Well, now is the time to work on your “impressive muscles.” Some muscle groups are more likely to impress people then others, these are the muscle groups that people who have never trained with weights have little to no development in at all. When these areas are fully developed, they become super impressive to people on the street and even your fellow gym rats.

So if you’re ready to take your physique from merely looking good to looking amazing, then here are the areas to work on: 1) Wider Shoulders, 2) Thicker Pecs, 3) Larger Upper Arms, 4) Smaller Waist With Etched Abs and 5) Diamond Calves. When you have developed these to the max, you will take on a classic refined look that will put you a step above everyone else in your gym. OK, I know you’re excited and ready to get started, so let’s get to the workouts you’ll be doing for for each muscle group.

1) Wider Shoulders

What you want to do it maximize your development of the lateral head of the deltoid, this is what gives you width. Start with the Dumbbell Lateral Raise, use a weight that you can do in a slow and controlled manner. Hold the top position for a count of two and really feel the burn in the lateral head of your delts. Do 3 sets of 15 reps. Next is Barbell Upright Rows, keep your elbows high and the bar close to your body, hold at the top for a count of two while flexing your shoulders. Do 3 sets of 10 reps. To finish off your shoulders do Dumbbell Presses, keep your elbows back and don’t lock out at the top. Do 3 sets of 6 reps.

2) Thicker Pecs

Start off with Dumbbell Flys, keeping your arms bent. Get a good stretch at the bottom and come up like your hugging someone, do not touch the dumbbells at the top so you keep constant tension. Do 3 sets of 15 reps. Next is the Bench Press, Keep your elbows back and Don’t lock out at the top. Do 3 sets of 12 reps. Now Incline Dumbbell Press, while keeping your elbows back start at the bottom with the dumbbells wide and as you press move them closer together till then touch at the top, flex your upper pecs hard, lower and repeat. Do sets of 12 reps. Last is Parallel Bar Dips, keep your chin on your chest and your elbows out wide, not close to you body. Do 3 sets of 6 reps, add weight as you get stronger.

3) Larger Upper Arms

Alternating Dumbbell Curls, start off with the palms facing down and as you curl rotate the dumbbells up so your palms are facing up. Raise your pinkly high and flex you bicep hard at the top. Do 3 sets of 15 reps. Next do Barbell Curls, put one foot slightly forward and curl up with out bending back. Do 3 Sets of 8 reps. Lastly do Dumbell Hammer Curls, these build the brachialis a large muscle beneath the biceps. This is often a weak link in arm development. Many have found that by adding specific brachialis exercises to their workouts can increase their upper arm size by as much as one inch in a month. Do 3 sets of 10, 8 and 6 reps adding weight each set.

Now you’ll want to hit the long head of the Triceps and this will make your arms are look huge when standing relaxed. The First exercise is Bench Dips, place two flat benches parallel to each other, about three to four feet apart. Using your hands to support your weight, lift your feet to the top of the other bench so that the rest of your body is suspended between the two benches. Slowly lower your body toward the floor by bending your elbows until your upper arms and forearms form a right angle. Slowly rise back up to the start position by straightening your arms. The secret is to keep your elbows back and as close as possible to each other. Do 3 sets of 12 reps. Next is Dumbbell Kickbacks, keep elbows tight to side also trying to pull them as close together as possible. Hold and flex at the top for a count of two. Do 3 sets of 15 reps. Lastly Tricep Pushdowns, do 3 sets of 10, 8 and 6 reps adding weight each set.

4) Smaller Waist With Etched Abs

Frog Crunches. Lie flat on your back and draw your heels up under your knees wide and out to the sides like a frog. Place your hands with a barbell plate behind your head. Keep your head down with your chin on your chest as your shoulders round forward curl your upper body until only the small of the back remains in contact with the floor. This movement is not a stiff back sit up, it is a roll movement and you must perform it as such for it to produce results. Crunch Your abs hard at the top and hold for a count of of three. Do 3 sets of 20 reps. Remember cruches only tone the ab muscles, you need a lowered calorie intake to burn off the fat, to make the waist smaller and so the muscles then show through clearly.

5) Diamond Calves

Start with Seated Calf Raises, move slow (no bouncing) get a good stretch at the bottom then hold and flex your calf hard at the top for a count of two. Do 3 sets of 20 reps. Next is Standing One Leg Calf Raises, it’s been found that a straight leg generates less torque than when the knee is slightly bent about 20 degrees keep it fixed at that angle throughout the exercise. Hold a dumbbell on the same side as the working calf, use you other hand for support. Do 3 Sets of 12 reps.

Time To Get Pumping!

Hopefully you now see that training your “impressive muscles” will bring your physique up to a whole new level!

About The Author: Paul Becker is a natural (steroid free for life) bodybuilder and fitness consultant. For more information on Bodybuilding and Bodybuilding Supplements visit his website at http://www.trulyhuge.com.

Part III Showtime

To hit the vacuum on stage, set your legs by lifting your knee to flex your inner psoas muscle. DO NOT LET GO OF THIS FLEX. Look down and bring your hands together making 2 fists.  These fists will flex your biceps automatically for you. Exhale all the air OUT of your lungs. Suck your diaphragm in and up into the back of your neck as your arms go overhead.

