What Would You Do for a 50-Cent Trophy?

In her first article for Cygen Labs, sponsored athlete and National Level Figure Competitor Angela Doucette shares her feelings on the motives of many up and coming physique competitors, and the lengths that many people will go to in order to succeed in the sport that she's so passionate about.

By: Angela Doucette

It has been a long time since I’ve heard a new bodybuilder or figure competitor say they compete for themselves, their health, or just because they love it. It seems these days everyone thinks they deserve to be a “pro” and some will do just about anything to get there.

When I started competing in 2004 I had been following the sport of bodybuilding for 5 or 6 years. I knew all the big names in the business and loved reading about them, and their training/diet methods as presented in magazines. The first time I was in the audience of a local OPA show in 2002, I knew I would one day grace that stage. Two years later I did just that. I never expected to win or even really knew what turning “pro” meant. I did that show for myself and fell in love with the process. Watching my body transform day to day amazed me. I felt so in control of my body and my mind.

I am often approached by girls who have competed once at a local show or by girls looking to get into the competitive scene for guidance. I truly love to help people and I have a passion for this lifestyle but sometimes people are competing for all the wrong reasons. Some come right out and ask what drugs they need to take or ask if getting plastic surgery is essential to win. Really??? It amazes me how far people will go for one night in the spotlight and a 50 cent trophy.



This sport can be healthy for the mind and soul but if taken too far or too seriously it can take over your life and cloud your judgment. I can’t tell you how much it saddens me to read stories of divorce, financial problems, family issues, body image issues, depression, and irreversible drug use related side effects due to taking this sport too seriously and too far. Some days I want to disassociate myself from this sport but I know there is still good out there. When I compete at local or national level events and reacquaint with veteran competitors I am reminded there are many athletes out there just like me. Competitors who are teachers, lawyers, engineers, mothers, police officers, students…and we all talk about our careers and families and I realize this is a passion and lifestyle I share with many confident, successful and beautiful strong women.

This sport is a hobby for most. Only a handful of athletes make a living directly from this sport. So, please be realistic and careful. It can be easy to get caught up in the vain madness this sport can evoke. Personally I am a wife and mother first and foremost and before making any decision I ask myself “would I want my daughter to do that”?

Blasting the Back

In the second installment in the series, Scott discusses one of the best exercises to hit the upper back, the seated cable row.

By Scott Milne:

For most beginners in the gym, the muscles they love to train most are sometimes referred to as "mirror muscles" - because to state the obvious, they're the muscles you can admire easily in the mirror. However, only training the muscles you can see can lead to muscle imbalances, postural issues, and an eventual plateau.

Equally as important though, (and some might argue even MORE importantly) are the muscles you can't see. While the chest gets all the love from beginners, without paying the propper attention to the back, you'll soon find yourself running into some huge problems. For starters, building a wider, thicker back gives you a more solid base to bench from, which in turn helps you get stronger. A large back makes you less prone to injury, by providing you with extra "armour" as well as stabilizing your posture. And suprisingly, while you might not think the ladies appreciate a large back, from an evolutionary perspective, a wide, strong back signifies your ability to be a good protector (be it from falling rocks, or when you find yourself on one of those "When Animals Attack" shows). So what are we waiting for? Let's help you build that barn door back.

Here are the keys to focus on when performing the seated cable row:

• Start with your arms fully extended. The most difficult part about any pulling movement is initiating the pull from a fully extended position, so many people are tempted to stop the range of motion short, in exchange for added weight, or more reps. Don’t make this mistake, this extended range of motion is where most muscle is built.

• Begin the pull by retracting the scapulae (pulling your shoulder blades together), followed by activating the lats and rhomboids. Try to minimize bicep activation as much as possible. Again, the common mistake is to pull with the arms in exchange for heavier weights. This might do wonders for your biceps, but it won’t do a heck of a lot for your back. Use wrist straps if you have to – this can help take emphasis off the arms.

• As the weight begins to move, it’s okay to use your lower back a little bit to get yourself to a fully retracted position. While some people view this as cheating, it’s critical to put yourself in the optimal position to really squeeze the lats and rhomboids at the end of the movement. Much like the starting position, the finishing position of this movement is difficult, but vital to get the size you’re looking for.

