The leg press gets a bad rep because it’s the exercise that chronic leg day skippers prefer when they finally do decide to lift legs. In reality, the leg press is an excellent addition to any training program in order to get more lower body work without loading the spine.
The lower your feet are on the platform the more knee flexion you will experience, which can cause knee pain for some people.
Leg Press — Execution
1. Safeties
Unload the platform by pressing it away slightly so that you can disengage the safeties.
2. Eccentric prep
Inhale and brace your core.
3. Eccentric portion
Let the weight down until your shins are parallel to the ground.
This is typically the same depth as proper squat depth, however we are all special little snowflakes so compare the feel to your squat and get deeper if you need to.
Shins parallel is minimum depth. If you don’t reach parallel you are cheating yourself out of gains.
Literally no one cares how much you can leg press. Trying to show off with a really heavy leg press is a waste of your time and will make your mother shake her head in disapproval.
4. Concentric portion
Press the weight away from you.
5. Breathing
Exhale when you are at the top of the movement. Inhale, brace, and repeat.
Leg Press — Coaching Cues
Stay out of your back.
When things get hard, people almost always decide to throw their low back into hyperextension.
Breathe and brace every repetition with a strong core and full lungs before every rep.This is how you are strongest.
Hyperextending through the back will never make you better at anything except cat/cow in yoga
Leg Press — Adjustments
Knee pain can be adjusted for by moving your feet higher on the platform or reducing the weight.
Low back pain is the result of a loose core during the exercise. Even though this is a safe exercise, you still need to properly brace every rep or you risk throwing your back into extension. It’s easy to tell with the leg press if you’re doing this. If there is any daylight between your back and the upright seatback, you need to tighten that shit down.
Caveat: This exercise guidance should never usurp the advice of your medical professional. If there is a question in your mind as to the suitability of this exercise for you confer with your doctor. WATM is not liable if you do something ill-advised after reading any of our fitness content.
Remember back at the beginning of your career when you only cared about how tight your sleeves were?
I remember wanting to look jacked, even though I was only 170 pounds soaking wet. In my inner circle, you got bonus points when your biceps vein looked like it was going to burst out of your skin. So how do you get a bulging vein anyway?
In this article, I’m giving you five strategies to employ that will increase your vascularity.
That biceps vein is probably the first one you’ll see on your journey to becoming the big veiny triumphant man you’ve always wanted to be.
Sounds pretty simple? Why haven’t you done it yet then?
Losing body fat is one of the harder body goals to achieve, not because it’s complicated or overly difficult. It’s hard for an entirely different reason…you have to make hundreds of decisions every day to eat properly to burn fat.
Trying to run the fat off through cardio is only one decision.
It’s a lot easier to say “yes” one time than “no” 134 times in a day.
The science is proven. If you want to burn fat diet manipulations are more effective than extra cardio. I wrote a lot more about this topic in What type of exercise burns the most fat.
The goal is to get under 15 percent body fat for some of you. To be sure though, aim for under 12 percent body fat.
You can’t go wrong with leafy greens when it comes to vascularity.
(DeCA photo)
Eat to increase Nitric Oxide
Nitric oxide is the compound that makes your veins dilate; AKA get bigger. There are plenty of foods that help increase the amount of nitric oxide in the blood.
Foods that get converted into nitrates in the body do the trick to up your level of nitric oxide. Eat foods like:
Beetroot
Lettuce
Celery
Broccoli
Arugula
Spinach
You’ll notice that these foods are healthy and something you should be eating anyway. This is a time when what’s healthy and what’s aesthetic are actually the same thing.
Salt makes food delicious and makes you look fluffy.
Salt holds onto water. Simply put, the more salt in your diet, the more water you’ll retain the less your biceps vein will show.
If you recall in How to cut weight in a borderline safe way, I covered a specific strategy to decrease body water retention in order to make weight. Similar rules apply here. The smarter you are about what you eat, the more likely your body will look the way you want it to.
If you eat a lot of pre-prepared food from the 7-day shop on base that you just need to add water and microwave to cook, I bet you struggle to get your veins popping the way you want them to. There’s a lot of sodium in those foods to make them last longer on the shelf and taste better since they’re made from the cheapest ingredients possible.
Eat from the above list instead.
The body remembers. If you treat it well it’ll look how you want it to.
(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Preston Jarrett/Released)
Keep water intake consistent
The body remembers. If you’re chronically dehydrated, your body is craving water and will retain as much as possible whenever it has the chance.
If instead, you keep a consistent level of hydration, your body will hoard less water and be willing to excrete any extra water.
Apply this to trying to achieve more vascularity. You will have to stay chronically dehydrated in order to have any veins show and one glass of water will completely change the way you look.
If instead you stay properly hydrated regularly, then just a little bit of dehydration will make your veins pop.
Lift often and lift heavy. Bigger muscles equal better vein visibility.
(Photo by C.J. Lovelace)
Lift weights
The structure of your arm goes like this; skin, fat, veins, muscles, bone.
