It surprises me that there has been little/no comment on the Biceps programs by DA. I am no boffin and struggled my way thru some of it, but what he says seems to make sense, what do others think? Anyone done the checks and follow the programs as outlined?
Dozer thought it was an excellent article. Already incorperated a few ideas from it.
-Dozer
i thought the bicep program was interesting as well although i haven’t actually tried it yet. it makes a certain amount of sense when you think about it. kinda like the branches on a tree. they can only get as big as the trunk can handle. the body has a sense of what it’s trunk strength is and regulates growth of the peripheral limbs in an attempt to prevent trunk overloading. strengthen your trunk and one of the results could very well be bigger guns. kevo
I loved the articles. One or two things I noticed though. Not actual mistakes but odd wording where you could take something two ways. I can’t wait to read more from him. 
Keago
I thought it was good, too. Haven’t tried it yet because I’m trying to get rid of some tendonitis, but it was definitely food for thought.
And like nkeago isn’t strange?, the hyph is because my surname is hyphenated and the nz for New Zealand, quite simple really. I am getting a friend who is a trainer to read the articles and we will figure it out between us. Alessi may be the new kid on the t-block but he has some good stuff, I too can’t wait to see more from him.
The Alessi articles is a nice example of a personal trainer able to ostensibly make a living while knowing very little.
Stronski- And your reasoning is…?
Alessi’s article is good, but it’s really nothing new. If you’ve read some of the old Brawn or Hardgainer routines, you’ve seen how they recommend doing lots of the basic exercises (squats, benches, deadlifts, presses) in order to get big arms! So Alessi has basically taken an old concept and brought it back to life. Which is what many strength coaches and trainers are doing these days. I’m not discounting the article or his methods, I think they are great, but it’s not like this is something you already didn’t know.
I agree with Nate Dogg. Believe it or not, these are actually HIT (high intensity training) type theories. I really enjoyed the articles, though. Definitely different stuff than the Flex magazine 20 sets each for bi’s and tri’s bombing and blitzing routines. Bottom line, most trainees who are concentrating on chest and arms to the exclusion of the rest of their body are going to need the type of work that Alessi outlines in his Part II to rehab their shoulders! And yes, I’m speaking from experience… my own! And of course, I agree with his emphasis on total body training as outlined in Part I. Good job T-mag.
While I agree that the notion of squatting to increase your biceps strength/size is not new, the in depth detail, in which he not only showed how to find a strength imbalance, but also correct it, reaches past a lot of things I’ve read, even from T-Mag.
Maybe it’s just me, but I think it’s the best strength training article I’ve read in a while.
N is my first initial Keago is my last name.
I’m going to have to agree with BigRob here. I think the articles are great. They offer so much more than just “do the big basic lifts”. The practical advice on evaluating and addressing weaknesses sets this apart from articles that just offer a basic routine. It reminds me of the article by Poliquin “Achieving Structural Balance”…in my opinion, the most useful article ever on t-mag.
I’ll start slow.
- If biceps (really upper arm) size was an indicator of lower body strength, explain Olympic lifters.
- How many Mr. Potato Heads, jeans on the beach, riding an ostrich, etc… bodybuilders are there with no wheels and all upperbody and arms. Oh wait I forgot, the 4" leg press is a good indicator of lower body strength.
- Who taught the subjects in the pictures how to do those snatch grip deadlifts? They don’t look like snatch grip deadlifts I’ve ever seen.
Refer to Ian King workouts for more accurate pictures/descriptions.
There is more I’ll continue if you like.
Any feedback on the last post? Should I continue? What happened to the triceps and its involvement in upperarm stength and size? Please be wary of someone who is fixated on one particular body part. It may be consciously their favorite muscle group to train. Or, subconsciously, their weakest. As I recall, Poliquin workouts were always arm “heavy”. He’s dedicated an entire book on it. Looking at Charles, it would seem his favorite body part to train is arms. Or, maybe he knows that men like to have big arms and can exploit their psyche by selling training programs and books. No arguement with Charles, just be wary on all the attention.
Id just like to say that i never work arms. Instead just focus on heavy basic exercies. I believe this is more than enough stimulation for my arms. And ive been known to stretch a tshirt sleeve or two.
I have to say that I thought the articles were good, and help to explain some of my problems with the bench (scapular winging in my case) and my lower back (weak left glute). I’ve had lower back and neck problems for quite a while now, and even mentioned to a doctor that when I workout, it often feels like the left side of my body isn’t firing well and I’ve also noticed that I can preferential recruit the muscles on the right half of the rectus abdominus but not the left. From what an osteopath told me it now makes perfect sense that a weak left glute could be the reason behind all these problems. I’ve begun working as per Alessi’s suggestions. If they work, great. If not, nothing lost. I’m surprised that so many people are discounting him or saying that he’s just rehashing old stuff. I think the title of the article is a bit misleading though – it seems more like a rehab-oriented article than one to create “booming biceps”.
Thee is certainly some differing opinions on Mr Alessi aren’t there? He said at the start that there he wasn’t reinventing the wheel and the focus on the article was on biceps. Ian King did the Great Guns series, is he too arm focussed? No it was one period of an overall plan, I guess more articles from DA will show if he has the same rounded philosophy. I agree with bjaffe and dystopiate in that I saw it as a rehab type program to correct imbalances so that future more traditional programs will yield even better gains. As for the exercises being different from IK, so is the way Dave Tate squatts, who is right? I will probably give his stuff a go, and if it doesn’t work then what have I lost? Not much. Another factor is that he has now written a few articles (abs, meltdown, biceps) and not that tmag is perfect but they don’t normally have chumps writing on a consistent basis.
I’m gonna buck my usual trend and try to tread lightly here. I’m no strength guru. I’ve still got loads to learn. But Mr Alessi’s article starts where every training progrm should start. Ever notice that Ian King always starts one of his programs with unilateral balance based exercises (especially in leg programs).
His explanation is that strength balance needs to be optimized. We are only as strong as our weakest link and DA’s article shows us how to expose our weakest link in our shoulder joint/girdle, correct it and reap the benefits.
This application of strength balance applies to all body parts. Like I said, I'm no guru, but I know how important overall balance is. Moreover, I've never read an article that articulated and gave means by which to correct in quite the same accuracy as Booming Biceps.
Speaking of the title. I think it’s all by design. That title gets all the mutten heads to read some important info. Those same mutten heads are the ones who don’t understand it and are refuting it on this here forum thread. Maybe the article should have read;
“Structural Strength Balance in the Shoulder Girdle and Shoulder Joint as it Relates to a Subject’s Ability to Support Hypertrophy Correlating to his Maximum Genetic Means”.
The Mutten Heads would have left that one alone.
it is interesting to note that louie simmons almost never does biceps, and can barely curl 135 (which is a good lot of weight, but not compared to 600+ lbs)…