THE LOOK OF POWER

 The Look of Power

Tips for Developing Mass that “Stands Out” from the Crowd

Tim Belknap - seen here on a 1982 cover of IronMan - definitely had the "look of power."

     “When you see an individual who has built his or her muscle mass to an advanced degree, and has done it with basic, heavy exercises, they have a certain look about them.  It is hard to describe in words, yet everyone knows it when they see it.  Extremely developed bodybuilders, however, often lack this ‘look,’ despite having a high level of muscle tissue, and having perhaps very large muscular measurements.  Still, they look, as my younger brother once noted, ‘like a bunch of body parts strewn together.’  One who has predominantly utilized the ‘basics,’ and is capable of using relatively heavy weights for moderately high repetitions, looks powerful and strong.  Again, it is an almost undefinable, yet undeniable truth.”     

     ~Ken Leistner (in a March, 1987 issue of “The Steel Tip”)

     If you want to build muscle that truly “stands out” from other lifters and bodybuilders, then you need to utilize basic movements that work as many muscle groups as possible at one time.  This means that lifts such as power cleans and power snatches, squats, deadlifts, high-pulls, weighted dips and chins, and heavy overhead presses ought to to be the name of the game.

     If you train at a commercial gym, you may have noticed that there are certain guys (and gals) who are very well-built—perhaps even downright massive—but lack this “look of power.”  This is because they, typically, though it may not always be the case, have built their muscle with machines and light weights, doing a lot of “pumping” work as opposed to training brutally hard.  Now, this doesn’t mean that I’m necessarily knocking this kind of “pump” training.  In fact, it could be that pumping the muscle—old-school bodybuilders would often refer to it as the “flushing method” or “chasing the pump”—works very well for you when it comes to hypertrophy, and it’s something that you should do on a regular basis.  However, it could also be that you’re the kind of lifter where pump training most decidedly does not work for you.  Whatever the case might be, and even if pump training does work well for you, you should—at least part of the time—regularly make sure that you are doing at least some workouts that focus on training many of the aforementioned exercises.

     Here are some tips (and workouts) that will help you get the look of power:

Utilize the Big 4

     One easy way to make sure that you’re doing the correct exercises for developing the look of power is by utilizing what I refer to as the “Big 4.”  When a young lifter, for instance, asks me what he can do to build more muscle—typically these are lifters who are often referred to as “hardgainers” and have a difficult time putting on muscular mass—I always ask him if he is doing the following 4 things.  Rarely do I find that these lifters are even doing a couple of them, much less all four.  So, no matter what kind of training program or split you are using—HFT, one-bodypart-per-day, a “heavy/light/medium” system of training, a 3-on, 1-off split, doesn’t matter—you MUST make sure that you are doing the following four things each and every single week:

1. Pick heavy weights off the ground (power cleans, power snatches, deadlifts, high-pulls all fit the bill here).

2. Squat heavy weights.

3. Press heavy weights overhead (barbell overhead presses, behind-the-neck presses, push presses, one-arm dumbbell overhead presses).

4. Drag or carry different objects and implements (sled drags, farmer’s walks, sandbag carries, etc.).

     The reason that the above things are so fantastic at building muscle mass, and most decidedly giving you that look, is because they all require lifts that work a lot of muscles at one time.  In fact, probably the very best exercises that you can do bar none are movements in which you can do two of the Big 4 in one lift.  For instance, deficit sumo deadlifts are both a heavy squatting movement and a heavy pulling movement; clean and presses are both a heavy pulling movement and an overhead movement.

Go Heavy AND High

     High reps can be great for building muscle.  Seriously heavy weights are also great for building muscle.  But if you want to have a massive amount of muscle that makes you more gorilla than man, then you MUST work toward lifting heavy and high.

     The bodybuilder Tom Platz might be one of the perfect examples of this.  Could he squat heavy?  Yep, in fact he could do upwards of 800 pounds.  Any man who is capable of using that amount of weight on the squats is definitely going to have some muscle mass.  Did he squat with high-reps?  Yep, you bet he did.  In fact, he would sometimes squat for 100 reps or more in a set.  Any bodybuilder who does this is definitely going to have a good deal of muscle, no doubt.  BUT, and here was the key to Platz’s other-worldly leg development, he was capable of using both very high reps and heavy weights combined together, which might just be the ultimate secret of extreme hypertrophy.

An Example “Look of Power” Program

     Here is a full-body “split” program that is a good example of the kind of program—utilizing the above principles—that would be great for giving your physique a massive, muscle-bound but powerful look.  This program, though you will train your full-body at each session, is a “split” program in that you will change the exercises at each workout.

     There are three workouts here.  An “A” workout, a “B” workout, and a “C” workout.  You will rotate between the workouts, but you will alternate between a week of 3-workouts-weekly and a week of 2-workouts-weekly.  If you lift, say, on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for the first week, you will workout Monday and Thursday in the 2nd week.  Here is what the schedule would look like over the course of a few weeks:

Week One:

Monday: A session

Wednesday: B session

Friday: C session

Week Two:

Monday: A session

Thursday: B session

Week Three:

Monday: C session

Wednesday: A session

Friday: B session

Week Four:

Monday: C session

Thursday: A session

Week Five:

Monday: B session

Wednesday: C session

Friday: A session

     And so on and so forth.

