Exercises You’ve Never Tried: Beach Body Edition

Exercises You’ve Never Tried

Beach Body Edition

by Ben Bruno – 2/01/2012

I have a confession to make: I love lifting weights, but I don’t enjoy training the beach muscles.

It’s not that I hate bodybuilding or training arms – I love all training – but if given the choice, I’d pick legs ten times out of ten.

My hierarchy would probably look something like this:

1. Legs
2. More Legs
3. Back
4. Wander aimlessly around the gym
5. Chest/Shoulders
6. More Back
7. Read a magazine
8. Core
9. Clip my toenails
10. Arms

Most typical upper body exercises bore me to tears. I just can’t get hyped up for bench presses, pushdowns, and curls like I can for squats, lunges, and pull-ups.

Call me crazy.

One thing that helps make upper body days more fun, and consequently keeps me pushing hard, is experimenting with different exercise variations. Here are some upper body exercises that even I like.

1. Rotational One-Arm Dumbbell Bench Press

When I first saw the one-arm dumbbell bench press, I didn’t give it the respect it deserves. It didn’t look particularly hard, so I unassumingly grabbed the same weight I’d use for a regular dumbbell bench press.

Bad move. Anyone that’s tried the exercise before knows where this is going.

On the first rep, I literally tipped to the side and fell off the bench, dropping the dumbbell like a total jackass and causing a scene. I knew immediately I was going to like this one.

While it’s essentially an upper-body pushing exercise to work the chest, shoulders, and triceps, you’ll learn fast that it’s really a full body exercise. To be successful, you must create massive tension throughout your legs, core, and even the opposite arm.

You’ll want to start out light to avoid my embarrassing fate, but interestingly, after a few tries to get the hang of it, you’ll find you’re able to use more weight unilaterally than you could bilaterally.

I like to start with a neutral grip at the bottom and pronate my wrist as I press. This feels great on the shoulders, and the rotation allows for a better contraction in my chest.

2. Ring Flies

These are brutal, but if you can pull them off, they’ll fry your chest like no other. I first tried them after seeing a picture of Larry Scott doing them on some badass old-school chain rings.

This is an extremely advanced exercise, so don’t just jump right into trying it if you don’t have any experience on the rings. Doing so will inevitably lead to either a shoulder injury or a face plant, neither of which you want.

Make sure you can first knock out at least 25 ring push-ups to get acquainted with the inherent instability. From there, progress to flies with your arms bent at approximately a 90-degree angle. You may even want to do these on your knees at first.

Once you’re comfortable with those, it’s time to progress to full flies. Be sure to maintain a slight bend in your elbows to protect your shoulders and keep the tension on your chest.

If you get comfortable with full flies (and by comfortable I mean proficient – I can assure your pecs won’t be comfortable), give ring “fly-aways” a shot. I got the idea for these from a recent Livespill from TC where he talked about a similar concept using dumbbells.

You’re basically going to do a drop set going in the reverse order of the progression I laid out to work up to full flies: five full flies, five bent-arm flies, and five pushups, all in succession with no rest. Superset that with five minutes of lying on the floor, hating life.

Word of caution: If you find full flies bother your shoulders, stick to bent-arm flies. If those still bother your shoulders, stick to push-ups or find a different exercise. They’re not for everyone.

3. Ring Push-up/Fly Combo

Like the name suggests, one arm does a push-up while the other arm does a fly. You’ll want to place more weight on the arm doing the push-up and de-load the arm doing the fly as much as possible. It may help to think of it as a modified one-arm pushup where you reach the other arm straight out to the side. Alternate between arms each rep.

Confused? I don’t blame you. Check out the video below.

The unilateral nature of the exercise may lead you to believe it’s significantly more difficult than bilateral ring flies, but from a pressing standpoint, it’s actually slightly easier since the arm doing the push-up is supporting the majority of the load where the lever arm is shorter. The “fly” arm simply provides some assistance to counter the rotational demands of the one-arm push up, and gets a decent stretch and bit of activation in the process.

From a core standpoint, however, it’s much harder. The unilateral nature of the exercise introduces a big anti-rotational stability component since you have to brace extremely hard to avoid twisting toward the arm doing the fly.

4. Supinated Ring Chins

Some bodybuilding coaches spout that chin-ups are the best biceps exercise going and no direct biceps work is required. Others say to build mammoth bone-crushing pythons, you need to devote an entire day (or two or three) per week to arms and do every type of curl imaginable.

I’m somewhere in the middle.

I love chin-ups as much as anybody, while curls are the absolute bane of my training existence.

I dropped curls all-together about two years ago, and have just been doing a heavy diet of chin-ups and rows. In that time, my arms have stayed about the same size while the rest of my body has grown, leading me to believe that chin-ups obviously work the biceps to a large degree and are sufficient if your goals are more performance-based, but probably aren’t enough if you hope to start selling tickets to the gun show.

Here’s the thing: it depends largely on how you do the chin-ups.

For instance, I usually use a shoulder-width grip (often wider) and think of my arms as being hooks while my back does all the work. I also come to full extension at the bottom of every rep and do them explosively while maintaining control of my body (i.e. no swinging).

Interestingly, the better I’ve become at chin-ups, the less I feel them in my biceps. Fact is, when I do feel my biceps working a lot, I take it as a sign I’m not retracting my scapulae as I should be.

However, you can easily tweak them to hone in on the biceps. The best way I’ve found is with close-grip supinated ring chin-ups.

Place the rings as close together as possible and take a supinated grip. Perform the reps slower than normal on both the concentric and eccentric and stop just short of full extension at the bottom to keep constant tension on the biceps. It’s important to be strict with these.

If you don’t have rings, you can do them with just a bar, although the rings definitely add something to it from a biceps standpoint. You’ll find that towards the bottom of the rep, the rings will start to twist and your biceps will be forced to kick into overdrive to keep that supinated wrist position.

These are a lot tougher than they look, so if it’s too much at first, you can also try a similar concept using inverted rows instead.

Doing reps like this will invariably shortchange your back to some degree, so do them after your regular chin-up or inverted row workout to finish off your arms.

5. Super Slow Chin-ups

The explanation for these is simple, but they’re far from easy. Do a close-grip chin-up as slowly as you can. That’s it.

Shoot for 20-30 seconds on the concentric and 30-40 seconds on the eccentric to start. If you can do that, add some weight. If that’s too much, then just go as slowly as you can.

I also like to do a static hold at the top.

Use a supinated grip for more biceps emphasis or a neutral grip to target the brachialis. Either way, it’ll also blast your forearms and help build tremendous grip strength.

Save this for the tail end of your workout and just do one painstaking rep. Trust me, if you’re doing it right, that’s all you’ll be able to muster.

6. Bodyweight Triceps Extensions

This is an awesome triceps exercise that, when done correctly, also smokes the core.

TC wrote about doing these in a Smith machine in a Livespill and while I like that exercise too, I prefer doing them using suspension straps for two reasons.

First, you can get a bigger range of motion. When you use a fixed bar, you’re forced to do the exercise like a traditional skullcrusher where you bring your forehead to the bar. With straps, you can extend your arms forward slightly as you drop down so that at the bottom, your hands are actually behind your head. This enhances the stretch on the long head of the triceps and takes stress off the elbows.

Second, the straps allow you to rotate your hands freely as you move through the rep, making it more shoulder-friendly and increasing the contraction in your triceps.

To get the full benefit for your core, it’s imperative that you keep a straight line from your feet to your head. There will be a tendency to want to pike at the hips, so you’ll need to squeeze your glutes and brace your abs to prevent that from happening. It should feel similar to the sensation you get from an ab wheel rollout. If it doesn’t, you’re probably not doing it right.

This is a lot tougher than it looks, so start with the straps fairly high at first (approximately chest level) and work your way down.

7. Reverse Grip Dumbbell Floor Press

Perform this exercise just as you would a regular dumbbell floor press, only supinate your hands as you press. At the bottom your palms will face each other, while at the top they’ll point back behind you.

Where you feel this exercise will depend on your set up. If you use a wider grip, you’ll feel it more in your chest, whereas a closer-grip will put more emphasis on the triceps. I prefer a close grip because I find a wide grip puts undue stress on my shoulders, elbows, and wrists.

You can also try holding a supinated position throughout the rep, but I prefer to rotate to allow for a neutral, shoulder-friendly position closer to the chest.

Think about pressing the dumbbell down towards your feet rather than up over your face like you might in a typical barbell bench press. You obviously won’t be able to, but having that cue in your mind makes the exercise go more smoothly.

Start with about 50% of the weight you can use for a regular dumbbell press and go from there.

8. The “Anti” Press

In response to Dr. Stuart McGill’s research regarding spinal health, much of the new-age core training focuses on “anti” movement stability training: anti-rotation, anti-extension, and anti-lateral flexion. I called this exercise the “anti press” because it addresses all those categories simultaneously.

Grab the handle of a suspension strap and face sideways. Lean out so that your body is at about a 60% angle to the floor. Now brace your core to keep from twisting and press straight out until your arms are fully extended. This part of the motion is similar to a Pallof press you might do with bands or cables and works anti-rotation.

From there, bring your arms straight overhead and pause for a brief second. At this point, you’re focusing on anti-extension and anti-lateral flexion. Rinse and repeat for the desired reps.

Along with building tremendous core stability, this also assists with shoulder strength and mobility. I’m always looking for ways to kill as many birds as I can with one stone and this exercise fits the bill nicely.

It’s easy to progress or regress simply by adjusting your foot position and/or the length of the strap. The further out your feet are from the anchor point and the shorter the strap is, the easier it will be. Move your feet more underneath the anchor point and increase the length of the strap as you get better.

This is a very advanced exercise, so you may want to start with just the overhead portion and see how that goes first.

Conclusion

If you’re one of those people that when asked how you’re doing always responds with “same shit, different day,” some of these exercises may be just what you need to spice up your gym life and get growing again. Don’t go throwing all the basics out the window, but use these as supplements to reignite your training vigor or to help break through a rut or plateau.

Have fun, and be sure to save me a seat at the gun show.

Actually, don’t bother. I’m pretty sure I’ll be training legs that day.

Wikio

Wikio

11 Training Tips for the Skinny Fat Ectomorph

by Anthony Mychal – 1/05/2012

I’ve got a confession to make: I’m your prototypical skinny-fat ectomorph.

Tall. Narrow shoulders. Wide waist. It’s the recipe needed to look thin while simultaneously sporting a muffin top. It’s also the combination that gets called “lanky,” a word I’ve grown to hate.

The truth is that I’m tired of seeing the skinny fats (as I like to call them) falling victim to advice given by the, “I’ve-been-lean-since-I-was-a-fetus” guys. The same guys that told me that I needed to shovel sustenance into my mouth without regard for body composition.

That might have worked for you, Mr. Lean, but it sure as hell didn’t work for me.

Skinny fats can’t play by the rules of the rest. With that in mind, here are 11 tips for the skinny fat ectomorph that wants to look good naked. Keep in mind that these are my personal reflections that worked for me, given my lackluster genetic makeup.

1. Stop Cutting and Bulking

Yes, traditional bulking allows you to gain more muscle when compared to the infamous “clean” bulk. But we skinny fats are terrible nutrient partitioners, so more of our excess calories are stored as fat, not used for muscle. This means that without performance enhancing substances, our cuts will be so long and intense that most of the muscular gains wither away.

We don’t prosper in malnourished environments very well. Hell, we don’t even prosper in nourished environments. Going through the whole bulking thing isn’t worth the roller coaster of weight fluctuation and the filling (or perhaps creation) of fat cells.

Editor’s note: You could also try Indigo-3G™ and take your nutrient partitioning capabilities to the next level.

2. Carb Cycle

There’s nothing wrong with taking your time to add muscle – especially when trying to stave off fat accumulation – but the problem most have is that they eat like an emaciated Ethiopian. Maximizing muscular gain, while limiting fat gain, is about optimizing the body’s hormonal profile at the right times.

For the natural trainee, this means cycling carbs according to training. I’m not going to go into detail as there are tons of articles devoted to this. Let’s just say: more carbs, less fats, and enough protein on training days; less carbs, more fats, and more protein on rest days.

3. Get Lean, But Forget About Abs

One of the biggest rules I have for skinny fats is to lean out first and never go on a traditional cut ever again. This, of course, requires never getting so fat that you need to cut. Most skinny fats will operate best (as far as gaining muscle is concerned) just outside of the six-pack zone in 11-12% bodyfat (assuming 10% is six-pack level). This is lean enough to be considered lean and “fat” enough to gain muscle.

