This is the time of the year that all the physique athletes and people who just want to look good wait for. You have spent all fall, winter and even a little bit of spring trying to gain muscle mass with higher calories and compound movements. Now is the time to switch gears in your training a little bit and focus on making those muscles “pop” out a little bit more.
We all know that squats, deadlifts, presses and other heavy compound movements help produce the most amount of mass. We tend to go overboard with this mantra and forget that to have those show-off muscles stand out; you have to work them correctly. Isolation movements with heavy weight and higher reps are also needed to bring out the detail in the muscle. Switching your focus to training the arms, chest, delts, traps, neck and abs should be your primary focus.
If you want to be t-shirt and tank top ready, you have to pay attention to the details. Perform each of these workouts once per week over the next 4-weeks, and watch those “beach muscles” stand out like you are show ready.
Rules To Follow
As you are performing these workouts, keep a few things in mind.
Keep rest periods brief to help increase hypertrophy and fat loss. You will be staying in the 8-15 rep range for most movements, so you should be able to move at a fast pace. You also want to increase your workout density (more work in less time) to help increase total volume in each workout.
Utilize the mind-muscle connection. Make sure to squeeze each rep to activate as much muscle tissue as possible. Posing and contracting your muscles in between each set will also help bring out the detail in each muscle. Physique athletes not only practice posing, they also do it to bring out the hardness and detail in the muscle. Act like you are getting ready for a show.
Go for the pump – this goes along with rule #2. Your goal is to fill the muscle with as much nutrient-rich blood on every rep. Keep continuous tension on the muscle as well as squeezing the muscle on each rep.
Keep it basic – you don’t need any fancy exercises, just the one’s that work. Focus on the movement and work hard.
Perform each workout once to twice per week on non-consecutive days, making sure you take a day off after you perform each workout. Your goal is to get in 3 upper body workouts each week, so rotate the workouts evenly. Be sure to include one lower-body workout each week.
*For Workout 1: Perform exercises A and B as a superset.
**For Workout 2: Perform in a circuit fashion moving from one exercise to the next as fast as possible. After you complete one round (one set of each exercise), rest 2-3 minutes and then repeat the circuit 2 more times for a total of 3.
