My youngest daughter and her new husband just returned from their honeymoon, and they were obviously thinking about training—between all of the fun stuff…
“Dad, we were on the beach a lot this past week, and both of us want smaller waists. Should we do more ab work and side bends?
“Not necessarily. I’m not a fan of oblique work because my waist is wide enough. No extra muscle there for me. Still, it can be beneficial from a strength standpoint. Not going to help shrink your waist though.
“What about extra front-ab work?”
“Waist width is pretty much genetic, so to make it look smaller, you have to create an illusion—as in wider shoulders and back.”
“That makes sense.”
“Maybe do extra side-delt work and a few more sets for your lats. Arnold had a wide waist (young middle pic below), but he camouflaged it with bigger shoulders, wider back, and standing slightly turned away from camera (John Balik photo, right). Plus, his accent distracted people from noticing his waist.”
“Haha. So we should focus more on our shoulders and lats, like with an extra set or two of the ideal exercises.”
“That’s the best strategy—one-arm cable laterals and one-arm cable lat pull-ins. A couple of add-on exercises I’ve been doing are one-arm cable high pulls for delts and alternate under-grip pulldowns with individual cables. You can do the pulldowns simultaneously with a bar on a pulldown machine or do them one side at a time with a stirrup cable handle. Stretching the lats is important for growth.”
“We’ll add those for sure. Do you still do dumbbell pullovers for lat stretch?”
“I generally do one set at the end of my workout. I like the lat stretch, plus I get some unique triceps and chest work from that too. Unfortunately, they can irritate my bum shoulder, so under-grip pulldowns are my go-to lat-stretch move.”
“Sucks to get old.”
“And sucks to be an ego-driven dumbass in the gym when you’re young.”
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Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
—Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
www.X-Rep.com
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