Researched and Composed by Jacob Wilson
Introduction
A
bodybuilder
must
look
at
himself
as
a
master
sculptor,
an
artist
if
you
will.
And
as
an
artist
you
need
to
be
extremely
objective
in
regards
to
your
work.
Remember
you
are
your
own
master
piece.
Today
I
want
you
to
take
a
long
look
at
your
masterpiece.
And
I
will
give
you
the
exact
tools
needed
to
accomplish
this
process!
This
will
allow
you
to
do
one
of
two
things,
A.
Smash
every
plateau
you
will
ever
face
into
pieces
B.
Dramatically
increase
your
overall
Gains
Below
is
the
first
of
a
three
part
series
of
articles.
It
will
cover
how
to
professionally
critique
your
body
and
design
a
program
that
specifically
fits
its
needs.
The
second
part
will
discuss
your
physical
conditioning
and
the
third
will
discuss
how
to
analyze
your
nutritional
plan.
Note:
I
include
a
self
assessment
sheet
in
the
magazine
section.
This
will
allow
you
to
literally
check
the
areas
you
are
doing
great
in
and
also
mark
the
areas
you
lack
in.
More
on
this
latter.
Assessing
your
body
The
first
step
to
assessing
your
current
program
is
to
take
a
good
long
critical
look
in
the
mirror.
Below
I
will
discuss
what
aspects
I
want
you
specifically
to
look
for.
note:
To
complete
this
process
with
ease,
I
suggest
that
you
photograph
yourself
from
every
angle
possible.
This
will
make
it
easier
for
you
to
assess
yourself,
from
a
critical
point
of
view.
I.
Muscularity
Ours
is
a
sport
centered
around
one
word...mass,
and
a
significant
amount
of
it!
Every
bodybuilder
must
have
a
solid
muscular
foundation
in
order
to
have
success
in
this
sport.
With
that
being
said,
you
need
to
firstly
assess
yourself
from
this
particular
standpoint.
In
order
to
do
this
however,
you
need
to
clearly
understand
what
your
goals
actually
are.
This
applies
to
competitive
and
non-competitive
bodybuilders
alike.
What
I
recommend
is
for
the
athlete
to
look
in
the
mirror,
or
take
photos
of
his
body
and
examine
himself.
Now
at
this
stage
you
need
to
roughly
decide
what
your
"
ultimate
"
goal,
as
far
as
mass
will
be
for
your
particular
frame.
Examples:
I
will
give
three
examples
of
bodybuilders
at
different
stages.
One
should
semi
fit
your
current
situation.
I
would
highly
suggest
reading
all
three
though,
as
you
will
benefit
from
each.
In
edition
I
will
give
hypothetical
plans
that
the
bodybuilder
might
use
to
reach
his
or
her
goals.
You
should
note
that
there
are
many
methods
and
plans
to
reaching
these
specific
goals.
I
will
just
give
an
example
for
the
sake
of
bettering
your
comprehension
on
how
to
make
your
own
plan.
1.
Lean
Example:
We
will
use
a
5-8,
150
pound,
lean
man
to
illustrate
our
first
point.
Obviously
as
a
bodybuilder
he
will
want
to
add
more
mass
to
his
frame.
After
carefully
examining
himself,
lets
say
he
feels
that
he
would
look
best
at
200
pounds
of
raw
cut
up
mass.
At
this
stage
he
has
just
made
a
self
assessment
and
is
no
longer
working
out
for
nothing.
Instead
he
is
working
out
for
an
overall
goal.
The
second
stage
is
to
realize
how
close
he
actually
is
to
his
goal.
This
is
obvious,
as
he
is
50
pounds
of
lean
mass
away
from
it.
In
my
opinion,
this
goal
should
be
his
primary
focus
until
he
reaches
it.
Essentially
he
needs
to
"
pay
his
dues
"
in
the
mass
department
to
get
there.
Now,
when
I
say
this
should
be
his
main
concentration,
I
simply
mean
that
spending
most
of
his
time
trying
to
get
shredded
would
be
a
complete
waste
of
his
energy.
I
personally
do
not
see
a
point
in
him
getting
below
6-9
percent
body fat
until
he
begins
to
really
near
his
goal.
From
here
he
should
design
his
program
around
getting
to
200
and
shredded.
An
excellent
step
toward
this
would
be
to
actually
reach
200
in
bodyweight.
A
solid
strategy
toward
this
would
be
to
set
himself
up
on
a
one
year
program.
