FROM POWERLIFTER TO BODYBUILDER

Training as a powerlifter under the great Rick Hussey at Big Iron Gym was one of the greatest opportunities in my life. Rick built powerlifters like a mechanic built fast, powerful engines. As a powerlifting coach, he knew how to get you to move weight from A to B using all of the power and explosion your body could release, and to do it time after time in that same sweet groove. It was like your body was a piston, performing each rep the same way every time.

Rick taught me that the way to keep increasing your strength was to always train the weaker parts of your lifts. In return it would improve your entire lift. The weak areas might move around in time, but if you adjust your training to your weak spots, you can keep getting stronger.

While powerlifting, we trained heavy every workout, five days per week, and we always handled heavy weight on all of our movements. Most of our reps were doubles and singles on squats and bench press. On deadlift it was a bit different. I trained with more volume at the beginning of my training cycle and tapered down the closer I got to a meet. We always tried to lift explosively because the faster you can get the weight from A to B, the more power you have.

"AS A POWERLIFTING COACH, HE KNEW HOW TO GET YOU TO MOVE WEIGHT FROM A TO B USING ALL OF THE POWER AND EXPLOSION YOUR BODY COULD RELEASE."

I love powerlifting and always will, but when Rick passed, I just didn't have the same desire to do it anymore. It just didn't feel the same without him, and I had been getting injured quite a bit in those last two years. I felt then that I was almost lifting for Rick. I know how much powerlifting meant to him, and he once told me he was living through me. If he were still here today, I'm sure I'd still be doing it.

Then there was bodybuilding—a new adventure! It was something I'd always wanted to try. I've focused on bodybuilding now for almost three years. This is my journey.

EATING FOR COMPETING

My diet while powerlifting was pretty much to eat as much as I want of whatever I want, but make sure to get as much protein as possible every day. There wasn't a strict routine. I knew where I wanted to keep my bodyweight and I tried to keep it in that range, depending on which weight class I was trying to make. I got to eat all the goodies. Ice cream was always at the top of my list.

So when I decided to do a show, I started dieting for it. I stuck with the diet for about a month, but it was clear that I was dropping weight too fast. I was losing muscle, I felt flat, and I just wasn't eating enough. At that point, I got in touch with a friend of Rick's named Todd Smith. He had been Mr. Natural Olympia several times, so I jumped at the opportunity to work with him. Todd took me under his wing and shared a lot of his training and diet knowledge with me.

Todd's way of dieting was mainly about food choices. He wants your stomach to do a lot of the work. A lot of people have you start out eating clean and doing cardio, but Todd likes to get your stomach and your body working for you so you don't have to do as much cardio and so you can keep as much muscle as possible.

He set up a baseline diet for me, which included all of the typical bodybuilding foods. For protein, he had me eat steak, chicken, fish, eggs, and ground turkey. Carb sources were oatmeal, cream of wheat, sweet potatoes, and brown rice. And of course, I ate all kinds of greens: broccoli, asparagus, spinach, etc. These foods are staples in my diet, both in the offseason and going into a show; Todd simply adjusts the amounts.

"TODD LIKES TO GET YOUR STOMACH AND YOUR BODY WORKING FOR YOU SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO AS MUCH CARDIO AND SO YOU CAN KEEP AS MUCH MUSCLE AS POSSIBLE."

Under Todd's guidance, I started eating more food and my muscles filled back out, and at the same time I was getting leaner. I'd never eaten so much food before. I had to work up to eating that frequently and in those portion sizes so my body could recover from workouts and put on muscle. I was eating a lot of food every couple of hours, so my stomach was always working and burning lots of food. The eating is the hardest part about bodybuilding.

That was the baseline diet. From here, Todd made small adjustments as the show approached, lowering fats and carbs. He didn't lower protein too much; he just opted for different sources. For example, he had me switch from steak to chicken and then to fish. A lot of times people make drastic changes, but Todd believes in making the smallest amount of change in the diet to yield the greatest amount of change in the body. This allowed me to lose fat, but fill out at the same time.

He threw in cardio toward the end as a final step for getting ready for the show. That's another thing: When people do cardio all the time, it loses its effectiveness. When they stop doing it, they gain weight. By saving cardio until the end, it's more effective.

