For a few gifted individuals, building a round, wide full chest is as simple as doing a couple sets of barbell flat bench press. For those who have the genetics of an average mortal, it takes a bit more of a scientific, methodical approach to build a chest that resembles slabs of thick striated beef from top to bottom. It’s safe to assume that you’re probably not one of the aforementioned genetic freaks (better known as dirty lucky bastards), so this article is for you (cheer up, it could be worse…). Today you’re going to learn some principles, tips and tricks that, along with your hard work (but that’s a given anyway, right?), will serve as your genetic equalizer, so no more excuses for your pitiful undereveloped flabby pecs!

So let’s get this party started..

At the end of the day, I enjoy science but I’m a meathead just like you. So from one meathead to another let’s go over the chest muscles themselves and what they do. Then you’ll be able to make intelligent choices when it comes to exercise selection and execution. I’ll keep the nerd talk to a minimum but please, read carefully. This may actually make all the difference in the world for your chest development and putting all these info in an easy to comprehend format took me a freaking ass long time (for our International readers: an amount of time so great that it is no longer measurable by units of time and is instead measured by units of assness).

What we refer to as “chest” is actually comprised of three separate muscles: the pectoralis minor (which is of little concern to us for now), the clavicular head of the pectoralis major, and the sternal head of the pectoralis major. Read, repeat, read again.

Because of its position up near the clavicle (collarbone), the clavicular head of the pec. major is routinely simply referred to by most as the “upper chest.”

Many anatomists refer to the sternal portion of the pectoralis major as the “lower chest” but for advanced physique-enhancement purposes we need to further divide this into two regions: the middle and lower chest.

When the pectoralis major as a whole works together, it produces a movement called horizontal adduction. In other words, it brings your arm across the front of your body, as occurs when doing a flyer movement e.g.

A lesser-discussed function of the pecs is to internally (or medially) rotate the humerus. Hold your arms out straight with your palms up, then rotate your arms such that your palms are facing down. That’s one example of internal rotation of the humerus (you know, the long bone in the arm that runs from the shoulder to the elbow. Yeah you got a pair too somewhere, look better).

So let’s look at the peculiar actions of the upper, middle, and lower pectorals when they work in (relative) isolation as this is where things can get tricky.

Besides horizontal adduction and internal rotation, the clavicular pectoralis flexes the shoulder joint. In different terms, it (in tandem with the anterior deltoid) raises your arm to the front. If you consider the origin and insertion of the clavicular pectoralis, this makes perfect sense indeed.

The lower part of the sternal pectoralis is situated such that it help extending the shoulder joint – the opposite action of shoulder flexion.

Now that we’ve covered the upper and lower chest, let’s take a look at the portion that we’ll call the “middle chest”. As the muscle fibers of the middle chest run horizontally, they don’t contribute significantly to shoulder flexion or extension. Instead, they simply horizontally adduct the humerus.

Summary:

Upper Chest, actions:  horizontal adduction, flexion, internal rotation

Middle Chest, actions: horizontal adduction, internal rotation

Lower Chest, actions:  horizontal adduction, extension, internal rotation

You most likely have already heard of the “all or none” principle of muscle contraction. Basically, this is what it states: when stimulated, a muscle fiber will either contract, or it will not.

People have blindly adapted the all-or-nothing principle to mean that an entire muscle will either contract or it won’t. These stubborn individuals will go on telling you that exercise variations are pointless when training the chest since the entire pectoralis major will simply either contract in full or it just won’t.

Unfortunately this is a seriously misguided and deceptive logic to put it gently.

First, although still considered a portion of the pectoralis major, the clavicular pectoralis is actually a separate muscle with a SEPARATE innervation and the angle of the muscle fibers varies enormously from top to bottom. For that reason, the line of pull is different throughout different areas of the muscle.

Luckily, your body (or brain rather) recruits or call upon the portion of the muscle that’s best suited to perform the movement in question. So if you were to do a movement in which the lower fibers of the pectoralis major are in the best mechanical advantage to execute the movement, then those will be the primary fibers recruited to do the work. The body is smarter than those people, thank goodness, or we’d be in serious troubles! So yes, you can emphasize different sections of the chest from top to bottom. But please duly notice I said EMPHASIZE, not “isolate”.

Now, before you can start building a bad-ass chest, you have to know the visual strengths and weaknesses of your pecs. In all honesty.

For the sake of simplicity let’s say there are four basic variations of chest shape/development:

A)Even chest development

B)Poor upper and lower chest + good middle chest

C)Poor upper and middle chest + good lower chest

D)Poor upper chest + good middle and lower chest

Generally speaking, variation “D” appears to be definitely the most common. 

I should also mention that many people mistake fat in the low chest region as being good lower pec development. So, if you really want to assess your development accurately, get decently lean first, then assess properly!

When you’ve identified your type of chest shape/development, then you can intelligently plan your chest training accordingly and with reason.

I often recommend performing three exercises for chest as part of a body part split where you train chest every 5-7 days. When training more frequently and/or utilizing wicked high-intensity techniques, doing less exercises may be warranted tho. Likewise, in certain other instances going for 4 chest exercises can be a good call instead.

