Engineer big arms: get your biceps training on track with top amateur bodybuilder Lionel Brown's iron-pounding workout

Muscle & Fitness, July, 2004 by Shawn Perine

FATE IS A FUNNY THING. Even for those of us who never had much use for such notions as divine intervention, it's difficult to explain away the fortunes of those whose lives play out like a carefully scripted movie. After all, it just wouldn't have made sense if Joan of Arc had opted for a career in cosmetology or Einstein had decided to forgo physics to pursue the life of a rodeo clown. Indeed, it seems that certain individuals were simply born to fulfill the roles they play in the theater of life.

It may be an exaggeration to say Lionel Brown was born with a silver dumbbell in his hand, but it's hard to deny that the 2003 NPC USA heavyweight runner-up was destined for bodybuilding glory. After all, the Long Beach, California, native was introduced to the majesty of well-developed muscles even before learning the three Rs.

"My dad was a gymnast in high school and college, and I was always looking at his biceps when I was little," recalls the 32-year-old. "He had these big arms that really impressed me. So I had an appreciation for muscles from the start."

So much so that as a child Lionel took to performing push-ups whenever and wherever he could, strategically stuffing wadded-up tissues into his shirt and flexing for his mother, whether she asked to see his muscles or not. Even the young boy's TV viewing choices reflected his fascination with muscles. "I remember sitting with my dad watching old Popeye cartoons," says Lionel. "And when The Incredible Hulk came to TV, I couldn't wait to see Lou Ferrigno every week!"

But it was the film that launched so many bodybuilding careers that sealed the pint-sized dreamer's fate. "One day my dad showed me Pumping Iron, and I was shocked. I didn't even know what to think at first. Then I saw Robby Robinson flexing his arms, and his biceps looked like balloons." After a pause, Lionel adds: "Right then and there, I knew I had to look like that. I was only about 7 at the time, but I knew."

INCREDIB-LEE INSPIRED

Of course, most experts would agree that 7 is a bit young to begin iron-pumping in earnest; Lionel therefore continued his relationship with bodybuilding as a devoted fan. He'd go on to partake in a typical childhood--playing games, skinning knees and going through the public education system. While in school he found he enjoyed the more traditional physical activity of football, at which he excelled as a tailback. But thoughts of bodybuilding were never far from his mind. "I was always impressed by Herschel Walker, especially after I saw a picture of him with his shirt off," says Lionel.

Finally, as a teen, he decided to make the switch from bodybuilding fan to practitioner, and it was the sport's greatest champion who inspired the young man to set upon his own path to iron glory. "What gave me the bug to get involved with bodybuilding was watching Lee Haney compete on ESPN. He was so big, yet he posed so gracefully," Lionel remembers. "He made it look so easy, and anyone who's had to do it knows that it's really not. But every shot he hit onstage looked good. Then when he went into the posedown with the other guys, I said, 'I've got to do this!'"

True to his word and quite possibly his destiny, Lionel took to the weights. Not to become a better football player or merely impress his mom (although that end result was all but assured), he launched himself into the world of iron, sweat and protein with just one purpose: to become a real, live bodybuilder. And not just any bodybuilder, but a great one.

ROOKIE RULES

Fortunately for him, Lionel couldn't have asked for a better mentor. The late, great Ray McNeil saw enough potential and the requisite combination of dedication and enthusiasm in the young man to agree to take him under his wing and help him prepare for the 1993 San Diego Championships. Competing as a lightweight at just 154 pounds, Lionel took a disappointing sixth place in his first contest. Yet the combination of working with a bona fide pro and getting his first whiff of posing oil made it a fait accompli that his inaugural competition wouldn't be his last.

With a fire in his belly and passion in his heart, Lionel forged on in his lifelong promise of bodybuilding glory. Under the tutelage of bodybuilding trainer and Marine Staff Sgt. Tony Evans, he began making big-league gains. So much so that he won his next show, the 1994 Gold's Classic, in convincing fashion.

The responsibilities of fatherhood took Lionel away from his sport for a few years as he devoted himself to raising his son Isaiah and daughter Lauren. But with his family life in order, Lionel returned to the posing dais to take the third-place trophy at the 1998 Las Vegas Classic. In fairly short order, local wins turned into regional successes. In 2002, Lionel won the NPC Orange County Muscle Classic, qualifying him to compete at the national level.

THE "L TRAIN" HAS ARRIVED

Finally, at the 2003 USA Championships, "L Train" served notice to the bodybuilding community that there was a new force to be reckoned with at the pinnacle of the amateur ranks. Showing off a well-proportioned and highly polished physique with a dramatic posing routine, Lionel wowed the Vegas crowd with a whisker-close second-place finish in the heavyweight class to Mike Dragna. Although he'd overshoot his peak by two weeks at the Nationals in Miami Beach a few months later, his fifth-place finish there couldn't dampen the excitement already being generated by this fast-rising physique star.