I just found a copy of the manual I was involvd in some years ago that people had requested.

Check out the complete manual here

Muscle Smoke and Mirrors, Volume 2

By Randy Roach

Having been in the Bodybuilding enthusiast for over 40 years, as Gym owner in the US , A writer for Ironman Bodybuilding Magazine, currently a gym owner in Norway and International Director of Tudor Bompa Institute a Worldwide certification organization, I have one thing that I have always wondered about. That being the real, behind the scenes history of bodybuilding, the nutrition industry, strength training in sport and of course how the fitness industry really started and grew in the US.

I wonder about these things because I was around during the days when the fitness industry started, when Arnold became the star he is today. What was it really like is the question? For me it is what is the question, for many of the people who are involved in the industry today I find they have no idea of what the history was and how the industry they so love and spend time with started. Sure we all take it for granted Arnold was this “God” from the day he first picked up a barbell, but was he?

I see for example in Norway, where the fitness industry is 10 years behind the US, women still think they will get big muscles if they touch a weight, no professional team has a strength coach, parent of 14 year olds think their children will get deformed if they lift weights. The same history is repeating itself as in the US.

Thus my praise of the latest book by Randy Roach, Muscle Smoke and Mirrors, Volume 2 is a must read for anyone who works in the fitness industry or has any desire to really know what went on in the old days when Arnold was just a young guy, how he got into steroids and how much they took back then. It I an inside look at the growth of the industry from not only the business of making money but the politics that went along with the creation of the industry we all have dedicated our lives too or much of our interest to.

As for me, I feel this book is so significant in the development of trainers today it will be on the “Must Read”list for anyone taking the TBI certification course in the future

“For without understanding where we came from how can we learn to see where we are going.”

Fred Koch, P-SCE

International Director, Tudor Bompa Institute

www.fredkoch.com

By Carlo Buzzichelli, TBI-Master of Periodization Science, Technical Director Tudor Bompa Institute 

The Purpose of Periodization of Strength in Sport Training: The Conversion to Specific Strength. 

The subject of planning training is probably, in relation to its importance, the most misunderstood topic among the professionals that gravitate to the world of sports training.

In recent years, the contribution of various authors has allowed the wide spread sharing of advanced methods of strength training and the identification of the strength & conditioning coach with the specialist in this type of training (strength coach). This went to further detriment to the attention on planning training and in favor of concentrating on the methods of strength training. Strength training methods, important as they are, still have to be used in the perspective of proper timing in the annual plan; in order to be functional to the improvement of athletic performance. The periodization of strength is just one of the elements constituting the periodization of training and, therefore, the strength training methods that are used within it do not possess much relevance in and of themselves. Their significance lies in their possible sequence which allows for increased athletic performance in concert with the improvements of other biomotor abilities (speed, endurance).

Periodization can be examined in the context of two important aspects of training: 1. Periodization divides the annual training plan into smaller training phases making it easier to plan and manage the training program and ensure that peak performance occurs at the main competition. Periodization structures the training phases to target biomotor abilities, which allows the athlete to develop the highest levels of speed, strength, power, agility, and endurance possible1.

More precisely, Periodization of Strength refers to how said biomotor ability is developed and integrated into an annual training plan. The term integration indicates the consideration, during the actual planning, of the dynamics in which the training of each of the biomotor abilities affects the training of the others; as well as the systemic organic and functional adaptations considered as the response to a summation of stimuli. In some sports, during the preparatory period, it has been traditionally pursued to develop multiple aspects of the physical preparation- such as aerobic capacity, maximal strength, strength endurance, acceleration, and specific endurance. Each of these biomotor qualities involve morpho-functional and psychological adaptations that can sometimes be in contrast with each other. For instance, the adaptations stimulated by training for maximal strength, both in the skeletal muscle structure and the nervous system, are limited by the metabolic and neural cost of endurance training. It is therefore indicated to determine the contribution of the two elements of the preparation of the athlete in relation to his event in order to prioritize the development of the two biomotor abilities (i.e., simply stated, we cannot develop the endurance of a basketball player as we would a marathon runner, that is, with the same means, methods, and load). Furthermore, the development of a single biomotor ability must take into account, in the case of a sequential approach, the most rational sequence of training means and methods, in relation to its qualities that we aim to develop (e.g. anatomical adaptation - > maximal strength -> power -> power-endurance).

