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NOVEMBER 2014 VOLUME 75 | NO.11

Features

60 nothing can stop Dwayne Johnson

The star of Hercules has cemented his film and wrestling legacy by taking every defeat and turning it into a victory.

74 the 100-Day challenge—part 2

Keep growing your trophy body parts with month two of Nick Mitchell’s hardcore arms and chest programme.

90 action hero workout

An exclusive excerpt from Dolph Lundgren’s new fitness manual.

100 whey better

These whey recipes will make you rethink this indispensable supplement.

110 engineering the perfect boDy

Prioritise your lifts for maximal gains in strength and size.

124 born to win

Fitness star Karina Skowronska won’t be happy until she’s the best in the world.

132 the great vegetarian Debate Is it possible to eat green and still be a muscle-building machine?

140 training champions

The Bitcon brothers, who coach champions in football and rugby league, talk about the contrasting demands of the two sports.

152 kaatsu training The science behind this controversial training method.

160 the best one-kettlebell workout

Got only one kettlebell or dumbbell? It’s more than enough to build muscle.

165 best built man

Secrets of the most aesthetically pleasing bodybuilder ever.

172 boDyweight street workout

How to perform the one-arm pull-up.

6

MUSCLE & FitnESS

“OUR VERSION OF HERCULES IS BASED ON THE POWER OF BELIEVINg IN yOURSELF.” —Dwayne Johnson

Olly Foster, Reflex Nutrition Athlete

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NOVEMBER 2014 Sections 16 EDGE

The Expendables ’ Ronda Rousey; how to treat wrist pain; and Aussie knockout Nicky Whelan.

124

26 TRAIN

James Grage works calves; master the dumbbell snatch; and abs for guys who hate ab work.

50 EAT

Clean bulking made easy and Robert Irvine does Cuban steak.

176 SUPPS

The latest in supplement and product news.

181 EXPERT

Fitness model Rob Riches on getting shredded; bench press master Ali Jawad shares his top tips; the key moves for building great shoulders; and does cold weather cause weight gain?

Regulars 12

Welcome

14

Arnold’s Letter

206 Last Set 208 Hot Bod

On the cOver: DWAyNE JohNsoN by PER bERNAL

110

8

MUSCLE & FitnESS

152

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UK ediTiON

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We assume no responsibility for returning unsolicited material, including but not limited to photographs, artwork, manuscripts and letters. Membership on the Editorial Advisory Board does not imply endorsement of any product or service advertised in this magazine. Views expressed in advertisements and editorials are not necessarily those of Muscle & Fitness or the Editorial Advisory Board. Reader discretion is advised. Please consult your doctor before beginning any exercise or diet programme, or when making changes in an existing programme if you have any doubts about your health status. Every care is taken to assure the accuracy of the information in M&F, but no responsibility can be accepted for the consequences of actions based on the advice contained herein. Weider Publishing Ltd makes every effort to ensure that the advertising contained in M&F is derived from respectable sources. It does not, however, assume responsibility for the advertisements, nor any claims and representations made therein, nor the quality or delivery of the products/services themselves. Editorial articles relating to food supplementation and sports nutrition reproduced in this issue of Muscle & Fitness, are for information purposes only and are not intended to solicit or otherwise promote any commercialised product containing the mentioned supplements. Muscle & Fitness is distributed on an international basis. To the extent permitted by law, Weider Publications LLC and its affiliates: Weider Publishing Ltd, Weider Publishing Italia Srl and Mediafit SARL, do not accept liability for the effects of reported supplements or products, legal or illegal or any loss, injury or damage caused by their use. It is the responsibility of the individual to abide by the laws and dosage allowances specific to their country of residence. Always consult a doctor before commencing supplementation or changing dosages. Some supplements may not work effectively outside specific dosage ranges and may potentially cause harm if taken in excess. Not all supplements, combinations of supplements, or dose ranges of supplements may be suitable, safe or effective for everybody.

The reigning and four-time CrossFit Games champ

greg gLASSmAN

Co-founder of CrossFit, the world’s fastest-growing fitness movement

Jim mANiON

Chairman of the IFBB pro league and president of the US National Physique Committee

NiCK miTCheLL

One of Britain’s leading personal trainers who owns the worldwide Ultimate Performance gym business upfitness.com

miKe O’heArN

Former TV gladiator who has won titles in bodybuilding, powerlifting and judo

dAVid SANdLer

One of the world’s leading strength and conditioning coaches

Tim ZiegeNfUSS

Sports nutrition and exercise scientist who is chief executive of the Center for Applied Health Sciences

Copyright © (2014) Weider Publications, LLC. Published under license from Weider Publications, LLC. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission. ‘Muscle & Fitness’ is a trademark of Weider Publications, Llc. and may not be used or reproduced without the permission of Weider Publications, LLC.

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ROLLING WITH THE ROCK Why Dwayne Johnson is our man for all seasons

12

MUSCLE & FitnESS

ROCKIN’ IT Johnson was so excited to be on our May cover, he tweeted this.

regular Performance Nutrition column details some fascinating new research on how training in the cold can give you the munchies. For all you Brits that dream of training in the Californian heat, fitness model extraordinaire Rob Riches, who has moved to Los Angeles, gives some tips on making it big in America and staying shredded—and we mean seriously shredded. Rob’s Ultra Lean Nutrition Manual is one of a bunch of great books we’ve published recently in association with

fitness experts. Titles include Bikini Body Fitness, Supersize Your Strength, Kettlebell Workouts and Superfoods, to name but a few. With Christmas approaching, they’re worth checking out at muscle-fitness.co.uk/digital.

John Plummer Editorial Director

C o u r t e s y o f D W ay n e J o h n s o n

Few men ever make the cover of Muscle&Fitness and only a select few have ever made it twice. So it says everything about Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson that he’s now done it two times this year alone. Johnson is no ordinary cover star. As The Rock, he is one of the greatest wrestlers of all time. As himself, he’s one of the world’s biggest box office stars. Like our executive editor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, his appeal knows no bounds. Yet to us, Johnson, like Arnold, is first and foremost a gym rat. Look at his physique: it’s hard to believe this is a man in his 40s. So we’re proud to have him on our cover again and thrilled that he agreed to talk to us about training. We’ve got his full body-part breakdown and his seven-meal-a-day diet in a 12-page Rock special. I don’t know whether Johnson has tried Kaatsu training but I imagine quite a few people will be giving it a go this winter. This month, Dr Oliver Wilson assesses the latest research on restricted blood flow training and the results are startling. It’s healthy to be sceptical about new forms of training, particularly something that at first glance looks strange and uncomfortable but there is some solid evidence supporting the effectiveness of Kaatsu. Many laughed at Tabata when it was introduced so who is to say Japanese scientists haven’t hit on another breakthrough? The issue of whether you need to eat meat to build muscle has been debated much longer. Nutrition expert Mark Gilbert weighs up the evidence and elsewhere our

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arnold’s letter

Load your guns like the greatest bodybuilder of all time.

How did you build your amazing arms? –SIDNEY D.

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MUSCLE & FitnESS

a

Of all the things I’ve accomplished in life, I still get more questions about my approach to arm training than almost anything else. I’m always happy to share my secrets, but I find it funny because there really isn’t any secret at all. I’ve always believed in the basics. I performed barbell and dumbbell curls for biceps, and close-grip bench presses, pushdowns, and extensions for triceps. Of course, when I was coming up, that’s all I could do. I didn’t have the fancy isolation machines that gyms today offer. Still, as much as I love the advantages of modern equipment, I believe using basic free weights

should make up most of your programme. On dumbbell curls, I always made sure to supinate my wrist (twist it outwards) as I curled; this activates the biceps more fully than just flexing the elbow. You should also hold the contracted position for a second on each rep. For triceps, I would do lying extensions with my arms at a 45-degree angle behind my body. This keeps the tension on the muscles and off the elbow joints at the top position. The one misconception I’d like to clear up about my arm training is that I always went heavy. It’s true that I employed cheat curls with big weights now and then, but most of my arm work was done fairly light— often with dumbbells no heavier than 40 pounds. The arms respond best to getting a pump, and that means moderate weight, higher reps, and multiple sets with short rests in between. Save your heavy work for the bench press.

Yours in Iron, arnold rnold schwarzenegger chwarzenegger

peter grigsby

HOW I BUILT MY ARMS

nOT jUST pUSHIng pencILS The Governator shows Shawn Perine he’s still got the guns as they reenact a scene from Predator.

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CLE & FITN

WOMEN’S WORKOUT

12 Ways to Fix

Trouble Spots

75 YeARS OF M&F

75 the firSt Of MaNY

NN

YEARS

RY

MUS

AS HARD AS THE

ROCK

The Scorpion King’s raw interview

✔ Chest, Shoulders ✔ Biceps, Triceps ✔ Back, Delts ✔ Legs, Abs

ESS

IVERSA

As The Rock covers his sixth M&F issue, we look back at his very first. the pie-eating, Jabroni-beat-

ing, trailblazing, eyebrow-raising Brahma Bull first stuck his boot straight up the asses of Muscle & Fitness readers on the cover of the June 2002 issue. The story back then was actually very similar to what it is now. Today, we write about the WrestleMania 29 match against John Cena that led The Rock into the filming of Hercules. Then, we covered his transition from headlining WrestleMania X-Seven with Stone Cold Steve Austin to filming The Scorpion King. At the time, it was Dwayne Johnson’s first-ever starring role, and he talked about how his next film would “likely” be an actioncomedy (it turned out to be 2003’s The Rundown). The money quote, literally, from that interview: “It’s funny how money and fame have an interesting way of changing

people. It’s made me more thankful.” He went on to say that granting wishes for the Make-A-Wish Foundation is one of his favourite pastimes; he’d even told one terminally ill child, “You think The Rock is strong? You’re so much stronger than me.” The Rock’s training programme is also detailed, and while the specifics have changed, the split is almost identical to today’s. The most striking thing about this issue—aside from the dated black-and-white T-shirt Johnson’s wearing on the cover, which he’d be the first to deride—is that, while we’d never say he was “small” at any point in his public life, 2002 Rock was a mere pebble compared with 2014 Rock. There’s no better testament to the virtue of consistency in the gym.

MUSCLE & FitnESS

17

zuffa llc/Get t y ImaGes

how do you balance staying on top in the UFC while pursuing a mainstream acting career? I refuse to put limits on myself. I don’t do anything half-assed. I don’t care if you’re the heavyweight champion of the UFC—I’ll never say I can’t beat you, because that puts limits on me. The Rock came from WWE and was the highest-grossing actor in the world last year. I don’t think it’s unrealistic for me to set goals like that for myself as well. I’ve already had two championship fights since making my first movies, so I’ve proved that I can do both.

MUSCLE & FITNESS

Fighters typically grow up fighting. Did you? Starting in middle school, we’d find guys and be like, “Hey, I bet I can beat you up for five dollars.” We’d try to get enough to get these blended icedcoffee drinks. We’d take these guys to the park and just rough them down and catch them in armbars and take their money. That’s not even made up, that’s totally true.

ISSUE

9 770955 138073

A

M&F: UFC bantamweight Miesha tate said recently that you don’t care about MMa. RR: All those girls who think I don’t care about them are able to pay all their bills because they’re reaping the fruits of my labour. There are a lot of opportunities that come my way that I pass up because they conflict with the women’s division. I’m the most active UFC champion, and I fight more often than anyone else. Just because I happen to be able to make movies in my off time doesn’t mean that fighting is any less of a priority.

TRAINING

MUSC

fight like a girl Rousey’s opponents don’t last very long.

edge AKS

THE DOCTOR quicK tip Don’t ignore prolonged wrist pain. If your wrist’s tingling or numb, see a doctor.

SAVE YOUR WRISTS

Knowing how to treat wrist pain before it gets worse could save you a visit to the doctor’s surgery. By Victor Prisk Damage to the wrists can occur gradually, in a progressive injury called a stress fracture—the result of training incorrectly, too intensely, or too often. An ache during activity that develops into swelling and persistent pain even at rest could indicate the development

SOmE ExTRA TIpS TO KEEp YOUR WRISTS fIT

Warm up your Wrists clasp your hands and roll your wrists in a circular motion 20 times in each direction pre-exercise.

18

syndrome affects the nerves to your thumb, index, middle, and the inside half of your ring finger and is often signalled by numbness, tingling, or hand clumsiness. Wrist splinting and limiting your repetitive movements can improve symptoms.

MUSCLE & FItnESS

2

ice them fill a styrofoam cup about two-thirds full, and freeze until solid. Peel off the rim so about 0.5 ins of ice is showing and use the ice to massage the part of your wrist that hurts. (the remaining part of the cup is for you to hold on to.)

3

Watch your technique overextending your wrists in pressing movements can put stress on the joints.

about the doctor Victor R. Prisk, M.D., is a board-certified orthopaedic surgeon, NCAA All-American gymnast, and GNC medical advisory board member.

ja m e s fa r r e l l

1

of a stress fracture. (I’ve even seen stress fractures occur in the wrists of overzealous burpee addicts, so be warned.) When in doubt, see a doctor. Alternatively, nerve-compression syndromes like carpal tunnel can also cause wrist pain. Carpal tunnel

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edge irON

maideN

NO BULL NICKY WHELAN, the Aussie knockout and star of U.S. TV’s Matador, loves boxing, MMA, and a fearless man. By Nicole Adamo

M&F: Matador is a new series that follows a soccer star who doubles as a secret agent. Where does your character fit in? NW: Annie is the responsible one, and I guess you could say I’m that way in real life. She’s direct and loyal and likes to kick the bad guys’ asses. She’s ruthless. How physically demanding is it? NW: We had some gun training at the shooting range before we started filming. We have an incredible stunt crew onboard, but I’ve been able to have a few physical fights, which can be emotionally draining more than anything. The stakes are high in the show. We’ve got to keep the suspense big!

WEIGHT

125 lbs

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MUSCLE & FitnESS

HEIGHT

5'4"

What role does fitness play in your life right now? NW: My schedule is very intense—we shoot long days. It’s hard to also train on those days. But keeping a healthy, happy mind is my foundation, then everything else falls into place. These days I change my training a lot. As for diet, I eat small meals all day. I start every day with a green shake in my blender, then follow that with coffee.

MeasureMents

30-23-34

What are your hobbies? NW: I love boxing and UFC. I often go to Vegas to see the fights. I’m a huge soccer fan, too—I love my Australian rules football, though I’m starting to embrace American football as well. I grew up skateboarding and surfing, so we head to the beach a lot on weekends.

because they aren’t used to seeing me like that. I have an incredible wardrobe and I love fashion, but comfort first!

Do you consider yourself more of a guy’s girl or a girly girl? NW: I’m a tomboy. My whole life I’ve been required to dress up for work, so any opportunity to put on my men’s sweatpants and trainers, I’m there! Once in a while I wear a dress for an event, and all my friends laugh

Do you think guys are intimidated by you? NW: Maybe. Some men are intimidated by women who have their shit together. Instead of being afraid, they should be inspired to step up. Nothing’s sexier than a powerful, fearless man.

