Sometimes you need special, more isolated, exercises to help improve your bigger lifts (e.g., training the triceps to improve your bench press).
However, sometimes you just need to practice those lifts, especially when starting out and trying to really master technique at a higher intensity.
Nikolas had to practice this lift a lot, because of some technical errors.
He is still working towards "perfection" but here he is, entering the "300 Club" a few weeks back! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tROyh6LKOI
If you would like help mastering your lifts using the correct training protocols FOR YOU, but can't make it into the gym regularly, you can train with us online:http://stoyfitness.com/02_Application/156_OnLineTraining.php
Thanks for watching and have a great #transformationtuesday!
Once you have gotten familiar with the Standing Barbell Military Press, you can add in the Barbell Push Press, which will help you learn how to coordinate the transfer of explosiveness from your lower body to your upper body and allow you to use more weight.
Just make sure to protect the lower back, by keeping the abs and glutes tight and pushing the head through once the bar passes it on the way up.
HOWEVER, isolating the glutes and abs with sit-ups of hip thrusts probably won't help you as much as practicing this movement, since there is far too much coordinating involved and it happens so quickly.
Therefore, once all the necessary muscles are conditioned and you have achieved a good basis of strength from the main lifts (i.e., squats, deadlifts and Military Press), you can begin performing this exercise with light weight until the movement becomes automatic. Then begin challenging yourself with increased weight.
Here is Nikolas, hitting a new PR. Watch how he fights to keep his position, not allowing excessive low back arching even when he gets stuck. This is not so much the result of being strong enough, but the result of starting the movement properly, which led to better control through the "sticking" point:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tco3ixIQgJc
Use this pressing variation to transform you upper body strength, leading to better performance and appearance.
Thanks for watching and have a great #transformationtuesday!
The Chin-up/pull-up is a great exercise you can use to build a better looking back, improve balance in your upper body (especially if you bench press a lot), and it has great carry over to all sports which involve the upper body.
In fact, it has been hailed as the "King of upper body exercises" by many gurus, because of it's ability to both challenge every muscle above the waist and create a standard test of strength.
Furthermore, once you are able to add weight to this exercise, it becomes very difficult to cheat, as weak upper back and shoulder muscles will be difficult to hide.
Here is Nikolas hitting a new 5 rep PR in the Neutral Grip Pull-up with an extra 40 lb. around his waist for a total of 257 lb.:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqsFJHR1fl4
And here are some other Stoy Fitness Clients who were able to add weight around their waist when performing Chin-ups:
If you would like help transforming your Chin-up abilities, you can check out our services here:
http://stoyfitness.com/02_Application/131_Personal_Training.php
Thanks for watching and have a great transformationtuesday!
Here is BIG PR for Nikolas in the Paused, Low Bar, Back Squat.
Most people understand the value of pausing in the bottom position of an exercise; It reinforces good technique and makes the following ascent more challenging, because less rebound can be used out of the bottom.
However, in order for this to carry over into you bottom line (1 RM), you must be using enough weight. Therefore, you will want to use a lower rep range for multiple sets to both challenge and teach the nervous system to adapt.
3-5 sets of 2-5 reps should work well. (The more advanced, stronger and well tuned your nervous system is, the more likely it will be that you will increase the number of sets and decrease the number of reps per set)
Hopefully this will help Nik break through his current squat max!
Thanks for watching and have a great #transformationtuesday.
Kevin was able to add a whopping 50 lbs to his Clean Grip Deadlift during his last training cycle!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUKJc_O3HLs
This is almost 2.5 times his own body weight, without the help of straps, wraps or a belt.
Even more impressive is that his form is spot on, not allowing any major compensations take place, which might increase his risk of injury.
One of the keys to his success was that he just came off a SUMO deadlift cycle, which helped strengthen his hips. You can read about that here:
http://stoyfitness.tumblr.com/post/149366809603/kevin-sumo-deadlift-x-420-lbs-plus-8-second-hold
And as is his new tradition, he holds the lockout for an eternity just to prove his grip is no longer his weakness.
