**Marcus's HIT Dungeon**

[Hazard]

"The last three or four reps is what makes the muscle grow. This area of pain divides the champion from someone else who is not a champion. That's what most people lack, having the guts to go on and just say they'll go through the pain no matter what happens."

Arnold

That's what I'm talkin about right there..... It's so hard to not stop when it burns so bad. I just tell myself "the reps that count..... The ones that build muscle..... Staart now"

[RipOwens]

[QUOTE=kelkel;6785546]Sawyer nothing wrong with higher reps on legs. They respond very well to it. Keep doing what you're doing and vary the reps. It will pay off.

Kel, how often do you vary the reps on legs specifically? Every few weeks? Once in awhile?

[Igifuno]

Those last few reps.. I can imagine the look on my face and the pain I'm putting myself through, some people must think, why? Most people don't understand it, but its that never-ending quest in search of greatness and growth that only few understand.

[Black]

I really just want to pick some heavy shit up right about now.

I hear ya brother. I had a max effort lower body day yesterday and killed it. Today is an off day and my body needs it physically. But mentally, I am ready to attack my max effort upper body right now. I'll save the intensity for tomorrow though.

[Igifuno]

2 days off here. onslaught tomorrow

[Java Man]

Awesome timing as a lagging body part that always bothers me has been getting at me more again.

Quads (lower, where they tie into the knee) and calves.

I have high insertion points where my muscles tie into my tendons/joints. So on my quads, my vastus lateralis inserts into my knee up higher than most, creating a smaller lower area of my quad. These are my genetics, so its something I've always been battling. I've tried to hit them at every possible angle to bring out my outer quad sweep, and I have some, but of course, its all upper quad.

My upper quads measure at 25" cold. My sh!tty calves measure at 15". And I can squat 400+ lbs parallel for reps.

I'm with you there. Everythign on my upper body grows just fine. That wasn't always true but I've learned how to make the more stubborn parts respond. Just part of the normal routine now. Except legs. They get really strong and really ripped but they don't grow much. They never have, and I have tried everything. The thing that makes them grow the most is actually HIT style training. Low reps, beyond failure push til you want to puke, as heavy as good form allows. That seems to be finally putting some size on them.

My calves seem to like a mix of HIT style full ROM all the way down then all the ay up until they form a little ball, slow but as heavy as I can go with 6-8 strict reps. Then I'll strip 1 plate or 2 off and shotgun out 40 or 50 reps then some half and quarter reps until they burn like hell. Sometimes they cramp up, but they were just under 15" about 18 months ago and now a little over 16.5 and still growing. Try it. I'm trying to bring them up to my bicep measurement which is currently 17.25 cold, but almost 18 pumped so I have some work to do on calves. I think for aesthetics calves look best the same size as one's arms.

[Java Man]

Those last few reps.. I can imagine the look on my face and the pain I'm putting myself through, some people must think, why? Most people don't understand it, but its that never-ending quest in search of greatness and growth that only few understand.

That explains why 95% of the dudes in the gym are small, maybe ripped, but no real size. And they always look that way... 2005, 2009, last year, next year, the year after that. How frustrating.

[Java Man]

Arms and calves - i can comfortably curl the 24kg dumbells seated, and i can dip myself plus 30-40kg dumbell and they just dont grow (~18" currently)

Calves - we have a standing calf and seated calf machine, i try and use both. going very heavy on the standing and forcing out reps 6-8 with dropsets. I get hideous doms, but they're just not growing!

picture is around 2 months old, its the only one I have right now. I'll get a new one tomorrow!

Good to see you in here again Krugerr. Still planning on competing this year? Looking a lot leaner than last I saw you and still have the size. Nice work.

[Java Man]

Where is everyone?

At my desk at home getting ready for the little bit of PWO I have left to kick in so I can go annihilate .... something. Haven;t decided yet. Probably back/traps/calves.

[marcus300]

Forearms are a little tough for me. I'm progressing some since starting your 5 day HIT routine. Still have a lot of making up to do overall, though.

Try focusing on them separately or after biceps, they can be a really tough body part because they are being used daily all the time so you will need to put them under serious stress to make them grow, not them at different rep ranges and movements

[marcus300]

my legs may not be actually lagging, but because its the most painful to train, i want to make sure i'm doing everything right for the max stimulation.

so my question is, when I do my leg press, or squats (for Kel), do I concentrate as much as possible with the quads only? for maximum neuromuscular connection on the quads? or should i push with everything i've got, quads, hams, gluts, calves and even my toe muscles? jk about the toes.

