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Sharing The Secrets: September 15th 2000
| Making Your Dreams Come True... |
| "Sharing The Secrets" |
| September 2000 |
By
Larry Scott |
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Larry Scott & Associates
- - - - - Friday - September 15, 2000 - - - - -
1 - Growth Hormone Release
2 - Thigh Biceps
3 - Bring Your Body To Life In 12 Minutes a Day
1 - Growth Hormone Release
With a learned masochism the veteran bodybuilder intones, "No Pain No
Gain" when queried as to the main secret to continued success. His
years of experience, hypertrophied deltoids and magazine appearances leave
no doubt as to his qualifications.
Surprisingly however, the not so veteran bodybuilder doesn't seem to
have this same reverence for agony. Indeed, the teenage bodybuilder
seems to make excellent gains without the necessity of developing this
strange partnership with pain.
Eventually, however the teenager grows into his 20's
then into his 30's where he finally "learns" that one must become more
and more acquainted with pain in order to hope to continue to make
progress.
Has the bodybuilder finally gotten smart and learned what he couldn't
know as a teenager?
Or is it as James Russell Lowell said "It is only by unlearning,
Wisdom comes.
I do not believe a fellow will put up with any more pain than is
needed to accomplish his objectives. In other words, If he is making
progress at a certain level of pain, there is no need to descend any deeper
into discomfort.
If on the other hand, he is frustrated by his lack of progress he may
continue to punish himself with greater intensity in his workouts until
he is rewarded with satisfactory results.
Watching over all this frantic activity is a little gland located in
the base of the brain known as the pituitary gland. This gland houses a
powerful hormone known as growth hormone. The main function of this
hormone is to help burn fat and build lean muscle tissue.
When we are teenagers this gland continually releases this powerful
hormone under different stimuli. For instance, when we go to sleep, when
we exercise, when we are injured, when we encounter stress and when we
fast.
As we get older however, say in our 20's the release of this growth
hormone begins to decrease. Finally around the age of 30 there begins to
be little or no exercise induced Growth Hormone release. (Bazzare,
1975; Hanson, 1973; Johnson, 1974; Muscle, 1980)
"If you want exercise to rapidly burn fat and put on lots of muscles
after thirty, GH releaser techniques are very useful, perhaps even
essential." claim Durk Pearson and Sandy Shaw in their tremendously
informative book on Growth Hormone releasers. Countless studies have confirmed
the fact that stress, injury and peak output exercise are conditions
that release Growth Hormone.
I feel certain this is the reason the veteran bodybuilder feels he
must resort to more and more pain in order to continue to make progress.
But isn't there a better way than to continue to abuse the ligaments
and tendons as well as the muscles with a continuing barrage of pain and
greater pain. We all know this soon results in bursitis and one bout
after another of inflammation of the joints and tendons and possibly
arthritis.
Let me draw on your memory a little while I ask you to recall how you
always made better progress when you first started a new program. Then,
as your training program gradually lost its newness, you settled down
to your expected less than spectacular progress.
If it is true, that the body releases growth hormone under conditions
of Stress, Injury and Peak output exercise; perhaps it is the newness
of the exercise that appears as stress to the body. Perhaps, it requires
much more Peak Output when we first try a new program when the body
sees it as something new and says in effect.
" Hey wait a minute what is this? I haven't done these movements
before. I don't understand this system of training. I had better trigger a
some Growth Hormone to lay down a little more muscle to accommodate this
strange training method until I get used to it. Then gradually, the
body gets accustomed to the new training system or exercise.
It then says, "Okay, I got it now. It sends a message up to the
Pituitary gland.
'Shut down the growth hormone! We've got enough muscle! He can't fool
me. I know this routine."
Based on the success we have been enjoying using this system, I would
strongly recommend the following:
Change the training system every week. Change the exercises you are
using as well as the sets and the reps.
Use an Up the Rack system one week (increasing the weight each set)
Then switch the next week to using a DTR system (Lower the weight each
set with no rest between sets).
The next week use a Pyramid system. Then go to a high rep system. The
next week use lighter weight. Then use a system in which you rest long enough
between sets that your strength has time to completely recuperate. Even though,
you will not be able to maintain a pump, this will allow you to use really heavy
weights for a Mass program.
