We don’t want to hurt ourselves. What follows is a selection of videos I found online with people demonstrating the drill. If one of these videos is yours, apologies for using it as a *bad example* – I only want to help people get strong and stay safe.

Mistake #1 – Extending The Arms

This video is a good example of someone overcompensating his lack of strength with bad form. Remember, the weight you use is not important. What matters is that you use perfect technique and gradually increase the weight over time. This ensures strength and lack of injuries.

In the full contact twist, the arms should remain locked or almost locked and no movement should come from them. Pushing with your triceps makes the exercise easier and thus less effective. Here is a screencap from the above video showing how the instructor pushes with his arms:

[Note how he is using the strength of his tricep to overcome a sticking point in the movement. Cheater, cheater ]

Mistake #2 – Using Restricted Range Of Motion

Using the full range of motion for the full contact twist means to always let the bar touch your thigh. There are two reasons for this, but before this – check out our cute model demonstrating crappy form. Now, let’s continue:

First, all natural full body movements need to be done with full range of motion in order to gain strength throughout the whole movement path that the joints allow. This results in both strength for your muscles and health for the joints.

Second, when you do the FCT and finish mid air, this means that your body, or center of gravity, is too distant from the weight. Which results in a long lever (or torque) acting on your spine. Ouch! If you still remember your physics, the longer the lever, the bigger the force it exerts. So keep your body close to the bar.

[Take note how this cutie here finishes the movement in mid air. Actually I’d say she doesn’t finish the movement at all – instead decides she’s had enough of the rep and just reverses it lol! If the bar were loaded with a few plates, it would pull on her spine!]

Mistake #3 – Staying In The In The Arch Position Instead Of The Hollow Position

An example for this mistake can be seen in two of the videos I shared with you above – check them out again if you like here and here. Basically these folks are tilting their pelvises back. This position activates the lower back but actually relaxes the abs. And, because with the FCT a heavy bar is trying to push you back, the last thing you want to do is extend backwards even more.

This mistake both severely restricts the amount of force you can exert, and makes the exercise unsafe, as the abdominal muscles are strong in the hollow position and weak in the arch position

[Check out how there is an exaggerated curve in their lower backs. This is a great example of proper form for the arch position. Problem is – the full contact twist needs to be done in the hollow position or you risk hurting your lower back. Ouch again!]

Mistake #4 – Not Rotating The Hips And The Trailing Foot

Here is a video showcasing this mistake. The guy has planted both of his feet and doesn’t rotate them. The hip is also almost stationary. This creates unnatural tension in the hip and knee joints.

The different joints of the body are created for different function. Without getting into too much detail, the hips and ankles need to be mobile and the knees need to be stable. The knee is a hinge joint – just like the hinge of a door it goes only in one plane – back and forth.

The mistake here is that by keeping the hips and ankles stable, the knee joint has to compensate with rotation. So the result is loss of strength because of the inefficient and unnatural movement as well as potential danger for the knee.

[Couldn’t come up with a funny comment here lol!]

Unrelated note: the past couple of weeks I’ve discovered a ton of new and very exciting fitness blogs. I will attempt to share with you some of them in the upcoming posts so both you and I can get to know them.

One of the new fitness bloggers I got to know is Charles Malina. He is a college student with a gymnastic background (he’s got what I call a ‘compact athletic/gymnastic look’) who stays in killer shape. Lets hope Charles shares some of the gymnastic training secrets.

Another new blogger I found is David Grim, a fellow basketball fan and player too. He used to be in top shape but after college basketball let himself go. Now at 37 he regained the physique of his youth. I’m looking forward to reading more practical tips from him.

