10 Training Techniques for New Gains
10 Training Techniques for New Gains!
Some are meant to lead, while others are destined to follow. Cedric McMillan has never accepted the role of a follower. Instead, he chose to forge his own path with his physique and with his career in the industry. Cedric chooses to seek his own ideal of the perfect physique, one that’s more classical and proportioned rather than just as huge as possible. While other pros clamor for attention and publicity, Big Mac has been downright reclusive and elusive, rarely granting interviews or photo shoots. This has only added to his reputation as a hard man to pin down, even if only to ask when he’ll compete next. At times he’s been misunderstood or unfairly judged as someone who flouts authority and sneers at the “establishment,” but it’s really conformity that he has no use for. This is even reflected in Cedric’s training. He was never a man who mindlessly copied what he saw everyone else in the gym doing. McMillan has picked and chosen the most effective exercises and variations thereof based on one and only one deciding factor: how well they work for him. Here are some “Big Mac Specials” that have contributed to his decidedly unique physique. Who knows? One or more might be just what you need to see some new gains yourself!
Flat Smith Machine Bench Press
Bench-pressing on a Smith machine hardly sounds unique, but aside from Jay Cutler, I can’t think of any top pros who use it as the base of their chest training. Most of them use the flat barbell bench press, or press with dumbbells. “Back in the day, I used to barbell bench press like everybody else too,” Cedric said. “Once I got into bodybuilding, I didn’t have a training partner so I thought it was too risky to do that exercise without a spotter. Plus, whenever I got strong on the bench press, my shoulder joints would hurt. So I switched to doing a Smith machine flat or low incline press for chest. I switched to that mainly for the safety aspect because back then, like everybody else, I thought you have to bench press to develop your chest. So that was my second option. For the guys that love to bench, Smith machine bench presses are an awesome alternative.” Cedric tells you exactly how to get the most out of it. “Make sure the back is arched, the chest is up high, and upper back and butt are both pressed firmly against the bench while using a comfortable grip/hand spacing. I would do four sets of five, five, five and hit failure around 12-15 on the last one. The first three sets of five were warm-ups, and the last set was all out.”
Push-ups With Cables Across Upper Back
You’ve all done push-ups before, and as a career U.S. Army soldier, I am sure Cedric has done enough to last a lifetime. Few of us would ever think to add resistance to the common push-up quite the way Cedric does. “I really like the way they feel in the chest during a chest workout, or in the tri’s after a triceps workout,” he begins. “You have to hook both clips together on low pulleys in the middle of the apparatus, then cover the clips with a towel or something so they don’t pinch you. Slide up under the cables where the clips come together to a position that has the cables across the neck, across the traps or across the shoulders, whatever’s comfortable. Strict form, slow reps and back arched. I would do three sets of 20 at the end of my chest workout.” Just to put it out there, this movement would probably be a lot easier to set up and perform with the help of a training partner. But to finish up chest or tri’s with one crazy pump, “cable push-ups” sound pretty damn good.
Cable Pushdowns With ‘Double D-Ring’ – Knuckles Facing Each Other
“I picked up on this movement from Charles Glass,” Cedric says. “I saw it in a video clip of his. It’s a real good movement. Hits the triceps right on the lateral head.” Most bodybuilders would never think to clip on the attachment more commonly used for seated cable rows up on a high pulley for a triceps pushdown, but as a former Charles Glass training client myself, nothing the master comes up with surprises me anymore. So we have to give Charles the credit for coming up with this, but Cedric gets a nod for passing it on to the MD readers to “tri” out.
Decline Lying Cambered-Bar Triceps Extensions (skull-crushers)
Skull-crushers are obviously nothing new to just about anyone that trains, but most people do them on a flat bench and never once think to try switching up the angle. “Doing these on a decline feels real good to me,” Cedric explains. “When I come down with the weight, instead of bringing the bar to my forehead, I bend my arms completely and bring the bar down and around to the top of my head. Then, I go even further and do a slight pullover with the bar while keeping my elbows completely bent. Finally I explode up to the fully extended position. This range of motion allows me to get a full stretch of the long head, which you can feel when you do them lying flat or even doing standing EZ-bar extensions. I do this movement all the time.”
Seated Cable Curls From High Pulley
You’ve all done cable curls, but I bet you’ve always curled from a low pulley. Have you ever tried changing up the angle so that the resistance is coming from above? That’s how the old Nautilus curl machines were designed over 30 years ago, and some older guys swear it gave them the best results of any machine they ever used. Cedric mimics the same motion with a cable. “This movement has a good feel to it,” he tells us. “I like to hold each rep for a second in the contraction. It takes a lot to keep your body in position, though, and it can be aggravating getting up off the floor all the time. So I started sitting on a bench and doing them that way. The only problem with that is that my arms are so long, so I’m not able to reach as high for a full stretch. Most guys aren’t 6’2” like me, so they wouldn’t have that problem."
Lying ‘Cross-Face’ Dumbbell Triceps Extensions
“This is a really cool exercise you don’t see too often. It’s a totally different angle of extension than you get with overhead extensions, regular dumbbell skull-crushers or kickbacks. I get down on a flat bench and with one arm at a time, and bring the dumbbell in toward my body so it pretty much ends up over my chin. Go pretty light on these and really control the motion.”
