If you're reading this article, you're probably to the point where you've done your basic one-exercise per body part style of workout along with adding deadlifts to the start of the workout to get the anabolic effects of Testosterone and Growth Hormone. And, just like with any other routine, you plateau! Not to worry, this is the body's natural response, as it can adapt very well to anything it has to go through. But as we've discussed in previous articles, the easiest way to break through a plateau is to use one of our tools. In this case, we're going to increase the volume again, and start incorporating a split routine.
A split routine is where you work different body parts on different days. There are many different split routines that can be done, but since you're just starting with split routines we're going to stick to the most basic one, which is upper body and lower body. The reason we're incorporating splits is that we want to add volume to each muscle group. But of course, if we add volume and still try to do a full-body workout at the same time, we're going to be in the gym for HOURS. I'm assuming none of you want that, I know I sure as hell didn't like working out for 4 hours when I was still learning how the body works. So what we're going to do is add to the exercises that were outlined in Part 1 of this series. These exercises below are what you will ADD to the single exercise you're already doing for that muscle group.
Also, now that we're adding more exercises to each body part, we want to add exercises that actually give us benefits. We want to work other portions of the strength curve in these muscles to elicit more growth and to get a nice, full development across each muscle. For example, in addition to the barbell curls that I'm doing, would it be beneficial to start doing standing dumbbell curls with it? Sure, it'd be good if one bicep is lagging behind, but if not there's no point because I'm still working the strongest portion of the strength curve. Whether you're doing a standing barbell, e-z bar, cable, or dumbbell curl, you're still working the strongest portion of the strength curve. We want to work the shortened and lengthened portions of the muscles too. For this part of the series, we'll add on exercises that work the lengthened portion of the muscles. The only exception will be lower back since you're already working it hard from the deadlifts and the back extensions.
Dumbbell Bench (Chest)
I recommend doing dumbbell chest press in order to hit the lengthened portion of the pectoral muscle
When you're doing the chest press machine, you feel the tension everywhere, but with a dumbbell press you only have gravity as the force acting against you since there are no cables involved to redirect the force
That means when you're holding the dumbells at the bottom of the rep, you're feeling the most tension as gravity is weighing down on you and because your shoulder joint is at a 90-degree angle to your chest.
At the top of the rep, it actually gets easier because your shoulder joint becomes parallel to the chest, meaning you'll pretty much feel zero tension
In order to keep tension at the top of the rep, make sure that you are slightly pulled out to the side. This puts greater tension on the chest than just pushing upward
I recommend turning your wrists to where the inside of your hand is facing the ceiling as this keeps gravity weighing down on the inside portion of your arms, which will keep the chest working
Look at the picture as an example. See how the guy's wrists are pulled to the outside? That's how you engage the pec. However, if you were to keep your arms straight up or to the inside, you'd start flexing the outer portion of your arm, and thus taking tension off the chest
Cable Lateral Raise (Shoulders)
In order to work the lengthened portion of your shoulder, you'll actually have to use cables. The lengthened portion of our shoulder is actually when your arms are rested at your side, with the shortest portion being when your arms are stretched out away from you 90 degrees to gravity.
Since there's no way to work the lengthened portion of the shoulder with just a dumbbell, we'll have to use a cable to redirect the force.
Go over to the cable machine and set the cable to lower on the pole, where it matches the height of your hand off of the ground. Step out away from the cable keeping it straight, then to the lateral raise.
It'll be hardest in the stretched position since the cable will be 90 degrees to your arm at that point, gradually getting easier as you raise your arm. You can see how the cable is 90 degrees to him in the photo
Be sure the shoulder you're working is facing AWAY from the cable like he has it
Overhead Tricep Extension
This can either be done with a dumbbell or a cable, but I personally think it'll be easier for you with a cable so you can choose the attachment you want in order to get a good grip
Put your elbows next to your head, and try to reach down and touch your lower back
You should feel a big stretch in the tricep, meaning you've found the lengthened position
That'll be your starting position, and then you simply push your arms up
Don't lock your triceps much at the top of the rep, as this will take tension off of them
Be sure to squeeze the tricep BEFORE moving the weight
Since you are in a very stretched position, it'll be harder to contract the muscle when your first do this exercise, it'll take practice!
Lat pulldown
You'll want to use the standard bar and cable for this one. Using a machine pulldown will NOT have the same effect, as the machines to not isolate certain portions of the strength curve very well
Your lats are fully lengthened when your arms are raised over your head
think of trying to extend your arms as far as you can over your head, like you're trying to touch the ceiling
The lats can be tricky to activate in this position since you're pretty weak here, but there are a few things you can do to ensure they contract
retract your shoulders before pulling down
Think of pulling your arms back while keeping them straight
after you retract, slightly push your hands into the bar, which will have a similar effect as to pushing your arms down when you're doing the seated cable row
You can also think about pulling the bar apart as you pull down
the exact opposite of the chest. in this scenario, you want tension on the OUTSIDE of your arms in order to work the lat, since the lat is the antagonist of the pectoral muscle
And of course, sit up tall! DO NOT bend backward like most people, as this engages a different part of the lat. Keep tall to ensure the lengthened part of the lat is being worked, just like with this guy in the photo
Incline Dumbbell Curl (Biceps)
This is a great exercise to do in general, as it helps give a full look to the biceps.
