Bodychisel by Craig.

Was great to see one of my favourite pieces of equipment today at Gold’s Gym in Port Kennedy.

A brand spanking new plate-loaded DY Row machine!

This of course made famous by the legendary 6 time Mr Olympia, Dorian Yates.

This was one of his favourite exercises that he used to develop his incredible contest winning back. He had one of these at his hardcore Temple Gym in Birmingham, where he trained and prepped for his Mr Olympia contests.

Dorian believed that this exercise, combined with his underhand grip barbell bent rows, were the keys to his freaky back development.

This movement not only gives you a tremendous stretch of the lats under the armpits at the top of the movement, but also allows you to pin your elbows back at the bottom of the arc so as work the lower lats through their girth to the point where they insert just above your hips.

The lower lats are hard to develop and take time to bring out, but when this happens, the result is very impressive looking back musculature from top to bottom.

Many thanks to the amazing owners of my Gym, Chad, Amy & Brendon, for acquiring this piece and for continuing to improve their already fantastic facility!

Listed below are the ingredients for my latest Supashake:

1. 2 scoops ATP Science Noway protein powder

2. 5g Creatine Monohydrate

3. 5g MSM powder

4. 5g L-Arginine

5. 5g Zeolite powder

6. 5g Organic Cacao powder

7. 1/2 cup of frozen blueberries

8. 1 banana

9. 1/2 teaspoon of pink Himalayan sea salt

10. 1 cup of Natural Greek Yoghurt

11. 300ml of unsweetened coconut milk

👍💪👊😉😀

Tonight, I decided to put together a meal plan for myself, so as to get back in contest condition.

This is a very different pre-contest plan to what I have done before as it involves eating my 4 ‘meals’ in an 8 hour feeding window from 12:30pm to 8:30pm.

The Intermittent Fasting philosophy then involves not eating for 16 hours from 8:30pm till 12:30pm the next day.

The benefits of IF are amazing, some of these include:

1. Increased Growth Hormone production

2. Detoxification

3. Autophagy

4. Lower insulin

5. Increased fat burning

6. Better brain function

7. Improved heart health/lower blood pressure

8. Less inflammation

9. Increased longevity

10. Lower SHBG = more testosterone

My dietary intake will involve all 3 of the macronutrients. I may lower the ‘impact carbohydrate’ intake as I progress closer to my goal of very low body fat. If I do that, I may then increase the fat and/or protein content.

The need to perform low intensity cardiovascular exercise will be part of my regime, but hopefully just once per day. But that may change if my body gets stubborn!!

Weight training will be as per normal, HIT style, 3-4 sessions per week, so as to continue building muscle.

At 52 years of age it will be interesting to see just how this plan will go.

Time will tell…

👍💪👊😉😀🏆

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/10-health-benefits-of-intermittent-fasting#section9

Was great catching up with Mitch today for some posing coaching before the ICN State Titles on May 12th.

Mitch has just recently moved from the boardshorts Men’s Physique Division into Bodybuilding.

Bodybuilding, with it’s 4 quarter turns in the Symmetry round and 8 compulsory poses of the Muscularity round, presents itself with quite a step up from the few simple poses of the Physique Division.

After 2 and a half hours, Mitch was really starting to nail these poses, even those he thought he was weak at are now some of his better ones!

He now has some ‘homework’ to do in terms of posing practice, but should be ready to do some serious damage on stage in just a few weeks time!

Mitch was wondering how was going to remember everything I told him, so I gave him my Posing ebook at the end of the session which covers all the poses in great detail with accompanying photos.

You may own a Ferrari, but do you know how to drive it??

The same analogy applies to your body, you might have a sensational physique, but do you really know how to pose & present it on stage!!??

For more information about my exclusive one on one posing sessions, send me an email at craigwinter@rocketmail.com

for more details.

👍💪👊😉😀🏆

Many untrained, sedentary people often poo-poo the sport of Bodybuilding as a vain, narcissistic and selfish pastime.

