Johnny's Adventures In The Muscle World: Expect The Unexpected

For previous part click here.

The situation was not looking good for California Muscle and Johnny. They were now official fugitives and even had a hostage – the waitress Molly.

'What do we do now?!', asked Little J and looked at California Muscle's biceps hoping that the brain of his friend was at least as big as his arm flexors.

'We have no choice but to go and ask my dad for help. It couldn't get any worse', answered California Muscle.

The dad of California Muscles, CT Flat Brain, was a classic lunatic but a tough son of a bitch. He lived in a small apartment located in the ghetto of the town. Technically, he had enough money to live anywhere in the world be has was spending the majority of his income on steroids and growth hormone – he was an addict for over 30 years and believed that life was too short to be small. Once the two men arrived at the address Cali Muscle put Molly in the trunk. She was scared to death and had no idea where she was nor who were her kidnappers.

After a long stair climb California Muscle and Little J were now in front of CT Flat Brain's apartment.

'Knock, knock' {California Muscle}

'What's the password?', said CT Flat Brain while loading a shotgun.

The password was: 'I am a dumb motherfucker with no brain cells left.' but California Muscle was ashamed to tell it in front of Little J so he pushed him away and told him to wait at a distance.

'I am a dumb motherfucker with no brain cells left.', said California Muscle.

CT Flat Brain barely opened the door and observed both men from head to toe. He looked a lot like Charlie Sheen, only with muscle and no hair, so maybe he didn't look like him at all.

'What brings you here? You want to thank me for saving you once again?,' said CT Flat Brain after letting Little J and California Muscle enter his dungeon.

'We are fucked, Flat Brain! The police and Antonio Montana are looking for us. We need help!', said California Muscle.

'So, you came back to daddy, after all!', said CT Flat Brain and smiled. His teeth looked like total garbage.

'Yes, but don't flatter yourself.', replied California Muscle.

After Cali Muscle and Johnny explained in details what happened to them CT Flat Brain made a proposition:

'The way I see it, {laughs} the only way to get out of this situation is to cut a deal with the police and in return promise them to find strong evidence that Antonio Montana is the biggest supplier of illegal growth hormone and steroids in the country.', said CT Flat Brain while showing with his face expressions and intonation that he considered Little J and Cali mentally challenged individuals who probably believed bodybuilding supplements were useful.

Suddenly, out of the blue, the unexpected happen.

'Boom, bam, boom' was heard and the door of the apartment was opened. It was Molly. She was holding two guns. It turns out she was a bad girl after all and was hiding two lady guns in her high heel shoes the whole time. She was mad.

'Everybody on the floor and put your hands where I can see them.', screamed Molly.

Little J and California Muscle immediately dropped on the floor but CT Flat Brain was like:

'Give me a break, blondie! I am not scared of your water guns.'

Molly shot him in the foot and said: 'Obey, old fart!'. CT Flat Brain fell on the ground and said:

“At least this time your brought a real girl home, Cali!”.

Molly made Johnny tie California Muscle and his dad to the radiator and then locked Little J in the guest room. All the money, credit cards and even steroids of the Three Musketeers were gone.

Click here for the next part.

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All About The Biceps Curl

The biceps curl is one of the exercises that gets some serious hate from members of the Rippetoe cult and other iron puritans. Of course as you probably know there is nothing bad about doing biceps curls and today I am going to write all I know about this legendary movement.

The most popular way to perform the biceps curl is to use dumbbells. Yes, the dumbbell biceps curls are more popular than the barbell curl because more people have dumbbells at home than barbells. The standard way to perform a dumbbell curl is the following.

Step 1: Grab a pair of dumbbells

While this is pretty straight forward action and technically not a part of the exercise there are still a few fine points I feel I should mention. When you are picking your dumbbells from the ground make sure that you use proper form. A lot of people disrespect the weight and sometimes get injured by lifting really light weights because of twisting.

Imagine you are performing a dumbbell deadlift like this:

By keeping your spine in a neutral alignment you are essentially ruling out the possibility to hurt your back. And since the weight you will use for biceps curls is pretty light I would say you will never injure your back if you lift the dumbbells this way.

Step 2: Get in position and curl up

Turn your palms so that they point away from you. Brace your abs and squeeze the dumbbells super hard. By squeezing the dumbbells super hard you will become stronger due to the increased tension and tension equals strength. Also when you brace your abs you are essentially protecting your spine from twisting. Once you are in position just bring the dumbbells up.