DIALING IT IN

I dieted for a total of 20 weeks for my first show. I came in as a light heavyweight, weighing in at 190 pounds, 7 below the upper limit. I placed first in my weight class, but I didn't win the overall. Over the course of the diet I was able to put on muscle while losing fat, mainly because I was eating so much.

I did a second show where I dieted down to the middleweights, weighing in at the upper limit of 176 pounds. I did have to lose some muscle to do it, but I still won my weight class. I just wanted to see if I could do it because I knew I wouldn't be able to get down to middleweight again, since my body would keep growing due to the way I'm eating.

"LOOKING BACK TO MY POWERLIFTING CAREER, I NEVER REALIZED HOW MUCH EATING CORRECTLY COULD HAVE HELPED ME."

Looking back to my powerlifting career, I never realized how much eating correctly could have helped me. It helps your muscles recover faster because they get the nutrients they need. I could have held more muscle and less fat. I weigh about 220 right now, which is about the biggest I ever was while powerlifting, but I look like a different person. As a 220-pound powerlifter, I was bloated and I have no idea what my body fat percent was. Now at 220, I'm probably 9 or 10 percent body fat, and I look like a bodybuilder.

Because of the kinds of food I eat now, I feel healthier. When I was powerlifting, my blood pressure was high. All I kept track of was my protein. I'd eat anything, including a lot of bad things—like sugar and ice cream. When I first cleaned up my diet, my body craved all the bad foods I used to eat. After a short period of eating healthy, I didn't crave the bad stuff anymore.

When I did have cheat meals, I couldn't eat that much bad food or I would feel sick. I remember eating so much junk after my first bodybuilding show that I was up puking all night. I just couldn't stop eating because it tasted so good. That didn't happen again after my next show! Don't get me wrong, I have cheat meals, but I'm consistent Monday through Friday. Overall I feel much healthier and it has become a part of my lifestyle.

MAKING THE TRAINING TRANSITION

One of the hardest parts of the transition was learning how to train to failure. I was used to moving weight from A to B, as opposed to focusing on keeping all of the tension on my muscles the entire lift until I couldn't do any more reps, then using a spotter to do forced reps. I did some isolation movements when I was powerlifting, but the focus was always on moving as much weight as I could. I've learned that bodybuilding is all about bringing as much blood into the muscle as possible so it can grow.

I slowed down. I focus not just on pushing the weight up, but on controlling it down, flexing the muscle as I push weight up, and then squeezing at the top, always keeping tension on the particular muscle I'm trying to develop. Most people don't realize how important the up, down, and squeeze of each rep are. Before, I'd go as heavy as I could and aim for a certain number of reps, but I've since learned that I can make just about any weight effective by doing the rep strictly and by flexing throughout the entire movement.

For powerlifting we did singles, doubles, and triples. Now I do reps from 10-to-12, and up to 20 for leg movements, but the reps are performed differently. I'll use the leg press as an example. The key is to not lock the legs out at the top because that takes tension off the quads. I'll lower it under control, use my muscles to stop the weight, then push it up under control, and stop three-quarters of the way up. When I work my quads, I want the tension on my quads the whole time. You have to fill up the muscle with blood and stretch out the fascia. It has to hurt. I do this with all my isolation movements.

"FOR POWERLIFTING WE DID SINGLES, DOUBLES, AND TRIPLES. NOW I DO REPS FROM 10-TO-12, AND UP TO 20 FOR LEG MOVEMENTS, BUT THE REPS ARE PERFORMED DIFFERENTLY."

My body has always responded well to heavy lifting. I still need and want to handle heavy weight on my main movements like squat, bench press, and deadlift. I'll still do some of those in a powerlifting way, moving weight from A to B, but my reps are between 5 and 10. This keeps the density of my muscles and it helps me keep separation in my muscles. Of course, after I do those lifts I do lots of higher volume sets on isolation exercises in order to drive blood into the muscles and force them to grow. By combining training aspects from both powerlifting and bodybuilding, I'm able to get full, dense, separated muscles.