We have now entered the level of your muscles. Assuming you’re eating and drinking according to the recommendations above, you next need to help your muscles push your veins to the surface.
Weight training is going to increase the blood flow to your muscles. That increase in blood flow is what’s known as “The Pump.” It makes your arms feel bigger, tighter, and stronger. It has two effects on your vascularity.
The increase in blood flow will increase the size of your blood vessels even more than your diet already has.
Larger muscle circumference will push your veins closer to the surface of your skin and make them more visible.
If you follow these rules, you’re guaranteed to look more vascular than ever before. If you’re looking for more here’s a bonus, ensure you’re using a pre-workout supplement that contains citrulline malate. For more on how to choose a pre-workout check out Part 1 of What supplements in the Exchange are worth your money.
There are a lot of effective options for working the biceps, so your aim is to find the one that best suits you. The purpose of biceps training for general fitness is to give our biceps some extra work to get a pump and achieve some more hypertrophy (size gainz).
Regardless of the biceps exercise you actually decide to perform these 3 keys hold true. Fail to abide and your arm growth will suffer. Full article at: http…
Biceps — Setup
1. Exercise selection
Guidance for biceps exercises remains quite consistent across most variations. Choose the biceps variation you most enjoy or feel gives you the most benefit.
DON’T choose the exercise that allows you to use the most weight. The more difficult a movement is/ the weaker you feel, the greater benefit you will get from the movement.
Bear in mind there is a huge difference between a movement that is difficult and one that is causing pain. If things cross over to painful, then they are also non-productive and will set you back in your training, rather than helping progression.
2. Consistency
Choose ONE exercise and stick with it for at least 4 weeks in order to see some gains and improvements in movement efficiency. If you switch every week, you won’t be able to accurately measure if you were able to do more work than last week.
Biceps — Some Options
See ‘Further Resources’ for links
EZ Bar Curl
Alternating Dumbbell
Hammer Curl
Cable Curl
Straight Bar Curl
Biceps — Execution
1. Range of motion: For all of these, ensure full range of motion: DON’T CHEAT.
Bragging rights go to those that make a workout harder with less weight. That means you are more meticulous and efficient with your movement.
2. Control: Maintain control, DON’T USE MOMENTUM.
Momentum means you aren’t using your muscle. It’s cheating as well.
3. Breath: Exhale on the contraction (upward movement), and inhale on the extension (downward movement).
If the weight is so heavy you need to brace with your core and breath to prevent cheating, it’s too heavy for you to be curling it. Chances are, your front delt is engaging as well, which isn’t the intention of the movement in our programming.
4. Tightness: Keep your lats and elbows tight
Think about mimicking Port Arms with the rifle in drill. Tight lats will keep your elbows from moving and engaging your delts.
5. Isolation: Isolate your elbow joint
The only joint opening and closing should be your elbow, otherwise, the shoulder is getting involved and stealing work from your biceps.
6. 3 Contractions
Concentric: the upward portion
Isometric: the very top of the movement where there is no movement
Eccentric: the downward portion- do this slowly and focus. This is a huge part of every rep.
Biceps — Coaching Cues
Breathe with the rep
Don’t crank on your neck (it won’t help)
Eyes should remain stationary
Don’t drop weight (eccentric portion is just as important as the concentric)
Biceps — Adjustments
If your biceps hurt, don’t do biceps curls. These are an ancillary exercise. You get all the biceps stimulation you need to live in the world from pulling movements like the pull-up and barbell rows.
If your elbow is bothering you and you refuse to stop curling, try switching to a neutral or even pronated (overhand) grip variation, as elbow supination may be where the issue is coming from.
Caveat: This exercise guidance should never usurp the advice of your medical professional. If there is a question in your mind as to the suitability of this exercise for you confer with your doctor. WATM is not liable if you do something ill-advised after reading any of our fitness content.
Here we go again! Deadlifts. The name comes from the fact that each and every rep should start at a complete dead stop, unlike the squat or the bench press where the stretch reflex is involved in the rep.
When you approach the bar on the ground, step your feet under the bar, about hip distance apart. Stand close enough to the bar that it comes over your midfoot. This is about 1 inch away from the shins.
This is your balance point. Pulling vertically from this point will keep a straight bar path and make the lift as efficient as possible.
Stay locked in this position. All other steps should not move the barbell and mess up this step.
2. Take grip
Bend at your hips with soft knees and take your grip just outside of the legs.
The straighter your arms, the shorter distance you have to move the bar. This is the most efficient position.
3. Bring shins to bar
WITHOUT MOVING THE BARBELL, bend at your knees and bring your shins to the bar.
Your hips should not move: they are already in the most advantageous position for you to exhibit the most strength.
4. Press your chest up and lock your back into place
Try to “bring your belly to your ass.”
This will achieve both a locked and neutral spine and a presented chest.
The shoulders will be slightly in front of the barbell at this point.
Deadlift — Execution
1. Brace the core
Inhale and take the slack out of the bar by completely bracing the core muscles as you take a full breath in. Your arms should be straight, and you should hear the bar “click” as it touches the upper part of the weight’s sleeve.
