Welcome to the era of prosthetic bodybuilding! Not only can genetically-disadvantaged bodybuilders have their once-weak calves diamondized by a plastic surgeon, but those lacking a genetic predisposition for a thick chest (or even just an aversion to hard training) can receive insta-pecs. Even men (using the term loosely here) with flat posteriors can get their rear chassis overhauled with rounded cheek shaped ass implants. Forget about deadlifts and squats!
Even more sadly, do-it-yourselfers are going "ape shit" with site enhancement oils. Doesn't matter if you call it Synthol, Esik-Klean, SEO or a host of other brand names, lifters are using these products in insane amounts. It has gone WAY beyond adding a little extra to bring up weak rear delts. These "size at all cost" fanatics are oftentimes destroying good physiques with their complete disregard for aesthetic subtlety.
I've seen middleweight with shapeless shoulder pads that would look ridiculous on heavyweights. Numerous lifters are sporting triceps that are motionless during a side triceps pose. Forget about a horseshoe - these triceps more closely resemble a D-cup than an upper arm muscle group! Biceps are even worse. I've 
witnessed more than my share of huge, unseparated football-shaped biceps that, upon inspection, are so lumpy they appear as if they have been attacked by a swarm of hornets!
While monster size is the driving mantra of the hardcore bodybuilder, an appreciation for separation and shape (not to mention functional strength concordant to muscular girth) is inherent in the true purists. Men of this ilk are likely to take an even greater appreciation of the big, shapely guns of top amateur competitor David Hughes.
By viewing the accompanying photos you can see that Dave obviously has incredible natural arm shape. His biceps are full, with a high peak when flexed and detailed separation. His triceps are fully developed, with all three heads balanced and standing out in bold relief. Obviously, he started with the right genetics. What is also obvious is that he put in both the hard work and the time to allow those genetics to be optimized to their fullest extent. Had he grown impatient and taken a "short-cut down Synthetic Street," the world of bodybuilding would have another athlete with big, shapeless sausage arms, rather than impressive world-class arms.
Dave has been a perennial favorite on the national scene, no doubt due in part to his marketable good looks and aesthetic build. His best placings have been a fourth-place heavyweight finish at the '99 Nationals, a fifth-place at the '94 North America, a fifth-place heavyweight at the 2006 NPC USA championships and two second-place class finishes (at the 2007 IFBB Masters North American and 2009 NPC Masters Nationals ). Once he brings his slightly lagging lower body up to the fullness of his arms and torso, it will only be a matter of timing his peak to guarantee his entry into the pro ranks. Once in the pros, his type of small-waisted aesthetics and shape (similar to that of retired IFBB pro Charles Clairmonte, whom he resembles in both face and physique) are exactly the look that should be winning contests.
Dave's "Get Hughes" Training
At 5'10," Dave is typically an off-season 270-280 pounds. He chisels this down to a lean, contest weight of around 225-230. His current game plan is to stay tighter in the off-season, with the expectation that not having to diet so hard for shows will allow him to come in fuller without losing his trademark tightness.
His training split is as follows:
Day One: Quads
Day Two: Chest
Day Three: Back
Day: Four: Shoulders, hams
Day Five: Arms
This is far from carved in stone. Dave takes one or two days off a week when he feels they are needed. "By breaking the body up over more days I find that I am able to have shorter workouts," he says. This seems to improve recuperation and keeps muscle growth a constant.
Leg training takes Dave an hour and 45 minutes. Other bodyparts take less time, roughly 45 minutes each. Dave selects three to four exercises and does three heavy sets on each exercise. Depending on the exercise, it might take three or four warm-up sets to get to his working weight. After the first exercise for that particular bodypart, he tends to feel as if he is adequately warmed-up so he can forego warm-up sets on later exercises.
World Class Arms
Dave Hughes keeps his arm training simple. Arms are trained on their own separate day, allowing him to fully focus on perfecting his guns. He selects three exercises for biceps, and three for triceps. He describes some of his favorites exercises below:
Standing Preacher Bench: "I do this with a straight bar. I like to set the bench very high, so that I'm up on my tiptoes, hanging way over the bench. This takes my shoulders out of the movement. I might need two or three warm-up sets of 8-12 reps (beginning around 70-80 pounds) to get up to my heavy working sets, which is somewhere around 125 pounds. I shoot for 6-8 reps. When I can hit eight reps easily, I will grab a heavier bar."
Alternate Dumbbell Curls: "I use 50-pounders on my first set. In the off-season I increase this to 80 or 90 pound dumbbells for 6-8 reps. If its not my last set and I get less than 6 reps, then the weight is too heavy."
Concentration Curl: "My normal working weight here is 45-50-pounders for 6-8 reps. I went up to 80-pounders this past year since my tendon strength felt good."
Alternate exercise: "Sometimes I will finish off with Standing Barbell Curls with a partner. I pick a weight in which I can grind out ten hard reps. When I'm done I pass it to him. When he finishes his set, he passes it back. This makes for a fast pace and a brutal pump. We do this for two to three sets."
Seated Triceps Extensions: "I always start with some form of Triceps Extensions. I start fairly light (around 50 pounds) to warm my elbows up. I work my way up to at
ps Dip Machine for these. I start with around 210-225 and work my way up to using the entire stack. I really try to concentrate on feeling a strong contraction on the inner triceps. I lower these only halfway as an exaggerated range of motion seems to take stress off of the triceps and puts it on my shoulder joint."
Skullcrushers: "I start with a cambered bar with a 45-pound plate on each side (115 pounds total). I may work my way up to about 165 for 8-10 reps."
Lying Dumbell Extensions: "This is a great finishing movDHughes2.jpge! They are done with my upper arm held perpendicular to the ground and the arc of movement going across my face. I'll use a 35-pound dumbbell and go back and forth from arm to arm for just two sets of 8-10 reps. I concentrate on an inner triceps contraction on these as well."
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