Indirect Muscle Training: Biceps

If you read my last post about my current training split, you may have noticed an absence of bicep exercises.  That was done purposefully:  I don't train my biceps...directly.

Bicep History

The bicep, aka the "pretty" muscle.

Those who know me know I've been lifting for many many moons, but I don't think you realize just how many of them moons there are.  I actually started lifting in 6th grade.  I was what, 11?  12?  Something like that.  I'm 25 now, so you do the math.  Unfortunately, not all of those years have consisted of quality training.  Back in the day I did a lot of bicep work and my biceps grew considerably as a result.  I distinctly remember noticing the size of my arms growing exponentially...I remember liking it at first, then hating it later because those other heffas I went to middle school with started making fun of me.  And I remember I stopped lifting for like a year because of it.

As you can see, that break didn't last long.

Fast forward 7 yrs and I'm in college.  This was back during my full body days, so I was basically curling everyday.  Luckily I wasn't lifting heavy, so there was no real threat to tearing anything.  Equally as lucky was the fact that I had learned the value of the triceps, so I was starting to put equal effort into the back of my arms as I was the front.

Then fast forward another 4 yrs and I'm a grad student doing a HIIT program that directly involves copious amounts of curls every 2-3 times a week.  Obvi as a result of all of the stimulation, my biceps grew to their present size.

Present Day

2013 Women's Physique winner Dana Bailey.
She just looks like normal a  gym chick in real life when
she's not shredded for competition.

Here's the issue with being female and lifting weights:  there's a very thin line between being "toned" and being "dude-ish", at least in my opinion.  You can be sculpted without looking like you're working towards a Ms. Olympia competition.  I've mentioned this earlier, but I'm more of a fan of physique and fitness type bodies than the female bodybuilding ones.  I think huge muscles are best left for dudes, since there's a reason God gave them the bio mechanics necessary for massive muscle development in the first place.  Women can and should have good muscle tone, but there's a huge difference between being a gym hottie and being suspected of being hopped up on roids.

With that being said, I started to get a little worried about myself.

I started to feel like my arms were growing faster than other aspects of my body, i.e.) forearms.  I've always been self-conscious of the forearm:upper arm ratio, so when I noticed one was significantly larger than the other, I got nervous.  Forearms are notoriously difficult to grow, especially on women, so I had a lot of ground to cover to get them to the point where I felt balanced.  Since the only way to get rid of the muscle I had amassed in that area would be to lose a dangerous amount of weight, I decided to do some research on what would happen if I stopped directly training them.

The verdict:  nothing.

Indirect Training

Last year I started really focusing on my back, which I felt was noticeably lacking.  Upon further research of back exercises I discovered that bicep stimulation is a by-product of back training, aka pulling exercises.  Have you ever tried to pull something towards you without using your biceps?  Good luck with that.  I found that I was getting a really good pump in my biceps from all the pull-ups I was doing, and I wasn't even doing that many.  I decided this was actually more than enough stimulus for proper training, and there was no need to do direct training of the biceps.  Thus, began my anti-curl life.  I might do a curl every now & then if the weight is in my hand when the Spirit moves me, but curls aren't specifically part of my training.

I'm still training my triceps so they can be more defined, but I'm really not going for size with them.  As a result, I do primarily volume training...4x12 or something in that range.  Every woman wants toned arms; no one wants that upper arm jiggly-ness that tends to happen after oh, say 40? (get outcha feelings).  Tricep work will clear that right up.

When I happened upon this video the other day I was pleasantly surprised to discover that 1)  I wasn't the only one that stopped training their biceps to focus on other areas and  2)  that professional bodybuilders also do it.  For starters, the guy in the video really needed to cut back on his bicep work, in my opinion of course.  If you look at his other videos you can see his biceps are weirdly peaky, which is a combination of them just being weirdly shaped and the rest of his arm being tragically small.  You see he mentions working on his forearms...that's because people kept commenting on them in relation to his biceps.  Apparently he had some wrist issues in the past that prevented him from adequately training his forearms.  I'll buy it.  But aside from that, I surprised to hear about Ronnie Coleman and Phil Heath, both of whom have years of experience in training and sizable arms.  Clearly there's no harm, no foul, and no loss in not training the biceps directly.  I'm sure they change strategies when they start prepping for the Olympia contest, but if they can skimp on the training in the off season and still be OK, I stand by my earlier statements.

