'tennis-ball' biceps??

[hazhardy]

saw a picture of atomic athletic ad in KF magazine, and it was of a shaolin monk holding two granite padlocks, in a puching kind of manner. well, under tension, i noticed he had 'tennis-ball' biceps....
any reasons as to why? does training with granite blocks and stone balls produce this, or is it due to diet etc? maybe is this result possible with free-weights?
let me know what u reckon,
cheers
hza

[viper]

ive got a friend whos a personal trainer i asked he said that muscles dont really change shape depoending on the type of exercise he said that maybe in the pic the monk had his arm in a bent state hand close to sholder uno what i mean by that rather than a 90 degree angle it mite b different

[Hephaestus]

I believe I recall an old pic of Arnie in his competition days flexing some weirdly "ball-like" biceps. It could be genetics, it could be something dangerous, I have no idea.
One thing that I do know is that its creepy as hell.

[IronFist]

It's genetics. You can't change the shape of your muscle, only the size. Ever notice how some people's abs when they have a six-pack are side by side, and other people's are kind of offset? Same thing. Genetics again.

[FooFighter]

It's genetics. You can't change the shape of your muscle, only the size. Ever notice how some people's abs when they have a six-pack are side by side, and other people's are kind of offset? Same thing. Genetics again.

Yup. It is true. You cannot train for shape but you can decrease or increase your muscle mass. I love how some people are selling this myth. Doing this exercise will make this "look" like that business fly against what we now understand in genetics and human physiology. Of course, a paradigm shift could happen in the future?

[hazhardy]

aight cool, cheers for that,, good job didnt buy those bl00dy padlocks then isnt it..... UFC 55 anyone?
arlovski could just be a robot.
hza

[FooFighter]

Did you know that arlovski uses clubbells? This does not mean clubbells will turn you in a UFC champ. <wink>

[Pk_StyLeZ]

It's genetics. You can't change the shape of your muscle, only the size. Ever notice how some people's abs when they have a six-pack are side by side, and other people's are kind of offset? Same thing. Genetics again.

i thought the abs wasnt side by side because they worked/used one side more than the other?

[IronFist]

i thought the abs wasnt side by side because they worked/used one side more than the other?

Next lesson:

You can't isolate part of a muscle. The rectus abdominus muscle (what most people refer to as the "six-pack") is one muscle. When a muscle contracts, the whole thing contracts. You can't use one part of a muscle more than another part. Therefore, you can't use one side, or one part, of your abs more than the other. That rule applies to every muscle.

[Pk_StyLeZ]

Next lesson:

You can't isolate part of a muscle. The rectus abdominus muscle (what most people refer to as the "six-pack") is one muscle. When a muscle contracts, the whole thing contracts. You can't use one part of a muscle more than another part. Therefore, you can't use one side, or one part, of your abs more than the other. That rule applies to every muscle.

well you know how people do sit up and then lean to one side and then go back down and sit up and lean to the other side...
what if they do that but only lean to one side and ONLY that side..wont evenutally that side get bigger or uneven?

[MasterKiller]

Next lesson:

You can't isolate part of a muscle. The rectus abdominus muscle (what most people refer to as the "six-pack") is one muscle. When a muscle contracts, the whole thing contracts. You can't use one part of a muscle more than another part. Therefore, you can't use one side, or one part, of your abs more than the other. That rule applies to every muscle.

So, does it it make a difference if you twist (right shoulder to left knee) when doing situps at all? They seem to burn more, but does it do anything different than a normal situp?

[TenTigers]

as far as the twisting situp-the obliques are separate from rectus abdominals so they come into play.
As far as biceps=look at old pics of Franco Columbo-he had short, high peaked biceps, Larry Scot had these hughe long full biceps. Genetics.
A question on isolation-does this mean that incline bench press will not develop the upper pecs, and decline bench will not develop the lower pecs? I have also heard rthat the pecs are pecs and they will develop overall-period. But my pecs are not full on top, giving them a 'slanted' look? It's so hard to make sense of this, as we are told one thing by exercise physiologists, and then the bodybuikders have all these exercises for the upper, middle, and lower pecs. It's not that they don't know what they're doing, they are usually very scientific about their training-but sometimes they seem to contradict each other.
The same argument goes for definition-some claim higher reps, while others say it's all about subcutaneoous fat, which is diet, and has nothing whatsoever to do with reps.

[bung bo]

There are exercises for the pectoralis major and minor. You can do big, compound lifts and hit both. I only like isolation exercises for rehab.

Ever notice how some people have a long biceps and some are "tennis-ball biceps"? Some peoples' tendons are longer than others. My tendons are short, so my biceps stretch the length of my upper arm. Some peoples' are long and their biceps don't go all the way to their elbows (usually ectomorphs).

[hazhardy]

sounds like a plan.... if only i knew what clubbells were...
well, seems to work for arlovski...might have to employ that method lol
hza

[IronFist]

well you know how people do sit up and then lean to one side and then go back down and sit up and lean to the other side...
what if they do that but only lean to one side and ONLY that side..wont evenutally that side get bigger or uneven?

No. It might change the emphasis on your obliques, but not your six-pack.