50 Muscle Building Tips - Part 1
50 Muscle Building Tips Part 1
Tricks of the Trade from the Pros
It’s easy to lump all pro bodybuilders into the same category: a bunch of genetic freaks who were able to build physiques that are simply unattainable for the average man. But having spoken with hundreds of them over the years, I have found that there are tremendous variations among them and how they respond to different styles of training, different exercises and nutritional tactics to become the amazing muscular specimens they are. And despite what the cynics out there may think, the pros do have valuable advice that can help the rest of us gain muscle mass and be the best that we can be. Here, I’ve delved back into the vaults to bring you 50 tips and secrets from a wide range of pro bodybuilders over the past decade and beyond. Among them, you will be certain to find more than a few that will be key to improving your physique.
1. Branch Warren
After warm-ups, which should not be to failure, obviously, I like to take all my sets to failure. Because I train that way, I don’t do as many work sets as other guys might. Rarely will I do more than three sets of an exercise. Often, I will take the final set beyond failure with some forced reps or a drop set.
2. Jay Cutler
Many have described my form as sloppy. But like I say, it’s about stimulating the muscle and doing what you as an individual have to do in order to make that happen. If “textbook” form does that for you, great. If you have to use some swing to feel the muscle fibers firing, then that’s OK, too. In the end, all that really matters is what gets results for you.
3. Dorian Yates
I consider the type of training I did, and still advocate, to be high-intensity training. So, what is HIT? Anyone can have their own definition and keep it as specific and narrow as they like, but to me, HIT simply acknowledges that the relative intensity of exercise is the key trigger to muscle growth. This extremely intense training needs to be balanced with rest and recovery, so respect has to be given to limiting training frequency and volume.
4. Evan Centopani
If you have the shoulder mobility, I think behind-neck presses are great. I always did them behind the neck but at this point, if I do that, it puts too much stress on my rotator cuffs. I just don’t have that mobility anymore. If you can do them and they’re comfortable, I think they’re even better than in front of the head, as they hit more of the whole shoulder.
5. Kai Greene
Don’t make the mistake of going super heavy on leg extensions, at least not if you are doing them first. Lately, it’s come to light that heavy leg extensions can be hazardous to the knees, which is ironic when you consider that they are used so frequently in physical therapy for knee injuries. It’s all about blood flow and getting a light pump in the quads, before I head over to the squat rack. Squats are the main event on leg day.
6. David Henry
I have a new exercise for you to try for triceps, that I guarantee you’ll feel working right away. This is from DC Training, and it’s triceps extensions on a Smith machine. You do these seated, and start with the bar behind your head. Then, extend up and squeeze the triceps.
7. Cedric McMillan
Back in the day, it was hard for me to train my back effectively because my arms and rear delts did all the work. My back was hardly doing anything. I used to try to muscle the weight down, without understanding how to pull from my lats. I read this article once that said, “Imagine your arms and hands together are hooks that connect to your lats, and pull the weight down through the arms, not with the arms.”
8. Roelly Winklaar
Need a thicker upper chest, fast? Try this for eight weeks:
Incline Dumbbell Flyes 6 sets of 16, 8, 12, 6, 10 X 5 reps
Guillotine Presses* 6 sets of 16, 8, 12, 6, 10 X 5 reps
Incline Dumbbell Presses 6 sets of 16, 8, 12, 6, 10 X 5 reps
*Flat barbell bench press, but lowering to the throat— always use a good spotter!
9. Neil Hill
An excellent way to hit the hams and glutes properly is a high-rep set of leg presses, breaking the set down into three distinct parts, and changing the location of your feet on the platform for each. Begin with your feet in the middle of the platform, and do 15 smooth repetitions. Then, move your feet up about two or three inches, and continue on for another 15. Finally, arrange your feet high up on the platform— in many cases, depending on the machine, your toes will be up off the top a couple of inches— and grind out another 15 reps, for a total of 45 reps.
10. Toney Freeman
I have 23-inch arms now, and I got them by using half the weight I used on biceps and triceps exercises when I had 21-inch arms. I won’t use a weight unless I can feel the muscle working, and neither should you. Train for yourself, not to impress anyone else in the gym or to conform to what you think is expected of you.
11. Steve Kuclo
In my younger days, I did a lot of very heavy squats and deadlifts, but now I stay away from doing them for low reps. I am a professional bodybuilder, not a powerlifter, so I have no business doing anything less than eight reps on those, ever. I still do the movements, but with more reps— in the 10-20 range.