The periodization of strength is, therefore, a fundamental concept of training methodology.

During the year, the goals of strength training, and their consistent methods, vary depending on the characteristics of sport, the athlete and the competition calendar; but the ultimate goal is the maximization of specific strength.

It often happens that the concept of functional strength is confused with that of specific strength. The term "functional strength" is fairly recent. Can we think that the Olympics and World Championships have been won and world records set, without having worked on specific strength, or not having done so in an optimal manner, until the year 2000? In fact, specific strength and functional strength are not synonymous. Training the specific strength for sport means to replicate the specific modality of force expression of the event, both neural and metabolic, using exercises that mimic the action of the kinetic chains that take part in in the specific motor skill (including specific ROM and force vector), with particular emphasis on the prime movers, without disturbing the motor patterns required for the sport’s technique. The term functional strength, however, instead of referring to the physiological and biomechanical parameters of the specific event or motor skill, is more commonly considered as indicating the manner in which strength is trained in terms of training means; particularly free weights or cables, unilateral, possibly standing and multiplanar (an exception to this definition is represented by propedeutic exercises and some core stability exercises). In other words, to talk about specific strength training, the biomechanical and physiological parameters of the event, in particular, are the essential starting point; while "functional training" is simply defined by the use of exercises with the above listed characteristics. To state that it is methodologically wrong is obvious, but it is also true that the best "functionalist" apply the concept of periodization of strength to their planning; as well as taking into account not only the biomechanics in the selection of exercises, but also the physiology for the choice of the load parameters; yet preferring certain exercises and methods. At this point we should, however, ask ourselves to what extent certain functional training methodics are appropriate to reach the levels of maximal strength development needed in certain power sports.

We can distinguish two main types of sport in relation to the final objective of the strength training: 1) those sports that require the development of power (a synonym for speed-strength, or starting strength and explosive strength in the force-time curve³), i.e. the ability to apply force as quickly as possible, such as the jumps, throws and sprints in athletics, most team sports, and all those sports in which power has a strong influence on performance, 2) those that require the development of muscular endurance, the ability to apply less force but for a longer time, as in most of the events in swimming, rowing, kayaking, triathlon , cross-country skiing, middle and long distance running and so on.

In the periodization of strength, typically, the first macrocycle is dedicated to Anatomical Adaptation. During this period we have a progressive increase of loads that prepares the connective tissues (ligaments, tendons, muscles) to the following intensified work that occurs during the maximum strength macrocycles; whose main objective is to improve the intramuscular coordination (synchronization, recruitment and rate coding). In planning this next phase we must consider that “what is intensification for a sport is accumulation for another. For example, when synchronized swimmers work in the range of 6-8RM, they are doing intensification; for weight lifters this range represents an accumulation”⁴. The objective of this phase of maximal strength is not, therefore, the increase of maximal strength to the highest possible level, but rather the development of an optimal level of maximal strength specific to the sport and whose achievement process can efficiently be integrated within the global plan of training. For this reason it makes little sense to do a period of development of maximal strength with low reps and intensities higher than 80% of 1 RM or insert multiple macrocycles dedicated to maximal strength for those athletes whose sports require muscular endurance of long duration.