When you pick your exercises, make sure to fully take into account the desired outcome of your choises. Basically if your upper chest is weak (odds are it IS), then why in the hell would you do two exercises that emphasize the middle chest and one that emphasizes the lower chest? This would only perpetuate and even magnify the muscular imbalance that you already have and should be trying to fix! So don’t let your ego take control of the situation: we all love to do what we’re best at, but this can really feed the issue further here. If you’re a beast on the flat bench press but that’s making the disproportion even worse, tell “her” goodbye for the moment. Instead, consider doing two exercises that emphasize the upper chest and one that targets the middle and/or lower chest. This will help to even out your chest development sooner rather than later.

Another smart rule of thumb is to hit the weakest part of your chest with your first exercise, when you’re at your strongest.

Alright, we can now look at four specialized chest training routines that address all the aforementioned four different types of chest shape/development.

A) ROUTINE FOR PEOPLE WITH EVEN CHEST DEVELOPMENT

-Decline Dumbbell Press

-Shallow Incline Dumbbell Press

-Flat Dumbbell Flyes

This program starts off with decline dumbbell presses which targets the lower chest but also stimulate the middle chest pretty damn well.

Then, the shallow incline dumbbell press is a great way to target the upper pecs while making it easier to keep the anterior deltoid as much as anatomically possible out of the movement. In order to accomplish this purpose, set the angle of incline bench between 15 and 20°.

Last, with flat dumbbell flyes you hit the chest right square in the middle. Contrary to popular belief, flyes can definitely be a mass-building movement. Simply make sure to let your elbows bend naturally (about 30 to 35°) at the bottom of the movement. Doing so enables you to substantially decrease the stress on the anterior shoulder and at the same time use dumbbells of respectable size.

B) ROUTINE FOR PEOPLE WITH LACKING UPPER AND LOWER DEVELOPMENT

-Decline Dumbbell Press

-Incline Barbell Press

-Dips (weighted, possibly)

The decline dumbbell presses are a good addition to pretty much any chest training program. They’ve been proven to activate more motor units (muscle fibers) in the pectoralis major than any other chest exercise you can think of!

The incline barbell press is a great exercise for the upper chest… IF you do it properly. Make sure to keep your chest lifted “up” throughout the movement. This helps to keep the stress on the upper chest as opposed to the anterior deltoids and prevents shoulder injuries very effectively.

You may also shorten the range of motion by about two inches on each end: stop the movement two inches short of lockout and two inches before touching your chest. Avoiding these portions of the ROM (range of motion) keeps constant tension on the upper chest and prevents the anterior delts from taking on the brunt of the load.

Dips (best if weighted if you’re strong enough) hit hard the chest, anterior deltoids, and triceps, there’s no way around that. However, by using a grip that’s slightly wider than shoulders width and leaning forward as much as you can, you can shift quite a bit of the stress from your triceps to your chest.

C) ROUTINE FOR PEOPLE WITH POOR UPPER AND MIDDLE DEVELOPMENT

-Floor Press

-Flat Dumbbell Press

-Shallow Incline Dumbbell Flyes

Many years ago I had a conversation with an old IFBB pro-bodybuilder, that enlightened me regarding how well floor presses can stimulate the upper chest. It made sense. 

At least one study I’m aware of has shown that using a slightly narrower grip improves upper chest activation even more so than an incline bench angle (surprisingly, huh?). This is because using a slightly narrower grip forces the elbows to come slightly in toward the sides (adduction of the humerus, see above) as opposed to them being flared. Subsequently, this puts the clavicular pectoralis in a better mechanical advantage to do its primary functions: flexion and horizontal adduction.

Perform the floor press with a grip width that’s just outside of shoulder width and that places your upper arms about 30° away from your sides in the starting position. Then push the barbell up and back in a slight arc such that it ends up over your upper chest.

When it’s time for the shallow incline dumbbell flyes, set the angle of the bench to between 15 and 20°. One way to accomplish this is to put two or three Olympic plates under the “head” end of the bench, if you can’t set it at said angle by using its own holes.

D) ROUTINE FOR PEOPLE WITH POOR UPPER DEVELOPMENT

-Incline Barbell Press

-Shallow Incline Dumbbell Press

-Low to High Cable Flyes

Since the most important functions of the upper chest are flexion and horizontal adduction, use the same grip width mentioned in the floor presses above, just slightly wider than shoulder width.

Low to high cable flyes perfectly mimic the line of pull (and action) of the clavicular pectoralis. It’s one of the best exercises around for “filling in” the upper chest up near the collarbone.

To perform the movement, start with two pulleys set in the bottom position and have your palms facing forward. Your upper arms (remember the humerus?) should be at about a 30° angle away from your sides.

Using your upper chest to pull your arms up and in, raise the handles up and together so that they come together at shoulder level or just slightly higher of you wish. The path of the cables should draw an upside down V in the air.

Be smart fellas.

When it comes to training (and life in general for that matter), many people erroneously think that all you have to do to succeed is work hard(er). Unfortunately, this isn’t true. You have to work intelligently, most of all!

As Bill Gates said, “Choose a lazy person to do a hard job. Because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it.” 

