Straight up Menace: Dennis James tells you how to kick major mass

Flex, July, 2009 by Dennis James

For the past 10 years, Dennis James has been making his mark on the IFBB Pro League with his brutal brand of bodybuilding: scary size, granite density and flawless proportions all layed out on one of the widest frames the sport has ever seen. James just missed a 2009 Mr. Olympia qualification when he placed seventh at the Arnold Classic this past March, but he remains optimistic about returning to the show of shows in September. "I've been doing this for far too long to be counted out," James said. "At the Arnold, I was near my all-time best and that's with complications [James contracted bronchitis two weeks before the show]. After I take time off to regroup, count on me coming back to do serious damage." Before that, in the here and now, The Menace shares with us the knowledge he's gathered from 17 years--and counting--of dedication to his craft.

THE MENACE ON TRICEPS

PUSHDOWNS

Start every triceps workout with some form of pushdowns to warm up the elbows before getting into the heavy stuff. Keep your upper arms tight to your body and let your forearms come up as high as possible without moving your elbows.

TRIFECTA

Alternate grips on each set to hit the muscle from every possible angle.

Set #1 Medium grip for all three heads

Set #2 Wide grip for the inner or long head

Set #3 Close grip for the outer or lateral head

EXERCISE                  SETS  REPS

Pushdowns                  3    8-12

Lying triceps extensions   3    8-12

One-arm cable pushdowns    3    8-12

Rope pushdowns             3    8-12

OVERHEAD DUMBBELL EXTENSIONS

The key with these is to get a massive stretch at the bottom. They're great for isolating the long head and getting a killer contraction at the top. I usually do them at the end of the workout when my elbows are all warmed up.

BLUEPRINT FOR SIZE

TRAIN HEAVY

Bodybuilding isn't powerlifting, but that doesn't mean you should be messing around with light weight--and I'm not talking about the Ronnie Coleman kind. You need to overload the muscles, and there's no better way to do that than with heavy weights in the eight-to 12-rep range.

BASICS, BABY

There's a reason why basic, compound exercises have been around for so long: they work. They're tough to do, but that's what makes them so effective. Balancing the weight takes extra effort and uses muscles that aren't taxed otherwise.

DON'T BE UGLY

If you're not using proper form on everything, you're not making it count Swinging, bouncing, Swinging, bouncing, just to make the lift will not build bigger muscles. If the weight's controlling you, it's too heavy. Always be in control.

BALANCING ACT

There's nothing more ridiculous than a bodybuilder with a huge upper body and no legs, or a dude with massive arms and a puny back. Proportion! You need to build everything. Not only will it look better, but you also won't have problems later on, since imbalances between muscles can lead to injury.

THE MENACE ON CHEST

LOW-CABLE CROSSOVERS

A good finishing move to bring out details. It's not about the weight, it's not about the weight, it's about the contraction. Squeeze your pecs on every rep and hold it for a couple of seconds.

EXERCISE                           SETS  REPS

Incline barbell presses             3    8-12

Incline flyes                       3    8-12

Hammer Strength bench presses       3    8-12

Low-cable crossovers or Pec decks   3    8-12

INCLINE FLYES

I did a good deal of flat-bench presses early on, but I discovered that too many can lead to droopy-looking pecs. For a chest that looks like it's busting out of your shirt, focus on incline barbell bench presses and incline flyes. On incline flyes, I get a deep stretch at the bottom and bring the dumbbells back up in a hugging motion using just my chest muscles. If you have to turn this into a half press and flye, you're going too heavy.

THE MENACE ON BICEPS

BARBELL CURLS

My bread and butter. Here's why you need to do them.

* No other exercise hits the belly of the biceps so effectively.

* They allow for the use of super-heavy weight to knock the stuffing out of the muscles.

MIX UP

Sometimes I'll alternate grips to totally saturate the muscle from every angle.

Set #1 Shoulder-width grip for the entire biceps

Set #2 Wide grip for the inner biceps

Set #3 Close grip for the outer biceps and the brachialis, that knot of muscle sitting underneath the biceps between the biceps and triceps

EXERCISE                    SETS  REPS

Barbell curls                3    8-12

Preacher curls               3    8-12

Alternating dumbbell curls   3    8-12

Hammer curls                 3    8-12

JAMES' TRAINING SPLIT

MONDAY     Chest and biceps

TUESDAY    Quads, hams and calves

WEDNESDAY  Back

THURSDAY   Delts and triceps

FRIDAY     Repeat, beginning with chest and biceps

SATURDAY   Off

SUNDAY     Off

NOTE: A different bodypart gets trained twice each week.

MOTIVATION

Whenever I need some extra heat to fire it up in the gym, I pop in one of these videos.

1. Kevin Levrone-Maryland Muscle Machine

2. The Battle for the Olympia series