Power Muscles By Natural Pro Bodybuilder Alberto Nunez Perhaps it’s the powerlifter in me, but I have been thinking about writing this article for a while now. The main reason I have not followed through is simply because for those of you who know me, and know what I believe is optimal with regards to training for hypertrophy (especially for non-beginner bodybuilders) will likely sigh a bit. I can hear it now as they all say, “that is so typical of Berto.” Well here it comes anyways, simply because I can’t let the burn-out sets on the leg extension, sissy squats, and leg curl jockeys go unnoticed. It needs to be mentioned, so my apologies to the guys getting under loaded barbells, gripping and ripping, and putting in work. There is nothing I enjoy more than a good old fashion squat or deadlift session.
My initial inspiration for this article came to me in 2010 while at IFPA’s first ever Muscle Mayhem, one of the most competitive natural pro shows that year. I was privileged enough to see Phillip Ricardo, Kiyoshi Moody, and Cleveland Thomas battle it out for the top three spots. This natural show was so competitive that recently turned IFBB Pro Panex Pierre finished 5th. The head to heel development is what really separates the good from the best.
My second burst of inspiration came a few weeks later at the NANBF Washington State show. I saw a good friend of 3DMJ Luke Ehlis win his pro card in what turned out to be one of the most exciting amateur overalls that year. For those of you who don’t know, Luke Ehlis is known for having back development that makes people in the audience look at the person next to them in disbelief. “Did you just see that?” It struck me then that the old saying holds true, "the show doesn’t start until you turn around." Sometimes it seems like shows come down to back double biceps and back lat spreads. I believe these poses hold the most weight in the muscularity round, and boy do all those names I mentioned above more than hold their own in those poses. Not only do these poses give you an idea as to who did their homework and really dieted down to true contest conditioning, but they give you an idea as to who is really putting it down in the gym during the offseason. Nothing is more impressive than a well developed back, glutes, and hamstrings, and even more so when the all the fat is stripped off. These "power muscles" are what really put the elite in this sport ahead of the rest. It means the competitor has long graduated from the their “bench-aholics anonymous” days, and stopped being a curl jockey long ago. It's really something every natural bodybuilding fan must experience. A Luke Ehlis back lat spread is something to behold.
Back to my story though! Between the AM and PM show at Luke’s competition, we went to the local Gold’s gym to get a quick workout in. We had dynamic effort Deadlifts (lighter weight deadlifts with a focus on bar speed) and Jeff, Eric, and myself had a great time as the video below shows. Pure anecdotal evidence here, but I would like to add that these three guys have some pretty nasty posterior chains, and wheels.
Next to us were two fellow natural bodybuilders who were in the midst of their own lower body workout. Marathon set after marathon set, some in the 15 rep range, and some way beyond that. No mistake about it these guys were working hard, the effort, and their motivation to get better was very clear, but their methods were probably less than optimal in my opinion. Without sounding too harsh, this was confirmed by the leg development these two demonstrated. Let me state once again that it was not because of effort, but just the common misconception behind what is best for lower body development. These guys had long graduated from the Monday chest day, Wednesday chest day, and yes Friday chest day routine, but somewhere along the way their efforts they got sucked into the "gym science" on what leads to optimal leg growth.
There has always been a romance in bodybuilding with lower body workouts, uber high rep ranges, nausea inducing sets, and having to take an approach that is completely different than other body parts. I mean you just aren’t hitting your legs right if you are not tasting some of your pre-workout meal, or so they say. For many, legs are different than other body parts in the bodybuilding world, and if you don’t agree with this you might as well return your fanny pack, bandana, and I am afraid to say the clown pants will have to go as well. Well just as archaic and hilarious as that list of bodybuilding memorabilia (I mean fanny packs c’mon?) is the idea that a good workout is determined by how trashed you feel upon leaving the gym and by how sore you are the days following. If being sore and trashed were the main indicators of growth, let me tell you I would have just stayed a 400 meter runner, as nothing left me more trashed than sprinting around a track with a full head of steam, and a mouth full of stomach acids. Perceived effort is just not the best way to decipher how effective a protocol is. I mean I am sure Vince Lombardi had his Champion Packers crawling through some intense workouts (water restricted even), in those days even linemen were not saved from 2-3 mile runs in shoulder pads. Now while I am sure these grueling workouts were great for mental fortitude, you could hardly call it optimal since it doesn’t produce a good bottom line. No current NFL football team trains in such a way anymore. Yet there are still bodybuilders out there training the way bodybuilders did in the 1960’s. Now a days the NFL conditioning programs are designed to help the athlete excel and specialize in a specific kind of fitness. So no more jumping jacks in the thousands, three mile runs in shoulder pads, and they don’t shy away from the weight room which was once thought to be taboo believe it or not. Football is all about being powerful, explosive, and being able to produce these efforts over and over again during the course of a football game. Advances in science long ago put the nail in the coffin on running in pads endlessly, but still to this day bodybuilding is filled with yesterdays methodologies. To me watching a guy digging for the 45th rep on a hack squat machine or a bodybuilder doing 50 rep supersets is as hilarious as watching Grady Jackson being transformed into a marathon runner. Just as funny as a guy doing his quintuple drop set on leg extensions.