The next phase is the so-called conversion. As previously indicated, this is a fundamental phase of the periodization of strength, whose objective is the "conversion", in fact, of the maximal strength gains, resulting from the earlier stage, into a specific combination of qualities of strength, be it power, power endurance or muscular endurance (short, medium or long). For this reason the loading parameters used in the conversion stage should reflect the characteristics of the sport coached, particularly in terms of the relationship between strength and the dominant energy system:

What do we need to do, then, to determine the specific strength of a sport and plan the periodization of strength in the Annual Plan?

 Determine, through scientific literature, the contribution of each energy system to the event (at the exact same competitive level of the athlete or team you are going to do the planning for);

1. Derive the quality or qualities of strength that are specific to the event, among maximal strength, power, power endurance, muscle endurance short, medium or long. The entire periodization of strength will have the increase of this/these quality/qualities as the ultimate goal. Also, keep in mind that the morpho-functional adaptations to training of the endurance type of strengths, of a more metabolic nature, require a longer period of exposure to the stimuli compared to the neural adaptations, and this directly affects the length of the conversion phase, and the time remaining for the other phases, as the plan designing process works backwards from the end point.

1. Evaluate the appropriate duration for Anatomical Adaptation period in accordance with the characteristics of the athlete and the time available for such an introductory phase.
2. Assess whether or not to implement a period devoted to hypertrophy, in agreement with the characteristics of the athlete and the sporting event.
3. Analyze the sport movements in order to determine exercises and loading parameters:
   • Planes on which the movements take place (sagittal, frontal, transverse)
   • Force expressed at various joint angles within the sport specific range of motion (i.e. the zone that must be most affected by the development of the specific strength)
   • Muscle groups producing the movements (aka prime movers, that also must be most affected by the development of the specific strength)
   • Muscle actions (concentric, eccentric, isometric)
4. Choose the methods to be used in each macrocycle and the progression of training means.
5. Analyze the training tradition of the sport you are going to do the planning for. Over the years coaches have found solutions that combine merely practical troubleshooting with the ideas of scientific research. Equipped with the latest knowledge and your practical experience, you can find, using traditional training modalities, the ideal starting point to overcome such tradition.
6. Determine the actual degree of training of the athlete. For what concerns the testing of maximal strength, the 1RM test is advisable to be performed only by athletes with some strength training experience and only after macrocycles that implied some exposure to loads equal or greater than 80% of 1RM. This is especially true for beginners. Furthermore, you should also test the muscle strength balance around the joints that you consider most important for the sport with submaximal weights (3-8RM), as well as test for the sport specific strength at the beginning of the year, to monitor its progression and get information on the dynamics of adaptation to your training programs.

¹ Tudor O. Bompa & Haff Gregory G., Periodization. Theory and Methodology of Training, 5th Edition, Human Kinetics, 2009, pg. 126.

2 "exercises performed on various equipment such as balls, ABS pipes with foam and proprioceptive platforms, designed to create an environment more difficult to increase participation by small and deep stabilizing muscles, Charles Staley, Muscle Logic, cit. in Michael Boyle, Advances in Functional Training, OTP, Aptos, 2010, pg. 22.
³ Yuri Verkhoshanskij, Fundamentals of Special Strength-Training in Sport, Sportivny Press, Livonia, 1986, pg. 61.

⁴ Charles Poliquin, Theory 1 Manual, PPC, 2004, pg. I-10.

Some notes on the author. 

Carlo Buzzichelli is a professional strength & conditioning coach and personal trainer from Italy. He has lived and worked in the U.S., and was chosen by Prof. Tudor Bompa as the Technical Director of the Tudor Bompa Institute - International. Over the past eight years the teams he S&C coached have won 10 championships; as a coach in individual sports he participated in the Commonwealth Games and the T&F World Championships, while his athletes have won three medals at national championships and one gold and one silver at international championships. Furthermore, Carlo regularly lectures for Italian sport federations and in various Sport Universities in Cuba. This article is partly based on the book "Periodization. Planning and Programming of Training Methodology" to be published. Carlo can be contacted by email at: cb@tbi-i.com ; this same email can be used to add the Tudor Bompa Institute - Italy to your Facebook list of contacts.