I have blogged on several occasions about the multiple benefits it can offer.

https://bodychiselbycraig.com/2016/12/07/cws-training-tip-15/

https://bodychiselbycraig.com/2017/09/10/there-is-more-to-bodybuilding-than-meets-the-eye/

https://bodychiselbycraig.com/2016/12/15/cws-thought-of-the-day/

The excerpt below, was taken from an article written by Peter McGough on the day Joe Weider died back in 2013.

These were Joe Weider’s Predictions from the July 1950 issue of his publication, “Your Physique”. Some of them are idealistic, but most of them are now a reality!!!…

PREDICTION 1

I PREDICT that civilization will speed up in every phase and that the stresses and strains on mankind will continue to increase.

PREDICTION 2

I PREDICT that the resulting increase in mental and physical illness will force the world to recognize the importance of systematic exercise and physical activities to prevent and combat the evils of civilization.

PREDICTION 3

I PREDICT that bodybuilding will become the chief form of systematic exercise and physical activity and that it will come to be looked upon as one of the greatest forces in the field of preventive medicine.

PREDICTION 4

I PREDICT that a full realization of the importance of muscular development will sweep the world and that the sport of bodybuilding will grow by leaps and bounds.

PREDICTION 5

I PREDICT that the principles of good bodybuilding, which include balanced diets, adequate sleep, plenty of fresh air, ample sunshine, and regular workouts, will become basic principles of living.

PREDICTION 6

I PREDICT that bodybuilding will become the stepping-stone to every other sport and physical activity.

PREDICTION 7

I PREDICT that the art of relaxation, which is one of the fundamental principles in bodybuilding, will become more and more important as the tensions increase and that relaxation will be universally taught and advocated.

PREDICTION 8

I PREDICT that bodybuilding will spread to every corner of the world and that it will one day be recognized as the king of all sports and physical activities.

PREDICTION 9

I PREDICT that those who practice bodybuilding will live healthier, happier and more useful lives.

PREDICTION 10

I PREDICT that bodybuilding will one day become one of the greatest forces in existence and that it may be hailed as the activity which actually saved civilization from itself.

I was fortunate enough today to watch a very interesting and informative Bodybuilding Posing Clinic very ably conducted by IFBB Pros Amy Fox, Josh Lenartovicz, Lee-Anne Temnyk as well as IFBB National Head Judge, Michael Buna.

The accompanying video shows Michael talking about the absolute importance of being able to master the 3 variations of the Most Muscular pose, that is, the upright hands clasped version, the upright hands on hips version and the trapover version where you bend at the waist more.

He said that when it is very close between two bodybuilders he will ask them to hit these variations and the one that does them the best will usually win!

Food for thought for all those competitors out there that are not paying their dues to their all-important posing practice!!

👍💪👊😉😁🏆🏅

The old school pec deck machine from the 1970’s was a very effective exercise to hit the pectoral muscles, all whilst saving your shoulder joints.

It was great using Rohan Reid’s machine at his Body Matrix Gym whilst I was in Melbourne recently.

Now back in WA, at the awesome Gold’s Gym, I had to compromise by placing my arms adjacent to the poles rather than gripping the handles, which is essentially the same as doing dumbbell flys.

Doing it the old school way really gives those AC joints a break, but still allows you to get a great chest pump.

I also find that the cross-bench dumbbell pullover, with bent arms, is another good chest exercise that is kind to the shoulders.

So that was literally my chest workout today before hitting biceps and forearms!

Sometimes you’ve got to think beyond the box, so as to stay in the game…the iron-game, that is!!!

👍💪👊😉😁

#oldmanmuscle

#oldschoolrules

#grandmastersphysique

#keepitsimple

Over the last 4 years or so I have been battling with a few lower body issues, which was exacerbated when I tried to walk for any longer than 10 minutes or so.