(
As
a
side
note,
I
always
like
to
see
ahead
one
year
at
a
time.
)
In
which
case
he
would
eat
and
workout
to
gain
approximately
one
pound
a
week
for
the
entire
year.
This
also
gives
him
6
free
weeks
in
which
he
can
maintain,
etc.
etc.
At
a
rate
of
one
pound
of
bodyweight
a
week,
he
will
end
out
gaining
a
tremendous
amount
of
muscle
mass.
Finally,
after
this
years
journey
I
would
recommend
going
on
a
solid
cut
in
which
he
sheds
the
fat
that
was
gained
on
his
bulk.
Following
this,
he
would
re-assess
and
decide
how
close
he
is
to
his
goal.
Obviously
he
would
be
tremendously
closer!
This
is
a
very
conservative
and
basic
approach,
but
it
definitely
works.
There
are
also
many
other
approaches,
but
my
main
point
is
that
you
need
to
set
up
a
comprehensive
goal.
You
may
even
be
more
conservative
than
what
I
discussed
and
gain
a
half
a
pound
a
week.
Or
go
on
several
short
bulking
and
cutting
cycles.
If
you
went
this
route,
you
would
still
be
bulking
primarily,
and
cutting
less,
because
your
primary
goal
is
mass.
2.
Needs
To
Lose
Fat
Example:
For
our
second
example,
we
will
discuss
an
individual
who
is
carrying
a
good
amount
of
fat.
Lets
say
he
is
5-8,
250
pounds,
and
28
percent
body fat.
His
assessment
of
himself
will
be
similar
to
the
first
person.
He
needs
to
set
a
tentative
base
for
what
his
overall
mass
goals
should
be.
Lets
say
that
his
goal
is
also
to
be
a
lean
and
shredded
200
pound
athlete.
He
might
first
set
a
goal
to
be
10
percent
body fat
at
200
pounds.
He
could
then
work
to
lose
a
pound
of
fat
a
week
for
a
year.
Again,
this
gives
him
6
weeks
of
leeway.
If
he
lifts
hard
and
manages
to
lose
50
pounds
of
fat
in
a
year,
he
can
reach
his
goal
of
200
pounds
and
10
percent
body fat.
The
point
is
that
you
need
to
set
goals
for
yourself!
After
he
reaches
this
one
he
would
than
re-assess.
Only
this
time,
he
would
be
extremely
lean
compared
to
the
year
before
and
in
10
times
the
shape,
because
he
busted
his
behind
in
the
gym
and
pre-planned
his
program!
3.
The
Advanced
Bodybuilder
A
bodybuilder
reaches
a
more
advanced
stage
when
he
feels
that
he
has
attained
a
solid
base
of
mass.
If
you
look
in
the
mirror,
or
at
your
photos
and
feel
that
you
have
achieved
this
then
your
chief
goal
in
this
sport
changes.
(
Again,
I
feel
that
every
bodybuilders
primary
goal
should
be
attaining
a
solid
or
great
level
of
muscle
mass
first
and
foremost!
)
However,
don't
think
for
a
minute
that
it
gets
easier.
If
this
is
your
assessment
than
you
will
have
to
go
into
an
even
greater
artistic
stage
in
your
bodybuilding
career.
At
this
point
I
would
recommend
taking
countless
photographs
of
yourself
and
painstakingly
critique
them.
Your
goals
will
have
a
greater
emphasis
on
thinner
skin,
separation,
body fat
percentages,
symmetry,
lagging
body parts,
and
last
but
not
least
a
beautiful
v-taper.
Lets
discuss
thinner
skin
briefly.
When
a
bodybuilder
steps
on
stage
his
goal
is
to
look
as
close
to
an
anatomy
chart
as
possible.
The
thinner
his
skin
is,
the
closer
he
will
be
to
this
look.
In
order
to
achieve
this
he
will
want
to
avoid
over
stretching
his
skin
with
anymore
"
heavy
bulks.
"
When
he
does
bulk
I
would
recommend
it
to
be
a
clean
one,
in
which
the
athlete
is
extremely
cautious
about
the
rate
at
which
he
gains
weight.
This
means
upping
his
meal
frequency
to
avoid
storage
of
food,
lowering
starchy carbs
at
night
and
on
off
days,
and
very
slowly
upping
his
caloric
intake.