4. Don’t Underestimate Bodyweight Training

It’s common for trainees that want to build muscle to revolve around the barbell, as it’s the most fabled piece of equipment. Squats, bench presses, deadlifts – ahh, smell the manliness. But don’t neglect bodyweight training like push-ups, pull-ups, chin-ups, dips, muscle-ups, and perhaps even some handstands, planche training, and front levers. Not only do these lifts keep your bodyweight in check (performance decreases if you’re overly puffy), but they can build muscle and stave off body fat accumulation.

5. Don’t Neglect Isolation, and Use Thick Bars

Compound lifts work better for just about everything. But without isolation movements, a skinny fat’s arms will have about as much definition as a PVC pipe. Don’t neglect direct arm work. You need it.

Our breed is known for having tiny wrists, which is why I also recommend using thick bars (or Fat Gripz) for all pressing and all biceps work. You can also throw in some thick bar pulling exercises for good measure. This will be the bane of your workout, but you’ll see growth in your forearms, upper arms, and shoulders like never before.

6. Sprint, Carry

Don’t worry about “conditioning” work to “burn calories.” Become a short-term power machine. Run sprints, be it on a hill or a track, from 40-100 meters, but don’t turn it into a high intensity interval feast. Sprint, walk back to the starting line, catch your wind, and then go again. Also, do farmer’s walks, waiter walks, and carries. You’ll know why soon.

7. Be Cautious of Max Effort Work

Skinny fats have terrible recovery capacity. Shorter, brick house powerlifters, with their shortened range of motions and supreme levers, can lift maximally with less trouble. Our lanky stature is inferior in this regard. Be mindful of the recovery process.

8. Be a Bodybuilder, Not a Powerlifter

Similar to above, skinny-fats won’t thrive on minimalistic powerlifting routines. That’s not to say you can’t train in the lower (3-5) repetition ranges, or that all powerlifting routines are bad, but we’re much more suited to higher repetition ranges, training at a lower percentage of our maximum, and using a little more volume.

9. Shoulders, Upper Chest, Lats, Upper Back

Skinny fats are pyramids: their waists are bigger than their shoulders. This needs to change. Focus on everything above the deltoid tuberosity – shoulders, upper chest, upper back, and neck. Also include lats in there, as wide wings make the waist look smaller.

A steady diet of chin-ups, incline pressing, dumbbell floor pressing, heavy lateral raises (with body English), overhead work, and rows with the elbows flared will do the trick. Oh yeah, remember when I told you to carry stuff? Farmer’s walks are your new BFF.

10. Wave Your Repetitions

Skinny fats tend to need variation to kick start progress. This doesn’t have to be complicated. One of the oldest methods of progression was to increase reps and not weight.

Let’s say you’re benching 225 and you can get four sets of six reps. All future workouts stay at 225 until you work up to four sets of twelve. Once you hit that, add 10-20 pounds to the bar and repeat the process.

This forces you to train with heavier weights and lower repetition ranges for a while, followed by a period of lighter weights and higher repetition ranges. Most everyone benefits from altering intensity and volume, so don’t convince yourself that the end all of strength and size development is five reps.

11. Every. Damn. Day

I’m going to end on a crapshoot. Some skinny fats are soft because they’re babied. From a biological standpoint, having muscle is an artifact of living a lifestyle that demands its creation. So it may be worthwhile to try training every day to provide a signal to the body that being a skinny fat just isn’t going to cut it.

Something tells me that running a combination of Waterbury’s PLP and Dan John’s 40 Day Program could do wonders for anyone.

Conclusion

Skinny fat sucks. There’s no denying it, sugar coating it, or trying to pretend it has any redeeming qualities. But it doesn’t have to be a life sentence of avoiding public beaches and swimming with your shirt on. If you’re tired of hiding love handles and having the hormonal profile of an ovulating woman, give these tips a try.

Wikio

Wikio

9 Random Training Tips

by Ben Bruno – 11/17/2011

I have a random mind. Maintaining focus on any given task can be a real challenge for me, much to the chagrin of many of my old teachers. My plan for this article was to examine several of my favorite training tips that you can implement today in your own training, but my ADD-saddled brain would have nothing of it.
Two ideas became three, then four, then five, and so on. I finally put a cap on the damn thing at nine, which is fitting, as this is my ninth article for T NATION to date.
See? There is a method to my madness.

1. Strong Side First with Unilateral Exercises

One of the many benefits of unilateral training is that it helps even out imbalances between limbs. Conventional wisdom says to do the weaker limb first to avoid exacerbating the imbalance, and then match that number of reps with the strong limb.
I’ve never been a fan of this method. While it may help create balance, it’s selling the strong limb short since you aren’t working it to its capacity.
Instead, try doing the strong limb first and then force yourself to match it on the weak side. You obviously won’t be able to do it all in one continuous set, so do as many as you can with good form, pause for 10 seconds and take a few deep breaths, then continue on until you match the reps you got on the strong side – plus an extra 1-2 for good measure.
So a typical set might look like this:

Right side – 10 reps
Left side – 7 reps, pause for 10 seconds, 4 reps.

This provides the best of both worlds because you can even out imbalances while continuing to get the strong limb stronger.

2. Learn the Hip Hinge

The importance of developing a technically sound hip hinge can’t be overstated. You’ll need it if you want to get strong on deadlifts, Romanian deadlifts, good mornings, Olympic lifts, kettlebell swings; basically all the moneymakers for the posterior chain.
It will also go a long way in keeping you injury-free on those exercises. If you can’t hinge properly at the hips, you’ll often compensate by rounding at the lower back, a recipe for hobbling through the office like the accounting Quasimodo.
It’s a simple movement pattern, yet many lifters just can’t seem to get it right, which is a big reason why so many get hurt.
Starting with your knees slightly bent, think about pushing your butt back as far you can without further bending your knees, all while keeping your back neutral or slightly arched. Dan John does a great job explaining it in this article. Look it over.
Still not quite getting it? Try this cue: Imagine yourself trying to take a no-handed morning piss with a boner. Voila, you just did a hip hinge. (Ladies, you should try this too, if for nothing else than to see what your man has to contend with.)
Now go do that in the gym. Just make sure to put some pants on first.

3. No Matter Your Goal, Do Pull-ups

Barring certain injuries, I think pull-ups should be a staple in almost every lifter’s program.
There’s much to be gained from getting good at them. There’s no better exercise for building the lats, which play a huge role in virtually every major lift. Try benching big weights, or front squatting, or deadlifting with weak lats. Not gonna happen.
During a mass-gaining phase, pull-ups will not only build huge amounts of muscle, they’ll also help keep you in check to avoid excessive fat gain. While pull-ups are definitely easier the lighter you are, if you’re gaining good weight, your pull-up performance shouldn’t suffer too much. If it does, there’s a good chance you’re getting fat.
Likewise, pull-ups act as a great incentive during a fat loss program because the leaner you get, the better you’ll be at them.
Make it a goal to be able to do at least 10-12 clean reps with your own bodyweight.

4. Do Upper Back Work Every Workout

This is an extension of number 3.
I’ve never looked at a person and thought, “Wow, that guy needs to lay off the upper back work.” I’d go so far as to say that I’m not even sure there’s such a thing as too much upper back work. We could all probably use more.
Strengthening the upper back will help offset all the horizontal pressing (i.e. bench press) and slouching we do on a regular basis, which will go a long way in improving posture and warding off shoulder injuries.
If you don’t care about that and just want to look better and lift more weight, you should still pay attention. Improving your posture will instantly make your chest look bigger. Fact is, if I were given a week to bring up the appearance of your chest, the first thing I’d probably do would be attack your upper back. It’s that profound.
The upper back is also often the weak link in many other key exercises. If you’ve ever struggled with your deadlift form (especially the lockout) or had trouble holding the bar for front squats, you know exactly what I mean. Strengthen the upper back and your other lifts often immediately skyrocket.
So what should you do?
The upper back can handle a tremendous workload, and in my experience, responds best to a higher frequency. The key is choosing the right exercises and modulating intensity and volume. As mentioned earlier, pull-ups are fantastic, but I’d limit them to twice a week at most to avoid shoulder and elbow issues.
On the other training days (2-3 days a week), I’d opt for horizontal pulls that don’t stress the lower back, since the lower back is much slower to recover and gets slammed during most lower body training.
Good choices include inverted rows, dumbbell rows, chest-supported rows, band pull-aparts, Batwings, and face pulls. If you have suspension straps, one of my personal favorites is inverted face pulls.

Three sets of 8-12 reps should be sufficient. Don’t worry so much about the weight, and don’t go overboard to the point where it starts to affect the rest of your workouts. Focus on doing the movements correctly and using the right muscles to do the work. This leads me right into my next point.

5. Learn Proper Form/Video Yourself

The best thing I ever did for my lifting career was to get a logbook. Luckily, I did that pretty much right from the start, saving me years of wheel spinning.
The next best thing I did was to get a video camera. My only regret is not getting it sooner.
I never had a coach or a trainer to show me the ropes when I was first starting out. I learned by reading and watching other people in the gym and then trying to mimic what they were doing. Trouble is, most gym goers have their heads firmly lodged up their rectums when it comes to training, so it was really a case of the blind leading the blind.
I was well intentioned, but misguided. I never missed workouts, ever, and I worked my ass off every time I stepped foot in the gym. I knew the key to success was progressive resistance, so I fought tooth and nail to beat the logbook, and I did most of the time. I paid attention to the little details, like sets, reps, and rest periods.
What I neglected, however, was good form. It’s not that I didn’t care about it, it’s that I didn’t really know better. I honestly thought my form was good – that is, until I watched myself. That was a rude awakening. You name it, I was doing it wrong. The harder I pushed, the more my form deteriorated.
I had to drop the weights way down and start over from scratch. Talk about humbling. You never realize how much harder a full squat is than a quarter squat until the first time you have to strip it from 365 to 135.
Learn from my mistakes and nail down good form from the start. If you’ve let it slide, suck it up, lighten the load, and take the time to get it right. Until you do, nothing else matters. Fancy programming is useless if you can’t execute the exercises correctly.
If you’re fortunate enough to have competent lifters in your gym, ask for help. If you’re like I was and have to go at it alone, invest in a camera and film yourself on all the major movements. With websites like this one, you can get solid form critique in a matter of minutes.
You don’t need anything expensive either. I’ve used the same little digital camera for five years and it’s been fine. Trust me, besides your two-dollar logbook, it’ll be the best money you ever spend.

6. Hammer Your Weak Points

It’s human nature to gravitate towards the things we do best and avoid the things we suck at. In the gym, this often manifests with us prioritizing our strengths and neglecting our weaknesses.
While it may be normal human behavior, it doesn’t make it right. This is a recipe for creating imbalances, which sets us up for stagnation and/or injury. I say “us” because I’m guilty of it too, and it’s something I consciously have to work on.
Now I’m certainly not advocating that you give all parts of your training equal priority, and there will always be some things that are more important to you than others. I’m suggesting that you look for the glaring weaknesses and attack them head-on, even if you don’t see the immediate benefit.
For example, I went through a phase where I stopped doing any specific core training. I justified it to myself by saying that “abs are made in the kitchen” and “the core gets enough work from heavy compound exercises,” but really I was just being lazy and didn’t like doing it.
I was fine for a while, but over time, some of my lifts began to stall and my back started to bother me. Eventually I broke down and decided to add some core stabilization work back into the mix. Within a few weeks, my front squat went up and my back pain went away. Funny how that works.
The takeaway point is, don’t just do what you like.
I’ll bet that you know exactly what your biggest weak point is. Maybe it’s your core strength, upper back, glutes, hamstrings, mobility, whatever. Now it’s just a matter of taking action and making a conscious effort to improve it.
That may mean putting it first in the workout to ensure that you give it full attention, or it may mean devoting an entire extra day each week specifically to that weak point. Just get it done. No excuses.

7. Walking Lunges 2.0

Walking lunges are one of my favorite single-leg exercises. It’s also very advanced, so before you try to tackle it, I suggest you take some time to master split squats, Bulgarian split squats and regular lunges first.
You’ll often see walking lunges loaded either by holding dumbbells at the sides or with a barbell on the back. While there’s certainly nothing wrong with either method, I rarely see it done correctly.
Instead, I see a big tendency to lean way forward, sometimes to the point of falling over. I don’t mind a slight forward lean when it’s being performed unloaded (forward lean has been shown to increase glute activation,) but when you add heavy weights into the mix, it’s putting the lower back in a precarious position. Part of the problem is simply going too heavy, but the placement of the weights exacerbates the issue.
Enter the front-loaded version.