Thanks for watching and have a great #transformationtuesday!
At first glance, the Single Leg Romanian Deadlift looks easy and not intense enough for the serious weight trainee.
However, this exercise can be very challenging AND rewarding, IF you have both the flexibility and STABILITY to perform it.
If these are both present, then you can use this to transform hamstring strength, and strength along the entire hip musculature, including the glutes, glute medius and the core as well, since these all have to work in one unit in order to keep your body from twisting.
If you do not possess the correct amount of flexibility or stability to make this a challenging exercise, use it, unweighted, during warm-ups, as a "rehab," until you have mastered it. Then you can add it to your routines as an alternate exercise for the posterior chain.
Of course, you will want to use your weaker/tighter leg first (as Nikolas is in this video), since most people will feel a difference from side to side with this one. An awareness of these imbalances on the part of the trainee are crucial to making this a beneficial exercise. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rjTVeq9AD0
Thanks for watching and have a great #transformationtuesday!
The Good Morning exercise is not well known among most trainees.
It used to be popular among Weight Lifters and now among Powerlifters, because of it's ability to increase strength and hypertrophy in the hamstrings, glutes and lower/upper back.
Although there are many other posterior chain dominant type exercises that can be used to target these same muscles (Romanian Deadlift, back extension, glute/ham raise, etc), the good morning offers an advantage (and increased challenge), by placing the weight just below the neck, which forces you to work even harder to maintain a good anatomical position, while performing proper hip extensions.
For this reason, the exercise should only be attempted by those who are able to properly recruit their hamstrings and glutes (without the lower back taking over) in order to prevent making it dangerous, as most beginners, who lack the ability to properly extend the hips, fail to understand and utilize this this movement efficiently
Once you have mastered exercises like the hip thrust or back extension, and you are able to squat and deadlift at a good intensity, while maintaining proper spinal neutrality, you can give this exercise a shot.
Start with 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps, however, when beginning, because it is very challenging to maintain good form under a heavy load (Save that for the powerlifters). Moreover, do not use this exercise for more than 3-4 weeks without swapping it out for another, since the temptation to continue increasing weight will create a poor risk:reward ratio.
This is one of the exercises which Kevin used to improve his posterior chain strength and his deadlift saw great progress as a result. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjsh66mwQvI
For those who are ready for the Good Morning and really want to challenge their back side, this exercise could be the key to transforming both their appearance and performance!
Thanks for watching and have a great #transformationtuesday!
Nikolas' Clean Grip Deadlift is now stronger than his back squat.
Only by 10 lbs, but that's progress!
Working towards balance of strength throughout the entire body is important to continue making gains in strength WITHOUT a high risk of injury.
By making sure your lifts are balanced and one isn't overpowering the other, you will help transform those areas that might have fallen behind and were causing you pain or discomfort. This is true for both the upper and lower body.
If you are not sure whether you are in balance, look at your routine and how it influences the way you walk, sit and feel throughout the rest of the day. That should help give you some clues.
Thanks for watching and have a great #transformationtuesday!
Since the most challenging portion of a Deadlift is the initial pull off of the floor, starting just a little higher (3 inches or so) can help you do a couple things:
Practice the lift, without fatiguing the Central Nervous System (CNS), since the bar is starting in a more advantageous position, and does not require as much gruelling effort.
Train the muscles being used for hypertrophy without overtraining, since you can perform more volume.
Allow the body to become more accustomed to lifting heavier weights, since more can be used safely. Once again, without fatiguing the CNS.
With Jodie, we used this variation to get her used to heavier weights in the 5RM range. Since her Max before this was 220 lb, she was able to use over 90% of that for a few sets of 5, which is a large overload on both her Nervous and Muscular systems:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlq7HgMQNIc
The best part of all is that you will get a nice carryover into your Regular deadlift, since this version starts in a very similar position.
