Markus Ruhl's Training Split

Monday: Chest

Tuesday: Back

Wednesday: Triceps

Thursday: Biceps

Friday: Legs

Saturday: Shoulders

Sunday: Rest

INCLINE BARBELL PRESSES

Why?

For complete mass across the entire upper body, the incline barbell

press is indispensable. Pressing through an elevated angle not only

raises the fullness of your pecs higher on your chest, but it also

works the front delts in direct proportion. In fact, there's no other

way to build size and separation all the way across the shoulders and

upper chest, and no better way to add width to the shoulder girdle.

This has been a specific goal of mine, and in that effort I've relied

heavily on this exercise, specifically with a free-weight barbell.

When?

The incline barbell press is a compound movement, which means it

involves several muscles working together, so it should be first in

your chest workout, or second behind the flat barbell press. It should

be performed while your strength capacity is high.

How?

The front delts are directly employed in the incline barbell press

movement, so I make sure I get a thorough warm-up, starting with a set

of about 30 reps. If I use this exercise first in my workout, I pyramid

through 10 or 12 sets, finishing with three or four reps, plus a couple

of forced reps. If I start with the flat bench press and this is my

second exercise, then I do six to eight sets for six to eight reps

each.

I've

found that the tighter I grip the bar and the more I tense my entire

body, the lighter the barbell feels. By concentrating especially on my

hips, back and shoulders, I have much more stability and control.

As

I lower the weight, I think of myself as a spring being compressed, so

that, at the bottom, I've built up maximum potential energy, or

strength. My press to the top then explodes with everything I have.

Sets: 6-8; Reps: 6-8. 

CABLE CROSSOVERS

Why?

You can be the biggest bodybuilder on earth, but without definition

within muscle groups, you will only appear massive, not muscular. Cable

crossovers can help solve this problem. As the ultimate isolation

exercise, it allows you to specifically target individual pec areas in

more detail than the pec deck. Different angles and varied ranges of

motion can be used.

When?

Use it as the final exercise in your workout, either following or as an

alternate to the pec-deck. Its advantage is that it can be included

without danger of overtraining: Regardless of how hard and long your

workout was, you can always add cable crossovers for an extra burn at

the end.

How?

Performance is similar to pec-deck flyes. I bend my elbows slightly, so

that I have more power to "hug" the cables. During the extension, I can

stretch my arms even farther behind me than with the pec-deck.

The

angle of the crossover can be varied, depending upon what area of the

chest you want to work. Experiment and you'll be able to feel the

differences. The farther you cross the cables, the greater peak

contraction you will achieve.

I

use this exercise to fill my pecs with as much blood as possible, so I

do six to eight sets, the first for 20 reps to get a maximum pump, then

pyramiding to failure at six reps on the last set.

Sets: 6-8; Reps: 20-6.

Pec-Deck Flyes

Why?

Free-weight dumbbell flyes contribute significantly to chest mass

because they place more stress on your pec-delt tie-ins than standard

presses. If you hope to increase your poundages, you need as much

tendon and ligament strength in that area as possible. Ironically, if

you do too many pressing exercises first, those tie-ins will be so

fatigued that you won't receive maximum benefit from flyes.

That's when it's time for the pec deck. It relieves you of the

necessity to stabilize dumbbells, but still enables you to place

effective stress on your pec-delt tie-ins when your arms are fully

stretched backward. The pec deck also allows you to maintain consistent

power throughout the range of motion and get a superior peak

contraction.

When?

Because the pec-deck's major benefits are to provide a detail exercise

for the pec-delt tie-ins and maximize a pump, it is best used as the

final exercise.

How?

To build mass, bend your arms slightly so that you are performing more

of a hugging movement than a pulling motion. This transfers the stress

from the pec-delt tie-ins to your pecs. It's difficult to cheat with

this exercise, so I squeeze the handles together with all the force I

can muster, then get a peak contraction in my pecs and resist during

the extension.

Even

though this is a pump exercise, I pyramid the weight through six to

eight sets, starting with 20 reps and maxing out at six reps for the

last set.

Sets: 6-8; Reps: 6-8.