Start by holding a dumbbell in the goblet position until you run out of weight before progressing to using a barbell with a front squat grip.
I like this style of loading better for a few reasons:

• It forces you to stay upright, putting less stress on the spine and more stress on the quads, where we want it.<
• There’s a built-in protection mechanism against your own ego. It keeps you honest because you’ll need to go much lighter than you would if you were to hold dumbbells at your sides or put a bar on your back, and you can’t cheat or else you’ll drop the weight.
• Loading the weight anteriorly provides an added core stability benefit as you must fight to resist flexion, giving you more bang for your buck.

Just make sure to start conservatively and follow the progression I laid out above to avoid being riddled with DOMS. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

8. Don’t Skimp on Mobility Work

Mobility work is to training as vegetables are to diet.
We may not enjoy eating vegetables, but we do so anyway because they’re good for us. We know that protein acts as the building blocks for muscle, but if we just ate meat and nothing else we might be off the charts on the Awesomeness Scale, but we’d be leaving a lot on the table nutritionally. Veggies provide fiber and nutrients and help us feel good, so while they may not contribute directly to building muscle, they certainly assist indirectly.
The same goes for mobility work. It’s certainly not as sexy and fun as weight training, but it’s still vitally important. It likely won’t contribute directly to gaining muscle (I’ve yet to see a jacked yogi, nor would I ever particularly care to), but it can augment the muscle-building process by helping us feel better, move better, and recover better.
We aren’t necessarily looking to reach Gumby status, but a certain level of flexibility and mobility is essential to train hard and avoid injury. I could sit here all day chewing up bandwidth preaching about how you must squat to at least parallel and give you all the great cues and drills to do so, but if you’re locked up in the hips and ankles, none of that stuff will matter.
As much as it might suck (trust me, I don’t like it either), make it a priority. In the beginning, it’ll take a lot of work. I’ve found that, just like with veggies, the key is consistency. I’d rather see you spend 15 minutes a day, every day of the week, than 30 minutes 2-3 times a week.
I recommend doing a bit before and during your workouts, and then spend a good 10-15 minutes of devoted stretching at night at home before you go to bed. I find doing it at night helps me to relax and alleviate some of the soreness caused by lifting, and I can do it in front of the TV so it’s not so boring.
Do it while you watch Jersey Shore and stretch every time Ronnie and Sam fight or Snooki says something moronic. You’ll be cured in no time. You’ll also be significantly stupider, but at least you’ll be more flexible.
This article is a good starting point for some stretches to do, and here are some quick and easy active mobility drills to try.
The good news though is that once you develop good mobility, it doesn’t take much to maintain it if you consistently train through a full range of motion. Until you reach that point though, make this stuff your best friend.

9. Believe in Yourself

Nothing pisses me off more in the gym than someone asking me for a spot and then saying, “I’m not sure I can get this.”
My response is always the same, “Come get me when you’re sure.”
I don’t say this to be a dick or because I’m lazy and don’t want to spot them, I say it because to be successful, you absolutely must believe in yourself. If you go into a set thinking you aren’t going to get it, chances are you won’t. You should be fully committed and have a distinct (and realistic) goal in mind, and there should be no doubt in your mind that you can pull it off. If you aren’t confident, you shouldn’t even be trying it.
I’m a big believer in positive self-talk (note the “self” part of self-talk; nobody wants to hear you tooting your own horn). I’m not talking about some fruity feel-good thing. I’m talking about getting in the zone where you’re in attack mode and nothing can stop you. Whenever I step up to take a weight, I’m absolutely convinced that I’m going to dominate it. That’s not to say I always do, but getting in the right mindset at least gives me a fighting chance.

End of Randomness

I warned you this was going to be random. Some of it may be new to you, while some may simply serve as a reminder of what you already knew but may not be putting into practice. Either way, I hope you can glean a few useful tips to take your training up a notch.

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Density Training for Fat Loss

by John Romaniello
Like many people, my first exposure to density training was with EDT, which I used as a hypertrophy program. I gained some muscle, but I also got noticeably leaner. When I started tweaking the density of my clients’ programming for added hypertrophy, I again noticed some fat loss.
Now I may be dense (pun intended), but after a while I catch on. In due course, I realized that with a bit of modification, density-based training would dramatically increase the rate of fat loss. (In retrospect, this shouldn’t have been surprising given the speed of the workout. Always trying to beat the numbers from my previous session, I was training at a pretty rapid pace, my heart rate was constantly high, and I’d always be exhausted when I was through.)
So I took the density concept, blended it with the other successful bits of my fat loss programs and—I’m not bullshitting you here—created one of the most effective fat loss training methods I’ve ever seen. I’ve been using it in my programs for the past four years, so I figured it was about time to stop being greedy and share what I’ve learned.

Wait. What The Heck is Density Training? 

Before we can get into the specifics of this program, we must first define training density, which is the result of looking at two very specific factors of training: volume and duration. Volume is your total workload or how many sets and reps you perform in a given workout; duration is the length of time your workout lasts. By combining these two, we arrive at your training density.
By increasing the amount of work you do in a given amount of time, you also enhance your ability to do work or what’s known as improving your work capacity. While some may argue that this isn’t necessarily the “best” way to approach hypertrophy, the results are undeniable.
Increasing training density helps to boost both strength and strength endurance, which has implications for muscle growth down the line.

Increasing Density

Traditionally, there have been two ways to add to density:

Method 1: Keep Workload Static and Decrease Duration
If you’re going to do 10 sets of 10 reps for squats, you’re doing 100 total reps. For the sake of argument, let’s say you perform this workout in 40 minutes. If I tell you that you must complete that workout in 30 minutes, then that will call for a drastic increase in training density since I’m asking you to complete an identical amount of work in 25% less time. You’d also call me bad names.
Method 2: Keep the Duration Static and Increase Workload 
Staying with that same example, you have another option: keep the duration static at 40 minutes, and simply try to do more work within that time period by adding more sets of squats. So rather than just doing 10 sets, you’d aim to complete as many sets as possible, ending up with 12 or even 15 sets.  (As an alternative, you could also add more reps to each set.)
In either case, in order to accomplish the goal while sticking to the parameters, you’d have to increase training speed and decrease rest periods. This would also increase work capacity.

The New Way: Density Training as a Fat Loss Method*

*I say “method” because this is not a complete fat loss program. This is something you can add toa good program.
In previous versions of density training, the idea was to do a few exercises over a specific block of time and get as many reps per exercise as possible, seeking to beat those numbers in subsequent training sessions. And that’s a great method for gaining muscle with fat loss as a consequence.
However, when fat loss is the primary goal, I set things up differently.
As with nearly any great plan designed for drastic fat loss, I look to the old standby: fast-paced circuits. First we select a series of exercises (more on this below) and set them up in a non-competing fashion.

Sounds like just about any circuit training protocol, right? Wrong.

Instead of having a predetermined number of reps, you’re going to be performing each of these exercises for time—you simply have to do as many as you can in a given time period. That’s where general density comes in. The idea is to perform more reps on each exercise, and that’s where the increase in density becomes a factor.

Now, here’s where it gets kooky: for your second circuit, you’ll be using heavier weight—substantially heavier weight. Rather than just create density circuits, I also took advantage of some other cool things that happen when your body adapts and seems to get instantly stronger.

Not only are we seeking to increase reps, but also increase weight before we repeat a given exercise. Again, this is applied to all exercises within a circuit.
Here’s an example to illustrate:

Let’s say you did each of the following exercises for 30 seconds* each: overhead press, bent-over row, squat.

*Note: Depending on the exercises, you’ll vary the length of time in eachset from exercise to exercise and circuit to circuit. Movements with a greater range of motion are done for longer periods of time than those with shorter movements. A chart is provided below.

In performing such a circuit, your results might look like this:

Barbell Overhead Press:  100 pounds for 12 reps

Barbell Bent-over Row: 165 pounds for 15 reps

Barbell Squat: 185 pounds for 11 reps

Your second attempt at that circuit might look like this:

Barbell Overhead Press:  110 pounds for 15 reps

Barbell Bent-over Row: 190 pounds for 18 reps

Barbell Squat: 200 pounds for 14 reps

Now, how is it that you’re able to perform more reps with more weight? Simple: your nervous system is kicking ass. Essentially, you’re looking to increase neuromuscular activation.
This has been written about fairly extensively, so I won’t rehash too much. Suffice it to say that the degree to which you can stimulate your nervous system will have carryover to how much muscular force you can generate. The more neural activation you achieve, the easier it is to push heavier weights, because you’ll have an easier time recruiting muscle fibers to do the job.
So the purpose of the set is actually twofold: first, it establishes a baseline number for all exercises, and gives you a frame of reference for performance as well as a goal. Second, and perhaps more importantly, your first set serves as a neurological primer. The weight is relatively heavy on the first set and will certainly start the metabolic processes involved in fat loss, but the best part is you’ll be sparking neural activation.
Your first set should be a bit of a feeler set—sort of a working warm-up. The limiting factor should be time, not fatigue.
That is, at the end of the first set on any circuit, the feeling should be, “Oh, damn, I ran out of time; I totally had a few more reps in me!” and not “Holy crap that sucked! I can’t believe that was only 30 seconds!”
With the first set, pace yourself and move at a quick but steady clip. Don’t speed up as the clock winds down. Instead, just allow your pace to carry you through to the end of the set.
Your second set should be (if you’ll pardon my use of scientific jargon) balls to the wall.  As you get toward the end, speed up and try to crank out as many reps as possible.
Overall, you’ll be lifting more weight for more reps in the same time period for an entire circuit of exercises. A few of these sets and you can see how fat loss—as well as the obvious increases in both efficiency and capacity—would be the end result.
The best part about density training is how fun it is. Because it’s challenge-based, you have an immediate goal every set and every workout: do more than you did previously.
Additionally, because it’s more of a method than a specific program, this version of density training is instantly adaptable to any type of training. I’ve provided two density circuits below, one using weights, and one done with just bodyweight (which you can try right now, just to see how awesome this is).  However, density training works with kettlebells, resistance bands, sandbags and pretty much anything else you feel worthy of lifting and lowering—like children.
Of course, in the case of a bodyweight circuit, you may be saying, “Wait a minute, Roman! You said we’re supposed the increase the weight? I can’t do that with bodyweight!”  That’s a very fair point. You’re going to make progress even without a weight increase, but to get the most out of a circuit or workout of that nature, I’d recommend using a harder variation of each exercise for the second circuit (going from regular push-ups to decline push-ups, for example).
The main thing is that you’re working harder with each progressive set, aiming to take the greatest advantage of neural activation possible to do more work and burn a metric crap-ton of calories.
As a further benefit (as if you hadn’t already figured it out), density training is exceptional for retention of lean mass.

Creating Density Workouts

Now that we’re clear on the method and the benefits, let’s talk training. As previously stated, the goal of this article is to provide you with a training method, as well as a template for creating your own workouts with the density method.
To that end, let’s cover some basic rules for creating density workouts.

• Each workout should consist of 2-3 individual circuits, each repeated a second time, for a total of 4-6 performed circuits.

• Each circuit should have no less than 3 but no more than 6 exercises.

• I recommend a push, a pull, a dynamic leg movement (think lunges), a stationary leg movement (stiff leg deadlifts, for example) and some sort of abdominal movement (optional). This is more of a guideline than a rule.
Of course, the most important aspect for density circuits is the length of time for which you perform each exercise. While you can ultimately decide on any interval you want, the chart below illustrates the recommended times that I have found to be most effective for each type of exercise.

General Guidelines for Set Duration

Type of Exercise	Duration
Weight Bearing Upper Body Press	25-35 seconds
Weight Bearing Upper Body Pull	30-45 seconds
Weight Bearing Lower Body Press	35-55 seconds
Weight Bearing Lower Body Pull	35-50 seconds
Bodyweight Upper Body Press	20-30 seconds
Bodyweight Upper Body Pull	35-45 seconds
Bodyweight Stationary Lower Body	40-50 seconds
Bodyweight Dynamic Lower Body	45-60 seconds
Any Abdominal Movement	30-60 seconds

And, because I don’t want to leave you hanging, I’ve also designed two circuits for you to try out. Give’em a shot and leave your thoughts in the discussion section.

Weighted Density Fat Loss Circuit

Set-up:  Perform A1 for as many reps as possible during the prescribed work duration, then rest for the prescribed rest period, recording your reps. After this, perform A2 for as many reps as possible during the prescribed work duration, then rest for the prescribed rest period, recording your reps. Continue this pattern for all exercises.  Rest 120s and repeat. For your SECOND circuit, INCREASE the weight by 10%-20% and REPEAT the exercises, trying to match or exceed the number of reps in that same allotted work duration.

