yep this dude who won the light-heavyweight title at the npc,claims he can behind the neck press 385lbs for 4 reps.....it was in last months flex....read that full article:
Delts the Arde way: high-octane shoulder training with 2005 NPC National light-heavyweight champ Charles Ray Arde
Flex, April, 2006 by Julian Schmidt
The walls of Gold's Gym in San Jose, California, don't tremble from the brontinations of battle or the histrionic bellow of wannabe warriors, but from Charles Ray Arde's silent storm of fury and the resounding rupture of gravity as he presses a 385-pound barbell--unsupported except by his arms and the air around him--to full extension overhead for six cruel reps.
This feat is otherworldly even for professional bodybuilders twice his size, but for 5'6" 198-pound Arde, it's routine. He dwells already in another world. So intense are his powers of concentration that his entire being, body and soul, becomes a black hole of energy that he dares not share until his workout is finished, lest others be sucked in and destroyed.
Intensity and concentration to Arde's degree do not come naturally. They demand supererogatory effort. "It's extremely tough, and I have to do it within myself," he says. "I self-motivate, telling myself there are no more exceptions. I simply have to do my very best."
That attitude works, as does his perseverance. In his first national-level show, the 1998 NPC USA Championships, he was eighth as a light heavyweight. In 2001, he returned and finished third. In 2004, he moved up to the heavyweights and came in seventh at the USA, then dropped back down to the light heavies in 2005 and moved up to second. Four months after that runner-up finish, he finally won the light-heavyweight class (and the pro card that comes with it) at the NPC Nationals.
EIGHT IS ENOUGH | An iron will is forged only in the fires of hell, and Arde's emerged thriving on negativity. He not only relishes provocations but hunts them down. "There's a lot of fuel that feeds me to strive for the best," he says.
Born in the Philippines 32 years ago, Charles Ray was the final installment in a lineup of eight siblings. Before he was a year old, the family moved to California "for a better life"--all of them, that is, except for little "Ray," who sojourned in Honolulu with relatives for four years before completing the journey.
In California, destiny was waiting. Martial arts runs in his family, so Arde became a practitioner at age nine. To augment his karate, he dabbled with weights. In high school, he was a starter on the football team and the weight training continued, although not as an end in itself. "All the guys were working out," he says, then adds, matter-of-factly, "so I became one of them."
When bodybuilding burgeoned later in his high school years, it was not for vanity, nor to be bigger than the next guy, nor even to augment his sports, but, rather, for the healthiest of motives: "I wanted to attract more ladies," he confesses.
Did it work for him? "In a sense," he replies, "it worked too well. I dated quite a bit--I have a pretty interesting track record. I say it worked too well, because, at an early age, I got over dating a lot of women and decided to settle down. I've been married now for nine years to a Russian girl, Svetlana. For some reason, before I met her, I dated mostly European women, purely by coincidence, rather than those of my own kind, so that led me to suspect I'd marry a European girl. I thought it was destined to be."
Arde's push to succeed comes in many forms. "I've been told quite a few times that because of the color of my skin, I wouldn't be able to qualify for the cover of a magazine or for commercials," he admits.
"Little things like that help drive me more, yet my attitude is not one of hostility. It's 'You may not like me now, but, hey, you're going to be missing out on something really big.' I try to find fuel when and where I need it."
His workouts are another source of that fuel, and he taps into it with self-imposed mortifications that must bring smiles to the gritty Stoics of yore. "I'm going to give it 100% every time, regardless of the bodypart," Arde says. Shoulders, for example, are subject to the same low-rep, high-intensity, total-failure, free-weight torture that he inflicts on bigger compound muscle groups.
Furthermore, the quality of every bodypart workout, shoulders included, is also measured by the same standard: saturation of his tank tops. Arde explains, "A good workout is where I've gone through two tank tops, because I've put so much effort into it. If, halfway through my workout, I'm not in my second tank top, then there's a problem. Honestly, that's how I judge my workouts. If I get a good workout, I'm going to sweat hard. If I don't sweat hard, it's not a good workout."
Heavy weights are also kindling, and not only because Arde insists they're necessary for thickness and density. "They feed the ego," he says. "You have to have them." EXERCISE 1 | Seated presses Arde's typical deltoid workout begins with seated barbell presses, six sets total; the first two as 12- to 15-rep warm-ups, the rest pyramided up to 385 pounds for six reps. When he gets to his three heaviest sets, he concentrates hard during the negative, because, he says, "I want to make sure I'm in full control, that I'm not just throwing it around. Negatives impose control."
