Build Bigger Legs: Best Exercises
Tell me this. When it’s time to put some shorts on either for the gym, beach, or pool party, how long are those bad boys? Do they go down below the knees, effectively obscuring your thighs from view? Or do you own shorts that are cut higher and put your quads proudly on display? Granted, some of you may be the modest type, but many of us have an exhibitionistic streak. We live by the motto “if you got it, flaunt it.” Nine times out of 10 when a man constantly wears baggy pants or shorts it’s because he feels ashamed or insecure about his poor leg development. We are here to help. There’s no need to go on living life with chicken legs if you’re willing to put in work on leg days. With 35 years of leg training under my belt, I’ve learned a lot about the most effective exercises and how to get the most out of them for quadriceps growth. Let’s run those down now.
Squats
No single leg movement could ever possibly challenge the barbell squat for its well-earned title, “The King of Lower Body Exercises,” even today when we have so many effective machines to choose from on leg day. That being said, body mechanics and technique will impact which areas of your lower body are targeted more or less. For the purposes of making the quads do a larger percentage of the work, the foot stance shouldn’t be too far beyond shoulder width and the forward torso lean should be minimal. A wider stance will bring the glutes and leg adductors further into play, and leaning forward from the waist involves more of the lower back. This is fantastic if your primary goal is merely to squat a heavier weight, but it will rob your quads of the required stimulation for optimal growth. As far as depth, it’s a controversial topic. I always squatted ass to grass, but many have claimed there is no need to descend below the point where your femur bones are parallel to the ground. Try both styles and go with what feels right for you. Not everyone has the mechanics and ankle flexibility to squat below parallel. For those with lower back issues, you may find a Smith machine is a friendlier alternative.
Front Squats
Front squats are a far more difficult variation for most people to perform, yet they also guarantee better quad stimulation. Because the bar is in front of you across your clavicles, you have no choice but to maintain an upright torso lest the bar rolls right off you. They take a while for most people to figure out proper form on, so be patient and don’t give up if they feel incredibly awkward at first. Also, you won’t be able to handle as much weight as in a standard back squat, but don’t let that discourage you either. It’s because you don’t have as much help from the glutes and lower back, and the quads are taking more of the load. This is a good thing for our purposes. For most guys who can squat 315 for 10 good reps, 225 for 10 is about right on the front squat. Another option to front squats is the safety bar squat, in which the bar features a yoke that goes around and across your shoulders, removing the need to keep the bar pinned tightly across your clavicles in front of you.
Hack Squats
I actually rank hack squats as a better movement for the quadriceps than the leg press, for many of the same reasons the front squat hits the quads better than the back squat. The body position of the hack squat machine in which you are upright yet tilted back at an angle makes it much easier for most people to feel their quads doing the work more so than their glutes. Hacks have gotten a bad rap over the years as being dangerous to the knees, but that’s only the case if you fail to adjust your foot stance and the machine itself to better fit your body mechanics. Most platforms can be adjusted for the angle relative to the ground. I recommend setting the feet closer than shoulder width and lower on the platform to focus more on the vastus lateralis/outer thigh for more “sweep,” but I am also fully aware that this foot position will cause knee pain and eventual tendinitis for certain people. If that’s you, try a more traditional shoulder-width stance smack-dab in the middle of the platform, or keep tweaking your feet until you find that sweet spot that lets you blast the quads but doesn’t kill your knees. The great Golden Eagle, Tom Platz, had a unique style of hack squats in which his feet were so low down on the platform that it looked like he was doing sissy squats. I’ve done them and they seriously torch the quads with almost zero glute activation. You certainly would not go as heavy in that style.
