Written by Team MD
28 March 2017

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Bodybuilding Training Camp - Can't Fail Info from Top Pros

 

DEXTER JACKSON

Corner T-Bar Rows Better Than Machine Version

Some guys say that you have to do T-bar rows with a bar, either in a corner or on a real T-bar setup if you are lucky enough to have one of those in your gym. Others say that supported T-bar rows, the machine where your chest is on a pad, can be just as good and actually do a better job of isolating the lats. I am sure you have done plenty of both over the years, so what do you think? Is one better than the other, or should we do both at different workouts?

I don’t like that machine with the pad on your chest at all. Nothing against machines, but if you’re going to do T-bar rows, do T-bar rows! Honestly, I even prefer the bar in the corner to the T-bar setups with the platform you stand on and the hinge on the back end. With corner T-bar rows, you have more freedom of movement as far as where the bar goes. With the platform T-bar, it’s locked into one movement track, which makes it more like a machine than free weights. The only drawback with corner rows is that you always need to either put a heavy dumbbell on the back end once you go over, say, three plates, or else have somebody stand on it. Other than that, though, no other variation on T-bars gives me the same feeling in my lats.

 

Eat Like a Horse to Gain Size

I’m 22 years old and 6’7", but only weigh in at a whopping 200 pounds. I just can’t seem to grow. I take in about 3,000-3,500 calories a day. I try to consume at least 225 grams a day of protein. I eat about every three hours and I eat pretty clean compared to some people— no sweets, pop, fast food and stuff like that. Any tips on a certain lifting split, or certain supplements? I would love to get up to 250-260 someday.

I don’t know what you’re doing for your training, but I can tell you right now that your diet is what’s holding you back. Thirty-five hundred calories is not enough for a guy as tall as you to grow on. I would bump that up to 5,000 or more, right away. Your protein should be about two grams per pound of bodyweight, so get 400 grams a day. That’s 1,600 calories. Eat double the amount of carbs, which would be 800 grams and comes out to 3,200 calories. That brings your total to 4,800 calories. Adding in some healthy fats like raw nuts or natural peanut butter can easily give you another 200-500 calories a day, because fat is nine calories per gram. Aim for four solid meals and a shake every day. Mix your shakes in whole milk instead of water, and don’t be afraid to throw in a couple of tablespoons of peanut butter, too.

As far as your training, do upper body one day, lower body the next, and take a day off before repeating that. Only do the basics: bench presses, deadlifts, military presses, weighted dips, barbell rows, chin-ups, barbell curls, skull-crushers, squats, leg presses, stiff-leg deadlifts and standing calf raises. Four sets each of eight to 10 reps, increasing the weight on each set, should do the trick. But unless you eat like a horse, forget about getting to 250!

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Arms Deserve Their Own Training Day

I’m a little confused. Most of the bodybuilding literature I read (including MD, of course), suggests training bi’s with back and tri’s with chest. While I can see the merit in training this way, wouldn’t one get better results from doing just the opposite? Then each group would get a full, fresh workout, especially if you added a day for arms and shoulders by themselves. What would be your advice?

I agree with you. If you train your entire back, your biceps are going to be pretty fatigued and I doubt most guys could pull off a decent workout for them at that point. The same could be said about hitting triceps after chest. Personally, I would much rather have an arm day all its own. If you are training chest as hard as you should be, and this goes double for your back, you really won’t have the energy left to give the biceps or triceps a productive workout. You’re much better off doing them another day all on their own, in my experience.

 

ROELLY WINKLAAR

Winklaar Wisdom for Building a Massive Chest

When you first turned pro, I remember that your chest was lagging behind your shoulders and arms. Over the years, you definitely brought it up to match. What were some of the things you did to accomplish that?

I don’t train with Sibil Peeters anymore, but I do give her a lot of credit for helping me improve my chest in the first few years I was a pro. We did a few different things. You can’t use the same workouts or techniques for very long, especially when you are dealing with a stubborn muscle group that hasn’t been responding to standard types of workouts. Here are some of the methods we used that got my chest growing:

 

Drop Sets

For this workout, every set is a drop set after we have warmed up. This gets increasingly difficult as the workout goes on, because the pump is so extreme.

 

Giant Sets

Here we do three exercises in a row, with no rest in between. A typical giant set for chest might be:

Incline Barbell Presses

Incline Dumbbell Flyes

Seated Bench Press Machine


Muscle Confusion

This involves doing a different rep range for every set of an exercise, but it’s not pyramiding up or down in a steady manner. Instead, we go back and forth between heavy and more moderate weight from set to set, which really stimulates the chest in a way it’s totally unaccustomed to. If you think it sounds silly, go ahead and try it and you’ll change your mind!


