The Beginner´s Guide to Super Human Aesthics

A Beginner’s Guide to a Super Human Aesthetics

By Jack Van Dusen

Note: Before starting an exercise program, it is important that you consult a physician. This is a must if you have any serious health issues or are taking medication. Get your doctor’s consent before you begin.

Acknowledgements I would like to dedicate this book to all of those who have doubted themselves. I hope that this book opens a door for you to start a new way of living or help you achieve your ultimate goal physique. I would also like to recognize Steve Cook, my inspiration since I began this journey, who taught me to think beyond what is humanly possible, and into the realm of the superhuman.

Table of Contents

â—?

-

Chapter 1: An Introduction to Fitness Making the switch Starting somewhere Benefits Making a new lifestyle

â—? Chapter 2: The Basics of Training - Understanding the Basics - Exercise and Sports

-

Exercise and Health Types of Training Pumping Iron Calisthenics: The secret to staying fit Cardio: Internal Strength

● -

Chapter 3: Why Superhuman?

A Brief Summary of Superhuman Physiques What’s the Appeal?

What makes a Physique Super?

● Chapter 4: Anatomy - Anatomy of the Human Body

● -

Chapter 5: Building a Bigger Chest Anatomy of the Chest Training the Chest Exercises

● -

Chapter 6: Bullet-Proof Back Anatomy of the Back Training the Back Exercises

● -

Chapter 7: Boulder Shoulders Anatomy of the Shoulders Training the Shoulders Exercises

● -

Chapter 8: Full Set of Wheels Anatomy of the Legs Training the Legs Exercises

● -

Chapter 9: Welcome to the Gun Show Anatomy of the Arms Training the Arms Exercises

● -

Chapter 10: Abs of Steel Anatomy of the Abdominals Training the Abdominals Exercises

● -

Chapter 11: Putting Together A Program Workout Splits Making It Flow Training Principles and Techniques

Chapter One: An Introduction to Fitness

In today’s chaotic and fast paced society, it’s hard to stand out as an individual. With the population moving slowly past seven billion, more than half become a simple man or woman, an “Average Joe” if you will. These people live their lives working a nine to five job, in a basic house in the suburbs, and maybe have a couple of kids. Nothing extraordinary. Then, we have our one percent. These are all the people that have created something that the entire world knows about. Actors, singers, billionaire businessmen, and of course, athletes. These very specific people are known around the world usually for a certain trait, talent or skill that they have used to their advantage. Singers have amazing voices and billionaires have a knack for marketing and investing. But the people I find most interesting are the athletes. As an athlete myself, I can tell you first hand about our skill, which is an unbreakable mind and body connection.

To be an athlete, certain requirements are necessary. A strong mental drive, and ability to overcome challenges and obstacles, but most especially, is a body that was forged to be worthy of a god. We have very distinct characteristics as athletic beings. An unstoppable internal system that is guarded by a iron casing of muscle. However, being an athlete doesn’t come with a designated job prescription. If you run, you’re an athlete. If you lift weights, you’re an athlete.

Even if you play baseball with your buddies every Friday night, you’re an athlete. Being athletic is simply engaging in a consistent physical activity and making yourself healthier and more fit.

An athletic body takes a lot of hard work, but that’s why you’re reading this book isn’t it?

In this book you will find an entire guide to the basic skills you must learn to transform your body into something more unique. This book is your guide to becoming a bigger, faster, stronger superhuman.

Starting Anywhere I can already guess that many of you have drawn a liking to a sedentary lifestyle.

Lounging around on the weekends, going out for drinks and fast food with your friends, or watching TV when something more productive could be done. If you find yourself in these last couple sentences, keep reading! This is where you change your life forever. And all you have to do is stand up. That’s right. Just stand up. Standing up, doing a physical activity even as simple as standing, is the first step to success. Every small step is one step closer to your ultimate goal, but you have to take that first step, that initiative, to make things happen. Think about your idols (even if they don’t relate to the fitness world). If they are an actor, singer, or artist, they all had to start somewhere. At some point in their lives, they have had the same thought of “I’m going to be the best.” This statement, just thinking the words, is a step. Many people wish for things but they never take the steps to do it. But in order to be great, you have to start somewhere. Like a wise man once said, ¨ You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.¨

Benefits Having the body of your dreams isn’t just an attraction bonus. Every time you lift weights, make a healthy food choice, or just go for a walk, tons of activity is going on through your internal systems, activating actions that affect the body in the most incredible ways. Yes,

lifting weights does make you grow in muscle mass, but underneath that, do you actually know what happens? Lifting weights has been proven to improve bone density of strengthen joints and ligaments, making you more flexible and able to take more impact to you body, like when you land from a jump or fall. If you break a bone, lifting weights has been shown to almost double your recovery time. Even if you wanted to start running for thirty minutes every other day, you increase your cardiovascular system’s ability to make less oxygen consumption easier. It also allows you to withstand more oxygen deprivation for longer periods of time, helps prevent a number of diseases like diabetes or lung cancer, raise your white blood cell count, which are the mechanisms that protect your body from illness.

Every exercise you do, every minute you run and every weight you lift makes your body stronger inside and out. But remember, that’s just fifty percent of the equation. When you make healthy food choices, cut out most of the harmful and useless calories that give you no real benefit, your body reacts in a positive way. A diet rich in protein and having a moderate amount of carbs has been shown to increase fullness, burn more calories when you exercise, and allow you to maintain more muscle mass, which effectively holds more fat off your body. Including vegetables and fruits in your diet give you tons of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that help regulate blood pressure and flush out any toxins or bad diseases in your bloodstream. As you can see, with both of these two powerhouses of health, you can create a body worthy of any greek god and an internal system that would make any health nut proud.

Making It a Lifestyle One extremely important thing to keep in mind before starting is that THIS IS NOT A PHASE. You can’t do this for a couple months and then fall back into your old ways. This is a lifestyle,

and if you want to change for the better, you must give up your old ways of lounging for hours on end and eating whatever, whenever. And I can already tell many people will read this and think, “But doing this for the rest of my life seems stressful and not enjoyable!”

This is why I wrote this guide. In order to make this a lifestyle, you need to find something that is enjoyable. When you work out, if you don’t like running for an hour on the treadmill, don’t! Make it enjoyable! Instead of a treadmill, grab some friends and go for a hike!

Do sprints on the beach or do laps at your local pool! Choose workouts that will motivate you so you don’t wake up every morning dreading to workout. The same mindset applies to your nutrition. You don’t have to eat chicken and rice for every meal for the rest of your life! There are tons of healthy recipes that will fit in your macro numbers (more on that later), are delicious, and don’t deprive you from the foods you love. This guide will teach you everything you need to know about how to build a god-like body and still feel excited to workout everyday.

Chapter 2: The Basics of Training Understanding the Basics Working out, whatever that may be for your personal preference, has the single goal of making your body stronger, faster, or more fit in general. This happens when your body either raises it’s heart rate to burn fat or become anabolic to gain muscle mass. When trying to change

your lifestyle, your first objective is to visualize your goal, really get a clear picture in your head, and then state it out loud or write it down. For example, we will use a very common goal: “I want to transform my body by lowering my bodyfat and building lean muscle mass.¨ In order to do this, you must learn the basics of fitness.

Exercise comes in many forms. Sports, daily activities, going to the gym, or even working out at home. The key though, is to find something you enjoy. Looking at the word exercise, we think of Olympic athletes, Bodybuilders, or pro NFL players. This is a level known as elite training. These athletes go to the extreme to make sure the looks and performance are in peak human condition in order to be successful at what they do. After all, they are getting paid for it. But for regular people, we don't need to go to those extremes to be fit. I have many friends are very fit and they don't even go to the gym! They dance, they play sports, and do things that make them happy. But don't become naive thinking that lifting weights and doing cardio is something to neglect.

