4 tips for massive arms

Being involved in strength sports for the past
several years I've almost completely eliminated
direct arm work from my workouts.

My arms just grow from doing heavy presses
and rows.

But like I've mentioned in other e mails...

...I'm "experimenting" with a little bodybuilding ;) 

So I've decided to add "arms exercises" back into
my routine in the past few weeks.

LOL - I know, I know... I look like such a geek! 

The fact is that I am NOT an arm training expert.

So, I scraped up this article from Pro Bodybuilder and
Author of the Mass Intentions Bodybuilding System,
Ben Pakulski, that I found pretty helpful.

4 Uncommon Tips To BIGGER ARMS
By Ben Pakulski 
1) LESS VOLUME! 
Small muscles require less volume, and recover faster. Basic logic says, 
a smaller muscle has less overall total volume of muscle fibres. It takes 
LESS overall stimulus to fatigue these muscles and less overall training 
volume to exhaust glycogen stores (stored muscle energy).
2) HEAVY WEIGHTS (WITH PERFECT FORM) 
Heavy weights are going to fatigue a greater overall percentage of muscle 
fibres in a shorter amount of time (aka less sets). Heavy weights also have 
the added benefit of stimulating "high threshold motor units". These are the 
muscle fibres that require a lot more stimulus to grow and respond, but also
the fibres that are more likely to be responsible for muscle hypertrophy or
GROWTH!

3) ARMS RECEIVE A LOT OF STIMULUS ON A REGULAR BASIS

Arms receive a lot of stimulus on a regular basis. For most people, this tends to 
occur in the middle of the range of motion where the muscles are strongest.
In order to get the arms to grow and respond, it is necessary to subject them to 
a different type of stimulus.

One of the best ways to improve arm development is to  subject them to more
tension and continuous tension at the extremes of the range of motion (a.k.a,
when a muscle is fully lengthened or fully shortened --where muscles are weakest).
This will allow for greater time under tension as well as targeting different points
of the strength curve to force the nervous system to adapt and stimulate new
muscle growth.

4) YOU MUST ENGAGE THE TARGET MUSCLE FIRST IN ANY
MOVEMENT

The FIRST muscle to engage in ANY movement must be the muscle you are trying
to target. If you are working your biceps, to most effectively stimulate the bicep, it
must be the muscle to initiate the movement. As mentioned, muscles are weakest at
those extremes and that makes it LEAST likely to contract. This is where your
conscious intent and control is vital!

The best way to ensure this is happening is to CONTRACT its antagonist muscle.
This will ensure a fully lengthened working muscle and make it much more likely
that it will initiate the movement(provided you're using proper control).
e.g. when working your bicep, to fully stretch your bicep at the bottom of the range,
it is necessary to contract your tricep before initiating the movement of contracting
your bicep again.The opposite is true when training triceps. Contract your biceps at
he top of the range when a tricep is fully stretched(forearm touches biceps).

(Step-By-Step) New mass-building technique!

I double-dog dare you to try this in your next workout...

It's called "Compound Exercise Overload" and I stole it from Nick  
Nilsson's breakthrough mass-building program

Frankly, it's one of the toughest workouts you'll ever do, but  
I've tried it and the results are wicked!

Here's how to do it...

  *  First, select a compound exercise to work with (ex. - Bench  
     Press) and do a few light warm-up sets.

  *  Next, load up a weight you could normally do for about 6  
     reps... lay down - and perform ONLY 3 REPS with that weight,  
     even though you CAN do six.

     IMPORTANT:  DO NOT go anywhere near failure on ANY of your  
     sets!

  *  Re-rack the weight and rest 30 seconds... lay back down and  
     do 3 more reps... rest 30 seconds... etc.

  *  Repeat these 3 rep sets with only 30 seconds of rest until  
     you're unable to get 3 reps with that weight anymore. (This  
     could take from 2 to 10 minutes, depending on the exercise  
     and the amount of weight you're using.)

Now this is critical...

  *  When you can only get 2 reps, STOP and remove 10 lbs each  
     side of the bar (If you started with 225, you now have 205).

  *  Then continue doing 3 reps sets with 30 seconds rest period.  
     Drop the weight by another 20 lbs whenever you can't get 3  
     reps during a set.

Keep going like this for 45 MINUTES solid.

I know this sounds like a crazy workout - one single exercise to  
overload your target muscle group - but that's how Nick rolls  
baby!

He's a true "mad scientist" when it comes to building muscle and  
in my opinion, his program is really groundbreaking.

