How To Look Like 90′s Action Star (Without The Steroids): Upper Body

June 4, 2012 in Blog/Articles, Workout with 1 Comment

[This is part of the "How To Like 90's Action Star" Series]

So in our last post we covered how to develop legs like an “Action Star” and we know what kind of diet we need to be on.

To have a great physique like an “Action Star”, there is something you should know. It’s how you should lift. There is a huge misconception to be lean that you need to do a lot of reps like 10-15 reps and a lot of cardio. But old school lifters knew that you let the diet get you lean and you lift heavy and try to maximize reps (maximize rule). What does it mean to maximize reps? If you can do 10 reps, that means you are not lifting enough. Therefore you add 5-10 lbs. If you can still 10 reps after you added weight, you need to add more weight until you can do about 3-6 reps while still maintaining correct form. I followed this routine and I was able to lean out.

Couple of weeks ago:

So maximize your reps. Do about 4-5 sets.

And don’t forget to work out your back. One of your back muscles is the 2nd longest muscle in the body. When you work out big muscles in your body,it releases more testosterone than working out one part of your body. More testosterone = bigger muscles. One great way to work out your back is doing pull ups. Work your way up to do 10 pull ups of your own body weight and then do weighted pull ups with a dip belt or put the weights inbetween your legs or feet.

So here is a workout routine I personally do and recommend.

3-5 sets of dumbbell press with only 30-45 second rest.
Bent over dumbbell row:and in between sets do dumbbell flys (make sure you squeeze when you reach the top:
3-4 sets of wide grip pulls ups or weighted pull ups if you can do it (regular pull ups do 10 but for weighted (which is really hard) do as many as you can) and in between each set do 45-60 seconds of a plank.
3-4 sets of dips or weighted dips if you can do it (regular dips shoot for 10 and for weighted dips do as much weight as you can and do as many as you can following the maximizing rule described above) and do 45-60 second planks in between each set.