You'll want to put the bench at an angle between 30-45 degrees from the ground
This will ensure you're getting a big stretch in the bicep and hitting that lengthened portion of the strength curve hard
Just like with the triceps, initiate the movement with the bicep, FOCUS HARD on this and think about turning your wrist outward when pulling up the weight, as external rotation in the wrist, supination, activates the bicep
Also, focus keeping your wrists facing straight at the bottom of the rep, just like in the photo. Don't' turn your hands inward when you bring the weight down to your sides, as this will take tension off the bicep
Leg Press (For Quads)
These are one of the biggest muscles in your body, so you'll need to start hitting them hard early on. Nothing complements a leg extension like the leg press. I recommend the incline leg press, but if you only have a horizontal leg press in your gym that should be fine.
Generally, when you do leg press you see people just try to move the weight, and not focus at all on what muscle they want to work in their legs. Their butts always roll off the seat, and then never go down all the way. Plus, they pause at the top, where the rep is easiest
So, in order to focus on the quads with the leg press, you want to keep your feet closer together. Then, as your press into the pad, keep your foot flat and push hard into the pad in order to create tension. You can even practice that before you do the leg press by sitting down on a bench and trying to push your feet into the floor as hard as you can
As the saying goes, practice makes perfect! And this will teach you to contract your quads hard when you're doing either a squat or a leg press
As you press into the ground, try to keep your deeps outside of your feet. Dumping the knees to the inside of your feet is the fastest way to get injured and tear up the knee joint. Plus, keeping your knee to the outside will further activate the quad
Mimick that on the leg press by bringing the weight down and pausing at the bottom. Don't go too low to the point where you can't feel the tension on the quads anymore. Focus on keeping your butt shoved into the seat to put more tension into your quads.
When you pause at the bottom of the rep, put tension through your feet and keep your knees to the outside
Once you feel the quad, then you can press
I know you may think I'm really OCD, but the leg press and squat are complicated movements as you can isolated different muscles with these movements
I'd recommend starting with lightweight so that you can learn how to contract the muscle properly. If you can't contract the quad correctly, and you throw on heavyweight, you're in for trouble
Then of course, don't lock your knees at the top, keep a slight bend
Horizontal Leg Press (Hamstring-Based)
Since you're already hitting the lengthened portion of the hamstring with seated leg curls, you'll want to hit them a different way. Lying leg curl won't work, as this does a better job hitting the shortened portion of the range
Just like with quads, you'll need to jump into the fire with hamstrings as they need a powerful stimulus
In order to work the hamstrings on a leg press, your feet need to be wider apart and need to be up higher on the pad. This will make it easier to drive your heel down while you're pressing into the pad, ensuring that the hamstring does the work.
To practice, sit down on a bench with your feet on the ground. While keeping your feet flat on the ground, pull your heels towards you. See how you activate the hamstring?
This is what you'll do while pressing the weight on the leg press to keep them activated
Plus, since your feet are wider apart and higher up, you'll also being moving the hip joint more than the knee joint, which also helps to activate the hamstring more
When you first start, it can be really hard to do more than a few reps while driving your heels down
When you get to the point where you can't press anymore while driving your feet down, just focus on driving your feet down during the negative when the weight is coming back towards you. Plus, you should be emphasizing the negative anyway with ALL exercises
Seated Calf Raise
You're actually hitting the middle and shortened portions of the strength curve with standing calf raises.
In order to hit the lengthened portion, we have to bring our foot behind our knee, which helps stretch the calf. To make this easier and less prone to injury, we use the seated calf raise as our knees are already bent when we sit down, and then from there we just have to stretch the calf at the bottom of the rep
Still focusing on pressing into your big toe as the top of the rep, while thinking about pulling your heels up into your shins when you begin the rep
Leg raises
With leg raises you can do them hanging, on a captain's chair (the chair with no bottom), or off the ground.
Since we're trying to work that lengthened portion, we'll be doing them off the ground.
Keep your spine flat on the ground, then lift your legs up while pushing your hands into the ground
This will drive more force into your abs, rather than have your body bounce up as use momentum to complete the rep
Enforce the negative hard when coming down, then leave your feet slightly elevated off the ground to keep the tension going
If this is too hard on your abs, you can make it easier by lying flat on a bench with the lower portion of your legs dangling at the end. Then, pull your knees towards your chest by keeping them together
Since only half of your legs will be sticking out away from you, there's less tension, making it easier if you don't have the core strength yet for the full leg raise
Similar to the picture, but focus on pulling your knees towards your chest instead of your feet
And there you go! Now you've added one exercise to each muscle group. It may not seem like much, but if you keep focusing putting tension into those muscles with each exercise, you'll get a big pump and massive growth! Quality over quantity when it comes to training. It'll take a little longer to plateau from this as your muscles are having to do more work, but when you do, I'll have something waiting for you in the next part of this series.
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