Q&A with Stuart, Batch #2
Copyright 2006 by Stuart McRobert

CONCENTRATION CURLS
Q: What's the best form of the concentration curl?

A: The dumbbell one-arm curl, seated, with the elbow of the working arm resting against the inner thigh and the humerus perpendicular to the floor, is the most common form of the concentration curl. It releases the other hand to provide assistance when required. Some variations of the concentration curl include use of an incline bench, lying face down, and using a barbell. For assistance for that variation you'd need to have help from an assistant.

Concentration curls, done correctly, reduce the room for cheating relative to most other types of curls. But any curl can be done in a loose, dangerous way. Standing barbell curls commonly injure the lower back and shoulders when cheating is involved. Seated, one-arm concentration curls commonly injure the inner elbow area when cheating is involved. Regardless of the type of curl you do, use correct technique so that you prevent injury AND put the load of the exercise primarily on your arm flexors -- primarily the biceps and, beneath the biceps, the brachialis.

Relative to the size of the biceps -- a small muscle -- exaggerated attention is given to it, and there's a large number of exercises for it. Consider how many photos of biceps you see in bodybuilding magazines, and how many articles there are on biceps development. The calves and hamstrings, for example, are both potentially much larger than the arm flexors, but you see far fewer photos and articles on the calves and hamstrings.

The concentration curl doesn't produce a peaked biceps. It will help, however, develop increased size of whatever shaped biceps you've been endowed with, but that's all. If you naturally have a biceps peak, curls will help to build a larger peak. If you have flat biceps, curls will help to build a larger flat biceps. Muscle shape is genetically determined.

REAR DOUBLE-BICEPS SHOT
Q: My rear double-biceps pose is flat and weak. What do I do to improve it?

A: The same that you'd do to improve any pose: increase your muscle size if you're currently underdeveloped, reduce your bodyfat if you're currently not lean, get a tan if you're currently pale, and improve your posing ability if it's currently weak.

For the rear double-biceps shot, you especially need to address your arm flexors, triceps, deltoids, traps, and lats. Small muscles around the shoulder blades should also be prominent if you're lean enough.

Unless you have specific areas that are lagging behind the rest of your physique due to neglect, you should build your ENTIRE physique at the same pace. Then everything will come along together. If you've neglected certain areas -- commonly including the calves, hamstrings, lower back, and neck -- you need to correct the neglect or otherwise the discrepancy between your stronger and weaker areas will become greater, which will exaggerate the weaker areas.

A symmetrical, lean physique with moderate development looks better than a physique that has some bodyparts larger than others, proportionately speaking. And a symmetrical, lean physique with moderate development looks better than a much bigger physique that's covered by excessive bodyfat, even if the latter is a symmetrical physique.

Genetic factors may have given you a physique with some bodyparts that are more responsive to training than others. Don't exaggerate this by neglecting your weaker areas and further strengthening your stronger areas. But don't go overtraining your weaker areas to try to get them to match your stronger areas. Overtraining causes stagnation, and even regression. If you train your entire physique with comparable attention from the start, you're unlikely to develop any serious imbalances across your physique unless you have some unusual genetic shortcoming in a specific area, or have had some an injury that has left a permanent weakness.

AB WORK PROBLEMS
Q: I do lots of hanging leg raises, for my abs. While I feel something in my abs, I seem to feel most of the stress in my thighs and hips. And sometimes the leg raises seem to irritate my lower back. What's happening?

A: The hanging leg raise, with straight knees or bent knees, is a common exercise, but for ab work it's not a good exercise. It mostly works the hip flexors.

The hip flexors include the iliacus, psoas major, and psoas minor, which fuse into a single tendon on the thighbone. These muscles originate on the pelvis or on some of the lower vertebrae, and are hidden from view. They flex the thighbone -- lift it towards the torso. That's why you feel some of the effect of the hanging leg raise in your hips.

And there's another major hip flexor -- the rectus femoris, of the quadriceps. That's why you also feel the hanging leg raise in your thighs.

Substantial hip flexor involvement can produce lower-back problems for many trainees -- typically those whose lower backs aren't strong enough, and who lack sufficient flexibility. Generally, the greater the hip flexor involvement in abdominal work, the greater the possibility of lower-back irritation. That's why the hanging leg raise irritates your back.

The hanging leg raise can be performed in a way that directs more of the work on the abs. But it's difficult to do, and few bodybuilders have the strength to do it properly. Instead, do a reverse crunch on a horizontal bench.