All five parts can be found here;http://train.elitefts.com/instructional/so-you-think-you-can-squat-parts-1-5/

This is the post from this site we learned already:

http://fredkoch.squarespace.com/home/2011/4/3/squats-a-mystery-solved.html

Then this was added by Carlo:

http://fredkoch.squarespace.com/home/2011/4/5/more-thoughts-on-squats.html

This, in my opinion is how you build your own personal library for training. Take a little from all the good sourses and make it work for you and your clients or athletes.

 av Fred Koch, P-SCE

på norsk: http://www.treningsforum.no/php/art.php?id=1904

Every bodybuilder at one time or another in his training times has been frustrated over calf or in this case lower leg development. It has to be one of the great mysteries of training. What seems so simple is really a complex area of the body that stands alone from all other areas.

Think about it, you have two muscles in the back of the leg that even though they have the same function, flexing the ankle, but do this is two entirely different situations.

Picture of back of leg by leon Bach

Video of intro to lower leg training

The gastocnemius is the large muscle on that that stands out that flexes the ankle when the leg is straight. It is comprised of fast twitch fibers making it more of a power muscle which the body uses when the leg is straight and needs raw strength and power like pushing or pulling a car or in the evolution of man pushing rocks was actually a daily thing. Explosive movements like jumping is another one of the functions of this muscle. Jumping is usually done when the leg is straight or ends up straight and one that grows faster again this fits perfect with the fiber type. This muscle is easy to understand because like most BB muscles it is fast twitch and grows relatively easy. It has two heads and thus can be directional which helps when it comes to building size. In another article I will explain how to work them independently and the hint is, the best way is not turning your foot in and out.

 Soleus muscle picture by Hamilton

Now under that muscle is the mystery muscle we call the soleus muscle. Why mystery? You will see soon. This muscle is attached to the ankle and below the knee. Why below the knee you may wonder? The reason for this is that 99% of all movement done by the body when standing or movement with the ankle is actually done with your knee slightly bent. Now think about this. Since the knee is bent the evolution of the human body has had to develop this muscle to function exactly the way we need to be for the maximum efficiency. Thus, the fiber type of this muscle is slow twitch which means it recovers fast, can work forever, like walking for 5 hours. (The forearm muscles are like this too)

The issue here for bodybuilders is that you two muscles with 2 totally different fiber types and one goal. Which of course is to grow. 

Now we come to factor number 2. These muscles have to be worked in different rep ranges.

Gastocnemius like every other fast twitch, 3-5 reps for strength and 6-20 reps for size.

Soleus. Now the question how many reps. Well sure we can work them in the same rep range, but what about slow twitch muscle doing up to 100 reps per set. Notice how guys that use their hands (forearms all the time) get bigger forearms. “Reps” Maybe every day.

Let’s finish up with the calf muscles first then we can go to the even bigger mystery.

First , both calf muscles are never really used on a day to day basis in a full range of motion. Think about you bouncing down the road if you did. So they develop a dominate range of strength, which just happens to be short range. Bad for BB, called cheating in exercises.

We know that the soleus muscle the dominant muscle in the lower leg calf area, because most movement is done with the knee bent. Bad for BB because the mind then wants to use the soleus muscle to do all activity. Example as you will see in the video because guys don’t focus on the muscle they will almost all the time automatically bend the knees when doing standing calf raises. This is done unconsciensly , but the body is just performing the work the easiest it can and thus using the soleus.

Even in the top art books they show the exercises wrong:

Hamiltons donkey raise.

Now comes the big mystery of lower leg training. Would you ever work triceps and not biceps and expect to get maximum arm development? Would you work just quads and not hamstrings and expect to get maximum thigh developement? I mean you never see the back of the thigh, but just the front. If you didn’t laugh and think that was a stupid statement you are lost. Well of course you laughed. No one would even think of such a thing.