Does Indirect Training Work for Other Muscles?

Sure it does.

• Hamstrings in the squat, since it's primarily a glute and quad exercise
• Triceps in the shoulder press and push-ups, which is why I do so many variations.  Narrow grip push-ups work wonders for the triceps
• Biceps in lat pull downs and any type of rowing exercise
• Glutes and lower back in the stiff leg deadlifts

These are just a few examples, but there are lots of others.  I train chest and triceps because you can't do any pushing exercises without using the triceps, so I figured I'd gon' and fully train 'em on that day since they're already in the working mood.  Exercises that work multiple muscles simultaneously such as the ones ones listed above and below are called "compound exercises".

Examples include:

• Cleans (all of the variations)
• Deadlifts
• Squats
• Front squats
• Pull-ups
• Bench press

The deadlift literally works the entire body.

Those are really the best ones to do because it's always better to train the body in the way it functions:  with many muscles working together at the same damn time.  As a result, they also burn the most calories.  I would recommend implementing at least one of these in your training schedule, regardless of how you divvy up everything.  

*SN*  If you're a beginner, I highly recommend getting with a trainer or someone who knows what they're doing to teach you proper technique in these lifts because they're a little complex at first.  With the exception of the pull-ups and bench press, you could injure your back and/or knees if you do any of them incorrectly.  Like I said in my last post, don't let that be you, America.

Conclusion

I haven't been directly training my biceps for like 3-4 months now, but I might reassess my progress in another 4 weeks or so.  If I decide to add curls back into the routine it'll be a few sets...maybe one or two on Chest & Triceps day, and it'll probably be almost exclusively volume training.  But we'll have to see what the Spirit says. 

Why I No Longer Do Full Body Workouts

I happened upon this video while enjoying my post-workout meal, and the first thing I thought of was, "Y U NO post this when I was back in college!?!"  Could have saved me sooo much time, man.  So much time...

Not too long ago in my yester-year I was one of those "intermediate/advanced"(??) people who did full body workouts 5 days a week.  As you can imagine, this was hella time consuming, with most of the workouts lasting in the 2 hr range.  I'd spend about an hour or so doing cardio and the other hour in the weight room.  My friends judged me, and rightfully so.  In retrospect I judge myself, but hindsight is always 20/20, ain't it.  I trained the whole body everyday because I thought if I left a part out I'd be neglecting it and it wouldn't develop  properly...or something like that.  I also just really liked being in the gym, so that whole 2 hr thing didn't really bother me.  The program "worked" in that it kept that college weight off me of (for the most part anyway), but it failed in giving me the physique I wanted.  Personally speaking, I think I look better now than I did back in those days, and heavens knows my cardio game has gone up all the notches.  An hour of stagnant cardio may help burn calories, but it ain't gonna help you run that 1.5 miles in under 15.

The Dangers of Full Body

See all them lines pointing to things?
That's all the stuff that can R.I.P. in the knee joint,
and sometimes multiple things can go at the same damn time....

#1  The biggest reason they're not a good idea is time.  This video is a follow up the guy did that outlines all the exercises you'd need to do to adequately hit the every major muscle group in the body.  Of course you could skip many of the ones he mentioned, but even if you did, you'd still be left with quite a few exercises.  Even if you reduced the number of sets you did to only 2, you'd still be looking at about 2 hrs just to do weights.  Can you really sustain your physical and mental strength for that amount of time?  Prolly not.  Your motivation would start slipping, and you'd start getting sloppy and ineffective.  In essence, the latter half of your workout would be a complete waste of time.