My Dad suffers from a weird foot problem known as ‘Fatless Foot Syndrome’ whereby the fat on the sole of your foot starts reducing.

Coincidentally, I noticed that my own feet were feeling bruised after standing up all day at work or when I had walked a fair distance.

I tried different types of insoles as well as trying shoes with extra support to increase stability.

The problem started to ease when I began wearing the famous Doc Martin shoes at work, but more significantly the New Balance 880’s and 1080’s.

The Doc Martin’s have a patented ‘Air Sole’, while the New Balance’s have their patented ‘Fresh Foam’ sole.

Both of these brands also have a ‘neutral’ sole, which allow you to walk with your own gait.

Fast forward to now, where I can walk any distance I like, with no bruising to my feet and best of all no knee or hip issues!!

And, given I prefer to do fast walking outside to burn body fat stores to get in shape for physique competition, then this footwear is now an absolutely critical component!!

Oh and FYI, I am NOT sponsored by these brands, nor gain any commission on sales of same!!

This is just useful information for anyone out there experiencing similar lower body issues.

👍💪👊😉😁

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Martens

http://www.runningwarehouse.com/catpage-MRFNB1080.html

HIT Delts & Triceps today at the Aussie Mecca, Doherty’s HQ in Brunswick, Victoria.

Pictured here is the final all out set on my version of the Larry Scott style side lat raises.

The key with this exercise is to be able to see the medial deltoid contract at the top of the movement, in fact you should almost be able to see the rear deltoid too.

Too many times I see guys raising their arms past parallel to the ground which results in the front deltoid doing all the work.

The other important thought here is that your little finger stays higher than your forefinger. Imagine you are trying to pour water out of the ends of the dumbbells!

Larry Scott was the first pro bodybuilder to really create that look of melon-like delts and he attributes much of this to this particular exercise!

👍💪👊😉😁

I have discussed the absolute importance of sleep before in previous Blog Posts, but I thought I would touch on this topic again today with more important points.

The ‘quantity’ of sleep you get is important, but if you spend a couple of hours tossing and turning before you get to sleep, as well as waking up too early worrying about the stresses of the day ahead, then how effective was this night of rest???

You see the QUALITY of your sleep is far more important. Getting into that deep REM sleep is critical for the production of growth hormone, testosterone, reduction of the stress hormone cortisol, fat oxidation and many other restorative processes.

And, unfortunately, as we age, we produce less of the sleep hormone Melatonin, and find it harder to get that awesome night’s sleep.

Added to this of course is the fact that we are more stressed than ever in today’s fast paced society, so elevated cortisol ends up keeping us awake too!

Fortunately, I have found several products that can really help counter this. ATP Science’s CortRX, Switch Nutrition’s Adrenal Switch and Melatonin.

Some of the key ingredients include powerful naturally occurring herbs that can help lower inflammation & cortisol such as Turmeric, Schisandra, Withania, Rhodiola and Ashwaghanda.

The Melatonin I get from my Doctor is prescribed and in a 5mg capsule.

I take 3 capsules of CortRX close to bedtime, 1 scoop of Adrenal Switch just before bed as well as the Melatonin capsule.

It should be noted that I don’t take Melatonin everyday, usually 2-3 times per week, as you don’t want your own body to stop producing this hormone naturally.

And, as mentioned in an earlier Blog, I put on my eye pillow mask, at around 3am to keep things as dark as possible. This might seem a bit weird, but I can guarantee that it will get you back off to deep sleep as that sun starts to rise and light filters into your bedroom.

One side effect of this quality sleep is that you will start having incredibly vivid & epic dreams that seem to last forever.

For me, I love these dreams and look forward to them every night!!!

👍💪👊😉😀

PS: The link below takes you to another good article written by my physiotherapist, Matt from Central Baldivis Physiotherapy

http://baldivisphysiotherapy.com.au/sleep-the-underestimated-healing-wonder/