Leg Press
The leg press is by far the most commonly used piece of equipment around the world for the lower body. It’s both more comfortable and safer in some aspects than squats. You’re lying down with solid back support and there is no balancing of a bar required. It’s also a nice ego boost because anyone can pile on more plates on a leg press than they could ever dream of squatting with a bar. The most common form error we witness on the leg press is a shortened range of motion, nearly always the result of using more weight than one is capable of doing full reps with. It sure does look cool to put every plate the machine holds on it, but wouldn’t it be cooler to get bigger thighs from your efforts? Setting your feet lower and closer together on the platform, as with the hacks, will effectively target the quads better if your knees are OK with it. If not, center platform and shoulder width foot stance is fine too. Just avoid shifting your feet wider and higher up as this will work more glutes and hams than quads. As a side note, there are some who will go the other way and use an exaggerated range of motion where their tailbone curls up as they lower too far back. This can be lead to injury over time, so stop short if you feel that happening.
Pendulum Squats
The pendulum squat, also known as the swing squat, is a fairly new type of machine in the leg-training toolbox. It’s essentially a shoulder yoke and back support similar to a hack squat attached to a lever, in which you squat down on a platform set at roughly a 45-degree angle to the ground. Pendulum squats feel different from either hacks or leg presses, and many feel they are comparable to barbell squats. They certainly have a different feel from other types of squat machines.
Belt Squat
To my knowledge, the first commercially produced belt squat machine was made by John Parrillo from Cincinnati in the mid-‘90s, and it was an enormous contraption that usually required at least one if not two spotters to use correctly. That belt squat was a platform with a “trench” in the middle where the plates that hung from a belt around your waist would travel. Since then, there have been numerous evolutions of this piece to make them smoother and more user-friendly. The Pit Shark is probably the gold standard at present. The main benefit of belt squats is that there is absolutely no spinal compression since the weight isn’t across your back or shoulders but is distributed around your waist. For anyone with lower back pain or injuries, this and the leg press are often the only viable options for a compound movement on leg day.
Squat Machines
There are also a wide variety of squat machines available today, with a plethora of designs to choose from. Some look like perfectly vertical hack squats, while others are lower to the ground. All attempt to simulate the motion of squats, and it’s debatable if they succeed in this aspect. Still, I urge everyone to try all the leg machines in their gym. Some won’t feel right, while you are bound to find at least one that feels perfectly suited to your structure and body mechanics, allowing you to work your quads hard and heavy with only the right type of pain, the agony of momentary muscular failure.
Walking Lunges
Millions of fit men have used walking lunges to build up their thighs. They are not easy, particularly if you challenge yourself with resistance and keep moving rather than pause after each step. If putting a bar on your back doesn’t work for you, you can alternatively hold a pair of dumbbells. Slightly shorter steps will ensure the quads don’t get eclipsed by the glutes in terms of muscle activation.
Leg Extensions
Finally, we come to the only “pure” quadriceps movement, the leg extension. This is the only exercise that isolates the quads, as any compound pressing movement inevitably involves the hams, glutes and even the calves to some extent. In my younger years I found I was exceptionally strong on leg extensions and would routinely pin extra plates on to the weight stack to add resistance. Looking back, I now realize this was a big mistake. Extensions are a single-joint movement, and our knees are not designed to move extremely heavy loads in that movement pattern. Over time the patellar tendon will become chronically inflamed, and can eventually snap, resulting in a full quadriceps tear. I usually advocate either using extensions as a warm-up to get blood flowing in the muscle and around the knees, or going a bit heavier later on in the workout when your strength should be somewhat diminished.
Quad-Building Workouts
The following routines are focused on quadriceps, and thus do not include work for the hamstrings or calves. I strongly suggest hitting those areas in a different workout as these routines are meant to produce rapid results in quadriceps growth and are quite demanding. All three routines should be preceded with a 10-minute cardio warm-up to increase core temperature and blood flow in the lower body. Do not skip this critical step in preparing your legs for battle!