2. Pull the bar up along the legs
With a flat back and straight, long arms, drag the barbell up your legs. The balance point (the point directly over midfoot) is directly along your legs for the entire movement.
Tight lats will keep the bar against your legs and prevent it from swinging forward and out of balance.
Squeeze your glutes at the top.
Finish with hip extension, NOT back extension.
Allow the bar to follow the exact same path back down to the starting position.
Exhale
Don’t exhale at the top. Take a full breath when you have the bar back on the ground.
Deadlift — Coaching Cues
Eyes look at the ground 5-10 feet in front of you
Tight lats
Press the feet through the floor
Push knees into the elbows at the start position and keep them there
Tight is right. Comfort does not ensure proper form
Lifting is not comfortable and not painful. It’s in the middle, outside of the comfort zone but not in the danger zone. That’s where growth happens.
Each rep starts from a dead stop.
DON’T BOUNCE THE WEIGHT
Deadlift — Adjustments
If you’re squatting your deadlifts, stop. Use a kettlebell or dumbbell to teach you how to actually hinge at your hips.
Take a kettlebell and hold it behind your back with both hands, like you’re being handcuffed.
Hinge at the hips by pushing the hips backward.
If you are doing this correctly you will feel the kettlebell “pushing” against your ass, opposing the backward movement.
If you are doing this incorrectly, you’ll feel the kettlebell hanging freely behind you because you are squatting straight down.
Low back pain is a sign that you are not neutral through your low back. Drop the weight and focus on a neutral spine. With load, it will feel hyperextended, even though it is just at neutral.
If your low back is in flexion at all, YOU’RE WRONG. Drop the weight and become more strict on your form. If your back is in flexion, it means you will have to finish the deadlift by bringing your spine in neutral. The spinal erectors are not designed to bring huge weights from flexion to extension, they are designed to contract isometrically.
Sometimes the hands hurt. This could mean you need more chalk or to trim your calluses. Remember: lifting is not comfortable. The deadlift will never feel like getting a back rub from your secret lover (unless, of course, she’s a dominatrix.)
Neck pain happens when you are cranking on your neck to “lead” the movement. Don’t do that. It won’t make you stronger. Choose a spot 5-10 feet in front of you on the ground and look there the entire time. This will keep your neck in neutral.
Caveat: This exercise guidance should never usurp the advice of your medical professional. If there is a question in your mind as to the suitability of this exercise for you confer with your doctor. WATM is not liable if you do something ill-advised after reading any of our fitness content.
Find a bench that’s the right height. If you’re sitting on the ground with your back straight against the bench, you should be able to place the bottom of your scaps just above the bench.
You can stack aerobics steps, use a free weight bench, use a stationary bench, or if none of these are the perfect height, you can sit on a step or weight to get you to the right height.
Your second option is to use your arms to help you get into position once you have the weight on your hips. With this option, your glutes won’t touch the ground on the bottom of each rep, because you shimmied your way up the bench
Pad the barbell with whatever your gym has. A squat pad, yoga mat, airex pad, foam roller with a hole in it, or a hip thrust specific pad will work.
Pain is a detriment to muscle recruitment. If there is a searing pain, you will unconsciously be weaker due to neurological preprogramming. Don’t be tough, get more padding.
Place the barbell at the most comfortable position for you near the hip-crease.
2. Look straight ahead
Look yourself in the eye in the mirror or straight ahead at the wall. Don’t break eye contact.
Looking forward will prevent you from extending your low back. Low back extension is not a hip thrust and is wrong. It also prevents you from making eye contact with other humans…which may be perceived as harassment with this movement.
Hip Thrust — Execution
1. Vertical movement
Press into the heels and drive the hips up vertically while squeezing the glutes.
Full range of movement ends when you are in posterior pelvic tilt and your glutes are fully engaged.
If you think of your pelvis as a bowl, posterior pelvic tilt is when the front rim of the bowl is higher than the back rim (the bowl’s contents would spill out the back).
If you aren’t squeezing your glutes as hard as possible you’re wrong.
STAY OUT OF YOUR BACK. The hip thrust is all about extending your hips and engaging your glutes. The lift should not continue into the spine, causing a backbend.
Drive through your heels. That’s where you will find maximum glute recruitment.
You can keep your feet flat on the ground or lift your toes.
If breathing correctly, there should be little concern for any back issues with this exercise. The breathing cadence is simply good practice and allows you to keep the entire core engaged isometrically which is exactly how you should be used to contracting whenever you are moving something heavy. Just like with the other main lifts:
Inhale and brace with your core
Conduct a repetition
Exhale at the bottom
Hip Thrust — Coaching Cues
Look forward
Stay out of the back
Drive through the heels
Pivot on the mid-back
Don’t push horizontally on the bench
Keep core engaged
Keep ribs down
Hip Thrust — Adjustments
Hip pain is inevitable if you don’t pad the weight. Don’t be a tough guy. Pad it up.