If, by some chance, you have manage to still have adequate energy by the end of your workout, it you weren't working hard enough.  I've read articles and heard people say 40 min for a workout is sufficient.  That's a little low for me even without cardio since I usually aim for around an hour, but it's still very doable if you structure everything properly.  I feel like unless you're a professional bodybuilder, powerlifter, or are potentially doing some rehab work, there's really no reason for you to be pushing the 2 hr mark in a workout.  And this is coming from someone who used to do it.

#2  The next reason full body workouts aren't good for you at that level is if you're doing your workouts correctly, you'll need to give the muscle time to rest and recover.  Unfortunately, I learned this lil' piece of info too late in life, but 'tis much better to be late than never show up for the paaarty.  At one point last year I was squatting heavily several times a week.  I was doing about 85-90% of my one rep max every Monday-Wednesday-Friday, and deadlifting to that same percentage once every 7 days.  I'm not exactly a spring chicken anymore, so you can imagine what essential joint K.O.'ed on me back in November.  Complete devastation.

Anywhos, a quality workout will tear the fibers.  With proper nutrition and rest, these will repair themselves and the muscle will grow.  However, continuously straining joints/muscles in their weakened state will result in overuse injuries that include but are not limited to:

• Swelling of the joints
• Cartilage damage
• Severe muscle tears
• Ligament damage

*SN* Have you seen what a pectoral muscle tear looks like?!?!  Absolutely mortifying.

MORTIFYING.

All of these things can and should be avoided at all costs.  The body part I have specifically in mind:  knees.   Don't let this be you, America.  I've heard fitness people say the heavier the weights, the more rest you need for the muscle.  Judging from what I've personally seen, this is true, for heavy squats + overtraining = patella ligament disaster.

Current Workout Split

I've split my workout several times over the past few years.  At one point it was "upper body" and "lower body".  That wasn't too bad, but I later discovered there are many parts of the "upper body" that needed individual attention that I just didn't have time to devote to all in one day.  Again, the body part I have specifically in mind:  the back.  Admittedly, I neglected it over the years and now I have what appears to be a slight medial rotation of the shoulders.  How do you fix this:  more pulling exercises, less pushing exercises.  Thus, "back day" was born.

I've had this workout split for about 2 months now and I'm seeing pretty good results.  I had an injury that took me out the lower body game for too many moons, so I lost a bit of ground in the gainz department there.  I cleaned up my diet, and by "cleaned up" I mean actively trying to get the recommended amount of protein in per day (grams of protein = lbs of body weight).  I haven't been doing any intermittent fasting because I'm saving that for when I get closer to boot camp.  That'll help me trim the last few pounds.  My muscle definition has increased tremendously.  In fact, my arms have grown an inch over that time period (13").  Might not seem like a lot to you, but that's quite a bit for a 5'0" female.

Monday - Legs

• Stiff leg deadlifts
• Jefferson squats
• Front squats*
• Back squats*
• Calf raises

*One week I do front squats, the next I do back squats.  Keeps things interesting.

Tuesday - Back & Abs

• Dumbbell rows
• Overhand bent over rows*
• Underhand bent over rows*
• Pull-ups**
• T-bar rows
• Ab stuff

*Alternate weeks with these too for the same reason listed above.

**I stopped doing these so frequently do some elbow issues I was having some elbow issues.

Wednesday - Shoulders & Forearms

• Overhead press*
• Shoulder press
• W-Raises
• Lateral raises
• Reverse flyes
• Palms down wrist curls
• Palms up wrist curls

*Overhead press is done with the barbell, so I only do it if I'm not being lazy.  Now I have a dumbbell and do shoulder presses because it's faster (don't have to bust out the rack).

Thursday - Chest & Triceps

• Standard push-ups
• Wide grip push-ups
• Narrow grip push-ups
• Dive bombers
• Butterflies
• One arm tricep extensions
• Tricep pushdowns

Friday - Cardio

Because women usually ride bikes
in dresses and heels.