Then design yourself several different super set systems. Finally, of
course, you should have several different Instinctive training systems
you have found to be best for your body. Don't stick on them too long
or you will fool yourself into a stale again. Remember, stales don't
have to be periods where you aren't making any progress, they can also be
plateaus where you are making less progress.
If you find yourself bumping into continual roadblocks on your path to
bodybuilding success, try some of these ideas you may find some
surprises.
2 - THIGH BICEPS
Nothing can fill your day with enthusiasm like a new idea.
We who have chosen bodybuilding as our labor of love find ourselves
twice fueled by this powerful need for something new. Our restless minds
hunger for new ideas that haven't been thought and our body yearns to
be freed from the monotony of sameness.
We struggle to find new exercise techniques that will enchant new
growth from our static physiques. Especially is this true with our lower
limbs. The range of expression of our legs is imprisoned by the lack of
grasping appendages. They have to be content with what they can push and
pull with a blunt limb. Consquently, the available exercises are less
that 1/20 of what the upper body can use. The thigh biceps, for
instance, has only five exercises from which to draw its size. They are: wide
stance squats, leg press machine, lunges, leg curl machine and
deadlifts. Further more, of these five, the leg curl machine is used 75% of
the time. To compound matters, the leg curl machine won't let you use
enough weight to build mass. We can't use enough weight on the favorite
thigh bicep exercise and we are fenced in by so few exercises our gains
are suffocated by lack of variety.
What we need is a whole list of new exercises for our thigh
collection. Unfortunately, I can't give you a whole bunch of new movements but I
do have one beauty that quite possibly could be the best one of the
whole lot. Why? Because it is one exercise that will allow you to handle
some serious weight. It is called the "Hips Off Hack machine Leg Pull."
Dennis Madsen a good friend and former training partner and I came up
with the idea from reading a book called Kinesiology and Applied
Anatomy by Rasch and Burke.
I first came across this informative text book while doing a seminar
in Grand Rapids, Michigan. A fellow by the name of Jim Phillips was in
attendance and he stayed for a while after the show to share something
with me.
He said," Larry, you go into so much detail on an exercise, I think
you would be interested in a text book I used while attending physiology
classes at the Univerisity of Michigan. Would you like to see it?"
"Yes, I would". I said, with some interest. I'm always looking for
new ideas on training.
"Do you want me to bring it over to your hotel", he asked.
"Well, sure, I guess so. I said. A little surprised to see that he was
intent on getting this book into my hands so quickly.
Later, at 30,000 feet over the plains of Nebraska, I settled back into
my seat and began to sift through the contents of this unexpected gift.
It was loaded with oodles of training gems, furthermore the featured
models were right out of the pages of Muscle and Fitness in the 60's.
There was Paul Wynter, Bob Walker, Tony Sansone, Tommy Kono, Otis
Johnson, Bill Golumbick and a host of others with whom I was quite familiar. I
soon felt right at home and my usual predjudice towards bodybuilding
text books melted away as I started to pick up some interesting insights.
I began to learn some things that I couldn't have discovered without
the benefit of the formal training that Dr's Rasch and Burk had
accumulated before writing this book.
I began reading about the action of two joint muscles and it was then
I stumbled on to "Lombards Paradox"; named after the scholar W.P.
Lombard who was one of the first to analyze and clearly explain this
phenomonon.
Dr. Lombard suggested that while sitting in a chair if one should
grasp his thigh so the thumb palpates the belly of the rectus femoris (top
of the thigh) and the fingers palpate the bellies of the hamstring
muscles (back of the thigh) he will discover the following. As one rises
from the chair by means of hip and knee extension, one will feel both the
rectus femoris and the hamstring muscles spring into action. It may
surprise one to discover that all of these muscles are active. Further,
one might expect that the rectus femoris and the hamstrings would
neutralize each others action so that no movement would be possible. But they
don't. This seemingly contradictory situation is known as Lombard's
Pardox.