Train legs like any other body part - to the your limit in controlled fashion and put enough stress on them so they have to grow. Try different movements but stick with the same routine for 1-2 months at a time and see what works. Example would be Ronnie C he squatted heavy and maximum all the time, Dorian only squatted in his early years and has said that his legs started to grow once he stopped squatting. So change things around but give them time to see what works once you find out hit your quads like any other muscle group and do what works, it may well be higher reps or HIT who knows but its something you got to see for yourself.

Legs are extremely hard to train because its like training half your body all at once, its very demanding on your CNS and mentally its very challenging because its painful to go to your limit and stimulate those big muscle groups. You need to be mentally strong and prepared for the leg workout don't be one of those guys juts say there squatting then looking around the gym and looking on your phone, every set should be demanding on your body and force those legs to grow. Try hack's, leg press, squats, lunges, machine squats, front squats what every it takes try it all and see which give you the growth in that area but many cant train legs because they are mentally not strong enough to go through the pain of training half your body at once. Do what every it takes to get focused on the job in hand take a pre workout, watch videos think and take to your inner self and make that session count because if you don't you will go home and sit down and think fuk I could of done better why didn't I??????? after my legs session I am totally fuked and exhausted and I go home and think thank fuk that's over and I feel the workout for the next 3-4 days.

[almostgone]

Thanks, Marcus! I've been using a handle with a rope attached to a plate and rolling up the rope and then unrolling it to raise and lower the weight in addition to palms up and palms down wrist curls. Guess it will take a little more work.

[marcus300]

Probably triceps for me.

Stick with basic compound movements if you lack size and mass in this area, also many over train their triceps because they get used and put under pressure all the time when in the gym so be careful your not over training them, if everything else is growing try training them every 10 days and train them separately and give them time to repair. Mine started to grow big when I trained them less but again find out what works and look at your split to see if you may be stimulating them all the time and maybe not having enough time to repair. But stick with compound movements and try different rep ranges and try and hit them first and really make them sore by taking them to your limit and forcing them to grow. Also do a lot of stretching this is a must!!!! stretch those fukers pre, during and after your session

[marcus300]

biceps..

going to try something different tomorrow.. lower weight, more reps..

Every one wants bigger biceps, its the most common one you see people train. That's right try different rep ranges and make sure you do a lot of stretching and try and hit them at different angels, once you get the mind muscle connection with biceps you can actually feel each head work which is a really horny feeling when the blood is pumping into them. The stretching will help loosen the fascia up and if your on cycle always pin your inner and outer heads and train biceps that day.

More my back rhomboid/trap area. But it bothers me as much on shoulder work. It just needs rest, I know that, in just not very good at it.

On the plus side it means I don't have to get out of bed too early this week.

I was the same, you have probably heard me mention over and over again in here but focus on the thickness, trust me it makes a whole lot of difference to your appearance. Adding an just an inch on your back thickness can make you look super human and again stretching will help bring those tough lats into play. Many use to much weight before they can feel the muscles work which is a mistake once you get that connection hit the weight and use different angles because the back is so huge and is layered with many muscles you have to hit them at different areas to fully stimulate growth. Bent over rows made a huge impact on my back size for me it was my no1 for development what changed the overall look of my back.

[marcus300]

Biceps too. It took a weight gain of 20lbs to gain just under 1 inch. That doesn't seem like a very good return to me.

Stretch those biceps mate inbetween your sets don't bounce them and always use a controlled full range of motion. Make sure your not over training them because you can easily mine went bigger training them less. But if you have tried for years to make them grow and I mean really tried some people just have certain parts what will not grow no matter what, usually its the fascia in the biceps what is to tight but under a reasonable use you can stretch that out by you know what but its very painful and it does work if you have tried everything

[marcus300]

Same. I'm a little frustrated with my biceps. I want to achieve 20 inches on the arms bit it's a very slow go.

Your on your way to the 20" mark mate, don't worry about that lol

Tris are where it's at for big arms..... A nice peak on bis will look good tho

That's right you can make a great illusion if you suffer really bad, add mass and size in the tricep and bring up the bicep peak

[marcus300]

Awesome timing as a lagging body part that always bothers me has been getting at me more again.

Quads (lower, where they tie into the knee) and calves.

I have high insertion points where my muscles tie into my tendons/joints. So on my quads, my vastus lateralis inserts into my knee up higher than most, creating a smaller lower area of my quad. These are my genetics, so its something I've always been battling. I've tried to hit them at every possible angle to bring out my outer quad sweep, and I have some, but of course, its all upper quad.