Hopefully this variation will help transform your deadlift, or the shape of your back, if progress has stalled for a while.
Thanks for watching and have a great #transformationtuesday!
Here is another chin-up variation you can use for a few reasons.
To overload the muscles involved in order to induce hypertrophy or metabolic damage, if you can't do many full reps, and don't want to use pull-downs.
To work on those same muscles without aggravating your shoulder after injury or strain.
To further improve the top portion (which we all still "suck" at), which will help us be able to perform more full reps!
If you are set on doing as many reps as you can, regardless of form, then this probably isn't for you. However, if you want to continue getting better at performing chin-ups properly, then you can give it a try.
Even if you are able to perform 10+ chin-ups with good form, this variation can be used at the beginning of a program to hammer down form and build endurance in those muscle involved in the top portion, including the rhomboids, mid and lower traps, and rotator cuff muscles.
Kevin can perform chin-ups better than most people and we STILL used this to transform his moves. Check him out!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yb62-_d9KdQ
Thanks for watching and have a great #transformationtuesday!
Sometimes the goal isn't to necessarily INCREASE the weight lifted, but to increase the RANGE OF MOTION USED, especially when you are trying to improve both strength and stability in a large part of the body for other activities other then lifting weights.
In Max's case, because of insufficient hip strength and fear of hurting his back, he relied on squatting only half way. However, as the saying goes, half reps produce half the results. Furthermore, in his case, half reps were not getting the results he needed to perform in the real world.
In just a few months, after strengthening the hips with different deadlift variations, single legged squats and sled pulling, he transformed the strength in his hips and lower back. More importantly, it got him the results he needed to destroy his old performance!
Here he is squatting just a little below his own bodyweight for 6 crisp, FULL, reps!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goBwJ4zYnVY
Thanks for watching and have a great #transformationtuesday!
Here is a new 1 Rep PR for Nikolas:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNHLjTVbLD0
It was tough, but he stayed solid throughout! He is VERY close to hitting twice his bodyweight!
Hitting new PRs like this is great, not only because it proves you have made progress, but because it increases your confidence in all aspects of life moving forward.
Thanks for watching and have a great #transformationtuesday!
The Glute Ham Raise is a great exercise you can use to condition your Glutes, Hamstrings and Lower Back.
It's also valuable if you have suffered from lower back problems and want to continue progressing in strength, but cannot put a lot of miles on traditional "assistance" exercises; because stress is placed on the body differently.
Finally, its pretty impressive when you can perform it with a bar behind your head, like Jodie. Check her out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTYzNkcC9tw
If you missed our previous post on the Glute Ham Raise, you can check it out here:
http://stoyfitness.tumblr.com/post/145908620233/the-glute-ham-raise-for-better-development
Thanks for watching and have a great #transformationtuesday!
Last night The Healthy Gym's Group Training Program held its first annual/seasonal/what-ever-you-wanna-call-it-onal potluck. It was a great chance to focus on the opposite end of training (recovery), and talk about things not related to squat depth or proper setting of the scapulas. Thank you to everyone who came out and to those who didn't get a chance, but provided super tasty food anyways! It's amazing how many more people you see on a Friday evening when you tell them that there will be good food after training. ;) (at The Healthy Gym)
A few weeks ago we talked about the benefits of performing the Scrape the Rack Press over other forms of overhead pressing.
Here is the post if you missed it:
http://stoyfitness.tumblr.com/post/150028173838/max-scrape-the-rack-press-100-x-6-reps
However, some people do not have the space to perform this exercise when training at home.
Thats alright, because they can do what Kevin did:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItVIaAFrIV0
(Just make sure to keep your hips neutral, in order to prevent turning it into a regular seated press)
We have helped Kevin continue to transform his physique, while training at home, by making some minor adjustments to key exercises.
If you want to train with Stoy Fitness, but can't make it into our gym regularly, you can train with us online:
http://stoyfitness.com/02_Application/156_OnLineTraining.php
Thanks for watching and have a great #transformationtuesday
