Naturalgraham4’s BodyBlog

This is one of my favorite days in the gym.

Cardio - 10 minutes on the concept2 row machine

stretch!

1. Pull ups - medium grip 12 (or as many as you can do) x 3
2. Side raises with the dumbbell (12, 12, 10, 8 )
3. Rear deltoid fly’s with dumbbell (12, 10, 10, 8 )
4. isolated rear deltoid fly with elbow at 45 degree angle (10, 10, 8 )
5. Overhand barbell row (12, 10, 10, 6)
6. Seated or standing behind the neck barbell press (12, 10, 8, 6)
7. Rear deltoid machine and cable flys, ( By switching angle of the cables you work different areas of the shoulder) 12-6 x 3-4
8. Cable shoulder press (12-6×3-4)
9. Bent over hand dumbbell row (12×3)

Be careful with how hard you work your rear delt its a very delicate muscle so by all means start out this workout light and only pick a few of the exercises. Ive found this exercise has help develop the size and cut of my rear and medial deltoid along with building thickness. The reps and sets can vary, its good to switch them up and also to make sure your really struggling on that last set. Form and control are very necessary for the development and growth of this muscle being one of the harder muscles to get at in the weight room.

It gets really annoying going to the same gym for a few years and having to talk to 10 different people when your in there. Look at weightlifting as a sport. Only stop long enough to where you have enough energy to do you exercise. For someone like me weightlifting is a way to attain the pump.. the vascular feeling you get during the lifts. This feeling is also a way to measure your workouts. The more the pump.. the more the muscle is filling with blood, the more you are getting out of your workout.

Isolation exercises should be done with no more than a minut to a minute and a half rest. Compound exercises should be done as quickly as possible in between sets, but for these lifts you need to make sure you recover enough energy to give it your all. I really dont see enough people in the weight room sweating. Try to keep a sweat going the entire time youre in the gym to improve blood flow. This will also keep you from procrastinating and losing your pump.

Its hard to measure gains of lean muscle mass. What I do is eat 6 small meals a day. Lots of vegetables fruit meat and whole grains. Sweet Potatoes are a great source of carbs while your building mass. Try to get double your body weight in grams of protein. Its ok to cheat every one in awhile but 3 out of 4 days should be healthy food. I get most of my protein from food not powder. Because the fats in meats are also really good for building lean muscle mass. Have a well balanced diet and workout program. Make sure you are eating enough and getting enough rest. Don’t under train or over train. Remember you cant tell your body to do something, its going to work with the situation you give it and if you push it too hard or not enough its not going to cooperate. Expand your repertoire in the gym and include some extra isolation exercises in your weak points.

Upper Chest HEAVY!

• 10 Minutes of Rowing on a concept2 Rowing Machine. It helps get the blood flowing and alleviates soreness in the legs and back from my lower body workouts
• 3 sets of wide grip pull ups. One of the things I do everyday.

Get an adjustable Bench

Start with the bench one notch down from a 90 degree shoulder press. If a shoulder press is 12 O’clock have the back of the bench at 11.

3 sets, starting at 12 ending at 6-8

Incline the bench down a notch to 10:30 or a 135 degree angle. As you lower the bench the effort should become easier and you can increase weight.
3 sets, 12 to 6 reps

Incline another notch to 10 O’clock or 155 degrees.

3 sets, 12 to 6

Proper form with all the exercises is necessary. Bring the dumb bells down to the side of your chest and back up. Going slow and practicing form.. or even doing a negative is a great idea.

After I am done with my three upper chest Exercises I usually repeat all three of the angles from the previous exercises and do them as flys. Repeat the sets and reps. If you still have the enrgy after doing all this add in some pullovers or some flat bench.. Feel free to add any of your own chest exercises.. Or if you want to add in tricep workouts. they go well together.

I worked my way up to a top 20 profile offering free advice from a lifetime natural bodybuilder.. someone who has had the same resources and struggles as everybody else.. It seems bodyspace doesn’t want me to succeed in reaching as many people as possible for a good cause.. I want to show EVERYONE my way of training I feel like I have been doing it for so long now.. I know how to get past those plateaus and how to help others in improving there physique by knowing the art of bodysculpting, weightlifting, cardiovascular training, and endurance.

The truth is people it all lies within you.. Its a journey.. thats why I talk down about the magazines and the nutrition companies.. They dont want to help you they want what is in your pocket. They dont want you to think that the end result can be achieved through hardwork and a good diet. They want to offer quick results and feed you BS. I promise I will never do that.. I am going to show you how I did it.. and how you  can do it.. If theres a will theres a way.. that may sound like a cheap slogan, but If there is the will to change how you feel and look. There is a desire to keep your body in tune with your mind and spirit. People dont realise fitness is a way of putting your MIND in touch with your BODY. The better and longer you work at it. The more you’ll learn about all your body’s processes. You will be able to feel gains and loses.. the pump.. the vascularity..the burn.. Its a way of thinking about it. The pain is discipline and mental control.