Routine A
Leg Extensions
Sets: 3 x 25 (light)
Squats
Warm-ups: 2 x 20, 15
Sets: 4 x 12, 12, 10, 10
Leg Press
Sets: 4 x 20, 15, 15, 12
Leg Extensions: 3 x 12
Superset with
Walking Lunges: 3 x 15 steps, each leg
Routine B
Front Squats
Warm-ups: 3 x 20, 15, 12
Sets: 4 x 10-12
Belt Squats or Squat Machine
Warm-up: 1 x 20
Sets: 4 x 15
Leg Extensions
Sets: 4 x 10 + 10
(First 10 reps from stretch to halfway up, second 10 reps from halfway up to full contraction)
Leg Press
Sets: 3 x 20
(Use a very slow negative, then burst out of the bottom of the rep)
Routine C
Leg Press (warm-up): 2 x 20
Leg Extensions: 4 x 20, 15, 15, 12
Superset with
Leg Press: 4 x 15, 15, 12, 10
Squats
Warm-up: 1 x 20
Sets: 3 x 12, 2 x 15*
*Come to a complete stop at the bottom of each rep, then burst up.
Walking Lunges: 3 x 20 steps, each leg
(You probably won’t need extra weight here)
6 TIPS FOR BIGGER, STRONGER LEGS
By Ron Harris
1. Wear Flat-soled Shoes. When it comes to leg training in general, you never want to train in shoes with an elevated heel or with air pockets in the heels. This rules out most basketball and running shoes. Those shoes are designed to absorb the shock from running and jumping and limit your ability to generate force from the floor, or the platform of any type of leg press or squat machine. Basketball shoes are also a poor choice because the ankle support in their design can limit your range of motion as well. The best choices are flat-soled footwear like wrestling shoes, Converse All Stars, Otomix bodybuilding shoes, and the shoes marketed toward CrossFit and functional training, like Reebok Nanos and the Nike Metcon. And of course, it doesn’t get any flatter than squatting or pressing in bare feet or socks, for those who don’t want to pick up a fungus off the gym floor.
2. Pay Attention to Your Knees. Maintaining healthy knee joints and connective tissues around them is key to long-term productive quad training. Ask any older lifter with chronic knee pain and they will gladly bend your ear with woeful tales of how much bigger and stronger their legs once were. Always be in tune with how your knees feel with various angles of your feet and toes in relation to your knees. If you feel pain with toes angled out more, don’t continue with that foot position! You will eventually arrive at the mechanically correct foot position that allows you to squat or press heavy and with a full range of motion painlessly. Any slight pain in your knees is a direct sign from your body to switch things up, as that pain and the damage being incurred to your tendons and ligaments around the knee is only going to worsen over time.
3. Hit Hams on a Different Day. While the focus here is on building your best quadriceps, you must not neglect your hamstrings in all this. Since the listed routines are quite intense and demanding, I would prefer that most of you not attempt to work your hamstrings afterward, as you won’t have the requisite energy and focus to give them proper attention. Instead, work them on a different day, perhaps paired with back as many bodybuilders have done.
4. Always Fuel Up. I always recommend having at least one substantial, nutritious meal about 90 minutes before weight training, but especially in the case of a serious quadriceps session. These are big, powerful muscles that thrive on volume and intensity, and as such you should never train them on an empty stomach. You may have heard that training on an empty stomach boosts natural growth hormone release. I can assure you that any benefits this may offer are greatly outweighed by the diminished energy and work capacity you will experience hitting quads on an empty tank.
5. Never Skip Leg Day! It’s funny how this phrase has bled over into the mainstream lexicon, yet so many people still manage to skip leg days. You never see those guys skipping chest or arm days, do you? Any muscle group will grow over time if you continue to train it with intensity and good form, gradually moving up in the resistance. It’s also important that you use sufficient volume to produce results in this large, powerful muscle complex. A couple of light sets of leg extensions followed up by a couple of moderate effort sets of leg presses is far from optimal. Try the routines laid out here instead and I promise you will soon see a difference in your quads.
