For the Physique Athlete… exercise selection is the art form of applied science… strategically combining movements to sculpt aesthetic muscle with symmetry, proportion, and detail.
As with any great workout program… The Physique Athlete builds a foundation around compound exercises, such as Squats, Deadlifts, Barbell Rows, Pull-Ups, Bench Presses, and Overhead Presses.
These compound movements give you the most ‘bang for your buck’ as they target multiple muscle groups with each rep and produce the bulk of your overall results.
For this reason… some would argue that compound movements are all you need in a workout program. They thumb their nose at isolation exercises, claiming they are a waste of time. They lead people to believe that your arms receive enough stimulus with compound exercises.
…But the Physique Athlete knows better! Armed with science… it’s clear that you are leaving serious results on the table if you focus solely on compound exercises.
Stressing Muscle Heads
No, I’m not talking about hiding protein powder from your fellow ‘bro’… it’s something much ‘deeper’ than that 😉
Several muscles make up the shape of your arms. It’s more than just biceps and triceps. Even more important… these muscles consist of multiple heads. The biceps has a long head and a short head. The triceps has a long head, lateral head, and medial head.
Thanks to EMG and MRI research, the Physique Athlete has become aware that many of the major compound pressing movements fail to activate or place much emphasis on the long head of the triceps, while placing moderate stress on the lateral and medial heads.
What does this mean?
It means that if you are solely relying on compound pressing movements to build your triceps they will be receiving much less stimulation than you are lead to believe… and it’s a recipe for creating a lagging aspect of your triceps because the long head doesn’t get much activation.
Likewise, it’s been shown that compound exercises for the back will not activate both heads of the biceps evenly.
The wise Physique Athlete will utilize the many benefits of compound lifts to build a solid foundation. They will then make full use of isolation exercises to ensure all heads of each muscle receive adequate stimulation… to produce an aesthetically pleasing appearance.
Not only are isolation exercises great for building a balanced, symmetrical, and proportionate physique… but as you can tell from my photo above, they carve out some pretty awesome details.
The Inside Scoop On Fibers
Digging even deeper… we see recent studies revealing that variations of certain exercises can place a greater emphasis on a specific area of a muscle… causing more hypertrophy with some fibers of a muscle over other fibers in the same muscle.
Often times you’ll hear a Physique Artist mention that they ‘feel’ a pump or burn in a certain aspect of a muscle… lower aspect of the biceps or peak of the biceps for example. It may have sounded like broscience… but REAL science is backing up what bodybuilders have been preaching for decades.
So now the question is… how do we ensure that equal emphasis is placed on every aspect of each muscle to sculpt aesthetic muscle?
Get a Grip… Take a Stance… Change your Angle
We’re creatures of habit who tend to stick with the exact same movement patterns in our workouts… grabbing the barbell in the exact same spot every time… Placing our feet in the exact same position on the Leg Press platform… Leaning back at the exact same angle for Pulldowns…
It’s more comfortable to follow the path of least resistance… and with an ego at the forefront it can be all too tempting to perform the movements we are strongest at. For example, some people are stronger when using a neutral grip (palms facing each other) for Pull-Ups… so that’s all they do because they don’t want to look or feel weak when they use a wide standard grip.
The easiest thing you can do to maximize the potential of your physique and build aesthetic muscle is to include a variety of grips, angles, and stances in your workouts.
How you grip a bar can have a significant impact on the development of your muscle. For example… with the barbell curl many people grab the bar a few inches outside of their thighs when it’s resting in the bottom position. This grip places heavy emphasis on the short head of the biceps (inside aspect) with only moderate stress on the long head and of the biceps as well as the brachialis muscle… whereas a narrow grip (just inside your thighs), places equal emphasis on both head of the biceps and the brachialis.
Because this wider grip is most commonly used, we see the majority of people walking around with well developed inner arms and very little shape to the outside aspect of their arms.
It’s a good idea to alter your grip every so often with barbell movements such as Rows, Bench Press, Overhead Presses, Curls, and Extensions.
But it’s not just the grip width you can alter. For Back, Chest, Shoulders, Biceps, and Triceps you can include a variety of grip positions within each workout. You can use a standard grip for an exercise, a neutral grip (palms facing each other) for another exercise, or a reverse grip on a third exercise. E-Z bars give you an ‘in-between’ grip position too.
Most people are familiar with hitting their chest at different angles… Flat Bench Press, Incline Bench Press, and Decline Bench Press… but still with the Dumbbell Bench Press they tend to stick with the same angle on the adjustable bench.
…How about changing the angle of your back when you are doing Pulldowns?
…How about doing single arm lateral raises with either a dumbbell or cable and leaning to the side while holding onto a pole with the free hand? Changing the angle with this exercise creates a whole new tension in the lateral aspect of deltoid through a greater range of motion.
You can perform Dumbbell Front Raises while laying with your back on an incline bench or with your stomach on an incline bench. Both will create an entirely different path of resistance.
The angle of shoulder flexion also has an impact on your biceps and triceps development. Incline Dumbbell Curls will cause a unique stress on the biceps compared to Preacher Curls. Decline Lying Triceps Extensions will cause a unique stress compared to performing them on a flat bench or standing.
Your stance while performing Squats, Leg Presses, and Deadlifts can have big impact on which aspects of your thighs/glutes receive greater stimulation.
A narrow to shoulder width stance will place more emphasis on aspects of the quadriceps muscle, whereas a wide stance can activate the aspects of your hamstrings and adductors more. You can feel the difference immediately.
With the Leg Press, not only can you vary the stance from narrow to wide, but you can also place your feet higher up or down lower on the platform. Same goes for the Hack Squat.
Conclusion
It’s important to have an understanding of basic anatomy, physiology, and biomechanics to maximize the full potential of your physique when building aesthetic muscle.
With MRI and EMG research, the Physique Artist is armed with the knowledge in regards to which exercises place a greater stress on specific heads and aspects of a muscle.
Applying this knowledge toward your workout program design is an art form… and the end result… transforming your body into a work of art… a MASTERPIECE!
Sculpt a Masterpiece,
Scott Tousignant
About The Author
Scott Tousignant, BHK is a Certified Fitness Consultant and Elite Natural Bodybuilder with the UFE.
Scott specializes in helping regular men and women sculpt their body into a chiseled work of art. Viewing training as an art form and your body as a sculpture is a simple shift in mindset that brings out the beauty in your ongoing body transformation.
The art of molding and chiseling an aesthetically pleasing physique with ideal proportions, spectacular symmetry, and magnificent detail is one of life’s most rewarding and fulfilling experiences. It’s an opportunity for self growth and self discovery that will impact every area of your life.
Learn more about Scott’s physique-focused training programs:
Get a taste of Scott’s hardcore physique training programs with Physique Phreak
When Scott needs to urgently strip away stubborn sacks of fat for a photo shoot or bodybuilding contest, he turns to his time-tested proven system… Elite Physique system.