     Here are the workouts themselves:

“A” Workout Session

• Squats: 1 set of 20 reps.  For this exercise, you will use the “classic” 20-rep squat program.  I have written about this almost ad-nauseum recently, so I won’t put the details here on how to do this movement.  Read some of my recent posts for precise details.

• Weighted Chins: 5 sets of 5 reps.  Use a weight where you can get 5 reps fairly easily on the first couple of sets, but start to struggle on the last two or three.  For ALL of the exercises listed here as “5 sets of 5 reps” use the mentality that your GOAL is to get 5 sets of 5 reps, but realize that it will be a struggle.  Once you DO manage 5 reps on all 5 sets, add weight at the next session.  Also, this does NOT include warm-ups.

• Flat Barbell Bench Presses: 5 sets of 5 reps

• Power Cleans: 5 sets of 3 reps.  Same “scheme” as the chins and bench presses, but keep your reps limited to 3 reps.  Cleans, snatches, and other “quick” lifts are best done with 3 reps or lower, even when using multiple sets.

• Barbell Curls: 5 sets of 5 reps

• Farmer’s Walks: 2 to 3 sets for distance.  Select a distance—50 yards is a pretty good starting point–and a weight heavy enough to make the distance tough.  If you manage to get all 50 yards (or whatever standard you decide to use) on all sets, increase weight or distance at the next “A” session.

“B” Workout Session

• Sumo Deficit Deadlifts: Ramp sets of 5, 3, and 2 reps; 1 “back off” set of 12 reps.  “Ramp sets” are one of the basic ways that most lifters should train, but, unfortunately, you just don’t see them performed enough.   Start with nothing but the Olympic bar and slowly add weight with each set, always doing 5 reps.  Stop once you "miss" 5 reps.  At this point, start doing ramps with 3s until, once again, you miss a set of 3 reps.  At this point, yep, add weight and start doing doubles.  Stop once you miss your first double.  You may end up doing 10, 12, or even 15 sets—the more the better.  Do NOT simply do 2 or 3 sets before reaching your 5-rep "max".  It's called "ramps" for a reason.  Take your time.  For the final “back off” set, use a weight where you think you can get 12 reps, but you know it will be tough.  Add weight at the next session if you do manage all 12 repetitions.

• Barbell Overhead Presses: Ramp sets of 5, 3, and 2 reps; 1 set of 12 reps

• Barbell Rows: 5 sets of 5 reps

• Thick-Bar Close-Grip Bench Presses: 5 sets of 5 reps.  Think of this exercise as more of a triceps movement than a chest movement.  If you don’t have access to a thick bar, then purchase a pair of “Fat Gripz.”  I purchased a pair over ten years ago, and I use them weekly.  They’re one of the best “cheap” purchases you can make.  

• Sled Drags: 2 to 3 sets for distance.  Use the same methodology as the farmer’s walks in the A workout.

“C” Workout Session

• Front Squats: 4 sets of 8 reps.  Look at this exercise—and this workout in general— as sort of “in between” the squats from the A session and the deficit deads from the B session.  If you can push this workout alone to the point where you are using massive weights with the moderately high reps, you will definitely achieve the “look” that you are after.  For methodology, select a weight where you think you can get 8 reps for one, maybe two, sets.  Once you can do 4 sets of 8 reps, add weight at the next C workout session.

• Weighted Dips: 4 sets of 8 reps

• Power Snatches: Ramp sets of 2 reps.  This will be sort of a “break” in the middle of the session.  Do these as you did the ramp work in the B workout session, but stick with 2 reps the entire time, however move fairly fast in between sets.  In this manner, think of this as a “density” exercise, where, at each C session, you decrease the amount of time that it takes you to do all of your sets.

• Behind-the-Neck Presses: 4 sets of 8 reps

• Dumbbell Curls: 4 sets of 8 reps (each arm)

• Sandbag Carries: 2 to 3 sets for distance

Other Factors to Consider

     As with any program, if you are trying to really pack on the muscle mass, make sure you’re getting plenty of protein and calories on a daily basis.  Consume 20 times your bodyweight in calories daily, and make sure that you’re getting at least one gram of protein per pound of bodyweight.  This will ensure that you’re getting the nutrients needed to fuel muscle growth.

     Make sure you’re getting enough rest.  If you’re stressed out or running around during the day when you’re not working out, this is one of the surest ways to make sure that you don’t gain any muscle mass.  Conversely, make sure that you’re sleeping enough.  You need a minimum of 7 hours of sleep each-and-every night.

     If anyone has any questions or comments, please leave them in the “comments” section below.  I will, eventually, get around to answering your questions.

     Also, I hope to have more posts up throughout the next couple of weeks, but I can’t promise anything.  I’m a little behind in some other writing projects, and am trying to get caught up, but I will post as much as I can this month.  Until then, lift big, eat big, rest big, and GET big—not to mention obtain the look of power!