6. Never Lock Out Your Knees! Your body is always seeking the path of least resistance when it comes to any physical activity. When it comes to compound leg movements like the leg press or any variety of squat, the natural tendency once the muscles become extremely fatigued is to take the tension off them and allow them a very quick “break” by locking out your knees at the top of the rep. Don’t do this, as it takes the stress completely off the quads and puts it all on the knee joints and surrounding tissues. Over time this can contribute to tendinitis and even arthritis. As someone with both, trust me when I say you don’t want them!
The post Build Bigger Legs: Best Exercises appeared first on FitnessRX for Men.
——————–
By: Ron Harris
Title: Build Bigger Legs: Best Exercises
Sourced From: www.fitnessrxformen.com/training/build-bigger-legs-best-exercises/
Published Date: Mon, 24 Jul 2023 13:37:28 +0000
Did you miss our previous article…
https://mansbrand.com/theyre-all-special-yet-so-unique/
Limitless Bodybuilding
By PJ Braun
Sponsored by Blackstone Labs
Don’t get caught up in what everyone else is doing. Experiment and figure out what’s best for you. Pay attention to your body and if something doesn’t feel right, try something different.
By the time you guys read this article, I will have surpassed 18 months in federal prison and working out in the gym is not just a distant memory, but now getting close to being a reality again as the second half of my sentence winds down. I have so much excitement in my heart and mind to get back to training with real weights and machines instead of bodyweight. Since the first time I touched a weight 30 years ago, I fell in love with working out! If I could work out all day, every day, I would! Sex is awesome too, close second, but I give the edge to the gym! Am I that crazy!?! I love chasing the pump and seeing my progress and I love challenging myself to push harder and more efficiently. I hate myself for getting away from that for a few years before my sentence, but I have learned to not live in the past. Time to make up for lost time. Over the years I have tried literally hundreds and hundreds of different exercises from powerlifting to functional to rehabilitation and I have learned what works best for my body through copious amounts of trial and error. So, I have decided to detail my most important exercises for each body part and why!
CHEST
I started out like most kids in the gym obsessed with the barbell bench press. It was an exercise that determined who was the worst ass in the high school gym and I hated not being good at it. When I was in my late teens, I started training under a powerlifting coach named Rob DeLavega in Brookfield, Connecticut at a Powerhouse Gym and he taught me the key fundamentals of the squat, deadlift and of course the bench press. I was not a great bench presser until years after my powerlifting career. My best max was only 455 pounds, but I was pleased when I could work out with 405 pounds for sets of eight and really proud when I did 225 pounds for 50. I was always better with stamina then low reps. The problem with the bench press is that ergonomically it is inferior to many exercises for building the chest because of the angle and stress on the shoulder joint. Most great bench pressers have massive front deltoids but often develop shoulder injuries. I destroyed both shoulders bench pressing and to this day still have lots of pain. So going back in time, if I could do things a little different, I would have spent most my time on the incline barbell press. This exercise really isolates the chest and is safer on the shoulder joint. Of course, you still need strong delts and triceps because like any compound movement, the body must work in synergy, but by keeping your scapula down and back, the stress is just unreal! It’s much harder than the flat version but it will blow your chest up!
Honorable mention: The incline dumbbell press is a close second because it’s so important to incorporate unilateral exercises to work out imbalances, and you can place the dumbbells exactly where you need to really feel the muscle work.
SHOULDERS
I love the dumbbell press and the Hammer Strength shoulder press. However, you can press all you want but if you really want them to look awesome, you need to do tons of lateral raises. The medial and posterior delts need that extra stimulation or you will be very imbalanced. My favorite is the seated dumbbell lateral raise done slow and strict. I start with the dumbbells under my legs so I can get a farther range of motion, and it’s hard to cheat when you’re seated.
Honorable mention: Reverse pec deck. Most people do this way too heavy and get too much trap involved. Done very light and strict, you can really engage the posterior delts more than anything else to round out the back of the delts!