Neck pain is possible if you are leading the movement with your head. Keep your eyes facing forward and this won’t happen.
Knee pain is a result of trying to drive horizontally through the toes. Lift the toes and drive through the heels. Remember the hips are moving vertically, pivot on your back and use all of your force to drive your hips up by squeezing the glutes.
Caveat: This exercise guidance should never usurp the advice of your medical professional. If there is a question in your mind as to the suitability of this exercise for you confer with your doctor. WATM is not liable if you do something ill-advised after reading any of our fitness content.
The triceps are pressing muscles (where the biceps are pulling muscles). You use the triceps in all pressing movements. The purpose of this training is to isolate the triceps by using them primarily to extend the elbow. Guidance for triceps training is very similar to biceps training. The movement is just opposite.
Regardless of the triceps exercise you actually decide to perform these keys hold true. Fail to abide and your arm growth will suffer. Full article at: https…
Triceps — Setup
1. Exercise selection:
Choose the triceps variation you most enjoy or feel the most work from.
DON’T choose the exercise that allows you to use the most weight. The more difficult a movement is/ the weaker you feel the greater benefit you will get from the movement.
Bear in mind there is a huge difference between a movement that is difficult and one that is causing pain. If things cross over to painful then they are also non-productive and will set you back in your training rather than helping progression.
2. Consistency:
Choose an exercise and stick with it for at least 4 weeks in order to see some gains and improvements in movement efficiency. If you switch every week you won’t be able to accurately measure if you were able to do more work than last week.
Triceps — Some Options
See ‘Further Resources’ for links.
Skullcrusher
JM Press
Dips
Assisted Dips
DB Skullcrusher
Cable Tricep Pushdown
Cable Rope Pushdown
Bar Skull
Triceps — Execution
1. Range of motion:
Execute full range of motion. DON’T CHEAT.
Bragging rights go to those that make a workout harder with less weight. That means you are more meticulous and efficient with your movement.
2. Control
Maintain control. NO MOMENTUM.
Momentum means you aren’t using your muscle. It’s cheating as well.
If your elbow is causing your shoulder joint to move, you are probably cheating.
3. Breath
Exhale on the contraction (downward movement), inhale on the extension (upward movement).
If the weight is so heavy you need to brace with your core to prevent cheating, it’s too heavy for you to be using it.
4. Tightness
Keep lats and elbows tight.
Think lying Port Arms with the rifle in drill..
5. Elbow Isolation
Isolate the elbow.
The only joint opening and closing should be your elbow.
6. 3 Contractions
Concentric: the downward portion when you are opening the elbow angle.
Isometric: the very bottom of the movement where there is no movement. Straight elbow.
Eccentric: the upward portion, where you are closing the elbow angle. Do this slowly, and focus. This is a huge part of every rep.
Triceps — Coaching Cues
Breathe with the rep
Don’t crank on your neck (it won’t help)
Eyes should remain stationary
Don’t drop weight (eccentric portion is just as important as the concentric)
Tight lats and elbows
Triceps — Adjustments
If your triceps hurt, don’t do additional triceps training. These are an ancillary exercise. You get all the triceps stimulation you need to live in the world from pressing movements like the bench press.
If your elbow is botheringyou and you refuse to stop training triceps, try switching to a neutral or even pronated grip variation. Often over supination of the elbow is where the issue comes from.
Caveat: This exercise guidance should never usurp the advice of your medical professional. If there is a question in your mind as to the suitability of this exercise for you confer with your doctor. WATM is not liable if you do something ill-advised after reading any of our fitness content.
The low bar back squat is the ultimate exercise for overall muscular development, it recruits more muscle groups than any other exercise if performed correctly.
Set your bar on the squat rack at about nipple height. Facing the bar, grip it with both hands slightly wider than shoulder-width distance–you want to get as close to shoulder distance as possible while still maintaining some level of comfort in the shoulder. The closer together your grip, the more of a shelf you will be able to develop for the bar to rest on your back.
Keeping your grip on the bar, duck under the bar and set it evenly on your upper back. The bar should be rested on your rear delts (the back of your shoulders)–not on the top of your shoulders, and not on your neck/cervical spine, which will feel terrible (this is a high bar squat which has different mechanics). Squeeze the shoulder blades together.
2. Unrack the bar
With your feet planted evenly under the bar, “squat” the bar up out of the rack.
Take 2-3 small direct steps backwards. The bar moves up and then back. Never diagonally.
3. Set feet
Heels about shoulder width apart.
Toes pointed at about 30 degrees. Think of your feet as “at attention,” but instead of heels touching they are at shoulder-width distance. Experiment with this to get the most comfortable stance that allows for the best depth. Wider legs and more pointed toes will tend to be better for those with big bellies, long legs, or both.
Back Squat — Execution
1. Breathe and Squat
Inhale and brace with the abs. The pressure from the full lungs and tight core are what protects the spine. Spinal protection in the squat has NOTHING to do with vertical back angle. Keep the eyes fixed on a spot on the floor 5 feet in front of you.