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“The greatest art is to attain a balance, a balance between all opposites, a balance between all polarities. Imbalance is the disease and balance is health. Imbalance is neurosis, and balance is well-being.”
–Osho

The Olden Ways Of Bodybuilding

Bodybuilding split training was popularized with clever marketing tactics in the fitness magazines. Joe Weider, the original muscle mogul and number one physical culture entrepreneur of all time, used hi publishing empire as a means to dominate this niche. More often than not, what he published in his magazines was purely image-driven. It was completely different from the actual workouts of the bodybuilders that endorsed his products. My first contact with bodybuilding was through these same magazines. The PR-manufactured content brought confusion and lack of results in my training.

It wasn’t until I stumbled upon strength training with full body workouts and the principle of progressive overload that I started making gains. Many people have a similar experience with bodybuilding programs from the magazines.

Return Of The Strength

It was a time when the pendulum was swung completely in the direction of bodybuilding split training. The last few years the internet created a backlash against it and now the pendulum seems to be on the opposite side. The same marketing exploits once used by Weider’s magazines are now used by his opponents. Strength training and full body workouts are made out to be the holy grail.

Full Body Workouts Are The Best For Beginners

That actually was the big fallacy of the magazines – considering their readers are mainly novice adolescent boys, it was plain wrong to prescribe to them the workouts of professional bodybuilders with decades of experience.

Some Of The Strongest People On Earth Use Split Training

Walk in any gym and ask the strongest dude how he trains and no doubt his workout will have body part days. When you are trying to accomplish something and what you are doing isn’t working, the solution is not to start hammering your head against the wall HARDER. The solution is to find the thing that is going to take you to the next level. And do THAT thing.

The Body Is Like A Vessel

You can fill it up with a limited amount of strength for a given size.That’s why they have weight classes in sports. Now, the way to get past this is to train for size. Once you are bigger, you can then train for strength and fill up the new bigger vessel with more power. So, the way to go is choose the middle path between the two extremes.

Alternate Strength And Size For Continuous Progress

It’s the clever thing to do. Dogma doesn’t give you results. Smart training does. Proponents of both camps – bodybuilding and strength training, can learn a thing or two from each other. In fact, high level people of all walks of life don’t waste their time with such minutia. They don’t argue over theory. Let them PhD’s write their books trying to get a name for themselves and let us do what actually works. Here are just a few examples.

Arnold Schwarzenegger Got His Initial Size With Strength Training

His routine was inspired by his role model Reg Park. Park, pictured to the right, was an advocate for getting strong to get big. He was the father of training with 5 sets of 5 on the big basic exercises – squats, bench presses and deadlifts.

Arnold then polished his physique with high volume split training for size. Alternating training for strength and training for size clearly worked for him.

Lets swing the pendulum the other way. Here’s an extreme example – powerlifters. They are guys who care mostly for lifting as much weight as possible. The most successful ones alternate muscle building and strength training phases every 6-12 weeks.

Powerlifter Dave Tate Has Spent Years Dabbling In Both Powerlifting And Bodybuilding

“You can’t flex bone,” he likes to repeat. Strength is mostly neurological. It’s the ability to contract your muscles hard. It makes sense to be able to generate more force with a bigger muscle at your disposal. It just doesn’t work to train for strength only with a body that has hardly any muscle. If you are to contract your muscles harder and have barely any muscles, what are you going to contract?

Here Is Another Example – Bodybuilding Champion Ronnie Coleman.
He used to be a powerlifter and still trains with heavy weights for strength in addition to annihilating his muscles with size training.

OK, What If I Just Want To Look Good

Not strong as a crane and not big as a barn. Here is the deal – bulkiness comes from taking steroids and having layers of fat covering your body. An ordinary guy will find it hard to pack enough lean muscle mass to look bulky. Just stay lean and don’t worry about getting too big. But here is another example.

Actor Hugh Jackman Also Uses This Approach In His Training

[Hugh Jackman is definitely jacked.]

His trainer Steve Ramsbottom has him work for size with slower lifting speed and high volume (lots of sets and reps) for 6 – 12 weeks. When his progress comes to a halt, he switches to a strength training phase where he lifts heavy with lots of rest between exercises. And because he stays lean, he definitely doesn’t look bulky.

