One Giant Set to Giant Arms

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The Giant Arms of Lee Priest

 One Giant Set to Giant Arms

Informed bodybuilders have always known the importance of the eccentric, or negative portion of a rep. This is where a lot of the micro damage occurs within the muscle tissue. Damage that will be repaired and replaced with thicker muscle fibers which translates into larger muscles. It’s much easier to let gravity take over and just speed through the negative but your cheating yourself out of much of your intended muscle building results.

Too much of a good thing is a bad thing

Recent studies have confirmed the importance of eccentric training with a surprising result. You would think the slower the descent, the more muscle damage there would be but that’s not the case. If the eccentric portion is too slow, less muscle damage will occur. Studies have discovered that if the descent is too slow the muscle has a chance to compensate and protect itself from further damage. The key is an eccentric phase lasting no more than three seconds.

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The One & a Half Rep Intensity Technique

150IntensityIncrease Your Intensity 150% with the One & a Half Technique

Once you’re past the beginner stage of your resistance training life you’re bound to hit some plateaus. This is a good place to add some intensity techniques like super sets, giant sets or drop sets. Well this technique is not as well known but it’s still worth having in your training arsenal. It’s known as One & a Halves or Rep & a Half  and it’s another method of ramping up the stress of any given set.

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How To Do Dips By The Iron Guru

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Vince ‘the Iron Guru’ Gironda

Dips By the Iron Guru

by Jim Vaglica

Most of you are too young to remember Vince Gironda. He was known as the Iron Guru and he opened Vince’s Gym in North Hollywood in 1948. Vince trained some of the biggest names in bodybuilding including Arnold, Lou Ferrigno and Larry Scott. When movie stars, like Clint Eastwood and Robert Blake, needed to get into shape quickly they also came to the famous Vince’s Gym.

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Jim Vaglica’s Intro to CrossFit

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Jim performs a Wall Walk

A Crossfit Competition “How hard could it be?”

I was presented with the opportunity to compete in the 2013 Nevada Police & Fire Games, held each August in Las Vegas. The competition brings in over 2000 competitors and offers more than 30 events. I love to compete and I hadn’t been to Vegas in a while so I jumped at the opportunity.

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How to Increase Your Bench Press

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The Team After Another Successful Meet

Most Common Bench Press Mistakes

As soon as I walk into any gym I start critiquing every lifter. I can’t help myself. “Those are some great half reps buddy” or “lady, if those dumbbells were any lighter they’d float away.”Sometimes “pal, I have no idea what the Christ you’re trying to do.”

Obviously I don’t say these things out loud or I’d spend more time fighting than lifting. One of my rules is I never give unsolicited advice. Sometimes this rule tortures me especially when I see common mistakes with the bench press. Continue reading

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Get a Grip on Thick Bar Training

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 Get a Grip on Thick Bar Training

By Jim Vaglica

Question #1: What muscle group can be seen more often than any other?

Answer: Forearms

Question #2: What’s the most functional strength you can possess?

Answer: Grip Strength

Weightlifters and powerlifters have always known they could never pull a heavy bar off the floor without a vice like grip. Strongman competitors know the importance of a monstrous grip for many of their events. MMA fighters, wrestlers and grapplers need to sustain a strong grip in order to maintain control over their opponents. Other than the aforementioned groups few guys do any direct forearm exercises and if they do, they’re thrown in, as an afterthought, at the end of a workout. Continue reading

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Waltham cops team up on ABC reality show ‘Expedition Impossible’

 

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Team Cops – Expedition Impossible

Three Waltham Police officers”were prime-time material”last summer.

Sergeant Jim Vaglica, a Billerica resident, Lt. Robert Robillard from Concord, and Officer Dani Henderson, a resident of Marlborough, comprise the team known simply as “The Cops” on the ABC reality show “Expedition Impossible,”which debuted on Thursday, June 23.

The Cops survived the first episode’s challenges, finishing 10th overall out of a field of 13 teams. Continue reading

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Biceps: Two heads are better than one

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The Split Biceps of Boyer Coe

Biceps: Two heads are better than one

Have you ever seen a guy with biceps that look impressive from the side, with a great peak, but then all the size vanishes when viewed from the front? Conversely, have you seen biceps that, when viewed from the front, appear thick & meaty and hang from the inside of the arm as if they were sliding off, but viewed from the side appear flat with no shape? Apparently one of the bicep heads has developed while its brother has lagged behind. Continue reading

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Globe Gripz – Review

Globe-Gripz

At first glance you might write off Globe Gripz as just another gym accessory gimmick but look a little further and you’ll discover they’re actually a very versatile tool that can add options to even the most basic gym. Continue reading

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My Experiment with Triple Add Sets

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Ronnie Coleman

My experiment with Triple Add Sets

My friend Hugo Rivera told me about an intensity technique called the triple add set. It was developed by his friend Nick Nilsson. I was intrigued so I decided to give it a try. It’s basically the opposite of a Triple Drop Set, which I’ve used for years as one of my favorite intensity techniques.

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