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Markus Reinhardt Bodybuilding Workout
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MARKUS REINHARDT'S:
UPPER BODY PRECISION ENGINEERING
By Hal Peat, GRANITE MEDIA
You hear a lot about German perfectionism when it comes to
mechanics: you might not have heard, however, that some of their
bodybuilders put as much precision into biomechanics to produce
physiques equally well crafted for size, design and performance
as any BMW or Mercedes. One such model of Germanic muscular
excellence recently arrived on American shores is Markus
Reinhardt: outstanding genetics, together with a well-developed
training plan, have propelled Markus from the upper ranks of
junior competition in his native Germany just a few years ago to
making a major impression on the natural bodybuilding stages of
southern California.
"Big wheels" were parts this 5'10" body with the great
lines came sufficiently well-equipped with: for his latest
onstage appearance in November, 1995, at the Musclemania contest
in Redondo Beach, California, Reinhardt's upper legs measured an
awesome 26 1/2 inches, tapering in to a 32 inch waist. But as
Markus also points out, lower body parts were early on the
natural strong point in his athletic life. In school, he was
involved with sports such as kickboxing and wrestling "along with
having done a lot of cycling back then." Having gotten into
bodybuilding by the late Eighties, Markus also quickly got into
competing at age 19 and placed well in his teen class at the Mr.
Germany contest, taking a third place in his heavyweight division
at the 1989 event.
"I always had very good genetics for my lower body, so I
really didn't have to train as specifically or intensely as for
my upper body," he recalls. Once having arrived on the
bodybuilding scene in Los Angeles, though, the new environment
changed that approach. Along with the greater accessibility to
equipment there, Markus also found a range of information that
helped him rethink the training itself. "I had already gotten
into a more scientific approach to weight training; I read a lot about
Dr. Fred Hatfield's training principles and was applying that to
my workouts," he describes: "But as my body was growing, and I
got stronger and I used more weight, I probably made the mistake
of training too much."
The solution which then enabled him to break out of the
plateau he had reached in this drift into overtraining? A
combination of intensity and heavy duty training principles:
Meeting heavy duty training guru Mike Mentzer, Markus found his
technique "close to what I always did, but more extreme." He
subsequently trained with the former Olympian for several months
and experienced "the toughest training I've ever been through: it
opened a lot of new areas that I've never gotten into. It was a
lot more intense than anything I had thought I could put myself
through. So I was very enthusiastic about that, very motivated,"
he comments. "I was always a strong believer in doing as much as
needed to get done: I believe most of the people in the gym do
overtrain and have no clue of what they're doing, so I still
stick with that program now on my own as much as I can. Right
now, my goal is not to put more and more size on everywhere, just
to even out my body even more and make it more perfect; certain
areas, such as my back, for example, where I'd like to have a
little more density, and my upper pectorals--you know, stuff
where you're kind of lacking."
This critical eye for perfection has led Markus to utilize
the knowledge he has recently gained toward continued results in
his own training and, to a large extent, those of his clients.
"I've made the biggest improvements in my upper body since I've
been here, that's true--especially my arms and shoulders in the
past two years," he assesses. "I don't really do different
exercises out here--maybe different equipment, because I do use a
lot of equipment and I don't use a lot of free weights--but the
major turning point was, again, because I used a lot more
intensity and I train a lot more forced reps, negative reps--a
lot of things that I'd been reading about before but never really
applied to my training. Cutting down the volume and increasing
the intensity, by doing that is basically what brought my body up
to a higher level, and especially in these areas that I neglected
at the beginning, in one way by overtraining and doing too much
for these muscle groups, which actually leads to smaller muscles.
So now I've brought these muscle groups up and it looks a lot
more aesthetic and a lot more even."
