Day before Thanksgiving

I recently got an email asking about ‘sticking points’ and how to overcome them.  There’s lot you can do but the first step is to get feedback on what you look like with photos.  A file containing photos taken of yourself every month or so will give you good indication of how your body is changing; and it is always changing.  Just because you don’t get stronger all the time or gain weight doesn’t mean you aren’t making progress.  Progress in bodybuilding is visual, not numerical.  When you study photos of yourself you learn what other people see when they look at you.  The awareness gained from learning exactly what you look like is the first step in improving your training.  Simplest thing to do is lighten up the weights a little and do an extra rep or two each set, do slower negatives, stretch between sets (the 10 stretches I do are illustrated in Zane Body Training Manual and the Workouts book), and rest less between sets.  You’ll get a better pump and start showing a difference in appearance.

Been working on the Winter 2010 issue of Building the Body and expect it to be published early January.

Here’s one of my favorite photos taken by Art Zeller 1982 two weeks before the Mr. Olympia competition weighing 205 pounds, it was my biggest ever.