Posts Tagged ‘back’

How to Deadlift

Friday, July 30th, 2010

How to Deadlift

How to Deadlift
How to Deadlift

Deadlifts are one of the primary, fundamental exercises for all serious weight training programs. Deadlifts work 100% of your legs and they require functional stability from 95% of the rest of the muscles on your body. Using proper form, deadlifts will help you get stronger, gain more muscle, and burn more calories than any other single exercise after the squat.

Deadlifts build lower back and hamstring strength, and they teach you to keep your lower back tight against a heavy load, which is critical to avoid injuries when lifting objects from the ground or floor. Unfortunately, this is also why deadlifts have gained a bad reputation of causing a variety of injuries, including spinal injuries and hernias.

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Posted in Exercise Technique, Weight Training | 9 Comments »

How to do Kipping Pull Ups

Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

Pull-ups are awesome for developing a strong, hard back. Chin-ups are great too, especially for increasing biceps involvement. Unfortunately, pull-ups are hard. Many new trainees can barely do 1, if any, pull-ups or chin-ups.

Sexy Back Muscles
A strong, hard back.

Sometimes we need a way to do pull-ups when fatigued, or maybe you are looking for a way to include pull-ups in your conditioning routine. There is a way my friends, and it is called the kipping pull-up.

How to Perform Kipping Pull Ups

A “kip” is basically using the drive from hip flexion followed by an explosive hip extension to increase momentum during a pull-up. This is useful for getting your chin up over the damned bar when performing a HIRT or Tabata session that calls for 100s of pull-up in a short period of time. Kipping pull-ups are used extensively in Crossfit workouts, and you can use kipping chin-ups in your workout too.

The types of pull-ups and chin-ups that most of us typically do in a standard weight training routine (unless you train Crossfit), are from a deadhang. Kipping pull-ups and kipping chin-ups are actually completely different exercises, and should not replace the deadhang in a standard weightlifting routine.

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Posted in Exercise Technique | 2 Comments »

How to Make Chin Ups Easier

Monday, May 24th, 2010
Swole Fitness Tips

Here’s a tip I read last week when I was reading about pull-ups and chin-ups. Apparently by using this tip, chin-ups will “feel” easier. Give it a try and let me know if it works for you. Check it out:

Rather than thinking about pulling yourself up when you do chin-ups, imagine pulling your elbows down instead. In theory, this will make the exercise seem “easier”.

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How to Train Your Back Muscles

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010
Swole Fitness Tips

Trying to build a rippling, powerful, V-shaped back?

Trying to max out rear-view sexiness for bikini season?

If you said “Yes!” then you should use these tips for isolating your back muscles when training with pull-ups, pull-downs, and rows.

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How to Diesel Row

Sunday, August 2nd, 2009

Here is an exercise from the Diesel Crew that you’ve probably never heard of. They call it the Diesel Row. Give it a try.

This movement is a combination of a pull-up and inverted row. The goal is to build strength through a greater ROM of the shoulders thereby increasing their integrity and strength.

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The Top 5 Best Back Exercises

Thursday, November 6th, 2008
Arnold T-bar Row
Arnold T-Bar Row

Nothing is more impressive than being able to bang out 30 pull ups in a row or finishing a set of 10 with 90 lbs hanging from a belt. Nothing LOOKS more impressive than being able to hit an impressive front or rear lat spread with confidence. Furthermore, how many women do you know that can finish a set of 10 pull ups? Trust me, there aren’t many.

The reality is that we can accomplish all of these things with intense free weight back training.

Your back muscles comprise the second largest set of muscles, after the legs. Therefore, putting some serious effort into training your back will pay off huge dividends whether you are looking to burn a large number of calories, better fill out your shirts, condition your body for functional strength, or even to fix your posture from focusing too long on chest training.

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Posted in Best Exercises, Weight Training | 100 Comments »