My personal training clients often ask me why I choose a certain exercise or why I couple or group things the way I do. It has never made sense to me to hear someone say, “It’s this way because I say it is.” If I can’t supply the reason why, then it’s not of much benefit. So, here I answer many of the questions I’m often asked. I’ve also included the phrases that I often recite to my clients to help them properly fire from the target muscles—let’s call them “Hollisisms.”
You will see in the following pages that describe the exercises and how to do them that I’ve grouped the exercises according to their target muscles. Just what are these major muscles’ true functions—not just when we work out, but as we move through everyday life, as well? And what are the key exercises that will target these muscles or groups of them?
 | Chest: pectoralis major Function: This thick, fan-shaped muscle of the chest draws the arm across the front of the body. Key exercise: Incline Dumbbell Flye Hollisism: “Crush an imaginary finger between your chest to feel your chest muscles contract.” |
 | Back: latissimus dorsi Function: This broad muscle of the back pulls the arm downward towards the pelvis and also stabilizes the torso during movement. Key exercise: Neutral-Grip Pulldown Hollisism: “Elbow behind you to feel the lats contract.” |
 | Shoulders: deltoids Function: These muscles form the rounded contour of the shoulder and facilitate the 360-degree rotation of the arm away from the body. Key exercise: Smith Machine Shoulder Press Hollisism: “Down slow, up aggressive.” |
 | Biceps: biceps brachii Function: A two-headed muscle that lies on the upper arm works to shorten the arm towards the shoulder (flexion) and turns the hand from palms down to palms up (supination). Key exercise: Reverse Barbell Curl Hollisism: ”Keep your elbows in, and curl the farthest arc away from you.” |
 | Triceps: triceps brachii Function: This three-headed muscle at the back of the upper arm extends the elbow (extension) and turns the hand from palms up to palms down (pronation). Key exercise: Reverse-Grip Pushdown Hollisism: “Keep your elbows in, and come up no higher than 90 degrees.” |
 | Quadriceps: vastus medialis, vastus intermedius, vastus lateralis, rectus femoris Function: This large group of muscles at the front of the thigh extends or straightens the knee. Key exercise: Front Squat Hollisism: “Push through your heels down into hell to get yourself back up.” |
 | Hamstrings: biceps femoris, semitendinosus and semimembranosus Function: This group of muscles at the back of the thigh brings the heel toward the buttocks (knee flexion). Key exercise: One-legged Swiss Ball Leg Curl Hollisism: “Pelvis up, dig your heels into the ball like a claw and draw it in strong.” |
 | Calves: gastrocnemius Function: This powerful bipennate muscle lies on the back of the calf and elevates the heels. Key exercise: Seated Calf Raise Hollisism: “Toes straight on, down slow, up aggressive.” |
 | Abdominals: rectus abdominis Function: This group of stomach muscles flexes the spine by bringing the rib cage toward the pelvis. Key exercise: Twisting Crunch Hollisism: “Pull from the belly button, not the neck.” |
For you to claim your own complete physique, you must have a plan. The Complete Physique plan calls for a three-phase program of only four hours of resistance training per week. Why does it work? Wouldn’t it be better to work everything twice a week? Wouldn’t it be more effective to work biceps before a larger group like chest? Why can’t I just do cardio first and then do my weight training?
Over time, and with consistency, you will be able to generate a higher level of intensity than was previously possible. This is a principle that works for both the mental and physical. Math equations become easier the more experience you have with them. A tree will fall with fewer skilled swings from an axe wielded by a lumberjack than it will from the haphazard chops of the neophyte who just picked up an axe at the nearest hardware store.
You must be absolutely present during your workouts—meaning that you are focused on what you are doing and giving your workout your complete attention. You must concentrate on hitting the correct muscles for the exercise and stay intent on progressing. If you do these things, then the four hours of actual resistance training will always be enough work.
The workouts in this book are tough, and if you’re able to train each muscle group twice per week, rather than the once the program calls for, then two things become immediately apparent: if you still have more in tank, you didn’t train hard enough, and you’re at risk of overtraining. Training before you are fully recovered from your previous workout will leave you tired and weak with flat-looking muscles. Overtraining also saps motivation, which can set you back, and even might result in injury. Once per week is plenty—just make each session count.
As to why I’ve set the workouts in the order they appear—sure, you could conceivably work biceps before chest. It isn’t necessarily wrong, but when training two or more muscle groups in one session, it’s best to start with the larger muscle because it will generally use the smaller muscle as an ancillary, or helper, muscle during execution. This warms up the smaller for the more direct work to follow. If you trained your biceps before your chest then your biceps would be so engorged with blood—or the pump as bodybuilders call it—that your range of motion might be compromised due to an inflexibility within your upper arms. When it comes to progressive change, we need a full and complete range of motion during each and every exercise.
