Stronger in 60 Seconds: Deadlift Dilemma
Rip a new max off the floor in record time with this quick-fix deadlift plan.
By Rob Fitzgerald
The barbell is on the floor. You make your approach, bend over, and then spend 30 seconds wrapping your fingers around the bar. It’s not open-heart surgery, and you’re procrastinating. You raise the bar a few inches off the ground, can’t lock it out, then let it crash to the floor. Epic fail. Research conducted at Josef Pilsudski University in Poland and Semmelweis University in Hungary has shown that stalling at the bottom of a deadlift can cause you to lose up to 55% of the elastic energy that helps you start the lift. You need to develop a routine that allows you to grip the bar and pick it up within seconds.
TRUST YOURSELF
“You have to commit yourself to what you’re doing,” says Josh Bryant, a trainer at legendary Metroflex Gym in Arlington, Texas, and an 810-pound deadlifter. “It’s the one lift where you’ll see people with crappy form pull a lot of weight because they have the right attitude.” Bryant suggests visualizing yourself successfully completing the lift before you step up to the bar. “You need to have the lift done in your head already,” he says. “That way, when you actually grab the bar, you’re just going through the motions, because you’ve already been successful.” You’ll lock it out, no problem.
Four-Step Deadlift Approach
1/ Commit to the pull
“When I step on the platform, I think of letting the weight break my back before I’d miss the lift. Never give up."
2/ Set your grip
“This shouldn’t take long at all. Know ahead of time where you want to hold the bar, then grab it tight and go.”
3/ Drop your ass
“If you drop your ass down fast instead of staying down there, you can create better leverage on each rep.”
4/ Keep the bar close
“The more the bar goes away from that midline path, the heavier it’s going to get, so keep it tight to your body.”
YOGA :
Are You Man Enough For Yoga?
So you think yoga's just for girls? Think again, compadre...
By Sara Melson
It almost always starts the same way: There’s a new guy in yoga class, not there of his own accord, but because he’s been dragged there by some girl he’s trying to date. No doubt he’s enjoying the scenery: cute, fit women in tights and skin-tight pants, showing off their assets in the downward dog pose.
Chances are, however, that he’s also pretty skeptical about the workout element of the equation. He may have assumed that yoga was just a lot of stretching and breathing; which it is. But he soon finds that there’s a serious component of strength required to hold those poses, still and steady, breathing deeply and consistently, with a peaceful, non-reactive expression on his face. Within minutes, there’s a growing pool of sweat puddling underneath him on his mat. He’s amazed at how hard this is. And he’s equally amazed at how good it feels. Chances are, he’ll be back, girl or not.
Interestingly, although women seem to have cornered the market so far on yoga here in the West, that’s far from the case in India, its birthplace. Krishnamacharya, one of the fathers of what we consider “modern yoga,” developed his physically demanding poses at a school for boys, and many of the moves incorporated into today’s yoga sequences remain elusive for women, because they lack the upper-body strength to fully attain them.
By now most of us have heard about the health benefits of yoga. Certainly the “yoga body” is desirable for both men and women alike. Lean, toned, symmetrical, and well-proportioned, it’s sexy because it’s flexible, not bound or tight. What you might not know is that yoga also super-charges and regulates the metabolism and digestive system and invigorates the nervous, respiratory, and circulatory systems.
Study after study has linked yoga to healing of various chronic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, MS, and Parkinson’s. And for those among us who seem to be growing older every day... it takes the kinks out of every nook and cranny of the body, leaving us deliciously renewed, open and fluid, and—when practiced correctly and with an experienced instructor—wonderfully pain-free.
There are many different forms of yoga, all of which have gained varying levels of popularity in the West. One of the most widely practiced is a form of vigorous Vinyasa or “flow” yoga, also called “power” yoga. The Bikram, or “hot” method, utilizes a heated room to up the sweat factor and increase flexibility in muscles, while Hatha and Iyengar emphasize perfecting body alignment, symmetry, and form. Ashtanga yoga is a set series, akin to a martial art form. There are four levels of series; most students won’t fully complete the first, or “primary” series, in a lifetime of practice, and there are currently only a handful of people in the world who have advanced to the fourth series.
