Certain Muscles Refuse to Grow

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
21

Honestly, my guess is that you have developed poor neuromuscular connections with the muscles that you are having a hard time with. You say your chest and shoulders are lacking, but your triceps are great. Well, it sounds like you’re probably a triceps dominant bencher (or presser or any type, i.e. military).

You say your biceps are lacking but your posterior chain (back, hams, etc…) are huge/solid. You may be using way too much body english while doing curls.

Here’s my suggestion. Try dropping the weight and really focusing on contracting the muscles that you want to be working on your exercises.

So, instead of worrying about simply lifting the weight, instead try with all your might to actually contract/“flex” the desired muscle against the resistance, and make sure that that muscle is doing the work throughout the entire set. If that muscle can no longer do the work, terminate the set.

Do this for at least a couple weeks (perhaps longer) until you really build that mind muscle connection. Then when you go back to heavier lifting you should be much more efficient at recruiting those muscles. Beware though that if you go too heavy, your naturally dominant muscles will once again take over and you’ll be back to “square one”.

Hope this helps.

Sentoguy

P.S. Merlin, great posts on the importance of the mind in building muscle.

22

Even though Arnold popularized this ‘mind-muscle connection’, we still know he did gallons of test and kilograms of d-bol which is responsible for his monstrous size. Whatever ‘connection’ exists it is not going to make your arms any bigger.

Now, positive mental attitude is food but you can positive think and self-talk all you want- if you’re not gettin it, you’re not gettin it. This isn’t altered-state visualization sessions like they do for basketball and other sports, this is thinking good thoughts and imagining the muscles are big…this isn’t going to do anything except give you something to do between sets.

This whole mental edge thing comes into play during competition, sure, but as far as a little guy imagining he can military press 315 lbs for 10 by approaching the bar in a positive way, well…you know what’s going to happen regardless. If you’re able, you’re able- shitty attitude or super positve. Your biceps will grow or not depending on load factors not positive thinking.

23

JM Presses look like a great movement. If you wouldnt’ mind what would an ideal heavy arms workout look like set/rep scheme-wise. And what exercises work the arms the most, JM Press, Barbell Curl, Chin-Ups, Dips…?

24

IF I were you, I would probably block out anything this guy(USNS physique) has to say …an obvious mental midget. Sentoguy usually always has good posts and will give you some solid advice.

Remember these guys with the bad attitudes are nobodys …this is why they have the attitude.

**Two points:

1- You will only be capable of what you let yourself believe you are capable of. Telling yourself is not enough. You have to BELIVE it or it just won’t happen. THIS is the difference between those who make it and those who don’t. This is why the bad attitude fellas will fail without any mental edge or toughness …they just don’t have the right attitude to believe in themselves or anybody else for that matter.

2- The worst program in the world will be far more usefull with the right mindset, then the best program in the world with the wrong mindset.

Your mindset is what limits your potential. Limit your mind, then just accept the limitations you just accepted to believe.

It all comes down to what you believe. When tiger Woods was 8 years old and he convinced himself he was going to beat all the Pros, would this have happened with an attitude of a guy like “USNS physique”? …No chance in hell.

That THING that seperates the making it from those that don’t overcome is THIS mental attitude.

I guarentee you that the losers that have those bad mental attitudes will certainly LOSE!

Listen to Gironda, not some mental midgets who like to toot their own horns and ideas …they don’t know jack shit, they just THINK they do. See… they BELIEVE they know something. Take it from the best like TIGER and Vince, not these mental losers. Follow the source, follow the mental winners.

merlin

25

[quote]Sentoguy wrote:
Honestly, my guess is that you have developed poor neuromuscular connections with the muscles that you are having a hard time with. You say your chest and shoulders are lacking, but your triceps are great. Well, it sounds like you’re probably a triceps dominant bencher (or presser or any type, i.e. military).

You say your biceps are lacking but your posterior chain (back, hams, etc…) are huge/solid. You may be using way too much body english while doing curls.

Here’s my suggestion. Try dropping the weight and really focusing on contracting the muscles that you want to be working on your exercises.

So, instead of worrying about simply lifting the weight, instead try with all your might to actually contract/“flex” the desired muscle against the resistance, and make sure that that muscle is doing the work throughout the entire set. If that muscle can no longer do the work, terminate the set.