Tibia Anterior 

Then…… why would you work back of the lower leg (calf) and not the front? Why. There is a muscle there called the Tibia anterior that is to the lower leg what the biceps is to the triceps in the arm. If you haven’t gotten the lower leg development you want, well this is a good place to start. Think about this. All the years people train and no one over talks about training the muscle that balances out the calves. Another reason this is so important is the body has in house systems that keep one muscle from over powering the other opposite muscle. So using another example you know that your chest will grow if you do back work, biceps and triceps all the groups have that little muscle that can destroy all the hard work and let me assure you the Tibia anterior is the one for your lower leg.

Take a look at the video and you will see one way to train this muscle. There are numerous devices and methods , but one thing is for sure, next time you hit the lower leg and do this exercises you will be convinced almost after the first set.

So what can we pull out of this article to hit the gym as fast as possible.

Lower leg training at its best

1. Learn to do all the exercises in a full range of motion. Let me warn you that the body is going to fight it every step of the way, wanting to cheat. So will your mind, becasue you will have to probably have to cut the weights you use by 80%. Stay away from the #1 cheat in calf work, bouncing with the weights.
2. Always do the seated calf raise first. This will pre-exhaust the soleus muscle and thus when you get to the Gastoc it will be easier to focus on the right form for this muscle by not letting the soleus take over so fast. Plus, once you learn the perfect form don’t be afraid to work your reps up to 30,40 ,50, as high as 100 reps per set. Try working the soleus a few more days a week, see if it recovers. These changes may take some months, but this is the new you.
3. Work the tibia anterior last. Due to the newness of this exercise you want to have time to focus on it. You can superset it with one of the other exercises you are doing on the day.
4.  There are two heads for the gastrocnemius, in another article I will explain how to work them independently and the hint is, the best way is not turning your foot in and out

Fred Koch (P-SCE), er styrketrener og bor i Kristiansand. Jeg er direktør for Tudor Bompa Institute (TBI) på verdensbasis. TBI er et internasjonalt sport- og fitness sertifiseringsprogram for personlige trenere og styrketrenere. www.fredkoch.com

 E-mai Fred at ,fred@fredkoch.com

Fred Koch, P-SCE is the International Director for Tudor Bompa Institute, TBI, one of the world’s top certifications systems. For more information you can e-mail Fred, fredredkoch.com. or see his blog at www.fredkoch.com

The question of sets and reps.

One of the big issues in BB and trainings has always been the sets and reps. One of the issue that has bothered me ever since I started writng here in Norway is this set and rep issue. There are numerous scientific sets and reps versions that can be done. 3-5 reps works the nervous system and gives the muscle a harder look, 6-10 reps works one  set of hypertrophy muscles 10-20 works another type of hypertrophy muscles, so just saying go do 3 or 4 sets of 10 reps is really not true. But to begin to write again on BB whether it be beginning or advanced I have to begin to find a way to explain to you what these rep ranges mean and how much they really have an effect on your results. The biggest mistake any trainer makes is he trains everyday to exhaustion. That is the standard way to train. Walk in the gym, train whatever mood you are in, wait (now it’s a week) and do it again. Never having any idea where your body is at, if you did too much or too little. If you sat back and used a runner for example and they went out and ran until they fell n the ground to exhaustion then rested and did it again in a week. Well in BB you may not feel out of breath that way, but your body sure does. Think about it , it is ridiculous. So I am left with this dilemma. How am I going to explain this set and rep thing? I guess a little at a time. Which I will do in the future. If you want the fast version now  I wrote a paper on it years ago it is called “Defining Progressive resistance”. Definisjon-av-maksstyrke Yes, well ok that tells you what you are doing wrong ,but with all those formulas in there, we know why no one has never done this type of training. WAY to much work.