Also
if
you
notice
that
an
area
of
your
body
isn't
tight
enough,
even
though
your
body fat
percentage
is
low,
then
I
would
suggest
working
the
area
hardcore
on
a
bulk
to
fill
in
the
loose
skin.
For
example,
if
you
have
a
small
amount
of
lose
skin
on
your
abs,
animals
mass
workout
would
help
fill
this
in
nicely.
Notice
how
I
mention
still
going
on
bulks
even
though
the
bodybuilder
has
reached
a
great
base
of
overall
mass.
The
focus
on
these
bulks
however
will
be
mostly
lagging
body parts,
and
other
aspects
of
ones
physique.
I
will
discuss
these
in
more
detail
below.
At
this
point
in
his
career
he
will
also
shoot
for
much
lower
body fat
percentages
when
he
cuts,
again
to
achieve
that
paper
thin
type
of
skin
he
will
need
for
the
stage.
To
Sum
Things
Up
You
Will
Ultimately
Reach
Your
Goals
By:
A.
Examining
Your
Body
B.
Setting
An
Overall
Mass
Goal
for
Yourself,
I.E.
200
pounds
and
shredded
C.
Achieve
an
understanding
of
how
close/far
you
are
away
from
your
goal.
D.
Set
up
a
Comprehensive
plan
to
reach
that
goal.
I
would
suggest
using
the
articles
and
forums
on
this
site
to
help
you
design
your
plan.
Brief
examples:
1.
A
year
long
Plan
2.
12
week
bulks,
12
week
cuts
3.
Shorter
bulks,
I.E.
6
weeks
and
4
week
cuts
4.
An
overall
fat
loss
program
emphasizing
lowering
your
body fat
percentage
5.
A
program
designed
to
thin
skin,
etc.
II.
Assesssing
Your
Muscular
Separation
Muscular
separation
is
always
a
hot
topic
in
this
sport.
After all,
bodybuilding
is
not
just
about
size,
it
is
also
about
the
clarity
of
each
muscle
group.
In
order
to
truly
assess
your
muscular
separation
you
will
need
to
be
somewhere
in
the
single
digits
in
your
body fat.
Understand
that
the
lower
your
body fat
percentage
is,
the
more
separated
your
muscles
will
be.
In
edition
the
thinner
your
skin,
the
better
this
aspect
will
be
as
well.
However,
separation
goes
beyond
body fat
percentages
and
thin
skin,
way
beyond!
Take
the
thighs
for
example.
The
mass
of
this
area
is
made
up
of
the
quadriceps
and
adductors
as
illustrated
below:
In
order
to
achieve
the
kind
of
separation
seen
above
you
will
need
to
properly
develop
each
head
within
the
quadriceps
complex
and
the
adductors.
If
your
tear
drop
is
great
and
middle
head,
but
your
adductors
and
outer
quad
sweep
lack,
then
you
will
not
even
come
close
to
this
type
of
separation.
This
is
where
specialty
work
comes
in.
Again,
you
need
to
look
at
your
photographs
and
see
what
aspects
of
each
muscle
group
are
lacking.
If
your
adductors
are
weak
then
prioritize
them
in
your
leg
routine!
Use
wide
stance
squats
with
toes
pointed
out,
include
the
adductor
machine,
sumo dead lifts
and
other
exercises
that
stress
the
adductors.
If
your
outer
sweep
is
weak
then
utilize
exercises
that
emphasize
this
aspect
of
your
quads.
The
best
way
to
target
this
would
be
close
stance
squats
with
your
toes
pointed
forward,
or
even
elevated.
Hack
squats
also
emphasize
the
outer
sweep.
You
may
find
that
your
front
and
side
delts
are
great,
but
rear
are
horribly
underdeveloped.
In
this
case
you
might
begin
your
shoulder
workouts
with
rear
delt
training.
Breakdown
1.
Study
each
of
your
muscle
groups.
2.
Find
what
is
lacking
within
them
3.
Prioritize
those
lacking
aspects
for
maximum
separation!
III.
Assessing
Your
X-Factor!
Every
bodybuilder,
competitive
and
non-competitive
alike
strives
for
a
beautiful
X-Frame.
This
is
made
up
of
five
distinct
aspects,
each
of
which
you
need
to
critique.
I
will
discuss
them
briefly
and
then
tie
them
all
together
at
the
end.
Your
job
is
to
understand
these
concepts
and
then
use
them
to
analyze
each
of
these
areas
in
your
own
body.
1.
