Building the upper body - a new approach
Hi David,
I’ve been dieting for about a year and a half now, I’ve lost 70lbs but over the summer I gained back 18 of those lbs due to injuries but im back on it and have lost back 12lbs of the 18lbs. I’m 6’1″ 240lbs. I was just wondering, I’m on my way to getting in much better shape, I’ve still got man titties and some love handles but I hit the gym 5 days a week and my diet is VERY good diet that works real well. The question that I had was since I do have some fat still on my body (I’m at about 24% bf). What are some good excersizes for Chest/Biceps/triceps/shoulders/back that I can do to build up some lean muscle. I’ve always felt lost in the gym b/c it never feels like I’m doing the right stuff. I’ve always gone by the saying “if it doesn’t feel like I’ve been rolling boulders for 5 hours then I haven’t worked my hardest.”
Also, when doing muscle groups, is it important to go to a stretch with the muscle then at the peak of the set contract the muscle to focus it?
Thanks man, any help would be awesome
Hi Cody,
What I would suggest you do is the following twice a week, assuming you train these body parts separate from one another in the following split. On chest/shoulders/triceps day do:
1. Chest dumbbell bench presses (with a deep stretch) supersetted with side laterals for shoulders (4 sets of 8 to 12)
2. Incline barbell presses supersetted with standing dumbbell presses (3 sets of 8 to 12)
3. Giant set: Press ups supersetted with triceps dips and close grip bench presses (3 sets of 15 to 20) - use the lighter weight and go for the burn
On back and biceps day do
1. Close grip pulldowns supersetted with alternate dumbbell biceps curls (4 sets of 8 to 12)
2. Chin ups supersetted with hammer curls (3 sets of 8 to 12)
3. Bent over dumbell rows supersetted with standing barbell curls (3 sets of 15 to 20) - use lighter weight and go for the burn.
With all exercises aim for a deep stretch while controlling the weight under tension, and squeeze the weight into a full contraction. No half reps, no cheat reps.
With all exercises aim to increase the weight from session to session and aim for the pump.
Drink plenty of water throughout each training session and be sure to consume a whey protein shake combined with some simple carbs (like dextrose) directly after training
All the very best
David