In addition to breath, a central tenet of this form of yoga is the idea of the Bandhas, or the “locks,” which focus energy into the core and quickly develop a strong and lean stomach and abdomen. The Bandhas are continually lifted and engaged throughout the practice, bringing a lightness and strength into the Asanas, or poses, which combine flexibility with strength, alignment, and symmetry to create pleasingly lengthened, toned muscles.Since it helps smooth out tight muscles, yoga can be a wonderful complement to weight training. One Asana that’s ideal for those looking to develop upper body strength and muscularity is the chatturanga dandasana, which differs greatly from the standard push-up we all learned in gym class. This yoga push-up is a precise, contained movement in which the body is held firm in one line like a plank of wood, leg muscles as tight as iron, and lower belly drawn in, hollowing out the abdomen. The hands are flat and fingers spread, and the elbows are pressed into the side ribs, as opposed to jutting out like chicken wings. This pulling back of the shoulders protects vulnerable shoulders from strain and wear.
The pose itself requires a tremendous degree of overall body strength—especially core—to correctly execute it. Many strong guys who’ve put up impressive numbers in the bench have come into my class and been totally floored in attempting the correct practice of the chatturanga.
The intensity level of the Ashtanga series, and to a large extent the “power” or flow class too, will appeal to those who enjoy a challenge, and who appreciate clocking their progress day-in and day-out as they steadily advance through the poses.
It’s important to acknowledge, however, that we in the West approach exercise as we were trained to approach most everything else: as a competitive, goal-oriented project. Most of us grew up in the “no pain, no gain” school of physical exertion. We were not necessarily taught to link physical exercise to a time of healing or spiritual connection with ourselves.
Yoga, on the other hand, offers us the chance to take a break from the noise of our lives and to hone our inward focus. When ideally and correctly practiced, the intention of yoga is a deliberate and conscious nurturing of ourselves. It is a well-deserved “time out” from the overwhelming sensory overload of our modern lives.
The most surprising and liberating byproduct of a consistent yoga practice is the realization that the doing of the yoga is the benefit; the experience is the goal. It’s the old adage of “the journey is the destination,” but rather than trying to understand this concept intellectually, the body and spirit begin to embody it.
And that’s the “goal” of yoga, if there is one: calm, clear, internal focus. The fact that it will also empower your body and give you a strong, muscular, defined and long-lined physique happens to be a nice bonus for the yogi’s efforts.
Sara Melson is a devoted student of Ashtanga and has been teaching yoga in the Los Angeles area for over a decade. For more information or to study yoga privately with Sara, please email [email protected].
So you think yoga's just for girls? Think again, compadre...
By Sara Melson
It almost always starts the same way: There’s a new guy in yoga class, not there of his own accord, but because he’s been dragged there by some girl he’s trying to date. No doubt he’s enjoying the scenery: cute, fit women in tights and skin-tight pants, showing off their assets in the downward dog pose.
Chances are, however, that he’s also pretty skeptical about the workout element of the equation. He may have assumed that yoga was just a lot of stretching and breathing; which it is. But he soon finds that there’s a serious component of strength required to hold those poses, still and steady, breathing deeply and consistently, with a peaceful, non-reactive expression on his face. Within minutes, there’s a growing pool of sweat puddling underneath him on his mat. He’s amazed at how hard this is. And he’s equally amazed at how good it feels. Chances are, he’ll be back, girl or not.
Interestingly, although women seem to have cornered the market so far on yoga here in the West, that’s far from the case in India, its birthplace. Krishnamacharya, one of the fathers of what we consider “modern yoga,” developed his physically demanding poses at a school for boys, and many of the moves incorporated into today’s yoga sequences remain elusive for women, because they lack the upper-body strength to fully attain them.
By now most of us have heard about the health benefits of yoga. Certainly the “yoga body” is desirable for both men and women alike. Lean, toned, symmetrical, and well-proportioned, it’s sexy because it’s flexible, not bound or tight. What you might not know is that yoga also super-charges and regulates the metabolism and digestive system and invigorates the nervous, respiratory, and circulatory systems.
Study after study has linked yoga to healing of various chronic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, MS, and Parkinson’s. And for those among us who seem to be growing older every day... it takes the kinks out of every nook and cranny of the body, leaving us deliciously renewed, open and fluid, and—when practiced correctly and with an experienced instructor—wonderfully pain-free.
There are many different forms of yoga, all of which have gained varying levels of popularity in the West. One of the most widely practiced is a form of vigorous Vinyasa or “flow” yoga, also called “power” yoga. The Bikram, or “hot” method, utilizes a heated room to up the sweat factor and increase flexibility in muscles, while Hatha and Iyengar emphasize perfecting body alignment, symmetry, and form. Ashtanga yoga is a set series, akin to a martial art form. There are four levels of series; most students won’t fully complete the first, or “primary” series, in a lifetime of practice, and there are currently only a handful of people in the world who have advanced to the fourth series.
