FINE-TUNE YOUR QUADS

New pro Nathan Detracy details his quad work

After taking the overall (as a light-heavy) at the 2007 Emerald Cup, 5′5″ Nathan Detracy won the middleweight class of the 2008 USA Championships and then triumphed in the same class at the 2009 Nationals. He owns the gym Evolution Fitness in Bellevue, Washington. Detracy details the finer points of his quad training and provides a typical quad routine. (more…)

Training | 04.8.10 | No Comments

HOW TO ESTIMATE YOUR 1RM

Estimate your one-rep max and utilize this chest program for serious results

By Jim Stoppani, Ph.D.

If you don’t have a spotter you can trust, do not attempt a true one-rep max. Your best bet is to estimate your max bench press weight by doing a 10-rep max test. (more…)

Training | 04.8.10 | No Comments

ADD MASS TO YOUR TRI’S

Rookie of the year Evan Centopani talks triceps

The winner of the 2007 NPC Nationals, Connecticut’s Evan Centopani won his debut pro contest, the 2009 New York Pro, and was FLEX’s rookie of the year, receiving his award at the Olympia VIP gala. He tells us about his favorite triceps exercises and provides the routine he used when gaining most of his tri mass. (more…)

Training | 04.7.10 | No Comments

PREVENT THE SKULL CRUSHER

Know the benefits to combining lying triceps extensions with close-grip bench presses

Two things for those who have yet to pick up the January issue of FLEX: 1) Shame on you. 2) You’re missing out on vital info that can help you in the gym. Here’s an example from Gym Doctor on page 88 written by FLEX Senior Science Editor Jim Stoppani, PhD:

SYMPTOMS: Skull crushers, the gym-lingo name for lying tricpes extensions, got its name for a reason. When your triceps fail and the barbell is over your head… you get the picture. (more…)

Training | 04.7.10 | No Comments

PUTNAM’S QUAD QUIZ

Peter Putnam tests your quad training IQ

After an impressive amateur career that saw him win the light-heavy class in both the USA’s (2007) and Nationals (2008), Tennessean Peter Putnam placed sixth in last year’s Jacksonville Pro 202. “Pump” has long been noted for his quality quads. As evidenced by his legs, he’s the expert. So, pop quiz, hot shot. See how much you know about his thigh training philosophy as you take this Peter Putnam Quad Quiz. (more…)

Training | 04.7.10 | No Comments

WINKLAAR’S WORKOUTS

The lightening-paced training of Roelly Winklaar

After taking the overall at last year’s Arnold Amateur, Dutchman Roelly Winklaar made an auspicious pro debut at this year’s Arnold classic, finishing seventh and just missing the posedown. One week later on March 13, he placed third in the Australian Pro, qualifying for this year’s Mr. Olympia and cementing his frontrunner status for rookie of the year. He’s trained by 53-year-old Sibil Peeters, a grandmotherly drill sergeant, and just watching Winklaar’s workouts can make you sweat. We explain why and serve up a typical Winklaar delt workout. By the way, this routine is done by Winklaar as well as his younger brother Quincy, who also follows Peeters’ principles. Quincy placed fifth in the light-heavy class of this year’s Arnold Amateur, just before big bro Roelly hit his first pro pose. (more…)

Training | 04.7.10 | No Comments

NEGATIVE THINKING, POSITIVE RESULTS

Dexter Jackson on turning negatives into positives

He started competing as a bantamweight. He turned pro, unceremoniously, as a light-heavy a dozen years ago at the North America. He didn’t win a pro show for another four years, but Dexter Jackson has done a lot of winning since then. Of current pros only Jay Cutler has more pro victories, and it’s a close race (Jackson has 12, Cutler 14). Both Mr. Olympias own three Arnold Classic trophies. Here, Jackson highlights the negative halves of reps and serves up a chest routine that includes the slow, controlled reps he’s found so valuable in his journey from bantam to Mr. O. (more…)

Training | 04.7.10 | No Comments

CALF WRANGLINGCALF WRANGLING

Fakhri Mubarak shares his calf training secrets

Since he burst onto the scene by winning the light-heavy class at the 2005 USA, New Yorker Fakhri Mubarak has had two of the best calves in bodybuilding. He’s only competed twice in the pros, but his lower legs get noticed on any stage. He last flexed them on his way to a sixth place finish in the 202 division of the 2009 New York Pro. Mubarak shares with us the finer points of his calf expanding philosophy.

MUBARAK TALKS CALVES
• I train calves twice per week on days I don’t train quadriceps or hamstrings. I like to break up my legs to focus on the different areas.
• Some people like high reps, some low reps, I like that middle-to-high range. I think 15-20 per set is the sweet spot for calves.
• Get some variety. Don’t just do the same two exercises in the same order every workout. I like to do three exercises, and I switch them up and change the order.
• Stretching is crucial. Do it before, during and after training calves. (more…)

Training | 04.7.10 | No Comments

ABBEW GOES ASKEW

The unorthodox back training of Eddie Abbew

British bodybuilder Eddie Abbew has been posing in the pros since 1999, a career that includes four top-five finishes and one Olympia appearance (2007). All the while, the perpetually smiling Abbew has done things his way. That includes some unorthodox ideas on training, with reps in the higher-than-average 12-20 range and exercises you probably aren’t doing. Here Abbew tells you how to do three unique back lifts and he lays out a back routine that incorporates his idiosyncratic ideas. (more…)

Training | 04.7.10 | No Comments

INGRAM’S PHILOSOPHY LESSON

Leo Ingram details his get-huge philosophy

Middle-aged mass monster Leo Ingram has posed in two pro posedowns, finishing third in the 2008 Houston Pro and fifth in last year’s Atlantic City Pro. The Navy veteran, now living in Atlanta with is family, is one of the world’s thickest bodybuilders. We let Leo get philosophical, and he shares with you the workout philosophy that packed on the meat. In addition, he dishes a triceps workout that adheres to his training tenets. (more…)

Training | 04.7.10 | No Comments