Do this for at least a couple weeks (perhaps longer) until you really build that mind muscle connection. Then when you go back to heavier lifting you should be much more efficient at recruiting those muscles. Beware though that if you go too heavy, your naturally dominant muscles will once again take over and you’ll be back to “square one”.

Hope this helps.

Sentoguy

[/quote]

Solid advice!

merlin

26

all the visualization and motivation in the world isn’t gona get me to bench press 500 lbs tomorrow if my max is 245. You can speak of mind over matter all you want, but if something is not within your limits, it’s not gona happen. If you think 500 is within my limits tomorrow just with visualization and motivation, why don’t you go try and do 2x your bench press tomorrow and see what happens? hell, why not 5x?

27

[quote]lifter85 wrote:
all the visualization and motivation in the world isn’t gona get me to bench press 500 lbs tomorrow if my max is 245. You can speak of mind over matter all you want, but if something is not within your limits, it’s not gona happen. If you think 500 is within my limits tomorrow just with visualization and motivation, why don’t you go try and do 2x your bench press tomorrow and see what happens? hell, why not 5x?[/quote]

Good point! This is the point!

Do you think you will ever convince yourself & your mind that you will bench 500 lbs? My guess is you will answer NO …right? There you have it.

This aint rocket science. If you can’t convince yourself of it, don’t expect to do it. Those that seem to have miracles …why? They never ever once believed that THAT would happen.

You guys are answering your own questions and just too ignorant to realize really.

Do you even know the difference between what you believe and what you don’t believe? Figure that out, then there’s your answer again.

merlin

28

[quote]lifter85 wrote:
but if something is not within your limits, it’s not gona happen. If you think 500 is within my limits tomorrow just with visualization and motivation, why don’t you go try and do 2x your bench press tomorrow and see what happens? hell, why not 5x?[/quote]

No problem. I’ll get a 65 year old woman that weighs 100lbs to do it. All I have to do is trap her husband under a 500lb bar and give him plenty of time for spotters to remove the weight before it would kill him. Tell the lady there was an accident & she has to lift this weight off of her husband in 5 seconds or he will die.

Do you think the lady will believe she has to lift the weight and do it, or does simply believing this still cause her to fail? Is this even possible. Her max bench is 40 lbs prior to this experiment. If it is believable, the body will respond. You are missing a key word here… BELIEVE!

What are my chances? If you say zero, you are as ignorant as the doctor that brought you into this world.

merlin

29

[quote]lifter85 wrote:
all the visualization and motivation in the world isn’t gona get me to bench press 500 lbs tomorrow if my max is 245. You can speak of mind over matter all you want, but if something is not within your limits, it’s not gona happen. If you think 500 is within my limits tomorrow just with visualization and motivation, why don’t you go try and do 2x your bench press tomorrow and see what happens? hell, why not 5x?[/quote]

Nobody is saying what you suggest. Of course I cannot think my way into a 1000 pound deadlift, but if you do not believe that self defeating attitudes WILL defeat somebody you are mistaken in the extreme.

Any world class powerlifter will tell you that somebody who does not know for a fact that they will get this lift, somebody who doesn’t “see” themselves locked out with the crowd cheering before they touch the bar, that person will not be winning any competitions.

At it’s most basic level this is human nature 101. A person who doesn’t REALLY believe something is possible for them will not REALLY try to accomplish it.

30

[quote]Tiribulus wrote:
lifter85 wrote:
all the visualization and motivation in the world isn’t gona get me to bench press 500 lbs tomorrow if my max is 245. You can speak of mind over matter all you want, but if something is not within your limits, it’s not gona happen. If you think 500 is within my limits tomorrow just with visualization and motivation, why don’t you go try and do 2x your bench press tomorrow and see what happens? hell, why not 5x?

Nobody is saying what you suggest. Of course I cannot think my way into a 1000 pound deadlift, but if you do not believe that self defeating attitudes WILL defeat somebody you are mistaken in the extreme.

Any world class powerlifter will tell you that somebody who does not know for a fact that they will get this lift, somebody who doesn’t “see” themselves locked out with the crowd cheering before they touch the bar, that person will not be winning any competitions.