It's hard to compare my strength levels now to what they were when I was powerlifting because I never really max out. I don't train as heavy as I did when I was powerlifting. I don't use any gear. I don't go as heavy because I don't need to—although with deadlifts, I still pull heavy enough. I've done 735 for a triple, whereas with powerlifting, my best was 780 in a meet. But when I train heavy now on squat and bench, I'll do 5-10 reps. I'll try to go as heavy as I can, but it's not as heavy as I could do for one to three reps. So I can't really compare.

STAYING CONNECTED TO STRENGTH

I recently started doing some raw bench meets. My good friend Rob Luyando introduced me to the Relentless powerlifting meet, which is a meet to raise money to support kids with life-threatening illnesses. When he asked me to do this meet, I couldn't say no. For me it is all for the kids and putting smiles on their faces for the short time we get to interact with them, and letting their families know that there are people who care about them and their situations. At the same time, I can't help but think of my great friend and coach Rick Hussey who passed away three years ago from cancer. I know he is smiling down on us as we lift for a great cause, and I will always lift for him when I get up on the platform.

Relentless Detroit was in November. I only trained for a month for it. Before then, I'd been retired from powerlifting. I fared decent—I weighed in around 216 or 217 and ended up benching 540 raw. Next up, I did the Relentless meet in Minneapolis. I had longer to train for this one, so I hoped to bench closer to 570. My raw bench is almost as strong as it was before

As I mentioned before, I was getting injured a lot in my last two years of powerlifting. Now that I'm bodybuilding, I still get injured because I still train hard, but it's different. When I was powerlifting, every day when I got out of bed my muscles had a deep, bad, hurt feeling, like I'd been hit by a truck. I felt deep, to-the-bone sore, like tendons. But now, my muscles just feel sore normally (except when I tear them). Now, I feel exhausted when I leave the gym and it's my muscles that feel sore, but not my bones and tendons (except when I push it too far). I need to get better at listening to my body and not doing that crap.

GAINING PERSPECTIVE

Even with all I've learned about training for bodybuilding, I don't know that I'd change anything with how I trained for powerlifting. What we were doing worked—it just beat the hell out of you. It's like playing in the NFL. No matter how you train, after 10 years you're going to be beat up. My goal at the time was to be the best, and my training got me what I wanted. I'd like to say that I would have taken more down weeks, but what if I hadn't accomplished what I did? My training worked, and I continually got stronger from year to year. But the heavier you go, the more beat up you'll get, and that's a fact. Especially considering that I was a smaller guy, I wasn't a 300-plus-pounder.

"MY GOAL AT THE TIME WAS TO BE THE BEST, AND MY TRAINING GOT ME WHAT I WANTED."

For me, all of this is about more than just powerlifting or bodybuilding. When you commit to something and you say you're going to do something, you need to finish it. I don't care what happens, you need to follow through. Case in point, about two or three weeks out from my first show, I tore part of my quad while squatting 550 for reps. My leg was all black and blue, from the top of my leg down to my calf. I had them paint over it so you couldn't tell, but unfortunately my leg didn't have any definition because it was swollen. No matter. If you tear one quad, show the other! And that's what bodybuilding is all about: hiding your weak spots and showing your good ones. It worked, because I still won.

When it comes to competing, you'll never be satisfied with where you are. You want to be at your best, but you'll never be there. You still need to do it.

6 MISTAKES THAT ARE KILLING YOUR GAINS

If you're like most gym-goers, you send your body mixed messages. You walk into the gym thinking "grow!" but the life you lead, and the mistakes you make, too often say "whoa!"

When I say "mistakes," I'm not talking about using the wrong grip on lat pull-downs or pointing your toes out too far on calf raises. Honestly, muscle growth isn't as precise as that. No, it happens on a much bigger level, including a big growth stimulus provided by heavy lifts, large amounts of food, and an overall lifestyle commitment. If that last one made you squirm in your seat, then you definitely need to keep reading.

Here are six mistakes that could kill your gains. They're all easy to fix right now, so be honest and ask yourself: Which one is holding you back from your potential?

MISTAKE 1: NOT LISTENING TO YOUR BODY

YOU NEED TO LISTEN TO YOUR BODY AND WHAT IT'S ASKING—OR SCREAMING AT YOU.

You're scheduled to hit the gym for a big chest day today, but your triceps and front delts still ache from your last shoulder workout. You had mediocre sleep last night that left you feeling far less than energized. What do you do?