Exercise	Duration	Rest
A1) Single Dumbbell (Goblet) Squat	35 seconds	10 seconds
A2) Lumber Jack Press	35 seconds	20 seconds
A3) Dumbbell Pullover	45 seconds	30 seconds
A4) Abdominal Rollout on Swiss Ball	60 seconds	Rest 120 seconds and repeat circuit

Bodyweight Density Fat Loss

Set-up:  Perform A1 for as many reps as possible during the prescribed work duration, then rest for the prescribed rest period, recording your reps. After this, perform A2 for as many reps as possible during the prescribed work duration, then rest for the prescribed rest period, recording your reps. Continue this pattern for all exercises.  Rest 90s and repeat. For your SECOND circuit, REPEAT the exercises, trying to EXCEED your number of reps from the previous set.

Exercise	Duration	Rest
A1) Push-up	30 seconds	10 seconds
A2) Alternating Lateral Lunges	45 seconds	20 seconds
A3) Superman Contraction	30 seconds	30 seconds
A4) Hand Walkouts from Toes	60 seconds	Rest 90 seconds and repeat circuit

Closing Thoughts

Although manipulating training density was originally designed for hypertrophy, we’ve seen that with a bit of ingenuity we can further modify the idea for fat loss. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that is one of the best fat loss training methods I’ve come across. Density workouts are fun, challenging and very effective. Try your hand at designing your own and post them in the forum for some critique from yours truly.

About the Author

John Romaniello is a strength coach and trainer working in the greater New York area.  In addition to writing his own bio in the third person, Roman also runs an online coaching program through which he helps people all over the world get hotter.  You can check him out at his website.

Density training means more work and less time standing at the dumbbell rack, chump.

The Lumberjack Press

The Superman Contraction.

The author. Think he knows a little somethin’ about getting ripped?

© 1998 — 2010 Testosterone, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

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Increase Your Pull-ups in Record Time

March 15th, 2010 by Chad Waterbury

Of all the upper body exercises that you can choose from, the pull-up ranks at the top of the list. That’s because it builds strength and size in your upper back, arms, and gripping muscles. Specifically, I’m referring to the lats, rhomboids, mid/lower traps, rear deltoids, biceps, and forearms. You’d be hard-pressed to find another single upper body exercise that does so much good.

In fact, a true measure of physical prowess is the pull-up test. Put simply, the pull-up is the ultimate test of relative strength, a measure of how strong you are in relation to your body weight. My male clients need to be able to perform at least 20, while females should knock off somewhere between 8-10. Of course, more is better, but this is a good starting point.

So, how can you increase your pull-ups? There are generally two schools of thought. The first school pulls out a magnifying glass and breaks the pull-up into little bits and pieces: isolation exercises. For example, you’ll perform an exercise or two for the following body parts: forearms, biceps, rear delts, rhomboids, mid/low traps, and lats. This equates to 6-12 different exercises. Taken a step further, you would need to find time for dozens of extra sets in your current routine.

The other school says to just do the damn things. After all, the SAID principle states that your body will Specifically Adapt to the Imposed Demand. Force your body to do pull-ups on a frequent basis and you’ll be rewarded with more muscle and strength. You’ll enhance the neural connections between your nerves and muscles through the Law of Repetition.

I’m all for solutions that require the least investment of time with the greatest reward. Therefore, I adhere to the second methodology: more pull-ups will boost your pull-up performance without protracting your workouts.

The simple truth is that you don’t need to perform more than one set of maximum rep pull-ups, provided you do them every day. So let’s just say that each set lasts about a minute. If you do one set every day for four weeks, that equals 28 minutes of total time.

What should you expect? In my experience, you’ll double (or almost double) your current performance with this simple strategy. I know it sounds like marketing B.S. to tell you that you can virtually double your pull-ups with 28 minutes worth of work, but that’s exactly what this guy did.

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Inside the Muscles: Best Shoulders and Trap Exercises

by Bret Contreras
Every guy has his own theory about which exercises are the best and which exercises suck. Whether we’re analyzing the biomechanics of an exercise (not very likely), “feeling the burn” (more likely), or simply doing a ton of sets and seeing how sore we get over the next few days (ding, ding, ding, we have a winner!), we all think we know the best movements to grow our muscles.

But do we really?

Bret Contreras wants to take you inside your muscles—without the freak accident that usually precedes such gross anatomy lessons—using EMG, a tool that measures how much muscle activity is going on with every movement you do.

After testing 25 different shoulder and trap exercises, he’s here to reveal the best of the best.

— NG

Before we get started, I want to say I’m not going to make any judgments regarding the safety of any exercise in this article. I realize that certain exercises pose greater risks to the joints than others, but every guy has the right to train however the hell he chooses. As lifters, we can choose to assume a lot of risk or little risk since we’re the owners of our bodies. So keep that in mind before you type me nasty letters.
Now, are you ready to learn the best exercises to build boulder shoulders and monster traps?
I’ll clear up a few science-y things first and then hit you with the results! (If you skip down to view the exercises first, I don’t blame you. But make sure to come back up here to read how it works!)

What The Heck Is EMG Anyway?

EMG measures the electrical activity of muscles during exercise. While EMG doesn’t directly measure muscular tension, the two should be very similar (although slightly off-set), as the electrical activity that EMG measures is simply a measurement of the nervous system’s signal to the muscles. Increased EMG activity is indicative of the nervous system’s attempt to produce more muscular force. (That’s a good thing, by the way.) I used a Myotrace 400 from Noraxon to measure the EMG of every exercise.

What’s MVC?

MVC stands for Maximum Voluntary Contraction. It’s a measurement of how hard a muscle can contract isometrically. When you record MVC, you simply position your body in an advantageous position and squeeze your muscle as hard as possible. You can also push against an immovable object.
Each muscle has its own position that will yield the highest electrical value. The first step in measuring EMG activity is recording MVC. Following this recording, every subsequent exercise performed will be compared to MVC as a percentage.

What Are Mean And Peak Activation?

For each exercise I tested, I received data that showed both the mean activation and the peak activation.
Researchers typically use mean MVC for their data. I used to think that mean activation was more important as it measured the average activation throughout the entire repetition. However, muscles are not always active throughout the entire range of motion of an exercise, especially during compound lifts.
For example, one muscle might be very active down low in the stretched position, while another muscle becomes more active up top in the contracted position of the same exercise.
For this reason I believe that peak MVC is a more important figure. Peak activation is a measurement of the highest point of activation during the repetition.
Still, I believe that mean activation might be more important for bodybuilding purposes in providing constant tension, occlusion, and “the pump,” while peak activation might be more important for sport-specific purposes in providing maximum tension at a certain moment for peak force production.
Got it so far? Good.

How Is It Possible To Exceed 100% of MVC?

I would hope that a guy like myself with 18 years of lifting experience could exceed MVC (which is an isometric contraction) through dynamic barbell, dumbbell, band, or bodyweight exercises. If we couldn’t exceed MVC through lifting, then we’d build a strong case for isometric bodyweight training (a la Charles Atlas) for bodybuilding purposes.
The reality is that strength training exercises will typically cause peak activation to far exceed MVC. If the exercise is really good, mean activation can exceed MVC as well. When this happens, it simply means that the average activation throughout the repetition is higher than the average activation recorded from a maximum isometric voluntary contraction.

People Are Different, But Not That Different.

Having measured the EMG of several individuals, I’ve realized that everyone is different, but not that different. The two most influential factors in muscle activation differences are anthropometry and form.
For example, taller individuals tend to exhibit more glute activity during squats than shorter individuals. This makes sense when you think about it, since they have farther to travel. As another example, a powerlifting-style bench press will yield much less pec activity than a bodybuilding-style bench press since the elbows are kept tucked.
Although the length of one’s body segments and the manner in which one performs an exercise can impact muscle activation, it’s surprising how similar most individuals’ activations are when it comes to strength training.

More Research Is Needed.

The data used in this article was obtained from one individual (me) during a week-long series of experiments. I’d hook up the electrodes to the muscle parts I wanted to measure and then perform all the exercises in one session to allow for the greatest level of accuracy.
The only exception was for the glutes, quads, adductors, and hamstrings, which required three different tests: one for strength exercises, one for explosive exercises, and one special test for the different areas of the glutes. (Shut up. I’m the Glute Guy after all!)
By no means am I trying to suggest that this article should be the definitive Bible on muscular development. Each time I embark on a new series of EMG experiments I learn a tremendous amount of information. I will continue to experiment and share my findings as I acquire new bits of knowledge.
Althought it’s clear more EMG research and experimentation is needed to confirm the results of my studies, this article is (I hope) very telling in terms of exercise efficiency.

Can An Exercise Target a Specific Portion of a Muscle?

My EMG research indicates that the bodybuilders were right: various exercises can stress different parts of muscles.
For years we’ve known the different heads of certain muscles such as the deltoids and pectoralis major function differently from one another. However, my research indicates that muscle fibers within a muscle can function differently from one another even if they don’t have separate heads. For example, during my research I noted that the upper rectus abdominis and lower rectus abdominis function differently.
I suspect that this is true of all muscles, as muscles often have varying fiber angles and attachment points, numerous motor units, and sometimes varying nerve suppliers.
This might explain why lifters tend to see better results when they incorporate variety into their routines rather than sticking to just one exercise per muscle or movement pattern.

The Second Rep

Another significant finding that I encountered is that during a heavy set, the second rep nearly always produced higher EMG readings than the first rep. Perhaps the nervous system “figures out” how to better recruit the muscles following the first repetition. This might explain why Olympic lifters and powerlifters see better results when they perform multiple (albeit low) repetitions rather than just heavy singles, or just why the I, Bodybuilder program seems to be so effective.

What You’ve Been Waiting For! The Exercises.

Since this is a bodybuilding experiment, I never used a weight that was too heavy to perform at least five repetitions. The mean number is on top and the peak number is on bottom. (If you don’t know what I’m talking about, make sure to read “What Are Mean And Peak Activation?” above.)

Exercise	Upper Trap	Anterior Delt	Lateral Delt	Posterior Delt
45 lb Standing Military Press	60.1 117.0	65.5 145.0	8.9 23.7	4.0 8.3
135 lb Standing Military Press	56.1 99.0	120.0 266.0	23.9 68.0	7.6 16.7
155 lb Standing Military Press	47.4 82.3	131.0 315.0	25.4 86.6	7.8 18.8
175 lb Standing Military Press	53.4 81.2	150.0 281.0	34.0 87.7	9.6 21.5
155 lb Standing Behind Neck Press	66.5 94.0	146.0 318.0	45.7 88.7	13.9 23.6
70 lb DB Standing Military Press	51.6 93.0	174.0 432.0	43.3 111.0	14.5 43.1
135 lb Seated Shoulder Press	65.6 98.1	120.0 221.0	23.8 58.9	7.9 14.9
185 lb Seated Shoulder Press	67.2 91.6	190.0 311.0	48.7 94.3	13.2 19.9
165 lb Seated Behind Neck Press	72.1 110.0	274.0 471.0	69.5 106.0	17.6 27.8
80 lb Seated DB Shoulder Press	60.5 106.0	162.0 328.0	43.5 87.3	13.8 21.4
50 lb DB Upright Row	58.4 113.0	60.6 119.0	56.1 102.0	54.3 103.0
60 lb DB Upright Row	38.2 59.9	57.8 146.0	61.6 96.3	71.1 138.0
75 lb Cable Upright Row	60.7 109.0	37.4 92.6	46.5 87.6	54.0 147.0
135 lb BB Upright Row	53.7 67.4	96.6 204.0	68.0 102.0	80.9 155.0
95 lb BB Upright Row	64.3 91.9	69.9 125.0	54.7 100.0	65.6 139.0
30 lb Lateral Raise	49.2 83.2	80.8 170.0	73.4 148.0	63.5 113.0
40 lb Lateral Raise	41.7 77.3	113.0 191.0	83.1 141.0	73.3 134.0
50 lb Lateral Raise	44.9 101.0	114.0 213.0	84.3 124.0	66.3 133.0
40 lb Cable Lateral Raise	75.5 150.0	55.2 163.0	58.4 136.0	64.2 121.0
30 lb DB Front Raise	66.4 104.0	105.0 202.0	49.4 76.1	39.5 84.5
55 lb BB Front Raise	64.4 101.0	99.3 170.0	36.8 70.5	31.1 74.3
30 lb DB Bent Over Rear Delt Raise	31.2 79.0	13.8 42.7	46.9 103.0	94.2 182.0
50 lb DB Bent Over Rear Delt Raise	40.3 87.6	19.4 41.6	60.5 108.0	94.7 153.0
25 lb DB Prone Rear Delt Raise	43.9 91.1	18.7 53.3	64.3 126.0	88.9 152.0
30 lb Cable Scarecrow	50.9 98.8	29.1 68.7	62.8 130.0	93.8 167.0
BW Push Up	11.6 29.9	88.3 175.0	12.9 24.5	5.7 12.1
225 lb Bench Press	4.8 20.5	97.8 201.0	7.0 17.3	5.8 8.4
BW Dip	3.3 9.8	21.1 39.2	3.1 4.7	9.8 20.6
225 lb Incline Press	40.5 69.1	184.0 390.0	24.9 45.5	7.9 11.7
BW Pull Up	17.8 56.3	14.1 35.4	4.5 14.4	19.1 53.2
BW Chin Up	12.7 42.9	15.1 74.7	6.4 33.0	17.2 64.9
BW Hanging Row	12.9 24.4	12.2 33.2	35.7 79.6	87.1 182.0
100 lb DB Shrug	29.2 57.7	9.1 22.2	20.2 39.7	42.6 93.6
50 DB Shrug	39.5 62.9	10.3 23.3	11.9 21.6	27.2 54.1
120 lb Face Pull	69.7 101.0	16.8 29.2	55.0 92.8	87.1 159.0
Band Face Pull	60.1 77.1	21.1 37.1	90.7 152.0	144.0 252.0
225 lb BB Shrug	76.1 118.0	17.0 31.5	9.9 18.5	29.6 66.0
225 lb Behind Back Shrug	39.5 67.1	11.6 21.1	19.3 38.2	45.1 71.6
315 lb BB Shrug	81.9 145.0	18.0 32.1	24.6 46.8	48.3 72.8

