Strength and Physique

Q:  Hi there mate, I am into strength, fitness and physique. My equipment is a pair of push up handles. I use them for push ups in the hopes of deepening and defining my chest muscles. I seem to think they are better than the standard bench press with weights and bar. The handles are the York variety. Do you recommend them? Also are kettlebells the best equipment for increasing size of the biceps?  Many thanks for your time, BARRY C.  My Answer:  Well Barry, push up handles and kettlebells are great tools in helping you get a great body. Do I recommend them? I only recommend these tools as  additions  to a toolbox. You build a house with many tools, right? You can't build a house with just a hammer alone, but you do use the hammer more often than other tools.   Same thing with free weights. To build up the chest, you'll be hammering away with bench presses. Push ups are just the finishing touch. In  The Articles  I go over a method that ...

Q: I've read through your book Bodybuilding Calisthenics and have a question regarding chest development with dips. I have found dips to work well when training the lower and outer chest, but for the upper and inner chest, I've relied more on decline push ups and close push ups, respectively.  However, at this point, I find that these two exercises have become too easy and am wondering if there are any dip variations that target the upper and inner chest. Also I have been trying to get that line between the pecs and close push ups don't seem to cut it. Recently I made the switch from doing inverted rows to now doing tucked front lever pull ups. This means I can do both my horizontal and vertical pull work all on the pull up bar. I've been trying to figure out if it is possible to do all my horizontal/vertical push work on the parallel bars by replacing push ups with analogous dip variations. I've really enjoyed reading your book! Best,  Cam My Answe...

  Q: I've recently stumbled across your blog, and it peaked my interest. I admire the physique you've built up for yourself.  That's the reason I'm writing to you, because I'd very much like to know how you build muscle density. I don't wish to gain more muscle simply to be big. I'd like my body to have the look of strength, power and speed, much like how Bruce Lee was. I was hoping you could enlighten me on the ways in which one would need to train to build such a physique.  Would you recommend weight training or training without weights? How much cardio would you recommend? In your opinion what level of balance should there be between developing slow-twitch and fast-twitch muscle fibers, and how would one change its proportionality?  -S. Singh My Answer: Muscle density refers to how thick and hard the muscles look and feel. Muscle density is developed through sarcomere hypertrophy. In other words, the muscle fibers grow by thickening in d...

I was at the gym recently performing a front lever, a brutally tough exercise that will give you razor sharp abs. It's much harder to do than hanging leg raises or dragon flags, and much more effective at strengthening the abs. A couple of people have approached in the gym asking me how to do the front lever, so I thought I'd shoot this tutorial. By the way if you happen to see me in the gym and want to ask me a question about training, don't be shy.  I tend to look like a psychopath when I'm working out, but I'm just focused on my training. Anyway, I want to disclose something here: I'm not a gymnast, but I was able to do the front lever the first time I tried it. I was a bit shaky on that first attempt, and I couldn't hold it for long. But I didn't have to go through all of these progressions that I show in the video. I think the reason is that I was already strong on the subscapularis pull-up , which is a concentric pull-up followed by a...

Q:  I've always been curious about how inmates/convicts train. And I've also been amazed at the gains these guys are able to make. Do you have any insight on how they go about their training? I would assume big, heavy, compound lifts. Probably lots of volume? What never made sense to me though, is how do they get jacked when you factor in diet, stress, and sleep? You'd think that they don't get enough quality calories or protein. That they are in a constant state of stress. And while they may have hours on end to sleep, the quality of their sleep has to be hindered: noise, counts, "sleeping with one eye open." Do you have any theories on how these guys can get and stay jacked with what so many people on the 'outside' would tell you are conditions destructive to your training? Thanks for your time. -Shane My Answer: Larry Scott once used the bull as an example as to why some people gain muscle easily. A bull is large and muscular, and yet all ...

I picked this up from a Charles Poliquin article in Muscle Media (July 1996), and it's a great method for boosting your strength on certain exercises and for blasting past any sticking points you may have within a movement itself (for example, the midpoint of a biceps curl). Isometronics is practical for only certain kinds of movements, namely pressing movements (bench press, incline, military, close grip, etc.) and curling movements (barbell curls). This means only your chest, delts, triceps, and biceps can benefit from isometronics. Too bad, because the increases in strength using this method are truly phenomenal. What you need is a power rack, an Olympic-size barbell, some Olympic plates, and two pairs of rack pins (meaning 4 pins altogether). Using the bench press as an example, here's how it works: 1) Divide the movement's range into three equal parts. You will perform partial reps in each portion of the bench press inside the power rack, using the two sets o...