Try this Heavy Duty Mike Mentzer – inspired chest routine and abdominal workout for champion level pectoral development!

Chest

Incline Dumbbell Press___
Three warmup sets going heavier each time, until you get to the peak working weights, each set twelve reps.

Two sets heavy, each set seven reps. This should be done so that you barely can get the last rep.

Dips
Two warmup sets, bodyweight times twelve reps.

One to Two sets with weight added five to seven reps, again, so heavy that you can barely finish the last rep.

Incline Flyes
These are done wide, wide, wide, arms bent, but they should in no way be able
to be confused with presses.

One warmup set, twelve reps, you should be able to get five more reps.

One working set, heavy….seven reps again you should be barely able to complete the last rep.

Pushups
These should be done in proper form not with hyperextended back and your butt way too low.

Level body, do your bodyweight for one set, rep out, as many reps as you can get.  You increase the difficulty by elevating your feet.

Abdominal Workout

Hanging leg raises on a Chinup bar, pull your knees up to your chest, over time you will get better and better at stabilizing your body and not swinging too much, keep tension on your spinal erector muscles, the muscles of your lower back, this will greatly reduce swinging. Use straps to mitigate grip becoming a limiting factor.

– Two sets, twenty reps.

Incline situps
Keep your chin on your chest the entire length of the movement every rep, only go two thirds of the way down, the bottom third of an incline situp is all lower back, and this movement can injure the lower back, if not limited to two thirds of the way down.

Two sets, thirty reps.

This workout will lead to a massive, sculpted chest, given you use excellent form, and really work with one hundred percent intensity each time. The ab workout is extremely effective.

You decided to compete. Congratulations. It’s a big step. And an even bigger commitment. Daily workouts and weight lifting are not enough. You have to change your lifestyle to get in the best shape and not only look the part but represent it. Here is my advise on how to gain muscle, gain strength and crush your competition.

1. Plan + Prep

Every single meal you eat for the next several months has to be planned and prepared. You can’t think about food while training, you have to have it ready. I recommend my clients to prep all your meals at the beginning of the week. That way, you save time and energy, and use that time for extra cardio and weights. Another benefit: when you know what you are eating next, you won’t cheat and you won’t be hungry.

2. Rest

It’s very important to get enough rest during the contest prep. When you train with me, your body gets depleted and if you don’t get enough rest, you won’t recover and thus won’t reach your goals. Planning your sleep, just like you plan your meals is another must. With proper rest, your body will have more energy to train and burn fat.

3. Condition

Listen up. Condition. Condition. Condition. Why? Because conditioning – being ripped outperforms mass. Did you know that the best way to make it look like you gained 10 lbs of muscle is to lose 10 lbs of fat? The more conditioned you are, the more defined your muscles will be. You can actually appear more muscular than someone 20 lbs heavier than you.

4. Pace

Pace your contest diet, you never want to have to drop too fast into the show. If you diet for 8 weeks or less, you will be forced to reduce your calories and thus lose more of your hard-earned muscle. I say, take your time and plan at least 12 weeks to prepare. You will have plenty of time to get lean and not deplete your muscles. My clients who take their time dieting can actually be stage ready earlier and then, they can begin adding more calories back in. This will help you fill out and actually gain back some muscle fullness going into a show.

5. Work out smart

I know you want to lose as much fat as possible as soon as possible. Good for you! But you need to know that cardio can be catabolic and can cost some some mass. What do I do, you ask? Adding in some high-intensity interval cardio training on non weight training days can be the answer. On the days you do weight training you should stick with steady state cardio to avoid overtraining. I’ve found that females get more benefit from HIIT than males. Also people with less weight to lose. If you have a lot of weight to lose you’ll do better with steady state only.

6. Supplement

Supplements will help you achieve your results faster. There are supplements to help you burn more fat, increase or maintain lean mass and muscular power output. They are considered to be part of your diet.

Get your diet in line first and foremost. You will be surprised how much faster your body will respond when you clean up your diet. With the right supplements your results will be noticeably better and they will help you get to the next level.

Does this sound familiar? You’re four months into your new training program and suddenly–BAM! You have hit a wall. You don’t know why it happened but now your weights are barely going up and your muscles don’t seem to be getting any bigger.

So what can you do to change this? The key to your success is a proper balance of compound vs isolation exercises. But before I tell you the benefits of both, let’s get into some quick definitions.

According to AllMaximumNutrition.com, compound exercises, “engages two or more different joints to fully stimulate entire muscle groups and, indeed, multiple muscles.” For example, squats are a compound exercise that works the glutes, the lower back, the quadriceps, and hamstrings.

While isolation exercises target single muscle groups working the muscle independently, like isolated bicep curls.