This more fuller but symmetrical look in upper body parts
was key in helping Reinhardt achieve some high placings in an
increasingly crowded field of natural heavyweights. He easily
won his first local event at the 1993 Muscle Beach/Venice show,
then took third and fourth place in his class respectively at the
1993 and 1995 Musclemania. He was particularly pleased with the
quality natural condition that also led to a class win at the
non-tested 1995 L.A. Bodybuilding Championships. "I'm planning
on more naturally bodybuilding--if there is such a thing as a
natural bodybuilding show in the future which I can get to, I'll
be there to compete and try to do my best," he comments about his
future objectives. His training routine follows a one on/one off
split, with upper body workouts on days one and three as follows:
Day 1 - Chest/Shoulders/Tri's
SETS REPS WEIGHT
Bodymaster Flye Machine 1-2 6-12 240-300 lbs.
Incline Cybex Machine 1-2 6-12 200-220 lbs.
Flat Cybex Press 1-2 6-12 200-220 lbs.
Side Lateral Raises 1-2 6-12 40-50 lbs.
Smith Behind Neck Press 1-2 6-12 215-235 lbs.
Rear Deltoid Machine 1-2 6-12 200-240 lbs.
Rope Pushdown 1-2 6-12 + 100 lb. extra
Dips with Extra Weight 1-2 6-12
Day 3 - Back/Bi'S/Lower Back
Dumbell Pullover 1-2 6-12 120-140 lbs.
Reverse Grip Pulldown 1-2 6-12 300-340 lbs.
Hammer Rowing Machine 1-2 6-12 225-250 lbs.
(single arm)
Deadlift on Power Rack 1-2 6-12 405-500 lbs.
Spider Curl on Scott Bench 1-2 6-12 100-135 lbs.
or
Cybex Machine Curl 1-2 6-12 100-120 lbs.
One Arm Concentration Curl 1-2 6-12 40-45 lbs.
When it comes to utilizing his own experience for clients
whos also seek to improve density and definition to the chest,
arms or back areas, Markus finds many have some initial
misconceptions: "Typically one thing is using free weights--most
of them don't realize that it's not about lifting the weight at
all," he observes. "And they believe "Oh, I don't wanna use free
weights because I don't want to get big" or "I do want to use
free weights because I want to get big." These are all myths--
there's no science behind them. It's a problem that many people
believe training a certain way is going to make you look a
certain way. You want to use a machine because it has certain
benefits--to be able to have a higher contraction of the muscle
which you don't get from the free weights, to be able to
concentrate on your movement. When you do the free weight, you
have to balance the weight out, which takes a lot away from the
concentration of your movement. These are all little things that
are real important when it comes to high intensity training; if
you just play around with weights, as with the regular person who
just wants to stay in shape, it's okay. If you're talking about
high intensity training which is required to increase muscular
density and volume, then you need to stay with the best you can
do for it. The safest also, which I believe also means a well-
designed machine. Also, I find people don't really put a lot
into form, using slow repetitions on the way down, putting a lot
of effort into letting the weight down slowly. Most people just
let it drop! And I don't only train people who are beginners, I
train more advanced people and many of them are making the same
mistakes."
Carefully managed adjustments to training, he concludes,
have been instrumental in letting him make fairly rapid but well
balanced improvements to upper body muscle groups that initially
had lagged behind his leg development. "By doing a little cardio
at a time--maybe like an hour or 45 minutes every other day
(never on consecutive days, because I always want to make sure
that I don't burn any muscle) and training every other day--still
doing my heavy duty training, nothing high rep, everything still
staying the same--I looked the best I've ever looked in my life
within five weeks," he reiterates. "And I still keep to that; I
know exactly what to do over a certain amount of time to be
contest ready. So the more polished the better, and that's what
I'm working on now, trying to stay lean all year--being able to
get ready for a photo shoot or anything within a week. I'm not
trying to have a freaky physique: it might work for other
bodybuilders, but I don't want to look like that myself."
Indeed, having engineered an upper body physique of aesthetic
detail as much as increased mass, Markus Reinhardt stands more
like the big sleek import equipped to do even more future damage
to any bigrigs he may run into on stage.
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