So train smart. Do what works and recognize dogma and marketing exploits, no matter which camp they come from, for what they are.

Image: chaojikazu

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This is what I experienced when I first became serious about working out 8 years ago. I wouldn’t miss workouts and yet I seemed to be stuck. In fact, I keep seeing the guys at the gym struggling to change their bodies OR get stronger. Truth is, I see this at most of the gyms I visit when I have to workout somewhere else. The cost of all this is not only that people fail to get their dream bodies, you know, the type of physiques that inspired them to start training, but also quit working out altogether.

And I don’t blame them.

You see, it is not your fault that you fail to progress in the gym. The mainstream advice in bodybuilding mags just plain sucks.

There is a solution.

Most of the guys that have respectable bodies at the local gym have found a way to get there. Unfortunately their way is not something approve of. It involves pumping yourself full of drugs meant to make animals produce more meat.

I am not about to start advocating anabolic steroids

For me that’s cheating. But there is a way to progress up to a certain point without compromising your health and integrity. It involves two things – perfecting your form on most exercises and training smart.

Bench Press Technique

Lets look at the bench press as an example. The goal here is two make your muscles work in the most natural and efficient position.

First, you need to take care of the way you lower the weight. Do it by pulling the bar towards you with your armpit muscles – the lats.

Second, the primal mover on a bench press done right is the triceps. In order to progress you need to make your triceps bigger and stronger.

Third, if you have sticking point in the movement – that is a place where you seem to not be able to push through time and again, this signifies that a certain muscle is weak.

Fix that.

If you get stuck at the bottom of the bench – you need to strengthen your torso muscles – chest, lats… If you fail up high – you’ve got weak triceps.

What to Do with Your Feet and Legs

Please put your feet on the floor and not on the bench if you are trying to get stronger. Keep your butt firmly on the bench. Push the ground through your heels. The force will transfer from the ground through your feet to the bar.

How to Grip the Bar

Always squeeze and grip as hard as you can. It’s called irradiation – the harder you grip, the stronger all the other neighboring muscles will become. So if you squeeze hard, your forearms, arms and chest will become stronger and it will be easier to push more weight.

When doing pushing movements such as dips and presses, always make sure the bar stays towards the heel of your palm and not towards your fingers. It will make all the difference for the health of your wrists. Not to mention you’ll be stronger.

How to Protect Your Shoulders

Lots of people complain of bad shoulders from benching. To make things worse, many of us spend the day hunched over on a desk. To top that, folks fail to train the muscles of their back in order to counter for the tons of bench pressing and the poor posture.

If you don’t want to have shoulder surgery, there are two things you need to know regarding bench press technique.

First – lower the bard to the bottom of your chest – the place where your stomach muscles meet your rib cage.

Second – don’t have your elbows flared out to the sides. Instead, have your arms at a 45 degree angle to your body. In other words, they will be a little tucked in.

Third, squeeze your shoulder blades and upper back and press hard against the bench.

Smart Training

Here’s the deal. You are going to learn 3 workouts that will increase your bench press by 5-15lbs (2-7kg) in the next 12 days.

You will train every day, Monday through Friday, rest on the weekend and then again Monday through Friday for a total of 10 workouts. You will be doing 2 sets of 5 reps.

Lets say you can bench 100lbs for 5 reps. Plan it so that you will hit 5-15 more lbs on the 10th workout. Lets say 110lbs. Now work back from this to establish your starting weight for your first workout. Each day you are going to do just two sets and the second set is going to be roughly 10% lighter. Make sure to rest 3-5 minutes between sets. The first few workouts will feel kind of useless. Don’t change the weight! Pretend it is heavy and squeeze your muscles hard. This is going to fool your body and make you stronger. Now after you hit your 10th workout, you can start over at 75lbs, etc.