What kind of guys are you attracted to? NW: If you look at my track record, I really don’t have a type!

tWItter

JOHN RUSSO

@Nicky Whelan

MUSCLE & FitnESS

21

edge inspiration

HeaDstrong After childhood tragedies, drug troubles, and prison stints, boxing saved the life of current New York State Champion and WBC Latino Champion Frank Galarza. By Mark Barroso Hitting Home galarza founded the non-profit Youth Fighting Forward programme at a gym in Brooklyn, which provides educational services and physical exercise to young people affected by violence.

FigHting Fit

galarza does this workout, designed by New York Health & Racquet Club trainer Cheyne Zeller, to prep for a fight. do eight sets of exercise 1, then five circuits of 2A–2e; rest 30 seconds between circuits.

22

MUSCLE & FitnESS

ExErcisE 1

Kneeling Box Jump

2a Alternating Lunge Clean with KBs* 2B Battling Rope Slams

DUraTiOn 2 reps/set, 8 sets 5 reps/side 1 min.

2c Ice Skaters with KB**

30 sec.

2D Medicine Ball Slams

30 sec.

2E Shadow Boxing

30 sec.

*Clean two kettlebells to the rack position, landing in a lunge. **Stand holding one KB at your chest. Jump laterally, land on one foot, then immediately jump to the opposite side.

M I TC H E L G R AY

Frank Galarza is no stranger to adversity. At age 7, his father, a highly acclaimed boxer, died of complications from a drug-related gunshot wound; two years later, a fatal drug overdose claimed his mother. As a young adult, Galarza did prison stints for robbery and drugs. His brother was killed while being robbed, and Galarza himself was held up at gunpoint. Something had to be done. “I couldn’t put my aunt and uncle through much more,” says Galarza. “I needed to change.” Inspired by his late father’s example, Galarza began to box. Today the “Brooklyn Rocky” usually trains six days a week, with morning workouts at the gym and evening training in the ring. He hopes to create his own legacy by literally punching his way to juniormiddleweight greatness. “My main goal is to win a world title,” Galarza says. “I’m going to prove I have heart and that anything is possible.”

EdgE StAR

pOweR

HARD KNOCKS

MORE ON gRaNt Follow Grant Bowler on

Twitter @GrantBowler and watch Defiance on Syfy.

GRANT BOWLER, the star of Syfy’s Defiance, kicks ass on screen and in real life. By Mark Barroso M&F: Your character in Defiance, Joshua Nolan, constantly battles aliens. How do you prepare? GB: I train for it a bit like you’d train for a fight. I get ready and get conditioned. Not for any specific aesthetic. I am not interested in size that I can’t use because I have to carry it for 15 hours a day. You boxed for 20 years. Does that help with the fight scenes? I know what it’s like to get punched in the face, so I find it easy to sell the punches. The hardest thing about stunt fighting is you have to throw horrible punches. It always takes me at least a week to get into the habit again of throwing really bad punches. My character is a street fighter.

What’s the most important thing you’ve learned in your career? Ninety-nine per cent of anything is persistence. You’re going to have failure, and you’re going to have rejection. If you walk out your front door people are going to criticise you and then they’re going to reject you. Make failure your friend. I had more than 100 auditions go the wrong way, but what I decided was that if I want what 99% of people in this world want, then I have no right to complain until I’ve worked harder than 99% of people. That is a fact.

24

MUSCLE & FiTnESS

DARREN TIESTE

Does Defiance transcend sci-fi? I think so. When you hit sci-fi sweetly, the science fiction is complete but incidental. My favourite science fiction is epitomised in Blade Runner. You could have set that in the OId West or in current-day New York and it would have worked the same.

train build muscle, burn fat, perform better

PiCK it UP

S I LV I A C O R T E S

Our expert James GraGe shows you how to add mass to the most stubborn area of the body.

26

MUSCLE & FitnESS

train

troubleshooter

JUSt EnOUGH Don’t overstretch the tendons and ligaments by dropping your heels too low.

“any tips for getting my stubborn calves to grow? i can move a ton of weight for crazy reps, but i think i just have bad genetics in the calf department. i would really like to stop wearing long sweatpants to the gym.” —tom t

a

Building Bigger calves isn’t about how much weight you use or even how many reps you do. It’s about the quality of

those reps. When doing calf raises, whether seated or standing, explode the weight up. Your gastrocnemius muscles are made up of fast-twitch

fibres, so they respond well to explosive movements. Go up as high as you can on each rep, then pause and squeeze the contraction hard for an extra count before slowly going back down. I like to do a three-count on the way down to really work that eccentric phase. At the bottom of each rep, contrary to popular belief, you don’t want to overstretch the tendons and ligaments by dropping your heels too low. Just drop them enough to get a slight stretch in the muscles. And don’t overdo it, either. I don’t train my calves more than once per week. You may feel compelled to do more than this, but it’s not necessary. Train them hard and get all the rest you can get. If you do the exercises right, you’ll stimulate the muscles enough to start growing.

MUSCLE & FitnESS

27

train

instant muscle QUiCK tiP

Use the same setup for rows. Supporting your chest lets you work the lats without straining your lower back.

Delt DeVelOPeR

28

MUSCLE & FitnESS

HOW tO DO it

1

set an aDjustable bencH to a 45-degree angle and lie down with your chest against it and a barbell on the floor in front of you.

2

GRasP tHe baR overhand at shoulder width and raise it to shoulder level, using only your delts. Don’t let your back arch.

advantage

Every rep is done without momentum and fully activates the front deltoid muscles.

michael neveux

The fronT raise is the most popular exercise for the anterior part of the shoulder and the most frequently misused. Use a bench set to an incline to perform a stricter movement that forces the delts to work alone—without body English to swing the weight up. By Sean Hyson

train

crossfit corner

dumbbell snatch

QUiCK tiP Let the power come from your hips. Don’t try to row the weight up.

You don’t need special equipment to reap the benefits of olympic-style lifting. Add the dumbbell snatch to your programme today. By nate forster

dumbbell snatch tips and wod 5 rounds for time of: 10 Box Jumps 12 Dumbbell snatches (each side)

30

MUSCLE & FitnESS

the setuP

Stand with feet outside shoulder width and bend the hips back to lower the dumbbell to below your knees.

the Pull

Keep your back flat and extend your hips explosively to stand straight up; pull with your arm and rise onto your toes.

momentum

The initial pull should be explosive enough to create considerable momentum so the weight will rise to shoulder height.

finish

Once the dumbbell reaches shoulder height, flip your wrist underneath and “punch” the weight straight up to finish.

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train

rate my workout

trICePS traINING

Jordan G. sent us his triceps workout to review. Here’s what we sent back. By Sean Hyson

a better trICePS workout Jordan’s oLd workout

ExErcisE

Overhead Cable Extension

sEts

rEps

4

6, 8, 10, 12

Rope Pushdown

4

12, 10, 8, 6

Dip

3

To failure

M&F rating: aJordan’s new workout

Rope Pushdown

torture your trI’S, Not your elbowS By performing pushdowns first, you warm up your joints for heavier lifting.

32

MUSCLE & FitnESS

sEts

rEps

4

15, 12, 10, 8

Overhead Cable Extension

4

12, 10, 8, 6

Dip

3

To failure

our advice The problem here is merely organisation. By putting the pushdowns first in your workout, and with a slightly higher rep range, you’ll warm up your elbows better for heavier training later on. Going too heavy on triceps work at the beginning of a session contributes to elbow pain; a small tweak avoids that.

ian spanier

ExErcisE

train

body weight

LEarn MorE from Andy McDermott at Facebook.com/AndyMcDermottFitness.

AbS ASAP Spare five minutes for a quick yet intense workout that will carve up your six-pack. By Joe Wuebben

body-weight woRkoUt Complete three rounds of the exercises below; rest only as needed. Crunch Toe Touch Reverse Crunch ReP CoUNtS n Beginner:

Lie on your back with your legs straight up towards the ceiling. Use your abdominals to reach your hands up towards your toes.

whAt it iS

an ab-blasting routine designed by andy McDermott, a fitness coach, former pro soccer player and actor living in L.a. it will take only around five minutes to complete, but it will be a fairly painful five minutes for your midsection. “this has been a favourite of my clients for many years,” says McDermott. “it’s crushing.”

34

MUSCLE & FitnESS

n Intermediate:

30 reps per exercise in Round 1; 20 in Round 2; 10 in Round 3

n Advanced: 30 reps per exercise for all three rounds

why it woRkS

it’s high reps with little rest and works the abdominal wall from top to bottom. Standard crunches will hit up high; toe touches will, too, while also engaging down low; and reverse crunches, the finisher, will zero in on the stubborn lower abs. “Difficulty can be modified by number of reps and tempo,” McDermott says.

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toe toUCheS

10 reps per exercise for all rounds

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train

expert advice

tHe Big SHot

Mark Bell, the elite powerlifter, gym owner and inventor of the Sling Shot, shares lessons learned from iron. As told to Matt Tuthill

Stan efferding is a pro body­ builder, and when he came into powerlifting, he kind of showed everybody, “Hey, look, you don’t have to have a big, fat disgusting stomach to lift heavy weights.” In my opinion that just changed all powerlifting forever. I think he put raw powerlifting on the map, too. So he proved you don’t have to wear any equipment, either. Before a powerlifting Meet, you want to pack on some pounds and give yourself the best chance and the best leverages to lift the most amount of weight. But a lot of us would just eat pizza and stuff. You know, we didn’t bring a lot of healthy nutrients into the mix. Stan was kind of like, “Look, man, that stuff will put weight on you, and yes you will lift more weight, but what about the long term? And what about your sleep? How is your hydration?” If you look at the entire picture, you give yourself the best opportunity to lift the most weight. athletes in there, then you are not going to make it. a lot of people think the Sling Shot (a bench­pressing apparatus) gives you an unfair advantage. But what I’ve learned from powerlifting over the years is that a lot of times,

BeLL’S BeSt LiftS ( in poundS) see him in action at Supertraining.tv

Raw Squat

geaRed Squat

Raw bench

705 1,080 562

36

MUSCLE & FitnESS

geaRed bench

854

guys who were squatting 700, 800 pounds in a pair of powerlifting briefs and a belt, they would take off some of that gear and would squat 50 to 100 pounds less than that, which is still very strong. When I created the Sling Shot, Objective 1 was to allow people to train through and around injuries. It wasn’t to allow you to lift enormous weight, although it will allow you to lift 50–100 pounds more. The way I teach people to use the Sling Shot is the same way that you use a lifting belt. People don’t talk about a lifting belt being cheating, but a belt and a Sling Shot will give you a similar amount of extra weight that you can lift.

jiM McD

a Big turning point for a lot of people is when they realise that they are not going to get better by themselves. You can come into my gym and work out on your own, but you’re just not going to get anywhere. It doesn’t matter that you’re in the gym. If you’re not getting help and you’re not being competitive with the other

Bell and the athletes at his gym prove you don’t have to be fat to move big weight.

train

expert advice

A bench press is a full-body movement; it’s not just a chest and triceps movement. You have to make sure your legs are involved. I think the bench press is probably one of the most dangerous lifts. People are shocked when I say that because that’s kind of my bread-and-butter lift. If you think about it, we’re not really designed to have both of our arms pinned back behind the midline of our body with enormous amounts of weight on our chests. When the weight is down, that’s when the shoulders are most compromised. The Sling Shot helps there, and makes it a safer lift.

O DY B & B U

I’ve squAtted 705 rAw and 1,080 in gear. It’s very difficult to explain what it feels like to have a 1,000- pound bar on you. It’s an insane amount of pressure that you have on your body. I still have some negative side effects from lifting some of those heavy weights. For example, out of my right eye, my peripheral vision is not so great. I think a lot of that has

to do with that type of pressure. It feels like your head is just going to explode off your body. there Is An old sAyIng that the best programme is the one that you’re currently not doing. That basically means that if you’re doing three sets of 10, then you’re losing some of your lower-rep strength. If you’re doing all low-rep stuff, then you’re not developing your muscles as much. I do think there’s a perfect programme, but unfortunately every guy has to figure out what it is for himself.

I

IN

N

S

100-pound plate and you’re like, “Holy shit.” When you have a specific goal, finding a way to get your work done on days like that becomes extremely important.

D G

FIT

S

“It doesn’t matter that you’re in the gym. If you’re not getting help and you’re not being competitive with the other athletes in there, then you are not going to make it.”

L

E

I lIke the wAy the Russians put it: “Heavy” means heavy for that particular day. We all know we feel different on each day. You know, some days you sit down at your desk and you are superproductive with work, and other days you can’t concentrate for five seconds. The same thing happens in the gym. You go to pick up a 45 to put on the end of the bar and it feels like a

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You can change the weight of an Ironmaster Quick-Lock adjustable dumbbell in the same time it takes to read this advert. That’s right. With Ironmaster’s patented Quick-Lock design, you can easily adjust each dumbbell from 5-165 lbs in seconds. Find out more about the benefits of Ironmaster Quick-Lock dumbbells, and also explore the full Ironmaster strength training range, just visit valleyfitness.co.uk - the supplier of Ironmaster equipment in Europe.

train

power bodybuilding

FOr MOrE Check out mikeohearn.com to buy his DVD, Advance Power Bodybuilding.

worKouT this shoulder challenge is a major step towards massive caps.

Behind-theback Shrug

King T.u.T.

Time Under Tension may just be your key to adding new muscle. by Mike O’Hearn

Time under Tension is one of

the most underrated ways to build muscle. By holding the top of a lift like a dumbbell shoulder press (just shy of lockout), you ask the muscle fibres in your shoulders to contract harder and longer than they do when you simply bang out rep

38

MUSCLE & FitnESS

after rep. In this particular shoulder workout, we put time-under-tension dumbbell presses at the end of the workout. Doing so demolishes the ego and forces you to use light weight to ensure perfect form. You’ll be sore as hell, but you’ll start growing fast.

SETS

REPS

4

20

Seated Rope Face Pull

4

12

One-arm Lateral Raise (heavy)

4

10 (each)

Wide-grip Upright Half Row*

3

10

Plate Raise**

3

10

TUT Dumbbell Shoulder Press***

4

5 (each)

*Take the weight up only halfway. If you’re below 6' tall, put your hands inside the barbell notches. If you’re taller than 6', place your hands outside the notches. **Hold a plate with both hands and raise it overhead. ***Press both dumbbells overhead. Lower one dumbbell, press it back up, and keep it there. Then lower the other dumbbell and press it back up.

michael neveux

EXERCISE

train

born fit

SLEEP it off a

i’m training hard and eating right but not losing fat. What am i missing? 40

MUSCLE & FitnESS

Consider how you’re sleeping. Getting fewer than seven hours per night can reduce and even undo the benefits of dieting, according to research published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. The study found that when dieters cut back on their sleep, the amount of fat they lost also got cut—by more than half (55%)—even though they remained faithful to their diet. The subjects also felt

significantly more hungry, were less satisfied after meals, and lacked energy to exercise. When you’re sleepdeprived, your body suffers from metabolic grogginess, a term coined by researchers at the University of Chicago, who analysed what happened after just four days of poor sleep (a typical week for busy guys). In that time, your fat cells become up to 30% less sensitive to

insulin. This leads to your storing more fat, particularly in your liver, and puts you on the road to type 2 diabetes. And there’s bad news for your muscles too: getting fewer than six hours of sleep for a week can cause testosterone to drop by up to 15%. So hit the weights, eat your protein, record your favourite shows, and then get to bed. You need seven to nine hours of rest per night.

the amount YouR testosteRone can dRop when You Get feweR than six houRs of sleep foR a week

c u lt u r A / c o r e Y j e n k i n s / g e t t Y i m A g e s

Your training questions answered By Adam Bornstein

train

abs and core

HaTe ab WorK?