Resistance and strength training are the single most effective way to build quality muscle mass and cardio, not specifically running on a treadmill, but anything that raises your heart rate significantly is the best way to burn fat. But like I have stated before, you can't torture yourself with exercise for a desired result. You have to do something you enjoy or else I can guarantee you will quite your regime in a week.

Exercise in Sports Many people, at some point in their lives, have had sports play an active role in their lives. Some people we’re on the high school football team, some people played intramural lacrosse in college, or some even played pickup baseball games at their local park. Sports have played a

very large role in my live since an early age. When I was about 7 years old, I started playing baseball. I then continued for 8 years and when that was over, I played football for my school, did gymnastics a couple times a week, and even played in a basketball league for a season. When playing a sport, it’s amazing what outside training can do for your athletic skills.

If you played sports in high school or college, most likely you participated in weekly trips to the school weight room. Your coach would routinely take you through workouts of heavy squats, bench press, deadlifts, and other olympic-style movements. And even if you weren’t totally happy with your coach’s grueling training sessions, they had a pretty good idea about how to train for power, not just aesthetics. In sports, especially contact sports, looking good will only really get you a date with a cheerleader (no complaints there!). When pro football, baseball, or basketball players workout, they use compound exercises to build strength, power, and ferocity.

Instead of walking on a treadmill, they do wind sprints, run the bleachers, or numerous speed and agility drills to maximize their endurance and coordination potential. If you play a sport or are looking into starting one, starting a training program will allow you to perform better on the field and still get you the looks of a pro athlete.

Exercise and Health Unless you're an actual immortal superhuman, taking care of your body is a very important part of staying healthy. While doing meditation and keeping a clean diet most of the time is vital, having some sort of exercise in your life is not only extremely beneficial, but I personally think it should be required in every person’s daily regime. I have stated briefly before about how beneficial resistance and cardiovascular training is to the body. Strength training helps prevent

muscle decay in old age, builds stronger and healthier bones and ligaments, and keeps many diseases at bay. And of course a little cardio never hurt anyone. On the contrary, it’s actually saved millions of lives from obesity and diabetes. But many people tend to overlook very important, key elements in exercise.

Stretching, for example, is often overlooked by younger lifters who just want to lift as much weight as possible and get “swole”. This is a really good way to injure yourself and destroy your chances of ever lifting again. Making sure you body is warmed up, stretched out and loose before a workout will help your body not be so stiff when doing a heavy lift, which can cause a lot of soreness and uncomfortability. Stretching afterward is equally as important. Making sure each muscle and tendon is released of all the built up tension and stress that was put on during a workout helps relieve pain and prevents you from hurting yourself outside of the gym, when your body is vulnerable. Doing yoga, foam rolling, or even walking can allow you to have more mobility and a safer workout. And for all the younger people, keeping a fit body will also keep you out of a wheel chair or the doctor’s office when you're 50!

Types of Training Training comes many different shapes and forms. We can go very proud: Athletic training, endurance training, powerlifting, bodybuilding, etc. But for this purpose, we will narrow it down to two: aerobic and anaerobic. Aerobic training is a form of training that allows your body to use glycogen and fat as fuel. This allows us to burn fat at a consistent rate. Although sometimes is can be down with high intensity, generally it is performed with a slow to moderate pace. When you use aerobic training, oxygen is deprived from your body, causing you to breathe heavier to

try and consume more oxygen. It can sound scary, but it is used mostly to build up your endurance and train cardiovascular system to be able to take more demand, like being able to withstand longer distances or higher intensities. You probably haven’t given it much thought, but you most likely do this everyday. If you walk to school or work everyday, think back on the first time you did it. Difficult wasn’t it? That's because you're training your body to adapt. Say right before you get to your destination, there’s a big hill. The first time you tried, you were out of breathe and your legs felt like led. But every week, it started to get a little easier. Next thing you know, your jogging up the hill! This is because your body is responding to this stress and then adapting over time to match its intensity.

Anaerobic training is the exact opposite. Anaerobic training comes into play when it starts to rely less on your oxygen consumption and more on the energy coming from your muscles. Activities like weightlifting, sprinting, isometrics, calisthenics, and plyometrics are good examples of this.

For example, if a person was doing bicep curls with a moderate weight, after about eight to ten repetitions, there would start to be a large lactic acid build up. In the simplest of terms, lactic acid is the fluid that fills your muscles and makes that searing pain in your isolated muscle. This build up eventually allows you to withstand larger and larger build ups, or strength gains. Anaerobic training also helps build lean muscle mass and strengthens every fiber, tendon, and micro-muscle in your body. These two are the baseline of all training, no matter what sport or activity you do.

And don’t be fooled! Many people swear that aerobic exercise destroys muscle mass or that aerobic training automatically turns you into a 400 pound bodybuilder. Both of these types of exercise are extremely beneficial and necessary for proper growth, so I would advise you to include both when building a training program.

Pumping Iron Pumping iron, lifting weights, going “beastmode”, or whatever you want to call it, weight training should be a big player in your quest to becoming a superhuman. Many people are instantly under the impression that you turn into a mass monster when you start lifting weights.

This can be a good or bad assumption, but I’d be lying to you if I told you that was true. For all people, lifting weights is a very beneficial exercise routine that most people should get into.

For men, lifting weights can be used for many reasons. Usually, men start lifting weights either when they are young, looking for a way to feel better about themselves or improve in a specific sport, or when they are older due to a doctor’s order or a friend recommendation. A lot of men are really attracted to the idea of having the “perfect physique” with tight abs and big arms, so naturally, it isn’t so much of a concern to put on large amounts of muscle mass.

For women, it’s slightly different. The majority of women tend to stray away from big bulky muscles and turn more to a lean, toned look. Physiques from dancers, runners, or supermodels are the more desired physique for a lot of women, so they stay away from weight training because they afraid of building large amounts of muscle. On the contrary, it’s extremely hard for women to look like this even if they did lift the same weight as men do. For an athletic 20 year old male, testosterone levels can reach up to 1070 nanograms. In a athletic 20 year old female, a normal high is around 95 nanograms. These numbers are significantly far apart due to the different hormone production in men and women. Testosterone, for those who don’t know, is a hormone released by both sexes,m bot more commonly in men. This hormone is the reason behind facial hair growth, growth in height or limb, and a significant amount of muscle mass.

When men lift heavy weights, a very large amount of testosterone is released, which allows that male to build large amounts of muscle.

As stated before, women have a much lower testosterone level due to their production of estrogen. Estrogen in found in both sexes, but more commonly in females. This hormone is usually released in puberty and pregnancy, which allows women to put on extra essential fats to grow their bodies and support their baby’s lives. In puberty this helps girl grow into their body by activating growth in body hair, height and limbs, and breast tissue. So since women have such a low amount of testosterone, is take them double, sometimes even triple the amount of testosterone to be able to reach a muscular, male physique. But regardless of sex, weight training allows you to bring more lean muscle mass into your body, which in turn, makes it easier to burn off fat, which is a common goal for most men and women.

