Vince DelMonte's Muscle Building Secrets and Programs

Archive for January, 2010

Peter Luckraft: Man Of No Nonsense

By Vince On January 27, 2010 27 Comments

My favorite part about the muscle magazines is the “members feedback,” “”What you have to say,” “success stories,” and “story of the month” sections.

I love seeing the pictures of every day folk, like you and I, who have taken action and proved that they are for real.

Today I want to feature Peter Luckraft who was a winner of my 3rd Transformation Challenge and who was willing to answer some questions about his success.

I plan on doing this on a regular basis so keep an eye out on your email Inbox for when I ask you to be featured.

Here are Peter’s before and after pics (he cropped out the background so they look better FYI)

Vince: What was your fitness level and physique like before using any of my programs?

Peter: I would say mediocre to poor. Before I began implementing your six pack program, I did go to the gym, but like most of the people there, I really didn’t know what I was doing. It was the same old routine with no real results.

Vince: What has been your primary fitness goal and what is your primary motivation towards your training?

Peter: My fitness goal was to get my body fat level into the single digits. I feel that 10% BF is a healthy place to live. My primary motivation is my age and family.

I am 32 years old, and have a wife and 3 daughters who look up to me. I will be the best role model I can for them, and you and I both know Vince, that it feels dam good to be in shape.

Vince: What is your secret to staying motivated?

Peter: Good question, because I have seen so many people lose weight, only to put it right back on, and end up either where they started, or worse! If you have ever watched the first episode of “The Biggest Loser”, then you will know what keeps me motivated. Like anyone else who is out of shape, I struggled like heck to shed the fat and get into great shape, and there is no way I want to do that again, especially now that I have all of the tools required to keep in shape. I quote you Vince, “It’s much easier to keep a six pack than it is to get one”.

Vince: How do you handle your training and nutrition schedule around your company and having a wife and 3 daughters?

Peter: Another great question. Here’s how I see it, if getting in shape is important to you, you make it a priority. Personally, I get up at about 5:00 to 5:30 to get to the gym, usually about 4 days a week. I will sometimes use the old treadmill in the basement for evening intervals on the off days (time I would likely be spending in front of the tube). It leaves me so much available time to be with my wife and daughters.

Regarding nutrition, For the first 4 meals / snacks, I eat alone, so I can eat as healthy as I wish. In the evening, I always try to prepare a great dinner for my family, and frankly, I do allow myslef to indulge a bit at times, but I always make sure that the majority of the time, I am eating good whole foods.

Vince: What is your biggest obstacle with achieving your fitness goals and how have you overcome it?

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Shock Your Pecs: Top Muscle Building Chest Exercises

By Vince On January 12, 2010 45 Comments

“Shock Your Pecs With These Killer Muscle Building Chest Exercises To Ignite A Big Chest”

The #1 Secret To Having The Best Chest Workouts Of Your Life

Use dumbbells. Not barbells, not cables, not bodyweight and not any pushup gimmick machines you see on T.V. Stick to good old fashioned dumbbells for the best chest workout ever and to build chest muscles fast.

Dumbbells allow you to work through a full range of motion and recruit far more muscle fibers without beating up your shoulder joint which means you’ll be able to train into your 60’s and 70’s pain free. You’ll make the best gains on your chest using dumbbells because they give your chest muscles an honest workout and isolate the target chest fibers that thicken and widen your pecs.

The #2 Secret Focus On Your Upper Chest

The key to big pecs is to focus on the upper chest with an incline barbell press or db press. The upper chest is what will gives off the symbol of power and strength, but the incline bench does not allow you to flex your ego as much as flat bench, which allows you to focus on better technique.

Use a wide grip outside of shoulder width for maximal pec stimulation and lower the bar slowly until it dips underneath your chin. The bar does not need to touch your chest but should come within 1-2 inches. Once you’re finished the lowering portion, push the bar up slowly to keep emphasis on your pecs rather than your deltoids, squeezing your upper pecs the entire way up.

How To Build Your Chest Muscles:

Focus primarily on compound movemens like flat and incline dumbell presses. Incline presses around the 55 to 65 degree range will isolate your upper pecs the most. Isolation exercises like chest flys don’t allow your shoulders and triceps to assist your chest so you can not use the maximal weight which is mandatory in maximizing the size of your chest muscles.

Upper Chest Workout:

A massive upper chest relies a lot on bone structure and the pectoral attachments to that structure. My secret for upper chest workouts is to vary the angle you do your incline presses with a major emphasis on the 55 to 65 degree angle. Targeting the uper chest muscles can be achieved by varying your grip from palms facing each other and palms facing the mirror.