Set 1:   15 reps
Set 2:   6 reps
Set 3:   12 reps
Set 4:   8 reps
Set 5:   10 reps
Set 6:   5 reps

Hardcore

This is a very intense way to train. We combine drop sets and forced reps. The first three out of four sets for an exercise are drop sets, and the last one is taken past failure with forced reps. I actually go even further past failure, by not ending the set until I can’t even lower the weight under control anymore. If you choose to try this, it’s very important you have a good spotter— preferably a strong one. I usually have two spotters working with me on this for safety, because of the weights I can handle. No matter how hard or heavy you are training, safety always has to be a priority. When you make your living from your physique, something like a pec or a rotator cuff tear can be disastrous to your career.

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Off-season Diet and Back Workout

Roelly, what does your off-season diet look like?

It really depends on what time of the year it is, meaning how far away I am from a contest. I do clean my diet up in the weeks before I really have to start a strict diet, but I am still eating a lot of food. Here’s an example from one of my off-season days:

5:00 a.m.         150 grams of oatmeal, 75 grams of protein powder, 50 grams of nuts
7:30 a.m.         400 grams of sweet potato, 8 egg whites and 2 eggs with the yolks
10:00 a.m.       150 grams of rice, 300 grams of beef, vegetable
12:00 p.m.       150 grams of salmon, 150 grams of rice, pineapple
2:30 p.m.         250 grams of chicken breast, banana
4:30 p.m.         150 grams of rice, 300 grams of beef, vegetable
7:00 p.m.         150 grams of oatmeal, 75 grams of protein powder
8:00 p.m.         150 grams of rice, 250 grams chicken breast, 50 grams of nuts
10:00 p.m.       50 grams of protein powder (per evening)
Okinawa omega-3 oil in the morning.

 

Totals:
Protein:    463.3 grams

Carbs:      702.5 grams
Fat:          171.4 grams

 

Off-season Back Workout*

Weighted Chin-ups                                      5 sets x 6-10 reps

Bent Barbell Rows or Dumbbell Rows          5 x 8-10

Seated Cable Rows                                     4 x 12

Pulldowns (behind the neck)                        4 x 12 

*This is just one example— no two workouts are ever exactly the same.

 

 

CEDRIC McMILLAN

Training Instinctively

Over the years, I have tried to become a master of my own needs. Especially when dieting, if I feel too run-down to train, I don’t take something to jack me up and work through it. I do a little something and leave the gym, or nothing at all. If I don’t feel better after the first couple of sets, I haul my ass out the door! When everything is on point— rest, food and recovery— my body is ready to work. If I’m not 100 percent or close to it, it’s because something is off.

 

Nutrition Tip of the Month

When I first started trying to grow, I ate a junk meal between the good meals. My theory was that the extra calories and fat would make my metabolism slow down enough for me to grow, and give my body an alternate energy source so it would save the good food for muscle building. I felt that eating only good food with an ultra-fast metabolism like mine equals good food being used as a primary energy source for all daily activities. I think once my body figured out what was going on and I could hold on to weight, I replaced the junk meals with healthy meals. I guess I increased my protein too, with all those damn cheeseburgers! There’s more than one reason they call me Big Mac.

 

Favorite Pro Physiques, Past and Present (stated in May 2010)

Arnold, Larry Scott, Levrone, Ferrigno, Shawn, Flex, Richard Jones, Drew Jemmott, Branden Ray, Mark Alvisi, and Paul Dillett’s legs and arms all inspired me. My goal is definitely to bring an old-school physique to the game. I just hope that sooner or later, people recognize the relative lack of mass in some body parts and the lack of “extreme” conditioning are things that are characteristic of the old days— and hopefully the healthier, more vibrant, yet not as “dry” or half-dead look onstage will become acceptable. But until I’m one of the top guys, I can’t try to change the game back to what it was in the early ‘90s. I’ll just have to meet the criteria, for now. I really believe the physiques from the ‘80s and early ‘90s were more inspiring to people OUTSIDE the sport— now they are only inspiring to those who are in the sport already. In the old days, nobody could be a bodybuilder with bad shape, structure or lines. But now, drugs make it possible to be so big and lean that your God-given structure doesn’t matter. I think structure and shape are critical.

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Hamstring Workout: Keep It Basic

What are some good hamstring exercises to do? All I do is hamstring curls, deadlifts and good mornings. I know of nothing else.

Shoot, me either! I keep it basic, man. If your training doesn’t work, maybe superset some stuff or something. Also, check with some experienced people in your gym, especially powerlifters, and let them check your form to make sure you’re doing the stuff right. Other than that, research this exercise called glute-ham hypers and try it out. I just remembered I’ve done those a little, and they were great.

 

My GIANT SET for GIANT QUADS!
Leg Extensions                       3 sets of 20-12
superset with
Leg Press*                              3 sets of 20-12
superset with
Walking Lunges                      3 sets of 40 total steps

*Sometimes one leg at a time.


My Hamstring Workout:
Seated Leg Curls                   3 sets of 12-20
superset with
Stiff-leg Deadlifts                   3 sets of 8-12
Single-leg Lying Leg Curls     2 sets of 20

 

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