12. Todd Jewell
Being taller and having longer limbs requires the need for a greater amount of force to move a certain amount of weight. Exercises like pull-ups will be more difficult for the guy with longer limbs. Being a taller guy also means carrying more weight (hopefully!), which only adds to the difficulty. Don’t be too proud to use an assisted pull-up machine. I have found that because of my height, deadlifts target mostly my spinal erectors. I have never done deadlifts regularly. I just don’t get much out of them.
13. Gustavo Badell
Understand that everyone, even Mr. Olympia competitors, have to deal with the adjustment process of switching modes from off-season to pre-contest. You will lose some strength. You need to be mentally strong and realize it’s all part of the process of losing body fat.
14. Seth Feroce
Arms are a bitch … if you don’t have them to begin with! I wasn’t blessed with huge arms, so I have to work my ass off to make them grow. I have found that alternating two weeks heavy, then one week with more volume, really promotes a much denser look
15. Mark Alvisi
One thing I can tell you is that if you eat clean instead of going overboard on junk like so many guys do, you should be able to hold pretty decent condition and make gains at the same time. That’s even truer if you keep a moderate amount of cardio in your program.
16. Fouad Abiad
My leg routines change all the time, but here is one quad workout for you that will get the job done:
Leg Press* 10 sets X 25 reps
*Start with two plates and increase by one plate for every set.
17. Evan Centopani
Rest time between sets of heavy deadlifts and squats will be significantly longer than rest between sets of dumbbell preacher curls! It depends on how long I need to catch my breath. We want the muscle to fail, not your breathing. Take the amount of time you need so that you can perform at 100 percent on each set, and don’t worry about the clock so much.
18. Kevin English
Try this out for chest:
Incline Barbell or Dumbbell Press 4 sets X 12-8 (pyramid up in weight, down in reps)
Flat Barbell or Dumbbell Press 4 sets X 12-8
Incline or Flat Dumbbell Flyes 4 sets X 10-12
Switch up using either barbells or dumbbells every few workouts, and also alternate between starting with incline presses or flat presses. Every once in a while, you can also put the flyes in between the presses for another change of pace.
19. Dallas McCarver
It drives me crazy when guys tell me they just “go by instinct” in the gym. Again, as with their nutrition, they’re just winging it with no plan. I like to say, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” I log all my workouts, just like I do my meals. This allows you to look over what you’ve done, and make changes when you aren’t making progress toward your goals. I like to rotate exercises, volume, rep ranges and so on.
20. Hide Yamagishi
I do back one day, and shoulders the next day. The rear delts do assist in things like rows and pulldowns on back day, but I don’t feel they work so hard that they are fatigued enough to need a day to recover. I actually feel like doing back “warms them up” to train them the next day with shoulders. If your rear delts are really lagging, you might want to put at least a couple of days between back and shoulder days, and train them with both body parts. As for traps, I do them on shoulder day.
21. David Henry
One main exercise you should be focusing on for triceps is dips, preferably weighted. It’s a compound movement that has beefed up many thousands of horseshoes over the years. Don’t waste your time doing sissy kickbacks or rope extensions.
22. Johnnie Jackson
When you’re not genetically blessed in the quads, like a Branch Warren or a Ben Pakulski, you have to get creative and start trying new things. One thing that made a huge difference for me was to use a more narrow foot stance on squats and leg presses, to put more stress on the outer quads. Building that sweep is what really matters, because it’s what gives your quads the illusion of being huge.
23. Jose Raymond
I think front squats will improve your performance on regular squats, due to the fact that it will help increase direct strength in the quads, and will also help strengthen the back muscles and give you better overall balance. I don’t ever do them in the same workout, though. It is just too taxing, and I don’t like to leave anything on the floor. I usually alternate front and back squats for each workout.
24. Jason Huh
I have a unique way of performing my reps. The key point to remember is that you are striving for continuous, controlled tension in the stretch position of the exercise, with as much weight as possible, for a minimum of eight reps. There is absolutely no bouncing or jerking, and avoid a 100 percent stretch position— to keep stress off your tendons and on the muscle, where we want it.
25. Victor Martinez
If your shoulders are really weak, you can add some lateral raises after chest and some rear laterals after back, plus do your full shoulder workout on its own day. Be sure to work hard on seated dumbbell presses and military presses. Those two exercises are the ones that will add the most mass.