QUADS
For many years I focused on the barbell squat. I loved squatting heavy and would often work up to 495 pounds for sets of 10. I squat deep and love the feeling of exploding out of the hole. However, it wasn’t until a great bodybuilder named Ben Pakulski and I did legs together that he talked me into opening my mind about training. In 2006, we did legs for a Muscular Development video at Gold’s Gym Venice. I told him I mostly just do lots of squats, but he got me to start incorporating more variety and splitting the days up. I started experimenting and that’s when I really started growing. What was the key? The hack squat! Nothing overloads your quads the way the hack squat does and it’s much safer on your back!
Honorable mention: Close-stance leg press to 90 degrees. A lot of guys either use too short of a range of motion or too deep of a range of motion where the spine starts to curl off the back support, which is very dangerous. Keep the knees together and come down to 90 degrees and explode up to really overload the quads!
HAMSTRINGS/GLUTES
OK guys, you are going to be really surprised by this one. But if you really want thick hamstrings, the key exercise here is a wider-stance squat! Yes, that’s right. When you learn to sit back into your glutes and hams and perform the reps slow and efficient, the hamstrings get a different kind of stimulation. You’re probably thinking, I thought squats were a quad exercise? Squats work the entire lower body and when you open your stance, sit back and push through your heels, you will blast your hamstrings like crazy too. Want to really intensify it? Check out this tip in my honorable mention! Want to get more glute involved? Try the dumbbell plié squat or sumo variation.
Honorable mention: Lying hamstring curls done before you squat, so they are engorged with blood. Either superset or just done as straight sets, this combo really brought out the thickness in my side poses and the lying hamstring curl is essentially like doing a barbell curl for your arms. Explode up and control the negative. Learn to do hip thrusts properly, and the stimulation to the posterior chain will be superior to doing squats alone.
BACK
I absolutely love training back, and I had a hard time coming up with my number one here, so I am going to first say that your back needs lots of volume and angles but most importantly, you must row like crazy to grow. I love all variations of row exercises, from barbells to dumbbells to Hammer Strength to cables!! They all have their place, but I am breaking this down for width and thickness. For width, you have to barbell row with an underhand grip. Oh yeah, baby, like the great Dorian Yates in those crazy Blood and Guts workouts that really brought the lower lats thickness out. I have gone up to some sloppy sets of 405 but prefer to be stricter with the weight. For thickness, I switch over to the old-school T-Bar row. Not a machine. It must be done with a 45-pound bar in a corner with a V-Grip handle near the top.
Honorable mention: Pull-ups, which are great for starting the foundation of your back. Wide-grip, close-grip and underhand chins done early in your bodybuilding journey will provide a great deal of strength. Sadly, I can barely hang from a pull-up bar without a great deal of pain in my shoulders now, but that’s from all the old injuries. For all you young guys starting out, form is most important! Don’t swing, and use a complete range of motion.
TRICEPS
Later in my career, I got really into cable variations for the triceps to warm up my elbows. If you look at my photos, you see that triceps were one of my best body parts and they grew almost too fast for me and made my biceps look smaller. The exercise I feel did the most for mass is the overhead dumbbell extension, done with both arms at the same time. I would often go up to the heaviest dumbbells in my gym, which was 130, and could do it strict and slow for 15-20 reps.
Honorable mention: The rope pushdown, which is the most versatile exercise for the triceps because you can change the stress of the exercise so easily. I prefer to start literally every triceps workout with rope pushdowns to really warm up my elbows and find that it’s really easy to pump up fast this way!
BICEPS
I see so many people train biceps too heavy and because of that, they don’t maximize the contractions and the full range of motion for the biceps. I was guilty of this early on in my career and it wasn’t until I started doing lots of incline dumbbell curls that my arms really grew. The incline curl when done properly takes the delt out of the exercise and from a full range of motion, the stretch at the bottom makes the muscle really isolate. I love dumbbell exercises, and this is by far my favorite.
Honorable mention: The dumbbell preacher curl. They key on this one is locking your armpit onto the top of the preacher bench and keeping your shoulders pulled back. Another awesome unilateral isolation exercise.