Dumbbell Biceps Curl Variations

Alternating arms - when doing dumbbell biceps curls you have the opportunity to alternate each arm or in other words to first curl with one arm and then with the other. That way you can focus more on your form. Avoid too much swinging and playing around.

Seated dumbbell biceps curls - you can also perform seated dumbbell biceps curls as recommended by the "guru" Vince Gironda. The main benefit is that you save some energy and your form is even stricter since any twisting and arching of the back is more pronounced.

Incline biceps dumbbell curls - this variation changes the angle and places more stress on the center part of the biceps. Many people prefer to do it this way because the stress is felt right in the muscle belly while performing the exercises the conventional way sometimes can place a little too much stress on the inner elbow and biceps tendons. Of course the most popular reason people do incline curls is to achieve a better peak. Biceps peaks however are more dependant on genetics than exercises.

Dumbbell Spider Curls - another way to perform the dumbbell biceps curl is to lay on an incline bench the opposite way (protect your genitalia). This move was made popular by Larry Scott and is also designed to increase your bicep peak.

Zottman Curls - zottman curls are a movement designed to strengthen your wrist extensors. It was made popular by George Zottman. 

The exercise is a regular dumbbell curl with a wrist rotation at the top. Perform a regular bicep curl but at the top of the exercise turn your wrist so that the palms point away from you. Then simply lower the weight under control. You will have to use less weight since the wrist extensors are weaker compared to your wrist flexors.

Hammer curls with dumbbells - hammer curls are a great exercise to do if you have some sort of biceps pain around the elbow area because the stretch of the biceps is much smaller. Due to the grip (neutral) the brachialis which is a muscle between your biceps and triceps is helping a lot. Your forearm gets worked as well. 

This exercise is quite often used by arm wrestlers.

Concentration curls - this is a "one arm at a time" variation. It is designed to fully isolate the biceps and work the center of the muscle belly. In order to perform the movement you just need a bench/chair to sit on. Then simply lock your elbow at your knee and lift the dumbbell. Don't cheat.

Dumbbell Preacher Curls 

The preacher curls are designed to "target your lower biceps" but of course the whole muscle is hit. Many people used to believe that doing preacher curls was going to lengthen the biceps muscles but as we all know now - this is stupidity. The only thing that can change the length of your biceps is some sort surgical intervention.

In order to perform the preacher dumbbell curl you will need a Scott bench or adjustable incline press.

Lock your arm by firmly by placing your triceps on the pad. Lower the dumbbell under control using an underhand grip. Then slowly curl up the weight without using your back, legs...etc. 

Note: Some people my experience pain at the lower portion of the biceps tendon. In that case you could reduce the range of motion little bit by ending the negative portion (lowering part) a little earlier. 

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All dumbbell biceps curl variations presented except the Zottman curl can be performed with a barbell.

The Barbell Curl

The barbell curl is considered the best mass builder when it come to biceps. Well, this is debatable and the correct answer is that there is no "best" exercises since all movements are just tools. What's better a pen or a pencil - it depends on the situation.

In order to perform the biceps curl you first need to position the loaded barbell at the floor, squat rack (yeah !), preacher bench...etc. Then simply take a comfortable grip, usually a little wider than your shoulder width, and grip the bar with your palms facing away from you. Grip it like you mean it ! Tense your abs, glutes, quads....hell even tense your face and bring that iron up as high as you can. Don't cheat by arching your back. Cheat biceps curls are not worth the risk !

Cheat curls make a great photo shoot but in reality the only thing they do is test your back!

When lowering the bar don't just let gravity do the work. Perform a quality and controlled lowering - not too slow but not too fast either. That way the exercise is harder on the muscle and easy on the joints - just what we need !

The Ez Bar Curl

The Ez Bar Curl is performed the same way as its brother - the straight bar curl. Some people argue which is better. I have presented my opinion in details here.

The Reverse Barbell Curl 

The reverse barbell curl is designed to target the wrist extensors and brachialis. Some people use it to "fill the gap" caused by having short biceps tendons. You will have to use less weight compared to your standard curl. Enjoy the burn !

Barbell Spider Curls

Spider curls are usually performed on an incline bench unless you have special equipment in your gym. 

Here's how to do them:

Barbell Preacher Curls

This exercise is performed the same way as its dumbbell variation. Make your life easier by using a short straight bar or an EZ-curl bar. Using the straight bar is not very convenient. 

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Bodyweight curls

If you don't have access to weights or a gym you can try curls on gymnastic rings or horizontal bar.

Elastic band curls

Another cool way to do curls, which was made famous by the P90X cult, is to use elastic bands. It's pretty handy when you are traveling.