In the large umbrella of weightlifting, there lies many different types and methods. Very basic training includes free weights like barbells and dumbbells and compound, multi-muscle movements that allow your body to receive the most growth. Olympic lifting is very common for this type of training, as it utilizes exercises such as the squat, deadlift, bench press, cleans, or military press. Bodybuilding training, although still using compound lifts, focuses on different muscle parts by isolating them to “carve” the muscle and make it as aesthetically pleasing as possible. This can be done by using a number of different exercises, some including free weights, and some including cables, machines, aerobic techniques. People’s goals change due to the individuality of each person, but generally, people are usually trying to build muscle while burning as much fat as possible. Weight training is the single most effective way to do this. With the resistance of the weight tearing muscle fibers, proper rest and nutrition building them back up, and correct aerobic exercises, this can be achieved. So whatever your goal may be, including weight training will allow you to see much more gains than what you would see when doing cardio for 2 hours.

Calisthenics: The Secret to Staying Fit Although weight training is recommended, or in this book, required, I know there’s people out there maybe can afford a gym membership. Not to worry, I’m about to give you one of the biggest secrets in fitness. The only things you need to build crazy muscle muss and stay super lean is: you and a pull up bar. That’s right. All you need is your own bodyweight. Calisthenics, or you might know them as the common holy trinity of pushups, pullups, and dips, are an incredible way to stay fit if you don’t access to a gym. If you can get a pull up bar, you're good to go!

Bodyweight ab work, many different variations of pushups, pull ups, squats, and dips are instantly at your disposal. And the best part is, you might not even have to spend a cent.

Depending on where you live, you can go to the local playground and insane pull up and ab exercises on the monkey bars. Don’t live near a park? Find a tree and do pull ups on a branch!

Don’t have any treadmills? Go running, sprinting, or invest in a cheap jump rope! There a hundreds of ways to utilize your own body and have a crazy workout without lifting a single weight. If you’ve ever watched a gymnast perform, you will understand the power of calisthenics. They don’t use fancy ab or weight machines. They use their own weight and do moves that most people couldn’t even dream of doing like an L-Sit, iron cross, or muscle ups.

Calisthenics can actually be more beneficial than weight training at times, which might be contradictory as I just told you weight training is the number one way of building muscle.

Since you are using you body only, you have to start thinking about you as piece of weight equipment. Even without using barbells, you can do a variation of bench press known as the pushup. Don’t think it’s effective? If I take a 200 pound male who can do 30 pushups in a set, that’s basically pressing 200 pounds worth of body weight up 30 times. This is a kind of strength that find somewhat superior, in a way, to a person who can deadlift 700 pounds. Calisthenics

provide a more functional use of the body, one that can be affiliated with many obstacles involved in everyday life. As they are also generally a very high rep set of movements involving quick and strong contractions (push ups) or putting a high amount of stress on a certain muscle for an extended period of time (L-Sit) it tend to a more lean, athletic, and functional body, unlike many of the bodybuilders you see today.

This can be a very important factor for people when they are first trying to visualize what they want their perfect body to look like. Also, if you are traveling or do not have access to a gym, constructing a quick circuit of basic bodyweight movements and working with high intensity is a very good way of getting a quality workout out in even if you're in an airport, at the beach, camping, or simply on a business trip. To conclude, if you decide to implement calisthenics into your workouts or not, they are good to know and understand for basic muscle and strength development.

Cardio: Internal Strength Let’s be honest, cardio is, like anything, a hit or miss when it comes to actually enjoying it. Some people absolutely love it, they could run all day. Some can’t stand it, would avoid it till the grave.

Regardless, it’s a vital and important part of not only becoming superhuman, but maintaining a healthy internal system as well. Cardio, short for cardiovascular, is the entire reason you can stand, walk, run, and do pretty much any activity that involves you to consume oxygen.

From a fitness standpoint, the word “cardio” is generally referring to someone running on the treadmill or riding a stationary bike. Cardio is a form of aerobic exercise, so like discussed earlier, it makes you go into oxygen deprivation, which helps you increase your ability to withstand long or extended periods of time without an adequate amount of oxygen. Cardio also

makes your body use glycogen (stored carbohydrates and energy) and fat as fuel, thus putting your body into a fat burning mode. Now, there will be people who say “Go for it! Do it everyday!” and there will be people who say “Screw that! I never do that crap!”. Listen to neither. Unless you are training as an endurance athlete with no care for an aesthetic physique, do your best to refrain from doing cardio every day of the week. This can put you into a serious catabolic ( fat AND muscle burning) mode.

On the flip side, doing no cardio at all will seriously take a toll on your body. Besides the numerous health benefits of preventing diseases and keeping fat gain at bay, in order to be super human, you can’t just be super strong. Speed, agility, and stamina are very important aspects to the whole superhuman package. Even though Superman could beat the Flash to a pulp, I highly doubt he could catch him with his speed. Not doing cardio can also add time to your rest periods during sets because you become to easily winded. And this is a big no-no when doing heavy compound movements like the ones I’ll be showing you. Cardio is very important to your internal and external health and should not be neglected or overdone.

Chapter 3: Why Superhuman?

A Brief History of Superhuman Physiques Superhumans can be found all over the world, in our favorite comic books, or even in the movies we watch. And no matter who they are, they all generally fall into specific categories. First, I’ll explain the fictional side to superhumans. We see them all the time, in our comic books and in our favorite movies. There are many that I could discuss, but for now, I’ll talk about the most popular ones, superheroes. Superman, Batman, The Flash, Aquaman, Green Lantern, Wonder

Woman, Super Girl. All of these fictional comic book characters have been created under the same basic ideal measurements. If you are unfamiliar with these characters, they are from the world famous DC Comics Universe, a comic book company famous for it’s many superheroes who are known all over the world. Now, when we look at the male physique in the DC Comics world, we start to notice a pattern. Although some may be smaller or bigger than others, generally they all form a very Grecian-style body.

In the ancient times, the Greeks were obsessed with physical beauty and perfection through mathematics and proportioning. They eventually created formula known as the Golden Ratios. Not just talking about the human body, but in all things, if two quantities ratios to one another are the same to the ratio of their sum to the larger of the two quantities. Definitely confusing, so I’ll reiterate. If we take the average male superheroes in the DCU (DC Comics Universe) we notice that their shoulder to waist ratio is evenly proportionate. We notice the arms are evenly sized out to the shoulders and their calves match the arms also. We also notice that the lower body is large enough to the point where it is not overwhelmed by the upper body, but then again, not so large that it looks unnatural compared to the upper body. ][In the female heroins, we find that they’re lower and upper body are evenly distributed throughout and waist to tightened to where is emphasizes the curve of the hips in the pelvic area.

We also notice that the stomach is clearly flat and strong, but like the rest of her muscles, are not huge and monstrous nor weak and underdeveloped. These types of bodies are the perfect definition of the Golden Ratios. They are also the perfect body build for power, strength and agility. If you have ever seen a movie or cartoon of these heroes, you will notice they are quite agile and able to move with incredible speed, hit the enormous force, and use their entire body strength into what they are doing. Although they are fictional characters and their type of

strength is highly unrealistic, it still gives us an example of what to strive for in our physiques, even if it is downscaled.

What’s the Appeal?

Besides having strength beyond most average men will ever know, feeling feeling confident in a body that is appealing to men and scientifically proven to be the body type of choice for most women, having the body of superhero allows you to know that you are one of the very few who would still be considered “physical perfection” in ancient times. Among the many reasons of why this is the body of choice, but the two I would mainly focus upon is that aesthetic and power that comes with this body type. As I have discussed before, this body has been known as the most beautiful way a human can possibly look. And this comes from actual science and math equations! This body is not also not only appealing to the eye, but it has the perfect ratios for prime strength and conditioning. A body well built with lots of lean muscle mass but not overly massive allows the person to lift generally high amounts of weight while retaining a good amount of flexibility and functional ability. For example, Superman has a physique that is worthy of any god, but in turn, allows him to move with extreme speed and agility. The same goes for the rest of powerful super heroes, for the most part. So as you can see, reaching for the plethora of what your body can achieve naturally allows you to open yourself up to different life and training gateways.