Usually, Arde alternates two or three weeks of barbell militaries with two or three weeks of seated dumbbell presses. With the dumbbells, he "only" goes up to the 170s, for six reps. "Even at these weights, I keep my mind on the muscle and make sure I squeeze it hard to get maximum effect from the negative," he exhorts. "Make five pounds feel like 20 pounds. That and posture are the two key focal points for every exercise." EXERCISE 2 | Dumbbell lateral raises Here, too, Arde alternates. For one week, he'll do standing dumbbell laterals for four straight sets, ending with 60-pounders for six reps.
The next week will be triple-increased sets. He explains: "I'll start with, say, 35-pounders for 15 reps; then, without rest, I'll immediately grab the 45s and do 12-15 reps; then, again without rest, I'll grab the 60s and do as many reps as I can, anywhere from six to 12. That's one set. I then repeat that triple-increase series two more times, for three rounds [nine total sets]. In either case, if I feel I still have too much energy in reserve, I'll do two sets of seated laterals, with help from a spotter for negatives, to totally fatigue the lateral heads."
"Depending upon how easy the previous exercises have been up to this point, I'll do either seated or standing front dumbbell raises for three sets of 12-15," he continues. "This is a twisting movement, starting with my palms facing my body at the bottom but facing down at the top. This spreads the stress across the anterior head to the lateral head, as the movement progresses.
"Occasionally, I'll switch from alternate raises to both arms together. The latter is very difficult, requiring more strength for stability: simultaneously raising both dumbbells out front throws off your balance but forces you to perform the movement more strictly; there's no way you can use body English."
Isolation of the rear delt heads is the purpose here, so Arde uses relatively high reps--in the 12-15 range. He lies face down on an incline bench, keeping his body in a fixed position to prevent any leveraging, lifting or cheating. The raise is straight out to the sides, dumbbells horizontal; his elbows are bent somewhat to shift the stress directly onto the posterior deltoid heads (straight arms involve excessive use of the traps).
MOTIVATION | Very few bodybuilders these days go as low as six reps for deltoids, their excuse being that low reps require too much weight, thus bypassing the individual heads in favor of the whole shoulder complex. Arde sees it otherwise: "Everybody responds differently, and low reps are working for me at the moment. I'm sure I'll hit a plateau, eventually.
"When that happens, I'll simply spice it up a little bit." By that, he means maybe a pre-exhaust to build a deeper burn before reaching his low-rep sets. He also could avoid the heavy weights for a while and, instead of going down to six reps for his last sets, try 15, 20 or 25 reps for everything for a two-week period.
"I've tried both of those methods and my shoulders responded really well," he says. "It's a good shock, changing from the heavy, deep, fiber-ripping compound movements, to pump reps that force continuous blood flow into the area. Bottom line, though: nothing builds size, thickness and density like heavy weights. You have to use massive poundage, because there's also nothing like it for forcing you to go beyond what you think you can do.
You have to force yourself. Self-motivation to the degree of becoming number one in the nation is extremely tough, as every athlete who aspires to number one knows, but when you tap into the fuel that feeds that, it's mind-boggling. I'm able to take myself to the point where I will sacrifice everything, even my marriage--in 2004, Svetlana and I separated for a while--to be number one.
"What I'm saying is that I do whatever it takes, and if I feel I have no support but myself, then I have no problem in just packing up my bags and leaving, going to a place where I can focus. In 2004, I actually did that. I packed up my bags and lived in San Diego for six months to get ready for the USA Championships.
"I can't adequately express, now, how valuable my wife's support was for my victory in the 2005 Nationals--she has my deepest love and gratitude--but all of this illustrates that I'm willing to take any chances necessary to get where I need to be."</p> <pre> CHARLES RAY ARDE'S DELT WORKOUT EXERCISE SETS REPS Seated presses with a barbell or dumbbells (warm-up) 2 12-15 Seated presses with a barbell or dumbbells 4 6-15 Standing dumbbell lateral raises 4 6-15 Seated dumbbell lateral raises (optional) 2 6-15 Front dumbbell raises (single- or dual-arm) 3 12-15 Incline rear-delt dumbbell lateral raises 3-4 12-15
NOTE: Constant flux--or at least unpredictability--best describes Arde's training schedule. Back, traps and legs are worked every five days; all other muscle groups are worked once a week. He does not train more than four days in a row, so it usually comes out to four days on, two off. Order of muscle groups, however, is predictable; chest on one day; back, traps and arms the next; legs and/or shoulders third in the sequence (contingent upon the different schedules for legs and shoulders). Abs are worked four days a week, calves three days a week.
RELATED ARTICLE: DELTS FOR BEGINNERS...........thin
k so his claims r a big joke..come on how can some 1 like arde press 170lbs for 4 or 5 reps........these claims r all false........