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CURL OR DIE TRYING !

THE END 

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Short And Long Biceps

There are two types of biceps muscles depending on the tendon attachment - long and short. The example below shows the natural bodybuilder Lui Marco who is a prime example of long biceps tendons.

As you can see there is a gap between Lui Marco's biceps muscles and elbows. The reason for that is the longer tendon inserting at the elbow joint. The main benefit when having similar attachment is that the muscle "pops" more and usually has a better peak. However it also looks smaller and less "fuller".

Another example of short biceps is the legendary Albert Beckles:

Here is an example of  short biceps tendons as well.

In case you don't know those guys are the hodge twins. They have long biceps and you can see that there is no gap between the biceps muscles and the tendon. The benefit of having similar bicep insertions is that usually your arms will grow faster since there is more muscle fibers to grow. The situation is quite similar when it comes to calves. Technically the only disadvantage of longer biceps is usually the lack of peak as presented in the picture below.

Sergio Oliva had long biceps and no peak. 

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Big Bones, Small Bones, Bodybuilding

The skeleton structure of a person is strongly connected to his strength, muscle size, speed...etc. In bodybuilding it's hard to say what's better - small joints or big joints. Why?

If a person has big bones this usually means that he/she will have bigger muscles compared to a thin/fragile individual. However the person with the larger bone structure will also have bigger waist and since bodybuilding is based on illusion the thin guy may end up looking much better than his/her rival. As far as men are concerned any bodybuilder/fitness enthusiast with under 7 inches wrist has small bone structure. On the other hand anybody with 7.5-8+ inches wrist has large skeleton structure. 

A person with 6' inches wrist and insane genetics would be able to have about 16+ inches arms at a decent (below 12%) BF* At the same time a big boned trainee with 8 inches wrist will have about 18 inches arms. Who is bigger? Well, technically the guy with 18 inches arms. However we all know that in bodybuilding the winner is not the guy with the biggest measurement and the guy with 16 inches arms may actually win. What about strength?

When it comes to strength the guy with big joints has full advantage. Actually I can't think of a single advantage small bones offer when you are a powerlifter. The goal is to push the most weight and having stronger and bigger skeleton gives you an advantage right from the start. A lot of  guys with small wrists have trouble benching. Also small hips can be a problem for squats. The only strength exercise than does not give a fuck about bone size is the deadlift. The reason for that is quite simple - during the deadlift you are not supporting the weight with your limbs but you are rather pulling it towards your entire body. 

Ed Coan, the most famous powerlifter, has 8 inches wrist while some of the most aesthetic bodybuilders out there like Serge Nubret, Vince Taylor and Flex Wheeler have small - 6-6.5 inches wrists. 

Ed Coan - 8 inches wrist 

Vince Taylor (on the right) has really small wrist which gave teh illusion his arms were bigger.

"all the top pros i've met have tiny joints.  when i met Vince, our arms look close to the same size.  but if you saw a pic of me onstage alone, and a pic of Vince on stage alone, you would guess his arms 3 inches bigger at least. 

my wrist is probably 1.5 inches bigger than his, and thats why i was never a great bodybuilder."

  -hazbin (member of Getbig.com and also the guy on the left)

original source 

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It's not about height

Lee Priest 

A lot of people such as Lee Priest believe that the taller guy should have bigger measurements than the short one. It's not true. It's about bone thickness and size. The height of a person does not determine his/her bone size - only length. In other words just because a guy like the 5'4 inches tall Lee Priest has 20 inches (obviously he has been abusing drugs since his creation) it does not mean that a guy who is 5'10 should have 25 inches. No. The measurements of a person are determined obviously by his level of development but also by his bone size. A person who is 6'1 tall with 20 inches arms has 50+ pounds of muscle more than a 5'4 guy with the same arm size.

 So, Lee Priest can fuck off and go heal his Napoleon complex. Truth be told naturally he will be 140 lbs top at his height. He competes at 200lbs. Case closed.

Conclusion: Small joints may be great for bodybuilding while huge joints work better for Olympic weightlifting and powerlifting. In all cases be happy with what you got.

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Specialization Training For The Natural Bodybuilder

For a very long period of time I have observed the following - it's pretty hard to see meaningful progress using conventional one body part per week routines. I believe the biggest reason for that is that muscle growth (improvement) requires higher frequency if you are not using synthetic hormones. Does this mean that you should train each body part twice a week? 

The problem with training each body part twice a week is that you would have to be spending more time in the gym which costs money and time. However since many people "just do it for the fun" I guess the presented reason is not sufficient. 