CARDIO WORK
Q: What do you think is the best single piece of cardio equipment?

A: The one that's safe and enjoyable for you.

Many bodybuilders like to run on a treadmill. This can be safe and enjoyable provided the treadmill has a giving belt to reduce impact forces on your body, and provided that you're suited to running. If you have foot or knee problems, for example, or if you're heavy, running would be a bad choice of cardio exercise. And even if you enjoy running on a good treadmill, if you fall off it you could have a serious accident. Never run to exhaustion.

An elliptical is safer, because the impact forces are almost eliminated, and the chance of falling off the equipment is small. Some trainees like rowers, while others find that their knees are irritated when rowing. Some trainees like stairclimbers, while other find that their knees are irritated by that piece of equipment. Some trainees like to use a stationary cycle, but others dislike it.

I suggest you choose two pieces of equipment that are safe for you, and that you enjoy using. For example, run once a week on a good treadmill, and use an elliptical at another workout. That's my personal preference. Find what works best for you.

ABS AND LEGS
Q: I've trained for many years, doing crunches and leg extensions at two workouts every week, but still my abs and legs don't look great. I want the six-pack and legs of Jay Cutler. What am I doing wrong?

A: If you've been doing crunches correctly, and have built up to using a decent poundage, you should have developed your rectus abdominis substantially. The rectus abdominis is the "six-pack" muscle. But whether you can see your abs depends on how much fat there is around your midsection. Jay Cutler has exceptionally developed abs, and when lean has next to no fat covering them. It's that COMBINATION that makes his abs outstanding.

There are muscles of the frontal abdominal wall other than the rectus abdominis, but it's the latter that gets most attention. Those other muscles are the external oblique, internal oblique, and transversus abdominis. Of those three, only the external oblique is visible provided the body is lean enough. The external oblique is the outermost muscle at each side of the waist.

The rectus abdominis is one long, flat, continuous muscle that runs from the lower ribs to the groin. While it's not possible to isolate the upper or lower abs, the two sections may respond differently to flexion exercises that require the shoulders to move toward the hips, than to flexion exercises that require the hips to move toward the shoulders.

Crunches come in two basic types: The basic crunch curls the shoulders toward the hips, and the reverse crunch curls the hips toward the chest. Each works both functions of the rectus abdominis -- compression of the abdomen, and flexion of the trunk. Do both types of crunches.

Bodybuilders commonly get poor results from crunches for two main reasons: many perform excessive reps with little or no added resistance, and most use incorrect technique regardless of their rep count. With correct technique, moderate reps, and progressive resistance, good results will come.

To see your six-pack, you need to be lean. Even minimally developed abs show on a lean person. But to have GREAT abs you need to have better-than-average developed rectus abdominis, AND little bodyfat. You can't reduce the fat around your waist by doing ab work. Fat reduction from over your abs comes about only by reducing your OVERALL bodyfat, which is primarily a result of dietary control.

You could do three hours of ab work daily, but if your food intake and activity level don't combine to yield an overall energy deficit, you'll never reduce the fat around your waist. On the other hand, you could do no abdominal work, but if you're in sustained caloric deficit you'll draw on your stores of fat and thus reduce your level of bodyfat. Whether you do abdominal work is irrelevant in determining the amount of fat around your waist. But to build strong, well-developed abs, ab work is essential.

Jay Cutler didn't develop his legs from leg extensions. Even though he has phenomenal heredity for bodybuilding, the leg extension probably made no more than only a minor contribution to his quads development. The primary quads builders are squat variations, and the leg press. If you've been using the leg extension as your primary quads exercise, it's no surprise that you don't have impressive quads. And if you've neglected the leg curl, your hamstrings will be weak, too.

Squats have the potential for producing big gains IF they are performed safely. But if they are done with incorrect technique they have a big potential for producing injury. If you lean forward excessively, if your hips rise faster than your shoulders during the ascent, or if you round your back, you WILL get injured sooner or later. If, however, you CAN squat safely, then squat. It's one of the best quads builders. And it's also a good glute builder, and contributes to hamstring, thigh adductor, and lower-back development, too.

If you can't squat safely, then leg press instead. There are other possibilities, but the leg press is the most convenient in most gyms. But again, correct technique must be used. Incorrect leg pressing technique produces knee and lower back injuries.

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