The cardio I do varies from day-to-day...could be anything from jumping rope for 30 min to running several miles.  Last Friday I went swimming.  When the weather permits, I prefer bike riding.  Mixing up the cardio helps keep things fresh.  Back in my public gym days I used to get bored with the cardio, which effected my intensity.  I've also been experimenting with the placement of the cardio...before or after lifting.  I've read a couple articles that say it's beneficial to do cardio after lifting, so I've been doing that for the past few weeks.  Outcome:  I like post weights cardio better because my body is already nice 'n' warm and I can hop right into it with a good level intensity.  It also allows me to have more energy to devote towards my gainz now that I'm starting fresh.  I like.

Saturday - Rest*

*I deadlift every other Saturday

Sunday - Rest

Conclusions

If you're in a hurry and tryna get quick workout in, I recommend a fully body number.  But if you're a serious lifter going for a standard workout routine, I'd probably stay away from it...unless you have 365 hours to spend in the gym or if you're a some sort of Wolverine-exoskeleton-having mofo who has injury-resistant joints.

Real talk, I wish somebody would have told me about this earlier in life.  I blame you, America - tryna keep a sista out of the fitness loop.  I could have saved so much time and injury energy by spacing everything, and my gainz probably would have been 10x what they are now.   Even though my injury issues set me back quite a bit, and I'm a little behind where I had originally planned to be by this time of year, I still hit that PR on the squat last week and my front squatting has improved exponentially.  In other words, I'm quite pleased with my progress.  The human body is a physiological masterpiece, but like anything, too much of a good thing will still kill that ish.  Keep that in mind, America.

Aesthetics vs. Strength

I happened upon this video earlier today and it got me thinking...

For starters, I totally agree with everything he said. You should care about something because it's important to you, not because someone told you to do it.  In the fitness industry, there's always this "Us vs. Them" foolery:  powerlifting vs. bodybuilding.  Although to the naked eye you wouldn't be able to tell the difference...both spend entirely too much time in the gym to non-gym goers...there are some fundamental differences between the two.

Powerlifting

Team Lilliebridge, aka the first family of powerlifting:
From left to right:  Ernie Jr., Ernie Sr., & Eric

Powerlifters (such as myself) are all about strength, in all it's forms:  neuro-muscular and mental.  The basis of powerlifting is to be the strongest version of yourself.  Our workouts are designed to test, challenge, and strengthen the central nervous system through 3 central lifts:  bench press, squat, and deadlift.  Hence the reason I talk about squatting all the time.  Everything else is essentially classified as "accessory" lifts, designed to build the muscles necessary to complete the aforementioned 3 central lifts.

Physically speaking, a powerlifter won't be as muscularly lumpy as a bodybuilder, but they can probably lift as much weight if not more than them, since strength isn't always determined by lumpiness.  In other words, you don't have to have 22" biceps to be able to bench press 300 lbs.  As you can see, the fella in the video is actually quite small (you can see the rest of his body in his other videos).  He's a small dude...less than 200 lbs (probably 165?), but he squats 500 lbs. And benches almost 300 lbs.

Instead of running around in tiny little speedos, powerlifters where adult onsies.  Frankly, IDK which one is worse; they both show entirely too much man junk for anyone's comfort level.  And instead of having shows they have "meets".  You go in there, you lift heavy ish, then you leave.  And the best part is, you get to be fully dressed.  You ain't oiled and lumpy; you're clothed and chalky.  Because it's not as popular as bodybuilding, there tends to not be as much prize money and notoriety involved.  To become a "pro" you have to get endorsed by someone, which means theoretically you could lift for years and never be considered a "pro".  Becoming elite is a little different in the bodybuilding world.

Bodybuilding

Bodybuilding is like the "face of fitness".  All the girlies think if they lift weights they're going to end up looking like a bodybuilder.  Matter of fact, men think that too.  Both are wrong, for the most part.