Your abs don’t need to be trained directly to grow. Their main function is to protect the spine by preventing it from being unduly bent, twisted, or overextended—in other words, keeping it still by holding on to it tightly. Getting your abs strong is as simple as tensing up your midsection. Follow these three steps and you’ll see them pop. By Sean Hyson

sTePs

1

Lift soMEtHing ovErHEad

The military press and snatch requires your abs to work hard to keep you upright.

2

Lift on onE LEg, or witH onE arM

3

CatCH and tHrow

Passing a med ball forces the abs to absorb force then redirect it.

42

MUSCLE & FitNESS

QUiCK tiP Eat clean. No matter how strong your abs are, your six-pack won’t show till you get down around 10% body fat. MiCHaEL QUiEt

Unilateral training challenges your balance—that means more core activation.

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I

E

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train

physique

BiG AND LeAN fitness model, actor and M&f contributor MehMet edip uses any training means necessary to build muscle without adding fat. By Mark Barroso when it comes to training, Mehmet edip will do almost anything to get bigger and more shredded. name the method, he’s tried it. “I do German volume training, occlusion, dropsets, and pyramids,” says edip. “Pyramid sets, where you increase weight as you lower reps, are the most beneficial because they increase strength and keep

you lean.” edip lifts weights six days a week and does four cardio sessions. on the diet front, edip cycles his carb intake to stay lean year-round. edip says his success as a model is largely due to his wide lats and delts—combined with a small waist. At right is a workout that will help you get the same aesthetic look.

BACK BLAsT

Edip says to do this workout once a week for four to six weeks for best results. Wide-grip puLL-up n sets: 2 n reps: 15 t-BAr roW WArM-up n

sets: 1 n reps: 15

Working SetS n

sets: 3 n reps: 6–8

LAt puLLdoWn sets: 8 n reps: Pyramid from 15 reps to 1* n

SupinAted-grip LAt puLLdoWn n sets: 2 n reps: 15–20 duMBBeLL puLLover n sets: 4 n reps: 10–12 rAck puLL sets: 3 n reps: 10–15

n

BAck extenSion sets: 3 n reps: 20

n

duMBBeLL Shrug WArM-up n

sets: 1 n reps: 10

Working SetS n

sets: 3 n reps: 6-8

FAce puLL sets: 3 n reps: 10–15

n

*Start at 15 reps; increase weight till you reach 1RM and cut reps by two for each set.

Age: 31 height: 5'9" Weight: 180 lbs residence: Los Angeles Website: mehmetedip.com twitter: @the_mehmetedip sponsor: SmartShake

44

MUSCLE & FitnESS

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TRAIN

training systems

FULL FOrCe A new look at the old system of training every body part in every workout By Greg Merritt

46

MUSCLE & FitnESS

Steve Reeves’ classical look is back in fashion

p h oto c o u r t e sy o f st e v e r e e v e s i n t e r n at i o n a l

Back in the 1950s, physique legends like Steve Reeves built their Herculean bodies by hitting every body part in every workout—the split routine revolution wouldn’t erupt until the 60s. In a way, we’ve now gone full circle, because Reeves and his contemporaries focused on functional strength, which has returned to fashion in recent years. Back in the 50s, the focus was on proportionality—the classical look that corresponds to many of today’s fitness models and men’s physique competitors. In part, this came about through doing lots of functional-strength and compound exercises. Reeves achieved his famous shoulders by training delts three times a week via not just standing overhead presses but also by lifts like incline presses and barbell rows that hit shoulders and other muscle groups. In a full-body routine, you simply can’t exhaust each muscle with 12–20 sets. If you tried, the workout might last eight hours. You need to do sets that hit more than one muscle. Deadlifts, for example, work many areas. In our sample routines, most of the exercises are compound. You’ll also need to push sets to failure. That’s the only shot you have at stimulating growth with so few sets per muscle. Also, never do the same exercises in consecutive workouts. If you train on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, do completely different exercises each day and repeat the sequence the next week. This lets you incorporate greater variety and avoid strength plateaus. The full-body system stretches your workload out over multiple days. Do two or three full-body sessions per week and you can total as many weekly sets per body part as you would doing a typical split routine that hits each muscle only once weekly. And you’ll spend a lot less time going to

TRAIN

trAInIng SYStemS

FULL-BODY WOrKOUt nO. 1 ExErcisE Squat Deadlift

FULL-BODY BASICS n All

body parts are trained in the same workout. n Workouts are done two or three times a week with at least 48 hours between sessions. n Aim for 35–45 total sets per workout. n Ideal for beginners. n More advanced lifters should do full body if time is limited, after extended breaks from training or for occasional variety.

FULL-BODY tIP SHeet n Focus

on compound exercises for larger body parts. n Supersetting unrelated body parts can cut down on the overall time of the workout. The best way to do this is to work calves and abs during rest periods for smaller body parts. n You need to incorporate variety. We’ve provided two sample routines, each of which has 12 different exercises. Alternate these two workouts. If you train three times a week, add a third routine with another dozen more exercises and alternate routines.

rEps 8-12

4

8-12

Lying leg curl

4

10-12

Barbell incline press

3

8-12

Dip

3

8-12

Barbell row

3

10-12

Front pulldown

3

10-12

Dumbbell shoulder press

4

10-12

EZ bar curl superset with

4

10-12

Standing calf raise

4

12-15

Lying triceps extension superset with

4

10-12

Knee raise

4

12-15

FULL-BODY WOrKOUt nO. 2 ExErcisE Leg press

sEts 4

rEps 8-12

Stiff-leg deadlift

4

10-12

Hack squat

3

8-12

Bench press

4

8-12

Pull-up

3

10-12

T-bar row

3

10-12

Barbell shoulder press

4

10-12

Upright row

3

10-12

Preacher curl superset with

4

10-12

Seated calf raise

4

12-15

Pushdown superset with

4

10-12

Machine crunch

4

12-15

MUSCLE & FitnESS

47

p h oto c o u r t e sy o f st e v e r e e v e s i n t e r n at i o n a l

the gym, which is the system’s greatest advantage. Full body isn’t ideal long-term, especially for experienced lifters, but when used occasionally it is effective. You do less volume in each workout and fewer overall workouts, but you also hit each body part more frequently. This unique stress can trigger growth. And the schedule can provide a revitalising break from daily gym visits.

sEts 4

EAT WHAT’s In THE FRIDGE THIs MOnTH

FIT FACT Walnuts are full of both healthy fats and protein, making them an ideal snack.

For frustrated hard-gainers, clean bulking is attainable if you focus your diet accordingly with the right foods and strategy. By Chris Giblin 50

MUSCLE & FitnESS

trunk arChive

CLEAN BULKING

Q

diet remedy

Is there a way I can bulk up without gaining too much fat?

A

Clean bulking takes a ton of discipline and the right strategy. It’s not a bulk that allows you to sit on the sofa and stuff yourself on fried chicken and Chinese takeaway. It’s more like prepping to play a superhero in an action movie. “Taking in the basic food groups is the biggest thing you need to do to get big and lean,” says Jim White, a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Start your day by hitting several groups at once: five egg whites, a piece of fruit, and some avocado for healthy fats and fibre. “A lot of guys think, ‘I can’t

eat fat. If I eat fat, I’m gonna be fat,’ and that’s not true. We need 20% fat in our diet,” says White. Snacking mid-morning on almonds or walnuts is a good idea as well to add more healthy fats and protein. A good lunch option is a lean, healthy salad with non-starchy vegetables such as broccoli or carrots and some protein like grilled chicken. For a mid-afternoon snack, try hummus with wholegrain crackers. The key is to eat consistently. And dinner is the easiest option: skip fatty cuts and go for 150 g of lean meat. “Gaining lean muscle means going for leaner

cuts of meat, like flank steaks and fillets, chicken, and, of course, fish,” says White. Enjoy your meat with some starch: rice, beans, quinoa, wholegrain couscous, or sweet potato, for example. Those are the basics for a clean diet (assuming you don’t slather all those foods with butter and/or ranch dressing). To gain weight, you just eat more of the same healthy foods you do to get leaner, (larger portions). If you used to have 235 g porridge for breakfast, make it 350 g; instead of prepping 115 g of chicken for dinner, make it 175 g. Consistency is key, and as tough as it is to achieve, it’s what you need to stay on track. This means planning your meals and snacks, so get ready to get into a new (healthier) routine.

STIR FRY Throw steak, vegetables, nuts, and brown rice in a wok for an instant clean meal.

trunk archive

EAT

LEVI BROWN MUSCLE & FitnESS

51

EAT

chef robert irvine

ChEf IRVINE

Be sure to “Like” the Robert Irvine official page on Facebook.

cUbAn SteAK You’ve never had steak and onions with flavour like this before. all of a sudden, going low-carb got a whole lot easier. CubAN flANk STEAk For DrY rUB

1 tbsp salt 2 tbsp cumin 2 tbsp paprika 2 tsp garlic powder 1 tsp crushed chilli pepper 2 tbsp Cajun seasoning For CHIMICHUrrI

1 bunch coriander 1 bunch parsley 1 dash crushed chilli pepper 3 garlic cloves 200 ml grapeseed oil Juice of 1 lemon Zest of 2 lemons 1 tbsp red wine vinegar 2 tbsp water For STEAK

1.3 kg flank steak 1 sweet onion, cut into rings 2 tbsp grapeseed oil Salt and pepper 12 lime wedges ½ bunch coriander 1. Combine all dry rub ingredients in a mixing bowl.

ThE MACROS (PER SERVING)

52

MUSCLE & FItnESS

2. Place all chimichurri ingredients in a blender. Mix until almost smooth. 3. Pre heat the grill and rub the steak on both sides with the rub. Brush the onions with oil and season with salt and pepper. Place the steak on the grill and cook to desired doneness. Add onions when steak is almost done. 4. Once done, let the steak rest while grilled onions are placed into a mixing bowl. Squeeze 6 of the lime wedges on top of the onions. Add half of the coriander sprigs. 5. Slice meat on a bias and arrange on a platter with onions on top. Drizzle with chimichurri; garnish with remaining coriander and lime.

calories: 1,222; protein: 95 g; Fat: 90 g; carbs: 4 g

andrew purcell

Makes 4 servings

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EAT

15-minute feast

FiT FACT Cumin can raise your body temperature, kickstarting your metabolism and encouraging more fat loss.

Cumin-RoAsTEd sAlmon And swEET PoTATo SERVES 1

Cumin is a spice with a nutty and peppery taste, and the only ingredient you really need to turn another salmon dinner into more exotic cuisine instantly. Add a side of sweet potato (and, if you like, steamed spinach), and you get high protein, healthy fats, and clean carbs in a meal that’s ready in minutes. By Nikki Donnelly

54

MUSCLE & FitnESS

1. Preheat oven to 425˚/220˚C/ gas mark 7. Grease a baking dish with butter and season the fish with cumin, salt, and pepper. 2. Place the fish (skin-side down) and sweet potato in the dish and bake 20 minutes. Plate and serve.

Calories

ProTeiN

CarBs

FaT

510 47 G

24 G 26 G

ClAire BeNoist

Just aDD Cumin

1 tbsp salted butter 225 g salmon 1/2 tsp cumin ¼ tsp salt ¼ tsp black pepper 1 medium sweet potato, cubed

EAT

1 food, 5 ways

aPPLEs ToP YoUr

PIZZA Rub or brush a wholegrain pizza crust with almond oil. Add chopped fresh basil leaves, very thinly sliced apples, and grated Gouda cheese. Bake in the oven.

56

MUSCLE & FitnESS

2 Throw IT InTo a

3 MIX IT InTo a

SHAKE BURGER Blend an apple, non-fat organic vanilla Greek yogurt, walnut butter, rolled oats and mixed spice.

Add a shredded apple to extra-lean organic minced turkey. Sprinkle with finely chopped garlic and Italian herb seasoning.

4

aDD IT To YoUr

CHIllI Add chopped apples to vegetarian chilli made with black and/or pinto beans, along with vegetables such as peppers, mushrooms, carrots, and onions.

5

Toss IT In wITh YoUr

STIRFRY Add sliced apples to a veggie and prawn stir-fry. For sauce, use a mix of coconut oil, orange juice, brown rice vinegar, grated ginger, garlic, and crushed red pepper. Serve over wild rice.

T R AV I S R AT H B O N E

1

This fibrous fruit improves cholesterol health. Here, five tasty and energising eats from Dietician Cynthia Sass. By Mark Barroso

PROTEIN POW!

PROTEIN FRENCH TOAST

Eggy bread has never been healthier By Anna Sward If someone demanded I tell them the easiest thing to make with protein powder, my answer would most likely be French toast (or eggy bread, if you prefer). That’s because you only need four common ingredients to make it— one of them being regular bread,

the other three being eggs, whey and milk. Making French toast is just a matter of opening your cupboard and fridge, rounding up your ingredients, putting them all together. The result is always delicious. It is also open to numerous topping variations.

ANNA SWARD

is a recipe writer and creator of proteinpow.com Anna’s Protein Pow(d)er Cookbook is available from www.weidermailorder.com

PROTEIN FRENCH TOAST MAKES 4 SERVINGS

YOU’LL NEED 110 ml milk (you can use almond, coconut or regular cow’s milk) 35 g vanilla whey protein 1 large whole egg 3 -4 pieces of your sliced bread of choice PREPARATION 1. In a large bowl, whisk the whey,

egg and milk until all lumps disappear. 2. Dunk the slices of bread into the egg batter, making sure they’re completely submerged in it. Leave the bread to soak for a couple of minutes. 3. Add some coconut oil, butter or non-fat cooking spray to a non-stick frying pan and warm over a high heat. 4. Fry your French toast one slice at a time. 5. Smother with your topping of choice—maple syrup, noncalorie pancake syrup, nut butter, bacon, ham, and/or fruit.

NUTRITION Per serving (note that this will vary depending on what kind of bread you use/ toppings you add)

Calories

109 CarBs

ProTeiN

11 G FaT

11 G 3 G ANNA SWARD

EAT

you at your best.

