With his Southern charm shining through, Olympic Weightlifting Champion Donny Shankle answers some common questions on how to get huge.
Q: I can’t squat and wanted to know—what is the best alternative exercise?
A: Nothing, except possibly the front squat. If you want a truly demanding physique in the gym or at the beach, you need to squat. In fact, you need to squat ass to the grass frequently, in all types of repetition ranges, throughout the year. Leg presses will not cut it and lunges will not stimulate the growth you are looking for. Look at any powerlifter or upper kilo weight class Olympic lifter and you will find a demanding physique all through squats!
Q: How do I get a six-pack?
A: This is mostly a diet question so go get your diet in order by hiring a nutritionist that can get you results. In the gym you need to increase the metabolic demand of your routine. Try doing a search on the Tabata method or more recently CrossFit. Both of these training regimes are taxing on your body and are the quickest and most effective method of leaning yourself out that I have ever found.
Q: How do I get bigger biceps?
A: Squat, eat and then squat. Whenever I walk into a college weight room, I see lines of young men doing bicep curls of every different angle. They usually have moderately sized arm development but nothing to write home about. For each one of them, I would recommend dropping the amount of direct arm work they are doing and instead focus on increasing their overall strength and bodyweight. While isolation exercises are fine for fine-tuning your physique, they only work to a small extent in creating an overall impressive physique. To develop truly huge arms, you need a truly huge body to support them. So focus on eating more and developing the rest of your body. You will notice your arms get bigger too.
Q: When I dead-lift, what grip should I use?
A: Unless you are looking to compete in powerlifting, use an overhand grip. The reason being that it will transfer more directly to the other lifts you should be doing, such as pull-ups, cleans, snatches and rows. Additionally, it increases the time under tension for the forearms, inducing more muscle growth. At first, you may find that you are limited by the strength in your forearms (especially at higher repetition ranges). Go ahead and use straps to assist with these, but do not change up the grip.
Q: What is your favorite exercise?
A: Squats!
Donald Shankle – Donny is two-time national champion Olympic style weightlifter from New Orleans. A veteran of the Iraq war, Donny is best known for rising in the sport of Olympic weightlifting in 18 short months to claim the title of national champion in the 105 kg weight class. Currently Donny is one of the strongest men in the country in both the classic lifts and just about anything he puts his mind to. Donny can be reached at donny@donnyshankle.com