AAP's Muscle Building Thread

[chazk]

I love your trap work suggestions - Snatches are a superior movement to most for total strength.

The delt routine seems fluffy IMO. Why not just do overhead work till you can't anymore. I don't do ANY lateral raises, front raises, etc. Just Oly work fromt he floor and overhead, and my medial delt heads are about the sive of grapefruits.

I think heavy pressing makes big shoulders. I think fluff work is a waste of time, and I disagree that the delts need all that direct work. he idea that the delts get enough work on a pressing day is scientific, not theroy.

It's different for everyone I guess. My shoulders grow if I look a them wrong.

Great thread bro. I love the shrugs ont he calf machine. Don't do them personally, but to me trap development is all about load.

Your side delts are not the size of grape fruit if you peel the skin back you will see that your actually looking at the front deltoids and the whole sideof the shoulder and getting confused that its the lateral head.When the lateral head even in the biggest bodybuilder is maybe 3 inches wide at the most

Your side delts get hardly any work at all by pressing the attachments on the humerus and up to the clavical do not allow them to be targeted well during a press but only from rasies.

My shoulders blow up doing military presses . But I was lacking seperation and striations the lateral raises have really made a big difference in the lateral development.
I garantee they will in yours as well.
Just give um a shot for a few weeks

 

[AAP]

Mind sharing your chest work out? Do anything in particular for lower pecs (e.g. decline press)?

Actually, *my* chest workout might not be suited for you as our goals are a bit different. I never really do anything for lower pecs, rather concentrating on the upper and inner parts where you can never have too much thickness. The exercises that I normally choose from are : (in no particular order, just what I feel like doing and what equipment is free)

One arm pec dec machine - doing these with one arm will allow you to cross the arm further across your body and get a much stronger contraction. I often like to do this first in the workout. That way it pumps blood into the area and helps "pressurize" the muscle before I start with compound movements like presses.

Incline presses - regular incline bench, but also I like to place a bench inside the power rack and tilt it 10 degrees up and do presses that way as well. Same with dumbells.

Incline HS Machine - I admit I do not use the standard one (weird movement for me) but there is ONE in particular http://us.commercial.lifefitness.com/content.cfm/iso-lateralhorizontalbenchpress
Like that one, but slightly a bit more inclined

that I have only found in two places, neither which is here in South Florida. That machine is the fucking boss. I would join a gym simply for no other reason than it had that machine. (if there was one here that did.)

Flat bench presses to the throat - these are another favorite of mine which actually yields consistent results in everyone that is faithful to them. You can't (and don't want to) use a lot of weight. But I scoot down the bench some so the bar doesn't hit the supports on the movement plane. I hold my head back and flat on the bench. None of this "neck crunch" to look at my chest or bar while doing the movement. I lower the bar all the way down to touch my adams apple and then push it slowly back up to about 2 inches short of lockout. I don't lock out. And I don't go heavy. I am usually using 385 for 7-10 reps on the flat bench regular presses (when the rare occassion presents itself that I do them) but on this movement, I never go over 225. Forget the weight and instead slow the movement down so you can feel every bit of stress in the muscle and focus on your upper chest stretching and pushing.

Flat bench medium grip presses - Not a regular bench press grip, not a close grip. But in between. Much like the exact same space between my thumbs as there would be if I were pressing dumbells and had just completed a rep. This is a terrific movement for adding inner chest thickness.

I do various flyes, cable cross overs, etc.. as well. Something to throw in keep the boredom away.





Now regarding your request for lower chest development. Continue with the decline presses, keep your reps about 10, 4-5 sets at the start of the workout BUT make sure you lower the bar as far down as you can. Try to get that bar all the way down to your upper chest / neck. You will use less weight, but you will not lockout and thus the stress multiplies each rep.
Follow these up with 3 sets of a superset of dips - keep the elbows AWAY from the body, upper arms should be parallel to floor at bottom of the movement with your elbows sticking out to the sides. Much like an old west gunfighter in "position" to make a quick draw during some High Noon showdown. Hit 10-15 reps, then hit cable crossovers. But do not do them the regular way where you take the handles and step forward. Instead grip the handles and don't move. Stand in the middle of the machine and bring your arms down to your sides. It will sort of resemble a bird flying. Up and down. This will focus on the outer pec area and help give the illusion of lower pec thickness.

Also try other machines in the gym until you find the one that helps you "groove" to the muscle pathway and gives the greatest benefits. But don't discount the importance of continuing upper chest work. Throw in at least 3 sets of something for that area while you are prioritizing the lower area.

(sorry about my description at times, I know some of them make no sense. You have to actually just stand up and try them to hopefully get the idea I am trying to convey.)

 

[jerseyrugger76]

Actually, *my* chest workout might not be suited for you as our goals are a bit different. I never really do anything for lower pecs, rather concentrating on the upper and inner parts where you can never have too much thickness. The exercises that I normally choose from are : (in no particular order, just what I feel like doing and what equipment is free)

One arm pec dec machine - doing these with one arm will allow you to cross the arm further across your body and get a much stronger contraction. I often like to do this first in the workout. That way it pumps blood into the area and helps "pressurize" the muscle before I start with compound movements like presses.

