As
you have probably been aware, the Men's Physique division is exploding. In the past if you were competing, chances are you were a competitive bodybuilder. Nowadays there are many more NPC competitors around, largely due to the addition of the Men's Physique category which allows for a more natural looking, seemingly more attainable body.
One of the best things to keep in mind in training for physique is to aim for that V-Taper look. A tiny waist and wide shoulders give this almost cartoonish illusion. Getting that waist to shrink is going to take some work in the kitchen, but I have designed a few workouts for building on other key areas.
For me, my goal is to bring up my upper chest, lats, and create the biggest shoulders possible. I'll share one workout with you guys now.
I haven't started my cutting diet or cardio routines yet so I'm still in muscle building mode, pushing some heavy weights around with ample rest between sets (~2-3 minutes between heaviest sets).
Incline Press
Start off with these so you are fresh and able to handle some heavy weight to really build some muscle. Do a few light high-rep sets first, taking your time to stretch at the bottom of the rep to warm up. After a few warm up sets go right into some heavy 8/6/3 rep sets.
Wide Grip Cable Bent Row
Grab an incline bench and lean forward into the bench with your knees on the seat or your feet on the legs of the bench. Pull the bar to your sternum, flexing your lats and other back muscles hard with a 2-second squeeze at the top. Again, go heavy enough where 3-5 reps is about all you can get with good form. I like the cable because I'm able to keep constant tension on the muscle the entire rep.
Cable Crossovers
Go a little lighter on these so you can get in the 10-12 rep range and as your pulling the cables into a fly, cross one hand over the other just slightly, switching which hand is on top each rep. Focus, focus, focus on feeling your chest pump up and keep your chest high and shoulders back so you’re not wearing your front delts out before anything else.
When you can no longer cross them, do a few more regular flies, slowly going to failure.
Plyo Pushups/Plank
I like performing burnout pushup sets immediately following my last few sets of flies. Try explosively pushing up so you are able to grab the edge of a bench with your arms straight and hold for a few seconds, engaging your core before springing back down into the bottom of your next pushup. Ten reps should smoke you right about now.
Dumbbell Upright Row
I prefer dumbbells so I can really pull the weights high and wide away from each other and focus more on the medial delts. You can try these one at a time as well to allow for heavier sets.
Reverse Fly
This is the one exercise I intend to hammer very hard this season to really stand apart with big shoulders. Give a slight bend in the elbows and pull back until you feel the contraction and squeeze. Make sure you sit up tall and are not leaning forward or tucking your head low.
Wide Grip Lat Bar Cable Pullovers
Position an incline bench at a cable station so that if you were sitting on it, you would be facing away from the weight stack. Grab the bar at the widest part and while seated at a little steeper than a 45 degree angle, lock your arms straight and pull the bar down, focusing on and squeezing the lats hard at the bottom.
There you go! That should be a killer routine you can rotate into your normal program once a week. Have Fun! Train Hard! Make it Happen!
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