The Winners

Based on this experiment, here are the top three exercises in terms of mean and peak activity for each muscle part:

Front Delt

Mean: Seated Behind Neck Press, Seated Military Press, Incline Press
Peak: Seated Behind Neck Press, Standing DB Military Press, Incline Press

Mid Delt

Mean: Band Face Pull, Lateral Raise, Seated Behind Neck Press
Peak: Band Face Pull, Lateral Raise, Cable Lateral Raise

Rear Delt

Mean: Band Face Pull, Bent Over Rear Delt Raise, Prone Rear Delt Raise
Peak: Band Face Pull, Bent Over Rear Delt Raise, Hanging Row

Upper Trap

Mean: BB Shrug, Cable Lateral Raise, Standing Military Press
Peak: Cable Lateral Raise, BB Shrug, Seated Behind Neck Press

Confirmations

It’s no surprise that variations of military presses and incline presses appear to be the best front delt exercises. It’s also no surprise that variations of lateral raises and presses top the charts for mean and peak mid delt exercises.
Naturally we’d expect to see variations of rear delt raises and rows topping the charts in mean and peak rear delt activity. Finally, it’s not shocking to see the barbell shrug at the top of the list in mean upper trap activity.
Now let’s move into the stuff that shocked the hell out of me.

Surprises

I always figured the front military press worked more anterior deltoid than the behind-the-neck press, but I was definitely wrong.
And while I knew band face pulls worked the delts, I always assumed they were targeting the rear delts. I was very surprised to find that the band face pull worked more mean and peak lateral delt than any other exercise!
(It’s important to know that I perform the band face pull in a special manner, making it a mixture between a face pull and a pull-apart. I grab hold of the bands with my hands about three inches apart, and as I perform the face pull motion, I pull the band apart vigorously.)
I was also very shocked to find the band face pull worked more mean and peak rear delt muscles than any other exercise, as I assumed a rear delt raise or row variation would have outperformed them.
Finally, although I was aware the upper traps got worked through a variety of shoulder exercises, I had no idea as to the magnitude of upper trap activity that was involved in typical shoulder exercises like military presses and lateral raises. I mean, the cable lateral raise topped the charts in peak upper trap activity, beating out heavy shrugs!

What If…?

During experiments like this, one is often left with much curiosity. What if I would have performed a close-grip bench press or close-grip incline press? Would they have elicited a lot of front delt activity?
What if I would have experimented with different types of grips on dumbbell military presses or different form alterations of lateral raises? How would that have impacted mid delt activity?
What if I would have done different rowing exercises or different form alterations of rear delt raises? Would they have elicited a lot of rear delt activity?
What if I would have performed push presses with a controlled eccentric? What if I had placed the electrodes in a different spot on the upper traps? How would machine exercises faired? Just who the hell is John Galt?
Clearly more research is needed, as it’s impossible to anticipate everything prior to an experiment no matter how prepared and organized you seem.

The Best Damn Shoulder and Trap Workout

Based on the results of this experiment, I bet the following would be one kick-ass workout that’d target the front, mid, and rear delts as well as the upper traps. Enjoy!

Seated Behind the Neck Press
Band Face Pull
Cable Lateral Raise
Barbell Shrug

Editor’s Note: Would you like to see more articles like this? Let us know in the comments and we may just run one for every body part!

While flexing didn’t make the list of top exercises,
we’re sure it doesn’t hurt.

The best shoulder exercise? Maybe.(But you have to maintain better form.)

The barbell shrug is one of the best exercises
you can do for your traps. (Duh.)

The exercise that surprised us, the cable lateral raise elicits more muscle activity in the upper traps than shrugs!

About Bret Contreras

Bret Contreras received his master’s degree from Arizona State University and his Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist certification from the National Strength and Conditioning Association. Bret invites you to follow or join him on his blog. You can download his e-book here.

© 1998 — 2010 Testosterone, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

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Seven Points of Program Design by Alwyn Cosgrove

Even if you hit the gym two hours per day, everyday, that’s probably the only activity you get all week. 14 hours out of 168. About 8% of your time. And let’s be honest, it probably just around five hours a week, or closer to 3%.
The rest of that time? Well, you’re probably sitting on your ass — in the car, at a desk, in a chair watching TV. We spend many hours of each day inactive, with slouched posture and shortened muscles. We need to fix that, and just adding weight and loading the body in the gym isn’t the answer. We need a complete program that addresses seven distinct areas:
1) Movement Preparation: More than just mobility, this is a process of undoing the structural damage that happens the other 23 hours of the day — freeing the hips, activating the glutes, developing range of motion, and working each joint as it was designed.
2) Prehabilitation: Quick, hands up if you’ve ever known anyone that has had a shoulder injury. That means that there are areas of “concern” or weakness in the body we need to address up front. Throw in some YTWLs and some external rotator work as a resiliency tool.
3) Core Stability: Despite what some coaches say, the evidence is clear: You need to train the core for stability, and direct training activates the core more than indirect work. Spend a couple of minutes per workout on core stability.
4) Power: Every TMUSCLE reader should be power training. It’s the quality we lose the fastest as we age, yet it’s easy to keep. Make sure you have some explosive movements in your program. It doesn’t have to be with bars and dumbbells only. You can include some bodyweight stuff (plyometrics).
5) Resistance Training: ‘Nuff said.
6) Energy System Development: Do your cardio, but remember to mix it up. Cardio doesn’t mean “aerobics on the treadmill.” Use kettlebells, sprints, and complexes as well as some longer-duration cardio.
7) Regeneration and Recovery: You need to stretch and foam roll at the very least. If you can recover better and faster, then each training session can be harder… and your results better.

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Unconventional Workout — Triceps

by Nick Tumminello
Back around the same time Kurt Cobain sang about mulattos, albinos, and mosquitoes, I worked as a full-time “fitness assessor” for a major health club chain.

Given I was young, bored, and burning out faster than Kurt’s short-lived career, I eventually started to give all the raw beginners similar programs. The triceps workouts in particular were always the same: triceps pressdowns, 3 sets of 10-12 reps. And bizarrely enough, it seemed to work — for about three weeks, which is about as long as my tenure in that job lasted before I moved onto other things.

Trouble is, I’d often run into some of the folks I assessed months, even years later, and it never failed to amaze me how many of them would say, “I just love that program. I’m still doing it! Can ya tell?”

Uhh, yeah I can. I’ve seen bigger arms on a lawn chair.

Coach Nick Tumminello knows a thing or two about cooking up creative, effective workouts that will blast you out of a training rut, fast. Next arm day, give a couple of these bad boys a try. And don’t worry, you can always come back to your favorite 3 sets of 10 routine.

— BK

In the first installment of the Unconventional Workouts article series, I presented you with a few out-of-the-box workouts to get even the most stubborn set of biceps on the path to new growth. In this installment, the gun show continues as we target the often-neglected (and underdeveloped) triceps with some unconventional sleeve-splitting stimulation.

Why Train Triceps?

If you’re a power lifter, you already know that strong triceps help you to lock out the elbows on the bench press. So, big benches require strong triceps. We all clear on that? Good.
If you’re a bodybuilder, you’ve probably heard that the triceps comprise the lion’s share of upper arm mass. And, as a God-fearing mirror-trainer, you likely understand the importance of including isolation work in order to achieve full, well-balanced triceps. So if you want huge arms that every little Hulkamaniac will envy, you must include some isolated triceps work. No arguments from anyone yet, right?
But as far as athletes are concerned, many strength coaches don’t believe in doing isolation or single-joint work. These coaches eschew almost any form of isolation training at all, justifying their ideologies with phrases like “train movements, not muscles”.
While it makes for a clever catch phrase, I don’t think it makes any damn sense, because what creates movement? The muscles! So, if muscles create movement, then all muscle training, isolation or otherwise, is movement training.
Furthermore, if the triceps aren’t a “functional” muscle, how come folks dealing with a torn triceps often can’t do anything even remotely athletic?
The truth is, there are no major or minor muscles in the body; there are only muscles, and every last one of them is just as important as the other. I’m not saying athletes need to have a “triceps day”, but some isolation triceps work at the end of an upper-body workout can only help improve performance and prevent injury.

Got Dips? Or Not Dips?

One of the most popular triceps exercises of all time is the triceps dip. Although I don’t think a few dips here and there is going to kill you, as a rule I’m not a big fan. The optimal end-range of shoulder extension is around 60-70 degrees, but in the bottom position of a triceps dips, extension can far exceed this “healthy” range. Considering the loads used in a triceps dip are generally high (at least bodyweight), this can be a recipe for injury. Plus, dips can cause a lot of unwanted stress on the biceps tendon and anterior shoulder musculature.
Bottom line, if training longevity is the goal, why do dips when you can get similar triceps activation without the unwanted stress by using exercises like triceps rope extensions and skull-crushers?

A New Angle On Triceps Work!

In my first article ever published at TMUSCLE, I took some complex physics principles and applied them in a simple manner to improve muscle recruitment and minimize joint stress when performing triceps rope pressdowns.
Then, in the Unconventional biceps article, I explained how you can (and should) change the load vectors to get a better-rounded workout and increase overall muscle development.
In the following triceps workouts, I’ll apply both sets of principles.

The Workouts

Here are three of my favorite unconventional triceps workouts. You can rest assured that these workouts are all versatile enough that anyone, regardless of equipment or special limitations can apply them.

Triceps Workout #1

This workout is based on changing the force vector to maximally load the triceps from different angles with each exercise.
We’ll start with an exercise that maximally loads the triceps from the fully contracted (shortened) position. We’ll then load the triceps at the midrange, before finishing with an exercise that loads the triceps from more of a lengthened position.
1) Low Pulley Triceps Extension (see notes below) — 2-3 sets x 8-12 reps, 60 seconds rest.
2) Prone Skull Crusher (see notes below) — 2-3 sets x 8-12 reps, 60 seconds rest.
3) High Cable Extension w/posterior cable vector — 2-3 sets x 8-12 reps, 60 seconds rest.
Note on Low Pulley Triceps extension: To maximize triceps contraction, isometrically drive the bar into your thighs for 1-2 seconds at the end of each rep.
Notes on Prone Skull Crusher: This is a great bodyweight exercise that’s a real triceps killer. Be sure to keep the spine straight (tight core) throughout the movement. To increase difficulty, place your hands closer to the ground using a small plyo box or step platform.

