Dave Draper’s Musclebuilding Q&A

Now that summer is approaching, we are inundated with various health magazines focusing on the “abs” and frankly I am confused.  Some advocate training the abs every day; some say it is like any other muscle and needs a rest day, high reps no resistance, low reps some resistance.  I have one magazine boasting 150 different abs exercises! In examining photos from your competition days, you not only had well defined abs, but something you do not see anymore, namely a small waist.

Not everyone is structured and genetically qualified to have those worshipped and longed-for and will-die-for abs. I eventually adapted to working the core for health and strength through a variety of hi-rep leg raises, incline leg raises, weighted leg raises and hanging leg raises along with hyperextensions and hip-thrusting crunches and rope tucks.

Roman chairs were popular in the day… no longer…  and crunches are not good for ya.

I prefer sets of mixed reps on the higher end (25 - 50 reps), not the 100+ stuff. And three days a week  serves me best, with an ever-vigilant eye on the high protein, lower fat and carb menu.

Rope tucks are my favorite core and midsection movement, plus a hit on low incline leg raises and hypers.

Have fun… DD

What are your thoughts on side bends for oblique work while holding a 45-pound plate, bending side to side?  And do you like the weighted sit-up machine or do you think regular crunches are better?

I’d skip the side bends, as you might build up the obliques and thicken the area. Let your rope tucks and hanging leg raises, hyperextensions and overall training and smart eating do the deed.

Don’t like the machine either (spine antagonism), and crunches have been recently downgraded for similar reason — too much spinal flexion.

You might like more core work… I love repetition one-arm dumbbell cleans, floor to overhead, as a rugged body exercise (4×8 reps). Lots of gut and system and energy.

Press on… Godspeed

I’ve had some surgeries and when I ask my doctor about training, he tells me like all bodybuilders I’m a fanatic and should just do cardio. I would like to bulk up some before I become plant food, but can’t seem to move forward without pain.

Fact is, without bearing (experiencing) your limitations myself, I have no credible way to offer a plan to circumvent or fix them. I’d only be guessing. Your doctor’s not too far off in associating bodybuilders with fanatics, however basic exercise modified by you (or a PT) is essential to injury repair, and muscle and structure rehab.

Training in a fundamental home gym does wonders for the healthy and fully functioning lifter, but a professional gym with a variety machines serves him well when struggling with basic disabilities and injuries. You might consider this route; you can then sample the various pieces of equipment like foods at smorgasbord and discover a routine that suits your needs and abilities, likes and dislikes.

Same thing at home; you need to apply trial and error cautiously and, depending on your 10-year past experience, create, devise, invent and improvise exercises and movements that “do the trick.”

Thought Heap:

• Warming up with light weights and reasonably high reps, partial movements and limited range of motion, always concentrating on form and pain, and optional grooves.
• Pushing and pressing as well as pulling and curling… one-arm dumbbell movements (concentration curls, laterals, rows, tri-extensions) allow you to carve out exercise grooves that dodge the painful regions.
• Barbell curls are wearing on the joints as hands are held in an unnatural straight-line forward-grip position ­ stress and strain are born by wrists, elbows and deltoid regions. Beware! Bent bar is good alternative.
• Reps don’t have to be high all the time with all exercises. I often work in the 15, 12, 10, 8, 6 rep-ranges with weight increments between sets, 3 to 5 sets per exercise.

I do this all the time and some of my best workouts and my most informative workouts have come while training under the tutorship of stern injuries. Sensible daring, warming up lots, focus persuaded by pain, groove creativity and finesse rule; light, smart, well paced, with a bite of intensity on a few well-chosen reps for spice.

Pump and burn — no setting records or showing off.

Never quit! (tell that to your doctor)… Godspeed… Dave

Try as I might, my obliques seem to be undeveloped. Can you suggest two exercises for obliques (twists don’t seem to work for me) that do not need any equipment?

Don’t try to develop them specifically. Instead, do more core training for the entire mid-section.

I like repetition one-arm dumbbell snatches (clean dumbbell from floor to overhead position and repeat). Accentuate a sufficient torso twist in the action to engage obliques and sweep of the lats. Hold on to a rigid upright (squat rack) for support. 4 sets x 10, 8, 6, 6 reps.

Great muscle-builder with systemic benefits.

All overhead pressing is good.

See ya… Carry on… Dave

What’s your opinion of the Roman Chair?

My observation, my opinion: Killer on the lower back (lumbar region) and doesn’t engage abs in the healthiest, most efficient and productive way.

Go hanging leg raises and rope tucks.

dd

Please explain what a rope tuck is. You write of this often and I don’t know this one.

The standing cable rope tucks are a relatively high-rep exercise (25 to 35) that quickly attack the midsection as we tug with bent arms close to the body and vary the downward motion from front, to left and to right.

As the reps, pump and burn pile up, extend the arms and the resistance is transferred to the greater upper body. Biceps, triceps, serratus, lats, pecs and the entire back are fully engaged. And there’s panting, cardiovascular work at play.

While specifically an abdominal exercise, it can be manipulated by body positioning and concentrated muscle contraction to work countless details of the upper torso. Start with a pulley system that provides a single overhead cable from which you can attach your favorite rope handle. Choose an appropriate weight through trial and error (approximately thirty percent of bodyweight), grab the rope, kneel down about three feet in front of the system and sit back on your heels. Bend forward toward the weight stack with the rope under tension and close to your lowered forehead. You’re ready to practice the movement as you assess the resistance on your abs and throughout the upper body, determine your range of motion and facility to move with muscle-focused efficiency.

The first ten reps are performed with the arms held rigid, rope-grasping fists near the temples, the torso moving up and down by the power of the abs. Important: the entire abdominal muscles are contracted to do the hard work. Don’t lunge forward and accomplish the motion with the assistance of your bodyweight. Nice try.

Moving on, continue the action with a slight shift of the body and grip predominance to the right for five longer-motion reps, and, likewise, shift to the left and repeat. These variations add interest and further the involvement of the torso to include the obliques and intercostals. An extended overhead range of motion affected by the cable enables you to bring in serratus and lats while you are continually loading, stimulating and fatiguing the grip and biceps.

Raise the weight, lower the reps and the movement is powerful. No, not an earth mover, but it’s strong and intense. Furthermore, it offers freedom and spontaneity, that great sense of muscle exploration and exercise improvisation according to feel, urge and desire. There are muscles just waiting to be discovered and involved and energized and developed.

I’m convinced I could superset five sets of cable tucks of diverse ROM, resistance and repetitions with freehand or machine dips of similar variation and exit the gym a proud and exhilarated musclehead — no regrets.

I am 60 years old and would like to know what kind of stomach routine and diet I can do to lose that pooch in the lower stomach below the waistline. I have been working out with weights for about a month now, mostly on a weight machine, and doing some stomach work such as crunches and situps.

Add leg raises, hanging leg raises, rope tucks and hyperextensions to your routine in a fashion customized to suit your day-by-day needs and desires and energy.

Crunches should be done with attention to lifting pelvic area to upper torso for healthiest muscle engagement.

Mix multiple sets of fixed reps of your chosen exercise one workout alternated with single sets of max reps for another.

Mainly, work hard and with focus and a sound, likeable pace. Three days a week should be sufficient.

Throw in aerobics (bike, walk) and certainly musclebuilding weight training-a-plenty.
Eat right and be consistent or you’ll go nowhere slowly. Your first month should lead to another and another without termination. We call it living, lifting, learning and growing.

Long live the bombers… Godspeed… Dave