Chest-Back-Shoulders Workout

The year was 1993. Grunge was in and my Friday night beer-drinking
jeans were ripped and torn. Sometimes I even wore a flannel jacket
to bush parties.
At the local weight room, a Pearl Jam CD was played loud and
excessively during my meathead workouts. I had just "graduated"
from training in my parent's basement with a Universal weight set
(while listening over-and-over to a tape of Nirvana's Nevermind).
By the time I was ready for college in 1994, I was able to bench 225lbs for 2 reps. Notta too bad, but no world record either.
Unfortunately, two years of "bodybuilding bench pressing" and a
hockey-related injury had left me with chronic pain in my shoulder
joint. For the next four years it would come-and-go during my
college career.
Like most kids, I went through "phases" in college. While other
kids experimented with "funny stuff", I experimented with different
workout methods. My shoulder would get better when going through a
bodyweight and intervals phase, but would get worse when I returned
to my bodybuilding roots.
Finally, just after graduating (6 years later!) with a Masters Degree
in Exercise Physiology, my shoulder had had enough of heavy
bench pressing.
And so I did something radical. I stopped benching.
For 3 months I did no pressing movements. Instead, I doubled up on
wide-grip rows, DB rows, rear-delt raises, regular seated rows, and
all of the meatheadish upper back exercises I could think of.
It worked. Now that still wasn't the best approach for fixing a
shoulder injury. If you need help, go here: Fix Your Shoulder Pain Fast
That said, it was the start of incredible 6-year run that helped me
build my bench press up to the following personal bests in 2006 (at
a bodyweight of a lean 190 pounds):
a)    I was able to do 275 pounds for 3 reps
b)    My best 1-rep max ever was 310 pounds And I'm about to give you the best program I ever used for
accomplishing this. Hold tight.
Unfortunately, my training partner and I could no longer lift at
the same time, and I've lost some of that strength over the years.
In 2008, I had some pectoral muscle strains (since fixed) and then
last December my shoulder got injured again while competing in...get
this...a silly push-up contest. Ridiculous.
Fortunately, the shoulder is 90% back to normal thanks to
professional help. However, my bench press is pathetic. My 1RM
is less than 255 pounds.

But I have a plan to get strong again. It's the workout that I used
back in the day to get strong in the first place.

And if you want to get strong - or if you need to fix your shoulder
pain - then here's what you need to do: Step #1 - Get this program to Fix Your Shoulder Pain Step #2 - Email your receipt to TurbulenceTrainingHelp@gmail.com
and we'll send you a FREE copy of my TT for Meatheads Bench Press
program. This contains the best training plan that I used to build
my bench press (and get strong in other lifts).
It's that easy to get safe and strong with that 1-2 punch.
Looking forward to hearing about your success with the weights. Start here by getting the Shoulder Pain Solution program

My friend, and rehab exercise guru, Rick Kaselj, will give you a 

proven plan for fixing your shoulder. He's great, and is dedicated

to helping you have pain-free daily activities - no matter how you

train or what you do. Get fixed today.

Train hard but safe but hard,

Warning on Body Building Products Marketed as Containing Steroids or Steroid-Like Substances

 

On July 28, 2009, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a public health advisory warning consumers to stop using any body building products that are represented to contain steroids or steroid-like substances. Many of these products are marketed as dietary supplements.
This advisory was issued along with a warning letter sent to American Cellular Laboratories Inc. for marketing and distributing body building products containing synthetic steroid substances. Although these products are marketed as dietary supplements, they are NOT dietary supplements, but instead are unapproved and misbranded drugs.

Q. What types of products are affected by this public health advisory?

A. FDA is warning consumers about products that are being marketed for body building and that claim to contain steroids or steroid-like substances. These products are sold online and in retail stores and are promoted as hormone products and/or as alternatives to anabolic steroids for increasing muscle mass and strength. Many of these products are labeled as dietary supplements and make claims about the ability of the active ingredients to enhance or diminish androgen, estrogen, or progestin-like effects in the body. Consumers should be aware that these products are potentially harmful and that FDA has not approved them nor reviewed their safety before marketing.

Q. What are some examples of these types of products?

A. These body building products are often marketed as being anabolic (promoting muscle building) and/or being similar to anabolic steroids (such as testosterone). The products included in the warning letter to American Cellular Laboratories Inc. provide a few examples of the body building products about which FDA has safety concerns. The product names and ingredients listed in the warning letter are:

• TREN-Xtreme: 19-Norandrosta-4,9-diene-3,17 dione, marketed as “similar to Trenbolone”
• MASS Xtreme: 17α-methyl-etioallocholan-2-ene-17b-ol, marketed as “similar to Methyl Testosterone”
• ESTRO Xtreme: 4-hydroxyandrostenedione (4-OHA)
• AH-89-Xtreme: 5α-androstano[3,2-c]pyrazole-3-one-17β-ol-THP-ether, marketed as “similar to Stanozolol”
• HMG Xtreme: 2α,3α-epithio-17α-methyl-17β-hydroxy-5α-etioallocholane
• MMA-3 Xtreme: Androsta-1,4-dien-3,17-dione, marketed as “similar to Boldenone (Equipoise)”
• VNS-9 Xtreme: 17α-methyl-4-chloro-androsta-1,4-diene-3β,17β-diol, marketed as “similar to Turinabol”
• TT-40-Xtreme: 1-androsterone, marketed as “very similar to 1-Testosterone” and “converts to 1-Testosterone”