Triceps Workout #2

As with the 60/30 biceps workout, the 60/30 triceps workout is one of my favorite ways to trash the triceps and pump up the arms more than Donald Trump’s ego.
Grab a heavy-duty band; tie it up at the top of a squat rack or cable column. Try to bang out 60 triceps extensions in 30 seconds without using too much extra body English (see video at right).
I use a heavy band because it allows you to move fast without gaining momentum. I recommend using a 1/2-inch band for weaker (beginner) individuals and a 1-inch or larger band for the stronger folks.
Perform 60 reps in 30 seconds x 2- 4 sets, with 1-2 minutes rest.
If you can’t complete all 60 reps in the given time frame of 30 seconds, the band is too heavy.

Triceps Workout #3

I have to admit, I love bodyweight training. How can you not like that you can get super strong anywhere, anytime, with zero equipment?
This workout involves one exercise, the Reverse Skull crusher. It’s a three-tier drop set that shortens the lever arm each time, providing you with a greater mechanical advantage, so that you can continue to crank out reps.
Perform as many reps as possible with your feet elevated on a bench. Once you only have about two reps left in the tank, drop your feet to the floor (this shortens the lever arm). Continue to bang out as many reps as you can until once again you reach the two reps left point. Finally, place your hands on top of the bench, further shortening the lever arm, and burn out as many reps as possible. Now, stand back and watch your arms inflate!
Basically, as you fatigue in this drop set, you shorten the lever arm and make the exercise easier, thereby allowing you to continue cranking out more reps.
Perform 2 sets with 2-3 minutes rest in between.

Triceps Workout #4 — The Iron Arms Challenge!

I know I promised three workouts but I always try to deliver BIG! So, for your triceps training pleasure, here’s another killer workout for you to try.
This is my other favorite triceps protocol, along with the 60/30 workout. The Iron Arms Challenge is also of the most popular strength challenges among my athletes.
My male athletes perform it from the floor (as shown in the video). My female athletes usually perform it on top of a bench, although I do have some girls who can do it from the floor.
You’re going to need a medicine ball for this one.
Perform:
4-10 x 1-Arm Lock-offs (each arm)
4-10 x Crossovers (5 each side)
4-10 x Close Grip Push Ups
4-10 x Drop and Returns (minimal ground contact time)
(See the video at right.)
To successfully complete the Iron Arms Challenge, you must finish the entire sequence, 10 reps of each exercise (all four exercises), without ever dropping to a knee.
Most elite athletes can’t get through this protocol using five reps each exercise, much less 10, without putting a knee down for at least the first one or two weeks. After a few weeks, I’ve had athletes repeat multiple sets of this protocol with little to no rest. If you can do that, you, my friend, have Iron Arms!
For a killer triceps workout, Perform 1-3 sets with 3-5 minutes rest between sets.
Note: Yes, this protocol will also hit your chest and shoulders because it involves push-ups, but it’s always the triceps that seem to feel the most soreness the next day. So, this workout makes a great finisher for an upper-body pushing workout.

Putting It All Together

You might have noticed that some of these workouts are almost mirror images of the workouts featured in the previous biceps article. That’s because often the principles that work for stubborn biceps will work for stalled triceps.
So why change a winning formula? You can build a killer overall arm workout by combining both workouts and hitting it super set style.
For example, Unconventional Biceps workout #1 can go with Unconventional Triceps workout #1, and Unconventional Biceps workout #2 can go with Unconventional Triceps workout #2.
If you’re interested in just adding the above triceps workouts into your existing training program, here’s a sample three times-a-week triceps blast combined with the classic Push/Pull/Quad Dominant/Hamstring Dominant workout.
Mon: Upper Body (Vertical Push/Pull) + Triceps workout #1
Tue: Lower Body (Quad dominant)
Wed: off
Thu: Upper Body (Horizontal Push/Pull) + Triceps workout #3
Fri: off
Sat: Lower Body (Hamstring dominant) + Triceps workout #2
Sun: off
Or, you can just throw any of these workouts onto the end of an upper body workout or perform them as a stand-alone workout.

Conclusion

There you have it guys! I’m about ready to change my name to Fed-Ex because once again, I’ve delivered the goods!
Remember, anyone can do three sets of ten on a triceps pressdown and call it a day. With a little physiology combined with some ingenuity, you can start challenging your triceps in a completely different way.
Get back on the right side of the adaptation curve and give these unconventional workouts a try!

High Pulley Triceps Extension
Low Pulley Triceps Extension
Reverse Skull Crusher on bench
Reverse Skull Crusher on floor
Reverse Skull Crusher, feet on bench

The 60/30 Triceps Workout

The Iron Arms Challenge

About Nick Tumminello

Nick Tumminello is a Baltimore-based personal trainer, strength coach and national educator who works with a select group of Physique Competitors, Elite Athletes, and Exercise Enthusiasts. Nick also serves as the Strength Coach for Team Ground Control MMA. Check out Coach Nick’s Products, Seminar Schedule, and Blog atwww.nicktumminello.com

© 1998 — 2010 Testosterone, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

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Sucker Punch: Paul Chek

by Bryan Krahn
Many have adopted the expression “turn disaster into opportunity” during the latest economic recession.
After my recent interview with educator, author, speaker, and exercise expert Paul Chek, I had the opportunity to find out exactly what that expression meant.
My one-hour conversation with Paul Chek was just coming to a close when I suddenly realized that my voice recorder wasn’t, well, recording voices.
Fortunately, I’d taken notes; 20 feverish pages of them, in fact. But Paul Chek, one of the most controversial, outspoken figures in the industry today, isn’t exactly known for speaking in short, MTV-friendly sound bites.
Paul Chek is a man on a mission and when he speaks, his words reflect that. He is unapologetic in his belief that many “modern” approaches to health care are either misguided, flat-out wrong, or agenda-driven practices designed solely to pump up the bank accounts of the big pharmaceutical machine.
Because of his hard line approach, Paul has alienated a lot of his peers who would normally be praising him as a visionary who’s revolutionized the field of corrective exercise. Instead, they question his practices, his criticism of the scientific method, and his holistic approach to health and wellness. Some say he’s simply an excellent therapist that’s gone too far, others say he’s flat-out crazy.
The criticisms only make Paul talk louder.
As a result of my technical mishap, I had to think a lot about what Paul had said. I had to look at my short hand scribblings and ask myself if that was what he really said, or if I’d somehow misinterpreted the message? I had to cross-reference what I thought I heard with other work he’s published, and finally trade emails with Paul just to make sure I wasn’t subconsciously hearing things that I wanted to hear, or inserting my “programming” when I should have been listening to his voice.
In the end, I’m glad I took the time to seek out the voice behind his message and I encourage you to try to do the same.
Remember, it’s easy (and lazy) to dismiss the things that challenge your beliefs; it takes effort and maturity to let down your defenses and try to understand them. Cause you never know where an opportunity may be waiting for you.
So without further ado, meet Paul Chek.

TMUSCLE: Paul, you’ve been the force behind many training concepts that are now considered staples, like Swiss ball work, heavy ab training …

Paul Chek: I’m going to stop you there. I’m glad you brought up the Swiss ball and core training, as these are indeed areas that I helped develop and bring to the public.

I go to public gyms sometimes, and I see trainers having their clients roll around on Swiss balls or do routines that I designed. But when I go on the Internet and make the mistake of reading some of the shit people say about me, you’d think I was a frigging idiot.

When I started using the Swiss ball with athletes, people thought I was crazy. Certifiably insane, even though I was getting results that were unheard of at the time.

But today, every trainer with a half-day certification has their clients do Swiss ball work, and they have no idea where the idea even came from! The same guy they think is so insane that he should be locked up in a padded cell is also responsible for bringing into awareness a lot of the training principles used by coaches and trainers worldwide.

TM: I assume that must piss you off.

PC: Yes and no. On the one hand, when people criticize my philosophies, they’re also discrediting a lot of work my team has put into observing, testing, and verifying these theories. I have over 10,000 Chek Practitioners and CHEK Holistic Lifestyle Coaches, and believe me, these aren’t stupid people.

So when someone logs onto a discussion board after reading a half paragraph of something I wrote, and writes that Paul Chek is an idiot, that can get…irritating at times. Dismissing 25 years of work and contributions to a field because you don’t agree with a reference I made to spirituality or organic farming? Come on, that’s just narrow minded and lazy.

But on the other hand, if history has taught us anything, it’s that in any field, all true pioneers have arrows in their backs. I have been and possibly will always be a pioneer in this industry. So if that means some underdeveloped mind on a computer will say I’m crazy, so be it.

TM: You mentioned spirituality. Why do you consider spirituality to be such an integral part of strength training?

PC: Research shows that the number one fear people have is fear of dying, followed closely by public speaking. I believe people fear death simply because they don’t understand it. Death is but an “inward-turning” of consciousness.

There, you sit within your mind, which is composed of your judgments. In life, we have an opportunity to decorate our coffin so-to-speak. All we can take with us is what we’ve become as a person. Nothing else fits through the metaphorical eye of the needle the soul passes through.

When you die, you don’t take your car with you, or your house, or your bank account full of money, or that collection of bodybuilding trophies you have in your garage. All you take with you is what you’ve become. Have you learned to love? Have you grown as a person, become more self-aware, a self-actualized person?

TM: That sounds like Maslow.

PC: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs should be on a poster in every steroid-infested gym on the planet. At the top of the pyramid of a whole, complete, developed person is Self Actualization. Things like vitality, meaningfulness, and creativity are part of the Self Actualized person.

Way at the bottom of the pyramid are things like physiological needs, where I guess having more muscle would reside. So my point is, why just focus on building muscle if you’re still an idiot? If you’re not learning how to love, aren’t you just adding muscle to an idiot?

My definition of an “idiot” is someone that repeatedly uses the same methods that haven’t gotten the results they wanted in the past, while still expecting a better result, or someone who acts irresponsibly when they should be acting responsibly; which is actually the definition of a neurotic but it works interchangeably.

In short, why spend time in the gym increasing your squat, deadlift, or the size of your arms if there is no enhancement of your mental-emotional strengths and abilities, which is “spiritual awareness”?

TM: Paul, a lot of lifters tune out when the subject turns to God and spirituality. You’ve been in the lifting game longer than many people, so you must understand that lifters are very skeptical of anything that isn’t easily measurable or observable. How do you get lifters to buy in to these abstract concepts?

PC: First thing I have to address is the idea of making assumptions. When I talk about God, spirituality, and dreams, people make assumptions that I’m talking about the same things they are. For example, what is your definition of spirituality?

TM: I don’t know. I would say a spiritual person is someone who tries to live their life in a way that acknowledges that they are a part of something bigger.

PC: I’ve asked that question a thousand times and that’s actually one of the better definitions I’ve heard.

As I said earlier, my definition of spirituality is taking responsibility for what you create, moment to moment. A spiritual person doesn’t blame others for their situation, and accepts full responsibility for their actions.

Are you familiar with the theory of projection bias as used in psychology?

TM: Sure, I remember that from university. That’s the Freudian idea of projecting your ideas onto others rather than considering what they’re really thinking.

PC: Right. So getting back to spirituality, nowhere in my definition are words like religion, heaven, hell, or any other constructs that you’d find in a Bible. Yet that’s what people project onto me when I start discussing these concepts.

They hear me say spirituality, their minds flash back to some traumatic religious experience they’ve had, and they tune me out. They project their assumptions of spirituality onto me, rather than ask me exactly what I’m talking about.

Then, years later and they’re on my treatment table and they finally allow themselves to listen to what I have to say and they’re like “Oh, that’s what you meant by God or spirituality? I should’ve just asked you back then.”

TM: So you can honestly connect the dots from spiritual development and real world physical development or healing?

PC: You can’t separate the body, mind and the spirit. Body is as the body of your laptop; mind is as the software on your laptop, and spirit is as the electromotive force that “enlivens” your laptop — remove any of the above and you’ve lost all reasonable functionality.

I’ve had patients with major back pain make a full recovery once they addressed what was truly bothering them, whether it was financial stress or a lousy marriage that their religion had forbidden them to leave. These people were at their wits end and had “tried everything” to relieve their pain, but only once they addressed the true source of their problems did they begin to heal, without touching or treatment, just by addressing what was destroying them spiritually.

TM: A popular criticism of you is that it appears you give far too little credit to the basics (clean diet, consistent, heavy weight training) and give far too much credit to the mysticism.

PC: That is absolute bullshit! I have over 400 published articles, with 90% of them being about how to lift, how the body works, anatomy, kinesiology, and physiology. I have 65 videos and 25 correspondence courses, 90% of which are about how the physical body moves and works. People who make these kind of criticisms just aren’t doing their damn homework. If you don’t believe me, Google Paul Chek and see for yourself.