Many dedicated gym-goers will hit the gym anyway. They say there are some days you just have to push through. Which is true—to a point. There comes a time, though, when you're only stacking abuse on top of abuse.

You need to listen to your body and what it's asking—or screaming at you. Maybe it's saying that a day or two of straight-up, no-strings-attached rest is necessary.

Or perhaps it's telling you that knocking against the ceiling of your abilities every day isn't the way to go, and that a program with more built-in periodization is a better fit for your abilities and lifestyle.

Athletes learn and improve. You know who doesn't? Injured athletes. Muscle tears, strains, and systemic overtraining will all cost you time and muscle mass. Don't give up performance in the name of ego!

MISTAKE 2: MISSING OUT ON THE BIG LIFTS

Too often, we quantify our weaknesses purely in terms of size. "I'd like to add an inch to my arms," for instance, or "I wish my calves were bigger." So we approach the problem the same way we'd approach a bike with a flat tire: by pumping it up, in this case with isolation movements like preacher curls or calf raises.

Logical, right? But you build more overall muscle—and a surprising amount of site-specific muscle—by addressing big W: weakness. You should train to get stronger! Weighted pull-ups will do plenty for your arms, in addition to your back, abs, and overall strength. Heavy deadlifts hit your arms, calves, and pretty much everything else, while producing a rush of beneficial anabolic hormones and burning more calories than you probably realize.

"Sure, curls and calf raises are great exercises, but if you want serious gains, you simply must hit heavy, basic compound movements," explains fitness model and BPI athleteWhitney Reid. "When I say heavy, I'm talking enough weight that you're fully fatigued after 8-10 reps. Keep your form strict and control the weight."

A good balance between compound exercises and isolation is crucial to the success in any mass-building program such as Jay Cutler's Living Large trainer. Conversely, you could also plan out your year and focus solely on improving on the big movements for a phase, followed by a phase of more traditional bodybuilding work. How you choose to incorporate strength work is up to you. Just make it happen!

mISTAKE 3: NOT MASTERING MIND-MUSCLE CONTROL

Maybe because of all the intense faces that people make in the weight room, it can be easy to overlook how fun training is. It's like a playground for adults, with every station offering a different experience and potential for improvement.

With all these tools at our disposal, it can be tempting to simply move from station A to B, push weights from points A to B, and trust that it's working. If you've accomplished everything the little piece of paper said to do, the workout was a success, right?

IF YOU REALLY THINK ABOUT EACH MUSCLE FIBER SQUEEZING AND CONTRACTING AS YOU MOVE THE WEIGHT UPWARD, YOU'LL DIAL IN AND WORK THE MUSCLES YOU AIM TO.

Yes and no. In reality, half the battle is the process. If you really think about each muscle fiber squeezing and contracting as you move the weight upward, you'll dial in and work the muscles you aim to. You'll maximize the time under tension (TUT), which is a proven way to grow. Allowing stronger muscle groups to take over a movement pattern is the fastest way to miss out on gains in the muscle you target. Your front delts are all too willing to take over a shoddy bench press, for example.

Learn how to really focus in on a muscle, and you'll see an instant boost in how your workouts feel and your body grows. You also might find yourself making some of those intense faces I mentioned earlier—and that's a good thing!

MISTAKE 4: NOT STAYING ACCOUNTABLE DURING THE WEEKEND

For many serious trainees, staying accountable during the week isn't a problem. Their schedule is relatively constant, they can control when and what they eat, and they're able to avoid major dietary pitfalls.

Then the weekend hits, and all bets are off. Even if you just go out and "let loose" one evening each week, you can seriously set back your physique goals—especially if alcohol is involved.

A drink or two is one thing, but let's be honest: Getting straight-up drunk on a regular basis has no place in a serious athlete's life. Compromise is inevitable in fitness and in life, but it's still up to you to decide what's most important to you.

Are you willing to sacrifice maximum gains in order to have a few drinks? Or, is making the absolute most progress possible a top priority? If it is, then you'll want to stick to soda water with lemon or lime instead.