Bodybuilders are strictly focused on physique; the more muscles the better.  They're typically strong because having large muscles makes you stronger, but strength only becomes a focus in case of muscle development.

Paul Dillet.  How bout these arms are 27"
and this pic is NOT photoshopped...

For a bodybuilder, the body is eeeverything.  You're literally sculpting your body.  Because of this, diet is also eeeverything.  They have seasons:  "in-season" is when they look best because it's when contests take place.  "Off season" is when they bulk, meaning they gain a bunch of weight so they can "cut" later and get shredded.  Essentially bodybuilding is 80% diet 20% workout, which makes sense because you are what you eat.  If you eat crap, you'll look like crap.  If you eat healthy, you'll look good 'n' healthy.

To become a "pro" you have to place either 1st or 2nd in the major contests of the season.  Mr. Olympia is the major event in bodybuilding.  The winner wins $250,000 and all he has to do is oil up, severely dehydrate, diet like crazy, and parade around in front of hundreds of thousands of people while wearing nothing but a speedo and a smile.  Seems legit.

Why I Like Powerlifting

I have A LOT of respect for bodybuilders.  A lot.  That's A LOT of hard work and dedication to sculpt your body into a something that looks like it belongs in an anatomy book.  But it's also craaazy expensive and complicated to do so.

• Coins:  You need $18247675/mo. for supplements and just as much for food because of the quantity and quality you have to eat.  None of that cheap Wal-Mart meat; gotta get that expensive ish.  Good luck having coins for bills and non fitness stuff afterwards.
• Supplements:   Craaazy expensive and dangerous.  On top of that, finding the right concoction of supplements to give you the results you want is HARD and dangerous.  That stuff has a lot of side effects, some of them life threatening.  Some of them you won't even see until years after you've stopped taking them, i.e. steroids.  It's so rare to see a bodybuilder over 60 because they usually game over well before that from heart problems stemming from years of steroid use.  One guy died just before Thanksgiving 2013 from a heart attack.  He was only 44 yrs old.
• Motivation:  I lack the motivation and dedication to restrict my diet to bodybuilding levels.   I likes to EAT.  Granted, I don't eat fast food often, but I will throw down if the occasion calls for it.  I also can't count calories/macro-nutrients.  That's a lot of work to keep track of carbs and proteins and whatnot.  Just keep your calories down, eat balanced meals, and you'll be fine.  On top of that, the way my coins is set up...well, let's just say I wouldn't be able to financially sustain that lifestyle for too long.
• Strength:  I like being a strong mo fo.  It's part of my napoleon complex.  I'm more concerned with being strong than being pretty.  I'd much rather be the strongest girl in the room than being the most aesthetically pleasing.
• Functionality:  300 lbs. is 300 lbs., regardless of whether it's muscle or fat.  In both cases, that's a lot of body to move around.  After a certain point, bodybuilders lose their ability to perform certain movements.  Touching your back becomes impossible after your lats and shoulders get to be a certain size.  The 44 yr old guy I mentioned earlier...he was so big that he couldn't even wipe his own butt.  He had to bring his wife with him everywhere and she had to do it for him.  I ain't going out like that.
• Aesthetics:  I don't find female bodybuilding the least bit attractive.  I don't think women were designed to be big 'n' lumpy like that.  I think the additional/new hormones do a number on our bodies biologically.  Physique models look nice though.  But again, that's too much work to look that way.

Which is Better for You?

That depends who you are and what you want to achieve.  If you're an athlete, powerlifting is probably going to be better for you because overall strength is central to every sport.  But if you're overweight and want to slim down, you might want to take the bodybuilding approach to slimming down.  Of course you don't need to take all of the supplements and whatnot, but when it comes to designing your training, you probably want to go the high volume route.  But all this is just a suggestion.  You should whichever makes you happy.  There really shouldn't be this "us vs. them" mentality, but it is what it is.