Squat with a straight bar path. Don’t let the bar come forward or backwards at all. Straight down and straight up. Stay in your ass, with a tight core (see breath above), and make the tailbone move straight up and down: the rest of the body will follow.
Don’t let the knees collapse inward. Actively “twist” your knees apart so that they track over your toes. You’ll feel this engage the muscles in the side of your glutes, which may be an entirely novel sensation for you.
2. Finish and exhale at the top
Knees and hips should lock out softly at the top. Don’t “snap” into position: be easy on your joints.
Every rep finishes with an exhale at the top when you are finished with the movement. Don’t exhale on the way up, as this reduces intra-abdominal pressure and puts your spine in a compromised position.
Back Squat — Coaching Cues
Breathe at the top
Knees track out over toes for the entire movement
Vertical bar path, stay in your tailbone/ass
Balance is over the midfoot
Eyes look at the ground 5-10 feet in front of you
Back Squat — Adjustments
The bodyweight squat, the goblet squat, and machine assisted squats can all be less taxing alternatives to the barbell back squat if you are injured or need adjustment.
If you have issues reaching depth due to pain or lack of mobility in the ankles, try the reaching plate squat to learn how to use a counterbalance to keep your balance over your midfoot.
If you have pain in your knees, try warming up with 3 sets of 20 hip thrusts from the floor with a moderately heavy dumbbell. It’s been shown to reduce knee pain.
If you have undiagnosed nonspecific back pain, you need to embrace the process of progressive overload. Perform the movement with an empty or very light barbell. As soon as the weight starts to cause pain during or even after the exercise, stop or go lighter next time. Over the next few months, slowly progress in weight as you’re able. You will more likely than not find that once you learn how to move through the squat pattern comfortably, the pain will go away.
Many trainees experience “growing pains” in the beginning of their first real training plan. Learning to differentiate between your body adjusting to the new training and actual pain due to an issue is an invaluable skill that needs to be developed.
Caveat: This exercise guidance should never usurp the advice of your medical professional. If there is a question in your mind as to the suitability of this exercise for you confer with your doctor. WATM is not liable if you do something ill-advised after reading any of our fitness content.
Shoulder presses are secondary to the barbell overhead press, which more completely engages all the musculature it takes to press something overhead. The DB shoulder press is designed to add extra mass to the deltoids as well as assist in becoming stronger for the overhead press.
Choose a weight that will allow you to observe all the below rules of engagement for this exercise.
You can do these either standing or sitting, just stay consistent with your choice so you can measure gains in strength.
Dumbbell Shoulder Press — Execution
1. Starting position
Grip the dumbbells in each hand and bring them up to rest on your shoulders, thumbs facing in, elbows out wide but slightly in front of the body’s lateral line (your sides). The exercise begins when you press the weight off the shoulder.
The first rep will always be the hardest because you are starting below the actual start position of the exercise.
2. Concentric portion
Brace your core, then straighten the arms to bring the dumbbells overhead on a directly vertical path.
The top of the rep is when the delts are still engaged just before the elbows lock out.
3. Eccentric portion
Bend the elbows to bring the dumbbells straight down.
The bottom of the rep is when the upper arm is just below parallel with the ground.
Dumbbell Shoulder Press — Coaching Cues
Don’t bounce or cause momentum.
Momentum means you are no longer working the intended muscle, but instead taking advantage of physics.
Use full range of motion.
Don’t shorten the reps to allow you to use higher weight. Full range of motion is vital.
Be proud of making an exercise hard with a lighter weight. That’s workout efficiency.
Don’t let the shoulders flare.
The elbows should be wide, but not so wide that they’re in line with the sides of the body.
Maintain tension.
Don’t lose tension at the top of the exercise and rest. Stop just short of locking out your elbows in order to maintain constant tension.
Dumbbell Shoulder Press — Adjustments
Low back pain is the most common complaint in this exercise. Tighten down your core as described above and stay there throughout the movement. When performing the standing variation of this exercise, squeeze your ass tight. The more grounded you are, the less likely it is that you’ll hyperextend through the low back.
If you have shoulder pain, ensure that your elbows don’t go past parallel with the ground on the eccentric (bottom) portion of the movement. Also ensure that your elbows are slightly more forward than the sides of the body, not in line your sides, and not behind it.
If your head hurts, you probably chose a weight that is too heavy, neglected to ask for a spot, and lost your grip. Now you have a concussion. See a doctor.
Caveat: This exercise guidance should never usurp the advice of your medical professional. If there is a question in your mind as to the suitability of this exercise for you confer with your doctor. WATM is not liable if you do something ill-advised after reading any of our fitness content.
The single leg RDL is one of the great equalizers in the gym. Very strong men can suck at these no matter what their max deadlift is. They also show any imbalances between the left and right side of the body.
If you start with the strong side, you are allowing your weak side to become even weaker. The first side is always better, so start with the weak side to cure any imbalance you may have.