If I just practiced “mysticism” and didn’t know my stuff, would I have the professional client base that I have? If I didn’t get real world, tangible results, would I be hired and re-hired by professional teams? I think not.

TM: Can you explain how you would approach working with a professional athlete?

PC: When I consult with an athlete or anyone for that matter, the most important thing I do is find out what their dream is. This is actually a four-step process.

Step one is finding out what their one love is. In other words, what is their primarygoal? Why are you lifting weights? Are you trying to go to the Olympics? As a coach and therapist, I need to know this. How do I know what is optimal for you if you don’t even know yet where you want to end up?

Without a clearly defined dream and a clear compass bearing, you’ll just keep following whatever bullshit is written in magazines and probably get injured. A clear dream is like a GPS or compass bearing, and as the saying goes, if you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there.

The second step is to explain that there are only two forces in this world, yin (female) and yang (male). The male is more expressive of the fire principle, about “doing”, building, making things happen. The fire principle is catabolic in nature and shows up in many as a love of working out and training, both of which are catabolic in nature.

The female, or water principle is more anabolic, oriented toward growing, nurturing, holding a family together, and recuperating. Once I know your dream, we then have to balance these two essential but opposing forces.

So if your goal is to compete in the Olympics and your regular training is fully established, as a therapist or coach, I have to look at your recovery side or your use of yin energies. Is that game of pick-up basketball or bashing tennis balls with your buddy every Saturday helping you reach your dream, or is it adding too much catabolic energy, limiting recovery, and therefore, holding you back? Make sense so far?

TM: Absolutely. And steps three and four?

PC: Step three is to look at choices; choices relative to the core values I help my athletes and patients develop as a means of achieving their dream the most efficient way.

Only by having clearly defined core values or modes of behavior as a guiding philosophy can you effectively know when or how to make important decisions that either support, or detract from your overall objective. If your dream is to win a MMA fight and you’re sleeping five hours a night, that’s a bad choice. Sleep is the chief engine of our anabolism; why spend hundreds of dollars on supplements if you’re sleep deprived?

I work with clients to have clear core values relative to the objectives at hand. I teach them to see that with every objective there are three possible choices: Number one is the optimal choice, which is best for everyone involved with achieving your dream. It’s the choice that is in harmony not with just you but with all others involved.

Choice option number two is sub-optimal. It offers instant gratification, but creates stress with others because the decision is typically made with only you in mind.

No matter who you are, or what the dream is, there is someone out there who’s feeding you, taking your garbage to the dump, cooking for you in restaurants, driving ambulances, and others helping keep the roads safe…there are many in service to each and every one of us, and vice versa.

The sub-optimal choice is to do something that benefits you at the risk of ignoring the needs of others who support your dream directly or indirectly.

Choice number three is simply to do nothing at all. This is the worst choice you can make, as it benefits no one.

The fourth and final step of 1-2-3-4 for achieving your dream is where I introduce my Four Doctors living philosophy, and these should be the only doctors you’ll ever need:

Dr. Quiet, who deals with rest management and your inner life.

Dr. Movement, who governs how you spend energy and teaches you how to use movement such that you don’t disrupt the dynamic balance of your yin/anabolic and yang/catabolic energies. This includes how you move, train, exercise, play, and your work: rest ratio, etc.

Dr. Happiness, who deals with getting clear on your dream and establishing your core-values.

Dr. Diet, who deals with how you feed your body.

TM: Ok, I can imagine that a lot of readers might be rolling their eyes right now or scrolling down to see today’s Powerful Image, but I think that if you framed this a bit differently it would sound quite similar to what other coaches have put forth. Specifically, setting goals, establishing priorities, emphasizing rest and nutrition, the importance of mental clarity and sound choices. But you say words like dreams…

PC: The closed minds out there hear what they want to hear. As I said earlier, if you’re with a teacher who starts talking about God or spirituality, the intelligent student would first clarify with the teacher exactly what they were talking about.

But so many of us are so wounded in our egos that it’s much easier to make someone else wrong or project your ideas onto them so you can find fault and justify doing the same things over and over that haven’t really ever worked well to begin with…you remember that definition don’t you?

TM: Sure do. Your method of analysis has been criticized as observing things in “the real world” and then seek research that supports your observations. Is this true? Is that not backwards science?

PC: I’ve heard that many times, and it’s funny that people would think that. I’ve studied 125 or more of history’s greatest thinkers. Einstein, Newton; every single one of them had a method of reaching far greater conclusions than the science of the day could accomplish.

Look at Einstein. He was famous for doing experiments in his bathtub. He said once that you couldn’t solve a problem with the same science that created it. You’re subconsciously limited by their viewpoints, their bias. In fact, I’d argue that there could be no objectivity in science if the researcher has any attachment to the outcome whatsoever. This fact is objectively borne out in Schrödinger’s cat experiment, the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, and The Copenhagen Interpretation in quantum physics, all of which imply that “consciousness directed at any given result influences outcome.”

TM: So it’s fair to say you’re skeptical of a lot of the published research?

PC: A huge percentage of published science is bullshit. It’s manipulated data, conducted by lab coats funded by big corporations. The scientists either get the results the corporation wants, or they’re simply fired — so they go at it until they figure out how to make it work for their agenda, all in the name of science. There’s no real objectivity!

In fact, a few years back, Dynamic Chiropractic published research showing that 79% of all medical advertising was found to be bogus and could not back up it’s claims objectively what-so-ever! Yet, people read this stuff like gospel and often lose their lives because of it.

TM: So what do you do, Paul?

PC: I observe athletes, observe individuals. I look at flow patterns in the real world and when I see a consistent outcome, I look for research that supports this.

A traditional researcher is like a scientist observing a frog in a glass jar. The frog jumps against the glass repeatedly until it’s bleeding and dies because it’s stressed, it’s locked up in a glass jar! But the scientist erroneously concludes that because a frog will do this it must be stupid.

The way I do things is like a biologist observing a frog in its natural environment. It’s a much more complete, natural way of observing behavior.

So the truth is, I’m an empirical scientist, not a laboratory, nor theoretical scientist; I don’t get paid for theories, only results. But, my clinical, coaching, and training observations are often used in clinical research. For example, years ago, I consistently observed cervical pain in patients with a certain degree of first rib angle and pelvic tilt.

There was no medical instrument that could measure first rib angle other than a radiograph, so I built a caliper that made these measurements. I found that if a person’s first rib was at a 25 degree or greater angle, problems would often occur due to strangulation of the brachial plexus in the thoracic outlet or impingement along the neurovascular pathway.

After I went public with my observations, a number of scientists and researchers asked for my help to design or support studies looking into these things and went on to validate my findings objectively. They even used the caliper I built to do so.

The bottom line is, I’m a therapist, not a scientist. I get paid to help people heal, win, and achieve their dreams, not do research.

TM: So do you think all research in our industry is completely useless?

PC: Of course not. I subscribe to 40-50 scientific journals; I have about 1.5 million dollars in books, videos, and DVDs. I would hasten a guess that I’m more in touch with the published literature than most out there. But I don’t use it solely to make decisions.

I’m constantly looking at the new research in our field, but the first thing I do is look at the study’s design. As I mentioned earlier, research shows that 79% of all published medical claims couldn’t be backed by research, even though to get FDA approval you must provide research showing a drugs safety.

Once I see how the study was designed, and who paid for it, I then have a good idea how reliable the data is and if in any way I can use good research, I certainly do!

TM: Do you have any examples you could share?

PC: Sure, look at the vast majority of research on core function. There’s no acknowledgement of organ or joint health. This is completely useless, as the body does not operate in such an independent fashion. The body is a cybernetic system, which is a system of systems.

All systems in the human body are highly interdependent and any research efforts that create the illusion, for example, of musculoskeletal independence, should be read and interpreted with due caution.

For example, look at heart attacks, the physical symptom of a myocardial infarction is pain in the arm and shortness of breath. In other words, an organ crisis is represented by a musculoskeletal symptom. Same with appendicitis. The first thing an ER doc will look for is a rock-hard abdominal wall with acute pain in the lower right quadrant.

Every woman out there is aware that symptoms such as back pain, SI joint pain, diminished balance and weakness in the legs are common and well-known pre-menstrual symptoms. So if we already know all these things, even in the public sector, how can we keep pumping out incomplete research and teaching and preaching it as though it was “The Word” or law, or worse yet, gospel…

TM: The number one symptom PMS symptom I see are guys making themselves scarce.

PC: Ha, that’s probably sound thinking. But my point is, you never see a core study that qualifies for normal orthopedic function. I bring this point up with researchers all the time and they often will tell me that they agree with me, but that science just can’t manage this many variables at a given time. So they publish research of musculoskeletal function or core function independent of organ health. They publishhalf-truths at best!

TM: Let’s change gears. You’ve said that health has been lost in bodybuilding. What are the most important steps we can take to get health back in without compromising our bodybuilding or athletic aspirations?

PC: Become your own guinea pig. Keep a detailed training journal and food diary. Pay close attention to your skin, your recoverability, your sleep, sexual performance, and your bowel movements.

This kind of info allows you to gain objective feedback from your body and is of more value to you personally than 100 so-called “scientific” studies. I’ve been running a 25-year experiment — being aware of my self and my reactions to any and all relevant training variables, including all diet and lifestyle factors of potential influence. If you’re not, you should start today because no scientist is going to do this for you.

Stop eating and drinking shit, including supplements that are useless. I have clients that take a gym bag full of pills and powders but won’t spring for organic food or clean water. They don’t sleep well and there skin is a mess because they’re constantly detoxifying all the chemicals they consume.

Look at bodybuilders; they have probably the worst skin I’ve seen among any group from all the crap they take. Their bodies’ detoxification systems are overloaded; they’re tired, moody, and constipated. If they just ate better and took less shit, they’d be miles ahead.

Go back to the 40′s, 50′s, and 60′s or prior. Eugene Sandow lifted 301 pounds over his head with one friggin’ hand without so much as a multi-vitamin. Guys just ate clean, natural foods and lived health and strength as their philosophy. Did you know bodybuilders used to be health nuts? How many bodybuilders can say that today?

I got guys on my treatment table in their 20′s who can’t get it up. They’re barely out of their teens and need fucking Viagara. I tell them, I’m 48; you’d better keep your girlfriend away from me!

Of course, science is there to “help” us with Viagara and Cialis but as usual everyone misses the big picture. A man’s ability to reproduce is a sign of his health and vitality. If you can’t get it up, Mother Nature doesn’t want you to reproduce.

By taking these boner pills, once again you’re just treating a symptom of an underlying problem, and in this case, one that indicates problems much more threatening to an athlete’s overall health and performance.

But it’s big business, and there’s a lot of money to be made off of chronically sick people. It’s the same system that produces these studies that show chemical farming grows the same quality produce as organic farms.

It’s only when you dig deep that you discover that many of these studies are funded by companies like Heinz, General Mills, Coke, and Pepsi Co. These mega-companies own a bunch of so-called organic farms and even started their own organic certification system, just so they can produce studies that show organic farming is no better than chemical farming practices.

I mean, really, who the hell honestly believes that food grown out of chemically stripped, dead soil is as nutritious as food grown out of nutrient-rich soil?

Trust your instincts and be skeptical, and when all else fails, follow the money!

TM: What are three things that the average lifter could do tomorrow in the gym or in the kitchen that could improve their training or their health?

PC: Number one, if it’s deader than you are, don’t eat it. When you eat crap, you must invest considerable energy into processing and utilizing it. Don’t further stress an already stressed system.

Most people are unaware that the body utilizes between 50-70% or more of its daily calories just to cover the energetic and nutritional costs of running food from mouth to anus (digestion, assimilation, metabolism, and elimination).

Just to keep the lights on! If you’re eating food that costs more to run through the body than it delivers in energy and resources, naturally, you can expect trouble. Consider, in this regard, that 90% of all the food eaten in the US is fast food!

Number two, drink water! Not coffee, not tea, not Red Bull, Monster, but water. You need an average of half-ounce per pound of bodyweight, so a 200-pound guy would need 100 ounces a day. We live in a polluted world, and the best solution to pollution is dilution. About 90% of the population is dehydrated, and it’s an easy, cheap way to improve how you look and perform.

Number three, 50-60% of the population is gluten sensitive or intolerant. I suggest trying an elimination diet where you eliminate all forms of gluten, seeds, and nuts from the diet.

I put my clients on my version of the so-called “caveman diet,” which is composed of vegetables and meats, and I allow the use of butter, or ghee for the really sick ones. This allows one to easily begin to identify any offending food because after the seven days is over, you begin introducing any potential offender one at a time and monitoring your responses.