The body is dynamic, ever-changing entity that adapts to the stimulation and stress you place upon it. That’s why it’s important to purposefully select the right exercises that will force your body in such a way as to visually go where you want.

No longer will you think of chest training as a haphazard collection of random press and flye movements. 

See ya’ll at the wet T-shirt contest.

Hopefully as viewers rather than contenders ?

TheRoid

Narrowminded, old-school approach to build bigger legs:

Heavy squats. Steak. Sleep.

The end.

Alright, that’s how they used to do it and it worked. Up to a certain point. 

It worked for hardgainers in the ’30s, ’40s, and ’50s and I’m sure it would work for hardgainers today. Again…to some extent. 

But just because it’s one intense and effective way to pack on slabs of thigh muscle doesn’t mean it’s the only way to do it.

As a matter of fact, an intriguing study already published almost two decades ago suggests that a combination of low- and high-rep training is better than one or the other method for making size and strength gains.

Let’s now see why higher reps can work for hypertrophy, and then a new program to help you make major gains and turn you into the baddest m0th&rfÜkk&r in the gym.

Silly Blind Beliefs

Everybody knows the lame arguments against doing high-rep training for size, no matter what muscle groups we’re talking about. Without a significant load (generally defined as at least 60 or 65% of your 1RM) you’re training your muscles for “endurance” rather than size or strength. 

If you take a look at athletes who do a lot of reps of anything, you rarely see a lot of size in the muscles that do the high-rep work, unless it’s size that was built in the weight room with relatively heavy loads. (Please don’t mention cyclists as an exception; well-trained pro cyclists lift shitloads of iron, and even then their thighs are often big only when compared to their relatively underdeveloped upper bodies!) Even the old-school breathing squats employed a 10RM weight, which is usually about 75% of 1RM, enough to build size, if not necessarily strength in advanced lifters.

The most popular size-building plans since the 1950s have advocated lower reps for size, including Bill Starr’s famous 5 x 5 training based on the “big three” lifts (bench press, squat, deadlift).

The rationale behind using heavy weights with low reps is simple enough: If you target the high-threshold motor units, you don’t just hit the type II muscle fibers, which have the most potential to grow. You also hit the type I fibers, which offer limited size potential but have to come along for the ride, thanks to a well-known physiological phenomenon called the “size principle”.

Said size principle says that motor units always fire in a predetermined order, from the smallest to the biggest. So by the time the biggest motor units come into play, the smallest ones are already deployed. Thus, you don’t need to do anything that targets the smallest motor units since they already have skin in the game. On paper makes perfectly sense indeed.

YET, a study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research makes a compelling argument for a mix-and-match kind of approach.

The researchers had a group of 16 male lifters do conventional hypertrophy training for six weeks, then divided them into two groups. Some did straight strength work (five sets of each exercise, using 90% of their 1RM. That would translate to about three per set.) The other group did the same thing, plus a final set of 25 to 35 reps using 40 to 50% of their 1RM.

The second group made slightly better gains in size over the following four weeks (which, frankly, were unimpressive across the board and that’s not surprising considering there was no nutritional intervention in the study), but the big surprise is that they made larger increases in strength.

Even though this blog average reader would shiver at the thought of training 10 weeks with only negligible muscle gains to show for it, the study suggests one compelling take-away message: Those light-weight, high-rep sets following heavy-weight, low-rep sets do SOMETHING. Whether they do it because they flush the muscles with nutrient-rich blood, or switch on some kind of still unknown metabolic pathway, or simply add volume for its own sake is pretty much a mystery, wild speculations aside.

But as long as there’s some actual benefit, who really cares about the cause?

You can go heavy and target the fast-twitch fibers one day and go lighter to hit the slow-twitch fibers another day, or combine them both into one workout. Plenty of big guys have used both approaches with equal success.

Squats Alone Hardly Suffices For Hams

Squat, for good reason, are the classic choice for using high reps to build huge muscles. That’s why you never heard the old-school guys talk about “breathing leg extensions”

Even if you stick with squats, there’s no rule that says you have to use back squats. Front squats would make it more challenging, and maybe offer more of a core-strengthening benefit. (I’d suggest holding the bar with the crossed-arm bodybuilder grip, rather than using the Olympic clean grip. That’s a lot of time to spend with your wrists in the rack position, not the best idea ever)

I would avoid overhead squats (too much shoulder and arm fatigue, and too much stress on the lower back) or Zercher squats (unless you have the pain tolerance of John Rambo on crack and Cheque Drops).

Deadlifts are another animal entirely. They can work, with some precautions.

Similar to high-rep heavy squats, high-rep heavy deadlift training is beneficial, but I think a trap bar is the way to go.

There’s definitely an increased risk for injury, so a high-rep program isn’t for beginners. You need to have solid deadlift form and not compromise technique to get a rep. Rather than just banging out 20 reps nonstop, park the weight after each rep, stand up and take a few deep breaths, then reset for the next rep.

I also caution against using an over-under grip, because that places the biceps under a lot of stress for a lot of time. I suggest using the overhand grip with both hands, and possibly using straps too. STAY 110% FOCUSED.