Like the deadlift, RDLs are a hip hinge, with one major difference: you start at the top of the movement. So really, they aren’t “dead” at all.
For this variation of the RDL, you will hold a dumbbell in each hand.
Single Leg Romanian Deadlift — Execution
1. Weak side
Balance on your weak side leg by lifting your strong side leg behind you.
2. Eccentric portion
With a strong neutral spine, hinge at your weak side hip until you feel a stretch response in your weak side hamstring.
Allow the arms and the weights they are holding to be “dead weight”. As you hinge they can naturally swing out as they will want to.
This is contrary to the traditional barbell RDL and the deadlift where you are keeping the bar in contact with your legs the entire time.
The weight acts as a counter balance. You will find that this exercise is actually easier at a slightly heavier weight that can adequately counter the weight of your leg.
Keep a neutral spine throughout the entire movement.
3. Concentric portion
Squeeze your glute and hinge back up to the starting position.
4. Rep it out
Repeat on the weak side for the prescribed number of reps.
5. Switch
Switch to your strong side and repeat.
Single Leg Romanian Deadlift — Coaching Cues
Stay locked in your back so that the entire hinge is in your hips.
Full ROM is when you feel the stretch response in your hamstring, not when the weights touch the floor
Keep the knee soft
Let the hands hang heavy
Allow the weights to act as a counter balance
Single Leg Romanian Deadlift — Adjustments
The single leg RDL is difficult for coordination reasons. If you have balance issues rest your non-working leg on the ground in between each rep. To further adjust, hold onto a pillar or wall with the non-working side arm to maintain balance.
The Single leg RDL is what I would call a corrective exercise as well as a ball-buster. If it is causing you issues, you are probably trying to load it too heavy. Lighten the load.
If there are any major issues with it, simply switch to the Dumbbell RDL with both legs on the ground.
Caveat: This exercise guidance should never usurp the advice of your medical professional. If there is a question in your mind as to the suitability of this exercise for you confer with your doctor. WATM is not liable if you do something ill-advised after reading any of our fitness content.
It is important to hit your back musculature from various angles and grip widths. Change your horizontal pull of choice every 4-6 weeks. When programming, consider heavy squats and deadlifts as back exercises as well. These large compound movements engage much of the posterior chain (back muscles) in an isometric contraction. The majority of the things we use our backs for are isometric contractions (stability and support).
Choose a variation that you like and stick with it for a minimum of 4 weeks.
2. Range of motion
Ensure that you can fully express the entire range of motion comfortable for whichever variation your choose.
Some Options
Barbell Bent Over Row
Underhand EZ Bar Row
Row to Chest
1-Arm Dumbbell Row
Chest Supported Row
Row Machine
2-Arm Dumbbell Row
Cable Row
Horizontal Rows — Execution
1. Shoulder blades
Allow the shoulder blades to move through their full range of motion.
Rows are a back exercise with secondary effects on the biceps. If your shoulder blades (scaps) are locked into a position, you are by definition NOT going through the full range of motion for your back muscles.
2. Elbows
Don’t pull your elbows past the torso
Pulls are a back exercise. When you pull your elbow beyond the torso you are engaging rear delt which isn’t the purpose of the movement. In addition, you’re putting unnecessary stress on the anterior portion of the glenohumeral joint (front of your shoulder).
3. Breathing
Exhale as you pull the load towards you (concentric phase).
Inhale as you allow the weight away from you (eccentric phase).
Horizontal Rows — Coaching Cues
Full range of motion in your shoulder blades
Breathe with the movement
Think: Pull to the hip to prevent single arm variations from pulling past your torso
Maintain control through both the concentric and eccentric phases
Horizontal Rows — Adjustments
Choose a variation that doesn’t cause pain. There are many variations that all do an adequate job.
Back pain is often caused by rocking the upper body during the movement. Lock your core down. Focus the exercise on the intended musculature. If your whole torso is rocking you are cheating your pulling muscles out of gains.
If a particular variation bothers your wrists, switch to a supine or neutral grip variation.
Caveat: This exercise guidance should never usurp the advice of your medical professional. If there is a question in your mind as to the suitability of this exercise for you confer with your doctor. WATM is not liable if you do something ill-advised after reading any of our fitness content.
The bench press is the ultimate bro workout staple, it also teaches ancient Celtic art of moving heavy stuff while grunting. If there is any aspect of your life in which you are expected to express horizontal force production the bench press should be your default.
Lay under the bar on the bench. When you look straight up at the ceiling, you should be looking just in front of the bar, with the bar at your eyebrow level.
Draw the shoulder blades together. Set up your scaps as tight as possible in order to elevate your chest and lock your upper back into a position to generate the most power. If you reach up for the bar, you should be able to unrack it without losing this position for the back, so make sure your bar is racked at the appropriate height.
2. Feet engaged, back arched
The feet should be flat, wider than hip distance, and just behind the knee, firmly planted on the ground.
