I remember a girlfriend’s rant about a relationship that was severed by her short term boyfriend, who happened to be a gym instructor. While our entire clique listened and sympathized, I’m sure there was unanimous relief as we would no longer listen to endless talks about this man that our friend clearly obsessed with. We called him ripped, as he was masculine and huge. We had survived an unbearable semester listening to talks about abs, and how flattered she was to be dating a “weider”. But here she was today, all teary because of the same weider, who had left for another starry eyed female who may also be obsessed with his abs.
“But he looks like Johnny Bravo!” my tongue slipped. We all burst out laughing, even the heartbroken girl. It was very therapeutic to come to terms with the fact that the heartbreaker had a bigger upper body and tooth pick legs. He looked badly unproportional as his workouts mainly centered on building muscle at the arms at the expense of the legs. The most hilarious part is that apparently everyone had noticed but none had the guts to burst the bubble of the love struck girl. I had saved a situation.
Let’s be honest, the ideal physique for any body builder is an X figure, and Winnie’s ex Wasn’t X. in fact, most instructors, have humongous upper bodies which immediately catches your attention, just to be disappointed when you look lower, just to see petit gangly legs. An ideal body is not just building the upper body haphazardly, it’s about proportion. And because it may take a while to build certain parts, you may have to even go slow on a full body workout and focus on the stubborn areas, until they catch up with the rest of the body. Figure X is the ideal body, huge body parts and a wasp like waistline. While the shoulders are important, widening into a wedge is best accomplished by growing the back – specifically the lats and posterior deltoids. So ditch the Red Bull. It’s time to grow your own wings. There is no specific ratio for this but the waist has to be evidently small. Every man wants to look like. Have you realized that old school body builders looked way better? I’ve been wondering what methods they used, and that is what we will look at in this article; Old school methods of getting the figure X.
- Reeves Dead lift.
One of the pioneers of the figure X was Steve Reeves, and his trick was the deadlight where you don’t hold the bars, but the plates. I know, it’s too far wide apart, but that is exactly what made it effective. The width ensured that you stretch as far wide as you can hence straining the upper back muscles. if you remember what we said above, one way to achieve the X figure is by growing the upper back, and Steve Reeves had the exact secret in achieving this. Don’t forget to do your stretches after such a work out as waking up can be a nightmare the next morning.
- Sternum Chin Up
Any gym rat knows about the standard chin ups that we do. Okay laymen, a chin up is where you lift up your body weight on a bar with your arms until you chin level, then lower it, I hope that makes sense. Pulling up your body to the chin level is hard, however light you think you weigh, but wait, Vince Miranda made it harder for his students. He introduced the sternum chin up. This is different from the regular standard chin ups in that your back is arched, so that when you reach chin level you will already be looking behind you while your lower chest touches the bar. This angling gives you a holistic approach to the workout.
- Olympic Lifts
This is one of the classic trainings that has stood the test of time. It’s also known as weight lifting where you lift barbells of different weights. Initially body builders used to do more than five sets, but nowadays trainees hardly go more than three sets, it’s almost even illegal. Keep in mind a lot of old timers trained in this slightly higher repetition range without bumpers. Are we becoming sissies? If Arnold Schwarzenegger survived, and Frank Zane, why do trainees assume they could die? Do several sets, as much as your body can endure, no pain no gain? This workout grows the upper back significantly. If you want quick results do as many repetitions as you can.
- Barbell lift
Standing barbell curls has been underrated with the introduction of dumbbells. It is a classic workout which I personally find more advantageous. First of all barbells ensure that the lift is equal for both arms. It’s almost impossible to exert the same pressure at the same time on both arms when using dumbbells. If you need accuracy and equal metabolism try barbells.
Here are tips on how to do the standing barbell lift;
- Feel the muscle. The biceps do the work.
- Control the negative.
- Squeeze the gluts at the top of the movement to prevent excess lower back hyperextension.
- Use fat grips and squeeze like hell.
- Use a just outside of shoulder-width grip.
- Get Static, plank
Planks are hated by almost everyone. It’s very uncomfortable. By holding yourself in the position for a planking exercise, you’ll notice that your biceps, neck, and shoulder muscles are also being tested and strained. This encouraging their buildup and development. This is great news if you like to do press ups, developed shoulder muscles will have a big impact on your press up performance.
When planking, you are holding yourself up through your arms and biceps and so by holding a planking position, your arm muscles are being toned and developed. Making planking a great alternative exercise to other forms of bicep developing exercises.
Moving down your midsection, successful plank exercises actually develop the muscles in your butt!
In a nutshell, these workouts should not replace everything you do but should serve as a compliment. Too much of something is dangerous, remember that. Know your limits so as not to take too long to recover hence slowing down your progress.
Happy Workout!