©SCI-MX Nutrition LLP 2014

THE PRE-WORKOUT

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with millions of fans worldwide, the star of Hercules has cemented his legacy by taking every failure and turning it into a victory. By Matt tuthill

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the other wrestler, or you’d whisper to the other wrestler if you got the chance,” Johnson says. “I didn’t want to tell John I was hurt. Knowing John the way I know him—very closely by the time we got into that match—I knew he’d have that on his mind. He’d want to make sure he didn’t hurt me any more. The match was an iconic match. I wanted the focus to remain on the match”. It’s not hard to understand why Johnson pushed it. Besides what this singular match-up represented for wrestling fans, this night was the culmination of a feud spanning three WrestleManias and would mark the beginning of another semi-retirement for Johnson, now 42, who was scheduled to begin filming Hercules about two weeks later. As one of the most beloved WWE Superstars of all time, he wasn’t about to leave the capacity crowd feeling cheated as he walked off into the sunset yet again. But by forcing the issue to give the fans watching WrestleMania 29 what they wanted, Johnson put the

FORGED IN IRON When he’s not on set, Johnson is usually in the gym, improving his already legendary physique.

entire Hercules film in jeopardy. The next day, doctors told him the damage he’d done and recommended surgery, which carried with it a one-year recovery period. “I wasn’t going to postpone the movie a year,” Johnson says. “You lose the great team you assembled.” He opted for rehab and made it one week before he was back in the doctor’s office with a bulbous “sausage-like” swelling jutting out of the top of his quad, which turned out to be his intestines pushing through a massive hole in his abdominal wall. “I dropped trou, and the doctor looks and he’s like, ‘Wow! That’s a big hernia,’ ” Johnson says with a laugh. There was no escaping the surgeon’s knife this time. Johnson called the studio and broke the news. Filming on Hercules was delayed two weeks at a cost of $2 million to keep the

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c o u r t e s y o f d way n e j o h n s o n

Dwayne Johnson could tell something was wrong. For all his years in the ring, and for all the times his alter ego The Rock had been dropped on an announcer’s table, slammed headfirst into a steel post, or forced to finish a match as blood gushed down his forehead in rivers, he had never felt anything quite like this. Lying in the centre of the ring, with more than 80,000 fans screaming for him to get up, he wasn’t sure if he could. There was a sharp pain at the top of his right quad, and as it intensified, he could feel the strength in that leg dissipating by the second. This wasn’t part of the act. It was April 7, 2013, and The Rock was headlining WrestleMania 29 with John Cena at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ. The two Superstars had just completed a sequence in which they landed several finishing moves on one another: The Rock hit Cena with a “Rock Bottom”, Cena answered with an “Attitude Adjustment”, The Rock responded with a “People’s Elbow”, and so on. At the end of the sequence, The Rock writhed in apparent anguish on the mat, sweat pouring out of him, teeth clenched. He appeared to sell his misery a little too hard. “The match was scheduled to go approximately 50 minutes,” Johnson says. “I asked the referee, ‘How much time do we have left?’ He said, ‘Well, we’ve got about another 25 minutes. Are you OK?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I’m good.’ ” Johnson was not good. Somewhere along the way, he tore the adductor and rectus tendons from his right quad off of his pelvis. When he stood up, the leg had all the stability of a boiled noodle. He shuffled around on it to see if he could get by relying mostly on his good leg and made the decision that he’d finish. “A lot of times, when wrestlers get hurt in the ring, you either tell the referee and the referee would tell

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THE HERCULES WORKOUT Follow this programme for 4–6 weeks.

Add 30 minutes of cardio 3–5 times a week. Designed by Dave Rienzi of Rienzi Strength and Conditioning Twitter: @daverienzi

the now-famed Hercules workout, which he gifted to fans in five instalments via social media under the hashtag #TeamHercules. The programme, designed by Rienzi, is an old-school body-part split of back, chest, legs, shoulders, and arms. Rienzi explains that this split stayed intact for the entire six months of prep, but the Hercules workout fans now know it’s just the grand finale. The volume is extremely high—it’s intended for the final four to six weeks to elicit a physical peak—and would naturally leave anyone, even Johnson, feeling run-down. “You can’t sustain that level of volume too long without overtraining,” Rienzi says. Especially when you consider the type of weight that Johnson uses on every exercise. “When he does cable rows, he’s using the whole stack. He is unbelievably strong.” It’s plausible, then, that the intensity of the Hercules workout, when coupled with the breakneck

DAY ONE

BACK EXERCISE

SETS

REPS

Pull-up 4 Failure one-arm Dumbbell row 4 12, 10, 8, 8 Hammer Strength Two-arm row 4 10 Close-grip Pulldown 3 12 Seated Cable row 3* 12 Straight-arm rope Pulldown** 3 12 Face Pull 3 12 Heavy Dumbbell Shrug*** 4 12

*Perform each set with two drops; get 12 reps, drop the weight, and go to technical failure, then drop the weight once more and go to failure again. **Clip a rope attachment to a high cable pulley. Hold both ends and step away from the stack so that your arms are fully extended and parallel to the floor. Keeping your arms straight, engage your lats to pull the rope down to waist level. ***Hold the last rep of each set for 15 seconds.

kerry brown

talent in a holding pattern until he was ready. A new problem for Johnson became how he could stay in Hercules shape when serious training was totally out of the question. Panic set in. “The day after the surgery, he called me up and said, ‘I need to get back in the gym. How can I train?’ ” recalls Dave Rienzi, a competitive bodybuilder who serves as Johnson’s strength and conditioning coach. “I was like, ‘Dude. You just had triple-hernia surgery!’ ” “I had six months of prep that was going incredible,” Johnson says, explaining his disappointment. “The diet was coming together, the conditioning, the training…I was getting stronger as I was prepping. I was getting leaner, getting the look I wanted. Then, boom! Two torn tendons from the pelvis and triple-hernia surgery. I couldn’t do anything.” He immediately dialled back all of his calories, even protein, to account for the lack of activity and each day performed a short list of lightweight upper-body isolation exercises provided by Rienzi. With bated breath, he waited for the atrophy his time off from training was sure to cause—but it never came. To his amazement, rather than lose size and start to appear soft, his muscles took on a fuller, harder look. By the time his fourweek recovery was up and he stepped onto the Budapest set of Hercules, he was carrying a ripped 260 pounds, and could easily pass for the son of Zeus. Not even a month off could damage the work he had put in over several decades. If anything, the time to recover helped. His muscles were, in his words, “dense, grainy, survived. I reached a physical peak that I was very happy with.” It’s important to remember that at the time of the Cena match, Johnson was in the middle of the final stages of preparation, using

DAY TWO

CHEST EXERCISE

AS REAL AS iT GETS Fighting through injury at ’Mania 29.

MUSCLE & FitnESS

4

12, 10, 8, 6

4

12

4

12

3 3

12 15

3

Failure

SUPERSET W/

dip

*Begin the set with your arms locked out. Alternate arms on each rep, and get 12 reps per arm.

This instance in which a serious injury became a blessing in disguise epitomises the real hardships of Johnson’s life. He’s made a habit of turning failures, by hook or by crook, into victories—and it all began in the gym. His oftenrecounted tale of how his family was evicted from their home in Hawaii when he was 14 is the reason he started pumping iron and what ultimately led him to a football scholarship at the University of Miami. In turn, his injuries in college football and subsequent washout from the Canadian Football League are what led him to try his hand—like his father and grandfather—at pro wrestling, which ultimately led to Hollywood stardom. And making the film Tooth Fairy—while not a failure in a financial sense but a widely panned departure from the types of roles he was born to play—led him to a new management team and turned him into franchise Viagra, immediately boosting the box-office receipts of two Fast and Furious films and the

“I know what It’s lIke to have a dream but stIll struggle to stay on the rIght track.” 66

REPS

DAY THREE

LEGS

EXERCISE

leg extension leg press

SETS 4 4

REPS

25 50

SUPERSET W/

Walking lunge Hack squat romanian deadlift lying leg curl standing calf raise seated calf raise

4 4 4 4

40* 20 12 12

5 5

75 50

*20 steps each leg

DAY FOUR

SHOULDERS EXERCISE

SETS

Hammer strength shoulder press seated dumbbell overhead press standing lateral raise one-arm cable lateral raise Machine rear-delt Flye bentover lateral raise

REPS

4 12, 10, 10, 8 3

10

4*

12

3

20 (each)

4

12

4

10

*Perform three drops on each set. Each drop should begin when technical failure is reached.

g e o r g e n a p o l i ta n o / r e t n a lt d / c o r b i s

pace of a full film-promotion schedule and Johnson’s weekly wrestling appearances, was draining him to a degree that opened him up to the injuries he suffered in the ring that night with Cena. Looking back at the full sequence of events, Johnson says the big picture is now crystal clear. “It was one of those injuries that had to happen,” he says. “I’m not glad it did, but I can appreciate it because it forced me to slow down. It got my adrenals back working, and I became more balanced. I was carrying a full wrestling schedule. I was running and gunning at a high speed and promoting Snitch, G.I. Joe, Fast 6, Pain & Gain. When you carry that type of schedule for a long period of time, your body starts to break down. You’re fatigued, and your workouts aren’t as good. It’s hard to maintain the pump, and you’re struggling with your diet because you’re carb-depleted. I think that fourweek period was what I needed to recover.”

SETS

incline barbell bench press Flat dumbbell bench press incline Hammer strength press* Flat bench dumbbell Flye cable crossover

onE dooR CloSES… Johnson played for Miami in college, but injuries prevented him from making it in the NFL.

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ARMS BICEPS TRISET

I keep moments like that very close to me because they continue to be great motivators for me. It helps keep me grounded.” To mark the moment he was cut from the CFL, Johnson named his production company Seven Bucks Entertainment. His new show, The Wake Up Call, airing on TNT this autumn, will follow Johnson as he attempts to make a positive impact on the lives of people who face situations similar to those of his youth. “We all have that seven bucks moment,” says Johnson, his voice stripped of the measured preacher’s cadence he uses when he cuts a wrestling promo—a gimmick that has a way of creeping into his voice when he’s promoting anything. And even though he’s still promoting in a way, there’s none of that now. This is raw and from the heart. “A lot of times, unfortunately, we don’t have the capacity to see it through and stand up to that type of adversity. Sometimes we get our ass kicked, and we’re down and we stay down. Sometimes we get depressed, and sometimes we don’t know how to handle it. Sometimes we feel like it’s not worth going on. I’ve been there. I want to share it. “We lived in a place where we paid weekly,” he says, again recalling the eviction. “You know you’re getting your ass kicked

Perform as a circuit, resting only after dumbbell curls. EXERCISE SETS REPS

Preacher curl w/eZ Bar standing eZ-bar curl dumbbell curl

4

12

4 4

12 12

TRICEPS TRISET

Perform as a circuit, resting only after dips. EXERCISE SETS REPS

rope Pushdown rope overhead extension dip*

4

12

4 4

12 12

*Lean slightly back on the bars to keep your triceps emphasised.

when you pay weekly. I can still remember my mom crying, and I’ll never forget the thought that I had: ‘Well, the only thing I can do is just go build my body.’ Because the men who were successful that I knew of—Stallone, Arnold, Bruce Willis— they were men of action. When I dealt with depression, there was never any medication. It was getting off my ass and being active. That was my medication.” With strength came the confidence to take risks. Johnson’s initial foray into pro wrestling saw him combine the names of Rocky Johnson, his father, and Peter Maivia, his grandfather

c o l l e g i at e i m a g e s / g e t t y i m a g e s ; c o u r t e s y o f d way n e j o h n s o n

G.I. Joe sequel. His star only continues to explode: beyond Hercules, Johnson will star in this autumn’s Ballers, an HBO drama in which he plays a sports superagent. Another Fast and Furious film is set to bow next year, as well as the earthquake-disaster drama San Andreas. A third G.I. Joe film is also expected to begin filming soon. Where failure doesn’t create a new opportunity, Johnson has become adept at living down the kind of dark moments that might define the life of a lesser man. For instance, his divorce from wife Dany Garcia in 2007, though it was followed by depression, turned into a truly amicable split. To this day they remain close friends, with Garcia the head of his management team and now married to Rienzi. Another dark moment is this lesser-known result of the eviction: it led Johnson to become part of a theft ring in Waikiki that targeted rich tourists and high-end clothing and jewellery stores. “I got arrested around eight or nine times by the time I was 17,” Johnson says. “I was constantly getting into trouble. I know what it’s like to have a dream but still struggle to stay on the right track. From getting evicted from my apartment to being cut from the CFL and only having 7 bucks in my pocket, to the bouts of depression…

DAY FIVE

(both veteran sports entertainers). But Rocky Maivia, a good guy, didn’t resonate with fans, and so Johnson recast himself as The Rock, a trash-talking villain who verbally dismantled each of his opponents. He immediately went over with fans, gaining so much popularity that Hollywood could no longer ignore “the People’s Champ”. It should be noted, too, that Johnson’s decision to step out of retirement to face Cena came at a time in his career when doing so had more power to drag him down than build him up. How, exactly, could returning to an arena he had thoroughly conquered help him further his film career? If anything, going back to the ring could have stigmatised him with Hollywood producers just as he was trying to garner more serious roles. None of this, however, weighed on his mind. His love for the pro-wrestling craft and the fans who propelled him to

megastardom is real. In returning, he saw more than dollar signs. He saw a chance to give fans something they’d never seen before—the clash of two titans, both beloved by millions, with genuine, real-world animosity between them. This became its own high-wire act. The feud took root when Cena told a crowd that The Rock was an actor who didn’t truly love wrestling and had bolted for Hollywood the first chance he got. Cena, on the other hand, reasoned that he was the greater champion because he never abandoned the fans. “It was very real,” Johnson says. “When I came back, I needed something real to sink my teeth into as a performer. It got really uncomfortable for a lot of people. It gets uncomfortable for the fans—they sense something. But when it gets uncomfortable for the wrestlers and the executives of the company, then it’s something special.” Specifically, Johnson says that

WWE’s top brass and creative team were clueless about how the storyline would play out each week because of the lack of collaboration between him and Cena. Ultimately, the execs had no choice but to trust that it would work itself out. “What happens in wrestling is that anybody who is in a feud—everybody knows what everybody is going to say. In this case, we approached it differently. I’d say, ‘John, here’s what I’m going to say tonight: Go fuck yourself.’ He’d say, ‘Well, here’s gonna be my response: Fuck you, too.’ All that edge and attitude and bite—we nearly came to blows backstage and one night in the ring. “It might’ve failed miserably, but in this case it worked out very well. And through that, in a crazy, weird, completely unexplained way, we became great buds.” Saying it worked out “very well” might be an understatement. The first clash between Johnson and

the heRculeS FilM tiMeline

Hercules movies have been hit or miss, ranging from the iconic Steve Reeves original to Kellan Lutz’s stinker. Behold, the hero’s screen history.

1 95 8

19615– 1 96

Steve ReeveS

Reg PaRk

aRnold SchwaRzeneggeR

lou FeRRigno

kellan lutz

dwayne JohnSon

The 1958 Italian Hercules didn’t just set a new physique standard for sword-and-sandal action epics, it set one for physical culture as a whole and inspired an entire generation to pump iron.

A childhood inspiration for our executive editor Arnold Schwarzenegger, two-time Mr Universe Reg Park starred as Hercules in four Italian films. Park’s success led Arnold to try his hand at film.

Right at the start of his run of six straight Olympias, Arnold starred in the low-budget Hercules in New York, in which filmmakers billed him as Arnold Strong and even dubbed over his voice with an American actor. For comic value only.

The year after the Hulk TV series was cancelled, Ferrigno got his shot at playing Hercules. While Ferrigno may have been the most massively muscled cinematic Hercules, the film itself is fairly unwatchable.

Twilight series heartthrob Kellan Lutz got extremely cut to star in this year’s The Legend of Hercules, but the film’s 3% rating on Rotten Tomatoes tells you everything else you need to know.

Based on the graphic novel, Hercules: The Thracian Wars and starring Johnson, the new film shows Herc before he was a legend, grounding the character with humanity and purpose.