The best of the rest: I have trained calves, abs, and forearms hard and thorough, but my position is slightly different here. These are areas that simply can be ignored if they are genetically superior because of all the stimulation they get. I know so many guys who don’t train abs because they get lots of stimulation from compound exercises and their abs are sick. It’s easy to overtrain the ancillary groups too. Specifically forearms, because your grip is involved in so much! I developed major tendinitis from doing forearm work and don’t isolate them anymore. You want massive forearms? Don’t use straps on back day!
My calves were massive before I even touched a weight. EMG studies show that the donkey calf raise recruits the most muscle fibers, but many gyms don’t have that machine, so you got to make do with what you got. Variety is key for calves and abs, and if I really had to pick a number one ab exercise, it would be the kneeling rope crunch because you can really exaggerate the range of motion and contraction. If you want to really hit your core, you need to involve reverse curvature of the spine, meaning your lower body curls up toward your head instead of the standard crunching down!
So, there you have it. My most important exercises. Don’t get caught up in what everyone else is doing. Experiment and figure out what’s best for you. Pay attention to your body and if something doesn’t feel right, try something different. What works best for me may not work best for you and the best part of the bodybuilding journey is learning the keys to success in the gym to unlock your true potential. Just because I have been training 30 years doesn’t mean I have stopped learning. When you stop learning, you stop your growth. That goes for the body, the mind, and the spirit.
Until next time, I love you all. Peace out, bye.
Instagram @pjbraunfitness
blackstonelabs.com
Instagram @blackstone_labs
The post WHICH EXERCISES REIGN SUPREME? appeared first on FitnessRX for Men.
——————–
By: Team FitRx
Title: WHICH EXERCISES REIGN SUPREME?
Sourced From: www.fitnessrxformen.com/training/which-exercises-reign-supreme/
Published Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2023 13:33:45 +0000
Did you miss our previous article…
https://mansbrand.com/glycolog/
GlycoLog allows carbs to work for you to build muscle, so you can achieve serious lean gains.
The Great Carb Debate. Are you confused about carbs? That’s no surprise. The great carb debate has been going on for years, and carbs have gotten a pretty bad rap. Some people have labeled carbs as evil outcasts that make you fat and say that carbs should be shunned by everyone from celebrities to soccer moms and even high-level athletes – who in fact need them more than anyone else. What’s the solution? GlycoLog from Blackstone Labs
allows carbs to work for you to build muscle, so you can achieve serious lean gains. GlycoLog puts CARBS back on the MENU!
Serious Lean Gains. There are lots of carbphobics out there, but you don’t have to be one of them. The issue that some people have with eating carbs is that it increases insulin, the body’s storage hormone. Insulin can either shuttle carbs into fat or muscle, depending on your genetics. Most people have poor genetics, which means eating carbs inevitably leads to increased fat. But that doesn’t have to be the case when you incorporate GlycoLog into your supplementation regimen. Using GlycoLog means carbs are back on the menu again, and they’re bringing some serious lean gains with them!
Hack Your Genetic Code
GlycoLog acts as a nutrient partitioner – and directs the carbs you eat into your muscles and not your adipose tissue. GlycoLog has been formulated to hack your genetic code to make insulin work for you, not against you, with these ingredients:
Chromium (300mcg) is an essential mineral that helps regulate blood glucose. Chromium is critical to insulin metabolism and therefore a vital component to nutrient uptake in the body.
Gymnema Sylvestre (1g) enhances insulin function to reduce blood sugar. A comprehensive review of the scientific literature on Gymnema sylvestre notes it also reduces plasma glucose, leptin levels, bodyweight, and even body mass index (BMI).
Bitter Melon (500mg) increases glucose uptake and utilization by skeletal muscles as well as reducing formation of glycogen in the liver. Additional research on bitter melon notes it also suppresses inflammation in adipose tissue (fat).
Super Berberine (300mg) lowers blood glucose levels and encourages glucose absorption by muscle cells. GlycoLog includes the trademarked Super Berberine for its improved bioavailability over standard berberine supplements.
