36 Bodybuilding and Biomechanics with Doug Brignole

Professional bodybuilder, author, trainer, and biomechanics expert Doug Brignole joins us here on Episode 36 of the InForm Fitness Podcast. Doug will share his deep knowledge of and training principles, including compound movements vs isolation movements, exercise vs. recreation, the pros and cons to adding variety to your workouts, static vs dynamic exercises, the proper forms of exercise to improve your balance and core strength, and intensity & recovery.

For more information about Doug Brignole:
http://www.greatestphysiques.com/doug-brignole/
http://billcomstock.net/bodybuilding/biomechanics/
To purchase Doug Brignole’s book, Million Dollar Muscle: A Historical and Sociological Perspective of the Fitness Industry click this link to visit Amazon: http://bit.ly/MillionDollarMuscle

To purchase Adam Zickerman’s book, Power of 10: The Once-a-Week Slow Motion Fitness Revolution click this link to visit Amazon: http://bit.ly/ThePowerofTen
To find an Inform Fitness location nearest you visit www.InformFitness.com

36 Bodybuilding and Biomechanics with Doug Brignole Transcript

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

muscle, exercise, leg, triceps, movement, doug, compound movements, weight, bodybuilding, bosu ball, quadricep, lift, overhead presses, workout, abs, body, standing, lever, fitness, good

SPEAKERS

Sheila, Tim Edwards, Mike, Doug Brignole, Adam
 

Doug Brignole  00:05

It is very naive to assume that the heavier weight you're moving, the more you're loading a muscle, you can actually load a muscle more with less weight based on the kind of physics you're using. So if you're using a longer lever, your magnet magnifying the weight that you're using much more. If you have better alignment, you're magnifying the weight much more. If you are able to use a lot of weight, it means that you're using an efficient mechanic. So it means basically, you're lifting something up with a crowbar, right? The heavier the weight feels, the more efficient the mechanics. If you can load your site deltoid maximally with 30 or 40 pounds, and you think it might be better to overhead press 150 pounds, then you're just missing the point.

Tim Edwards  00:55

Hey what's up inform nation. Thanks again for joining us here on the inform fitness podcast, where we discuss slow motion high intensity strength training in a safe and effective manner. I'm Tim Edwards, the founder of the inbound podcasting network, and a client of inform fitness. And in just a moment, we'll have the founder of inform fitness and New York Times best selling author himself, Adam Zickerman who will lead the show along with the GM of the Manhattan location, Mike Rogers, and co owner of the Toluca Lake Burbank location. Sheila Melody. The voice you heard at the top of the show belongs to professional bodybuilder Doug Brignole. Now listen, if you're not interested in bodybuilding, don't go anywhere, because you are really going to enjoy our time with doug. Not only does he have a really big and fun personality, but he's chock full of valuable information that would be both interesting and useful for anybody interested in strength training safely. Doug's going to share his deep knowledge of biomechanics and training principles, including compound movements versus isolation movements, exercise versus recreation, the pros and cons to adding variety to your workouts, static versus dynamic exercises, the proper form of exercise to improve your balance and core strength. And finally, intensity, and recovery. And we'll touch on all those topics and more, which means that this episode might last a few of your commutes. If you're listening in the car, or several walks around the block, if you're walking the dog, however, you might be listening. We hope you enjoy our time with Doug Brignole.

Adam  02:28

So glad to have you with us.

Doug Brignole  02:30

Thank you. It's great to be here.

Adam  02:32

It's a real honor to talk to somebody with your experience and expertise in this field. So So Doug is a bodybuilder right doug?

Doug Brignole  02:43

Yes, I guess you could say that. Although that's sort of like a small piece of what I do a lot of body builders that don't do what I do

Adam  02:49

So what makes Doug so unique is that Doug is an intellectual bodybuilder, I guess you can call it and he that he hasn't really fallen prey to all the cultural and mythological aspects of bodybuilding that have existed for, I don't know, 50 years, 60 years, 70 years and beyond.

Doug Brignole  02:58

100 years, actually. Yeah

Adam  03:10

there you go. What I like about your doug is as a bodybuilder, you debunk a lot of the myths that people have, have had about bodybuilding. Like, for example, we're gonna get into a lot of things about this. But like, for example, you say, which is unusual for the bodybuilding community, you say that bearing exercises for the same body part is really not essential for muscle growth. So many popular exercises in bodybuilding are just downright dangerous. And at the very least, and inefficient. You talk about why it's impossible that to isolate your lower abs for example, and the myths go on and on that, that that you talk about, that we've been talking about, too. So it's nice, but but no one listens to me really sometimes because let's, you know, I'm not big and muscular

03:57

you're not a titleholder that ends up getting more attention than a PhD. 

Adam  04:01

Yeah, so what do I know? Right? I mean, look at you, you're a skinny little, you know, nine to five foot nine Jew and come on. So, so thing is, this is why I like talking to guys like you because you are not following the culture and still you've been a competitive and very successful bodybuilder. So can you just give us a little brief synopsis of your bodybuilding history and some of your accomplishments not just the bodybuilding, but also as succinctly as possible talk about your career as well.

04:33

Alright, well, I started weight training when I was 14, because I was very skinny. And I just wanted to gain some muscle. And I was fortunate enough to be living about five blocks away from a gym that was owned by 4 times Mr. Universe winner Bill Pearl. And I went there I had no money essentially, and we struck a deal and I would go into every Saturday and scrub the showers and do janitorial work in exchange for membership and I started competing within a year 16 years old was my first contest. By the time I was 19, I had won teenage California teenage America, at 22, I won Mr. California, at 26, I won my division of Mr. American Mr. Universe. And I continued competing on and off until I was 56, which is a 40 year span of competitions, longer than most people for sure who've been in that sport. So along the way, of all these years of competing, I was very analytical about you know, what it is that constitutes a good exercise, or a bad exercise, there has to be mechanical components. And w...