MISTAKE 5: OVERDOING CARDIO TO STAY LEAN

A lot of people these days like to say you don't need cardio at all, and that simply setting foot on a treadmill or trail is going to cost you gains and leave you skinny-fat. I'm not of those people. Cardio can have a place in most programs, but it's definitely possible to overdo it, particularly if you do hours of it every week in order to "stay lean" while trying to bulk. That's a big no-no if you're trying to add muscle.

First, overdoing cardio training can dramatically decrease your total force generation capacity, which may mean you don't have the energy to produce the growth stimulus you need during your lifting session. Remember, it's TUT that really pushes muscles to grow, and you need energy to produce it. And if you're eating to build muscle, you especially need to maximize your strength training. Otherwise, you set yourself up to add fat where muscle should be.

Second, too much cardio stacked on top of weight training can also cause your testosterone levels to drop. Men who have low testosterone levels tend to maintain higher body fat levels and lower levels of total lean mass. Those are two strikes against overdoing cardio.

OVERDOING CARDIO TRAINING CAN DRAMATICALLY DECREASE YOUR TOTAL FORCE GENERATION CAPACITY, WHICH MAY MEAN YOU DON'T HAVE THE ENERGY TO PRODUCE THE GROWTH STIMULUS YOU NEED DURING YOUR LIFTING SESSION.

Finally, low-intensity endurance work teaches your body to be more efficient. Cardio trains you to make a little bit of fuel last for lengthy periods of time. This is exactly opposite of what you want when trying to stay lean. You want to burn calories in a raging, inefficient inferno, while you keep throwing fuel on the fire in the form of food.

The answer: While trying to add muscle, stick to high-intensity interval training for cardio—provided that it doesn't interfere with your recovery. Save the low-intensity cardio for other training cycles throughout the year.

MISTAKE 6: UNDEREMPHASIZING CALORIES AND OVEREMPHASIZING PROTEIN

When someone tells their trainer that they're struggling to add muscle, the immediate reply is to consume more total calories—a great suggestion. But in the quest to both stay lean and add mass, trainees too often try to perform an elaborate macronutrient dance where they shoot protein intake through the roof while cutting carbs and sometimes fat. Bad idea, says Reid.

"Too many people go to the gym and train hard but don't eat enough calories to support gaining muscle mass and size. I have fallen victim of this in the past while trying to keep my body fat low and abs showing," he explains. "I would cut carbs down very low for long periods of time. All this did was kill all the gains I made over the previous few months."

SO WHEN AIMING TO BUILD MUSCLE, EAT MORE OF EVERYTHING, NOT JUST MORE PROTEIN.

There's no denying the importance of protein in any mass-building diet, and sure, you'll need more of this crucial macronutrient than someone who's sedentary. However, also remember that carbohydrates are what the body uses as fuel while it works to assemble protein into new muscle tissues.

If you don't have enough carbs, the protein you eat won't be put to good use. Likewise, fats are required for optimal hormonal levels, and your hormones are the foreman of your body's muscle construction crew.

So when aiming to build muscle, eat more of everything, not just more protein. Once you reach 1-1.25 grams of protein per pound, step back and make sure you do not neglect another macronutrient.

ARNOLD'S CHEST AND BACK WORKOUT

It was more than three decades ago that Arnold Schwarzenegger last trained for a competition (1980 to be exact), but even today many young bodybuilders point to The Oak as their biggest source of inspiration.

Though the black-and-white images have long faded on the walls of hardcore Southern California gyms, the training philosophies that built the world's greatest bodybuilder live on. In this, the second exclusive installment exploring Arnold's training, we focus on his chest and back workout.

"THOUGH THE BLACK-AND-WHITE IMAGES HAVE LONG FADED ON THE WALLS OF HARDCORE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GYMS, THE TRAINING PHILOSOPHIES THAT BUILT THE WORLD'S GREATEST BODYBUILDER LIVE ON."

Arnold paired chest with back, which are antagonist muscle groups; while one contracts, the other is stretched. Though they are both very large muscle groups, Arnold followed a high-volume, high-frequency approach, performing this workout three times per week. If that wasn't demanding enough, he typically came into the gym later in the evening for his thigh workouts!

Here's a closer look at the specific techniques and approaches that helped lay the foundation for his superhuman gains.

ARNOLD'S CHEST TRAINING

Arnold pecs were truly impressive, even as teenager. It was always one of his strong body parts. Arnold prioritized chest training; he did it first in his training when fatigue levels were low so he could train it with maximum intensity.