Cinnamon Bark (250mg) increases insulin activity while simultaneously acting as an insulin mimetic to facilitate glucose transport into skeletal muscle tissue. Cinnamon bark reduces blood sugar, cuts body fat, and increases lean mass.
Sodium R-Lipoate (150mg) is a highly bioavailable form of alpha-lipoic acid (ALA). ALA is essential to carbohydrate metabolism and also acts as a powerful antioxidant in the body. It helps lower blood sugar, reduce appetite, and increase energy expenditure.
BioPerine (5mg) can enhance the effectiveness of the blood sugar-lowering compounds in GlycoLog by increasing the time they remain active in the bloodstream.
GlycoLog
• Insulin Mimetic and Nutrient Partitioning Agent
• Simulates Glycogen Storage
• May Improve Glucose Metabolism
• Helps You Digest Carbs
• Achieve Serious Lean Gains
For more information, visit https://blackstonelabs.com/products/glycolog
The above statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
5 STAR REVIEWS
★★★★★
“Best thing ever. No more bad cravings! I eat carbs when I want to but don’t have the gross feeling after!” -Jerry R
“The only GDA that I have ever used that has had a positive effect on blood sugar levels that I’ve used that I could actually see on a glucose monitor. Amazing pumps when used with a pre-workout meal as well.” -Charles K
“Buy it. Compared to other GDA supplements you can definitely tell this is an elite product. Take with cheat meals and it really helps control the spike you get from such a high-carb meal.” -Emma R
The post GlycoLog appeared first on FitnessRX for Men.
——————–
By: Team FitRx
Title: GlycoLog
Sourced From: www.fitnessrxformen.com/nutrition/supplements/glycolog/
Published Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2023 13:13:46 +0000
Did you miss our previous article…
https://mansbrand.com/when-the-weight-stack-isnt-enough/
The Giant Killer
By Two-Time 212 Olympia Champion Shaun Clarida
Sponsored by MUTANT
Q: I see you use something called a GymPin to add weight to both machines with stacks as well as plate-loading machines like Hammer Strength and Arsenal Strength. Which machines do you need to do that for, all of them? Every post of yours I see it looks like you have every plate a machine can hold!
A: I use it on almost every machine that has a weight stack that you use a pin to adjust the weight for, because most of the stacks were designed to accommodate a certain level of strength that very few people go beyond anyway. A lot of times a weight stack will only go up to something like 200 pounds and the GymPin lets me add 25 or 45 more pounds to that. I do also use it for plate-loading machines like the Hammer Strength Incline Press for chest so I can add a sixth plate to each side since there’s only enough room for five 45s. It also comes in handy on certain leg press machines when the posts don’t allow me to put enough plates on to really challenge me. On most models I can push 13 or 14 plates a side if I’m going as heavy as possible. I’ve seen people do crazy things like using bungee cords or duct tape to secure extra 45s. The GymPin is a much safer and more convenient tool to add extra resistance. I feel it my duty to mention that no one should be adding weight to anything if you are sacrificing form, range of motion, or mind-muscle connection just to say you used x amount of weight. But if you are genuinely maxed-out with what a machine holds or allows for, use my code GK20 for GymPin at www.gym-pin.co.uk!
The Heat Is On!
Q: Your new home state of Texas went through a record-setting heat wave less than two months after you moved there. How did you handle all those days in a row that were well over 100 degrees outside?
A: Honestly, I love it. I’ve always been a fan of the heat. I love Florida and Texas weather. What isn’t so fun is that summer is also the rainy season in Texas. The storms here are just ridiculous. They are so loud I thought the windows were going to shatter! I wake up and it’s 70 or 80 degrees. It gets up to 100 or more by noon. I prefer the heat. You know I stay covered up almost all the time when I train. So don’t feel bad for me, I’m fine even at over 100 degrees!
