Posts Tagged ‘exercise technique’
Wednesday, May 4th, 2011
Along with pull ups, rowing is one of the best exercises to train the back. The king of rowing exercises is the standing barbell row, but the problem is that too few people perform them properly.
You might see the following common technique flaws in people executing barbell rows:
- standing upright – you gotta bend over just short of 90 degrees
- rounded back – lower back weakness or hip tightness can cause this
- momentum – using the lower back, glutes, and hamstrings for momentum
You can fix all of these issues by changing your barbell row into an inverted row. The inverted row is not a perfect replacement for the barbell row – it removes posterior chain stabilization from the movement and limits the load you can use – but it is a suitable replacement if you need one, and believe it or not it gives us yet another reason to accept the existence of the Smith Machine… OK, maybe not.
Let’s find out why and how to use inverted rows in our training routines.
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Tags: back, back muscles, back strength, back training, exercise, exercise technique, fitness, inverted rowing, inverted rows, rowing, rows, technique, workout
Posted in Exercise Technique, Weight Training | 2 Comments »
Monday, April 25th, 2011
How to do Chin-ups
Chin-ups are a basic exercise that you were probably taught early in your life, possibly as a kid. They are pretty simple, and fairly difficult, though not as hard as pull-ups.
To perform a chin-up, hang on to any bar, doorway, tree branch, etc… with your arms straight and your palms facing towards you. Using your back and biceps, pull yourself up until your chin passes the bar. It’s that simple.
Chin-ups can be performed on anything that allows you to hang with your arms straight and your knees not touching the floor.
Beginners usually can’t perform many chin-up, if any. This post intends to be a proper tutorial for increasing chin-up strength using optimal chin-up technique.
Proper Chin-up Technique
Now that you know how to perform a chin-up, let’s examine proper chin-up technique.
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Tags: back training, chin-ups, chinups, exercise, exercise technique, fitness, Weight Training, weightlifting
Posted in Exercise Technique, Weight Training | 2 Comments »
Sunday, April 24th, 2011
How to do Pull-ups
Pull-ups are very simple, but very hard. To perform a pull-up, hang on to any bar, doorway, tree branch, etc… with your arms straight and your palms facing away from you, and pull yourself up until your chin passes the bar. That’s it.
Pull-ups can be performed on anything that allows you to hang with your arms straight and your knees not touching the floor.
Beginners can’t typically do a single pull-up, which is why we need a proper tutorial for increasing pull-up strength. This post will teach you how to do increase your performance with pull-ups using the correct technique.
Proper Pull-up Technique
Now that you know how to perform a basic pull-up, let’s consider proper pull-up technique. No need to waste your time performing half reps or place your shoulder health in jeopardy.
The following tips should be used for optimal pull-up technique:
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Tags: back, back training, body weight, bodyweight, exercise technique, pull-ups, pullups, Weight Training, weightlifting
Posted in Exercise Technique, Weight Training | 4 Comments »
Tuesday, April 19th, 2011
In weight lifting, the lower back does not always receive much attention, unless it is injured. Experienced athletes know enough to include deadlifts, stiff legs, good mornings, glute-hamstring raises, and pull throughs into their routine, but maybe that’s not always enough.
The posterior chain is used in many pulling and lifting movements, so making it a priority to strengthen the lower back will help to prevent serious injuries in future. Aside from those listed above, one exercise that can help strengthen, rehab, and prehab the lower back, is the reverse hyper. Additionally, the reverse hyper strengthens the entire posterior chain including the hips, spinal erectors, glutes, and hamstrings.
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Tags: back, exercise technique, glutes, hamstrings, lower back, Weight Training, weightlifting
Posted in Exercise Technique, Weight Training | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, March 29th, 2011
Grip training: it has to be the most ignored type of training in gyms all over the World. Seriously, how often will you see someone working on their grip in the gym? Almost never, right? No one really seems to care. How much you bench press is all that really matters anyways – which is sarcasm, if you didn’t catch the drift.
While grip training does not really have much of an impact on how much you can lift, it still can be important. A lot of people use straps as an excuse not to work on their grip. I mean you can deadlift 600 lbs with straps, so why would you work on grip? Well, if you are ever planning on entering some type of powerlifting competition, then you will not be allowed to use them.
How to Develop a Strong Grip
The only way to make sure you get a more effective grip is to just work on your forearms with grip training. This can be done with any type of forearm exercises really. When you are doing deadlifts, you should try to never progress without straps.
It may be a pain in the ass not being able to bust past a plateau because your grip keeps giving out, but that is why you have to keep working on it! Don’t be that guy who can deadlift 500 lbs with straps but can only deadlift 3 plates without them.
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Tags: bicep training, biceps, exercise technique, forearm training, forearms, grip, grip training, Weight Training, weightlifting
Posted in Best Exercises, Exercise Technique | 11 Comments »
Monday, March 28th, 2011
Every serious lifter would love to have massive forearms. It just adds to an already good physique, and would seemingly increase all of your other pressing lifts as well. The problem that most people have is that they aren’t sure how to attack their forearms. Either that, or they are not as consistent with their forearm training.