I could go on forever and no i didnt read any of this in a magazine.. Thanks to everyone in this website who has listened to my advice and is inspired because it goes two ways and i know im inspired by all of you.. thats why ill never give up and thats why ill never do steroids.. thanks

-graham

7:00 min 2k on the Concept2 Rowing Machine

1. Wide Grip Pull Ups.
2. underhand pullups tilted back.
3. Vbar pulldown.

4. 45 degree rear deltoids fly.

5. Bent over barbell  row

6. iso bent over dumbell row

7. behind the neck pull ups.

8. cable v bar row

9. dips, leaned forward

There are also alot of different exercises you can do on cables that will hit the hard to get areas of your lat. Work all the angles. Do 3-4 sets of 12-6 reps. Control control control. Ive been doing pullups everyday as a warm up for about 4 years now. I’ve really grown to appreciate the different variations of them.

well i can tell you what im doing at the moment to try to gain weight.. i dont count calories.. i eat 6 meals a day i try to get in a lot of red meat and good fats.. 300-400 grams of protein.. I go 6-7 days a week.. and i try to switch up upper and lower body every other workout.. for you 4 days a week would be enough.. Maybe throw in one more day of high intensity cardio because i feel it help sustain muscle and burn fat .. this way while you bulk you can eat alot of fat and make the lean gains..

my workouts
1. chest (and tricep isolations)
2. quads and hams
3. shoulders
4. lower back and hams
5 middle and upper back and bicep
6. shoulder isolations
7. upper chest and front deltoid.. (lots of incline bench)

Dear bodyspace, I get many questions everyday asking about supplements to get bigger.. yea supplements can help but don’t put a lot of stock in them.. alot of it is mental.. all that preworkout may be doing is giving you a little caffiene buzz which has a negative effect on your hydration.. Lots of people use supplements for so long they think the only reason they are where they are is because of them.. these things are not steroids.. and building size can be done naturally. We all know protein works but rmemeber back in cavemen times where we were all muscular and cut.. they werent eating protein powder were they.. The truth is  what you eat is going to have the greatest effect on your gains and losses in the gym.. the next greatest factor is how hard you train and how you do it..

The magazines arent going to tell you to do it the right way because they are paid by the nutrition companies to show how a admirable physique, which is usually someone on steroids is achieved by how they use there product.. this is simply not true. Ive worked with bodybuilding photographers and models.. the fact is most the before and after pictures are on there weight gaining and cutting cycles.. in which not a single person in those magazines uses any product advertissed in the magazinwe. I watch a vpx model take hgh and winstrol before a shoot.. Its all BS people.. Take the magazines for what they are worth.. good workouts and diets.. dont put much more stock into them than that.

A lot of people have been asking me questions about my workouts and how I incorporate power lifts. They want to know the benefits of using them. I do a powerlift everyday. and these are the exercises i do the most sets of. Unlike a powerlifter I am not trying to get the repetition but instead like a bodybuilder im trying to isolate the muscles involved. This is how i use them. I try to imagine a stick figure image of myself performing the lift. I focus on where i should be feeling the exercise. This is what I call control and it makes a hugggge difference between doing an exercise and feeling the exercise. I have always thought that using control is what gives me such a great pump in the gym.. and thats the number one goal of a bodybuilder in the gym right? Control can be used on every exercise.

Hi Bodyspace.. I want to give you all my thoughts on peoples mental train of thought when first getting into the gym.. Work out like a psycho until i burn myself out.. Doing this first of all will get you no where.. I laugh at the girl in my gym who trains for four hours.. or the guy who comes twice a day….

Being a natural bodybuilder for over 8 years. I can tell you that diving head first in the gym isnt the way to go.. Yea you can lose weight and yea you can gain some muscle.. but not allowing your body to build proper form and control over time will just lead you down the road to demotivation and failure. Bodybuilding and fitness is a sport just like any other.. you arent going to be a star in a month or even a year.. But if you stay dedicated and get short long term gains… or losses (weight).. these will stick around and it will be more easy to advance your level of lifting in the gym.. The only reason I would EVERRRRRRRRRR lift twice a day is if i were dieting down for a show and so i could get in some extra cardio. Patience is a virtue and if you "LOVE THE GYM" so much stick with a routine and dont give up because quick results dont last.