilding stage. The solution, as with most things, is intelligent training. Selection of exercises and techniques to focus on different areas of the pectorals can solve this problem. Keep The Bench Press First off, don’t stop benching. The bench ...

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Bodybuilders have been using staggered sets for decades. Pioneered by Weider and emulated by every other notable trainer since then, staggered sets allow the bodybuilder to make the most use of recovery abilities. Some body parts may take a few minutes to recover following a tough set, and they may require a lot of low-intensity sets with high repetitions to deliver the polish and definition required. First, let’s target a muscle group which you consider to be a weakness, and which fits the criterion for effective staggered set training – Let’s use the abdominal muscles for this example. You always place a few sets of abdominals at the end of your workout, but you’ve never had a decent midsection. We’ll assume you have a show coming up, and while your body fat levels are low, your abs just ...

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Forty years ago, bodybuilder Steve Davis devised a 6-week strength and mass training protocol which challenged the body to train at its maximum strength range for ten consecutive repetitions.  This program became known as microcycle periodization, and it has remained influential in bodybuilding and powerlifting training ever since – in underground circles. The idea behind the Davis Set is simple.  Complete ten “one-rep” sets in a row using your maximum one-repetition maximum poundage for weight.  After each repetition, slightly reduce the weight and complete another repetition immediately, using this as your new one-rep maximum poundage.  Complete ten reps while reducing the weight.   One set is all you need. And it’ll be the toughest single set you complete in your life! For example, if you can bench press 225 pounds for one rep, you will do that.  Then reduce the weight and complete ...

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Incline dumbbell curls are one exercise that is abused very often in the gym. Trainers will choose them because they want to sit during the movement. Then, using some extremely heavy dumbbells, they’ll use enough back swing and body English to ensure they don’t stimulate the biceps. Let’s check out some simple guidelines for most intelligent dumbbell curling! Choose the correct bench You’ll want to find a bench with a 30 or 45 degree angle. You don’t want to be laid back, and you don’t want to be upright either. Experiment with different angles on the bench and see which allow the weight to move most fluidly. We all have different arm and torso lengths, so there will be some variance. Also, you can vary the angle to hit the biceps from different ...

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