Forearms should be trained just as often as any other muscle. It shouldn’t just be something you work every couple of months whenever you are bored. Take your forearm training seriously, and you will be on the right path to adding some size on them.
How to Get Big Forearms
Many people think they have to do only direct forearm exercises such as wrist curls, and those will work to an extent, but with forearm training, you have to think outside the box and dumb things down. What is the one major exercise that requires you to have some strong ass forearms? Did I hear someone say deadlifts? That is correct.
Deadlifts, just like they work every other muscle in your body, they also work your forearms. Many people don’t get this much work because they decide to use straps whenever they go heavy. If you can deadlift a ton of weight without straps, then you are sure to have a great grip and huge forearms.
Aside from deadlifts, which you will read about more in a minute, I want to introduce you to 5 other exercises and a variety of techniques that you can use to build great size and strength in your forearms.
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Tags: bicep training, biceps, exercise technique, forearm training, forearms, Weight Training, weightlifting
Posted in Best Exercises, Weight Training | 14 Comments »
Tuesday, February 15th, 2011
Next to forearm training in muscles being neglected, neck training is next in line. Actually, I would say that people neglect neck training more than anything else. Many people have never even heard of it or would even know what to do.
The neck really is an important muscle. Think about it; unless you are wearing a turtle neck, everyone will see your neck. It can distinguish you from a bodybuilder to just a normal person.
How to Get a Muscular Neck
Although doing traps exercises such as shrugs and deadlifts will assist you in getting a more muscular neck, there are some other exercises that you can perform that help. Everyone is different, so I suggest that you experiment with all of these to see what makes you grow the most. From there, you should be able to change up your training to whatever suits you the best.
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Tags: best exercises, exercise technique, fitness, neck, neck training, traps, weight lifting, Weight Training, weightlifting
Posted in Best Exercises, Weight Training | 8 Comments »
Monday, December 13th, 2010
Your chest is a large and complicated muscle. Considering its size you would think it would be easy to stimulate growth. Do some flat bench, another secondary movement, and your chest starts growing. Unfortunately the pecs are a much more muscle group area than that. In fact it is downright complex.
Training the pectoralis is a major puzzle to most bodybuilders, thinking a couple sets of bench press is all it takes, or going to the other extreme by dedicating a full day to 20 sets of different bench press variations. In this piece we would like to expose the answer to this puzzle by discussing the six most prevalent chest training errors and then providing tips to avoid them.
Read carefully; you will be surprised how many mistakes you are likely making.
The Top 6 Chest Training Mistakes
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Tags: chest, chest training, exercise, exercise technique, mistakes, myths, pec training, pecs, training, Weight Training, weightlifting
Posted in Exercise Technique, Weight Training | 8 Comments »
Wednesday, December 8th, 2010
The calves are a serious problem area for most bodybuilders. You can win or lose a contest depending on whether or not you have put some time into building thick slabs of beef on the back of your legs. Women tend to have calf issues as well; many are sporting the dreaded “cankles”. Both sexes often suffer from skinny little twiggy leg syndrome, sometimes known as “bird legs”.
To build marvelous calves, you have to put time into training them frequently and from a variety of angles. First and foremost, you can’t make the following 6 calf training mistakes and also hope to build world-class wheels. Train your legs right and you will prosper. Make too many mistakes and they will continue to lag.
The Top 6 Calf Training Mistakes
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Tags: calf, calf training, calves, exercise, exercise technique, leg training, legs, mistakes, myths, Weight Training, weightlifting
Posted in Exercise Technique, Weight Training | 9 Comments »
Tuesday, December 7th, 2010
When you think of calves, you picture the part of your leg that everyone else can see when you’re wearing shorts. Sure, you can have a huge upper body and quads, but if you have the calves of a 10 year old boy, then people may often chuckle.
Women prefer to have slim, shapely calves, and these exercises can help the females to accomplish their goals too. Ladies, don’t be afraid of training your calves just let men do… it will help you to walk better in high heels too.
Of course, calf development is highly dependent upon your genetics. You can have very strong lifts, but the insertion points of the calf muscles are all that matters. Judges in bodybuilding competitions often do not put a lot of weight on the calves as a judging factor, but they do matter and are always good to have. And let me tell you, for those guys who think calves aren’t important on the beach, the women DO look and, yes, they DO judge you for it!
Never fear though, if you do not have aesthetically pleasing, low insertion points, you can still bring your calves up quite a bit.
How to Get Big Calves
As mentioned above, you can be as strong as possible on all of the main calf lifts, but it won’t mean jack if you do not have the low insertions. Sure, they may have size, but they may just not be as noticeable. Face it, some people will have great calves and some will not. You should definitely still train them despite your genetics. Arnold had pathetic calves, but as you can see, he brought them up through hard work and dedication. You can do it too.
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Tags: calf, calf training, calves, exercise technique, Weight Training, weightlifting
Posted in Best Exercises, Weight Training | 10 Comments »
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