Chapter Four: Anatomy Anatomy of the Human Body

In order to work the body to it’s muscular potential, you must first identify and understand the functions of each separate muscle group within the anatomy. Now while a full body analysis shows numerous of tiny muscles with extremely complicated names, for your sanity, I will only show you the basic, need to know muscles for limited confusion and maximum knowledge of the human body.

Within these next several chapters, I will help you identify each muscle group within the body and it’s function for daily use and when lifting weights or doing functional activities. Your body is an organically processed machine that can do phenomenal things. And just like any piece of machinery, you must first understand how each and every little piece works and what it’s sole job is in that machine. You wouldn’t try to build a car without knowing the difference between a wheel and a steering wheel would you? I thought not. It’s also very important to understand though that your body is not a car. With a car, you can work on it and do whatever you like to it until eventually it gives out on you, to where you just purchase another one. Your body is one of a kind and cannot be replaced. Contrary to popular believe, working out is a very dangerous activity. If you are not doing an exercise correctly or recovering right, you will damage your body in a way that will affect more than just your ability to make gains. Even if you are not trying to become a professional athlete or health coach, it’s very important to at least understand the basics of what you are doing in order to stay healthy and continue your fit lifestyle long after your youth.

Chapter 6: Building a Bigger Chest The chest is by far one of the most prominent aspects of any well muscled and ripped body.

Arnold Schwarzenegger was famous for his barrel chest that stood out amongst the crowd of

bodybuilders of that age, and building a big and powerful chest will allow you to to stand out and put your friends in awe. The chest, or more commonly called pecs, which are short for pectorals, are separated into two main parts. The pectoralis major and the pectoralis minor. The inner and outer regions of the pectorals should be mentioned, as you will use them during many exercises.

The chest itself plays an extremely important role when engaging in weightlifting. The pectoral muscles are often engaged in most, if not all pushing exercises. The bench press, a very common and essential exercise in powerlifting and bodybuilding, is a good example of a strong pushing movement that focuses mainly on the chest. During this specific exercise, the chest is able to stretch, expanding the muscle fibers and tendons, and then when pressed, squeezes them together to form a contraction that tears down the fibers in the chest. It’s also very important to remember that like all compound exercises, there are many other secondary muscles that are activated along with the primary muscle, hence the name of “ multi-joint exercise�. Like in the bench press, the anterior deltoid ( front shoulder muscle ) is activated in order to stabilize the arms and keep them from being crushed under the weight.

The chest is the third largest muscle group in the body, right behind the back and legs. So unlike its smaller counterparts, like biceps or calves, it is important to train them heavy to get a complete breakdown and destruction of the microfibers throughout the muscle, and give it complete and proper rest in order for the entirety of the muscle to recover and be ready to be torn down again. Now, when we look at, say, an Olympic weightlifter, we tend to notice a large difference in their physique when compared to a physique athlete or bodybuilder. Olympic lifters train their bodies for primarily powerlifting style lifts and tend to avoid more isolationary movements as they serve no real purpose for their strength based goals. Their physiques are still undoubtedly incredible; the amount of power they produce with the heavy, multi-joint lifts gives

their muscles a very full and hard look with a decent amount of definition. But when we compare them with someone who builds their physique for aesthetics, it’s very easy to tell which is which.

Men and women who train in a more, mind over muscle, bodybuilding style way use a lot of isolation training, specific hypertrophy (muscle building) rep ranges, and intensity techniques in order to “sculpt” the muscles to a specific look, giving them a more vascular, defined look.

Their shoulders tend to be rounder and clearly defined in each section of the deltoid, their chests are more striated, and their biceps and triceps are more clearly sculpted, rounded, and hard looking. In order to train correctly for a powerful but perfectly proportional and aesthetic chest, we must utilize philosophies from both training types, Using heavy reps (anywhere from 6-10 reps per set) on large compound movements but also including isolation movements with higher reps and a more awareness of the contraction and muscle squeeze will give us a physically appealing chest with immense strength and power as well.

Exercises During your time in this journey, you will see many people inventing new ways to activate the chest with complicated movements that will definitely get you a double take at the gym. Now while a good portion of these can actually be useful to more experienced lifters, as a beginner, it is best to focus on basic movements that will give you the best results without injuring your body doing a movement that will only get you mediocre advancements in the gym.

In this section, I will give you ten basic movements that will help you form a well rounded chest workout. ● Bench Press ( Flat, Incline, Decline) - Lie down on the bench with a weight on the bar that IS NOT overwhelmingly heavy.

When starting, find a weight that will allow you to get 12-15 solid reps in order to warm

up that muscle group. After thoroughly warming up, increase the weight to about 80% of your one rep max, aiming for around failure at 8-10 reps. Make sure your hands are in a horizontal angle and as you come down, control the weight in order to get a stretch across the pecs. ( Note: It is important to warm up with 1-2 lighter sets before your first exercise to increase blood flow and proper extension and press flow.) ● 2) Dumbbell Flye ( Flat, Incline, Decline) - Lie down on the bench with your dumbbells in a vertical position. With your arms slightly bent at the elbows, you will extend them out forming a T-shape with your entire body. Go just below a completely flat extension, (unless you have a shoulder disability that doesn’t allow a long range of motion) then contract the chest and squeeze while pressing the weights back to starting position. Aim for reps of 8-10. (If you have trouble understanding the movement, picture a bird flapping it’s wings.)

● Cable Crossovers - When standing evenly between two cables, grab each handle and lean forward slightly.

With you arms extended, bring both handles together in front of you fully extended, almost completely mimicking the movement of the dumbbell flye. At peak contraction, squeeze tightly for half a second to one second, then release and repeat. Aim for 12-15 reps. (I usually do a higher amount of reps on this exercise to get a controlled, steady muscle tear.)

● Chest Machine Press - Sit in the machine with the seat and handles adjusted to your comfort. Set a weight for 75% of your max, around 8-12 reps. Grip the handles and press forward. At peak contraction, squeeze for half a second then release in a controlled manner. Keep your back constantly pressed up against the back of the seat.

● Pushup - Lie face down on a mat floor with your hands on the floor squeezed tightly against your body, or at shoulder width apart. With your toes pressed into the ground, press up with your arms and chest until fully extended. Then, in a controlled manor, come back down to where your nose is an inch and a half from the ground. Usually aim for failure. (To make it slightly more challenging, widen or bring your hands closer in placement.)

● Dumbbell Hex Press (Flat, Incline, Decline) - Being very similar to the Dumbbell Press, lie down on a bench with the dumbbells of your choice. Instead of placing them on either side horizontally, bring them fully together so that they are pressed against each other vertically. Proceed with the exercise exactly how you would with the dumbbell press. Aim for 8-10 reps.

● Dumbbell Pullover - Using a bench, place yourself on one side of it and with your dumbbell, lie the center/upper back on the bench placed straight up on your chest. Pick up the dumbbell with both hands and slowly stretch your arms over and behind your head. Then proceed to pull it slowly back over to your chest, squeezing at peak contraction. Aim for 10-12 reps.

Chapter 6: Bullet-Proof Back Anatomy of the Back

Being one of the biggest and most powerful muscle groups in the entire body, it’s important to exercise your back in order to form a fully aesthetic and functional physique. As it takes up about two thirds of the entire upper body, it contains a seriously large amount of smaller muscles that make up it’s entirety. Starting at the top, the trapezius muscles come in two parts. The first part, the upper trapezius muscles, are placed directly between the shoulders and the head. They are in control of any shrugging type of movement. The middle lower traps, or the rhomboids, also play function to any shrugging movements, but are generally used for the movement of the shoulder blades.