The bench press is a full body exercise. Everything from your toes to your head should be engaged. This helps generate power and tightness from the toes up. The feet help push the back into an arch to get the chest into a more advantageous position.
3. Grip
Grip the bar so that at the bottom of the movement, the forearms are vertical from both the front and the side.
Thumbs are around the bar, not tucked behind. This is for the safety of your face.
Bar rests on the heel of your hand so that it is directly stacked over your ulna and radius (forearm bones). This is the same concept as rifle marksmanship, bone stacking for stability.
4. Test your balance and touch points with an empty bar.
Your balance point is directly over your shoulder joint. When the bar is unracked, take it directly above the shoulder joint, look at the ceiling. This is your sight picture that you’ll bring the bar back to on every rep.
Lower the bar to your chest. Your touch point is 3-4 inches below your shoulder joint, on the sternum.
The bar path can’t be vertical in the bench press, even though that would be mechanically preferable. The bar must move forward slightly on the way down to spare the shoulder from grinding into impingement on every rep. Think of the bar path as a diagonal from sternum at the bottom to shoulders at the top.
Bench Press — Execution
1. Inhale, execute, exhale
Unrack the bar with straight arms, and find your balance point above your shoulders. Inhale and brace everything tight, so you bleed no energy off and the chest can rise more.
As fast as possible while still maintaining control, take the bar from the balance point to the touch point and back again–from above the shoulders, to touch the sternum.
Touch the touch point. Don’t bounce off the touch point. When you press you are pressing up and back in order to get the bar back in line with the balance point as quickly as possible.
Exhale and reset for rep two.
Bench Press — Coaching Cues
The ceiling stays in focus the entire time. Bring the bar into your sight picture, not vice versa.
Don’t let the elbows flare out in line with the shoulders, but there’s no need to hug them in either–ideal armpit angle is around 75 degrees when the elbows bend.
Engage from toes up.
Back arched and lats tight is best position for your shoulder health.
Press your back into the bench as hard as you press the bar away from your chest. The movement is 2 opposing forces.
Bench Press — Adjustments
Dumbbell variations are the easiest adjustments to make if you are feeling discomfort with the barbell.
If you have shoulder pain, ensure that your elbows are not in line with your shoulder. The armpit angle should be roughly 75 degrees when the elbows are bent. Remember: The bar path of the bench press is not perfectly vertical. A vertical bar path is a great way to guarantee shoulder pain. In order to alleviate persistent shoulder pain, perform only close grip presses for a couple of weeks, or use dumbbells in a way that does not aggravate the shoulder.
For elbow pain, ensure that your lats are tight and the elbows maintain a similar width for the entire movement, as this will prevent you from adding stress to the elbow. Try switching to a neutral grip dumbbell bench for a few weeks until pain subsides.
Wrist pain is common in those with a jacked-up grip. The bar should be resting on the bottom of you palm (heel of the hand) so that it is not causing the wrist to take the entire weight of the bar. Try to keep the wrists straight. Reread the grip section and get the barbell on your palm. Once the weight gets especially heavy, it is hard to avoid some wrist pressure, so at that point, you may invest in some wrist wraps.
Caveat: This exercise guidance should never usurp the advice of your medical professional. If there is a question in your mind as to the suitability of this exercise for you confer with your doctor. WATM is not liable if you do something ill-advised after reading any of our fitness content.
If working out from home is bumming you out, it’s time to suck it up and work hard anyway. This time in quarantine will separate the winners from the losers and the wheat from the dang chaff.
I get it, working out where you sleep and watch Netflix sucks. But no one knows how long this will last and if you want to have some level of fitness at the end, you’ll have to make the most of the situation.
If you’re finding it difficult to establish a workout routine at home, here are a few ideas to get back on track.
Even though this is the simplest and most obvious idea on this list, you need to make a plan.
The main problem when you’re locked in your home is that it’s way too easy to convince yourself to sleep an extra hour or watch that next episode. If you’re alive and sentient at all, you know how easy it is to rationalize getting that workout in tomorrow instead of now.
If you want to come out of this pandemic in decent shape, make a plan to train daily and stick to it. Even 10 minutes of dedication each day will eventually lead to more.
As you would with gym workouts, make a plan that establishes the type of workout you’ll do, the body parts you’ll hit, and the end goals of each workout. With a plan, you’ll be less likely to skip out.
Or better yet get out of the house and go to an open and spacious space that you can train at.
U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Margaret Gale
Set up a workout area
Almost everyone knows that stepping into a gym means go time. You’ve invested time, money, and effort to be there. These factors make getting into the groove much easier.
But training where you live and sleep can be challenging.
If this describes your situation, set up a specific area for your training, and keep your equipment there.
By dedicating specific space to your workouts, you’ll no-doubt be able to create a different mindset once you step into that “gym” area. This mindset can help you challenge yourself and get the most out of your workouts.
Not to mention, walking past that gym area can help remind you of the importance of your fitness goals. This reminder will help motivate you and make it less likely that you’ll skip a workout.
1000 squats… not my favorite challenge but definitely not the worst thing I’ve ever heard of.