Some Due Warnings

If you think you’re ready to sack up and use high-rep training to put some new beef on your drumsticks, keep these points in mind:

It’s Definitely Harder Than You Imagine.

No matter how hard you think it’s going to be, you really have no idea until you try it. My personal experience suggests that 10 out of 10 people who try high-rep leg training want to quit before the end of the first workout.

Your muscles just aren’t used to this. They don’t have the pain tolerance yet, and you aren’t used to working this far past failure.

It’s really a mind game, you against your instinct for self-preservation. Don’t let sensible thoughts intrude. Be purposefully masochistic and push through the burn, as long as it’s muscular pain, and not your spinal discs coming apart…

Breathing Properly Is Essential

The classic 20-rep squat programs placed a huge emphasis on deep breathing.

I want to optimistically subscribe to the theory that you’ve been breathing for quite some time all by yourself and you’re probably pretty good at it now. I hope you can be trusted to handle the whole air-in-the-lungs thing without some muscle nanny detailing the finer points. Right?

That said, when you’re pushing into post-failure exertion, you really do want to take at least two or three big breaths. It’s the only “rest” you get in the middle of the set afterall, so you need to make the most of it.

Full Recovery Is Not Optional

Try to keep in mind that the goal is to make your thighs big and meaty. It’s not for cutting. It’s not something you do in the middle of baseball season. There’s no functional benefit here. Size is the one and only goal.

In order to achieve that size, you need a lot more calories than usual. Whole milk was fine before the advent of potent supplements like Hydro Whey and Cluster Dextrin, the same way a horse and buggy was fine before we invented Lamborghinis. You’d be nuts not to take advantage of these new formulations. 

High-Rep Sum-up

The goal of this program is obvious enough: Gain a lot of size, and gain it ASAP.

The precautions aren’t quite as obvious, but I think most of our readers know what they’re getting into when they try something extreme. It’s hard. It hurts. It’s incompatible with performance-related training. It’s not for the newbie, and it’s not for the guy who’s cutting calories to get that summertime six-pack to sport on the beach.

You need a brass-filled nutsack to do this, and a lot of food and supplements to get the most out of it – none of which are deal breakers for most of you, I guess.

So the real caution concerns your health, particularly your lower-back health. Your back extensors are going to get fried, and your core muscles are going to sue you for violation of muscle-labor laws! If those muscles quit on you, your back is vulnerable to injury. But that’s why this program is for experienced lifters only. You have to know what your back feels like when your lumbar spine is in a safe, neutral position, and no matter how tired you get, you have to be cognizant of any changes to that position. If you don’t think you can do another rep safely, you have to back off. Period.

Quite a few giants of the iron game have used high-rep leg training safely and effectively for many years, and if you have the uevos for it, I highly recommend giving it a shot. If nothing else, you’ll realize what a serious workout is supposed to feel like, so you grow a pair.

Of good legs, of course.

Arnold once said: “Leg workouts simply have to be brutal to be effective. Normal workouts are hard enough, but if thighs happen to be a weak point in your physique, you have to be prepared to push yourself even more. If you’re doing it right, expect to get quite nauseated.

From famous bodybuilders to famous strength coaches, there’s one permeating truth when it comes to leg training: it’s gonna suck. And perhaps that’s why big muscular legs in your gym are as rare as small breasts in Los Angeles since the 80’s. BUT if you’ve got the “uevos”, we’ve got the methods to change that. Here are some of the most effective quad-building exercises and routines ever discovered.

The King of -quads- squats

Well, powerlifters sure know a whole lot about squatting. And their knowledge has carried over into sports performance training and bodybuilding. Yet that’s a double-edged sword, because powerlifters are all about maximal efforts, wide stances, a shortened range of motion, and low bar positions. Great for moving a mountain of plates, but definitely not that great for targeting quadriceps development. The “quad squat” is a whole different beast compared to the powerlifting squat. Ready? Brace yourself… it’s a front squat. Yeah, the bar is uncomfortable. Boo hoo. Get over it! The front squat position allows you to keep the torso as upright as possible, and that’s crucial for zeroing in on the quads. It also allows most lifters to more easily squat deeply. Use a narrow stance. This shifts tension to the quadriceps and off the glutes and hamstrings. There’s no complete lock-out. Squat up until you’re 2-3 inches away from fully extending the legs. Again, this is all about targeted tension. And it burns like Hell.

Because of all of the above, yes, you’re going to have to use a lighter weight. So set the ego aside and remember this is about hypertrophy, not breaking a 1RM to impress the Bros. Many experts believe that the quads require more time under tension (TUT) and higher reps to grow anyway. Elevate the heels on a couple of weight plates or, even better,a wedged board. This allows greater range of motion and a deeper squat if that’s an issue for you, plus it encourages you to push through your toes which gives you MUCH more quad activation. Try it, you’ll find out what I’m talking about. In other words: Front squat, narrow stance, no lock-out, lighter weight, heels elevated ( comfortably). A due note: There’s a psychological component here as well. This quad squat is perhaps the most ego-crushing lift in existence. Everything about it amounts to the lifter having to lighten the load considerably compared to a powerlifting squat. Some people just can’t handle that… and their big asses paired with underdeveloped quads reflect it. On chicks this looks sweet. Don’t be that guy. Thank you.