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2 01 4

2 01 4

everett collection (5); kerry brown

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FIT

G

who you are and who you were born to be, it can be very powerful. You don’t have to be Hercules. That notion extends to everybody.” Of course, it won’t hurt the film’s fortunes that Johnson’s physique is a living projection of the most perfect body in Greek mythology. In the end, Johnson says fans will decide just how well he prepared. “I wanted to create a look for the character that, hopefully, had never been shown before on screen by any actor,” Johnson says, including, he adds when prodded, Arnold’s portrayal of Conan. “I mean that with all due respect. Certainly, Arnold had put in time when he did Conan, and he set the bar very high. I felt that the difference was, the role of Hercules came around for me at a time when everything kind of came together. Being 40, having that experienced, aged muscle that can only come with time—with decades of training hard. I’m happy to say I accomplished that look. Whether it’s the look that people wanted, we can debate all of that.” What’s no longer up for debate: who the world’s biggest star is. That answer, forged in iron, is rock solid.

IN

Cena at WrestleMania 28 delivered the highest buyrate in the company’s long pay-per-view history, with more than 1.2 million fans shelling out about $60 to see it. By the time his wrestling run came to a close, he had simultaneously become Hollywood’s highestgrossing star of 2013, his films raking in $1.3 billion at the box office. All of this set the stage for Hercules, the biggest bet of Johnson’s career. You have to go back to the 1958 film starring Steve Reeves to find the last time movie audiences reacted positively to a live-action Hercules. “I think the reason why audiences haven’t responded to versions of Hercules in the past is because they felt that it wasn’t much different from anything they’ve seen or known about the legend,” Johnson says. “We debunk the mythology that has followed Hercules. Not to say we don’t pay homage to and honour Greek mythology—we do—but our version of Hercules is based on the power of believing in yourself and the power of faith. We show the world who Hercules was before he became a legend. It’s the ideology that once you believe in

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WEIDERMAILORDER.COM EQUIPMENT

THE HERCULES DIET

Below is what a typical day of eating looked like during most of the six-month prep period for Hercules. MEAL 1

MEAL 3

MEAL 5

MEAL 7

275 g filet mignon 4 egg whites 150 g oats, measured dry

225 g halibut 370 g white rice 180 g asparagus

225 g halibut 280 g white rice 180 g asparagus

MEAL 4

MEAL 2

225 g chicken 350 g baked potato 155 g broccoli

MEAL 6

30 g casein protein 10 egg whites, scrambled with onions, peppers, and mushrooms

THE DAILY MACROS

225 g chicken 370 g white rice 155 g broccoli

Calories

275 g filet mignon 250 g baked potato with salad

ProTeiN

CarBs

NOTE: Cooked weight unless stated

FaT

4,940 547 G 469 G 99 G

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PHOTOGRAPHER: BENCE ZANYI © Gaspari Nutrition, Inc. 02/14R1. †When combined with a proper exercise and nutrition program.

Last month we took you through the first three microcycles of worldrenowned trainer Nick Mitchell’s 100-Day Challenge, a programme designed specifically to boost strength and build pounds of new muscle. Now, it’s time to kick things up a notch and carry on your quest to add inches to your arms and chest. The programme is broken down into eight microcycles, alternating between a cycle of three bodybuilding-focused workouts and a cycle of two strength-building sessions. This will mean your body is forced to continually adapt and therefore ensure you keep making gains. The bodybuilding workouts focus on volume, while the strength sessions focus on lifting heavy. By the end of the 100-Day Challenge, assuming you’ve been consistent, worked your ass off, and eaten well, you can expect at least a 20% strength gain and up to two inches of new muscle on your arms.

MONTH TWO

In month one we ended with the second bodybuilding microcycle, so we kick-off month two with your second strength building cycle— wave loading. This is a classic strength training method, utilised by some of the world’s strongest lifters. Each set is performed as a wave. Using the chest workout here as an example, you start with six reps of decline bench, take two minutes rest and then perform your first set of face pulls. After another two minutes rest, you up the weight slightly and go for four reps of decline bench and so on, increasing the weight each time the reps drop. For your second wave, up the weight slightly from what you used for your first six reps and start again. If you do it right, you should be stronger on the second wave because your nervous system will be fired up. By the third wave you should be at your strongest yet.

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Shot on location at Ultimate Performance Marbella. Visit upfitness.com.es for more information

Next up, it’s back to volume in the form of giant sets. Take only minimal rest between each exercise. There’s a lot to get through here, so it’s not going to be easy. But it isn’t meant to be. It needs to be hard or you’re not going to grow. After that, it’s on to the penultimate strength phase of the 100-Day Challenge—cluster training. This is pure strength training, looking to activate the nervous system. Here you want to pick a weight you can manage for three reps and simply do a rep, rest for ten seconds then do another, and so on. Simple.

ScHeduliNg

You should slot these workouts in around your existing routine, performing them once every five days. To see the best results possible, you should ease off the volume and intensity of your other sessions.

cardiO

The aim of this programme is to build as much muscle as possible, for that reason you should minimise your cardio. In fact, if you train properly and follow the tempo instructions here correctly, your heart is going to get a good pounding anyway.

TeMpO

Nick is a stickler for making the most of every possible variable to keep forcing your body to adapt. “Why ignore the training effect of the eccentric component of a pause in a peak contraction or at the bottom of a movement?” he asks. To get the most

from this programme, you need to follow the tempo instructions given. 3110, for example, means 3 seconds to lower the weight, 1 second in the bottom position, 1 second to lift the weight, and 0 seconds at the top.

WeigHT

In the volume-based bodybuilding workouts you should be aiming for failure on the last rep of the last set as a minimum. In the strength cycles, you need to be sensible and honest with weight selection. Remember, you are not going all out for failure. If you get five reps and it’s easy you need to use a heavier weight. Push yourself, but don’t go doing forced reps or using intensity techniques to squeeze out your last rep.

dieT

If you’re going to pack on optimal levels of muscle you’re going to need to ensure you’re getting plenty of protein. You’re also going to need carbs, particularly for the volumebased sessions. Next month, in part three you’ll finish off the challenge with your final two microcycles. By the time you’re done, you’ll be stronger and more muscular than ever before. Nick Mitchell will be live on twitter (@heynickmitchell) to answer any and all questions about training and dieting for the 100-Day Challenge from 8 pm on Thursday 16th October. For those looking to make maximal gains, Nick Mitchell has written a four-week diet plan, which is available to buy from upfitness.co.uk/mf

TRICEPS DIPS

The important aspect of performing dips for triceps rather than pecs is to stay as upright as possible with your torso, keeping the head in a neutral position rather than tucking it forward and down.

WORKOUTS 9-10: WAVE LOADING Perform each of these workouts twice, five days apart, training chest on one day and arms on another CHEST

ExErcisE

Decline bench press Superset with

Face pull

ARMS

ExErcisE

Triceps dips

Superset with

Barbell preacher curl

TEmPo

sETs

rEPs

rEsT

4010

3

6, 4, 2

2 mins

3110

3

10-12

2 mins

TEmPo

sETs

3

6, 4, 2

2 mins

4010

3

6, 4, 2

2 mins

4010

rEPs

rEsT

MUSCLE & FitnESS

77

BARBELL PREACHER CURL

Aim to keep tension on the movement at all times by keeping the shoulders dropped, cocking the wrists back and down and squeezing as hard as you can in the contracted position.

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BALANCED RECOVERY Post-workout recovery complex

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SUPINE OVERHEAD CABLE CURL

Keep the humerus (upper arm) locked in position and think about only bringing the hands down to the anterior deltoids. Your goal with this movement should be to contract so hard in the peak position that you think your biceps will cramp up.

WORKOUTS 11-13: GIANT SETS

Perform each of these workouts three times, five days apart, training chest on one day and arms on another CHEST

ExErcisE

30o incline dumbbell press Decline dumbbell flye Flat dumbbell press Guillotine press Crossover variation* Flat machine press Ring/wide push-ups^ Swiss ball dumbbell press+

TEmPo

sETs

rEPs

rEsT

3010

4

8

–

3010 3010 3110 3011 3011 2010

4 4 4 4 4 4

8 10 12 12 12 max

– – – – – –

2021

4

12

3-4 mins

* Switch grips/stance from set to set. ^ Hands at least three inches wider than shoulder-width apart. If you have access to rings it’s even better. + Nick says this is a wussy exercise, but it is great to finish off a giant set to get that last extra squeeze. Just focus on squeezing the hell out of the pecs at the top of the movement.

STANDING REVERSE EZ CURL If you find yourself cheating this basic exercise, one tip is to stand against a wall/ pillar and ensure your glutes and upper back stay against the wall at all times.

CHEST-SUPPORTED BENCH HAMMER CURLS

If you go too heavy here you will turn the exercise into a modified row, which is not what we want. Select a weight that allows you to keep your elbows pointing straight down at the ground as opposed to pulling them back as you heave the weight up.

WORKOUTS 11-13: GIANT SETS (cONT.) ARMS GIANT SET 1: ExErcisE

45o incline dumbbell curl Supine overhead cable curls Standing reverse EZ curl Close-grip EZ curl Wide-grip EZ curl Chest-supported incline bench Hammer curl Seated dumbbell curl*

TEmpo

sETs

rEps

rEsT

3010

4

12

–

3011

4

12

–

3010 3010 3010

4 4 4

12 12 12

– – –

3011

4

12

–

2010

4

25

3 mins

*Perform these with exaggerated pronation and supination

ARMS GIANT SET 2: ExErcisE

WIDE-GRIP EZ CURL

This is a regular barbell curl but take a grip that is two inches wider than a regular curl grip. Resist the temptation to relax your grip at the top of the movement as that will take tension off the biceps.

Incline dumbbell triceps extension Close-grip bench press to neck* Reverse triceps pushdown Medium-grip bench press^ Standing overhead rope French press Hands together push-ups Chest-supported two dumbbell kickbacks

TEmpo

sETs

rEps

3010

4

12

–

3010

4

12

–

3010

4

12

–

3010

4

12

–

3110

4

12

–

2010

4

max reps

–

2011

4

20

3 mins

*With elbows in ^With elbows out

rEsT

CLOSE-GRIP BENCH PRESS TO NECK

Don’t fall into the trap that “close-grip” means just one-to-two inches apart. If you do that all that will happen is you will strain your wrists. Go slightly narrower than biacromial shoulder-width and focus on extending with the elbow rather than squeezing with the chest.

HANDS TOGETHER PUSH-UPS

Just as the close-grip bench press to neck, place your hands slightly narrower than biacromial shoulder-width apart. Raise yourself up by contracting the triceps as hard as possible.

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SEATED RACK LOCKOUT

This movement feels a little bit like a partial overhead press. In many ways, it is exactly that but you want to move the weight up with your triceps, not your delts/traps. In order to do this you want to think about extending from the elbow rather than simply pushing up in a vertical line.

WORKOUTS 14-15: CLUSTERS Perform each of these workouts twice, five days apart, training chest on one day and arms on another CHEST

ExErcisE

TEmPo

sETs

Incline bench press

4010

4

1,1,1,1,1*

2 mins

Face pull

3110

4

10-12

2 mins

Flat machine press

4110

4

2,2,2

2 mins

3110

4

10-12

2 mins

Superset with

rEPs

rEsT

Superset with

Face pull

*Rest 10 seconds between reps

ARMS

ExErcisE

TEmPo

sETs

Close-grip decline bench press with chains

rEPs

rEsT

4010

3

1,1,1,1,1*

2 mins

4010 2210

3 3

1,1,1,1,1* 2,2,2

2 mins 2 mins

3110

3

2,2,2

1½ mins

Superset with

CLOSE-GRIP UNDERHAND CHIN-UP

Chins for biceps differ from chins for the upper back in a subtle but very distinct manner. Whereas with a back exercise we want you to try to get your chest to the bar, for biceps it is all about tucking your chin over the bar and literally curling yourself up. Even the way you initiate the movement will be different. If performing chins for back we start by driving the shoulder blades back and down, but for biceps your mind should be initiating movement by bending your elbows before anything else.

Close-grip underhand chin-up Seated rack lockout Superset with

60o incline hammer curl

*Rest 10 seconds between reps.

SWISS BALL DUMBBELL PRESS

This movement lends itself to squeezing the pecs as hard as possible, so go with the natural advantage of the Swiss ball dumbbell press and focus exclusively on squeezing like it owes you money.

RING/WIDE PUSH-UPS

The advantage of the ring push-up is that we have a much greater range of motion than with a regular push-up. Not only can you get a much greater stretch but you can also squeeze and contract better because the rings allow you to draw the arms across the chest. Take advantage of these benefits and go for maximum range, so long as your mobility and shoulder health allow it. If you don’t have access to rings, do wide push-ups instead.

If you missed part one of the 100-Day Challenge, you can buy back issues in print at weidermailorder.com/4-backissues or in digital format at https://dig.muscle-fitness.eu

The man who breathed life into Ivan Drago explains how to get your shoulders, arms, and abs ready for the big screen—and keep them there for life. by Dolph lunDgren PHOTOGRAPHS BY PER BERNAL

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Call to arms Train Like an Action Hero shares a lifetime of action hero fitness secrets. Pick up the book at amazon.co.uk

MUSCLE & FitnESS

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WORKOUT warM-uP

Five minutes on an exercise bicycle, or try three minutes doing step-ups on a 20-inch bench.

I have always used weIght traInIng to stay fIt, especially when

preparing for different film roles. Sure, you can get good results through calisthenic exercises like push-ups and sit-ups, but to effectively build muscle mass you need to train with weights. Weight training strengthens your joints and ligaments and improves your muscular power. For all athletes, weight training is essential to improve performance and prevent nagging injuries. The older you get, the more important strength training becomes. Genetically speaking, humans lose about 10% of muscle mass every 10 years after reaching middle age. Muscles are extremely 92

MUSCLE & FitnESS

EXERCISE

energy consuming, so the more muscle mass you have, the more fat you will burn, even when you’re not exercising. Weight training makes you stronger and more muscular, reduces body fat, and prevents ageing. What are you waiting for? The following workout is fast and light and focuses on shoulders and arms, which are especially visible in a T-shirt. Well-proportioned, strong arms give that masculine feel and athletic look that all men are after. Sorry, being an action star with scrawny arms just does not work. They require some special attention. To get really impressive shoulders and arms, this session is a must!

SETS

REPS

3

15–20

4

15, 12, 10, 8

3

12

4 2 4 2

15, 12, 10, 8 15 15, 12, 10, 8 15

abdoMInals

Hanging Leg Raise shoulders

Arnold Press Combination Shoulder Exercise arMs

Standing Dumbbell Curl Concentration Curl Skull Crusher Rope Pressdown

lower baCK/abdoMInals

Hyperextension Swiss Ball Sit-up

4 4

15 15

stretCh

Slow, static stretches for the whole body: quads, hamstrings, calves, lats, chest, and arms CardIo

Shadow-boxing, punching bag, or jumping jacks ToTal Time NeeDeD for Programme: 45 minutes

ABDOMINALS HANgINg Leg RAISe Starting poSition

Grasp a pull-up bar, or any well-secured overhead bar or beam, and hang. ExEcution

Tighten your abdominal muscles, raising your straight legs up in front of you. Continue until they are parallel to the floor. As you get stronger, you can take them all the way up to the bar. Return to the starting position. You can vary your reps by raising your legs to the side with your knees bent, alternating sides, or raising your legs in a split. The important thing is that you feel your abdominals contracting.