‘Angled’ Seated Cable Rows
There aren’t too many different ways to do seated cable rows— or are there? Cedric discovered a twist on this back-training basic you have to try. “On some reps, instead of pulling the bar back to the center of my body, I will pull it back to one side, and alternate the left and right side,” he says. “I think this allows me to contract the lat on that side really hard, which increases the stimulation I feel. Then I return the handle all the way back down to the middle, leaning forward as much as I can.”
Bent-Over Rows With Smith Machine and Barbell
You probably do barbell rows for your back, and some of you might have tried using a Smith machine for that exercise. Would you ever think to do both in the same workout? Cedric does! “A while back, I switched to Smith machine bent-over rows these from traditional bent-over barbell rows. I could really get a good feeling from the barbell rows for a while, but then for some reason it was hard to maintain that feeling. I would do my reps and try to focus on the muscles like I had always done, but it felt like I just wasn’t getting the stimulation. It was hard to get a pump as well. I tried different rep speeds, adjusted my form a bit and changed my grip, but nothing helped. I switched to Smith machine bent-over barbell rows and on the very first set, I felt that stimulation that I had been missing. I’m not sure what happened, but for some reason my back didn’t like barbell rows anymore. So I do a few sets of traditional barbell rows, then a few sets of Smith machine rows. That way, I’m still getting any positive stimulation possible from the barbell rows, and then getting that good feeling and pump from the Smith machine rows.
“This exercise is pretty simple. I make sure I keep the bar really close to my legs. I bend over between 70 and 90 degrees with a deeply arched back to make sure I can properly contract the back muscles. I let the bar go almost all the way down, almost to the point that my arms are fully extended, then I raise the bar without snatching or heaving the weight— just good, focused reps. I do about four sets total here, two sets of barbell rows, followed by two sets of Smith machine rows. The first set of barbell rows is to 20 reps. From there, I do moderate sets of 12, ending each set with a few explosive reps. I must add that when I execute explosive reps, my form is still as close to perfect as I can keep it, while adding a bit of explosiveness to snatch or heave the weight.”
Steering Wheels
These were created by Rich Gaspari, and often make appearances in Cedric’s shoulder workouts. “I do two sets of 40 reps, 20 reps to each side, which makes 40 reps,” he says. A 45-pound plate is held with arms down and hands on either side. As it’s raised, the plate is rotated 90 degrees, so in the top position (arms parallel to the floor) one hand is on top and the other is on the bottom. The direction of rotation (left hand on top or right hand on top) is alternated with each rep. “This is a great finishing movement for the entire shoulder complex,” Cedric adds.
DC Style Rest-Pause
We mention the rest-pause intensity technique a lot, but how many of us really use it? How many of us really know how it should be used? Cedric does, because he was mentored for a time by Dante Trudel, the creator of DC Training and owner of True Nutrition. Rest-pause is one of the most commonly used techniques in DC Training, and its many followers (including 212 star David Henry) swear by it for being incredibly effective at promoting muscle growth.
Cedric explains how he uses the DC brand of rest-pause training. “Sometimes I do the last set of an exercise using a DC style of training, where I make it a three-part rest-pause set. The rest-pause set may go something like this: I go to failure around 12 reps, rack the weight and rest for 15 seconds, and go to failure again, maybe only getting four or five reps on the second part. I rest again for 15 seconds, and then on my last attempt I may only get two reps before I reach failure again for a total of 19-20 reps. To go along with DC tradition, I would then drop the weight by 20-40 percent and do a static hold set, holding the bar about 6-8 inches above my chest and keeping it there for 30 seconds. One word for this— ouch!”
Speaking of DC Training, Cedric also incorporates two of its most famous arm movements into his workouts: reverse-grip Smith machine presses for the triceps, and drag curls to isolate the biceps, in which a barbell is literally dragged up your torso to the bottom of your pecs.
What He Doesn’t Train
“I don’t train abs,” states Cedric emphatically. “Ever! I only want enough ab development to make all the muscles show when in contest shape. I don’t want my abs to get so developed from training that they start to grow like any other muscle and become thick. I always wanted my abdominal wall to appear empty and tucked inward, versus being so thick that I have to control it or try to hold it in to look aesthetic. Then, what if you forget and let it relax when you’re on the side of the stage or something after a comparison? Someone takes a picture of you from the wrong angle and then you gotta hear about how you have a giant gut!”
Big Mac Specials for Steady Gains
Did you get any ideas from reading about these Big Mac specials? I hope so. Making steady gains over the long haul takes some serious creativity. You can’t be afraid to try new things in the gym, especially if you’ve been doing the same things in your workouts and the physique you see in the mirror doesn’t look any bigger or better than it did a year, two years or 10 years ago! Give some or all of Cedric’s unique exercises and variations a try for yourself, and you’re bound to find at least a couple that start delivering fresh new growth.
Training Split*
1. Shoulders
2. Quads
3. Back/traps
4. Chest
5. Arms
6. Hams
Calves are done every third day.
*Cedric: “I will plug my rest days in whenever I felt like I needed it, say for example I wasn’t able to sleep or eat properly due to work demands.”
Cedric McMillan
Flex Wheeler
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