"I seemed to train my chest hard and correctly from the beginning," he wrote. "My chest grew because I gave it the most attention, placing it first in my workout."

"ARNOLD PRIORITIZED CHEST TRAINING; HE DID IT FIRST IN HIS TRAINING WHEN FATIGUE LEVELS WERE LOW SO HE COULD TRAIN IT WITH MAXIMUM INTENSITY."

Here are some of Arnold's best chest-training tips culled from the many articles he wrote and interviews he gave over the years.

Arnold competed as a powerlifter early in his career, so building a big chest started with training for strength. Arnold's top weights on the bench included a 500-pound single and 405 for 8 reps. Arnold once did a 225-pound bench for 60 reps!

Arnold believed the concept of progressive overload was critical to building his pecs. "I strongly believe that the size of your muscles grows with the size of the weights you're using for repetitions."

Arnold included basic multi-joint movements in his routine that hit the pecs from every angle, which he knew would lead to optimal pec development from top to bottom. "I knew the routine had to be basic and very heavy."

Arnold hit every body part, not just chest, with high volume and frequency. His offseason routine consisted of up to 26 working sets on a high-volume day, and he trained his pecs three days per week, taking at least 48 hours off between workouts for recovery. That kind of volume and frequency suited The Oak during his competitive years, but for anyone with a full-time job, it's likely to induce significant jumps in cortisol levels and fatigue. Cycle short periods of high volume or high frequency training into your workout on occasion, but listen to your body for signs of overtraining. Arnold also cycled heavy and light days to both work the muscles with different relative intensities and ensure he wasn't overtraining his pecs.

Once you become familiar with the various basic movements in the gym, evaluate your weaknesses and try variations of basic exercises. "Not everybody responds to the bench press. You need to determine for yourself which are the best exercises for your body." Other variations he commonly tried included using slightly closer or wider grips on the barbell to move the area of emphasis in or out a few degrees.

Know the advantages of dumbbells and barbells, but use both in your training. "I feel a better stretch when doing dumbbells, especially with incline movements. The dumbbells can be lowered deeper than a barbell." This is important because a muscle that's fully stretched is capable of a stronger contraction, so long as you don't overstretch the shoulder joint.

Arnold commonly started with 1-2 warm-up sets and then increased the weight on succeeding sets (called a pyramid set) while decreasing the reps. Still, he trained in a fairly low rep range, often starting at 12 and working his way down to six.

Arnold believed that a lack of focus and concentration was the biggest mistake bodybuilders made when hitting chest. "Flex your pectoral muscles throughout the movement, but especially at the top." Contracting your pecs hard at the top increases the intensity of the movement.

ARNOLD'S BACK TRAINING

It would be a mistake to think the "back" consists of a single muscle. It's a group that includes the middle and lower traps, rhomboids, the upper and lower portions of the latissimus dorsi, the erectors (low back), and even the rear delts. Arnold's approach to this complex group came from all angles.

When he began competing at the elite level, Arnold's back wasn't as imposing as his mammoth chest and arms. By employing basic, multi-joint movements to target all areas of his back, he was able to bring it up.

Here are some the basic principles Arnold followed when training back.

Arnold typically broke his back training into two types of movements: chinning and pull-downs for lat width, and rows for overall thickness. Lat pull-downs and pull-ups build a strong V-taper, while rows and bent-over movements better target the middle-back musculature.

"WHEN HE BEGAN COMPETING AT THE ELITE LEVEL, ARNOLD'S BACK WASN'T AS IMPOSING AS HIS MAMMOTH CHEST AND ARMS. BY EMPLOYING BASIC, MULTI-JOINT MOVEMENTS TO TARGET ALL AREAS OF HIS BACK, HE WAS ABLE TO BRING IT UP."

Chins with an underhand grip and pull-ups were a big part of Arnold's approach to building wide lats. He also varied his grip width, went up to the bar behind his head and to his chest, and sometimes used added resistance or simply his bodyweight. The net result was an assault the worked the lats from multiple angles for better overall development.