Both exercises have great benefits, and they both have some drawbacks. Most gym-goers these days prefer compound exercises to isolated exercises because compound exercises work several muscle groups at the same time. The thought is this can shorten the time spent working out. The chances of overtraining your muscles when you perform only compound exercises are greater. Your body has a finite capacity of recovery. Compound exercises only don’t provide all of the shaping you desire. So if you are interested in a bottom that pops, then you need to add some isolated glute exercises too. Same goes for your chest, biceps, deltoids and more.

Isolated exercises, on the other hand, have a lower risk of over training. It can also help prevent strength imbalances, which greatly increases the risk of injury. However, if you are looking to improve overall muscle strength, then doing isolation alone is not enough. Isolated exercises prevent us from lifting too heavy while compound exercises allow us to lift heavier weights for better muscular strength and size.

Now the big question, which training method is better and what type of exercises should you do?

To truly know which type of training is better for you, you need to know what your ultimate goals are. For Bodybuilders, Mr. Olympia, 1977-1979, Frank Zane suggests isolation. ”I think one of the things that bodybuilders don’t realize so much is that bodybuilding is about isolation when you train. You do not want to train big groups of muscles at the same time. You do not want to do full body movements, like weight lifting movements. You do not want to do clean and jerks. They are not isolating. If you really want to focus on the muscle you need to isolate it and blast it.”

However, if bodybuilding isn’t your main goal and you just want to tone up and feel amazing in the long run, then a little of both never hurt anyone. The key is to not do too much in one day.

As for what types of exercises are better for both Compound and Isolation strength training, there are five example exercises and the muscles they engage listed below.

Compound Exercises:

Front Squat— Quads, hamstrings, core, back and shoulders
Barbell Thrusters— Quads, hamstrings, core, back and shoulders
Sumo Deadlift— Quads, Hamstrings, Core, Back and Shoulders
Kettlebell Swings— Quads, Hamstrings, Core, Back and Shoulders
Pullups (of all kinds)- back, shoulders, and arms.

Isolated Exercises:

Behind-The-Back shrugs – Traps
Dumbbell Lateral Raises— Deltoids
Leg Extensions— Quadriceps
Cable Crunches— Abdominals
Bicep Curls — Biceps

Building muscle size and shape takes time and smart training is the key to gaining muscle and losing fat. But please remember form is very important when performing any exercise. If you do not have the right form, you will not be hitting the target muscle and possibly risk injury. That is why personal training (with me) is a great investment in yourself.

To learn more about bodybuilding, strength training, anti aging and fat loss, please do not hesitate to get in contact with me. Like many of my satisfied clients, I can help you lose weight and gain muscle. My private or semi-private personal training sessions, along with custom designed diet regimes will help maximize your results. You can finally create the body that you deserve!

Tips for mass building – Building muscle is a great way to get a healthy body that you can be proud to show off at our Fort Lauderdale beaches. In order create the muscular physique you desire, you will need to start by working on your upper body.  To get the best out of any exercise program you will also need a healthy diet to go along with it.  Below are a few good exercises that focus on building muscle mass in your chest, back, arms, chest, and shoulders.

Top Mass Building Exercises

Exercise #1: Bench Press
This exercise is the number one choice for building muscle in the triceps, biceps, shoulders, and chest. You start this exercise by lying down on a workout bench and using either a barbell or two dumbbells. All you need to do is bring the barbell or dumbbells to your chest level, extend the arms out as far as you can, and slowly return to starting position. Make sure you are using a weight you can handle or else have someone nearby in case a mishap occurs.

Exercise #2: Shoulder Press
A shoulder press is very similar to a bench press is what it targets and how it is done. To do this exercise stand up straight with the barbell or dumbbells at shoulder level, raise the weights above your head, the slowly lower it back down to chest level. This will work all of your shoulder muscles as well as your triceps.

Exercise #3: Deadlift
This is an exercise that works most of the upper body, specifically including the traps, biceps, triceps, shoulders, hips, glutes, thighs, forearms, and back muscles. The reason this exercise is called the deadlift is because the goal is to lift a heavy barbell, or two dumbbells, off of the ground by bending over and lifting it up. Most of your energy will be used when you lift the momentum-less weight off of the ground.

Exercise #4: Push Ups
A standard push up can be a powerful exercise for mass building  in your upper body. Stretch out your body with your toes on the floor and your arms about shoulder-width apart. While keeping you back straight, slowly lower yourself towards the floor and then push off of it back to starting position. The entire upper body is used in this exercise so be sure to include this in your strength training regime.

Strengthening the upper body can easily be done with the exercises above. Of course, there are many more different exercises that target upper body muscles, so what may be the best set of exercises for someone else may not be the best for you. That’s why it is important to find and speak with a bodybuilding trainer in Fort Lauderdale. A trainer will create a customized plan based on your body type so that you can gain a strong, well-built, and evenly-sculpted body that you will be proud to show off.