Q. What are the health risks of these types of products?

A. Adverse event reports received by FDA for body building products that are labeled to contain steroids or steroid alternatives involve men (ages 22-55) and include cases of serious liver injury, stroke, kidney failure and pulmonary embolism (blockage of an artery in the lung). Acute liver injury is known to be a possible harmful effect of using anabolic steroid-containing products. In addition, anabolic steroids may cause other serious long-term adverse health consequences in men, women, and children. These include shrinkage of the testes and male infertility, masculinization of women, breast enlargement in males, short stature in children, adverse effects on blood lipid levels, and increased risk of heart attack and stroke.

Q. Why does FDA say these products are illegally marketed?

A. These products are NOT dietary supplements because they contain synthetic steroid or steroid-like active ingredients. These products are unapproved new drugs because they are not generally recognized as safe and effective. In fact, they are potentially har

Steroids are synthetic hormones designed to treat medical ailments…

Steroids were developed as medical treatments and they come in two varieties. Anabolic steroids are the kind you hear about the most. They behave like male sex hormones, and doctors prescribe them for treating problems like late puberty as well as significant muscle loss in patients with cancer and AIDS. But they’re often used illicitly by athletes who are addicted to winning.

Corticosteroids are less controversial and treat things like allergic reactions and autoimmune diseases. Cortisone is one common example, which doctors use to treat the pain and swelling that comes with skin conditions like bad insect bites and poison oak. Prednisone is another corticosteroid, which treats autoimmune diseases including lupus and arthritis.

Both types can be taken orally, injected muscularly, or rubbed on the skin.

…that work by speeding up muscle growth…

There are lots of different types of anabolic steroids, but most of them beefify similarly. When we work out, we create tiny micro-tears in muscle fibers. When the muscle regrows and heals, it grows back a little bit larger, and repeating that process over time is how we get hard and massive (that’s the idea anyway). The male sex hormone testosterone facilitates that muscle growth. Anabolic steroids do the same thing but better and faster. They also speed the muscle-healing process by blocking the stress hormone cortisol, which breaks down muscle tissue. That can mean less down time for athletes who go into overtime.

…but are often abused and used illegally…

Because anabolic steroids are so good at growing muscle, athletes sometimes use them to enhance their performance or improve their physical appearance—even though it’s almost always verboten. From baseball players to boxers to body builders, steroids have scandalised the world of amateur and professional sports for decades.

Abusers might take up to 100 times more drug than you’d find in a medical dose. That spells danger. So to try to take a shit ton of drugs with fewer side effects, some folks use a cocktail of steroid types—like oral plus injectable—which is called stacking. Pyramiding, i.e. administering doses in 6 to 12 week cycles, is another method for trying to make steroids work better but decrease the incredibly nasty side effects (see below). There’s no scientific evidence, however, that stacking or pyramiding works.

… which can lead to exceedingly unpleasant and dangerous side effects …

The potential side-effects of anabolic steroid abuse include: liver tumors, jaundice, high blood pressure, increased cholesterol, kidney tumors, fluid retention, severe acne, testicle shrinkage, reduced sperm count, infertility, baldness, breast development, prostate cancer and (my favourite!) an enlarged head. Women experience increased facial hair, male-pattern baldness, changes or cessation in menstrual cycle, and deepening of the voice. Adolescents could halt their growth because the drugs can cause early skeletal maturation and acceleration of puberty.

And that’s not all! Steroids can cause emotional problems, including dramatic mood swings that have been known to lead to violence, i.e. “roid rage,” depression, paranoid jealousy, extreme irritability, delusions, and impaired judgment.

And then there’s the possibility of needle-born diseases including HIV and hepatitis B and C.

In it to win it!

… but some folks decide the risks are worth it because the drugs make you harder, faster, stronger…

Despite the nasty side effects and the increasingly strict rules against using steroids in sports, the list of athletes who have been caught or strongly suspected of doing using steroids anyway is long. Barry Bonds is one the most famous cases—he was convicted in 2011 of obstruction of justice for lying about this steroid use.a

2012 Arnold Classic Preview: Branch To Defend His Title

Branch Warren won the Arnold Classic last year, but it wasn't an easy win by any means. Dennis Wolf brought a dry and full physique worthy of second place and a few people thought he should have gotten the nod over Branch. Victor Martinez displayed his best physique in years, but Victor won't be in this year's competition due to some immigration problems. (I'll leave it at that because that would be another article...)

Evan Centopani came in fourth last year fresh off his second pro win at the 2011 Flex Pro. Evan smoothed out from the Flex Pro a bit and his coloring was a little light during the judging.

Dexter Jackson, the 2008 Mr. Olympia could only manage fifth place in last year's close competition.