Workout 1 – Set 1 – 70 pounds/5 reps – Set 2 – 60 pounds/5 reps
Workout 2 – Set 1 – 75 pounds/5 reps – Set 2 – 65 pounds/5 reps
Workout 3 – Set 1 – 80 pounds/5 reps – Set 2 – 70 pounds/5 reps
Workout 4 – Set 1 – 85 pounds/5 reps – Set 2 – 75 pounds/5 reps
Workout 5 – Set 1 – 90 pounds/5 reps – Set 2 – 80 pounds/5 reps
Workout 6 – Set 1 – 95 pounds/5 reps – Set 2 – 85 pounds/5 reps
Workout 7 – Set 1 – 100 pounds/5 reps – Set 2 – 90 pounds/5 reps
Workout 8 – Set 1 – 105 pounds/5 reps – Set 2 – 95 pounds/5 reps
Workout 9 – Set 1 – 110 pounds/5 reps – Set 2 – 100 pounds/5 reps
Workout 10 – Set 1 – 115 pounds/5 reps – Set 2 – 105 pounds/5 reps

This is the simplest workout – a linear strength training cycle. It is called linear cause each subsequent workout you just add a bit more weight. To change things up a bit, here are two more variations.

The Step Cycle

In this workout you are going to stay at each weight for two workouts to make your gains solid.

Workout 1 – Set 1 – 90 pounds/5 reps – Set 2 – 80 pounds/5 reps
Workout 2 – Set 1 – 90 pounds/5 reps – Set 2 – 80 pounds/5 reps
Workout 3 – Set 1 – 95 pounds/5 reps – Set 2 – 85 pounds/5 reps
Workout 4 – Set 1 – 95 pounds/5 reps – Set 2 – 85 pounds/5 reps
Workout 5 – Set 1 – 100 pounds/5 reps – Set 2 – 90 pounds/5 reps
Workout 6 – Set 1 – 100 pounds/5 reps – Set 2 – 90 pounds/5 reps
Workout 7 – Set 1 – 105 pounds/5 reps – Set 2 – 95 pounds/5 reps
Workout 8 – Set 1 – 105 pounds/5 reps – Set 2 – 95 pounds/5 reps
Workout 9 – Set 1 – 110 pounds/5 reps – Set 2 – 100 pounds/5 reps
Workout 10 – Set 1 – 110 pounds/5 reps – Set 2 – 100 pounds/5 reps

The Wave Cycle

With the wave cycle you are still going up in the overall poundage, but you are going to do it in a sort of two step forward one step back manner.

Workout 1 – Set 1 – 90 pounds/5 reps – Set 2 – 80 pounds/5 reps
Workout 2 – Set 1 – 85 pounds/5 reps – Set 2 – 75 pounds/5 reps
Workout 3 – Set 1 – 90 pounds/5 reps – Set 2 – 80 pounds/5 reps
Workout 4 – Set 1 – 95 pounds/5 reps – Set 2 – 85 pounds/5 reps
Workout 5 – Set 1 – 90 pounds/5 reps – Set 2 – 80 pounds/5 reps
Workout 6 – Set 1 – 95 pounds/5 reps – Set 2 – 85 pounds/5 reps
Workout 7 – Set 1 – 100 pounds/5 reps – Set 2 – 90 pounds/5 reps
Workout 8 – Set 1 – 95 pounds/5 reps – Set 2 – 85 pounds/5 reps
Workout 9 – Set 1 – 100 pounds/5 reps – Set 2 – 90 pounds/5 reps
Workout 10 – Set 1 – 105 pounds/5 reps – Set 2 – 95 pounds/5 reps

If you haven’t trained for strength in this way before the results will be fantastic. You can expect to gain 30-40lbs/15-20kg of strength in 2 months.

Image credit: XirannisX en Off Usodesita

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Beginner, Intermediate Or Advanced?

This may shock some people who have been training for many years and have achieved a certain degree of success, but you just don’t get to be advanced only because you started training a certain number of years ago. If you have roughly achieved the strength goals that I will list below, you can consider yourself advanced. If not, you are either a beginner, or an intermediate trainee.

