The Official Gym & Fitness Thread

torso, ive goteen wider and know how to, just "thicker" thru the upper body.

 

look into the encyclopedia of modern bodybuilding it's cheap and the bible on the subject arnold runs all the exercises down and what effect they will have on your build.

hate to tell you to read but, if you don't already have this book and you lift weights you need to buy it and read it over and over it's awesome!

 

pullovers, t-bar rows heavy squating bent over rows and pull ups both close neutral and wide.

this will increase the size of your lats rhomboids expand your rib cage at least thats what the old school guy's thought lol.

also do not neglect your abs one of the easiest ways to look wider would be to bring in your abs and waist.

sean would probably have some great advice for you as well that guy is a solid looking mofo

 

i have an 8 pack haha my abs cant change much i dont think haha

 

just figured i would add that in there lol i wasn't sure what shape you are in.

well then basic movements good form and volume that will put size on you quickly.

 

oh ive been doin this for a while, i'm in shape and strong but just a little bit leaner than i want to be, lol i'll add pull overs into my work out and keep going heavier on my t-bar rows

 

inverted row is an exercise i used to mix back up. switching it up to keep those muscles confused is important.. in addition to the above exercises, this may help w/thickness.. mostly to hit them at a different angle, use different muscles, improve your strength when you go back to the classic big muscle movements


http://youtu.be/dvkIaarnf0g

 

those look good ill give them a try!^^

 

lol i do those on back day with a 50 pound weight vest they are killer.

 

what does your back day routine look like

 

let me know how you like/dislike them.. at first i felt like they were harder than they looked.. i do 4 sets of 12 and usually do them as my last back exercise or 2nd to last.. for good form (like most back exercises) you want to imagine your hands are hooks (i use a 4 finger grip with my thumb next to my kunckle (not around the bar) and the goal is to pull your elbows back as far as you can to lift your body up. that way you use as little bicep as possible. hopefully you like em!

 

deadlift, pull ups behind the neck then close grip. then t-bar row, beant over dumb bell row and thats usually it, 4 heavy lifts.

 

i have 3 versions of back day.

1. all body weight
2. all machines or cables
3. combo (switching each exercise each combo)

here's my body weight day

pull ups. warm up w/body weight for 12 reps
then 4 sets with weight
1. 45 lbs for 10
2. 55lbs for 8
3. 65lbs for 8
4. 75 lbs for 6

Vbar pull up rows. 4 sets w/25 lbs ..10, 10, 8, 8

inverted rows 4 sets of 12.. no weight.. i should get a vest..superset w/back extensions 3 of 10.

then reverse flys w/dumbells or something random (i realize this isn't a body weight exercise so i guess there are some exceptions haha)

 

Page 130 in the november 2011 issue. "inside the cult of crossfit"
what i took from the article (easy crossfit fans, i've never done crossfit and i'm not bashing it, i'm just writing my reaction to the MH article) was basically that the instructors get minimal training, the potential for injury is high, and the end results are basically that you can perform better at crossfit, fat loss, and that it doesn't build muscle as accurately as a weightlifting regiment, which is what a lot of guys goto the gym for, to build muscle. they said the potential for injury is high b/c you are doing intense exercises after being really exhausted.. "fatigue and going to failure"..

 

Isn't that what you're supposed to do? Reps to failure...

You can do anything with the possibility of injury, you can get hurt lifting heavy weights for low reps with bad form just as easily as you can get hurt lifting lower weights with high reps with bad from. There are many levels of instruction as well.

M&F may not like crossfit because its not conventional....but it works for lots of people's goals, like P90X or Insanity.

 

I think the failure part is the fine line. Right? I mean how you define failure is the key. Is it the point where the risk of injury has increased? Is it the point you can no longer perform the exercise? For me, it's been the point just before I can no longer safely control the weight.