The posterior chain and all the power muscles win shows and too many bodybuilders are not working their posterior chain to its maximum potential. Too often I will see amateur shows filled with guys who demonstrate great development in the t-shirt muscles (chest, delts, and arms), but they lack everywhere else. Ironic is the fact that when I go to powerlifting events, these are the muscle groups that standout the most despite the fact that hypertrophy is secondary to these athletes. Check out this powerlifters lower half go crazy in the midst of this heavy squat. This brings my next point, the typical bodybuilding approach simply leaves so much to be desired when it comes to these big muscle groups. The value of including deadlift variations in a program, and focusing on making leg workouts about progression overtime (as in adding weight to the bar) is immense and all too often goes unnoticed in favor of feeling sore and trashed. It’s a simple concept really, muscles were made to move things (not to be confused with squeezing or pumping) and a bigger muscle moves bigger things. Leg curls, more leg curls, and hyperextensions are just not going to cut it. Or at the very least should not be the foundation of your exercise selection.
Brett squatting 505 at a bodyweight of 165, and in the picture above is still 19. If you are healthy enough to do these big compound movements I suggest they you include them. Of course the typical answer is always something along the lines of “the judges don’t care how much you lift” and this is true. The thing about strength is that it’s all relative and it only matters if you are increasing your own lifts relative to YOU. Things such as levers, muscle fiber type, and a few other factors will determine how much you can move, but it should not be an excuse for not doing these movements at all to the best of YOUR ability. If 315 for a set of five is all you can muster on a squat, try to get 320 for five in the next few weeks. Same goes with avoiding these movements because they are deemed unsafe, or too high risk. If these movements are performed correctly, they are actually safer than many of the equipment based exercises typically found in a gym. It’s just that hardly ever will people take the time to learn how to perform squat and deadlift variations correctly, or they try to progress too quickly. So they either avoid them, or get hurt trying to go heavy and blame the movement, not their own faulty technique or approach. These movements come with some risk, but if you learn to do them correctly and don’t deviate from good form for the sake of adding weight to the bar, they can be just as safe as any other exercise in the gym and more effective. I cringe way too often now a days at the sight of what happens to most people's lower back on a leg press machine, and smile when I see a Toddler do a perfect butt to ground squat to pick up a toy. You tell me which is more natural for the human body?
I am not saying that machines and high reps are useless for development. Not at all, but I would go as far as saying that they are secondary, and if anything when I include them in my program they serve more as an active recovery role. Simply because I can't squat heavy workout after workout and expect to add weight to the bar. I would simply break at some point, or stop making progress. This is once again where powerlifting training is a bit ahead of the curve compared to bodybuilding. Make no mistake about it, increased performance will leave some obvious residue in your physique and powerlifters (especially raw lifters) have been doing this for years now. Many bodybuilders are under the assumption that most powerlifters just go in there every workout and try to lift heavier than last time, but actually most successful powerlifters periodize their training, and their loads fluctuate. This is done either by having lighter days were they work on other important dynamics of getting stronger, or gradually increase loads through specific schemes. In most cases they do both, and this is were bodybuilding is a bit behind. Workouts are judged by how much “pump” was achieved, how high it rated on the perceived difficulty table, or how sore they were the following days. The real question is "are you lifting the same weights, for the same reps as you were last year?" If you say yes, then chances are you haven’t really improved your physique much at all. Those are the markers you are looking for, not how gnarly your pump was. That pump will be long gone as soon as you get home from this “intense” session, but adding 40lbs to your 6 rep sets on your squat during the offseason will show weeks later when you are on the stage. Make it a priority to improve your performance when it comes to the big compound movements. If your current physique was built without much focus on strength development with compound movements, try this out and you will see a very drastic change in your physique. The NFL got bigger, faster, stronger, and in the coming years I think natural bodybuilding can make similar strides and we get bigger, leaner, and smarter. 3DMJ Coach and Lifetime Professional Natural Bodybuilder Jeff Alberts is a prime example of an athlete who managed to evolve with his sport. More focus on the power movements over the last few years have made for some obvious improvement.
In my second piece I will write about my favorite ways of attacking these big power muscles, including some of my favorite workouts that have really helped me over the years. I mean talking about squatting and deadlifting is fun, but getting your hands dirty is even better.
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