"Wide-grip pull-ups coax the upper lats to come out," Arnold said. With wide-grip movements, the elbows stay out away from the sides, meaning the upper lats become the focus. With close-grip and reverse-grip back exercises, the elbows stay in tighter to the sides; this reduces the emphasis on the upper lats and instead places more of the focus on the lower lats.

One technique Arnold favored was to shoot for a total number of chins, say 50, rather than target a particular number of sets. "On the first set you may do 10 reps. Perhaps you struggle with 8 reps on the second set. You have 18 reps now. If you make 5 on the third set, you have 23 reps. You continue to add them until you reach 50, even though it may take you 20 sets to do it. That's how I built up my chinning power, and I was very successful with it."

For Arnold, with chins or with any other back move, gains in strength meant he'd have to increase the weight. "After you've mastered 10-12 reps in any type of chin, then you can start to put weight around your waist." Arnold argued that just increasing the number of reps you do as you get stronger wasn't as beneficial to the bodybuilder looking to maximize muscle growth as increasing the resistance.

Not everyone can do chins or pull-ups with their bodyweight. Arnold recommended using the pull-down machine until your strength levels increase. Once you can do at least 8 reps with the equivalent of your bodyweight, he suggested switching over to the chinning bar.

Exercises in which you pull the weight perpendicularly into your body—often called rows—were also a big part of Arnold's back workout. He favored all kinds of variations—seated cables rows, T-bar rows, bent-over barbell rows—but again each one was done with high volume and progressively heavier weights, pyramiding the weight up on successive sets for fewer reps.

Between sets, Arnold stretched out his lats, either hanging from a bar or holding on to a stable object and leaning away. Stretching helped maintain the flexibility around the joint. He often tensed his lats between sets as well, contracting the muscle as hard as he could to help achieve a superior pump.

Arnold's Chest And Back Workout

•  Barbell Bench Press
  1-2 sets of 15 reps (warm-up); 5 sets of 12, 10, 8, 6, 4 reps
•  Barbell Incline Bench Press
  5 sets of 12, 10, 8, 6, 4 reps
•  Flat Dumbbell Flyes
  4 sets of 12, 10, 8, 6 reps
•  Dips
  4 sets of 12, 10, 8, 6 reps
•  Dumbbell Pullover
  4 sets of 15 reps

ARNOLD WOULD ALTERNATE BEHIND-THE-NECK AND REGULAR PULL-UPS BETWEEN WORKOUTS.

•  Wide-Grip Rear Pull-Up
  5 sets of 15, 12, 10, 8, 8 reps
•  Chin-Up (close grip)
  4 sets of 12, 10, 8, 8 reps
•  T-Bar Row
  4 sets of 15, 12, 8, 6 reps
•  Bent Over Barbell Row
  4 sets of 12, 10, 8, 8 reps
•  Seated Cable Rows
  4 sets of 12, 12, 10, 10 reps
• 
  

10 COMMON PROTEIN QUESTIONS ANSWERED!

Whether you're looking to build bigger muscles or just want to better your health, protein is a major player in your nutritional game. The oft-used excuse that this macronutrient is just for people looking to get swole needs to go, because the cold hard facts say that without adequate protein, fitness and general well-being could suffer. Quite simply, protein provides the foundation upon which your muscle tissues are built. Losing fat (ergo, maintaining muscle) and building new muscle rely upon meeting your individual protein needs.

That said, there's a lot of confusion surrounding this powerhouse nutrient. It can be difficult to know how much protein you need, which sources are best, and how much protein you can eat at once. Get your notepad ready! We've got answers to 10 of your most burning questions regarding this mighty macronutrient.

1

  IS IT TRUE THE BODY CAN ONLY USE 30 GRAMS OF PROTEIN
AT ONCE?

A popular public opinion seems to be that the body can only process a certain amount of protein per meal, as if there's a magic number inside your belly that tracks protein intake. This is not entirely true. While I wouldn't recommend eating 100 grams of protein at every meal, the body will process whatever you feed it, albeit not always optimally.

You're going to digest all the protein you eat, but more isn't always better. Once you turn on protein synthesis and initiate the muscle-building process, you can't turn it on "more" in one meal. Roughly 30 grams of protein per meal across multiple meals will actually help you boost protein synthesis many times over the course of a day. It will probably be easier on your digestive system, too!