My upper quads measure at 25" cold. My sh!tty calves measure at 15". And I can squat 400+ lbs parallel for reps.

Hack squat till you dead with your feet close together, try implementing drops sets to a level were you cant walk afterwards this will bring out that outer sweep beautifully and give you again an illusion of a lot of size. You will find it hard to get clothes to fit those quads but nothing better than a huge sweep to make your legs look big

[marcus300]

Arms and calves - i can comfortably curl the 24kg dumbells seated, and i can dip myself plus 30-40kg dumbell and they just dont grow (~18" currently)

Calves - we have a standing calf and seated calf machine, i try and use both. going very heavy on the standing and forcing out reps 6-8 with dropsets. I get hideous doms, but they're just not growing!

picture is around 2 months old, its the only one I have right now. I'll get a new one tomorrow!

Try higher rep range your calves may respond better with higher reps, swap things around and see what works, also don't forget stretching it can make a huge difference , if certain movements aren't making your arms grow try different ones and see what does and when your on cycle pin your biceps and train them the same day and get some extra pain in those fukers. 18" is good by the way its not bad

[marcus300]

Where is everyone?

Been busy mate but I am ok for a few days now

My back is shit imo no V dunno how I can manage it but mixing things up in the next 6 weeks.

Tonight was back again chomping at the bite to batter myself into submission.

Started with hypers as a warm up they were great.

Then into single row db's two feeler sets then into heavy weight for one balls out set back was pumping, felt great after did teo drop sets of light weight for 3-5 reps was goosed after the above was intense.

Then onto T bars heavy ass set really enjoy the way when you do heavy and slow its shreds your back. Great feeling off this exercise was cool.

Then Yates, under hand bb rows did these heavy pb on it and then a drop.

Tensioned deads again one balls out set was really fatigued after that was tough.

Then one light isolation exercise on the cable machine, bent over lat streches they are similar to the db bench strech exercise, but less pressure on everything imo.

Cardio again

Mix things up and see what works, I know your trying to drop bf and your back will come out as you do. Try different protocols like rest pause or just go to failure but under control. Stretching again is the key to stubborn body parts get some blood in that area and make those fibers more flexible

I really just want to pick some heavy shit up right about now.

Soon, lol lol I get like that hahahaha

“The last three or four reps is what makes the muscle grow. This area of pain divides the champion from someone else who is not a champion. That's what most people lack, having the guts to go on and just say they'll go through the pain no matter what happens.”

Arnold

Its what ive said all the way through this thread! great quote.
Its what you do when you cant do anymore what separates us!!

[marcus300]

Thanks, Marcus! I've been using a handle with a rope attached to a plate and rolling up the rope and then unrolling it to raise and lower the weight in addition to palms up and palms down wrist curls. Guess it will take a little more work.

I use to do the rope curls when I first started, they burn like hell......try db wrist curls you can move the bell in a better range to suit your forearm and it helps with pressure through the wrists.

[marcus300]

That's what I'm talkin about right there..... It's so hard to not stop when it burns so bad. I just tell myself "the reps that count..... The ones that build muscle..... Staart now"

Train your mind set, you fail in your head so overcome your inner mind set and make yourself mentally stronger to take yourself to the edge. On that note I think its time for legs this morning - oh fuking hell gulp

[Java Man]

Hack squat till you dead with your feet close together, try implementing drops sets to a level were you cant walk afterwards this will bring out that outer sweep beautifully and give you again an illusion of a lot of size. You will find it hard to get clothes to fit those quads but nothing better than a huge sweep to make your legs look big

Been doing exactly this as you've mentioned it before. It does work. I posted pics of my pathetic legs about 2 or 3 months ago. Since I've been doing hacks to the floor with my ankles touching, they look like this now:
Attachment 147708

I'm just laying on the couch kicking it so don't beat me up too much guys this isn't a picture pose lol. Just shows the sweep compared to the next to nothing I had a few months ago. What marcus said really works.

[krugerr]

Break down your arm and calf work for us. Lets take a look.

Biceps usually consists of something like;
cable rope curls (hammer) - warmup, 8-10, 6-8, supersetted with lighter barbell curls.
preacher curls, 8-10, 6-8
cable straight bar curls, 8-10, 6-8

Triceps;
dips - warmup, +20kg 8-10, +30kg 6-8
pushdowns - 6-8, 6-8 dropset
rope extensions 8-10, 6-8

so not a lot of volume, I try keep arms short and sweet, with heavy HIT style, i train without a partner for most things, so dropset instead of forced reps/negatives. I usually try and keep it pretty heavy for all my arm exercises. Sometimes I'll throw in some close grip bench if my chest isnt too sore and I can get 220lbs on that for 8-10 comfortably now too!