Leg Press like this? Seriously?

Sports performance coaches often sh*t on the leg press because it doesn’t transfer well to sport, plus squats are more effective anyway at building overall strength, something that’s obviously important to coaches who work mainly with performance athletes. But what about the leg press for bodybuilding? That’s a whole different story kids. The leg press is a great exercise for hypertrophy, especially for the quadriceps. Period. So what’s the best way to use the leg press for quad size? I’ll tell ya: medium to narrow foot position, placed low on the foot plate, and performed with high reps. High reps you said? What about “Go heavy or go home”? There’s a time and a place for that, but if your quads are only a little bigger than your calves, then it may be time to strip off some plates and go for some nauseating Time Under Tension. Sorry lazyasses.

Many lifters have a high percentage of slow-twitch fibers in their quadriceps. 

• With quads, you can go as high as 30 reps per set. There’ve been many pro-bodybuilders who’ve grown on this range reps per set.
• While not everyone’s fiber-make-up is the same – and while varied rep ranges are usually best – I’d say that if you lack quad size, then high reps may be the cure you’ve been looking for. Here’s a routine that puts all this info to work.
• Using a much lighter weight than normal, a full range of motion, and the narrow and low foot positions, do leg presses for two straight minutes, no rest. Remember, full-range means you go down until your quadriceps cover your chest.
• For each rep, extend your legs to 90% of lockout at most. Again, the key is to keep the tension on the muscle at all times.
• By the time you finish this exercise, you may want to cough up a lung or two. Or three. These are my words of encouragement for you.

Quad Rises. Wut?

This is the equivalent of the glute-ham raise for the quadriceps. While it seems deceptively easy at first glance, it can really burn those quads of yours when performed properly, leaving you limping for quite some time…

I bet you’re just dying to try it, right? Here’s how to do it:

• Start on your knees, with the trunk upright and in line with the upper legs. During the whole movement the trunk and upper thighs must be kept on the same line; this is the key to the effectiveness of this movement.
• Lower yourself backward under control – bringing your back toward your feet – while remembering to keep your trunk tight and in line with the upper legs during the whole movement. Lower yourself as low as you can, then come back up to the starting position by tensing your quads hard.
• At first you won’t need to add any weight to make this exercise hard. As you progress, you can hold a weight plate on your chest to increase the difficulty.
• Sounds easy? It’s brutal.

Add a “finisher”

A finisher is any movement you add to the end of your regular training session to “finish off” the muscles and further stimulate hypertrophy. It’s totally old-school and masochistic… and totally effective for quad growth. You just perform your regular heavy compound movements first, then finish off with this torture method:

The ski squat. You’ll think it’s easy at first, but you’ll think again by the end of it, guaranteed. Place your feet shoulder-width apart, about two feet out from the wall, and lean your back against the wall. Bend your knees to a partial-squat position. This is position one. After 10 seconds, lower down to position two, about two inches lower. After 10 more seconds, lower another two inches down to position three. You should be about thigh parallel by now. Use another two lower positions, with position five being about as far as you can bend at the knees. Most people have legs like Jell-O by this point. If you’re not: Extend each static position to 20 seconds, or come back up after you work your way down the wall.

Can you smell it? That’s PAIN seeping from your pores son. Leg training involves a mental effort almost as much as a physical one. This means forcing yourself to break down any inhibition or barrier.Knowing the exercises and routines is one thing. Putting them to work, with intense mental focus and eyeball-popping effort, is quite another. Are you ready?

You better be!

Nobody ever wants to experience a serious lifting injury, but many will anyway. The longer you stay in this game and the stronger you become, the greater the odds that at some point you’ll be faced with a serious injury. Due to my strength level and approach to training, I’ve suffered more muscle and tendon tears than just about any competitor I happen to know. Some of the injuries resulted in me being wheeled into an operating room for surgical repair and many others required extensive rehab. 

Most would say I’m lucky to still be fully functional, let alone still lifting very heavy. However, even with all of these injuries I continue to progress, and every year I’m bigger and stronger. This article is about how I managed to overcome these setbacks and how you can do the same, should the lifting demons strike you down with no mercy.

There are two major issues after a serious injury. The first is obviously the injury itself. The second and often more challenging is the psychological aspect of returning to training and competition after a serious injury.

A due disclaimer. I’m going to share with you what I’ve done and what’s worked well for me. I’m NOT advising you to go against your doctor’s advice.

The Physical Aspect Of a Bad Injury

For any soft tissue injury, the sooner you get up and moving (within reason of course) the better. If you’re fresh out of surgery and your injured extremity is in a cast or splint, obviously you need to wait until your doctor removes it.

Unfortunately, the majority of surgeons aren’t used to dealing with athletes. The typical patient is often an elderly or sedentary couch potato and usually in very poor health. While the histology of the cells doesn’t differ between an athlete and a sedentary person, the rehab process for a highly conditioned and highly motivated athlete is going to be markedly different. By a long shot.