20 years ago when I was a writer for Ironman Bodybuilding Magazine and had just met my teacher Dr. Tudor Bompa, we used his theories and I designed what was known as the Ironman Bodybuidling Training system. It was a system where we actually designed the workouts on a day to day basis for you based on your personal strengths after you filled out a form and took some tests. Well back then I had a staff of people that we did this with. Now that I am back into the BB scene again I had to come up with a simple way to redue this sytem, without a lot of people doing the computer work. Well, here is my first try. It is called the www.fredkoch.com  Training system.

I will give you a set group of excises for a 3 day or 5-6 day program, You will get a complete instruction bookon how to take your own personal tests, send me the results and I will send you workout sheets with every set ever reps for 6-8 weeks, you retest and we continue. The program is for a 12 month training program. To check more out on the www.fredkoch.com  Training system. Go to www.fredkoch.com

Fred Koch (P-SCE), er styrketrener og bor i Kristiansand. Jeg er direktør for Tudor Bompa Institute (TBI) på verdensbasis. TBI er et internasjonalt sport- og fitness sertifiseringsprogram for personlige trenere og styrketrenere. www.fredkoch.com

 E-mai Fred at ,fred@fredkoch.com

Fred Koch, P-SCE is the International Director for Tudor Bompa Institute, TBI, one of the world’s top certifications systems. For more information you can e-mail Fred, fredredkoch.com. or see his blog at www.fredkoch.com

Here is the article on the web på norsk  

http://www.iform.no/pub/art.php?id=2310

And also the following article how it came out in the web article:

http://www.iform.no/pub/art.php?id=2423

I will try to post some other articles I ad done here that were not on the blog also as you see some stuff from Carlo, who as I said before its the best sports fitness guy I know. Plus an ameteur powerlifter.

Plus my next article will be on the latest books with greatart work that people are falling for and how wrong many of the exercises are. BUT, the artwork is nothing near my pal Leon Bachs work you use to see in Ironman. I think he is off looking for king tuts brothers tumb now, since he changed careers for the 5th time.

NOTE:  am having some issues with my images due to the weak signal. check the Norwegian article or wait a day and I will fix it.

 Advanced Bodybuilding 2012 part 1, by Fred Koch,P-SCE

Workout #1

Chest, Shoulders, Triceps

Workout # 2

Back,Biceps

Workout # 3

Legs, Abs

Many of you may ask why I start with the advanced or Intermediate BB . The reason I picked that to start was that most of you have been training for some time and are wondering round like lost ghosts in the the night not knowing what exercises to pick or when to do them. You end up picking whatever routine is on the internet page you happen to be on that week. Which usually turns out to be from some famous steroid king on the interenet. I cannot believe all the ridiculous programs that people come up with that have no basis except….it works for me. What I want to do in this series is offer you some basic logic for training that I guarantee will give you results.

One thing before I start on this “works for me program” story. Keep in mind that everyone has good body parts. No matter how they work them they will grow. This is true of many champions. On this I say, if they did it the scientific way, maybe they would be even bigger or better.  

Then we have my favorite”Mr Roid”, the guy using steroids in large amounts forgets to tell you 2 things.

#1 he or she is taking steroids. This is becoming even bigger with the fitness models, which is for another article, than many of the guys, but let’s stick with the guys. So first they are not taking anything. BULLSHIT. It is so obvious who is taking steroids because they are so out of normal with the rest of humans, cannot and I mean “CAN NOT” be believed when it comes to his training results. The amount taken and the types are known to have so large an effect on the results than it is an easy call.

The #2 things this Mr big will not mention is that for 10 years when he first started training years ago the quality of steroids were terrible. He had to train 6 xs a week to keep up with the competition even though he was juicing. Add to this what is called “muscle maturity” grows over years. What this means is the more years a muscle is trained not only does it get a more mature look it also takes less training to get the same results. Add to this the latest in steroids and you get a variety of training programs that are out there. None of which really have a logic to them.

 So getting away from that I want to talk training.