Imagine that you are trying to play too many sports - soccer, running, basketball, swimming...etc. Obviously you can do all those sports at the same time. You can probably even do them every day. However you won't improve significantly. You may be genetically gifted in one area but that's about it. In order for you to become a good basketball player you can't afford to swim like you are trying to beat Michael Phelps records. Not gonna happen. 

If we take the same principle and apply it to weightlifting you will see why trying to improve all your body parts at the same time can quite often result in failure because the frequency needed for improvement is simply not there. Let's take a look at a classic one body part per week bodybuilding routine:

Day 1: Chest and Back

Bench press - 3x10-12

Incline - 3x10-12

Flies - 3x10-12

Deadlifts - 3x6-8

Pull-ups - 3x10-12

Rows - 3x10-12

Day 2: Shoulders and Arms

Overhead press - 3x10-12

Lateral raises - 3x10-12

Rear delt raises - 3x10-12

Barbell curls - 3x10-12

Triceps extensions - 3x10-12

Day 3: Legs

Squat - 3x10-12

Leg press - 3x10-12

Hamstring curl - 3x10-12

Calve raises - 3x10-12

Seated calve raises - 3x10-12

This is the most generic routine I was able to create. It's not bad routine by any means. It's obviously hard work. The problem here is that it does not allow you to see meaningful progress in short period of time unless you are just starting working out. This is why I recommend that you start using specialization in your workouts if you have been training for more than a year.

What is specialization training?

Specialization is the process of focusing on one specific task and trying to improve. In our case specialization training means that we are going to focus on specific muscle groups instead of trying to see results everywhere. 

How to do it?

The first thing you need to do is decide which body part(s) you are trying to improve. Obviously if you choose back, legs and biceps you are not really doing specialization training since those muscle groups form 85% of your body. A specialization routine requires you to focus on one thing at a time. The choices are legs (quads, calves and hamstrings), arms (triceps, forearms and biceps), chest, shoulders, back...

Don't combine a lot of muscle groups.

Frequency

The hardest part to determine when it comes to specialization training is - "How often?". There are many factors to consider: age, motivation, training history, money...etc.  I think that 3 times per week is a good start. You can later move to 5 days per week. 

Choosing the right exercises

In order for any routine to work you have to choose the right exercise for the job. Make sure you focus on basic movements which do not cause pain on your joints. Also avoid doing too many exercises. If you want to add volume (do more) simply perform more sets of the exercises you feel are the best for your current physical condition.

Choosing the right weight

Since you will be training quite don't go too heavy. 60-70% of your 1 RM* is enough. This means that if you can bench press 200lbs a few times you should use about 135-145 lbs for your workouts. It may not sound like a lot but given the frequency and volume it will be.

Putting everything together

Let's say that you want to improve your arms. In order to do that you will have to focus on just that body part while maintaining everything else. This means that your arm muscles will be "murdered" with high volume and frequency while you will do a lot less sets for the rest of your body. Here's a basic arm focused routine:

Day:1 Arms

Bench press with a close grip - 3x10-12

Triceps exercise of choice - 5x10-12

Chin-ups - 3x10-12

Biceps curls - 10-12

Forearm work

Day:2 Legs

Day 3: Arms (same as day1)

Day 4: Rest 

Day 5: Arms (same as day1)

Triceps exercise of choice - 5x10-12

Biceps curls - 10-12

Day 6&7 Rest

In order for this routine to work you will have to use moderate weight otherwise you will get hurt. 

How long?

I think that 3 months is the magic number. I don't know why but any meaningful progress whether it's weight loss or muscle gain requires at least 3 months. That's why I recommend that you stick to a specialization routine for at least 3 months. 

Over training

Overtiring seems to be a big issue. It's hard for me to tell how much your body can handle. I can over train my shoulders really fast while I can work my back 5 times a week with no problem. You have to experiment.

"Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement." -- Jim Horning

The fastest way to over train is to use too much weight (above 80% of  your1 RM*) and to do too many sets. Don't do it. 

Don't underestimate your body but stay safe too!

Be realistic

Many people are used to seeing bodybuilding freaks on stage. The problem here is that many of you don't realize what it takes to achieve similar physiques and how many drugs you have to consume in order to get there. That's the main reason for unrealistic expectations. No, by following specialization program your arms will not be 20 inches. If you are interested how natural bodybuilders look just read some of my previous posts.

FAQ:

Q: How long will it take for me to see progress?

A: Like I said - three months is the golden time period. 

Q: Should I eat like crazy when doing this routine?