• Once you’ve reached the finished position, really focus on squeezing the lats and rhomboids, and hold this position for a second or two. This will help you develop what is called the “mind-muscle connection.” When doing exercises for a muscle we can’t see, it’s important to really visualize the proper muscles working in order to properly activate them.

Here’s a video example:



I hope these tips serve you well on your quest to building the back alllll the ladies will want the seek safety behind.

Fit or Fat?

For those of you who haven't heard, one of the newest Members to the Cygen Labs Team, National Level, Natural Bodybuilder Steve Doucette will contributing to the Cygen Labs blog. This week Steve throws in his two cents about the benefits (or lack thereof) to bulking in the offseason.

By: Steve Doucette

On a sunny weekend morning, I approach the gym parking lot ready to battle out another grueling leg workout. I am beginning to feel the intensity of my pre-workout supplement working its way through my bloodstream. The excitement of whether I will set another PR on a heavy squat is fueling my desire to get into the gym as quick as possible. Then as I ring in and head upstairs to the weight room, I get stuck. I am stuck behind a 280 pound monster. The man looks as though he can bench press a bulldozer, and as he takes another step up the stairs, he blocks the sunlight beaming through the window and casts a shadow that nearly blocks all the light from the main level cardio floor. But then I begin to question, is this guy going to make it up the stairs? Half way up the long flight of stairs he is already out of breath, and clearly putting out a big effort to make it up. As he rounds the bend of the staircase, this is when I notice he is larger sideways than head on. His face looks rounder than a full moon on a clear night and the pot belly protruding underneath his tank top is approaching his knees. I pause, and turn to the other wall and notice his face on the wall in a picture with an overall trophy, no more than 4 months prior winning the local bodybuilding championships. Yes, another example of taking the bodybuilding staple ‘you have to eat to grow’ too far.



Do I personally think one needs to stay lean year round? Not necessarily. Calories are essential to produce energy, maintain life and finally to stimulate growth. This is why you often hear people say we ‘grow’ in the offseason, and during contest prep season we can reveal just how effective the offseason was at stimulating growth. But often times what happens is individuals will gain a massive amount of weight in the pursuit of growth and yes – they grow – but why is it that the next year they look the same as they always did? In a best case scenario, they may have put on 3-5 pounds (which is an EXCELLENT achievement in a year – more on that later). Was it worth it? The answer to many of us reading this and trying to put on muscle is: YES, of course it was worth it. However, ignoring the fact that becoming morbidly obese in the offseason has countless other health drawbacks, ask yourself this…Would you have still gained those same 3-5 pounds of lean tissue this offseason if instead of packing on 50-60 pounds post contest, you were to have stayed within say 20-30? 99% of the time the answer is yes. No one argues the fact that you have to eat to grow, but I draw the line at gorging on fast foods because eating clean seems to have caused a plateau on the weight scale. Or getting to the point where working out becomes a chore since you are ready to vomit after each hard set.

Many people will have different answers to this question, but consider this. Let’s assume that getting fat in the offseason actually does provide a slight benefit above and beyond eating a clean but substantial amount of food in the ‘growing months’. Would you rather look good all year round, feel good all year round and make slow and steady gains of 3 pounds per year…OR is getting that 4th pound really worth the devastation to your cardiovascular health? In an obsessive sport, I do realize there are many that would agree that getting fat is actually worth the additional pound. But one thing people must realize is that you can still make, in my opinion, ALL the gains necessary and still look good year round. This applies to not only the competitive physique competitors, but to the average gym enthusiast as well. The notion of ‘bulking and cutting’ seems to be popular among anyone trying to gain muscle.