 What I have done is looked over 30 years of training and being around training is to pick the program that seems to pop up for both scientific and practical reasons That is why I decided to give you the best start on the winter I felt was possible. This week I will take the first part of this workout and break it down so you can better understand why this format of both days (2xs a week, and body parts are choose.)

Oh well, why not try something that works for everyone and not the quick fix you have been reading about for the last 2 years.

I mentioned it in the last article, all the scientific reasons why this program makes all the sense in the world.  http://www.iform.no/pub/art.php?id=2310

Day# 1 and #4

Chest shoulders and triceps, pushing movements.

Day #2 and #5

Legs, and core, (abdominals and Lower back)

Day# 3 and #6

Back and Biceps, pulling muscles

 Why this break down?

Chest shoulders and triceps, pushing movements are done in the beginning of the week because it is the day after the weekend and that is the fun workout. Since it is the day after the weekend it may not be fun for you to start the week off with legs.  Next day we do legs and core. The week has started and your body is ready for some real work. Legs are the king of size and strength and core is, in case you forgot 1/3 of the body is core. It is good to put these together. Nice to super-set a leg exercises with a core exercise.

Finally we have back and biceps. For the same reason we do CST we do back and biceps, whenever you do a back exercises you are doing a bicep exercise so why not work them together and let them recover. This is usually a shorter workout that the 2 days also.

 When you go to start this program the first question that you need to ask yourself , do I want to be bigger or just “feel” strong every time I workout? My answer for most would be to get bigger and stronger over a period of time. In that case we have to look at the last article and see the main object is to tire out the muscle enough to work it, allow it to recover and then work it again, constantly adapting the muscle to stress and then letting that recover work it’s magic.

Once you get past that part now it is time to work on the muscles. If we look at the first days muscles in question chest, shoulders and triceps we see that they all involved some type of pushing motion. What do I mean by that? Any chest exercise also works some shoulders, they are pushing, some triceps, they are pushing and extending, about the same thing.

This is the most important thing to remember. Your goal is to tire out the muscle and let it recover. NOTE, to feel strong in every exercise you do every workout. That is the goal that all these 1x a week body part workouts are after and they are wrong for maximum results.

When I use these groups of exercises for example many of the chest exercises also work shoulders, and some triceps. When you do say for example arms on a day by themselves you may have to do 5 or 6 sets just to get your arms to the exhaustion level that they are on the chest, shoulder, triceps combo day. Now that is a waste of time.

 If you are one of the many Norwegians that have good arms and shoulders but there is not the fullness to your chest that you wish, then now is the time to pay attention. I’ll even give you the answer first, you have long arms, your arms and shoulders do all the work in pressing movements and thus giving you lots of arm work, but never really penetrating through to the chest to fully develop it. You are exhausting your arms and shoulders and not your chest.

 So we start with chest, let’s do bench press first. That is the king of chest. A compound exercise, meaning more than one muscle. To move the bar up we have to contract the chest, half way. The front  of the shoulders pulls the bar back as it moves up and the triceps lock the bar out while helping with the rest of the movement ,but not a lot due to momentum and help from shoulders. If you look at his exercise you can plainly see that there is only ½ motion of chest, a small part of shoulders from the momentum and a lot of work from the triceps as they are the smallest muscle in the group and second is those little front deltoids. Well, compared to the chest they are. By doing the bench press first we have gotten the macho movement out of the way, which is really the fun one of the main parts of training, being strong and bench is cool.  Let’s take a look at what we did, well, mostly tired out the triceps.

Just for a test workout to see if this is true for you, do pec dec, then super set it with bench presses, do 3 sets of this. NOW, what muscle is tired.  Your chest. So that should prove to you the chest does not get a lot of chest work in bench pressing, but it is fun and is always first.

