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Today's subject seems rather mundane..I mean shrugs, really? You grab the heaviest dumbbells you can find and perform short , jerky motions right?
yes, that is pretty much how shrugs are done in every gym I ever set foot in. Its a pretty cool exercise, you get to move 5 plates on the barbell, make  a lot of noise, enforce your tough guy image and, best of all  you cant really mess it up. Or at  least that's what people believe.
First of all, when people do shrugs they tend to think only about the small area that's actually visible toward the ears ( unless you are Johnny Jackson, than that part is huge). But if you be so inclined and look at the graph, you will notice that the traps are quite big and cover a large part of your back.
So you must break the training down into upper and lower traps to get a full development. Regular shrugs, shrugs with chest support on a bench and reverse shrugs at the cable pull down would be a good combination.
Secondly, the traps elevate and lover the shoulder blades so rolling the shoulders back and forth is not a good idea. Get a feeling for moving your shoulder blades without engaging the arms.
Thirdly, weight is secondary, feeling the muscle comes first. Too many guys perform shrugs like they are having some sort of epileptic seizure in order to move a large amount of weight. Again, focus on the squeeze and the stretch.
Whats the payoff for well developed traps?
If you are a football player, wrestler or boxer it will save you from spinal injuries. As a bodybuilder or regular weightlifter, traps are crucial for shoulder health.
So there you have it, the rundown of an exercise everyone thinks they know and hardly anyone does it right.
Maik


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The above saying could be loosely translated with :" make yourself suffer, you piglet" These wise words were spoken by Udo Boelts, the gentlemen on the right, to his teammate, Jan Ullrich, wearing the yellow jersey during the 1997 Tour de France. The roles were pretty clear, Ullrich was the captain of Team Telekom, Boelts his assistant, his job was it to get him over the Alps and safe to Paris.
Boelts was a worker on the bicycle, Ullrich had more talent than anyone else during the last 50 years. But in terms of mental toughness and work ethic, nobody could touch Boelts. So he felt entitled to scream at his captain when he appeared to not give it his very all.
The unorthodox strategy paid off, Ullrich ended up winning the tour. Bodybuilding is exactly the same, Dorian Yates was not the most gifted bodybuilder,  Flex Wheeler was. Yet, Yates has 6 Mr. Olympia titles, Wheeler zero. The reason is: work ethic. Yates didn't take time off, never missed a workout, never missed a meal.
So whether you got Yates or Wheelers genetics, you still have to eat your chicken and do your reps.
Train hard
Maik
 
Let it begin! 08/07/2010
 
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So it is decided, Davis will try his hand at competing on Spetember 18th in NYC. The Dominican Abdominator will enter the Mr.Fitness contest as well as the Novice Bodybuilding show for the middleweights. He has been training very hard and diligently for 10 months, during that time he put on about 20 lbs of muscle. Now the time has come to cut back and enjoy cardboard chicken with lettuce.
Stay tuned for more updates!
Maik
 
 
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A while back, we went to see Bill Cosby perform live in NYC. While the first half hour was so-so, he did deliver some pearls of wisdom.

One that I liked in particular was about some guy named Phil in Pennsylvania, who apparently makes the best Thanksgiving stuffing on the face of the Earth. Bill finally sits him down and asks for the recipe, so Phil says: "I take Stove Top stuffing." Bill: "And?" Phil: "Nothing. I do what the box says. People always add things to the stuffing that simply do not belong there. Just do what the box says."

Stick to the basics! The same applies to weight training and getting shape. Do not do any crazy diets, take 2-hour cardio classes, or use insane amounts of drugs.

Do what the box says, stick to the basics, keep it reasonable.

1. Have a plan. Why do you workout? Where do you want to be in 3 months?


2. Do your compound exercises such as the squat, dead lift, military press, pull up and rows. Strive to improve every week.

3. Eat your protein, 1.5 grams per lbs of body weight for men, women a little less (I know that the RDA by the FDA is lower but they also want you to eat starches 5 x a day).

4. Get your rest. Eight hours of sleep is a minimum.

5. Cut the junk food to once a week. You are a bodybuilder, not a competitive eater.

6. BE PROUD. Bodybuilding is one of the most rewarding things you can do, do not deny it to yourself. Enjoy the journey, be helpful to others in the gym and outside.

Forward, always forward
Maik
 
 
So the World Cup is over and Germany did not win it, so I am experiencing a mild case of SID. But lets look at the bright side: 1. all those annoying fair weather soccer fans will be gone until the semi-final of 2014. 2. Germany played the best soccer and scored the most goals. 3. Thomas Mueller won best rookie and the Golden Shoe. 4. Bundesliga starts in one month.
In the meantime, focus on getting your physique to a World Cup level, remember every meal, every rep, every set counts!
Train hard
Maik
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Bodybuilding can be a rather grueling enterprise. You slave away for weeks and months and nothing happens, no muscle gain, no fat loss nothing.  All this despite eating chicken and rice, meanwhile your buddies are eating chicken wings,burgers and beer and are having the time of their lives (or so it seems).
What to do? Quit? Sure that is an option, but as Alec Baldwin said in "Glengary Glenross" : " And one day, you will be sitting in a bar, saying I used to be a salesman; it's a tough racket."
Do you want to be the guy who says: I used to workout?
Hell no!!!
First rule: if you do not make progress, something is off. Training, diet, sleep. One of these three is not working. Go back to the drawing board and find out what it is. Maybe you need to eat more carbs or less fat, sleep an extra hour. Whatever it is, find it.
Rule number two: its the journey that matters. Building a great physique takes years, despite what the supplement companies tell you. So you will not see daily changes in the mirror. But you should feel accomplished after workouts, embrace the foods you are eating and be proud to part of the brother (and sister-)hood of iron. The peolpe you meet, the personal bests you set and the fact that you are capable of having the discipline of sticking with it is what separates bodybuilders from the rest.
See you in the gym!
Maik
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