At it’s most basic level this is human nature 101. A person who doesn’t REALLY believe something is possible for them will not REALLY try to accomplish it.[/quote]

I’m glad you understand reality Tiribulus, I almost BELIEVED I was the only one in this thread that understood this concept. Almost! I never believed that for a second …voila!!! What I believed became reality …who woulda thunk it?

merlin

31

[quote]merlin wrote:
lifter85 wrote:
but if something is not within your limits, it’s not gona happen. If you think 500 is within my limits tomorrow just with visualization and motivation, why don’t you go try and do 2x your bench press tomorrow and see what happens? hell, why not 5x?

No problem. I’ll get a 65 year old woman that weighs 100lbs to do it. All I have to do is trap her husband under a 500lb bar and give him plenty of time for spotters to remove the weight before it would kill him. Tell the lady there was an accident & she has to lift this weight off of her husband in 5 seconds or he will die.

Do you think the lady will believe she has to lift the weight and do it, or does simply believing this still cause her to fail? Is this even possible. Her max bench is 40 lbs prior to this experiment. If it is believable, the body will respond. You are missing a key word here… BELIEVE!

What are my chances? If you say zero, you are as ignorant as the doctor that brought you into this world.

merlin
[/quote]

fine, you go to the gym tomorrow and bench press 2,000 lbs. if you don’t, then you can’t even live up to your own words. end of story. hey, just pretend your significant other is trapped under the 2,000 lbs. it shouldn’t be a problem. there’s no excuse around this, don’t try and say that’s not your point, as it’s exactly your point. if your mind can do anything, then there shouldn’t be any problem at all. go get em

32

Today I have arms, I will be doing Poliquin’s German Volume Training
10 sets of 10 reps or failure
of the best bicep and tricep exercise merlin calls out for muscle-mind connection. What do i have to lose, after all, one day days worth of arm training?

33

[quote]WildShoe wrote:
Today I have arms, I will be doing Poliquin’s German Volume Training
10 sets of 10 reps or failure
of the best bicep and tricep exercise merlin calls out for muscle-mind connection. What do i have to lose, after all, one day days worth of arm training?[/quote]

I agree and also what Sentoguy was saying is probably right in your ballpark as well not to take away from others that were trying to help. The mind muscle connection or neuromuscular coordination is absolutely vital when trying to target muscles for stimulation. Anybody who denies that is just plain wrong. This would be true if Arnold were never born and has nothing to do with him beyond the fact that he clearly recognized it.

34

[quote]lifter85 wrote:
merlin wrote:
lifter85 wrote:
but if something is not within your limits, it’s not gona happen. If you think 500 is within my limits tomorrow just with visualization and motivation, why don’t you go try and do 2x your bench press tomorrow and see what happens? hell, why not 5x?

No problem. I’ll get a 65 year old woman that weighs 100lbs to do it. All I have to do is trap her husband under a 500lb bar and give him plenty of time for spotters to remove the weight before it would kill him. Tell the lady there was an accident & she has to lift this weight off of her husband in 5 seconds or he will die.

Do you think the lady will believe she has to lift the weight and do it, or does simply believing this still cause her to fail? Is this even possible. Her max bench is 40 lbs prior to this experiment. If it is believable, the body will respond. You are missing a key word here… BELIEVE!

What are my chances? If you say zero, you are as ignorant as the doctor that brought you into this world.

merlin

fine, you go to the gym tomorrow and bench press 2,000 lbs. if you don’t, then you can’t even live up to your own words. end of story. hey, just pretend your significant other is trapped under the 2,000 lbs. it shouldn’t be a problem. there’s no excuse around this, don’t try and say that’s not your point, as it’s exactly your point. if your mind can do anything, then there shouldn’t be any problem at all. go get em
[/quote]

Lets put some logic to your statement. You seem to leave that out. First, me bench pressing 2,000 lbs …I don’t think there will ever be any point in my life or death situation where i will believe that is possible. 2nd, the reason the old lady lifts the car off her trapped husband is because she believed she could do it, it was possible in her mind and in reality this happened. If she didn’t, he DIES! They circumstance has to be BELIEVABLE …this is passing by right over your head.(vroooooooooooooooooooooom!!!)

Are you still lost sonny? nobody has ever benched 2,000 lbs …you won’t find one person on eart that will believe they can do this.

You’re confusing Belief & Reality with Thoughts & No reality. You’re not even close.