The key is to carefully listen to your body. If your body tells you no, then listen. Failure to do so will simply result in re-injury and having to repeat the whole process. The very last thing you may desire.

NUMBER ONE – GET MOVING

The sooner you can begin moving the injured area the better. This will increase blood flow and begin to strengthen areas that have atrophied due to lack of use. The increased blood flow will also bring new nutrients into the injured area to assist with repair and carry waste products away.

In the early stage, your movement is going to be slow, controlled, and often through a limited range of motion. It’s important to progress slowly but steadily and once a full range of motion has been reestablished, resistance can (and should) be added incrementally.

When I tore my right quad I initially had a great deal of difficulty even walking; I couldn’t bend my leg more than a few degrees or support any weight. My first goal was to be able to bend my leg through a full range of motion. I didn’t enter any type of organized rehab program so I was tasked with figuring things out on my own.

What I came up with was positioning myself in the corner of two countertops. I’d face into the corner and support my body weight with my arms and then slowly lower myself as far as I could tolerate. Initially, I only moved a few inches, but every day I increased the range of motion until I reached the point where I could lower myself into a full squatting position.

Now I was ready to start adding resistance. At first, this was only my partial body weight; I’d assist myself with my arms by pushing or pulling on the countertops. I did this daily until I could do them without assistance.

Then I focused on increasing the number of reps I could do per set, progressing into multiple sets and reps until I felt it was time to get back under the bar. This initial process took me only a few weeks, but your results will vary based on the severity of the injury, individual pain tolerance, 

rehab experience, and motivation.

NUMBER TWO – ADD RESISTANCE

When adding resistance, the key is to do so in a slow, controlled, but progressive fashion while always listening to your body. To minimize the risk of re-injury, it’s crucial to recognize the signals your body is sending and know how to properly interpret them.

After training sessions, you need to be able to differentiate between the pain of normal muscular soreness from that of doing too much too soon and risking re-injury. A strong mind/body connection is a necessity here.

Resistance should be increased in small weekly increments until the point of being able to return to normal training is reached. For example, about a month after my quad tear in January of 2008, I was able to start squatting again with just an empty bar. This was followed by 135 lbs. for a few reps the next week, then 225 lbs. the week after, then 315 lbs. Etc.

After a few months, I was able to return to and then surpass my former training weights. The entire time I was listening very carefully to my body, and had it told me that I needed to back off or slow my progress, I would’ve done so. 

NUMBER THREE – Maintain A Healthy Lifestyle 

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle such as consuming nutritious food, staying hydrated, and taking proper rest along with adapting and modifying activities such as the use of sensitive devices can also play a vital role in the physical healing of injuries. It boosts the overall immunity of the body. 

You can achieve a healthy lifestyle without giving up on your bodybuilding journey by adding anabolic steroids to your bodybuilding cycle. When buying from a reliable store like UGFreak, these synthetic drugs enhance bone density and muscle strength by increasing muscle retention and oxygen transportation to all body parts or cells.

It results in a significant change in overall metabolic reaction, boost strength, and a noticeable increase in the immunity of the users which reduces the risk of muscle or bone and joint injuries during intense workouts, sports, and weightlifting. 

The Psychological Process Matters Just As Much

For some, this isn’t a challenge, but for many, this is where the real war is waged if they’re to return to and exceed their pre-injury strength and size. There have been many champions who’ve had their careers ended overnight due to injury. Here’s how to overcome the fear of injury and start breaking new ground as quickly as possible.

First, you must believe in your ability to recover fully. From the second you suffer the injury, you must see this as simply a bump in the road and a minor irritation, nothing more. Don’t give the injury any more significance than it’s due. This is simply another challenge to overcome on your way to achieving your goals.

RATIONALIZATION

If you have trouble seeing injuries this way, there are several strategies to help you achieve this mindset.

The first is rationalization. Invoke your inner Mr. Spock and look at injuries from a rational, logical point of view. Recognize that many athletes have overcome similar and often much more severe injuries than you and have returned to competition to exceed their pre-injury bests.

I know a powerlifter who crushed his thoracic vertebrae while squatting and another who needed metal rods inserted in his lumbar spine, and both came back to squat more than ever. Another powerlifter and strongman tore both of his patella tendons off and after being told by doctors that he’d be lucky to ever walk again, came back to squat over 1100 lbs. No shit.

Considering that, can you really look at whatever injury you may be facing and tell yourself that it’s not possible to come back better than ever?

VISUALIZATION

Returning to whatever it was that caused the injury can be daunting. I know more than one elite-level powerlifter that got injured under a big squat and was never able to mentally conquer the fear of that happening again. Every time they tried, all they could think about was the injury and how it felt when it happened.

This is where visualization can be of great use. When returning to what caused the injury, being able to change what you see in your mind is key. You need to practice visualization until the images in your mind are as real as what you see with your eyes. Then you can move onto recreating your injury scenario, this time envisioning yourself conquering the event without injury.

Granted, this sounds easier than it really is, but with enough practice and repetition it’s very achievable. This is my go-to technique when trying to break plateaus and it can be effectively used to change your view of past events and conquer your fears.