The
Side
Deltoid:
You
need
to
examine
yourself
and
see
how
developed
your
side
deltoids
are.
If
they
are
lacking
then
you
need
to
prioritize
them
now!
I
cannot
over
emphasize
the
importance
of
this
muscle
when
it
is
related
to
the
entire
body.
The
wider
your
side
delts
the
more
complete
your
physique
will
be
and
the
smaller
your
waste
will
appear.
Usually
when
people
emphasize
pressing
movements
and
neglect
isolation
movements,
they
end
up
with
lagging
side
delts.
So
emphasize
exercises
such
as
side
laterals,
upright
rows,
overhead
laterals
etc.
what
this
accomplishes:
Makes
your
collar
bone
appear
longer
and
your
waist
look
smaller.
2.
The
Upper
Back:
This
area
again
adds
width
to
your
upper
body
and
must
be
fully
developed
at
all
costs.
Nothing
will
widen
your
upper
back
like
pull-ups
will.
I
mean
nothing!
If
you
are
basing
your
upper
back
routine
purely
on
pull downs,
then
you
are
sabotaging
serious
growth.
First
and
foremost
use
pull-ups,
and
secondarily
use
pull downs
as
these
are
the
second
greatest
way
to
build
an
upper
back.
Do
them
wide,
close,
wider,
closer
and
everyway
in
between!
what
this
accomplishes:
Accentuates
your
shoulder
width,
adds
to
width
itself
and
makes
waist
appear
smaller.
3-4.
Hips
and
Waist:
These
two
areas
are
mostly
a
matter
of
body fat
percentage.
The
lower
your
BF,
the
smaller
these
areas
become.
This
should
be
accomplished
by
changing
your
diet
so
that
your
body
shifts
into
a
fat
burning
mode.
I.E.
Lower
starchy
carbs
and
slightly
less
calories.
I
discuss
this
in
much
greater
detail
in
my
illusion
article.
what
this
accomplishes:
Makes
shoulders,
back,
and
quadriceps
appear
extremely
larger.
In
edition
it
is
the
finishing
signature
to
the
rest
of
your
body.
5.
Outer
Quad
Sweep:
Most
people
lack
the
flair
of
the
outer
quad
sweep.
However,
this
is
just
as
important
to
the
x-shape
as
any
other
aspect
of
your
physique!
You
see
beautifully
built
outer
quads
make
your
waist
appear
smaller,
and
as
we
all
know
this
is
your
finished
product
when
you
step
on
stage!
If
you
find
you
are
lacking
in
this
area
try
a
this
routine:
Free
weight
hack
squats:
3
sets
(
12,
10,
8
drop
the
weight
and
get
12
)
Close
Stance
Squats
with
Heels Elevated:
3
sets
(
10,
8,
6
)
Machine
Hack
Squats: 3
sets
(
12,
10,
8
drop
the
weight
and
get
12
)
note:
if
you
don't
have
machine,
use
free
weight
hacks
instead.
what
this
accomplishes:
Causes
your
waist
to
appear
smaller
and
finishes
the
x-shape
off.
Tying
everything
together!
When
each
of
the
aspects
above
are
developed
in
proportion,
you
will
have
achieved
a
text
book
"
X-frame"
of
the
body,
whereby
your
wide
deltoids
taper
into
a
narrow
waist
which
flare
out
to
sweeping
quads
to
complete
the
"X".
Take
care
to
critique
your
body
and
find
which
of
these
aspects
lags
behind
the
other.
In
this
way
you
will
be
able
to
more
scientifically
and
methodically
train.
IV.
Lagging
Body parts
And
Symmetry
The
word
symmetry
means
balance.
When
applied
to
your
physique
it
simply
how
well
each
of
your
body parts
fit
together,
or
how
proportionate
they
as
a
whole.
If
you
have
a
huge
upper
body
and
chicken
legs,
then
you
are
deemed
extremely
unsymmetrical.
Or
if
you
have
extremely
high
peaking
biceps,
but
puny
triceps,
you
will
have
unbalanced
arms.
Essentially
your
job,
in
this
sport
is
to
make
sure
that
none
of
your
body parts
are
lagging.
This
is
the
final
stage
of
assessment.
It
is
also
the
most
painful
stage,
as
you
will
have to
come
to
grips
or
make
emends
with
your
week
points.
I
realize
of
course
that
each
of
you
reading
this
are
at
different
stages
in
their
bodybuilding
career,
but
I
want
you
to
analyze
yourself,
in
this
respect,
the
same
way.