Calves I usually do at the end of a leg workout, and then once more during the week I'l just throw in another set.
Standing calf raise, 10-15 warmup, 8-10, 6-8, 4-6
seated calf raise, 8-10, 8-10

I always stress the stretch and squeeze at the top, holding for a pause and real slow negatives too. They're always very sore, maybe they're growing and Im just not noticing?!

Try higher rep range your calves may respond better with higher reps, swap things around and see what works, also don't forget stretching it can make a huge difference , if certain movements aren't making your arms grow try different ones and see what does and when your on cycle pin your biceps and train them the same day and get some extra pain in those fukers. 18" is good by the way its not bad

I'll try that Marcus, are we talking 15-20 rep ranges?
18" is good on paper, but when compared to my overall size/height they dont look special. I want my arms to look like yours! I want huge bulging epicness I'll try shaking up my exercises, I have been using these for a while, maybe its time for a change!

[krugerr]

Good to see you in here again Krugerr. Still planning on competing this year? Looking a lot leaner than last I saw you and still have the size. Nice work.

Thanks Java - Ive been struggling to get the quality PC time to catch up on this, I used the App before because it meant I could sit in lectures and easily browse the forums!
Yep, Im still competing, amateur over 90kg catagory in birmingham, may 17th!
Im getting there - im just hovering around 123.5kg (271lbs), but at 6'4" I feel like im going to look like the skinnier, flatter one on stage. Nevermind I guess, it is an amatuer comp, and my first one too!

[marcus300]

Biceps usually consists of something like;
cable rope curls (hammer) - warmup, 8-10, 6-8, supersetted with lighter barbell curls.
preacher curls, 8-10, 6-8
cable straight bar curls, 8-10, 6-8

Triceps;
dips - warmup, +20kg 8-10, +30kg 6-8
pushdowns - 6-8, 6-8 dropset
rope extensions 8-10, 6-8

so not a lot of volume, I try keep arms short and sweet, with heavy HIT style, i train without a partner for most things, so dropset instead of forced reps/negatives. I usually try and keep it pretty heavy for all my arm exercises. Sometimes I'll throw in some close grip bench if my chest isnt too sore and I can get 220lbs on that for 8-10 comfortably now too!

Calves I usually do at the end of a leg workout, and then once more during the week I'l just throw in another set.
Standing calf raise, 10-15 warmup, 8-10, 6-8, 4-6
seated calf raise, 8-10, 8-10

I always stress the stretch and squeeze at the top, holding for a pause and real slow negatives too. They're always very sore, maybe they're growing and Im just not noticing?!




I'll try that Marcus, are we talking 15-20 rep ranges?
18" is good on paper, but when compared to my overall size/height they dont look special. I want my arms to look like yours! I want huge bulging epicness I'll try shaking up my exercises, I have been using these for a while, maybe its time for a change!

Yes change things around, you are not getting any growth from what your doing change things like rep range, exercises and angles. Make sure your not over training them and really think to yourself are you training them hard enough!

[krugerr]

Yes change things around, you are not getting any growth from what your doing change things like rep range, exercises and angles. Make sure your not over training them and really think to yourself are you training them hard enough!

Muchly appreciated Marcus!

[Java Man]

Thanks Java - Ive been struggling to get the quality PC time to catch up on this, I used the App before because it meant I could sit in lectures and easily browse the forums!
Yep, Im still competing, amateur over 90kg catagory in birmingham, may 17th!
Im getting there - im just hovering around 123.5kg (271lbs), but at 6'4" I feel like im going to look like the skinnier, flatter one on stage. Nevermind I guess, it is an amatuer comp, and my first one too!

Dude, you are one big mofo. Ferrigno is an inch taller than you and he was 315 on stage in 94. That's the O though. Shit. You'll do fine. It is true though that tall bb's have a hard time looking full. my arms are the same span as a friend of mine who's 6'4" so having long ass arms I know exactly what you mean. Mine aren't quite 18 yet but imo I look skinny. it's tough but you'll do fine. You'll be the biggest on stage by far. Nobody else will be 270lbs. Lol. Damn. Good luck and hope to see you in here more.

[krugerr]

Dude, you are one big mofo. Ferrigno is an inch taller than you and he was 315 on stage in 94. That's the O though. Shit. You'll do fine. It is true though that tall bb's have a hard time looking full. my arms are the same span as a grind of mine who's 6'4" so having long ass arms I know exactly what you mean. Mine aren't quite 18 yet but imo I look skinny. it's tough but you'll do fine. You'll be the biggest on stage by far. Nobody else will be 270lbs. Lol. Damn. Good luck and hope to see you in here more.