BENCH PRESS

Now we can go in one of two directions, 45 degree inclines is the old way, it is suppose to work your upper pecs. , but wait, didn’t we just show that these type of multi-joint movements really work more arms. If you are one of the guys that goes this way then I bet you have good arms and shoulders and a small little chest. Too much arm work, no real chest. Here is something else for you to think about. When was the last time you felt 45 degree incline benches in your chest? Why? 45 is too high of an incline. , it works mostly shoulders. I mean it is 15 degrees away from the shoulder press and 45 from the chest, hello??????? To get anything out of this exercise you have to do them at 15-20 degrees. That’s another secret for later.

The modern day bodybuilders method is to do upper incline cable pulls next. This movement focuses just on your upper pectorial muscle. A muscle works in a straight line. If you look at the upper fibers of the chest you can see the line from the clavical to the arm. See kendell and kendell and you you will see the picture. Now, how to line this up. The elbow has to go to the upper part of the chest. Yes. The thing that messes up everyone s the chest gets in the way half way up. That is good. It means you have fully contracted the upper pec fibers.  The mistakes that are made are going around this block or going sraight up in the air, which really makes it a type of reverse shoulder press. If you look at the video link.

Upper Cable Crossover:

 Keep in mind here I am sculpting the human body through the muscles. Next we look at the chest fibers and see how the lower fibers extend down from the arm to the lower section of the pecs. Remember the muscles are wanting to work in a straight line for the best results. To set the lower fibers up in a straight line you need to go down on your knees and have the arm overhead. You are doing the opposite of the upper. The elbow movement in this exercises is important, the elbow follows the line of pull down to full contraction of the of the lower fibers. Again the bulk of the chest will get in the way and you will want to swing round it. 

Lower pec Cables

 What you have to learned during all this is to see how your muscle work and work with them to get results.

So far we have hit the main macho movement, the upper pec fibers, the lower pec fiber and now we go for the center pec fibers. Here we come to another possible error in the making. We can us lying cable flys or pec dec if you want. Start with lying pec cable flyes. The object is to contract the center fibers of the chest. NOT to lay on the bench and touch your hands together. This is the big mistake you will always see. Lay on the bench, stretch the cables out and pull the hands to the top and stop. Well guess what. The center fibers are not done contracting , try crossing over your arms and then feel the chest fibers really contract. Think I’m wrong, check this picture in TI book.

(Drawing by Hamiliton)

IMPROPER CABLE CROSS 

This is the improper way to do the movement. Notice how the arms are going under the chest not in a stating line across it to the lower pecs. See video

Now for the last old, but in todays world secret exercise is the good old DB pull over. Take a look at the size of your pectorial minor on muscle chart. It’s almost as big as your bicep. For years BB did this movement to stretch the rib cage, well I don’t know about that, but let me tell you if you do this correctly you will finish your chest off by hitting all the right muscles in the right directions. The key to the pullover is that your elbows stay inside the line of your sholders. If you let your elbows float outside the line of your shoulders you will be doing lats. Again be careful of this..

Pec Minor

I was going to give you the shoulders and triceps today to finish the workout, but my editor is looking over my shoulder telling me that there is enough new stuff here for the reader to absorb for one article.

What I will do is give you the exercise I will cover next time in shoulders and triceps. The exercises are done for a specific reason to hit specific heads of the muscle. I will cover all this in the next article.

Arnold press

Side laterials

rear laterals

Shrugs

Lying tricep extensions

Tricep pushdowns

Lockouts

Fred Koch (P-SCE), er styrketrener og bor i Kristiansand. Jeg er direktør for Tudor Bompa Institute (TBI) på verdensbasis. TBI er et internasjonalt sport- og fitness sertifiseringsprogram for personlige trenere og styrketrenere. www.fredkoch.com

 E-mai Fred at ,fred@fredkoch.com

Fred Koch, P-SCE is the International Director for Tudor Bompa Institute, TBI, one of the world’s top certifications systems. For more information you can e-mail Fred, fredredkoch.com. or see his blog at www.fredkoch.com

Fred