Muscle & Fitness Australia - Issue 352 - June 2017

JUNE 2017 MUSCLE & FITNESS 75

adipbarasyouwouldfornormal

dips,onlythistimeyou’llkeep

yourbodystraightupanddown

(perpendicular to the ground) and

your feet under you rather than

crossed behind. Lower yourself until

yourforearmandupperarmmakea

90-degreeangle,thenpushbackup.

Tohitthelateralhead,Bryant

suggests straight-bar cable

pushdowns. “The lateral head is

the one most responsible for the

‘horseshoe’shapeofthetriceps,”

Bryantsays.“Workingitisextremely

important to get that look.” Any

movement that pushes weight down

willhitthelateralhead,whichruns

on the outside of the arm, but this

is his favourite. Start with the bar

about chest level, your elbows in

tight to your body and your upper

arms pointing straight down to the

ground. Keep your elbows tucked

tightlyintoyourbodyandpushthe

bardownwhilekeepingyourupper

armsstatic.Feelyourtricepsmoving

theweight–andyourhorseshoe

gettingmoreandmorecut.

The triceps muscle has three

“heads”:long,medialandlateral.

The lateral is key to the horseshoe.

GOAL NO.3 GET THE TRICEPS

HORSESHOE

GOAL NO.2 BROADEN YOUR

CHEST

●NOBODY LIKESachicken

chest.Ifyouwanttoprojectan

imageofstrengthandpower,a

broad,chiselledchestisoneofthe

oldest,mosttime-honouredwaysof

doingit.Buttherearebetterways

tobuildpecsthanthebenchpress.

“The bench does work the chest,”

Murphysays,“butitalsoworksa

bunchofsecondarymuscles,likethe

deltoids and triceps among others.”

With these other exercises added

to your once-a-week pec workout,

you’llhavea“chestyoucanbalance

abeeron”innotime.

Murphy first suggests the under-

rated decline dumbbell press. “It

activates more pec fibres than any

other exercise,” he says. “It’s almost

all pec because the range of motion

is so short that your delts and

triceps don’t do a ton of work.” The

angle also allows you to use heavier

weights, which equates to more work

and a bigger chest. (Use a weight that

allows 10 to 12 reps on your first set,

perform five sets, pushing each one

until you’re one rep shy of failure.)

Then it’s on to f lyes. Murphy

advises using bands or chains to put

less wear and tear on the shoulders.

(When the weight unloads as you go

down on chain f lyes, your shoulders

will be safer at the bottom and you’ll

get a more powerful pec contraction

at the shoulder.) With bands, you

can loop an exercise band around

each hand and behind your back

you can while keeping your back,

neck and upper arms straight and

perpendicular to the ground. It’s

important to perform the full range

of motion if you want better results.

Slowly return the weight to the

overhead starting position.

Then the triceps dip is Bryant’s

top choice for hitting this deep-

down part of the triceps. Set up on

before picking up dumbbells. (Do

four sets of 15 to 20 reps.)

Finally, “dips are like the squat

for the upper body,” says Murphy.

“They’re a great way to increase

pec mass.” They press the muscles

fully and also hit stabilising lats and

abs hard when done with proper

technique. (Perform 50 dips in as

few sets as possible.)

But to really stimulate growth, try

suspension trainer f lyes, which utilise

full-body tension. “Plus, it’s done

from an angle that you hardly ever

use when doing presses,” Murphy

says, “which creates a new stimulus

that causes your nervous system and

muscles to work differently.”

To do it, maintain a strong plank

position through each f lye. Perform

40 total in as few sets as possible,

with your body at a 45-degree angle.

● NEWS FLASH: biceps may be

cool, but triceps make up the bulk of

the upper arms. Growing big arms

and – even more impressive, carving

out a detailed triceps horseshoe –

means working every part of the

muscle. “You need to make sure you

hit all three heads of the muscle

• long, medial and lateral,” says
  trainer Noah Bryant. “While you
  can’t completely isolate them, you
  can do exercises that emphasise each
  one.” Add these three moves to your
  routine as much as twice per week –
  on chest day and shoulder day.
  The first exercise, which hits
  your triceps’ “long head,” is the
  EZ-curl bar French press. To do it,
  sit on a bench and grasp the EZ-
  curl bar with a pronated grip. Start
  with straight arms and the bar
  directly overhead. Lower the bar by
  bending at the elbows. Go as far as

BUILD THE PERFECT BODY