Next comes the Latissimus Dorsi, or Lats for short. These muscles make up most of the middle to lower back and are most famous for their ability, when built with enough size, to form the classic “ V-Taper”, which is the supposed look that your body can develop when you build very wide pair of shoulders and a large back but keep your waistline as small as possible, thus forming the infamous “V” shape throughout the body.

Next, the spinal erectors. These are placed in the lower back and are actually very powerful muscles in contrast to their size. If we look at an anatomy chart of the back, we can see that as the lats come down the back, they end up forming a large triangle down the back. This triangle contains the spinal erectors. In very rare cases, when the body fat goes to very low numbers, you can see the spinal erectors lining up and down the triangle, forming what many people call the “ Christmas Tree”. This is fitness slang for the look that someone gets when the back is flexed and it forms a tree like figure. All of these factors, needless as they may seem, go along way in the overall look and power of the back.

Training the Back

The back, by nature, is an extremely strong set us muscles. Even without lifting weights, we put a tremendous amount of stress on it just by standing, bending over, and picking things up.

In the world of fitness, the strong back allows you to not only utilize powerful compound movements like a deadlift or military press, but even for times when you are not focusing on the training the back. If you dumbbell press 100 pound dumbbells, how do you expect to lift them off the ground? In order to build an expansive back that has fully functional ability, lifting heavy is the name of the game.

The back is not only a very large muscle group, but very intricate as well. Since there are so many different groups of smaller muscles within the back, using heavy compound movements for a majority of the time will allow you to work the entire back very hard, thus receiving more gains in lesser time. But do not be fooled. In order to complete the overall aesthetic look, you must implement isolation movements that focus on certain parts of the back (ie. traps, lats), which will help give your back more detail and a more “hardened” look.

With that said, it’s very crucial to remember on very important thing: Like all body parts, it’s important to make sure your have symmetry and balance. The back can be one of the most impressive parts of the body if you train it with the mindset of quality over quantity. Sure, you can have a back that’s bigger that most people are long, but what happens when one lat becomes more defined than the other, you have no traps because you “forgot to train them”, and your lower back is still covered in flab? Making sure that you target every single part of the back, no matter how small it may be or how insignificant it may seem to you, keeping your physique proportionate and symmetrical is key to the superhuman look.

Exercises

When planning your first workout plan, go big or go home is usually the first thing that comes to mind. “ Well if i wanna build big muscles, I have to lift heavy right?¨ Yes and no. For a beginner training back for the first time, yes, lifting a decently heavy amount would be most beneficial. But as you gain more experience, so does your body. Eventually, you will need to start to incorporate different exercises that entail different set and rep ranges in order to keep building muscle and sculpting a well shaped back. But when I say heavy, I do not mean trying to blow out your back every chance you get. To escape injury and possible paralysis, pick a weight that is decently heavy ( anywhere from 6-12 reps ) and complete the set with nearly perfect form throughout. The back may be strong, but is also incredibly fragile. Even the slightest tweak can result in definite long term damage. Using the exercises below with correct form and proper attention, your gains will start rolling in.

-

● Deadlift ( Warning: This is one of the most dangerous exercises for the back you can possibly do.

Use extreme caution during this exercise and make sure you have proper form locked in before doing it with a challenging weight. ) Approach the barbell. Grip the barbell with both hands about shoulder width apart. Use the grip shown for maximum control. Bend your knees till they are almost touching the bar itself. Keep your chest up and your back straight. As you lift up, tighten your body to ensure no body part is weak or vulnerable.

Straighten up and complete the lift. Aim for 8-12 reps.

● Bent Over Barbell Row - Approach the bar. Grip the bar with an overhand grip like shown. Just like the deadlift, bend your knees and keep your chest up and your back straight. Instead of pulling up and straightening with your lower back, pull the back into the area of your lower abdomen/pelvis and squeeze your entire back at the peak contraction. Extend back and

repeat. ( Itś important to remember to pull with your lats, not your biceps. This makes the exercise more effective and helps establish that it is a back exercise not an arms exercise ). Aim for 8-12 reps.

● Wide Grip Pull-ups - Standing underneath a pull up bar, grab the bar with an overhand grip with your hands placed slightly wider than shoulder width. Using your arms and back, pull yourself straight up until your chin becomes level with the bar. While controlled, lower yourself down until your arms are almost locked out. Repeat. Aim for as many reps as possible. ( Keep in mind to squeeze your entire back at the peak contraction for maximum coverage of muscle growth. )

● Lat Pulldown ( Wide or Close ) - Very similar to the Pull up. Sit in the seat and grip the bar with the desired grip. Pull down on the bar, bringing it to your chest. Squeeze the back for maximum contraction, then slowly release it until your arms are almost locked out. Repeat. Aim for anywhere between 6-15 reps depending on if it´s a high rep or low rep set. ( Remember to squeeze the back entirely, like in the pull up, to completely activate the entire back. )

● Seated Cable Row - Set your weight and sit on the machine. Grab the handles and straighten up. Keeping your back straight, pull the handles towards your stomach, squeezing and contracting your entire back. As you release, let your shoulders roll forward in order to get a good stretch in the lats, then repeat. Aim to anywhere from 6-15 reps, depending on your goal.

� Hyper Extensions/ Supermans - If you're using the hyper extension machine, make sure it is adjusted to your fitting. With or without any extra weight, bend all the way forward, then extend up, squeezing the back at peak contraction. If you´re not using the machine, lie on your stomach on a pad with your arms extended all the way forward above your head. When ready, lift your arms and feet off the ground and hold for as long as possible. Aim for as many reps as possible for both exercises.

Chapter 7: Boulder Shoulders Anatomy of the Shoulder When talking about the ideal, v-shape, superhero physique, a set of powerful shoulders really completes the look. The shoulders, like the back, are also very powerful, but are extremely vulnerable and fragile. When looking at the shoulder from an anatomy chart point of view, we notice three different sections of the shoulder, the anterior, the lateral, and posterior deltoid. The anterior is located in the very front of your shoulder, connecting the arm with the upper chest.

The anterior deltoid is partly responsible for all pressing movements, including exercises for the chest, like the bench press. The lateral deltoid is located on the most outer side of the shoulder and also aides in most pressing movements. It also plays the main role in your shoulder extension and abduction movements. The posterior deltoid, located in the very back of the shoulder, is responsible for many flexion movements and also allows for greater motion in a rotation. Now understanding the outer regions of the shoulder, it should be mentioned that the rotator cuff is the inner muscle that makes rotation of the entire arm possible.

Training the Shoulders Training your shoulders is not something to be taken lightly. When discussing the chest or arms for example, I can tell you that there is not a whole lot of danger when working with heavy weight. Although obviously there is danger when training any part of the body, the muscle groups such as the chest or arms have a much more relaxed attention.

Underneath the muscle of the shoulder, a very intricate and fragile set of joint tissue and bone. The bone of the arm is connected to the upper torso through a socket thatś protected by a rotator cuff. This rotator cuff, however, can be weakened and if it is injured, can create an extremely dangerous situation when lifting weights. So when you train shoulders, especially if you are a beginner, it is important to take these two pieces of advice: One, make sure that you are fully comfortable with and have mastered the correct form for any overhead presses or other compound exercises you would go heavy on. Two, make sure that you are using a weight that is right for you. Having an ego can be very dangerous when weightlifting. If you see someone doing a 135 overhead press, don´t think that after two days in the gym, you should jump to 135 in order to look like you're a monster in hiding. Doing so will most likely end you up in the hospital.