Thats 270lbs with 17-18% BF currently! Not lean lol! thats around 230-235 on stage (ISH!) i would think. But in the catagory of 198lbs+ I should be fine for overall size.

[Java Man]

Thats 270lbs with 17-18% BF currently! Not lean lol! thats around 230-235 on stage (ISH!) i would think. But in the catagory of 198lbs+ I should be fine for overall size.

lol ok yes but still huge dude!

[DCI]

Marcus, will do thanks again

[almostgone]

I use to do the rope curls when I first started, they burn like hell......try db wrist curls you can move the bell in a better range to suit your forearm and it helps with pressure through the wrists.

Thanks, Marcus! I'll give the db curls a go. Appreciate it!!

[Back In Black]

Thanks Java - Ive been struggling to get the quality PC time to catch up on this, I used the App before because it meant I could sit in lectures and easily browse the forums!
Yep, Im still competing, amateur over 90kg catagory in birmingham, may 17th!
Im getting there - im just hovering around 123.5kg (271lbs), but at 6'4" I feel like im going to look like the skinnier, flatter one on stage. Nevermind I guess, it is an amatuer comp, and my first one too!

What federation is it buddy?

[almostgone]

Also, thanks for the carb cycling info you posted. I've got several days recorded in my food log. After another 5 days or so, I plan to adjust as needed regarding the refeed/high carb days and then put the meals into a regular rotation.

[krugerr]

what federation is it buddy?

ifbb (ukbff)

[marcus300]

Biceps usually consists of something like;
cable rope curls (hammer) - warmup, 8-10, 6-8, supersetted with lighter barbell curls.
preacher curls, 8-10, 6-8
cable straight bar curls, 8-10, 6-8

Triceps;
dips - warmup, +20kg 8-10, +30kg 6-8
pushdowns - 6-8, 6-8 dropset
rope extensions 8-10, 6-8



!

I would start doing incline db curls and bring out the lower bicep near the elbow, this makes the bicep look very large even when the arm isn't flexed. Also try some skull crushers with db or ez bar or even single db over head extension and stretch the long head of the tricep and really work on that area. IMHO you may doing to many isolation movements and not enough compound for the tricep

[krugerr]

I would start doing incline db curls and bring out the lower bicep near the elbow, this makes the bicep look very large even when the arm isn't flexed. Also try some skull crushers with db or ez bar or even single db over head extension and stretch the long head of the tricep and really work on that area. IMHO you may doing to many isolation movements and not enough compound for the tricep

incline dumbell curls - being seated with the bench laying back a few clicks?

Regarding triceps, good thinking mate, I'll switch it up over the next few weeks and see how I get on, I havent used skull crushers in ages! I guess sometimes you get stuck in a rut of using the same exercises every week.

[Back In Black]

ifbb (ukbff)

Wow, going for a big one then

I may go to the expo this year although it doesn't appeal much (too many people getting in my way) but would be nice to see what it's about. I have, however, decided to attend a few more shows this year culminating in the nationals in October, it's just down the road from me.

[marcus300]

Wow, going for a big one then

I may go to the expo this year although it doesn't appeal much (too many people getting in my way) but would be nice to see what it's about. I have, however, decided to attend a few more shows this year culminating in the nationals in October, it's just down the road from me.

You may just see me around big boy if you look hard enough

[krugerr]

Wow, going for a big one then

I may go to the expo this year although it doesn't appeal much (too many people getting in my way) but would be nice to see what it's about. I have, however, decided to attend a few more shows this year culminating in the nationals in October, it's just down the road from me.

I dont do things by half!

[marcus300]

incline dumbell curls - being seated with the bench laying back a few clicks?

Regarding triceps, good thinking mate, I'll switch it up over the next few weeks and see how I get on, I havent used skull crushers in ages! I guess sometimes you get stuck in a rut of using the same exercises every week.

Yes incline the bench just enough so when you sit in it your shoulder relaxes back so when you curl you isolate the bicep and take out any shoulder movement, if you get the angle right you will really feel it in the lower part of the bicep and once you bring this up the arm looks completely different. Try doing them alternative or together or even split them up into chunks so you only do half with one arm all at once them swap then return while holding the bells.

Yes, give your tricep something to moan about instead of the same routine, stretch the long head in between sets and personally I prefer doing lying extension with db's it takes out any elbow pressure