The debate has existed for years, and I see it come up time and time again on bodybuilding forums all over the net. One criticism of staying relatively lean year round is that how is one supposed to ‘move up in weight classes’ if they only gain 15 pounds in the offseason? For example: person “A” weighs 176 pounds on stage, and the goal is to be the top of the next weight class (187) the year after to stay competitive. So how is one going to achieve this by ‘only’ gaining 15-20 pounds in an offseason? My answer is, they probably won’t…! BUT gaining 40-50 is not going to change that fact! Seasoned competitors do not gain 10+ pounds per year of lean muscle…They may gain 10 pounds from 1 show to the next, but most often, those aren’t 10 good pounds. Perhaps the theory is that for every 1 pound of fat gained, an additional pound of muscle (for example) would come along with it. Realistically that only works for the first few pounds. Gaining muscle doesn’t come easy, and the reality of it is, jumping weight classes within a year is extremely rare. Remember the old adage, ‘slow and steady wins the race’…this isn’t exclusive to rabbits and turtles guys…If you can gain 3 pounds of muscle from the time you are 20 years old until you are 35, that is 45 pounds of pure muscle…That is taking a lightweight bodybuilder into the heavyweight class! Besides, judges don’t care how much you weigh – they care what that weight looks like. I know many people, myself included that have competed in back to back years in the same weight class, but the detail, maturity, and shape, all improved to the point where they could compete with guys 2-3 classes higher.

So as I take another step up the stairs, “Mr. Offseason” insists I go ahead. Too bad for him, it was also his squat day, and there is only 1 rack in our gym…But I’ll probably be done with it by the time he makes it up to the gym floor.

Bench Press Essentials

By Scott Milne

Long time no see Cygen Nation. In the coming weeks, IFBB Pro Bodybuilding, and Cygen Athlete Scott Milne will be posting blog entries here, giving you tips on how to properly perform certain essential exercises in the gym, to get the best muscle building bang for your buck. So sit back and enjoy the ride as Scott Milne turns you into a full fledged beast!

Without ever meeting you, I can guarantee that the bench press was either the first or second exercise you ever performed in the gym (you did curls 4 days a week didn’t you?). It’s the exercise that everyone likes to brag about to their friends (how much ya’ bench?). But in building a well developed chest, bigger weights don’t always translate into better results. What’s more important in the grand scheme are things like form, time under tension, which angle(s) you hit the muscle from, and adhering to specific cues that are going to make the muscle grow bigger, and not just stronger. Here’s a list of some tips I like to use to make sure I’m able to stimulate the most growth possible when hitting the bench press.

We’ll start with the Flat Barbell Bench Press:

• When grabbing the bar, you want to put your hands at a width that allows your elbows to be at a 90 degree angle when you are at the bottom portion of the movement. Grab it too wide, and the tension is shifted to the shoulders, grab it too narrow and the tension is shifted to the triceps. The wider your upper body, the wider grip you’ll need.

• I like to use a false grip (thumb open, under the bar), which helps keep my wrists locked, but for safety reasons, I recommend that beginners use a full grip (thumb wrapped around the bar).

• Before unracking the bar, ensure that your scapula (shoulder blades) are retracted and pulled back into the bench. This will engage your lats, and allow you to have a more stable base when lying on the bench.

• Once you’ve unracked the weight, make sure to move it out over your chest where you intend to bring it down. Too many beginners bring the bar straight down from the rack, and this results in moving the bar on a diagonal plane, which makes the subsequent reps more difficult.

• Bring the bar down to the mid chest at a slow, controlled tempo (about 2-3 seconds down). Many people bring the bar down to the lower pec, or upper abdominals and “bounce” the bar. This is great for inflating your ego, but it takes tension off the pecs.

• To bring the bar back up, initiate the movement by squeezing the pecs, and contract hard at the top of the movement.

• Lastly, don’t lock the elbows out at the top. By stopping the movement just before lock-out, this keeps the tension on the pecs, and better stimulates growth to the muscle, which is what we’re shooting for.

Here are some videos to demonstrate:



The second video is a different angle of me performing the Incline Bench Press. Most of the cues are the same, but there are a few variations:

• Bring the bar down closer to the top of your chest. This will better isolate the upper portion of the pec, which is the purpose of pressing from an incline in the first place.

• Unlike the flat bench, there is no need to bring the bar all the way down to touch the chest, especially if you have shoulder issues. Because of the angle of the bench, bringing the bar all the way down can put the shoulder into a compromising position.

• Press the feet firmly into the floor, and try to limit the amount of arch in your lower back. Many people will end up with a severe arch during an incline press to try and muscle up more weight, which makes the movement more like a flat bench press.



I hope these tips have been helpful for you, and I encourage you to give them a try the next time you plan to hit the bench press.

If you've got any questions on the tips or the videos, post them here, or on our Cygen Facebook page.

Till Next Time,

Scott Milne