Jam your fists down as far as possible down your back, keeping your biceps to the sides of your head.  It will make you look thicker with less space showing next to your head. Push your fists into your back while they’re down there, and learn to use this push to pop your lats out.

Learn to flex your upper pecs by bringing your elbows slightly towards center.  It’s an impressive shot to see striated pecs , flexed biceps, and your psoas in this shot.

And most importantly SMILE AND MAKE IT LOOK LIKE IT DOESN’T HURT!

Known as the bodybuilding/golf pro, Michael Manavian works on improving peoples health and fitness as well as their golf game. He is the author of Atomic Golf, The Alternative to Swing Gurus, Pie-in-the-Sky Theories, Perfect Greens, and Everything Else That’s Failed and is available for fitness consultations as well as golf instruction.

Be sure to visit his website, www.atomic-golf.com.

Part I – Just an Illusion

Bodybuilding on stage is about creating illusions.  Doing what it takes to give the appearance of having more volume in some areas and less volume in others by manipulating your body when viewed.  Note I said volume not size or weight.  It’s not about the scale rather the volume of space one can occupy.

That is the end all.  The presentation of body manipulation all the while taking into account the viewpoint of another – be it a judge or observer – is what you are striving to effect. The human brain is very keen in picking out and noting differences of the dichotomies. Light – dark, big-small, fast-slow, etc. It is imperative to play on these observations in order to positively affect the emotions of the observer in your favor. Most every show I’ve entered, I was the smallest guy in the class, but even with that I was able to win my share of events.

Remember flexing is a contraction – when things contract they get smaller! Think about what you’re doing in a front double bicep shot: Bringing your hands IN, flexing your pecs IN (which the above two pull on your lats hunching you forward and down) and flexing your abdominals IN and DOWN.

On paper, the pose is ill suited to show ones physique, but this all changes if you know how to offset these contractional shrinkages by using your ribcage effectively. The area of the torso is the make or break area.  By volumizing the chest cavity, you create a stable base to flex against!  Think about it, when you raise your rib cage you’re: Posture gets better, your head goes back, your chin goes up, your shoulders raise and go back, your chest is pushed out, your lats appear and your arms raise.

And that’s just standing relaxed!  Now go into the pose with a high ribcage you have a something to flex your arms against.  As your arms are contracting in, your ribcage is pushing out against your shoulders in turn pushing against your arms – creating a stable balance between the muscle’s insertion and attachment points. You ribs also are pushing against your lats popping them out.

By doing this high ribcage shot, the poser now can create the dichotomies within.  A high ribcage pulls the skin covering the abdominals and shrinks the volume of the waist.  Now you have a superman/wonder woman cartoony look, with a small waist and high torso bringing everyone’s attention to the difference in size; not necessarily the size of one or the other.  People can’t put their finger on what it is, and remark that the person has a small waist or a big chest when in fact he may not have either, but it sure looks likes he does.

Now that’s the why one would hit a high ribcage shot.  Now to answer the most common bodybuilding question I get asked – How the hell do you do that????

Known as the bodybuilding/golf pro, Michael Manavian works on improving peoples health and fitness as well as their golf game. He is the author of Atomic Golf, The Alternative to Swing Gurus, Pie-in-the-Sky Theories, Perfect Greens, and Everything Else That’s Failed and is available for fitness consultations as well as golf instruction.

Be sure to visit his website, www.atomic-golf.com.

That isn’t a concern when you purchase quality instead of something from Sam Sam the Discount Man. The guys over at Strength, Inc. know their business and their equipment is ready for everything from ‘racking it’ to super sets.

One of the staples of every gym big and small is the cable crossover machine. If you’re hitting your pecs, tris, bis, shoulders, back, abs or even hamstrings, you know this piece of equipment all too well. Hundreds of reps performed over the years on the cables are merely part of the program so why not set yourself up with one that is going to do the job the right way and last?

Check out some of these details:

*Walk-through design

*3″ square tubing

*Ball bearing swivel pulleys

*Ball bearing cable pulleys

*200-pound composite steel stack per side for 100-pounds of resistance in 5-pound increments

*Adjustable front column swivel pulleys

*New design takes up less room  (96″ width X 36″ depth X 80″ height)

*The 96″ width allows you to put a flat bench in the middle and pull direct from the side for cable chest flyes instead of from over the shoulders as in the new narrow versions that are on the market today

*Powder coated in your choice of colors

*Comes with one pair os stirrup handles, one v-shaped tricep pushdown handle and one campered cable bicep curl handle.

For more information on this item and the rest of Strength, Inc’s catalog, please visit their official website, www.strengthequipment.net.

Unique Heavy Duty Hardcore Equipment – Strength, Inc.

MuscleSport Mag is featured in the October 2008 issue of “MuscleMag Interntional.” See our advertisement in an exciting, extra-packed issue with Joel Stubbs as the cover main feature. There’s also “Road Map to Mass” (and “Nutritional Road Map to Mass”), “Peak Performance,” “Creatine Under the Microscope,” and great department pieces such as “Priority on Pecs” (Workout of the Month) and “Rise of the Living Deadlift” (Strongman).

What magazine would be complete without a sexy pictorial? Certainly not this one. The amazing April Ireland is seen from every angle in “Sock it Up.” As if a MSM ad wasn’t enough reason to buy this issue!