The question,“Why do you list cardio after weight training—doesn’t it usually come before?” is a common one. If you perform cardio before your weights, you will essentially be too tired for the resistance portion of the program. Weight training is reliant on glycogen, or stored carbohydrates, for energy, and cardio is fueled by adipose, or stored fat. Two different fuels for two different activities. Don’t believe it? Try one workout doing weights and then cardio, and then the next week reverse that order for the same day of muscle groupings. Tell me which day was more productive.
In both my mind and practice, training for aesthetics (how a muscle looks) as opposed to functionality (how a muscle performs) is largely about the angles. Take the game of pool for example. Success is based on angles. What angle will allow you to get the ball in from a particular shot? The same can be said for your endeavors here. What angles will it take to develop the muscle from all sides and make it complete? This is why learning how to get in peak shape from a former bodybuilder, someone who was and is foremost concerned with developing the body for its own sake and not solely in terms of how strongly it can perform, is vital to your success. We are concerned here not with making you appear skinny in clothing but in truly being lean out of it.
If your foremost concern is performance, then our approach would be somewhat different. But when was the last time you attended a reunion and someone asked how far you could hit the ball? If you’re like me, then you’d rather hear how amazing you’re looking.
Often talked about, but not really explained, the mind-to-muscle connection is that ability to connect with the weights from the very first set and actually feel the correct muscles firing.
For example, compare a gym-goer concerned with working the chest who pumps out rep after perfect rep under the bar during the bench press, whose chest seems to rise with each completed repetition, with another gym-goer—this one arches the back and pushes more with the shoulders and arms and far less than with the actual muscle in the spotlight—the chest—just to cross it off the list and say it was done. The mind-to-muscle connection is so powerful that it separates two gym types: the person with the actual development in his or her chest, and the other person with a flat, almost concave, chest and overdeveloped front shoulders and triceps.
Fear not if this sounds new or unusual to you, for this ability is learned over time. Now that you know what your muscles do, you have a head start in properly using them during your exercises. When I began working out at age 13, it took me two years to feel my chest working and even longer to properly isolate my back—and they eventually became two of my strongest and most developed body parts. They helped me win a national title at 19.
The mind-to-muscle connection cannot be rushed: it must be primed. If you race through your workouts, you will quickly exhaust your reserves and miss out from garnering the best results. Think of downing a hot coffee. It gets down, but you’re not really tasting it, and you risk burning your throat.
Although the Complete Physique plan is, at its core, self-building, you’re going to do most of that building at the gym or fitness center. During my lifetime, I’ve spent more hours in gyms either training myself or helping others than I’ve spent in classrooms—and that is a serious amount of time. I’ve learned what to wear, how to navigate the rules, how to prevent accidents or injury and how to peacefully and happily coexist with my fellow gym-goers.
Gym etiquette—it’s really just a matter of using your common sense and common courtesy.
When it comes to gym clothing and support, try to wear what is, above all else, comfortable. And if it looks good too, well, then that’s just an added bonus. But the gym is no place to stage a fashion show. You are in the gym so that you look good out of it.
When I work out, I like to see what muscles I am working, without being too showy. If it’s leg day then I’m in shorts. If it’s upper body, a V-neck T-shirt does the job nicely. Layering to sweat out excess water is not a good idea—the water will only be replaced later, and you are in the gym to lose body fat, not weight and certainly not water weight.
Ultra-restrictive compression wear makes a bold statement, but if you’re not in tip-top shape, every flaw will be on glaring display. For some, this is actually motivating, but I save the compression wear for when I am in top shape.
Wear sneakers that have support, especially those with gel. A shoe with no support or nearly flat-heeled is going to make a leg day workout feel even tougher than it already is.
It doesn’t matter how far along you are or how developed your physique, be kind and respectful to others in the gym. A sense of entitlement or superiority doesn’t belong in our world, and by “our world,” I refer to the domain in which we better ourselves: the gym, our safe place. Whether you’re event ready and hitting posing shots with your shirt off in the middle of the room, or overweight and underconfidant as you set foot inside for the first time, the gym is the great equalizer. It doesn’t matter if you’re a millionaire or facing hard times, in the gym you get out what you put out. My advice: Be cool to everybody.
If you’re strong enough to lift it, then you’re strong enough to rack it. No one needs to navigate through a minefield of iron in order to get his or her next set in or to pull dozens of 45-pound plates off the leg press machine. Don’t feel like racking? No problem. Just stick to the machines.
Whether squatting or bench pressing, it takes seconds to fasten the collars on the bar, and even less time for an accident to occur when the plates slide off. There’s nothing masculine or cool or herculean about lifting without protection. Buckle up.
Oftentimes someone is using what I consider key pieces of equipment: the incline press, the Smith machine or leg press, and I’ll kindly inquire how many sets are left. If the answer is “Just one or two,” I’ll wait it out. But then there is the answer that boils my blood a little: “I don’t know yet.” I wait a bit to see if that persons invites me to work in with him or her—as this is the appropriate response—but rarely do I hear it from the “I don’t knowers.” So I pay it forward, always inviting someone to work in when asked how many sets I have left. My advice: Don’t hog the equipment.
