Bodybuilding Tips and Tricks

This is a good exercise to finish your back workout with because it works the back without involving the biceps. (This also makes this move one of the few exercises that can be used to pre-exhaust the back.) Don’t worry about using a ton of weight; heavy poundage is not necessary to achieve good results with this exercise. Concentrate on maintaining perfect form and feeling the exercise in your lats.

Performance: Attach a lat pulldown bar to a high pulley cable attachment and take an overhand shoulder-width grip. Stand with your arms outstretched toward the bar, with the bar at shoulder level. Bend your knees slightly and try to keep your bodyweight on your heels. Lean forward slightly and tighten your abdominals. Keeping your elbows slightly bent and wrists locked, contract your lats and push the bar down and in towards your body in an arcing motion. Your torso should not move. Squeeze you lats at the bottom of the movement (the bar should be close to your thighs), then slowly allow the bar to come back to the starting position.

Muscle Emphasis: latissimus dorsi, serratus anterior; secondary stress on abdominals

Pull-ups - 4 sets; Rep Scheme: 12, 10, 8, 8
Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown - 4 sets; Rep Scheme: 10-12 reps per set
Wide-Grip Seated Cable Row - 4 sets; Rep Scheme: 10-12 reps per set
Straight-Arm Pulldown - 3 sets; Rep Scheme: 10-12 reps per set

RRest time between sets: 1-2 minutes
Be sure to do 1-2 warmup sets or 5-10 minutes of cardio (or both) before beginning the first exercise.

Performance: Face a weight bench. With your feet fairly close together, lean forward and rest your free hand on the bench so you’re supporting the weight of your upper body with one arm. Bend your knees slightly and keep your chest slightly lifted and back arched. Reach down and grasp a dumbbell while keeping your other arm locked and supporting your torso. Keeping your torso stable throughout the movement, slowly pull the dumbbell all the way up to your chest, moving your shoulder backward as your elbow comes toward the ceiling. Then lower the dumbbell straight down to the start position. Try to focus on feeling the contraction in your lats when you raise the weight and make sure you get a good stretch in your lats at the bottom of the movement. You can also perform this exercise with your body parallel to the bench and one knee resting on the bench if the unsupported version is too difficult for you.

Muscle Emphasis: latissimus dorsi, biceps, brachialis, and forearm flexors; secondary emphasis is on the trapezius and posterior deltoid

Incline Barbell Press - 4 sets; Rep Scheme: 12, 10, 8, 8
Incline Cable Flye - 3 sets; Rep Scheme: 10, 10, 8
Seated Machine Chest Press - 3 sets; Rep Scheme: 10, 10, 10
Foot-Elevated Push-Up - 2 sets: Rep Scheme: 15, 15

Rest time between sets: 1-2 minutes
Be sure to do 1-2 warmup sets or 5-10 minutes of cardio (or both) before beginning the first exercise.

Performance: Hold a relatively lightweight dumbbell at your side with your feet a little less than shoulder-width apart. Maintaining an erect posture, bend to one side as far as you can and return to the startting position. Keep the arm not holding the dumbbell straight and try to feel it “reaching” for the floor when performing the movement. Repeat for reps on each side. You can also perform this exercise using a the low pulley (with D-handle attachment) of a cable apparatus.

Emphasis: Obliques and serratus muscles

Barbell Squat - 2 sets; Rep Scheme: 6, 8
Bent-Over Barbell Row - 2 sets; Rep Scheme: 6, 8
Incline Barbell Press - 2 sets; Rep Scheme: 6, 8
Seated Barbell Shoulder Press - 2 sets; Rep Scheme: 6, 8
Lying French Press - 2 sets; Rep Scheme: 6, 8
Barbell Curl - 2 sets; Rep Scheme: 6, 8
Standing Calf Raise - 1 set; Rep Scheme: 25
Cable Crunches - 1 set; Rep Scheme: 25

I recommend doing 5-10 minutes of light cardio to warm-up before beginning.

Barbell Squat - 4 sets; Rep Scheme: 6, 10, 12, 12
Leg Extension - 4 sets; Rep Scheme: 8, 10, 10, 12
Leg Curl - 4 sets; Rep Scheme: 8, 10, 12, 15
Romanian Deadlift - 4 sets; Rep Scheme: 10, 10, 12, 12

Rest time between sets: 1-2 minutes
Be sure to do 1-2 warmup sets or 5-10 minutes of cardio (or both) before beginning the first exercise.

Squats are quite possibly the best lower-body exercise around and also, in my opinion, one of the most difficult. However, once mastered, you are well on your way to building huge, powerful legs. In addition to their ability to build a strong, muscular lower body, squats are also an awesome movement for stimulating a full-body, anabolic metabolism which of course is always a plus.

Concentrate on getting comfortable with proper squatting form before going too heavy; it’ll be worth it in the long run. You also might want to start out using the Smith Machine when you perform squats. The Smith will make things a bit easier and help you get the feel of the movement down.

Performance: Stand under the bar with your feet in a comfortable shoulder-width stance. With your eyes straight-ahead, place the bar across your upper back and trapezius. Keeping your head up and your body tensed, slowly bend at the knees At the point where your thighs are parallel (or a little past) to the floor, reverse your direction, driving forcefully through your heels to a standing position.

Muscle emphasis: Primary stress is placed on the quadriceps, glutes, and lower back muscles; secondary stress is placed on the hamstrings, upper back, and abdominal muscles

Lying French Press (Skull Crushers) - 5 sets; Rep Scheme: 12, 8, 8, 10, 10
Triceps Pressdown - 3 sets; Rep Scheme: 8, 10, 12
Close-Grip Bench Press - 4 sets; Rep Scheme: 8, 8, 10, 12
Seated Overhead Dumbbell Extension - 3 sets; Rep Scheme: 8, 10, 10
Dumbbell Kickbacks - 3 sets; Rep Scheme: 8, 8, 10

Rest time between sets: 1-2 minutes
Be sure to do 1-2 warmup sets or 5-10 minutes of cardio (or both) before beginning the first exercise.

Here are some commonly used bodybuilding abbreviations; some obvious, some not. I’ll be adding to this list periodically.

Bi’s = Biceps
Tris = Triceps
Traps = Trapezius
Glutes = Gluteus (large muscles of the buttocks)
Hams = Hamstrings
BCAA = Branched Chain Amino Acids