When you walk into the gym, spend around 5-10 minutes stretching and warming up the shoulder and itś rotator cuff. Once you feel like your shoulders are ready to bare some weight, start off light and work your way up. Also, do not feel embarrassed to ask for a spotter! If you cannot complete a rep, you can inflict severe damage to your body if the weight crushes you.

Remember, Rome wasn't built in a day. Getting stronger takes time, so have patience in yourself, stay consistent, and slowly work your way up.

Exercises

To get a great shoulder workout, you need to get a mix between power and time under tension. Starting with heavy compound exercises and then slowly transitioning into more oscillatory movements that focus on slower, harder contractions will allow you to make serious gains while keeping your shoulders safe and healthy.

● Overhead Barbell Press ( Seated or Standing ) - If you are doing the exercise standing up, place your bar in a squat or power rack about shoulder height. Grab the bar with your hands about shoulder length apart, unrack it, and hold it with your hands resting on your shoulders. Brace your body, then push up. As the bar goes up, remember to bring your head forward. Come to a point where you are almost locking out, then lower the bar back down slowly and repeat. ( If seated, use the same protocol but know you will be seated in the seated overhead press rack. ) Aim for 6-10 reps.

● Dumbbell Overhead Press ( Seated or Standing ) - Grab your dumbbells and take a seat ( unless you are standing, otherwise it will be exactly like the barbell press ) on a bench. With you back pressed firmly against the back of the seat, bring your dumbbells up to your shoulders. Press them up, bringing them closely together at the top, ( but not touching ) then lower them back down to either 90 degrees or slightly lower depending on your preference. Repeat for 6-10 reps.

● Dumbbell Lateral Raises - Grab a pair of light dumbbells and stand with them at your side. Bending the arms ever so slightly, raise the out to your sides. Lower them down slowly and repeat. ( Itś important to remember that this exercise is an isolation ¨ sculpting¨”exercise. Also due to it

activating such a small muscle, itś important to not go to heavy on this exercise, as it could strain the wrist or deltoid being used.) Aim for 10-15 reps.

● Dumbbell Front Raises - Grab a pair of light to moderately heavy weights and stand with them at your sides.

Instead of pulling them out to your sides, you will raise them up in front of you. Go up to about eye height and then slowly bring them down. Repeat for 8-12 reps.

● Rear Delt Flye - Grabbing a pair of dumbbells, find a bench and adjust it so it is slightly inclined.

Dumbbells in hand, lie face down on the bench. Raise the weights up ( much like a bird would when flapping his wings ) and squeeze at the peak contraction. Lower them down slowly and repeat. Aim for 8-12 reps.

● Battle Ropes - This exercise is not especially conventional, but I added it in here because of itś conditioning effects. It teaches the muscle endurance strength and is also great for burning fat and creating definition in the shoulders. Grabbing the rope on both ends, use them like you would if you were beating a drum, raising your arms up and down to create ¨ waves ¨ in the ropes. Go as fast a possible for as long as possible.

Chapter 8: Full Set of Wheels Anatomy of the Legs

Although disliked and forgotten by many, the legs are probably most important muscle group in the body, next to the abdominals. They are also the most hated body part to train for most people, which is why many people neglect them. The ¨legs¨ are made up of four different main muscle groups: the quadriceps, the hamstrings, and the calves. Now, I´ll try to confuse you as little as possible with the scientific names. The quadricep, placed on the front side of the thigh, is made up of three inner muscle extensors called the Vastus Lateralis, the Vastus Medialis, and the Rectus Femoris. The two larger extensors, the Lateralis and Medialis, make up the left and right side of your quad, mainly being in control of the extension of the leg. The Femoris also aids in the extension of the leg, but has the least effect out of the three.

In the hamstring, which is located in the back of the thigh, is made up of three other muscles that all aid in the bending of the kneecap: the biceps femoris, the semimembranosus, and the semitendinosus. The calves are made up of two muscles that extend from the back of your knee to the very bottom of your heel. The gastrocnemius muscle and soleus muscle are both used for your ability to stand a walk. The gastrocnemius has an extra function of rotating and pointing your foot. And finally, although it is not technically part of the leg, the Glutes, or buttocks as we known it, is built with two main muscle components, the gluteus maximus and the gluteus medius. These muscle really have only one function, with is to extend the hips.

Training the Legs With one muscle group making up literally fifty percent of your entire body, training legs takes a lot of time and a lot of dedication. Although some people are blessed with amazing genetics, many people tend to fall on the lower side of the spectrum. Training your legs can take a lot of energy, which is partly why many people just don't train them. They also very oftenly hidden

from view when out in public so people think ¨ Why train them if I can just hide them?¨ This is the wrong way to go about this.

On the contrary, you should always train your legs evenly between size aesthetics and strength and power. You should be involving basic but heavy exercises like squats, deadlifts, and leg press to increase overall mass of the legs and plyometric, calisthenic, and cardiovascular exercises to increase endurance, speed, coordination, and to decrease body fat. They may be very different, but they all work the legs in a different way. Plus, I´ve always found the best results, both physical and mental, come from variety.

It can be all too easy to get bored or fed up with heavy squats every week. So instead, take it outside. Do sprints, go mountain biking, go on a hike, or anything that will be an alternative for leg work. It's also extremely important to not neglect them! Having proportioned legs is not only unappealing, but embarrassing. Also, many of the exercises used in a leg workout release a tremendous amount of testosterone, increasing muscle building productivity and making your body faster.

Exercises The next exercises will be a mixture of plyometric and weight training as I strongly believe that in order to get the perfect balance of conditioning, size, and strength, you need both. ● Squats - Stands in front of the bar, come under it and rest it on your traps. When ready, take the bar off the rack and step back. Placing your feet slightly wider than shoulder width apart, bend your knees come down to a point where you are making at least a ninety degree angle, almost like sitting in a chair. Then, with power, press up with your legs back to a starting point. Remember to keep your back flat, never rounded. Keep your head up so

the bar doesn´t slide onto your neck. Most importantly, get a spotter! Aim for anywhere from 6-15 reps.

● Leg Press - Adjust the seat of the machine to your preference and take a seat. Place your feet shoulder width apart and press up, releasing the guard mechanism. Let your legs bring the machine down so that your knees barely touch your chest, then press back up to starting position. Aim for 6-15 reps.

● Lunges (Dumbbell, Barbell, Free) - With your weights, holding them either in our hand or on your back like you would if you were squatting, stand with your feet together. Taking turns with each leg, step forward and bend your leg into a ninety degree angle. Your other leg should bend accordingly.

The goal is to have your back legś knee come within about an inch of the ground. Then power through with your forward leg to come back into starting position. Aim for anywhere around 8-15 reps per leg.

● Sprints - (This exercise requires a lot of space to complete, preferably a open park or track area.)

Find a starting and end point around forty to fifty yards apart. Starting at your beginning point, simply sprint as fast as you can towards your end point. Once reached, walk back and start again. When running, it´s important to make sure you breathe, pump your arms close to your body, keep your core tight, and be mindful of your feet to prevent any injury. Aim for 5-8 total sprints.

● Vertical/Broad Jump - For a vertical jump, you can use just your body and ignore landing on something or, to make it more challenging, a box or stationary platform to jump onto. Standing in front of the box, bend down into a squat position. With your arms stretched behind you, use the momentum of your arms and power from your legs to spring yourself into the air. Bring your feet up and land onto the box or platform. Step down and repeat. For a broad jump, find a decent amount of space. Your form should be almost exactly like a vertical jump, except you will lean forward slightly. Instead of jumping straight up, you will leap as far forward as you can. Do your best not to land with a hard impact and more agile, like a cat, for further prevention of immediate or future injury. Aim for anywhere from 5-8 jumps a set.

