Austin, apologies if you’ve already answered this (but it IS a big thread), but how often do you cheat curl? I saw you talking about it in your vid on the last page, but I’d like you to expand on it, if you would? Do you do a cheat set every time you work your biceps? Or is it a ‘when I feel good’ type-of-thing? And how much heavier do you go above your last ‘strict’ set?
I really enjoy working my biceps and I usually add a few cheat reps on my last set of b/bell curls (2 or 3…5 at most), where I use my back/legs/shoulders to throw the weight up and then lowering slowly as I count to 5 on the way down. I believe that this has been the main reason for my arms growing recently and was just wondering if this has been your experience, too.
This pic is my arm at 18", about 250lbs, barely 6 feet tall.
Austin reminds me of myself in some ways, in that what he did by 18 took me until about 2 years ago, and I’m 36 now. I wish I’d eaten more and lifted heavier. I think I spent my first year of lifting doing cable crossovers for crying out loud. So I mean if I’d done stuff right I could’ve looked like him at his age. Did any of that make sense?
[quote]Badunk wrote:
Austin, apologies if you’ve already answered this (but it IS a big thread), but how often do you cheat curl? I saw you talking about it in your vid on the last page, but I’d like you to expand on it, if you would? Do you do a cheat set every time you work your biceps? Or is it a ‘when I feel good’ type-of-thing? And how much heavier do you go above your last ‘strict’ set?
I really enjoy working my biceps and I usually add a few cheat reps on my last set of b/bell curls (2 or 3…5 at most), where I use my back/legs/shoulders to throw the weight up and then lowering slowly as I count to 5 on the way down. I believe that this has been the main reason for my arms growing recently and was just wondering if this has been your experience, too.[/quote]
Well, I switch workouts up depending on how I am feeling. Sometimes I am more concerned with the pump rather than the weight and then other times I am just trying to beast out as much weight as possible. Typically every bicep workout I’ll either do a cheat set with some really heavy weight or I’ll at least add in a few cheat reps at the end of a set where I was doing all strict reps. Arnold loved cheat curls as well and his biceps were not lacking at all. Once you get to a certain level it seems imposible to keep the body from swaying at times and it’s probably best you didn’t sit there trying to force your body against its groove for fear of injury. Obviously the more weight I can do on either cheat curls, or strict curls, the bigger my biceps get, so I’ll stick with it. Lately the biceps have been hovering around the same size, but I am losing weight and they are looking dense which makes me think that it is possible to gain muscle while dropping fat. Anyways, hope that answers your question…
Very much so. It’s just re-inforced what I already know, but it’s good to get some re-assurance that you’re on the right track sometimes. I work with a training partner who doesn’t cheat on curls and he has stayed at 35kgx8 (which is where we started 6 weeks ago when we began training together), whereas I have cheated and have improved to 45kgx8 with strict form and, yet, he steadfastly refuses to alter his opinion. I will continue on the path to 18 inch arms. Thanks, Austin.
Here’s the deal, many of these guys will HAVE to look softer for a while to make progress like that. There is a reason so few of these guys who are more focused on how lean they are happen to be reaching this level of size in this amount of time.
had I posted a pic of the very first day I hit 18" arms, you would probably say the same shit about me. Hitting that size while being a little soft first and then growing into it basically has been my strategy from day one (I started at about 150lbs and yes, I fucked up quite a bit before I learned my own body’s limits).
It’s working for AustinB and it worked for me…even though it should be clear as day that he isn’t half assing it in the gym and neither did I.
This is not for people who just eat more and then go through the motions in the gym.
My arms are a hell of a lot bigger than 18" now and all of those people who told me I was carrying too much fat at times are WAY smaller.
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Prof X and AB…
in reference to that, do you think being fat as a kid is related to having to put on more weight to gain effectively? (i ‘believe’ being fat at one point in time makes it that much easier to put the fat back on due to more fat cells being created, then only depleted, but still there, when stored fat is used up… or so i’ve read)
i remember you (Prof X) mentioning people who were fatter as kids tend to have an easier time gaining than those who werent.
this past fall i managed to put on about 20 lbs (more fat than would have liked) and thought it was mainly due to this… thoughts?
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While this wasen’t directly related to me, I for one was an obese child, and can easily say I can gain mass far more easier than most of my peers, and have experianced gains at 2400 calories a day at 17 and 195
I Just hit 18"s the other day. Not great at 6’2" I know, but hopefully 19" by the end of the year! Austin… looking massive man!
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You know the rules, pics or it didn’t happen. It’s what this entire thread is about![/quote]
Yea I’m working on it, I just need to find the cable for my phone. [/quote]
I suppose that is slightly more believable than “I don’t have a camera.”
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Haha I eventually found it after digging through a few boxes. Its not a great pic but here it is.
Yeah I’ll just update progress in here whenever I feel fit. Here is 350 x 3 on bench, 19 years of age. Yes my ass rose off the bench a bit, yes I can do it without that happening, working on my arch, but I was pumped.
Yeah I’ll just update progress in here whenever I feel fit. Here is 350 x 3 on bench, 19 years of age. Yes my ass rose off the bench a bit, yes I can do it without that happening, working on my arch, but I was pumped.[/quote]
[quote]austin_bicep wrote:
Lost about 20 pounds plus too and I am getting stronger than ever, shit is crazy.[/quote]
Good work man, very impressive bench Video. I think I’m around a month out from breaking the 18 inch plateau (hey it’s hard at 5’7), but glad to see you’re leaning up and still getting stronger. What are your current stats for height/weight/bodyfat % estimate?
[quote]austin_bicep wrote:
Lost about 20 pounds plus too and I am getting stronger than ever, shit is crazy.[/quote]
Good work man, very impressive bench Video. I think I’m around a month out from breaking the 18 inch plateau (hey it’s hard at 5’7), but glad to see you’re leaning up and still getting stronger. What are your current stats for height/weight/bodyfat % estimate?[/quote]
Thanks bro, I’m 6’2, 240, BF no idea, I just no that I don’t have abs but they’re right under a thin layer of skin so maybe about 4-6 more weeks of diet adding in some instense cardio and I’ll be pretty lean.
[quote]Liv92 wrote:
Austin what are you doing (eating I guess) thats causing you to lose so much weight but u keep going up on strength? [/quote]
95% of my food intake is just healthy foods, no shit. Plus the bulk of my protein is now coming from whole foods and I still drink plenty of shakes, I just find whole foods to be the way to go.
Just did this yesterday, should be in the 405 club in a month or two…