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shoulders arnold press Named after my esteemed action colleague, “the Governator”. Starting poSition

Hold the dumbbells at shoulder level with the palms pointing inwards. ExEcution

Raise one dumbbell at a time while rotating your palm forwards. This works your entire shoulder girdle effectively. You can do this exercise sitting or standing.

Combination shoulder exerCise Starting poSition

Hold the dumbbells hanging straight down by your thighs. ExEcution Lift the dumbbells straight out to the sides, then sweep them forward until they are in front of your face. Lower the dumbbells to the front of your thighs. Then reverse the same movement, bringing the dumbbells back up in front of you, out, and then down, ending up back in the starting position. This is one repetition. Repeat. The entire shoulder gets a real challenge with this exercise.

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armS Standing dumbbell Curl Unilateral training adds to time under tension.

ConCentration Curl This exercise puts the emphasis on the biceps peak.

Skull CruSher Can be performed with a barbell or dumbbell.

Starting poSition

Starting poSition

Starting poSition

Starting poSition

Hold a dumbbell in each hand. Let them hang alongside your body. Tighten your abdominals.

Hold a dumbbell in one hand. Support yourself against a bench or dumbbell rack with the other hand.

Hold a barbell with a medium-width grip and lie down on a bench.

Attach a bar to a high pulley on a cable machine. Grip it so you have about six inches between your hands.

ExEcution

ExEcution

Curl one dumbbell until the biceps is fully contracted. Squeeze hard at the top, then return to the starting position. Curl the other dumbbell.

Curl the dumbbell slowly until you get a full contraction. Hold the top position for two seconds before slowly returning to the starting position.

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MUSCLE & FitnESS

ExEcution

Bend your arms and bring the barbell down towards your forehead until you feel the stretch in the back of your arms. Press back up to the top position.

triCepS preSSdown Allows for a maximum muscle contraction.

ExEcution

Press the bar down until your arms are locked out. Hold for a beat, squeezing your triceps, before returning to the starting position.

lower baCK/abDoMinals hyperextension

swiss ball sit-up

Starting poSition

Starting poSition

Position yourself in the hyperextension machine with your feet hip-width apart, knees slightly bent, and hips against the cushion.

Lie with your lower back on a Swiss ball and your feet firmly on the floor.

ExEcution

Cross your arms across your chest and bend forwards at the waist, keeping your back flat. Contract your glutes and rise back up.

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MUSCLE & FitnESS

ExEcution

Contract your abs to sit up, rising until you almost form a 90-degree angle with your upper and lower body. Slowly recline to the starting positing, keeping your abs engaged.

wheY protein powder isn’t Your favourite Meals with BY Matthew KadeY 100

MUSCLE & FitnESS

juST fOR SHAkES. WORk IT INTO THESE 5 muSclE-BuIldING REcIPES. PHOTOGRAPHS BY TRAVIS RATHBONE MUSCLE & FitnESS

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WHEY

protein powder’s unwavering popularity stems from the raft of research showing that it has what it takes to help you build muscle fast. Its anabolic powers derive from its abundance of BCAAs, which are effective at stimulating muscle growth and can even bolster the immune system. So when something is so useful, why limit it to shakes? You shouldn’t. These recipes for both sweet and savoury dishes will make whey work even harder—and better— for you.

THE SCOOP You can swap out the chorizo for chicken or tinned tuna if you want a leaner option. Use only plain whey.

MACARONI CHEESE 1 tbsp grapeseed oil or canola oil 1 onion, diced 225 g chorizo sausage, thinly sliced 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped 225 g wholegrain elbow pasta 475 ml low-sodium chicken stock 400 g chopped tomatoes 1 tsp sweet smoked paprika Salt and pepper 115 g grated cheddar cheese

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MUSCLE & FitnESS

120 ml skimmed or semiskimmed milk 60 g unflavoured whey protein powder 2 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, chopped 1. Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add onion and cook until softened (about 5 minutes). Stir in chorizo and garlic; cook until chorizo has browned (about 3 minutes).

S ERVES 4

2. Stir in pasta, stock, tomatoes, paprika, and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, cover pan and simmer until pasta is tender (about 12 minutes), stirring occasionally. Stir in cheese, milk, and whey protein, and heat until cheese has melted. Serve topped with chopped parsley.

Calories

614 ProTeiN

34 G 54 G 28 G CarBs

FaT

PUMPKIN PIE YOGURT SERVES 3 500 g plain light Greek yogurt 165 g tinned pure pumpkin pureé 40 g vanilla or chocolate whey protein 2 tbsp pure maple syrup 1 tbsp vanilla extract (omit if using vanilla whey) 1 ⁄2 tsp cinnamon 1 ⁄2 tsp ground ginger 1 ⁄4 tsp ground cloves 35 g sliced pecans 25 g dried coconut flakes

THE SCOOP Greek yogurt already packs a good amount of protein (23 g every 245 g), but the extra whey puts it over the top.

1. Stir together yogurt, pumpkin, whey protein, maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. 2. Divide yogurt mixture among serving bowls and top with pecans and coconut.

Calories

ProTeiN

334 26 G

▲

CarBs

FaT

22 G 14 G WHEY RULES

It’s important to be cognisant of which flavour you’re working with. For recipes that are on the sweeter side, like puddings and yogurt, you can use flavoured powders like vanilla or chocolate. For all savoury dishes, however, you must use flavourless whey. MUSCLE & FitnESS

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THE SCOOP This is the perfect way to kick off your day. You can even toss leftovers of the raspberry chia jam in your protein shakes.

PB&J Porridge SERVES 4 3 tbsp chia seeds 185 g raspberries 2 tbsp honey 80 g steel-cut oats Salt 120 ml milk 1 ripe banana, mashed 60 g unflavoured or vanilla whey protein powder 65 g natural peanut or almond butter 1 tsp cinnamon 1. In a bowl, mix together chia seeds and 250 ml water. Let sit for about 45 minutes to form a gel, stirring occasionally to prevent clumping. Pulse together chia gel with raspberries and honey in a blender or food processor. Chill overnight. 2. Place oats, a pinch of salt, and 750 ml water in a saucepan. Bring to a mild boil, immediately turn off the heat, cover, and let oats soak overnight. 3. In the morning, stir the milk into the oats and place over medium-low heat for 5 minutes, stirring in more milk if too dry. Stir in 300 g of the raspberry chia jam with the banana, whey protein, nut butter, and cinnamon; warm through.

Calories

ProTeiN

CarBs

FaT

289 20 G 30 G 12 G 104

MUSCLE & FitnESS

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THE SCOOP Take these balls of nutritious energy to the office to avoid temptation in the staff canteen. Or have a couple for a preworkout snack.

130 g natural peanut, almond, or cashew butter 3 tbsp honey Zest of 1 orange 1 ⁄2 tsp cinnamon Salt 80 g plain, vanilla, or chocolate whey protein powder 3 tbsp chia seeds 1. Stir together nut butter, honey, zest, cinnamon,

Calories

ProTeiN

and a pinch of salt. Add protein powder and mix; it should be doughy and slightly moist. If it’s too dry, add water 1 tbsp at a time. 2. Roll into 12 golf-ball sized balls. Place seeds in a shallow dish and roll balls in seeds. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

CarBs

FaT

117 9 G 8 G 6 G

106

MUSCLE & FitnESS

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THE SCOOP The key to avoiding a pudding that tastes more like avocado than chocolate is to use avocados that are slightly soft— not too hard or too soft.

CHOCOLATE AVOCADO PUDDING S ERVES 4 2 avocados, stoned and flesh scooped out 1 large ripe banana 60 g unflavoured or vanilla whey-protein powder 30 g unsweetened cocoa powder 50 ml milk 85 g pure maple syrup 1 tsp vanilla extract (omit if using vanilla whey) 1 ⁄2 tsp cinnamon

Calories

ProTeiN

⁄4 tsp chilli powder, optional 1 ⁄8 tsp salt 1

1. Place all ingredients in a blender or foodprocessor and blend until smooth. Serve immediately in an avocado husk and top with raspberries or other fruit if desired.

CarBs

FaT

278 14 G 33 G 28 G

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MUSCLE & FitnESS

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*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

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M U S C L E & F i t n ess

ENGINEERING THE

PERFECT BODY Don’t try to guess the best moves. use this guiDe to prioritise your training anD fast-track strength, size, anD muscle gains. by aDam bornstein • photographs by Dylan coulter

THE SIMPlEST WAy to make progress is to stop guessing about your training. Instead of flying blind, take the advice of these top fitness authorities we’ve consulted—10 experts renowned for their knowledge about packing on muscle and transforming bodies— and use the exercises they suggest to maximise results for any body part. Their recommendations will take your workout—and your body—from just average to extraordinary. tHe BODY pArt

BACK

Best exercise FOr WiDtH

WIDE-GRIP PullDoWn Best exercise FOr tHickness

PRonEDuMBBEllRoW tHe expert

JIM SMITH

Two-poinT plan A barn door–size back is built with two kinds of pulling exercises: horizontal and vertical. The former encompasses all rowing variations, while the latter covers pull-ups and pull-downs. You must use both kinds of pulling regularly, says Jim Smith, founder of Diesel Strength and Conditioning. SAVE YOURSELF Does your lower back still ache from deadlift day? Performing rows on an incline bench lets you work your lats without stressing your lower back.

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MUSCLE & FitnESS

whaT To do The dumbbell row focuses on your lats, traps, and rhomboids, increasing the thickness of your back. This should be your

staple horizontal pulling movement. For vertical pulling, use the wide-grip pulldown. It recruits the lats and teres major muscles, which, when developed, give the appearance of greater width, says Smith.

Bonus Tip Try this strategy from Smith, called the Diesel Mass method: do a heavy work set (6–8 reps) of wide-grip overhand pulldowns, then 15–20 reps with a lighter load and a different grip, such as a wide-grip underhand pulldown.

T HE P ERF E C T B O DY

The body parT

quaDs

The exercise

FRONT squaT The experT

BEN BRuNO a saFEr squaT The back squat is widely known as the king of leg exercises, but placing the bar across the front of your shoulders hits the quads even better—

“

because it forces you to keep your torso upright, says strength coach Ben Bruno.

WhaT To do If you don’t have the wrist flexibility to use a clean grip, use the “cross­arm” grip or lifting straps to serve as handles. bonus Tip Keep your elbows pointing straight ahead during the set. Once they drop, your upper back will round and the bar can fall.

BEN SAYS:

BAR POSITION MAKES A BIG DIFFERENCE, WHICH IS WHY FRONT SQUATS ARE YOUR GO-TO MOVE.

”

TruE FuncTion These days you hear a lot about “functional” exer­ cises, but there’s nothing more functional than an old­school Romanian deadlift. “RDLs lead to results you can see,” says Nick Tumminello, founder of Performance University.

WhaT To do To perform an RDL, keep your knees bent at roughly 15–20 degrees. Instead of thinking about lowering your shoulders towards the floor, think about driving your hips backwards, which will cause them to hinge, says Tumminello. RDLs transfer to all field, court, and combat sports because the movement closely matches the force­generation patterns

The body parT

HaMsTRINGs The exercise

ROMaNIaN DEaDLIFT The experT

NICk TuMMINELLO involved in sprinting, jumping, and rotating. They’re also effective for building better­looking glutes and hamstrings.

bonus Tip Romanian deadlifts contribute to fat loss because they’re a compound exercise, so they burn more calories.

When in romania keep the bar pulled into your legs. MUSCLE & FitnESS

113

JackeD ass Your glutes are the most powerful muscles in your entire body. And according to Bret Contreras, a glute-training expert, the majority of people neglect them. Build them up with hip thrusts.

What to Do The barbell hip thrust maximises gluteal muscle activation. Strengthening your backside with this movement has been shown to transfer to the squat and deadlift and make for a rounder, fuller-looking butt. Use a load that allows you to achieve

The body parT

CALVES

The exercise

SEATED/STANDING CALF RAISE The experT

“

The calves consist of the gastrocnemius and the soleus muscles. The gastroc gets worked by standing calf raises, and the soleus bears the brunt of the load during seated raises. “Optimal calf development requires bent-knee and straightknee positions for maximal growth,” says Brad Schoenfeld, author of The M.A.X. Muscle Plan.

What to Do Avoid bouncing out of the bottom of your reps on either exercise. The calves are often tight due to walking and running, so holding the bottom of your reps for a

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MUSCLE & FitnESS

bonus tip Hip thrusts are best used as an assistance exercise on a lower-body day—after sets of squats and/or deadlifts.

BRET SAYS:

barbell Hip tHrusts Hit tHe glutes directly.

BRAD SCHOENFELD Double heaDer

anywhere between 8 and 15 reps, says Contreras. Push through your heels and raise your body to full hip extension, and hold the contraction at the top of the movement for a onesecond count. Perform the movement off the floor to start (see the picture below), and, when you can, off a bench that’s about 16 inches high.

second or two builds stretching into your workout and encourages more long-term growth.

bonus tip There’s some evidence that turning the toes in during a standing calf raise will target the lateral head of the gastroc (it’s a two-headed muscle, just like the biceps), and that turning the toes out will target the medial gastroc. You can alternate your foot placement each set or dedicate one month to training the calves using one foot position and then switching it. You can do the same with seated calf raises for the soleus.

”

Bridge this Brace your abs to keep from overextending your lower back.

The body parT

GLUTES

The exercise

BARBELL HIP THRUST The experT

BRET CONTRERAS

The BODY pArT

CHEST

The exercise

DUMBBELL FLYE The experT

ArnoLD SCHwArzEnEggEr Flye away A proper dumbbell flye stretches the pecs and then forces a peak contraction at the top of the movement.

Oak chest While the bench press is great for building strength, the dumbbell flye is a superior move for targeting pec growth. It allows you to keep tension directly on your pecs for longer periods of time, thoroughly exhausting the muscles so they have to grow, and taking them through a fuller range of motion. What tO DO The secret sauce is in the range of motion and the squeeze at the top. “Take your flyes all the way down as far as you can,” says Schwarzenegger, “and inhale to expand the chest. Feel the pain and growth.” Then, try to accelerate up as fast as you can and decelerate as your hands come together. Squeeze your chest at the top. The

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MUSCLE & FitnESS

combination of moving as fast as possible and then having your muscle fibres work to slow down the movement and squeeze will result in a better muscle contraction. In other words: more tension on your muscles, less tension on your tendons, and a perfect combination for growth. We can’t guarantee pecs like the

“

Austrian Oak, but you’ll definitely see an improvement over what you have now.

BOnus tip Use flyes at any point in your workout, or at the beginning to preexhaust your chest before you hit the bench. Prioritising your pecs is the first step in boosting pec gains.

Arnold SAYS:

You know You can’t go wrong with the bench press. it works and should be a part of anY upperbodY programme. but Your secret weapon for growth could come from an unexpected place: dumbbell flYes.

”

The body parT

SHOULDERS The exercise

BARBELL OVERHEAD PRESS The experT

MARTIN ROONEY

Pressing matters Brace your abs to prevent leaning back excessively.

heavy duty No other shoulder exercise lets you go as heavy as the overhead press, which is exactly why it’s the best way to push growth, says Martin Rooney, founder of Training for Warriors.