Olympia Prep: Bigger and Better
Q: You are starting your prep for the Olympia, where you will defend your 212 title and hopefully earn your third win. Where are you at with your physique this year as compared to your starting point in 2022? I believe you hit an all-time high for your off-season bodyweight and strength.
A: I did get up to 215 pounds, which is crazy. I never thought I would be that heavy in this off-season with having a new baby and moving across country. I had assumed my training would have suffered a bit here and there with all that going on. But I have been able to get my training, meals, and cardio in every day without fail. I’d always heard “everything is bigger in Texas,” and now I believe it! I remember sending Matt Jansen my check-in when I hit 215, and I was surprised. That’s a lot for me. I will come in a little bigger at this Olympia than ever before, but the most important thing for me is conditioning. Nothing else matters if the condition isn’t top-notch. That’s why I never focus on my bodyweight. I’m more concerned with trying to improve certain areas like my chest and hamstrings. As I get stronger on those movements and add new lean muscle tissue, the weight does creep up. It’s been a great off-season and I also feel I’m going to grow into the show. I’m one of those guys who gets stronger in prep, so sometimes I have to be mindful and stay safe, so I don’t get injured. But I’m going to keep pushing hard, stay strong, and hold as much size going into the show as possible. Despite being 40 and already being as strong as I am, I still find I’m able to make strength gains.
How Being a Dad Changed Me
Q: Has being a dad changed your outlook on life at all yet? Most men say they feel like an entirely different chapter of their life has begun.
A: I feel like an adult now! I actually had this conversation with Branch Warren recently at Destination Dallas. I thought I was motivated and had purpose before, but becoming a father was like turning a switch. From now on, everything I do moving forward isn’t for me anymore. It’s for my daughter. Now she’s the reason I’m determined to improve and win my third Olympia title. She gives me a whole new fuel and drive to be the best I can be.
Home Gym, Texas Style
Q: Do you have any equipment at home?
A: My new home in Texas has a four-car garage, and I set aside two of the bays to be my “home gym.” In the past in New Jersey, I always had to drive to the gym for my morning cardio. It wasn’t a long drive, but I always thought I would save time by having cardio equipment at home. Now I can do that as well as abs, calves, and adductors. At home I have a Matrix Stairmaster, a Hammer Strength leg raise, an old-school Hoist seated calf raise, an Icarian calf press, an Atlantis ab crunch, a Nautilus ab machine, and Magnum abductor and adductor machines. I also got a new Nautilus hip/glute drive machine. This saves me a lot of morning trips to the gym, and of course I still do all my heavy training there.
Instagram @shaunclarida
YouTube: Shaun Clarida
Shaun’s MUTANT® Stack
ISO SURGE
FLEX FOOD
BCAA 9.7
GEAAR
MADNESS
PUMP
CREAKONG
CARNITINE
GLUTAMINE
For more information, visit iammutant.com
The post When the Weight Stack Isn’t Enough appeared first on FitnessRX for Men.
——————–
By: Team FitRx
Title: When the Weight Stack Isn’t Enough
Sourced From: www.fitnessrxformen.com/training/athletes/when-the-weight-stack-isnt-enough/
Published Date: Wed, 20 Sep 2023 12:58:27 +0000
Did you miss our previous article…
https://mansbrand.com/super-horizontal-bench-press/
-
Fashion3 years ago
Steampunk Clothing & Jewelry
-
Sports3 years ago
Best Christmas Gift For Your Golfer Co-Worker
-
Fashion3 years ago
Best Timepieces To Buy For The Holiday Season
-
Motor3 years ago
2022 Infiniti QX55 Carigami Can Be Yours
-
Trending Stories3 years ago
Dior Homme Cologne Men’s Fragrance Review
-
Uncategorized3 years ago
How To Attract Women Easily (Without Talking)
-
Grooming3 years ago
Trimmed Penis – 5 Common Pubic Hairstyles For Men
-
Mens Health4 years ago8 Things I Do Before 8 Am: My Morning Routine