Strength and Physique

RELIFE Sports sent me their dip bar station for review.  Very easy assembly with a connector bar between the stands for extra stability.  The dip stand is light weight and portable, so you can bring it anywhere to do a full body workout: Dips Leg Raises Staggered Dips Tucked Planche Dips Wide grip supinated V-Bar Dips Pronated V-Bar Dips Vertical grip Triceps Extensions Tucked Chin Rows Australian Pull ups Check out the RELIFE Sports website for this equipment and more: https://www.relifesports.com/product/dip-bar-station/ https://www.relifesports.com/

The Potpourri Routine is a forgotten bodybuilding workout that predates the invention of sets. It is the 1930's version of German Volume Training and was a favorite of John Grimek. In potpourri training, you perform 6-10 exercises for a muscle group, but only one set per exercise. The Potpourri Routine is purely a hypertrophy program, designed to build up the size of the targeted muscle group.  For this reason I like to apply the Potpourri Routine to my calisthenics workouts.  If you want to body build on calisthenics only, then the Potpourri Routine is the way to do it The main exercises in any body weight hypertrophy program are pull-ups, dips and squats.  So in the Potpourri Routine you must apply a high number of sets and a variety of movements to these 3 calisthenic movements.  The following are sample Potpourri Routines for each of these core exercises: Pull-pourri: Muscle-up Lever Raise Pull-ups Archer pull-ups Typewriter pull-ups Chin ro...

Over the years, I've seen some pretty funny behavior in the gym.  Because the gym is an environment where men and women workout and sweat with minimal clothing, there is a lot of peacocking going on.  (For those of you who aren't familiar with the term, peacocking is the "ostentatious dress or behavior employed by a man in an attempt to impress women") In the presence of women, particularly attractive women, men tend to puff themselves up when working out.  Men will consciously or subconsciously work out harder when an attractive woman is nearby. Most women, on the other hand, don't notice men in the gym (unless of course he's very attractive) and they certainly aren't impressed by how much a man lifts.  Men notice how much other men lift, but women don't give a rat's ass. What women notice is not performance but physique.  Men are drawn to the hour glass figure of a woman, whereas women are drawn to a man's shoulder to waist r...

After the movie 300 came out, every red-blooded male wanted the "warrior physique."  They wanted to look like the guys in the movie, so they started looking up on YouTube what their training involved.  Trainers started creating their own warrior workouts, Spartan workouts, gladiator workouts, superhero workouts, etc. to cash in on the 300 hype. When an actor gets ready for a role where he plays an action hero, superhero or a warrior, the studio hires a trainer to assess his physique. Regardless of the starting physique, it is the end result, the physique demanded by the role that counts. For such roles, the actor must have a tall muscular look with wide shoulders, ripped abs.  The actor must not only act like a warrior, the actor's body must also emulate the warrior physique.  Bodybuilding is essentially cosmetic training, meant to mimic the warrior physique.  This is analogous to a non-poisonous species of snake having evolved to bear the sam...

I thought I'd go over some common mistakes that I see in the gym.  I think people make these mistakes for a variety of reasons.  Some guys are lazy.  Some are trying to protect their egos and look strong (as opposed to being strong).  Some guys are just trying to play it safe and not get injured. But I think a lot of times people make the following mistakes, because they are either misinformed or uninformed.  People sometimes make these mistakes, because they just don't know any better.  I think this is partly the fault of personal trainers who are also misinformed and uninformed. Mistake #1: Using the Smith machine for squats, bench presses, military presses, etc.   People use the Smith machine, because they think it's safer and that they don't need a spotter.  But in reality the Smith machine is more dangerous and can develop pattern overload in a trainee. You see the Smith machine locks you into a single line of movement, so you develop...

Fatherhood and work have been kicking my butt this past year, so I've been following an abbreviated program of high tension exercises.  It's a simple no fuss program consisting primarily of body weight exercises with some bench pressing and deadlifts thrown in. The great thing about this program is its simplicity.  No periodization or complex programming to follow.  Few exercises, few sets, maximum tension to incur muscle growth. Workout A: Shoulder width grip pull-ups (3 sets of as many reps as possible) Shoulder width grip chin-ups (3 sets of as many reps as possible, hold your body at the top of each rep for 2 seconds) Pistols, aka one-legged squats (3 sets of as many reps as possible) Dips (3 sets of as many reps as possible) Hanging leg raises (3 sets of as many reps as possible) Workout B: 20 degree barbell bench press (8 sets of 8 reps, 15-30 seconds rest) Deadlifts (8 sets of 4-6 reps, 2-3 minutes rest)

Q:  Silly question, I know: Are you the guy we used to (flatteringly) call "Mr. Dips?" If so, you look very different now.  Please describe your training methodology! What kind of lifts do your workouts consist of? -Robert My Answer: I don't recall anybody calling me "Mr. Dips" to my face, but I did do a lot of dips when I used to workout at the gym in my early years.  And I have lost a lot of muscle mass since I've stopped eating like a bodybuilder, because I just don't have the appetite anymore.  I prefer to maintain a trim and tone physique built on wiry strength.  What gym did you train with this "Mr. Dips" anyway? I was always a skinny dude, so I started weight training to get some size.  I ended up getting a thick chest, back, thighs and shoulders, but my arms were lagging behind.  So I added dips to gain some triceps size.  I worked on dips at least once a week. Eventually I got to a point where I could strap a 100 dum...