I work out of a trainer’s gym where peripheral vision and knowledge of space is important in order to avoid injury and to exercise just plain old-professional courtesy. Numerous times I’ve nearly been kicked in the face by gym-goers swinging their legs back and forth and up and down. Remember—it’s not a private backyard, it’s a group gym.
Many times I’ve looked over to see someone pinned under a barbell and left trying to roll it off his or her chest. After I rescue the person, I give my advice: never hesitate to ask for a spot. It’s not worth an accident. Someone is always available. Just don’t put on so much weight that the spotter is doing most of the work.
Whether you’re lifting 10 pounds or 100 pounds, once a set begins, finish it, and let others do the same. When I’m working with a client or training myself, finishing a set is like a surgeon in progress. You wouldn’t interrupt a surgeon, and the same should be said about anyone working out. As the surgeon betters his patient through skillful maneuvering, we better ourselves in the gym through skillful lifting.
In every gym that I’ve ever been in, there’s always that one guy who is not only comfortable naked, but also displaying his nakedness while conversing with others. Of course showering in the gym is perfectly normal, but people’s feelings about nudity vary wildly. Me? I don’t really need to see some guy’s underpinnings while chatting about last night’s game.
With rows and rows of vacant cardio machines, why does that person have to choose the one right next to yours? Sure it’s his or her right, but why set up shop right next to you with loud phone conversations, heavy breathing, rattling keys, and, oh yes, drinks? My advice: Unless the gym is packed, pick a machine that puts some space between you and the other gym-goer.
Unfortunately, locker break-ins are a regular occurrence in nearly every gym I’ve ever been in. It may look silly, but I always keep my keys, wallet and iPad (for reading during cardio), on my person at all times when in a gym—any gym.
Never touch your face in a gym. Too many gymgoers do not wash their hands after using the restroom and then proceed to touch the equipment. This message has been brought to you by the letters S, A, F, and E … you’re welcome.
Labored breathing, a tad extra vocal oomph on a last rep or two, sure, but those gym-goers who seem to moan and scream, whether consciously or unconsciously drawing attention to themselves, are both distracting and unnecessary. The loudest person in the room is the weakest person in the room, both physically and, more important, mentally. Save the sound effects for the bedroom.
Maybe it’s okay at a boxing match, in a classroom or at the parade, but staring in the gym is a no-no. Either to the same or opposite sex, it’s just rude. The only thing you should stare at in the gym is into space or in a mirror, because you need your focus and a clear head to advance toward a productive next set. Besides, other gym-goers notice when you’re focused, and this too can often go over well.
Indeed, sometimes nature does run its course as evidenced during the descent of a squat, leg press or crunch, but forcing it out while others breathe the musty air is a definite no-no. Lest you think you can get away with it on the lone treadmill or stairmaster, someone will usually walk right into it like a deer in headlights—and that person will know it was you.
It’s tough enough to find a vacated bench in modern-day gyms, and the last thing you need is to lie in someone else’s sweat angels. Even if you have to use your own shirt (provided it’s not sweaty), please wipe down benches and machine after use.
Total-body transformation is an individual journey, but it doesn’t mean you can’t take someone else along for the ride. Complete Physique illustrates that working with a training partner is an effective strategy. Through both emotional and physical support, partners or couples work together, honing each other to be his or her best. The program itself is set up with tips on how to correctly spot each other during the exercises to garner the most out of each workout, and it features partner stretches that call for working together as a cohesive unit.
Whether two males, two females or a mixed pair, training with another person can be quite rewarding. You can both do your sets together, but the preferred way is for each to do a set followed by the other. This way you lend support, pushing your partner beyond a safe comfort zone and into the realm of new possibilities. Even if one partner is noticeably stronger than the other, you can make it a friendly “competition,” each of you trying to best the other for reps. Perhaps partner A was able to complete eight reps on a target set. A goal for partner B might be to successfully get nine, despite lifting a lighter weight.
When working on machines, it’s a simple pull of the pin to select the appropriate weight for differing levels of strength. With free weights, you can each take a side of the bar to freely slip on and off plates. Although you may want to perform your set immediately after you spot your partner’s, it’s best to rest long enough before starting so that you can give your all to your next set. Without ample rest, early and immediate failure is imminent.
Another benefit of training with a partner is that your partner can see and correct bad or inconsistent form that you or the mirror may not otherwise spot (pun intended). Perhaps you’re pushing through your toes instead of your heels during a leg press. You can immediately correct yourself under the mindful and caring eye of your partner.
Training with someone who has a strength over your weakness will push you farther than you would have otherwise pushed yourself. It’s also satisfying to see your partner getting stronger or past a sticking point on a certain exercise. Maybe your partner’s balance has improved during lunges. Maybe you’re finally able to complete a pull-up. When you later sit down to examine each other’s before and after pics, it’s a lot of fun and highly rewarding to see and point out just how far each of you has come.