First
look
at
your
body
as
a
whole.
Secondly
pick
out
your
absolute
best
muscle
group
and
rate
it
a
10
out
of
10
as
far
as
development
is
concerned.
Following
this
rate
each
and
everyone
of
your
body parts
accordingly.
For
example,
lets
say
that
your
biceps
are
your
best
body part,
you
would
rate
that
a
10.
Then
you
look
and
your
calves
are
half
way
decent
as
compared,
you
would
rate
them
a
5-6.
I
have
designed
a
chart
on
the
analysis
sheet
that
goes
with
this
article
that
includes
each
and
every
body part. You
will
use
this
chart
to
rate
yourself.
The
sheet
also
has
a
place
for
you
to
place
notes.
I
would
recommend
writing
both
good
and
bad
notes.
This
way
you
can
apply
training
methods
that
you
have
had
success
with
on
your
great
body parts
to
your
lagging
body parts.
Here
is
a
Partial
Common
Example
of
What
a
Bodybuilders
list
May
Look
Like:
Triceps
Rating
-
10
Notes:
I
am
extremely
pleased
with
how
my
triceps
have
progressed,
they
are
without
a
doubt
my
best
body part!
I
work
them
out
every
5
days,
and
use
9-12
sets
total
on
them.
I
push
myself
to
failure
on
every set,
with
a
maximum
level
of
intensity!
I
also
frequently
use
drop
sets
and
supersets.
My
last
workout
was:
3
sets
of
skull
crunchers,
3
sets
of
behind
the
back
dips,
3
sets
of
dumbbell
kickbacks
and
finally
a
drop
set
on
skull
crunchers.
Hamstrings
Rating
-
3
Notes:
To
be
honest
I
have
neglected
my
hamstrings.
I
skip
them
like
every
3
workouts
and
when
I
do
work
them
I
use
like
3
sets
of
lying
leg
curls.
In
fact
that
was
my
last
leg
workout.
My
poundage's
suck,
because
I
have
neglected
this
area.
This
is
a
major
weakness.
I
am
going
to
use
the
priority
principle
on
them
and
start
hitting
them
hard.
I
will
start
hitting
them
first
in
my
workout.
In
fact
I
am
going
to
pre-fatigue
the
area
before
squats.
My
next
leg
workout
will
be:
3
sets
of
lying
leg
curls
supersetted
with
stiff
legged
dead lifts.
I
will
follow
this
up
with
three
sets
of
leg
presses
with
my
feet
high
on
the
platform
to
hit
my
hammys.
Following
this
I
will
again
perform
three
supersets.
Then
I
will
do
my
quads,
which
will
consist
of
3
sets
of
leg
extensions
and
3
sets
of
10
one
and
a
half
rep
sissy
squats.
I
am
determined
to
bring
this
part
up,
no
matter
what!
end
of
sample......
This
is
the
best
way
for
you
to
assess
whether
your
body parts
are
lagging
or
are
doing
just
fine!
3
months
from
now,
when
this
person
re-looks
at
this
list,
he
will
be
able
to
rate
his
hamstrings
much
higher!
If
he
had
not
assessed
himself,
he
would
not
have
realized
this
and
continued
to
lag
in
this
area.
So
you
see
how
valuable
a
thorough
self assessment
can
be!
Over
View
of
Procedure
Now
that
you
have
a
thorough
understanding
of
how
to
assess
yourself,
I
suggest
that
you
do
the
following.
A.
Photograph
yourself
from
head
to
toe,
or
examine
your
body
carefully
in
the
mirror.
B.
Take
the
check
list
I
have
provided
here,
and
go
through
the
entire
thing.
Don't
rush
through
it.
This
process
may
take
a
few
days.
The
key
is
to
walk
away
with
a
huge
outlay
of
what
your
strengths
and
weaknesses
are,
a
clearer
idea
of
how
to
set
goals,
a
perspective
of
how
close
you
are
to
those
goals,
and
a
program
designed
to
meat
them
specifically
as
well.
Conclusion
Most
people
do
not
realize
what
a
key
role
self
analysis
plays
in
our
sport.
As
I
have
stated
above
you
must
be
your
most
devout
critique.
I
guarantee
that
your
gains
will
absolutely
explode
after
implementing
this
into
your
program!
Sincerely
Jacob
Wilson
© ABC Bodybuilding Company. All rights reserved. Disclaimer
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