● Calf Raises (Standing, Seated, Leg Press) - Load up the preferred machine with a proper amount of weight and stand or sit in it, depending on your machine choice. Placing your feet with only the top part of your foot and toes on the platform, press up. Itś important to remember that even though it may seem as simple as pressing your feet rapidly will do the trick, you should start off by making slow and extensive movements with a full stretch at the bottom of the movement, and then pressing as hard as you can and squeezing when at peak contraction. Aim for as many reps as possible

Chapter 9: Welcome to the Gunshow

Anatomy Big arms are the most common and discussed body part in pop culture, next to a set of ripped abs. The arm is made up of three different muscle sections. The bicep, the tricep, and the forearm. The bicep, or the bicep brachii, is made up of a short and long head of muscle. The short head, which is placed on the inside of the arm, generates the width of the bicep while the long head, which is placed on the outside of the bicep, creates the infamous ¨peak¨ or the height of the bicep. The bicepś job is to be able to curl the arm up. It can aid in many pulling motions, but for the most part, the body relies on the bicep in order to curl object up.

The tricep, or the tricep brachii, is placed on the under part of your arm. It actually takes up 2/3rds of your entire arm! This muscle has three sections, or what we call ¨heads¨. These include the lateral head, located on the outside of the arm right next to your bicep, the long head, which is located on the inner part of the tricep, and the medial head, which is literally located directly in between the lateral and long heads. Together, and when built up and lean enough, can form a ¨horseshoe¨ looking shape. The tricep is an extension muscle, but also plays a huge role in all pressing movements, mainly near the end of the movement.

Finally the forearm, which is often forgotten about or overlooked, is split into two groups: the brachioradialis and the wrist-finger extensors. The brachioradialis is on the sides and under part of your arm whereas the extensors run on top from the top of your elbow down to your wrist and spreading throughout your fingers. The forearm is actually responsible to most functions dealt with the arms and is included in almost every upper body lifts.

Training the Arms

Arms are probably one of my favorite body parts to train and I think many people can agree. The pump always makes you feel larger and thereś something very satisfying about watching your arms blow up like they do. For maximum growth, there two approaches to it: training them the conventional way and training them my way. The conventional way, which is not by any means wrong, is to train them heavy with compound exercises. This is a great way to get exponential growth in the arms and make them grow at the fastest rate possible. But I believe in order to get a perfect set of arms, with a good peak, thickness, and definition for both biceps and triceps, you should implement different intensity techniques and isolation movements in order to get the maximum amount of muscle growth as possible.

While lifting heavier will most definitely give you more mass, working on really carving out the shape of the tricep or squeezing the bicep to grow itś peak will help you and ultimately give you less work to do in the long run. Always keep in mind that bodybuilding and athletic training is not just a activity or sport. Itś an art form. Just as a sculptor would look at a block of marble, you must analyze every single detail and tend to it with patience, whittle it down slowly, and then stand up and admire your masterpiece.

Exercises Like I said, in order to have a perfect set of arms that entail an equal amount of mass and detail, it´s important to utilize all exercises at your disposal. Getting the perfect ratio of isolation and compound movements down will help make your workouts more effective and enjoyable.

For me, I´ve found it most beneficial to get the heavy lifting out of the way in the beginning of the workout and then spend the other half really focusing on the contraction, and squeeze I get with each rep and different exercise I do.

● Bicep Barbell Curls - Grab a barbell or fixed EZ bar and stand with your feet planted and your arms about shoulder width apart. As a base point, pretend your elbows are super glued to your ribs.

This will help keep good form throughout the set. Curl and squeeze the bar up until it´s up near your neck/upper chest, then slowly release it back down with as much control as possible. Remember to keep the bicep under as much tension as possible to get as much out of the exercise possible. Also, don't be afraid to switch the hand placement. Going farther out or closer in with your hands can hit different areas of the bicep. Aim for 6-12 reps.

● Incline Dumbbell Curls - Using a bench set to a incline (60-75 degrees) grab a pair of dumbbells and take a seat.

As you lay back, extend your arms so they are hanging palm side up next to you. Curl up as you would a regular curl, squeeze at the top, and extend to almost all the way down.

Be aware, this movement is harder than it looks. Be sure to pick a slightly lighter weight than normal. Aim for 10-15 reps.

● Single Arm Concentration Curl - Grab a dumbbell and then, using a preacher bench, prop your arm on the pad so that your armpit is completely locked into the angle of the pad. Extend your arm almost all the way out and then curl the same way you would with a regular dumbbell curl. Remember to squeeze at the peak contraction and control the release part as slowly as possible. Aim for 10-15.

● Skull Crushers

-

You can use a barbell, EZ bar, or even dumbbells for this exercise. In this explanation, we will use a barbell. Grabbing the barbell, find a bench and lay down on a completely flat bench. Extend your arms as if you would bench press it, and then bend the elbows and keep going until it's 1-11/2 inches away from your forehead, almost like it would be smashing into your head, hence the name. Then, while only using the bend of your elbows, extend your arms back up into fully extended position. Aim for 6-12 reps.

● Straight Bar/Rope Pulldowns - Using a cable tower, attach a rope or straight bar attachment to the hook and set the appropriate weight. If you are using the the straight bar, place your hands evenly on the bar and then with only the extension of the elbow, press down and squeeze the tricep hard. With the rope, do the same thing except at the end of the movement, turn your wrists outward in order to get more emphasis on the lateral head of the tricep. Aim for 1215 reps.

● Pyramid Push Ups - The pushup is not considered a tricep exercise, but with this variation, we are able to put an incredible amount of weight specifically on the triceps. Get into the position you would normally use for pushups except this time, bring your hands close together so that both index fingers touch each other and both thumbs touch each other, forming a ¨pyramid¨ shape. Proceed to do pushups like normal. Note: This move is quite advanced!

Do not be discouraged if you cannot get it right away. Keep trying and eventually this movement will become as easy as regular pushups. Aim for as many reps as possible.

Chapter 10: Abs of Steel Anatomy The Abdominus Rectus, or the Abs for short, are the believed to be the the true answer to being fit. It's the first place people look when you take shirt off and they're the most chased after muscle in the body. It's been said that having abs is the true mark of a fit body. This is not necessarily true, but not far off. Abs do not completely mean you are ¨fit¨, but it does show the leanness of the individual. A low body fat is all that's needed in order to get them to show, but don't think that's an easy task!

The abs may not be the biggest muscle in the body, but they're definitely one of the strongest. They are the entire reason we can walk and sit, they keep us steady and strong in the most difficult lifts imaginable, and can do near impossible feats when tested to their very limits.

The abdominals are categorized into three sections. The rectus abdominis, or as most people call it, the ¨six pack¨, is the sheath of muscle that lies directly on top of your stomach and runs from the top of your rib cage and down to just below your belly button. The entirety of that muscle section is responsible for the contraction of the hip to the upper body. It´s mostly activated when doing exercises like a crunch due to squeezing the muscles together, much like an accordion.

The second section of the abs are called the obliques and serratus. Both are located on the side of your torso. The obliques will appear as the muscle that come down from the rib cage and ends at your hip bone. The serratus are the muscles that curve down from the sides of where your chest and rib cage meet and down into the upper rectus abdominis. To tell the difference, the obliques will look like one muscle that goes straight down while the serratus has been commonly

said to look like fingers wrapping down the sides of your rib cage. Both of these muscles are responsible to the rotation of your body. And finally you have the transverse abdominis which is the only part of the abs that cannot be seen. They are located inside your body and actually wrap around your spine. They provide stability and protection to your spine.