What to do Try using a “false grip”, keeping your thumb and fingers on the same side of the bar. This will allow for a little motion

at the wrist and shoulder to make the lift more comfortable.

boNus tip “Be sure to pay attention to the eccentric [lowering phase],” says Rooney. That means controlling both the up and down parts of the lift.

“

MARTIN SAYS:

THe press builds sTrengTH and sTabiliTy in your sHoulders by loading THem verTically.

The body parT

TRAPS

The exercise

RACK DEADLIFT The experT

JASON FERRUGGIA Nice Rack Deadlifts from the floor are great, but rack deadlifts are more effective for building hulking traps. You don’t have to go around your knees in the eccentric (lowering) phase, so they’re less stressful to your body and thus easier to recover from, says Jason Ferruggia, owner of Renegade Strength & Conditioning.

”

What to do Set the bar slightly above knee height (having the bar on mats, if available, is way better than pins). Keep a neutral spine and get down in position by pushing your hips back and compressing your hamstrings like loaded springs. “Don’t use a belt— use a double overhand grip [to prevent a potential biceps tear], and crush the bar in your hands,” says Ferruggia. boNus tip You don’t need to go heavy to make rack deadlifts effective. Start by using 80% of your one-rep max deadlift. “You can still get insanely strong and set new PRs with that,” says Ferruggia.

T HE P ERF E C T B O DY

Crush ’em Lying triceps extensions (skull crushers) build the perfect horseshoe triceps, says Trink. But performing them on a decline bench takes it up another notch. The decline bench puts a greater stretch on the triceps, forcing them to contract harder and recruit more fibres. The angle also makes it more difficult for the weight to rest on your elbow joints. Having your arms point behind your head keeps the tension where you want it—on the triceps themselves.

The body parT

BICEPS

The exercise

CHIN-UP The experT

DAN TRINK Arm yourself Curls are fine, but the advantage of chin-ups is that they let you work your biceps using your full body weight, says Dan Trink, founder of Trink Fitness. It’s that type of overload, rather than 30-pound dumbbells, that leads to new biceps growth.

WhAt to do Grasp the bar with an underhand grip (palms facing you). Start from a dead hang with your

“

arms fully extended; drive your chest all the way up to the bar and squeeze your biceps at the top as if you’re flexing. Then take four seconds to lower your body back to a dead hang. You won’t be able to do many reps, but you’ll see your arms grow.

DAN SAYS:

MUSCLE & FitnESS

Bonus tip Keep reps on the higher side to protect your elbows, and use an EZ bar to take pressure off your wrists. Another option: dumbbells. on the decline The angle of your arms improves the muscle recruitment in your triceps.

Bonus tip Avoid excessive biceps work. You don’t need to do direct arm training more than twice a week if your programme already includes chin-ups and row variations—that’s overkill. Also, curls should be done light. Never go below six reps per set. Save heavy loads for chin-ups (they can handle it).

Take four seconds To lower your body To a dead hang on each rep of chin-ups.

120

WhAt to do Set the bench to a 30-degree decline and secure your feet. Have a partner hand you the bar and hold it behind your head. Keep your upper arms in this

position. Lower the bar to the space between your eyebrows and hairline, taking three to four seconds to do so. (Don’t sling the bar back behind your head or slam it into your forehead—neither is good for your health or your performance.) Then press the weight back to the starting position and flex your triceps at the top.

”

The body parT

TRICEPS

The exercise

DECLINE TRICEPS EXTENSION The experT

DAN TRINK

The BODY pArT

ABS

The exercise

LYING BENCH HIP ROLL-UP The experT

RON MATHEWS Let it RoLL The lying bench hip roll-up strengthens your deep core muscles—the transverse abdominus and obliques—says Ron Mathews, trainer to celebs like Joe Manganiello and Hugh Jackman. The two primary functions of these muscles are pulling the ribs down and stabilising the spine. Why is this so important? Because If your rib cage raises, it forces your back to arch excessively, which isn’t efficient for transferring force and can lead to injury. Strengthening these muscles will help your posture, protect your back, and minimise lost force across the core.

What to do Lie down on a bench, reach over your head, and grab hold of the bench with your elbows pointing up. Raise your legs so that your thighs are perpendicular to the floor and your shins are parallel, creating a 90-degree angle at your hips and knees. Press your lower back flat into the bench and don’t let it arch at all for the entire exercise. While keeping your back flat, extend your legs out straight. Slowly bring your legs back in to the

starting position and then continue to roll your hips off of the bench one vertebrae at a time. Slowly lower your hips with control. Perform 10 full reps, then another 10 with just the hip-roll up and down but not the leg extension.

Bonus tip Place your ab training at the beginning of your workout if abs are top priority.

Lower abs Controlling the eccentric phase of the move recruits more muscle.

Karina Skowronska gave up gymnastics at the age of 13 when she was told she wouldn’t make it to the top. She then won six national fitness titles before a serious injury left her thinking she would never fulfil her goal of winning a world title so she quit again. Now, at the age of 25, Skowronska is attempting to scale the summit of a third sport and typically, she isn’t messing around. In her first year on the inter­ national bikini fitness circuit she has won silver medals at the IFBB Amateur Olympia in Prague and the European Championships in Spain, as well as a gold medal at the UK Nationals.

For Skowronska, taking part is secondary to winning, and if finishing first isn’t possible she moves on. “I don’t do half measures,” she says. “Competing is fun but at the end of the day I want to win and I give every­ thing I can.” Skowronska’s determined attitude isn’t immediately obvious. She’s fun, outwardly chatty and hyperactive but childhood in Poland toughened her up. “We were very poor,” she says. “The first time I ate chocolate I was 12 and the only time we had bananas and oranges was at Christmas. I could never imagine going for a holiday. It seems strange to think about it now but that’s how life was.” Sport and fitness was her passport to a better life. Skowronska threw herself into gymnastics and was good—very good—but not good enough to compete internationally. “When my coach told me I was devastated,” she says. Fitness competitions, which are judged on a combination of a routine and aesthetics, were an ideal alternative for someone who could tumble and enjoyed lifting weights. She won her first contest, and the first of four junior Polish champion­ ships, when she was still 13. She also won the European junior title and two senior Polish titles and finished third at the junior world championships until another promising pursuit came to a juddering halt at 18.

KARINA SKOWRONSKA

Age: 25 Place of Birth: Bydgoszcz, Poland Lives: Cambridge Height: 167 cm / 5 ft 5½ ins Weight: 60 kg / 132 lbs Career Highlights: Silver medal at 2014 IFBB amateur Olympia Prague; 2014 UK Nationals champion Ambition: To step on the pro Olympia bikini stage Sponsors: Decibel To Contact: On Facebook at Karina Bikini UKBFF

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Super LegS Skowronska performs this superset workout for legs and glutes: l Superset 4 x 20 single-leg presses on each leg with 4 x 12 deep squats on Smith machine using a wide stance l Superset 4 x 12 good mornings with 4 x 12 stifflegged deadlifts, focusing on the glutes l Superset 4 x 12 cable kickbacks with 4 x 12 single leg raises on the Swiss ball wearing ankle weights “I tore my Achilles and quad muscle while doing my routine,” she says. “For four months I couldn’t walk properly and afterwards I was told I would never come back to the level I wanted.” Again, she didn’t fancy hanging around to make up the numbers so she stopped competing and went to university, doing international studies. Her course took her from Poland to Italy and then England, where she met a man and stayed. But don’t bank on Britain being her home forever. “I have the kind of personality that means I can’t stay in one place for long,” she says. A couple of years ago she got wind of the bikini fitness craze that is sweeping the world. “I really liked how the girls looked and thought it was something I could do,” she says. “I also like the fact that the posing isn’t so strict because I’m a bit of a wild child and my personality comes out on stage.” Skowronska arrived at this year’s UK Nationals an unknown but wowed everybody with her symmetrical proportions, conditioning and stage presence. Victory qualified her to represent her adopted country at the IFBB European Championships and the

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“

I’m a bIt of a wIld chIld and my personalIty comes out on stage

”

Winning the UK Nationals in April

Amateur Olympia, where she proved she was no one-hit wonder with her two silver medals. She’s delighted with her progress but typically wants more. “I would like to be a pro,” she says. “The Olympia is what I dream about.” She hoped the Arnold Classic Europe, the UKBFF British Championships, and the IFBB World Championships, which were all in her schedule for the end of 2014, would take her closer to that dream.

East Meets West Skowronska is part of an eastern European takeover of UK bodybuilding and fitness. At last year’s national championships, Hungarian-born Eszter Pati and Slovakian-born Karolina Botkova won the two bodyfitness height classes. Anita Bekus, who used to compete with Skowronska in Poland, won the short class bikini fitness title. Skowronska says they share a similar work ethic. “Nothing was given to us,” she says. “Sometimes here people expect things in life. I didn’t have any expectations but I worked hard.” Some attribute her success to genetics, which annoys her considering she has

spent 20 years training hard. “I say to people, ‘if you think I’m lucky you are more than welcome to come to the gym and train with me and see what I do’.” Her programme, devised by Michelle Brannan, the only British female to have

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“

I want to win and I give everything I can

”

competed at the Bikini Olympia, changes every four weeks. But she usually trains six times a week. “I don’t like long workouts so I have shorter, more intense sessions lasting about 45 minutes,” she says. Half her workouts target lower body; the other half focus on upper-body. A session usually consists of three supersets or six regular exercises. Reps vary. Because her quads are already well developed, she tends to do as many as 20 to shape rather than build but she goes as low as eight or 10 for glutes and hamstrings, which needs a little filling out. Occasionally things get completely shaken up with 10 sets of 10 reps without rest.Skowronska eats six or seven meals a day but because she gets lean easily she doesn’t have to do much cardio. “Each week I do either 3 x 15 minutes of high-intensity cardio or half an hour of steady cardio four times a week.” For someone so tiny, she packs some power. She can squat 70 kg and used to deadlift 140 kg but stopped because she feared it would thicken her waist. “My legs are good but I would like to have a little more muscle on my upper body,” she says. “I have to be careful though because it is bikini, and you can’t be too big.” Having a coach who understands this gives her confidence. “I don’t take other people’s advice,” she says. “I just follow the plan laid down by Michelle.” The plan has proved stunningly successful so far. But for Skowronska, silver is not enough. Competing is all about winning and she won’t be found wanting through lack of effort. “Determination is definitely my main strength,” she says.

For more great advice

from Karina’s coach Michelle Brannan, check out our new Bikini Body Fitness e-book at www.muscle-fitness.co.uk/ bikinibook

M U S C L E & F i t n ess

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THE GREAT VEGETARIAN DEBATE Mark Gilbert investigates whether it is possible to eat green and still be a muscle-building machine

turning your back on meat and “going veggie” may be as alien a concept as taking up Zumba to many carnivorous muscle&Fitness readers. but an increasing number of people around the world are doing so. the big question is: can you give up eating mountains of meat and still be a successful athlete or build muscle? i’ll start by addressing the misinformation and propaganda around vegetarianism, then discuss some little-known effects of omitting meat from the diet and finally give recommendations on how to optimise a vegetarian diet. the chart types of vegetarian should clarify the different options. generally, people become vegetarian either because they don’t want to harm animals or the environment, or they think it has health advantages. some also think it improves physical performance. i totally respect the ethical stance of those who choose not to eat animal foods. but for those avoiding these foods in search of health benefits, i believe they’re going about it the wrong way. they may even cause themselves more harm than good. let me explain: most people blindly accept the constant messages about meat being unhealthy and about vegetarianism being the optimum diet for health. they talk about veggie diets being easier to digest, more natural, cleansing, less acidic, better for your bones and less processed. some people—raw vegans—even go so far as to cook little to none of their food because they believe eating food the way mother nature made it must be best. i could write an article about each of these claims but for the purposes of this feature i’ll quickly assess them.

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MEAT MYTHS BUSTED VEG IS HEALTHIER

There is no decent body of evidence to conclude that meat is unhealthy. You may have read studies reported in the media saying that it causes heart disease and cancer. Most of these studies include sausages, bacon and other processed meats in their definition of red meat; that’s not my idea of meat. Fortunately, when the largest study ever conducted on this topic looked at whether red meat caused heart disease, the researchers found that when they removed the processed meats from the data and just looked at actual meat, there was no association whatsoever.

“Omitting meat is nOt the way tO health and is likely tO be detrimental tO perfOrmance, recOvery and injury risk”

I’m not really sure what this means because a healthy human gut breaks down and absorbs meat without the slightest trouble. In fact, while most people can adapt to eating a variety of foods, excess wind, bloating and stomach upset are far more likely to occur from eating vegetarian foods, such as beans, legumes and cruciferous vegetables. A minority of people experience severe intolerances to things like lectins and certain fibres, which are found in much higher levels in vegetarian/vegan diets. Meat does take more energy to digest but that just means that at the end of the digestion process, there are fewer calories left to be stored as fat.

MoRE NATURAL If “natural” means eating in the traditional way that your species evolved to eat in its environment over the course of its existence, then for humans, natural means eating at least half of our calories from lean animal sources. Scientists began to establish this ratio of animal food intake about 30 years ago from studies of Paleolithic man and from existing societies that are untouched by modern humanity.

CLEANSING This cleansing claim usually refers to the ability of a diet to help remove toxins. Fat from animal foods could

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Low glutathione correlates well with the high homocysteine levels found in indeed non-meat eaters. High contain levels of homocysteine are toxic constituassociated with several serious ents, but so too diseases. So ironically, it can be could food from strongly argued that by avoiding quality non-animal sources. The fact is, except for high mercury levels animal proteins, poor liver function may ensue...meaning less detoxification. found in certain types of predatory fish, such as tuna, swordfish and shark, there is no evidence of anyone ingesting LESS ACIDIC dangerous amounts of toxins as a result A meat-free diet may introduce less of eating meat. As far as a vegetarian or acidity into the body. But the body vegan diet’s ability to remove toxins, controls blood acid levels extremely again, there is no evidence. well within a tiny pH range—so not only In fact, vegetarian diets are more is this virtually irrelevant but there are likely to be low in sulphur-containing also much better ways to control any amino acids and these are the ones negative effects that may (and I stress that support higher glutathione levels. “may”) occur from this acidity. Glutathione is the antioxidant that is instrumental in protecting the BETTER FoR YoUR BoNES function of the body’s main detoxifying This relates to acidity as (discussed organ—the liver. above) and the theory that a high-

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protein intake causes calcium loss from bones. In fact, those who eat the least protein (vegans) have the weakest bones and the highest fracture risk. A full review of the most recent research makes clear that as long as you meet your recommended intake of calcium, more protein equals stronger, denser bones.

Less Processed There’s good food processing, bad food processing and neutral food processing. Processing can make foods healthier or unhealthier and can often make them safer, so this word by itself is meaningless. But more importantly, you can easily eat a completely unprocessed or a highly-processed vegetarian diet, just as you can with an omnivorous (animal and plant food) diet.

Archaeologists have found evidence that humans have cooked their food for at least a million years. Cooking, by making nutrients more available and easier to digest, has been credited with being one of humanity’s most important innovations and has contributed to our prolonged survival as a species. When the German Institute of Human Nutrition looked at people on a meat-free diet that was very high in raw fruit and vegetables, they found that although they had lower total and “bad” (LDL) cholesterol, their “good” (HDL) cholesterol was too low in almost half of them and their homocysteine levels (a heart disease risk factor) were higher.