TM: Whoa, I’ve heard eliminate gluten before, but eliminate nuts? They’re on basically every nutritional authority’s “good foods” list?

PC: And what research are these “authorities” basing their recommendations off of? Each other’s bullshit, incestuous, agenda-driven research.

I’m a clinician. I work with patients every day, and 95% of the time when I remove all gluten, nuts, and seeds, I see dramatic improvements within five days.

Nuts and seeds have phytic acid in their coating, which is a known mineral and enzyme blocker and is broken down in the sprouting process. If eaten without breaking it down first, phytic acid inhibits the absorption of a variety of minerals and trace minerals, and can neutralize our own digestive enzymes.

This results in many of the digestive disorders experienced by people that eat unsprouted grains. Eating nuts and seeds without soaking them in quality drinking water for at least 8-12 hours to break down the phytic acid can, and frequently does, block our digestive enzymes from functioning. This has led to un-estimable problems with digestion, which can, and often do lead to disease.

I go into all this in my book How to Eat, Move and Be Healthy.

TM: Interesting. Now the signature question, the franchise question, if you will. Can you tell us something we don’t know?

PC: No, I cant. There’s nothing that you don’t know. Everything you would ever want to know is available to you if you just relax your mind and go beyond your mental boundaries.

Learn meditation, and embrace what the Buddhists call the “no-mind”, which meansstop thinking so you can see the wholeness of life in and before you! Then you don’t have to read books and rely on other people’s experiences with no reference of your own. We’re all a beautiful expression of the creative force in the universe. All the answers are right there if you learn to access the no-mind, which is effectively done through a variety of meditation techniques.

Look at the mystics, saints, and sages of history. Scientists today are blown away at what these people were able to accomplish, with no computers, no calculators, and no “science.” They understood complexities that baffle scientists today because they had access to no-mind.

You, your readers, everyone caught in their ego-programming are all just computers running software until you learn to access no-mind, or the state of thoughtlessness. To do this one needs “de-programming”, which can only come through conscious awareness.

Rather than telling you something you don’t know, perhaps a better question is: are you motivated to truly find answers?

TM: Dave…my mind is going. I can feel it. Thanks for doing this today, Paul.

PC: It was my pleasure.

Editor’s note: A large section of this interview was edited out because it had to do with religion and, frankly, we don’t feel like seeing the article discussion generate an Internet version of a bar room (or church hall) brawl. However, out of courtesy to Paul, the removed section will be posted in the Politics and World Issues forum.
For those interested in learning more about Paul Chek’s approach and of the many books, videos, audios, courses and products he has available, please visit:
www.chekconnect.com
www.chekinstitute.com
www.ppssuccess.com

Paul is a highly sought after speaker and educator.
Paul says this guy was misunderstood, too.
Paul consulting with Dr. Quiet.
Although labeled as the Swiss ball guy, Paul is actually a big believer in basic weight training.
Paul has been known to punish professional athletes half his age who try to keep up with him in the gym.
Functional, gimmicky, who cares? 160 pounds is still a shit load of weight to hoist up one-handed
All the answers are right there if you learn to access the no-mind.
Paul consulting with Dr. Badass.
Paul has been at the forefront of intelligent core training.
Paul demonstrates what the Shaolin monks used to do to seminar attendees who showed up late.
Water: A 200-pound guy needs 100 ounces a day.
Nary a hair in sight.
Paul is no stranger to heavy, basic training.
One of Paul’s books, “How to Eat, Move and Be Healthy.”
Where the hell am I going to pin this thing?
“Dave…my mind is going. I can feel it.”

© 1998 — 2010 Testosterone, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

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Two Kinds of Squats You’re Not Doing

by Lee Boyce
So, you’ve been experimenting with your leg workouts by changing your rep schemes here and there and varying your exercise selection. Good to hear.
The good news? You’ve seen some results.
The bad news? You’ve seen some results.
They could be even better. You’ve done enough barbell front squats, box squats, and back squats to last you until 2020, and hell, you’ve even thrown the highly recommended split stance work into the mix.
But your results have plateaued because you can’t challenge your legs with more time under tension through a greater range of motion. Soft tissue work and foam rolling can go a long way, but you’re still barely breaking parallel in your squats without feeling your lower back start to curve.
Of course, knowing you’d frenetically log on to TMUSCLE to seek a remedy, I came prepared. Here are two exercises that you’ve probably forgotten about, but can fix you up right quick.

Solution 1: The Overhead Squat

Overhead squats are a phenomenal tool for correcting the imbalances that lie among the hips, glutes, and lower back.
They have a threefold benefit. First, the overhead position of the bar makes much of the stability work go to the core, most predominately the lower back. Since the bar is held overhead, for most lifters, it will severely limit the depth achieved in the reps, and rounding of the lumbar spine will happen earlier in the rep.
Having this weakness exposed can tell you just how much stiffening/strengthening the lower back may need, and on the other side of the body, it’ll tell you how much blockage your tight hip flexors have over your hamstrings and glutes, limiting their flexibility.

The Execution

To perform the overhead squat, hold a barbell overhead with your arms the same width as you’d keep them in your standard bench press. In other words, if you were to bend your elbows so that your upper arms were parallel to the floor, they’d make a 90-degree angle at the elbow joint. With the bar overhead, make sure the elbows are locked out. The last thing you want to happen is for the bar to collapse downwards as the body descends in the rep.
With the arms locked out, it’s important to make sure that you stabilize your shoulder capsule. The best way to do this is to simply apply outward tension on the barbell while it’s overhead. In other words, with tension outwards, try to pull the bar apart with your hands and maintain this isometric force throughout your entire set. Doing so will activate the mid traps and provide tightness and stability between your scapulae, putting you in a safer position to bear the load over your spine.
Attempt to follow the same body mechanics as you would in a back squat, initiating the movement from the hips being drawn back first, and make sure the bar stays over the ankles. Don’t let it fall too far forward or backward. Press through the heel and middle of the foot, and be sure to squeeze the glutes on the way up.

Overcoming the Obstacles

The overhead squat is a lift that definitely can’t be gone into cold. A proper warm-up and stretching of all major muscle groups is necessary, with emphasis towards the entire hip girdle and shoulder girdle, including the pecs.
This exercise above all provides great reason to make friends with a foam roller. So, give it a kiss, and then roll the crap out of your quads, hips, glute medius, tensor fascia latae (TFL), and lats.
As I noted above, one of the major demands the overhead squat has is that of requiring good shoulder health. If you’ve got that, the arms will have the range of motion behind the neck necessary for the bottom portion of the lift. The shoulder is responsible for circumduction, or a circular rotation, and no other joint in the body has as many degrees of potential movement.
It should be your aim to have your arms remain perpendicular to the ground through the squat, with no problem to the shoulder capsule. In other words, the bar should remain above the ankles at all times. If you find it difficult to achieve this position and the bar keeps falling forward, focus on more scapular stability work, paired with stretching of the pec muscles.
Doing shoulder “dislocates” with a standard five-foot cut of PVC piping (or broomstick, if it’s long enough) is also a great way to develop range of motion. Don’t worry, they’re not as scary as they sound. You can find PVC piping at your local hardware store, and a five-foot cut is dirt-cheap. For a couple of bucks, you can’t go wrong.
To do these, hold the PVC pipe at arm’s length on both ends with an overhand grip and simply rotate your straight arms all the way overhead and behind the back. Don’t bend your elbows. Your finish position should be with the bar behind you, with straight arms, resting on your butt. From there, rotate your straight arms back to their starting position the same way.
If your first position is easy, move your hands two-finger widths inwards and repeat. Do two to three reps in each direction, continuously moving inwards until you can no longer complete a rep without bending your elbows to compensate.

In Case You Forgot…

To sum up, key points to remember about the overhead squat:

• Elbows straight, outward tension on the bar when held overhead
• Bar stays directly over the ankle at all times
• Press through the heel and mid foot, squeeze glutes on the way up
• Stretch and foam roll as a prep

Remember not to go into overhead squatting with the intent to lift 315. You’ll be humbled quickly. Keep in mind that it’s a tool to get a healthy hip girdle, so focus on achieving greater and greater range of motion with the correct technique in the lift. Make noticeable progress this way before increasing the weight lifted.

Solution 2: The Zercher Squat

Ed Zercher, a strongman from the 1930s, created one of my personal favorite lifts, the Zercher squat.
The Zercher squat is simple to execute and its major benefit is the lack of compressional force on the spine due to the fact that the bar isn’t axially loaded. Combine this with the fact that the bar is still loaded on the front of the body, and it makes for a safe, deep squat — meaning tons of posterior chain activation.
A man’s lift. ‘Nuff said.

The Execution

The Zercher squat is performed by setting up a bar in the power rack or squat cage at about waist level. At this point, you step in close and position the bar in the crook of your arms. Make sure the elbows are about shoulder width apart and your knuckles face the ceiling. Step back and stand tall, keeping the bar right in tight against your body.
As usual, the mechanics of the actual squat from the hip don’t differ. Initiate the movement by bringing the hips back, and make sure that through the descent the knuckles stay pointed at the roof.
With your feet wider than shoulder width apart, maintain an arch in your lower back, and keep in mind that the further away you bring your elbows from your body as you descend, the more torque you’ll place on your lower back (and the more abdominal activity you’ll stimulate).
At the bottom position, your elbows should be in contact with your thighs, with your fists still pointing at the roof. Drive up by squeezing the glutes and pressing through the heels.
If you’re a taller lifter like me, you likely understand just how much more work any squat, let alone a Zercher squat, takes because of our lever lengths. At 6’3″, I’ll be the first to say that it’s a long way down to parallel, let alone below. With the Zercher, you’ll be able to get to a much deeper hip flexion than you would in a standard back squat, and maintain a more upright torso position, meaning more time under tension through your set, and more glute and hamstring activity due to your depth.
Note: It would also be a good idea to foam roll the hips and TFL for this exercise, and be sure to point the toes out 20 to 30 degrees when performing the lift. This will open up the hip flexors and prevent them from cutting your hamstrings’ range of motion short.

Don’t Worry, There’s a Sample Workout

This thing wouldn’t be complete without a sample workout to show just where and when the hell to try out these lifts. So, without further adieu…

Sample Leg Workout

Warm-up: dynamic mobility drills, static stretch, foam rolling
A) Overhead Squat 3 x 12
After a feel set with the empty bar, perform working sets with 40-50% of barbell shoulder press one-rep max. Remember to focus on quality of performance rather than weight lifted. Rest two minutes between sets. Static stretch quads and hips between sets.
B) Bulgarian Split Squat (with added range of motion) 4 x 10 per leg with light dumbbells
This exercise is the same as the standard Bulgarian split squat, but the front leg is also slightly elevated by a low step platform. This can allow the rear knee to still travel all the way to the floor and give the hips an even greater range of motion to travel through. If you don’t have the hip flexor mobility to do this exercise, simply drop the front foot to the floor and perform a standard Bulgarian split squat. Rest two minutes between sets.
C) Zercher Squats 4 x 10
Perform with 50 to 60% of deadlift one-rep max. Rest two minutes between sets.
D) Eccentric Glute Hamstring Raise 3 x 5
Lower body to the floor as slowly as possible, with no change in angle to the hip joint. When you reach the floor, assume push up position and assist your body up to the starting point.
Adding a split stance exercise between the two squat exercises will help to open the hip flexors again, and create mobility at the joint capsule. It also works to diffuse any load placed upon the lower back, which is especially beneficial when following an overhead squat.
As you can see based on the percentages, this is by no means a bulking or size program. Its purpose is to increase the performance of your lifts within your size program. Taking a six-week stint to try this bad boy out to substitute your normal leg workouts can and will only lead to positive results when it’s time to lift big again. You may be surprised at how sore you’ll get, especially after the first week or two. And hey, you just might even put on some size having activated a greater percentage of your sleeping posterior chain muscle fibers again.

Summary

Taking the time to focus on mobility and flexibility of the lower body’s joints and musculature will pay off. To hit 100% of a working muscle’s fibers is a bodybuilder’s goal in his workouts, so it’s beneficial to check your ego at the door, and fess up to the imbalances that you may have been shying away from acknowledging for the last little while.
Sometimes less is more, and I’ll be the first to bitchsmack any meatheads tryin’ to diss.

The overhead squat

Shoulder “dislocates” for increased shoulder mobility.

The Zercher squat.

The Bulgarian split squat.

The Eccenctric glute hamstring raise.
Ed Zercher, clearly crazy enough to come up with the Zercher squat.

© 1998 — 2010 Testosterone, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

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