Beginner Strength Training Milestones

You can stay on the Strength and Size Full Body workout until you reach these numbers:

• Barbell Squat – 15 reps with 200lbs/90kg.
• One legged calf raise – 15 reps with a 30lbs/14kg dumbbell.
• Military Press – 10 reps with 120lbs/55 kg or with 60lbs/27kg dumbbells
• Pull-ups and Chin-ups – 10 reps with 25lbs/12kg
• Dips (video)- 10 reps with 50lbs/24kg
• Barbell Biceps Curls – 10 reps with 100lbs/45kg or with 50lbs/22kg dumbbells
• Barbell Deadlift – 15 reps with 200lbs/90kg

Here is the good part though – if you are a beginner or an intermediate, I have good news for you. Following the Strength and Size Full Body program, you will achieve your goals. And fast!

The Schedule

You will be training 3 days per week – Monday-Wednesday-Friday, Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday, Saturday-Monday-Wednesday (I personally train on these days) – just pick one schedule according to how busy your life is and how tired you are each day. Ideally you should train on days you feel you have the most energy.

Save Additional Stress For Off Days

If you are on the eat stop eat diet, I highly recommend to do it on days you don’t train with weights. You should strive to make each workout as productive as possible in order to progress the fastest. The same goes if you are trying to lose a bit of fat with jumping rope or turbulence training style workouts. Do these on off days. The Strength and Size program gives fast results but in order to do that it needs all your energy and your full commitment on each workout, each exercise, each set and each repetition.

Beginner Strength Training – Sets and Reps

• Barbell Squat – 1 set – 8 to 20 reps. When you can do more than 20 reps, add 10-20lbs/5-10kg
• One legged calf raise – 1 set – 8 to 20 reps. When you can do more than 20 reps, add a 5 10lb/5kg dumbbell. Next, choose the next heavier dumbbell, etc.
• Military Press – 2 sets of 8-14 reps. When you are able to do 12 reps on the second set, add more weight to the bar (the smallest possible increment) or go for the next heavier dumbbells.
• Alternate the Military Press with Chin-ups or Pull-ups – again 2 sets, 8-14 reps. When you are able to do 12 reps on the second set, choose a heavier dumbbell to hold between your feet.
• Dips (video)- 2 sets of 8-14 reps. When you are able to do 12 reps on the second set, add more weight
• Alternate the dips with Barbell Curls or Dumbbell Curls – 2 sets of 8-14 reps. When you are able to do 12 reps on the second set, add more weight
• Barbell Deadlift – 1 set 8 to 15 reps – when you can comfortably do 15 reps (each rep starts on the floor as if it was the first one) add more weight.

Note: you must choose a weight that you can do at least 8 reps for all designated sets. In other words, if on the first set you do 9 reps, but on the second – only 7, then the weight has been too big.

Here Is How the Workout Would Look Like

Barbell Squat – 8-20 reps
Calf raise – 8-20 reps
Dumbbell Shoulder Press or Military Press – 8-14 reps
Chin-ups or Pull-ups – 8-14 reps
Dumbbell Shoulder Press or Military Press – 8-12 reps
Chin ups or Pull-ups - 8-12 reps
Dips – 8-14 reps
Barbell Biceps Curls or Alternating Dumbbell Biceps Curls 8-14 reps
Dips – 8-12 reps
Barbell Biceps Curls or Alternating Dumbbell Biceps Curls 8-12 reps
Barbell Deadlift – 8-15 reps

The Fastest Way to Grow Muscle

To get bigger you have to get stronger. The gird or cross-section area of the muscle corresponds to its strength. That fastest way to get stronger is to progress on each workout. So if you train your shoulders for example with shoulder presses and train 3 times per week, this would give better results than if you just trained them (and progressed) once a week. The ultimate goal here is to reach the strength training milestones as fast as possible. Why waste your time in the gym?

Give the program a shot if your strength is below the stats listed here. This is the fastest way for beginners to reach decent strength and size levels.

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