“Incorporate the good parts of a vegetarIan dIet, such as eatIng more fruIts, vegetables, nuts, and seeds”

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An Oxford study (one of the biggest vegetarian studies ever conducted) showed those who didn’t eat meat were almost a third more likely to have bone fractures. Another study that reviewed scientific data noted it was “consistently” shown that vegans have lower bone densities.

wHat VeGetariaNs MiGHt Miss MuscLe aNd PerforMaNce

So can you follow a vegetarian diet, or even a vegan diet without negative consequences in the gym or in competition? The answer is “maybe”. There is a handful of examples of elite endurance athletes who eat vegan diets and perform well. However, I’m not aware of any elite power or strength athletes.

ProteiN

essential amino acids (EAAs) required to build muscle. Vegetable protein sources are not only lower in essential amino acids but also usually contain “antinutrients”—oxalic acid, phytic acid, protease inhibitors, and others. These prevent the ultimate digestion and absorption of proteins, vitamins, minerals, and trace elements so even if you combine vegetarian sources of protein, you don’t end up with enough EAAs unless you eat massive amounts or supplement. Vegetarians also tend to be at high risk of vitamin B12, iron, zinc, iodine, and vitamin D deficiency. In the case of B12, the only good sources are animal foods; in the case of minerals, many are not well absorbed from non-animal sources.

For the most part, only animal sources creatiNe of protein have adequate ratios of all the It is well established that meat and fish

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I

t’s no secret, the harder you workout out the better results you’re gonna get. Every workout, every set, every rep and every minute on the treadmill is an investment of your own sweat and hard work. The return on your investment is seeing your goal achieved; a better physique and heads turning as you walk through the gym.

You know that in order to amplify your results you have to amplify your investment, but how do you do that? The answer is you need to train stronger, longer and with more intensity! Every workout needs to be your hardest. Every workout needs to be your best. Now, I don’t know about you but I’m not always able to muster the energy, focus and motivation to crush every workout all on my own. I need a little help. I need something that is going to take me from an empty tank of gas to fuel injected! I need something that is going to charge me up so much that I can’t wait to hit the gym and grab some weights.

EVERYONE THAT’S “IN THE KNOW” UNDERSTANDS THAT THIS IS WHAT GETS THE GAINS

The question is, what kind of results do you want? Are you OK with simply going through the motions and getting mediocre results? Is simply showing up enough for you If so, keep doing what you’re doing. Now if on the other hand you’re ready to achieve the strength, power and muscle development that you’ve always wanted, read on.

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TYPES OF VEGETARIAN TYPE

DIET

Vegan

Strictly non-animal foods

Raw Vegan

Raw non-animal foods

carnosine is found in meat and therefore vegetarians (and especially vegans) have substantially lower levels. Like creatine, carnosine also has several health benefits and is a strong antioxidant.

TesTosTerone

Lacto-VegetaRian Diet includes dairy products oVo-VegetaRian

will eat eggs but no dairy

PeScataRian

no animal meat except fish

Probably because of poor zinc status and low saturated fat intake, even vegetarians who eat dairy foods and eggs have been shown to have 30 per cent lower testosterone levels.

are the main sources of creatine in the diet and vegetarians have lower creatine levels (but they probably benefit most from supplementing creatine). In addition to its beneficial effects on strength and power, creatine has been shown to have multiple health benefits.

Carnosine Carnosine is best known to bodybuilders as the dipeptide that you can boost by taking beta-alanine supplements. Higher carnosine levels allow the body to delay the burning sensation caused by highintensity exercise like weightlifting and sprinting, allowing increased performance. Like creatine (and carnitine),

There is no simple “yes or no” or “good or bad” conclusion here, so let’s start with the obvious stuff. If you are a vegetarian and want to build maximum muscle or power, you have to do your homework. If you eat dairy, eggs and fish at most meals and snacks, then you need a quality multivitamin and added sources of saturated fat, along with the usual supplements that work for most people. If you are vegan, you have to accept that even if you supplement well and do your homework, your ability to build muscle and recover is likely to be impaired. You’ll need a good multivitamin, with extra B12, zinc, iron, iodine, and certainly an effective vegan protein supplement and a substantial source of omega-3. From everything I’ve read (and having briefly experimented with meat-free diets) I believe omitting meat is not the way

to health and is likely to be detrimental to performance, recovery and injury risk. The most logical way to improve health is not to remove a nutrient that our bodies have evolved with but to incorporate the good parts of a vegetarian diet—like eating more fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. Some people can get away with these diets and have success despite them. However, for other susceptible individuals, serious digestive and intolerance issues can arise and in rare cases very serious medical problems like stress fractures and rhabdomyolysis (which is potentially fatal) have been reported in vegans and these conditions have resolved when the diet changes. Remember, most people who switch to a vegetarian diet are suddenly eating a huge variety of healthy foods, which their body has been missing for years. This can lead them to believe that they have found the Holy Grail. Unfortunately, before long, they may be suffering from other deficiencies resulting from the omission of animal sources of nutrition and possibly intolerances. So if your choice boils down to health and performance rather than just ethics, why not choose the best of both worlds? Mark Gilbert 

has a B.Sc. in nutrition and is a CISSN certified sports nutritionist. He’s been involved in the sports nutrition industry for 20 years and is a director of MuscleGenes.com and FitnessInventor.com

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By Ben Kenyon Photos By helen Roscoe

Mark and Simon Bitcon have key roles helping players at Wigan Warriors and Manchester City respectively get fitter and stronger. With both teams being crowned champions in the same season, the brothers discuss the contrasting methods the two sports use to build strength, power and speed and improve recovery.

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The Wigan Warriors gym at the training ground in Orrell

PRE VIOUS SPRE AD IMAGES COURtESy OF WIG AN WARRIORS; AFP/GE t t y IMAGES tHIS PAGE tOP: COURtESy OF PHIL WILkINSON/ WIG AN OBSERVER

Champions are not born—they are made. Now more than ever they are made in the gym and on the training pitch. Creating athletes that are fitter, faster, stronger, and more powerful is increasingly seen as the key to gaining a competitive edge over rivals. Few know more about this than brothers Mark and Simon Bitcon, who help instil these qualities at Wigan Warriors and Manchester City. Wigan Warriors, where Mark works as director of performance, did the Super League and Challenge Cup double in the same season. Manchester City, where Simon is employed as head of strength and conditioning, won the Premier League title and the Carling Cup. Here the Bitcon brothers talk about the contrasting demands of rugby league and football and how each team builds strength, power and speed.

MATCH DEMANDS Wigan Warriors “Rugby league is the toughest sport. It is a combination of running, wrestling, collisions, getting hit, and there’s a massive cognitive skill element as well. We have got 70 kg athletes going up against 115 kg to 120 kg athletes running at full speed. These guys have to be robust enough to take punishment so you have to take this into consideration when you are working on strength, power, speed, endurance, flexibility, recovery—it is a broad spectrum of physical fitness.” ▪ Players cover 7-9 km a game. ▪ 40 high-intensity sprints. ▪ Up to 70 high-speed body-on-body collisions (up to 50 tackles, 20 ball carries). ▪ Up to 50 wrestle efforts. ▪ Repeat high-intensity efforts that include a combination of wrestle, sprint, tackle, and skill/decision making. ▪ 60 minutes ball in play. ▪ Massive muscle damage from impacts and injuries similar to those seen in car accidents. ▪ Common injuries: shoulder dislocations, concussions, wrist/arm fractures, jaw fractures, ankle sprains/dislocations. ▪ Average body weight 98 kg, body fat 8-10%, squat 180 kg, bench 140 kg, chin-up 40 kg

tHIS PAGE bOt tOM: COURtESy Of MAnCHEStER CIt y

Simon Bitcon working with Man City squad at a pre-season training camp

Manchester city “Premier League football is fastpaced and high intensity. It is all about short sprints and quick movement. We want our players to provide quality in these movements and maintain it from the first minute to the last. Consistency and quality win games so we need players to be able to repeat high quality work in short bursts in every fixture. “Whether it is a defensive move, or an attacking move we want our players to have the ability to strike with high intensity and finesse.” ▪ Players cover 8-14 km a game. ▪ Sprints occur every 90 seconds within game play. ▪ Higher percentage of short sprints (0-10 m) than longer ones (10 m+) ▪ Being clinical is crucial. The quality and quantity of high-intensity actions can be the determining factor in a player’s or a team’s performance.

STRENGTH Manchester city

Wigan Warriors

“I look to build athletes that are strong but also fast, agile and dynamic. For players, Premier League games are very much about stopping and starting at high speed so we need a strength programme that puts great emphasis on controlling these forces. We need our footballers to have explosive acceleration in multiple directions and be able to absorb load and decelerate rapidly throughout the 90 minutes. The key to meeting the demands of the game is building strength based on a foundation of good movement.” ▪ The start and end point is always the game. For players it is “how strong can I get on the pitch not in the gym”. There are no medals for the heaviest bench press. ▪ It is always movement quality before movement capacity. ▪ Strength work must fit into periodised game play and pitch-based work. ▪ Players have to earn the right to use load through achieving technical quality first. ▪ Big emphasis on hips and full kinetic chain (full body) efficiency. ▪ Master forward and backward movement before working on lateral and rotational movements used in the game. ▪ Key exercises: any work that involves hip separation, such as split-squats, Bulgarian split-squats, step-ups and lunge patterns. Big emphasis also on posterior chain recruitment.

“How strong is strong enough? We keep pushing as long as the players are technically sound. They will never be ‘strong enough’—you can always keep pushing the boundaries of strength. Every session is an opportunity to improve and not just maintain. We want them as strong as possible. “Some people call it old school, but training the mind is important too and the best way to do that is put the body in some bad positions. “We aim to take them to places in

training that mentally prepare them for the darkest and toughest period in a game and if they can overcome what we give them in pre-season then they can go and do what they have done in the past few years, which is win six trophies and become champions.” ▪ Big multi-joint lifts. ▪ 1-5 repetition maximum loads with 2-4 sets in volume. ▪ Key strength exercises—box squat, trap bar deadlift, Romanian deadlift, bench press, chin-up, prone hold variations, cable twists

Wigan Warriors EXERCISE Box squat

SETS/REPS 4x4

LOAD 200 kg

REST 2 minutes

Bench

4x4

140 kg

2 minutes

Chin-up

4x4

40 kg + bodyweight

2 minutes

4 x 1 minute

20 kg plate

1 minute

4x6

100 kg

2 minutes

4 x 6 each side

Max

1 minute

Prone hold Romanian deadlift Cable twist

Manchester city EXERCISE Romanian deadlift

SETS 2-3

REPS 6

SPEED Medium

Kettlebell lateral slideboard lunge

2-3

6 each leg

Medium

Reverse lunge

2-3

6 each leg

Medium

High-step into single-leg deadlift with medicine ball push*

2-3

4 each leg

Fast

Lateral bound and stick**

2-3

4 each leg

Fast

Single-leg hamstring catapult***

2-3

4 each leg

Fast

Posterior-resisted step-up****

2-3

6 each leg

Fast

* Step-up on to a high box holding a medicine ball, then quickly perform a double-handed chest push to a partner with the med ball as you go into a single-leg deadlift. ** Balance on one leg then laterally bound as far as you can onto the other leg holding the balance after you land. *** Lie on your back facing away from a cable machine or Keiser machine set at its highest point

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with the cable attached firmly to your ankle. With both feet on the floor allow the leg attached to the cable to move towards the machine. Decelerate the leg in a controlled movement then return the leg to start position. **** Attach a bungee cord or cable around your waist and perform a fast step-up on a low box with the cord providing resistance behind you.

Tony Clubb doing cable twists with a knee brace

power Manchester city

Wigan captain Sean O’Loughlin doing box jumps (below) and landmine wrestle (bottom)

“Players’ feet may only be on the ground for a millisecond during a sprint so we have to develop that power in a short time. They need to create and absorb power in a split second to accelerate and decelerate during a game. We concentrate on perfecting movement mechanics. We employ various plyometric jumps and hops along different movement planes as well as bungee cords to create banded resistance during sprinting to build up power and performance on the pitch.” ▪ Emphasis on stretch shortening cycle (stretching and contracting muscle) actions to enhance performance. ▪ Large focus on slowing down effectively as well as explosively speeding up. ▪ Always low volume and completed with freshness, as identified by player monitoring system. ▪ Focus on the different directional movement actions used in matches.

Wigan Warriors

Wigan Warriors EXERCISE Hang Clean

SETS/REPS 4x4

LOAD 80,85,90,95 kg

REST 2 minutes

–superset with– Box Jump

4x4

Bodyweight

1 minute

Bench Throw

4x4

60,65,70,80 kg

2 minutes

–superset with– Power Dumbbell Pull

4x4

30,35,40,45 kg

2 minutes

Jammer Extension

4x4

70,75,80,85 kg

2 minutes

–superset with– Broad Jump

4x4

Bodyweight

1 minute

Landmine Wrestle

3x8

20,25,30,35 kg

2 minutes

–superset with– Med Ball Slam

3x4

10 kg

1 minute

“With power stuff we don’t do a lot of heavy-type triple extension work. We tend to work more on speed-strength rather than strength-speed. So it is lighter loads but at high velocity so we keep strength very heavy and power days are based on lighter loads and body weight. Strengthspeed is covered in the wrestle sessions and games. We are looking for really explosive movements because rugby league is all about acceleration over 10 m.” ▪ Big triple extension lifts combined with key plyometric exercises. ▪ 1-5 repetitions at moderate loads with the emphasis on high-velocity movement. ▪ Key power exercises—hang clean/ hang snatch/hang pull/landmine split jerk/jammer extension/bench throw/ power pull/med ball slam/box jump/ broad jump

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speed

Matty Smith doing running drills between the poles at Wigan’s training ground

Manchester city “Players have to be able to read the game and use pace intelligently. We want them to master the movement mechanics perfectly and be able to perform them at speed. The fitness coach will do functional speed work with a ball and players need to react to stimulus and pick up cues. The speed work will focus on movement mechanics whereas power training uses more load resistance work.” ▪ Large focus on mechanical excellence— perfect muscle movements executed at speed. ▪ Also involves game-specific speed in relation to decision-making and cues (brain first then body). ▪ Work on the spring-type qualities of the muscles and tendons needed for speed. ▪ The ability to relax as well as contract muscles is an important part of speed work.

Wigan Warriors “We do a lot of movement mechanics work and hip mobility to support this. We do a sprint training camp in Florida with some fantastic coaches alongside top Olympic sprinters. Once a week we have an optional speed session here. The guys can choose to come in spikes on their day off and we do mobility work and three or four maximal sprints over

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when you are working on strength, power, speed, endurance, flexibility, recovery— it is a broad spectrum of physical fitness

Warriors player Jack Hughes sprinting over hurdles

a short distance. We are looking to improve their acceleration over short distances.” ▪ General dynamic flexibility warm-up. ▪ Running mechanics drills focusing on good posture. ▪ Acceleration drills over 10 m focusing

on short, quick ground contact.

▪ Low-level plyometric work and sled running with minimal loads (