2

  WILL MORE PROTEIN HELP ME BUILD MUSCLE FASTER?

Yes, but only to some degree. Not all dietary protein you eat goes toward protein synthesis. Once you eat enough protein to drive protein synthesis, your body will oxidize protein for energy. Driving your protein intake far beyond the realm of 30-35 percent of your daily calories probably won't provide additional muscle-building benefits, but it will cut into your fat and carbohydrate intake, which may actually hinder your goals. This isn't exact, but eating at least 1 gram of protein per pound per day should cover your bases.

"THIS ISN'T EXACT, BUT EATING AT LEAST 1 GRAM OF PROTEIN PER POUND PER DAY SHOULD COVER YOUR BASES."

3

  CAN I GAIN FAT FROM EATING TOO MUCH PROTEIN?

If protein is a building block for muscle, then you will never gain fat from overeating protein, right? Sorry, Timmy, but the weight can definitely creep on if your caloric equation shifts toward a surplus. While it is harder for protein to convert into fat than its other macronutrient buddies, if you eat way more than your body needs—no matter what it is—the excess could go into fat deposits. Plus, as your protein intake goes up, protein oxidation increases, which means you'll burn fewer carbs or fats for fuel.

4

  WHAT'S THE BEST PROTEIN SOURCE?

This is a complicated question! Let's start with complete proteins. A complete protein is a protein source that contains adequate amounts of all nine essential amino acids, which are deemed "essential" because your body can't make them on its own. Most animal protein sources—like meat, fish, milk, eggs, and poultry—are complete. These are great protein sources because they're highly bio-available and contain all the building blocks your body needs.

"THESE ARE GREAT PROTEIN SOURCES BECAUSE THEY'RE HIGHLY BIO-AVAILABLE AND CONTAIN ALL THE BUILDING BLOCKS YOUR BODY NEEDS."

Beyond that, protein quality is measured in a variety of ways, including biological value, net protein utilization, and the Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acids Score (PDCAAS). The PDCAAS test is the FDA's preferred method of determining protein quality. A PDCAAS value of 1 is the best possible score. Casein, whey, egg white, and soy protein all fall into this category, so they're all stellar protein sources.

5

  WILL PROTEIN POWDER BECOME DENATURED IF IT'S COOKED?

Denaturing is the process by which proteins essentially "unfold" and lose biological function. Typically, proteins can withstand a certain temperature before this happens. This nugget of truth has led folks to believe that incorporating protein powders into homemade recipes—such as protein bars, muffins, or other baked food—and cooking them will denature the proteins, rendering them ineffective.

Yes, the protein does get altered from the cooking heat, but the body will absorb the constituent amino acids just the same. The nutritional value remains constant, as well. In this regard, cooking protein powder is no different than cooking a piece of chicken, and who would want to eat raw chicken? You may now let out a sigh of relief and continue your regularly scheduled protein bake session.

6

  WILL FOLLOWING A HIGH PROTEIN DIET IMPACT MY BONE
HEALTH?

An oft-referenced study showed a correlation between a person with a high intake of animal protein—more than 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight—and increased urinary loss of calcium. This calcium loss would suggest a decrease in overall bone health and density, but this study could not find evidence that the calcium came from bone. Furthermore, the researchers say that high intake of protein in the long-term actually increases bone mineral density, especially in an older population.

"YOU NEED TO COUNTERBALANCE THE SUPPOSED DETRIMENTAL EFFECTS OF PROTEIN BY EATING A VARIED DIET RICH WITH FRUITS, VEGETABLES, AND OTHER FOODS."

Of course, I'm not saying you should only eat protein. You need to counterbalance the supposed detrimental effects of protein by eating a varied diet rich with fruits, vegetables, and other foods. Even if protein is the backbone of your diet, you need to build a solid nutritional body around varied whole foods.

7

  WILL A HIGHER PROTEIN DIET HARM MY KIDNEYS?

According to a study published in the "American Journal of Kidney Disease," anyone who is currently suffering from chronic kidney disease should avoid high-protein diets. For otherwise healthy folk, your high protein intake should not pose a threat to your kidneys; make sure to keep your total daily protein consumption reasonable and consume sufficient water to counteract the water loss. Check with your doctor first if you are concerned about this.