So what does all this mean to those who are interested finding a new
way build the hamstrings. Perhaps you can already begin to sense where
we are heading, if not, be patient we are almost there. If both the
quads and the hamstrings are working while doing something as simple as
getting up out of a chair, the question is, how do we make an exercise
like squats (similar to the getting up out of a chair motion) pin point
the hamstrings rather than quads?
Dr Rasch's book expends several pages explaining that the rotational
torque for each muscle is equal to the force of its pull multiplied by
its perpendicular distance from the axis of rotation. He further points
out the difference in the length of the lever arms has a lot to do with
which muscle predominates. The essense of what he is saying is as
follows: It depends on the position of the hips with respect to the knee as
to which muscle group is going to work the most.
It was about this time the light flashed on inside my head. The idea
was something like this: "The key to working the thigh biceps is to
position the hips and thighs in such a way that we can pull with the thigh
biceps to help us extend the knee rather than press with the quads".
"We obviously can't play around with squats because if we move the
hips and thighs around we can injure the back or drop the weight. The Hack
machine on the other hand provides a perfect exercise to move the hips
with respect to the knees because our balance is not in jepoardy. The
Hack Machine keeps us traveling in a set plane regardless of what we do
with the hips or thighs.
Specifically we need to do the following: Place the feet at about a 45
degree angle from straight front and at shoulder width.
Once in position on the Hack machine, slowly lower the body down to the
low position of the hack slide. Then right at the bottom of the
movement, thrust the hips off the sled so the thigh biceps have the mechanical
advantage over the quads and pull the legs together to straighten them
out. Ureka, we have a new exercise for building thigh biceps. Further
more it is one with which we can use a lot of weight. The quads help us
getting down into position but when the hips are thrust off the sled
the thigh biceps are brought into action as we straighten out the legs.
We need to concentrate on pulling the legs together in order to get
back up into starting position. No muscle group can get us back into
starting position but those good old hams. It's very similar to the pulling
portion of pedaling a 10 speed. We press down with one leg but we pull
the pedal back up with the other leg.
It's not as difficult as it sounds and you will find you can soon
master the movement. Once mastered, you will find you have not only added a
new exercise to your thigh program but more importantly, you will
discover the Hip Off Hack Machine can add some real size to your hams. Try
it, you will find a friend for life.
3 - "Body To Life System"
(http://www.larryscott.com/index.cgi?item_num=12minutemiracle)
The Body To Life System is like no other home fitness product on the market.
This multi-faceted workout has manyunique points.
It was designed by Larry Scott, the first man to hold all three titles: Mr. Olympia,
Mr. Universe and Mr. America. The Bring Your Body To Life System is the culmination of Larry's forty-plus years of fitness experience.
One of the most unique and valuable aspects of the Bring Your Body To Life System is the included computer CD. It is personally hosted by Larry Scott and ties all the products together. The CD includes a wealth of material:
All of your diets may be planned, arranged, and printed so they can be taken with you anytime,
anywhere. (The diets are also contained in the 46-page diet guide.)
The exercise portion of the CD tracks each user and how far their workout program has progressed.
Each exercise is demonstrated and is explained to you by Larry Scott. The exercise program changes every day so interested is kept and each workout is fresh and different. (The exercises can be further explored in the 112-page exercise guide.)
To keep track of your progress when away from home, workout logs can be printed and taken with you. (The workouts are also demonstrated and explained on the video tape that is included in the package.)
The heart of the system is the 3-in-1 Exerciser. This ingenious tool allows you to work out using the concept of "Infinite Loading" of muscles rather than increasing weights and reps. This means it controls the stress and how long your muscles are worked, which protects you from traditional heavy-weight-related injuries, and eliminates the clutter and inconvenience of weight benches and weights.
The 3-In-1 Exerciser is compact and can be taken anywhere with you, and is reasonably priced so everyone can afford it.
The best part is: The whole program can be done in just twelve minutes a day!
The Bring Your Body to Life system includes:
- 3-in-1 Exercise Unit
- Interactive CD ROM
- Video
- 112-page Exercise Guide
- 46-page Diet Guide
Come and visit us today at http://www.larryscott.com
David Tester
mailto:dtester@biophase.com
http://www.larryscott.com
http://www.bodytolife.com
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