Incline presses - regular incline bench, but also I like to place a bench inside the power rack and tilt it 10 degrees up and do presses that way as well. Same with dumbells.

Incline HS Machine - I admit I do not use the standard one (weird movement for me) but there is ONE in particular http://us.commercial.lifefitness.com/content.cfm/iso-lateralhorizontalbenchpress
Like that one, but slightly a bit more inclined

that I have only found in two places, neither which is here in South Florida. That machine is the fucking boss. I would join a gym simply for no other reason than it had that machine. (if there was one here that did.)

Flat bench presses to the throat - these are another favorite of mine which actually yields consistent results in everyone that is faithful to them. You can't (and don't want to) use a lot of weight. But I scoot down the bench some so the bar doesn't hit the supports on the movement plane. I hold my head back and flat on the bench. None of this "neck crunch" to look at my chest or bar while doing the movement. I lower the bar all the way down to touch my adams apple and then push it slowly back up to about 2 inches short of lockout. I don't lock out. And I don't go heavy. I am usually using 385 for 7-10 reps on the flat bench regular presses (when the rare occassion presents itself that I do them) but on this movement, I never go over 225. Forget the weight and instead slow the movement down so you can feel every bit of stress in the muscle and focus on your upper chest stretching and pushing.

Flat bench medium grip presses - Not a regular bench press grip, not a close grip. But in between. Much like the exact same space between my thumbs as there would be if I were pressing dumbells and had just completed a rep. This is a terrific movement for adding inner chest thickness.

I do various flyes, cable cross overs, etc.. as well. Something to throw in keep the boredom away.





Now regarding your request for lower chest development. Continue with the decline presses, keep your reps about 10, 4-5 sets at the start of the workout BUT make sure you lower the bar as far down as you can. Try to get that bar all the way down to your upper chest / neck. You will use less weight, but you will not lockout and thus the stress multiplies each rep.
Follow these up with 3 sets of a superset of dips - keep the elbows AWAY from the body, upper arms should be parallel to floor at bottom of the movement with your elbows sticking out to the sides. Much like an old west gunfighter in "position" to make a quick draw during some High Noon showdown. Hit 10-15 reps, then hit cable crossovers. But do not do them the regular way where you take the handles and step forward. Instead grip the handles and don't move. Stand in the middle of the machine and bring your arms down to your sides. It will sort of resemble a bird flying. Up and down. This will focus on the outer pec area and help give the illusion of lower pec thickness.

Also try other machines in the gym until you find the one that helps you "groove" to the muscle pathway and gives the greatest benefits. But don't discount the importance of continuing upper chest work. Throw in at least 3 sets of something for that area while you are prioritizing the lower area.

(sorry about my description at times, I know some of them make no sense. You have to actually just stand up and try them to hopefully get the idea I am trying to convey.)

Awesome response! Many thanks for the detailed answer!

 

[fortunatesun]

Re: Flat Bench Presses To the Throat

How do these differ from a JM Press which is used to target triceps? Of course the guy in the pic sets up differently but I bench relatively flat and I'm still getting JM Press.

 

[AAP]

The description of the JM Press :

"The elbows are tucked and shoulder rotation is minimized. The grip that is used is a close to medium grip "

When you bench you use a wider grip, and keep the elbows flared out so the stress is on the pecs, not triceps.

Personally that JM Press is just too weird for me to even incorporate.

 

[fortunatesun]

Thanks.

JM press, of course, was developed for powerlifting and can seem counter-intuitive at first.
Being from the parallel universe I was having a hard time seeing the difference. Even now I'm having to really concentrate on not letting my tris take over.

Great thread. Hard to believe there's not more bodybuilders out there with questions.

 

[AAP]

Great thread. Hard to believe there's not more bodybuilders out there with questions.

That's because everyone thinks they know it all and refuse to accept the fact that maybe, just maybe they have been their own biggest obstacle in the path of progress. It's easier to blame genetics, underdosed gear, etc.. than yourself.

Of course to an extent the magazines contribute to this as well. I was lucky enough to go to some of the better gyms in Atlanta and have advice from quite a few people who knew what the hell they were talking about.

Most people are not happy with their progress but yet, refuse to make any changes to their routines because they are now habits and it doesn't "feel right" doing something new.

 

[skullcrushin22]

That's because everyone thinks they know it all and refuse to accept the fact that maybe, just maybe they have been their own biggest obstacle in the path of progress. It's easier to blame genetics, underdosed gear, etc.. than yourself.

Of course to an extent the magazines contribute to this as well. I was lucky enough to go to some of the better gyms in Atlanta and have advice from quite a few people who knew what the hell they were talking about.

Most people are not happy with their progress but yet, refuse to make any changes to their routines because they are now habits and it doesn't "feel right" doing something new.

Agreed.

 

[MoFoBerto]

Hey AAP, what you got for abs. Been trying to work on the abs alot more now. Abs is not what it used to be since I graduated high school and dont do as much running. I know fat is a problem too but i figured its alot easier to work on the abs then to cut the fat.

 

[BobbyJenious]

Great info bro, tried the tricep routine and loved it. Going to stick with it for a few more weeks and see what kind of results I get. I've actually found a lot of the info in this thread to be extremely helpfull. I've been working out for over a decade and many of these alternative techniques are new to me. Fantastic stuff, keep it coming!!!!