U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Margaret Gale
Decide on new goals to pursue
If you had specific fitness goals before this mandatory lockdown, you probably feel a bit defeated, especially if you were making some serious progress.
No one knows how long you’ll be without your standard equipment. Instead of sulking about your lost gains, pick something new and incredibly challenging to achieve.
Maybe you’ve been slacking on your runs. Fortunately, exercise is considered “essential,” during this quarantine as long as you keep your distance from others. What if you decided on specific running and endurance goals?
What if instead, you set crazy goals like lunging a full mile or performing 1,000 bodyweight squats in less than an hour? Do you think you could?
Even though these goals might not have been what you envisioned, stuff happens, and times change. Suck it up and figure out a new way to be your best self.
There’s no wrong way to get your family involved as long as you aren’t a dick. There’s no reason to make family life harder than it already is.
Photo by Graham Snodgrass
Get your family on board
Last but not least, if you have roommates or live with your family, try to get them on board with your workouts.
On top of promoting a healthy lifestyle and promoting quality family time, exercising with others can make the process much easier.
While not a guarantee, implementing an exercise routine that includes everyone is an excellent way to establish a workout routine. Plus, it can be fun if you’re not in drill instructor mode.
With any luck, you’ll come out of this quarantine with a new vision, strengthened family bonds, and new achievements on your belt. That’s a win-win-win.
I received a less than polite email from a reader that effectively said: “You suck! This free pull-up guide sucks! I can’t even do one pull-up, and that’s your fault!”
Cool. I have some family members that would love to start a Michael Sucks club with you.
So, in this article I’m going to lay out a plan for you to use to get that first pull-up. That plan involves 4 exercises and a way to implement the plan into your current training plan.
RKC Plank
Push-ups
Hollow Body Hold
Hanging
More importantly though, the plan teaches three skills. Those skills are what this article is structured around.
Three of the exercises on this plan train total body tension, if you do them correctly. The RKC plank, hollow body holds, and hanging all rely on your keeping total tension in your body for the whole time you are performing the exercise.
I talked about this concept in This lifting cue has all the life advice you’d find in a Clint Eastwood movie when it comes to bar path for barbell based exercises. The same rules apply for your body when doing bodyweight exercises; the less extra movement you have in your body the better you’ll be at a movement.
When it comes to pull-ups, it does feel like it’s easier to perform a few reps when you are swinging wildly on the bar. I’m not talking about intentional kipping, I’m talking about just being loose and letting the momentum of your swinging body help you. This sensation is a lie though, don’t listen to it.
Instead, learn how to properly hold tension in your body so that you are ONLY moving up and down during a pull-up. Loose legs cause energy bleed-off, a loose neck does the same, and is a cervical spine injury waiting to happen.
When you perform the exercises above you’re teaching your body that you’re in charge of the path of movement it takes and will not tolerate any extra movement for any reason.
Click the image to get the guide in pdf form.
Comfort on the bar
If you want to be able to do pull-ups you need to feel comfortable on the bar. So, yeah, I guess the ground-based pull-up guide is a lie. I’m okay with that. My primary goal is to get you doing pull-ups, not to be truthful to a title.
Marksmanship is probably the most salient example here. How good can you be at firing a weapon if it feels foreign to even hold it? The answer there is, not very good. The same holds true for pull-ups if you want to get a bunch of reps you need to know what to do when you get on the bar. Not only mentally, but you need to have the muscle memory to engage the proper total body tension as soon as you start hanging.
In order to put all three of these together, you need to do all three in unison.
The original plan that got me in trouble with you guys. It’s still great. I stand by it.
Putting it all together
Now that you are training your essential pull-up skills, you just have to ensure one other variable is in place and then you’ll be ready.
You need to pull: horizontal rows, vertical rows, lat pull downs, barbell rows, etc. Your training plan should include these types of pulling exercises to ensure your back is getting stronger. As long as that’s happening you’ll be golden once you start getting on the bar properly.
You’re getting strong and you’re training your pull-up form as you start to get better on the bar it’s time to start swapping in some of the exercises that are in the double your max pull-up PR plan: eccentric pull-ups, horizontal rows where you start to elevate your feet, and most importantly scap pull-ups.
Scap pull-ups get you into the position you need to be in order to start pulling with your full back’s potential. Swap these in first. In your first set of hanging perform a set of five scap pull-ups. After that point, just start swapping in more and more sets and reps.
[instagram https://www.instagram.com/p/Boy2kallmyu/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link expand=1]Michael Gregory on Instagram: “I think that this was more than 20 but the last few were ugly so we won’t count those. . Sometimes I deviate from the plan. . I had just…”
I know it seems simple…because it actually is. You just need to train this stuff consistently. Not once a week either. Minimum is two times a week that you should be going through all these exercises with the intent that you’re doing them to get better at pull-ups. The full circuit may take 15 minutes max. Do it like this:
2-3 sets of MAX hold RKC plank
2-3 sets of 75% of your max number of perfect push-ups