When your palms are facing each other you can achieve a deeper stretch. I always prefer the dumbbels during my upper chest workout because I get a lot of “bad” stress on my collarbone when using a barbell. I also don’t like the shoulder stress or rotation when lowing the bar with heavy incline barbell presses. Stick with dumbbells and flex your upper chest so hard simulating popping the top button off your shirt.

Here Is A Sample Upper Chest Workout:

Incline DB Presses (65 degree angle) 4 sets of 12-10-8-6 reps. Increase the weight 5 lbs each set

Barbell Presses (45 degree angle) 3 x 8-10 reps

High Cable Flys 1 x 25

Rest 60 seconds between everything.

Lower Chest Exercises:

The fascination about lower chest exercises blows my mind! I probably get a few emails a day asking, “How do I build my lower chest?” Or, “What are the best lower chest exercises?” or “How do I build that line in between my pecs?” I have some answers for you below my friend!

Lower chest exercises are not as important as you might think but will give a more complete and full look and when you combine that with single-digit body fat than your turning a lot of heads! Especially when a ripped lower chest ties into a defined set of abdominals and obliques – now you have that bodybuilder and fitness model look you’ve always wanted.

Here are some Lower Chest Exercise Tips:

• The lower the angle of the bench, the more emphasis on the lower chest muscles. I find a 45 degree declined angle is perfect but a little higher or a little lower will build your chest muscles fast too.If your lower chest is your priority then give it priority in two ways. Do your lower chest exercises first in the workout and first in the week while they are the most fresh. This will help you get the most out of their assisting muscles like the shoulders and triceps.

• Don’t expect overnight results. Like any bodybuilding program you need to be disciplined and committed and give the program at least 12 weeks to work fully.

• And if you want to look like a bodybuilder than you need to eat like a bodybuilder which is another topic.

• Use these lower chest exercises: Decline bench press, Decline Dumbbell bench press, Wide grip dips, Low-to-high cable flys, Decline dumbbell flys.

Here Is A Sample Lower Chest Workout

Decline Barbell Press (65 degree angle) 4 sets of 12-10-8-6 reps. Increase the weight 5 lbs each set

Wide Grip Dips (45 degree angle) 3 x 8-10 reps

Low-to-High Cable Flys 1 x 25

Rest 60 seconds between everything.

The Best Chest Exercises To Build Chest Muscles

Flat Bench Dumbbell Presses

Incline Dumbbell Bench Presses

Wide Grip Dips

Those 3 only. If you could only do 3 chest exercises the rest of your life, those are the winners.

And If I Had To Recommend the 4th Best Chest Exercise:

Flat Bench Dumbbell Fly

Every guy wants a big chest that is defined with a line that runs through the middle, separating the two pec muscles (which also requires low body fat).

To isolate your entire pecs even more, lift your feet off the bench so that you can’t push off the floor for help. Start with the dumbbells at arms length from your shoulder and directly vertical to your chest. Begin with your palms facing each other and maintain a slight bend in your elbow.

Once in this position, lower your arms slowly as if you’re doing a reverse bear hug until your elbows are lower than your shoulders. Next, intensely contract your pec muscles on the way to finish the movement and become one step closer to a big chest.

Advanced Muscle Building Technique for Chest: Extended Sets

If you have any questions about adding inches to your chest then please post your questions below.

Talk soon

Vince

You Have A BIG Problem…

By Vince On January 6, 2010 19 Comments

I’ll tell you what your problem is in a second.

It’s pretty messed up and it’s linked to three bigger problems…

But first, let me open this conversation with a question:

Do you agree that anything worth doing is worth doing well?

Weight training with the goal to ignite muscle gains or get super ripped should be no exception.  This concept should be easy to grasp.  And hitting the gym with the plan of building a good deal of muscle  or to boost your metabolism (to shed fat) can require a lot of work – but other than breaking a sweat and pushing yourself, it should not be much harder than that.  Right?

It’s this kind of thinking that leads to the FIRST big problem.

Most people who attempt to build muscle fail miserably.  Sure, almost everyone reading this has experienced some sort of improvement and a small gain in muscle (or fat loss), but the majority never get to that next level.

The majority never look like the models on the magazines or good enough to shock their friends at a pool party while in their swim suit.

Despite dedicated efforts to training, nutrition, supplementation and most importantly – a true desire and thirst to be their best – most never blow beyond their genetic potential.

There are many reasons for this too common failure.  If you asked me why this happens in person I would reply by shaking my head:

“Most people fail because they don’t have a clue of what they are doing.”

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