First off let me start by saying that the exercise that i am about to write is absolutely Macho Man Randy SAVAGE! They may be one of my absolute favorite to do, and they give unparalleled results in working the muscle that they are designed to do.

That exercise being….. Tricep Kickbacks. Tricep kickbacks are critical in gaining muscle in your arms, and considering that triceps make up for 2/3 of your arms, if you are looking to get huge arms, this is a great way to help.

You don’t need to go too heavy doing tricep kickbacks, you just need to focus on proper form, and repping it out. Complete every rep and don’t give up. Your arms WILL burn, they will burn and burn and burn, especially if you throw them at the end of a tricep day or a chest day.

In order to do kickbacks effectively you need a flat bench, and a dumbbell. You could probably do it with a stability ball as well, which just gave me an idea for my next workout. I will get back to you and let you know how that works next time.

To start the exercise you are going to put the weight on the ground to the left of the bench or ball, then you are going to put your right leg on the bench or ball. next you will pick up the weight and raise your arm with your elbow bent until the elbow is parallel to the floor. Next without moving your arm position you will raise the weight until the arm is completely straight. Then you will lower the weight back down to the starting position. That is one complete rep.

Some tips for this exercise would be to keep your elbow locked to your sides, and look ahead at all times. You want to make sure you squeeze your tricep muscle at the top and as always go hard from first rep to the end.

All in all to sum this exercise in one word… SAVAGE… That is all, just savage. If you are looking to gain muscle, or get bigger arms, this will work for you, if you are looking for great definition, this will work for you. It is a well rounded exercise that will make your arms bigger, and just may end up one of your favorite exercises.

This will be the first post in my new rush the stage category. Rush the stage is a section that i will be holding very near to my heart, as it directly involves me. Rush the stage will be a daily (for the most part) diary of my training program and results in my goal to compete in my first bodybuilding competition, around my birthday next year.

That gives me a timeline of about 1 year to gain muscle, and definition and then drop the body fat, to reach my goal. Now to be a bit more specific on my goals, i plan to have a stage weight of about 175 pounds, that is what i am hoping for. Now i weigh 185 right now but im sitting around 25% body fat. So clearly i have a lot of work to do.

For the first phase of this program i am going to be on a semi-limited diet as i want to burn off the fat to hopefully go shirtless this summer, i still have a lot of work to do. I am still working out with the intention to gain muscle, but my diet as well as my cardio levels will not let me gain muscle as fast as i would like to at this point.

Late on i will be switching to a bulk diet where i hope to gain about 20 pounds of muscle or so, haven’t determined if that is realistic or not but we will see. After i gain lean muscle, i will finally switch to a cut diet in hopes to Burn Fat and get myself as close to 0% as possible and compete in my first show.

As for today, i woke up around 8:30 and got to the gym at 9. I am taking a few supplements as well as my multi. Currently i am taking Six Star Muscle products, their creating, nitric oxide, and fat burner pills. As well as their protein. It has a pretty good effect on me so while funds are tight it will have to do (BSN hit me up, i love your products). So i get to the gym and today is one of my favorite days, Chest and Tri’s My program will be the same for about a month, then i switch it up so that my muscles get confused and it helps my growth. So after a warm up i start on the flat bench, a plate and a 35 per side, repped it out to 8, with a rest-pause set tied into it. Then i went down to a plate and a 25 and did 2 more sets at 10 reps a piece. I love rest-pause sets when i’m trying to gain muscle, as they take a tired muscle and give it limited rest which in turn gives you great results. Next was the decline bench, which was pretty self explanatory, plate and a 5 on either side, high reps (15) to burn the fat, lower chest is an insecurity of mine. On to the incline bench for some more heavy weight, plate and a 35 on either side, on the first set i repped out to 8 but i felt weak, and as i put the bar back on the rack, i tweaked something in my back, below my shoulder blade, so i dropped down to a plate and a 25. The last two sets were fine after i stretched out my back repped them both out to 10. I try to keep my rep range between six and 10, i am trying to gain muscle, but i find anything with reps lower than six, i am killing myself trying to get up, and it does more harm then good. I do throw in high rep sets every workout, to burn some fat as well as to get the blood really flowing into the body part..

2 more chest exercises to go, i did cable crossovers on a stability ball, to help my core as well as i find it makes you focus on your chest contractions more, then i did a final drop set, with 50 pounds of chains on either side, with 20 pounds of with added to that. I love the chains because they give you a different feel for your chest, and they really work the deep tissue.

As for tri’s i did overhead dumbbell raises with heavy weight, tri extensions with low weight/ high reps and finished it off with tri pull downs with a rope. I will go into more detail about my tri workouts next week.

All in all, great workout, except for the damn cycle class playing John Mayer all class, but other than that it was great.

Here’s the first Set of Stats.
Weight: 185.6
Flat Bench: 260 1RM
Decline Bench: 193 1RM
Incline Bench: 260 1RM
Cable Cross: 17.5 Either Side x 15
Tri Overhead Extend: 120 1RM
Tri Extensions: 20 1RM
Tri Press down Rope: 70 x 15