Training the Abs When training the abdominals, it´s very important to look at your goal first. Like all muscle groups, you can choose when and where is enough growth or definition. But with abs, it can be very different. To clarify, your six pack can only be seen if you have a low enough body fat. There's no way of getting around it. You can do all the crunches you want, they will never shown unless your body fat is low enough, which comes from diet manipulation and cardio.

However, training them correctly will give you better abs when you do get to a low enough body fat.

The basic rule for abdominal training is this: the more weight/resistance you give them, the bigger they get. This means a couple things. Many of the physique athletes, bodybuilders, and pro athletes have abs that are not only clearly defined, but they have deep crevices, every part of the abdominals, not just the six pack, is shown, and we could even go as far as to say that they look ¨3D¨. This is due to the amount of resistance being given. A lot of physique athletes and bodybuilders have these because itś part of the standard look for them, therefore, they choose exercises that add a considerable amount of weight to them to make them grow into that popped out look. Olympic athletes or other pro athletes have these due to the amount of heavy compound movements they include in their workouts. Exercises like deadlifts, squats, front squats, and clean and jerks all activate the abdominals in a major way in order to pull, push or stabilize the weight.

Now if we look at a different type of training, like fashion models, their stomachs are usually very flat. The abdominals are clearly visible, but they're not popped out. Their lean and tight, as it wouldn´t look appealing to people in that world or business. It's not unrealistic looking or freakish. This type of look is found in training of the abs with very high reps, bodyweight exercises, and lots of cardio. So when taking the plunge into your transformation, make sure you know what type of body image you're after first.

Exercises -

● Crunch Although very common, the crunch is still on of the most useful and effective ab exercises out there. Lay down on your back on a mat or lightly cushioned surface to protect you tailbone and back. Bring your knees up while keeping your feet planted to the ground. You should form a sort of triangle shape with your legs. Place your hands across your body in an ¨Ẍ¨. Using your abdominals, crunch your body together as if you were trying to put your forehead between your legs. Remember to exhale out sharply, releasing all the air to get a tight squeeze, then come back down and repeat. (To make it harder, add a weight or resistance band and proceed as normal.) Aim for 25-30 reps.

● Hanging Leg Raise - Using a pull up bar, grip the bar like you would with a standard pull up. Instead of doing a pull up, let yourself hang and then bring your legs straight out in front of you. As a reference, you should form an L-shape with your entire body. Exhale your air, hold for one second, then lower them down and repeat. (If this is to hard, bend your knees and bring them up as high as possible into your chest. To make it harder, bring your legs up into an L-shape and hold for as long as possible.) Aim for 10-15 reps.

● Cable Crunches - Using a cable machine, clip on a rope attachment and set the weight. Go down on your knees and grip the rope. While holding the rope at the sides of your head, use your abdominals to crunch down until your head comes about two inches from your knees.

Exhale the air, squeeze, and then come back up and repeat. Aim for 15-20 reps.

● Russian Dumbbell Twist - Grab a dumbbell and a heavy object or piece of equipment you can hook your feet under for balance. Take a seat on a padded surface and hook your feet under the stabilizer. With the dumbbell grasped in both hands, lean back so your abs are holding your upper body off the ground. Using the dumbbell, twist to one side, exhale and squeeze, then turn to the other side and repeat. (To make it harder, free your feet and balance on your glutes so that both lower body and upper body are elevated.) Aim for 20-30 reps.

● Plank - As simple as it is, it´s a super effective exercise that hits the entire core. Basically, get into a pushup position but instead of being on your hands, come down and balance on your forearms. Brace your abs and hold that position for as long as possible. Aim for 45 seconds to a minute. (To make it harder, have a friend place a weight on your back.)

Chapter 11: Putting It All Together Workout Splits

Now that you have all of the basic information and knowledge about working out, it's time to make a program for yourself. Your first job is to make a workout split. Now, first and foremost, don't listen to what anyone says on this subject. It doesn't matter if you hit chest on Mondays or Sundays or do calves with back or calves with legs. As long as you're hitting everything within your weekly split, you'll be fine. Given there are some guidelines you should practice in your split, but I´ll explain that in a second.

A ¨split¨ is basically a word people use to talk about their workouts within a period of a week. There are many ways to go about this, and it's all about making it fit for you. If you workout 5-6 times a week, you're able to hit specific body parts individually. So if you were working out 5 times a week, you could cheat on Monday, arms on Tuesday, Legs on Wednesday, Back on Thursday, and shoulders on Friday. This leaves your weekends open for any extra cardio you want to do or leaves time for family and friends. If you're working out 3-4 time a week, itś probably a better choice to do all days as a full body workout. Hitting all of the muscle groups in one workout allows you to hit them more often and still see good results. It all depends on what works for you.

Coming back to some of the guidelines that should be followed, firstly, it´s very important you implement priority training. Putting the body parts that lag or are falling is a must, so adding an extra day of legs or chest can help bring those up to speed. Or if you have small traps or calves, itś vital you make time to hit them properly and thoroughly. It can also be important, although it is personal preference, to train body parts that counter each other a day after. For example, if you train chest on Monday, it would be smart to train back or legs instead of shoulders due to the fact that when training the chest, many times the front deltoid is indirectly

activated in pressing movements like the bench press. You want to give it rest before you train it fully on shoulders to savor your strength and muscle stamina.

Training and Intensity Techniques Once you get to a point where progress stalls, from weight loss to strength increases, you have to move on from the routine you've been following for the last 6 months. Your body is an amazing biological machine and it´s smart enough to know how to adapt. When you train your body the same way for too long, your body will become accustomed to this and stop making changes. It now knows what to expect. This is why you have to implement some sort of change into your workouts often to confuse the body, keep it guessing, so that gains stay consistent.

Shortened rest times, a change from strength training to conditioning, even using some of the techniques I'm about to give you will throw your body off just enough to cause change. Intensity techniques are good methods to use to make your workouts tougher and make a change in muscle growth or fat loss. They can also be implemented in any sort of training, not just weight training. For example, a superset is a technique in which you take two exercises and do them back to back with no rest in between. Now this can be used in an arm workout by supersetting bicep curls with rope pushdowns, but it can also be used in a cardio circuit. Supersetting jump rope with jumping jacks is a great interval workout that burns tons of calories. If we want to think in more terms of muscle growth, a drop set is a good technique to exhaust the muscles and tear them down more for optimum growth. For example, if we were doing three sets of bench press at 225 pounds (two 45 pound plates on each side, on the third set, we would include a dropset where we would strip the weight down to 135 ( one 45 pound plate on each side ) and do that set for more reps. Using these basic methods can make a major difference in your appearance and will also kick start you out of a plateau and keep moving you forward.

Making it Flow Consistency is key in order to see gains in and out of the gym. Anxiety is not. So when people tell you that you have to stay on the grind and never skip a workout, understand that part of that is truth and part of that is motivational talk.

Of course it extremely important to do your best to stay on track with your workouts and diet, but you must understand that life is never going to be that simple. Shit happens. It´s important for you to understand that when something doesn't go as planned and you have to skip a workout, you cheat on your diet, or anything else that could cause potential problems, keep calm. One missed workout is not going to kill you and it certainly won't make you less of a person. Understanding that working out is part of being healthy and in order to be healthy, you have to have a social life outside of the gym. If it´s Friday night at your friends want to go out for drinks, if you feel have put in good work all week, let loose. Go and enjoy yourself and do a workout Saturday morning. Balance is key for maximum health and sometimes balance means letting go a little and doing something that isn´t working out or eating something that's not super healthy. Life has an expiration date so make sure that you're actually living it.