1- You have to Believe first, to do it… otherwise expect a miracle if it does happen.
2- It has to be realistic enough to convince yourself of.

Can a guy who maxes 400 and never maxed over that before, convince himself that he’s doing 450 today no matter what …YES! Only …I repeat Only if in his mind he is convinced he will move that amout. He believes it, he doesn’t think it. Thinking is for shit. Belief is power!

Reality can be convinced. Your thinking of miracles. Stop thinking son, its rotting your brain. Start believing in reality.

merlin

35

[quote]Tiribulus wrote:
WildShoe wrote:
Today I have arms, I will be doing Poliquin’s German Volume Training
10 sets of 10 reps or failure
of the best bicep and tricep exercise merlin calls out for muscle-mind connection. What do i have to lose, after all, one day days worth of arm training?

I agree and also what Sentoguy was saying is probably right in your ballpark as well not to take away from others that were trying to help. The mind muscle connection or neuromuscular coordination is absolutely vital when trying to target muscles for stimulation. Anybody who denies that is just plain wrong. This would be true if Arnold were never born and has nothing to do with him beyond the fact that he clearly recognized it.[/quote]

Logic!

Gotta love that!

merlin

36

Merlin, or anyone else, besides concentration curls, what are the best bicep/tricep exercises for getting complete isolation of the muscle and really being able to go light and concentrate?

37

1- You will only be capable of what you let yourself believe you are capable of. Telling yourself is not enough. You have to BELIVE it or it just won’t happen. THIS is the difference between those who make it and those who don’t. This is why the bad attitude fellas will fail without any mental edge or toughness …they just don’t have the right attitude to believe in themselves or anybody else for that matter.<<

Good lord…save the forum poster fanboy shit for the IMs. All of your metaphysical esoterica is good for the support group but not the gym. If you think you can bench 405,but your last max was 185, the cold hard reality crashes down on you right around the same time the bar does.

Very funny stroking session here, however. All the pats on the back and probably on the ass from the looks of it won’t get you results. Do yourself a favor and pick an established routine WSB or Bill Starr 5x5 for example and you will see results- period.

Save the jerkin around for these two ...whatever the hell they are-dorks...nerds...homos...i dunno, you choose.
38

[quote]WildShoe wrote:

WildShoe wrote:
Today I have arms, I will be doing Poliquin’s German Volume Training
10 sets of 10 reps or failure
of the best bicep and tricep exercise merlin calls out for muscle-mind connection. What do i have to lose, after all, one days worth of arm training?

Merlin, or anyone else, besides concentration curls, what are the best bicep/tricep exercises for getting complete isolation of the muscle and really being able to go light and concentrate? [/quote]

Let’s see the arms before you start talking about light concentration curls…

39

[quote]WildShoe wrote:

WildShoe wrote:
Today I have arms, I will be doing Poliquin’s German Volume Training
10 sets of 10 reps or failure
of the best bicep and tricep exercise merlin calls out for muscle-mind connection. What do i have to lose, after all, one days worth of arm training?

Merlin, or anyone else, besides concentration curls, what are the best bicep/tricep exercises for getting complete isolation of the muscle and really being able to go light and concentrate? [/quote]

I like dumbbell curls lying on a flat bench. Feel the fiber rip apart in this stretched position. an exaggerated incline curl here.

I would reccomend concentration curls of high reps and multiple weights in the same set… complete muscle breakdown and feel with maybe 40-50 reps total on 3 different dumbbells. Once you get the feel , you can start to do the heavier weights and exercises and use more bicep recruitment this time. Mental imaging and feel in any exercise should do the trick.

If you don’t Convince yourself that this will work …expect to fail. you really have to believe when you go to drastic measures… this is why the mind is so important here. i don’t need the mind to assist in performance when its with something i’m confident in …there is a reason for that…you need it when you lost confidence, get it back. when you start believing again, you have that confidence back…wow the mind works in funny ways.

Those without a clue will seperate the mind from the body, they really don’t understand that these two ARE connected together and work TOGETHER!

You don’t scratch your eyes without a light command of pressure from your fingertips out of thin air…it comes from the BRAIN!

merlin

40

[quote]USNS physique wrote:
<<<

Let’s see the arms before you start talking about light concentration curls…[/quote]

What if his assessment is accurate and he actually does have these lagging groups? What would you recommend?