Mass With Glass

QUESTION: You recently put MUSCLE INSIDER owner Scott Welch through an insane leg workout and we saw you do modified leg press unlike anything we've ever seen before. His foot was twisted so much while he pressed, we thought it was going to break with each rep! Besides being known as one of the most famous trainers in bodybuilding, you’re also well known for manipulating exercise techniques and form to better target muscle groups. What a lot of people don’t know is that you have a degree in engineering. Has your formal training helped you develop these techniques? 

ANSWER: Well, it’s pretty much trial and error. You go into a gym, and you’re looking at a piece of equipment. You think to yourself, “There has to be a better way of using this. Why should I use this the same way that everyone else is using it to get the same results? How can I make it better?” That mindset: the “‘How can I make it better?” That’s what it is ... What I normally do is take a guy to the room and look at him, have him strip down and have him do the mandatory poses first. We do the quarter turn, and then we start putting him through all the poses: front double biceps, lat spread, side chest, triceps, etc. We just go through all of them. Then, as we put them through the poses, I keep a chart with me, and I’ll start marking certain areas that I’ll target – 1 to 20. I’ll start marking on the chart which ones I consider the weakest, that being number one, and then I’ll go from there. In this way I’ll go back, and I’ll start thinking of exercises to help that body part.

PHOTO CREDIT: Martin Pillmajer