DUMBBELL
HAMMER CURLS
Morné concludes bicep
training with an often
neglected movement for the
brachialis muscles. He keeps
his palms facing inward
without supinating at the
top of the exercise. For him,
dumbbells are more effective
than using a rope attached to
a cable station.
“The brachialis is a lot
stronger than you realise and
what I like most about using
dumbbells is that they allow
you to go beyond failure. I
usually continue doing partials
after positive failure, until I can
no longer get any movement
whatsoever. You don’t have
to go ridiculously heavy, but
you have to train them with
intensity. People think that the
weight you use is what defines
intensity, but it’s all about how
far you can take your muscles.
It is all about muscle control,
like using your forearms
without moving anything else.
If you don’t do that you only
end up hitting other body parts
or you will go home with achy
elbows and a sore lower back.”
CHASING SYMMETRY FOR THE STAGE
Morné’s ultimate goal is symmetry,
with lines that flow on his physique. For
him, bodybuilding is about creating the
best physique possible and that means
overcoming a lagging body part to attain
awe-inspiring muscularity, spot-on
conditioning and near-poetic symmetry.
“When a bodybuilder’s arms are relatively
weak it detracts from his physique when
performing any type of open-arm poses on
the stage. It’s very important to have your
arms on par with the rest of your body. A
judge’s eye usually goes to the first glaring
weakness on a competitor’s physique.
Sometimes guys hammer their legs and
they take off, leaving their upper body
development standing still. The complete
opposite happens when you only focus on
your chest or shoulders. It takes a lot of
hard work to develop a balanced physique
that the judges immediately notice when
you hit your poses on stage. Working my
biceps first actually prepares my triceps
for their training by pushing blood into the
entire upper arm. Train your biceps while
keeping the intensity high and your form
solid and you will maximise your arms’
growth potential. Another thing I firmly
believe in is that you get the most growth
activation and improvement from the last
set or two of an exercise – so don’t lose
your focus when you train.”
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