HAVE NO FEAR

Never let fear take control. Fear holds so many back from ever reaching their true potential and it can be a huge obstacle when dealing with injuries. You must train yourself to control your mind and realize that fear is self-created, and as such you have the power to destroy it as well.

Recognize that fear comes from within. That’s why many can experience the same scenario and each has a different reaction to it. Anything that we generate we can also control. For example, when I competed in my younger years I’d get very nervous and allow that nervousness to turn to fear. By the time it was time to compete, I was so scared I’d already lost.

Time after time I learned how to control this nervous energy and turn it into focused aggression. In time this nervous energy went from being my biggest enemy to my strongest ally. Remember, anything internally generated is at our command. You only need to learn how to give the orders.

What you should never forget

Despite suffering more than my share of injuries, I still don’t take them lightly, nor do I suggest you do either. At all! But I refuse to give them any power over me psychologically or get between my goals and me.

This is what to do when suffering an injury:

Get up and get moving as soon as possible.

Work on reestablishing a full range of motion.

Once ROM is back, progress to adding resistance.

Increase the weight on a weekly basis in small increments, all the while listening closely to your body.

Regarding the psychological aspect of injury rehabilitation:

Use visualization to help you overcome specific fears and learn to control your emotions.

Make those emotions bend to your will and learn to change fear into focused energy.

Realize that others have been through similar situations or worse and came back to be better than ever and there’s no reason you can’t do the same.

Soft tissue injuries are a pain (pardon the pun), but they don’t have to end your lifting career. Remember, injuries are just small bumps in the road on your way to achieving your goals.

Be tougher than Life and always bounce back.

When you aren’t gaining muscle or losing fat as fast as you should be, you know you need to look for holes in your training or your diet. Pretty obvious stuff, right?

But there’s something else that can dramatically – and I mean dramatically – affect your muscle-building and fat-burning progress: STRESS.

Take a guy who’s hitting it hard in the gym, getting his peri-workout feedings, and making good gains. Now toss in a soul-sucking girlfriend/wife, a dickwad of a boss, and a daily traffic jam. The same dude’s gains will most likely damn near screech to a halt. Here are a few strategies to beat stress before it can catabolize an ounce of your precious iron-earned lean body mass.

I guess you want to be leaner, right? How about getting more muscular? Well, I can help.

Here’s the thing: What you need most likely has nothing to do with set/rep schemes, or the fact that your glutes aren’t activated enough.

What you really need to do is… relax!

There’s probably no bigger cause of decreased muscle gain and fat loss than stress physiology. Whether somewhere in the HPA axis, or further up in the hippocampus, stress physiology can damage virtually everything: the immune system, endocrine system, neurological system, and gastrointestinal system.

Stress has been extensively shown to:

Suppress pituitary function (LH, TSH)

Decrease the conversion of T4 to T3

Increase liver burden (and thus metabolism of hormones)

Decrease binding of thyroid hormone to receptors

Decrease your body’s ability to use leptin

Decrease secretory IgA (your immune system’s first line of defense)

Influence inflammatory messengers (cytokines)

Walking around all day stressed out is wreaking havoc on your system. If you could de-stress a little bit, then it would be a whole lot easier to drop 10 pounds of lard or add 10 pounds of muscle.

Easier said than done? Actually, it’s not. Here are some surefire ways to help you reduce stress so you can more easily build muscle and drop body fat.

Drink Green Tea

Green tea is often touted for its potential weight loss and anticancer properties due to its powerful antioxidants. However, antioxidants aside, green tea is also a key component of your anti-stress toolbox.

Several studies show that drinking green tea is associated with lower depressive symptoms. Another larger study found that drinking five cups of green tea per day made men 20% less likely to suffer signs of psychological distress compared to people who drank 0-1 cups per day. 

What’s the secret sauce in green tea if it isn’t the antioxidants? Theanine.

Theanine is an amino acid found in relatively high concentrations in green tea (and also black and oolong teas). Theanine can readily cross the blood-brain barrier and has been shown to stimulate dopamine, serotonin, and GABA while decreasing norepinephrine levels. 

One researcher best described the effects of theanine as “toning down” the CNS. In addition to green tea’s effects on stress reduction, you’ll also find great benefits from taking a break, unplugging, and drinking decaffeinated tea several times per day. This compound makes you relaxed WITHOUT feeling sleepy or tired.

If drinking green tea several times a day in no way can fit your schedule, at least get some Theanine capsules.

Limit Alcohol and Caffeine 

The use of alcohol in drinks and caffeine in different forms is a norm but their excessive usage can badly damage your physical and mental health such as causing stress. 

Alcohol causes stress by multiple means. 

It can disturb neurotransmitters in the brain. This disturbance can lead to mood swings such as anxiety and depression. It results in an imbalance of crucial chemicals that regulate stress. 

Alcohol also causes dehydration through excessive urine production. It stimulates fatigue and irritability which greatly add to the stress. 

Many people think alcohol causes sleep while it disrupts sleep. Poor quality sleep adds to stress. 

Just like Alcohol, Caffeine also contributes to stress and mood swings in different ways that are listed below; 

It greatly stimulates the body’s fight or flight hormones, Adrenaline, and Cortisol which trigger restlessness or stress with increasing heartbeat rate. 