A: No, you should eat enough not to be hungry but not until you feel like you are about to vomit. Simply eat a few times a day and make sure your consume about 150 grams of protein. No need to "bulk". Getting fat on purpose is yet to work for anyone. 

Q: Should I focus on another body part after three months?

A: Yes.

Q: Would I see faster progress if I focus on my whole body?

A: If you are a beginner you should. Otherwise you won't have the time and the recovery ability to work your whole body as frequently and as intensely as you need to do as a natural trainee. 

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* 1RM = one rep maximum or the heaviest weight you can do for 1 repetition

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Best Biceps Exercises

There are tons of biceps exercises out there but what is the most efficient. Well, it really depends on the situation.

The Hotel Biceps Workout

Here a few exercises for the biceps you can do in a hotel room.

Table rows - that exercises works your back and your biceps...and your grip.

Band curls - if you are planning it's a good idea to take some sort of an elastic band with you. 

The below two exercises are also quite hard on your arms.

At the gym 

My favorite biceps exercises are dumbbell curls on an incline bench - the hit the muscle pretty hard and you are more unlikely to cheat than when doing barbell curls. On top of that using dumbbells reduce a lot of stress on the wrist and elbow joint.

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Liar Day: CT Fletcher Natural 22 Inches Arms

I know I have already talked about CT Fletcher but yesterday I saw his more recent videos on YouTube where he trains different lifters. In the above video he states that he achieved his arm size - 22 inches naturally by training his arms every day for a year and a half.

Of course this guy is a liar. There isn't a single person on this planet that can achieve 22 inches arms at low bodyfat training naturally. It does not matter what kind of training you do. Even if it was possible to sustain some sort of intense arm routine everyday (it isn't and mastrubation does not count) you would still not grow 22 inches arms.

You are probably asking yourself this:

But why faggot? You always hate. You are jealous that he achieved naturally what you would never achieve even with Ronnie Colemanesque steroid intake. U mad?

You want prove. I get it. Here's a prove. Ronnie Coleman measured 23 inches arms (5-7%BF) at his peak. He was using grams of testosterone and enough growth hormone to create a second person out of himself. This guy is 51 years old and claims to have 22 inches arms naturally at around 8-11% BF. Do you really think this is possible? A man at his 50s having arms almost as big as a professional bodybuilder on all the drugs in the world. You think it's possible if you train your arms daily? Try it.

Why would he lie?

It's pretty simple. PIPE DREAMS SELL. Miracles, spiderman, batman, larger than life bullshit sells. It's that simple. If I post a video of myself training arms on YouTube I will get 10 hits in 5 months because my arms are tiny pieces of shit compared to this guy's pythons. (Sorry, arms I love you please don't hate me.)

In other words this guy gets tons of hits on YouTube and makes money out of the AdSense program. That's it. It's that simple. If he says that he did at least 50 cycles over the years he may get arrested because steroids are illegal in the USA and other countries. Also he would lose credibility because most people out there are naturals who like to believe in pipe dreams, who like to believe that the routine which will get them to the desired miraculous physique is somewhere out there and this motherfucker has the answer. Yes, he does have the answer but it's not contained in this video. The answer to 22 inches lean arms is this: some training, heavy abuse of hormones for years, some food. That's it. That's how all the guys with 22 inches arms did it. That's how it's done. In reality natural arms would be 18 inches top and most likely those 18 inches would not be in condition. Most people should be happy to have 16 inches arms at 8% BF which actually looks great. So, if you have decent arms genetics you can achieve 6 inches smaller arms than this homo. Keep in mind that I am talking about something like 8% BF which is pretty fucking rare in a gym where most people are natural because most naturals think 20% BF is 10%BF.

Naturals are delusional. I had the opportunity to train in one powerlifting gym where there was all kind of drug abusers - 275 shredded bodybuilders, 500lbs + benchers, 700+ deadlifters...etc. I also had the opportunity to train in a small gym where all the lifters were natural. The naturals were like I said delusional. Once I was in the locker room and a short man was rushing to drink some water. He took his shirt off and started flexing (oh man I become gayer and gayer with each post). He was easily 25% BF but still the fucking moron was admiring his fat ass arms. If he had to get to 8% he was looking at losing 40lbs of pure phucking phat. 40lbs is a small child.

You want to believe CT FLetcher's bullshit. Be my guest. Do it. Train arms every day. Do it. After all I am just a phucking piece shit that stops you to have those 22 inches arms. Punch me in the face and get them pythons. (You are welcome to ask me how to deal with tendonitis after a month on this program.)

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