Overuse of Caffeine always causes anxiety, nervousness, and panic attacks, the alternative form of stress. 

Physical discomforts like stomach aches and gastrointestinal issues due to massive and prolonged caffeine consumption also cause stress. 

Therefore, limiting the use of both caffeine and alcohol, taking a nutritious diet, consuming more water, and using steroids like Anadrol to reduce Cortisol production is essential to avoid any stress. 

Sleep Better, if you can’t sleep more

IME it’s very rare to have a client that consistently sacks out for eight to ten hours a night. Lack of sleep and poor sleep quality greatly affect your health and your body’s ability to deal with stress. It’s a huge form of stress itself.

While eight hours is commonly touted as the recommended amount of sleep we should be getting, it may be the quality of your sleep that’s more important than the quantity. So, if you can’t always get eight hours make sure what you do get is very restful. 

It’s been shown that hard-training athletes (not unlike those who are doing extra cardio with their usual lifting) have sleep disturbances in part related to higher nighttime epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine concentrations.

As mentioned above, drinking green tea may help combat increased norepinephrine levels. So a cup of decaffeinated green tea (or at least a tablet of Theanine) before bed is recommended if you’re one of the sixty million Americans who have some sort of sleeping problem.

In addition to the aftereffects of poor sleep, getting quality deep sleep is also important for what happens hormonally during the course of the night. While engaged in periods of deep sleep, your body’s cortisol secretions are decreased while growth hormone levels rise, allowing your body to heal and recover.

A simple way to optimize sleep for muscle growth? Just get to bed a bit earlier. Turn off the TV, shut down your computer, make sure your room is completely dark, and try to string together fourteen nights of high-quality sleep to get your body back on track. A bit of Melatonin would also definitely help (3-5mg). It’s safe, non-addicting, and promotes deep restful sleep with zero drowsiness the morning after.

BREATH!

Did you know that slowing our breathing helps us calm down and that taking a few minutes to do breathing exercises can help relax our mind and bodies — making it easier for us to cope with stress and anxiety?  We also know that continued shallow breathing can actually do the opposite, keeping our bodies in a cycle of stress and affecting everything from our mental to physical health. When we are stressed, we tend to close down in a number of ways and, while this can feel protective, it often deprives us of needed emotional, cognitive, and physical resources. It can even make us more likely to get sick.

Here is a very simple breathing exercise you can do to relieve stress anywhere and anytime. Try using it daily, whether you are clearly feeling stressed or not. Breathing fully, whether you are stressed or not, is great for your body and mind. It is also easier to use breathing techniques whenever you feel impatient or frustrated or in moments when you feel uptight, overwhelmed, stressed, or anxious if you have practiced when you are not stressed.

Before you get started, keep these tips in mind:

Get comfortable. You can lie on your back in bed or on the floor with a pillow under your head and knees. Or you can sit in a chair with your shoulders, head, and neck supported against the back of the chair.

Breathe in through your nose. Let your belly fill with air.

Breathe out through your nose.

Place your hands on your belly.

Don’t force it. This can make you feel more stressed.

Wear comfortable clothes if possible.

The Box Breath Technique

This technique is named for the 4-sided approach in which each “side” or step is the same amount of time, as if you were visually creating a box with your breath.

Exhale all the air from your lungs while counting to four.

Hold for a count of four, keeping your lungs completely empty.

Inhale a deep, full breath for a count of four.

Keep your lungs full for a count of four.

Do this for at least four rounds and reduce the number of rounds if you start to feel light headed.

If you can’t reduce stress, Enhance your Ability to Adapt

Rhodiola rosea is from a class of herbs known as adaptogens due to their ability to help the human body “increase resistance to a variety of chemical, biological, and physical stressors.” 

In the case of rhodiola rosea, it helps you adapt to both stress and fatigue. Much of the initial research regarding rhodiola rosea was carried out in Russia, as it was readily used medicinally to fight fatigue starting in 1969. And in 2001 Denmark officially classified the SHR-5 extract from rhodiola rosea as an herbal medicinal product.

How exactly will rhodiola rosea help you? It can help you function better while under stressful conditions. This is different from any of the other strategies that we’ve looked at so far as it doesn’t directly help you fight stress. It helps you to be better when stressed. This can be just as important, because stress leads to a decrease in performance. Because you’re stressed you have a limited capacity for dealing with your poor performance. The end result is that you get more stressed. It’s a vicious cycle. Rhodiola rosea will help stop that hateful cycle.

readily used medicinally to fight fatigue starting in 1969. And in 2001 Denmark officially classified the SHR-5 extract from rhodiola rosea as an herbal medicinal product.

An added benefit to rhodiola rosea supplementation is that its effects can sometimes be seen within 30 minutes of taking the supplement – this is a very practical benefit as it can be used at a moment’s notice. 

If  you’re frustrated with your physique and are stumped by your lack of progress in spite of your best efforts, then you need to start focusing on de-stressing.

Take all of these strategies and put them into action for 2-3 weeks. You’ll be happy that you did, and maybe even shocked by the sudden improvements in performance and physique enhancement!