In addition to breath, a central tenet of this form of yoga is the idea of the Bandhas, or the “locks,” which focus energy into the core and quickly develop a strong and lean stomach and abdomen. The Bandhas are continually lifted and engaged throughout the practice, bringing a lightness and strength into the Asanas, or poses, which combine flexibility with strength, alignment, and symmetry to create pleasingly lengthened, toned muscles.Since it helps smooth out tight muscles, yoga can be a wonderful complement to weight training. One Asana that’s ideal for those looking to develop upper body strength and muscularity is the chatturanga dandasana, which differs greatly from the standard push-up we all learned in gym class. This yoga push-up is a precise, contained movement in which the body is held firm in one line like a plank of wood, leg muscles as tight as iron, and lower belly drawn in, hollowing out the abdomen. The hands are flat and fingers spread, and the elbows are pressed into the side ribs, as opposed to jutting out like chicken wings. This pulling back of the shoulders protects vulnerable shoulders from strain and wear.
The pose itself requires a tremendous degree of overall body strength—especially core—to correctly execute it. Many strong guys who’ve put up impressive numbers in the bench have come into my class and been totally floored in attempting the correct practice of the chatturanga.
The intensity level of the Ashtanga series, and to a large extent the “power” or flow class too, will appeal to those who enjoy a challenge, and who appreciate clocking their progress day-in and day-out as they steadily advance through the poses.
It’s important to acknowledge, however, that we in the West approach exercise as we were trained to approach most everything else: as a competitive, goal-oriented project. Most of us grew up in the “no pain, no gain” school of physical exertion. We were not necessarily taught to link physical exercise to a time of healing or spiritual connection with ourselves.
Yoga, on the other hand, offers us the chance to take a break from the noise of our lives and to hone our inward focus. When ideally and correctly practiced, the intention of yoga is a deliberate and conscious nurturing of ourselves. It is a well-deserved “time out” from the overwhelming sensory overload of our modern lives.
The most surprising and liberating byproduct of a consistent yoga practice is the realization that the doing of the yoga is the benefit; the experience is the goal. It’s the old adage of “the journey is the destination,” but rather than trying to understand this concept intellectually, the body and spirit begin to embody it.
And that’s the “goal” of yoga, if there is one: calm, clear, internal focus. The fact that it will also empower your body and give you a strong, muscular, defined and long-lined physique happens to be a nice bonus for the yogi’s efforts.
Sara Melson is a devoted student of Ashtanga and has been teaching yoga in the Los Angeles area for over a decade. For more information or to study yoga privately with Sara, please email [email protected].
12 Forgotten Exercises
While never mentioned among the A-list exercises, these gems deserve being revisited
Maybe you used to do them and forgot. Maybe you never heard of them before. Either way, take a look at this list of a dozen little-practiced exercises, and consider freshening up your current routine by throwing in a few of them...
Seated Cable Concentration Curls (Biceps)
Attach a single handle to a seated cable row machine or a low pulley with a very light weight set on the stack. Sit down, either on the pad or on the floor facing the stack and grab the handle with one hand. With your arm parallel to the floor and your elbow unsupported, curl the handle to your shoulder and squeeze before extending your arm again.
One-Arm Cable Serratus Crunches (Serratus, Obliques)
Position yourself under a high pulley with a single handle attachment. Hold the handle next to your ear and crunch your body in to one side using only your serratus and intercostals to pull you down.
Stiff-Arm Lat Pulldowns (Lats)
Grab a wide bar attached to a lat pulldown machine slightly wider than shoulder width with thumbs over the bar. Bend slightly at the waist and without bending the elbows pull the bar down in an arc in front of you until it hits your thighs.
Weighted Bench Dips (Triceps)
Space two flat benches about 36” apart. Sit on one with your hands at your sides, holding the edge of the bench. Place your feet on the other bench. Have a partner put a 45-pound plate on your lap to test your strength. If you can perform 15 reps try two plates the next set. Smaller plates could be added as well. Make sure your partner is on hand to prevent the plates from sliding and to strip them off as you begin to fail.
Spider Curls (Biceps)
Lie face down on an elevated bench (assuming your gym doesn't have a spider bench, which is a pretty safe assumption) with your arms hanging over one end. Pick up either a dumbbell, a pair of dumbbells, or a barbell and curl it up. This is similar to a preacher curl, but instead of your upper arms being at a 45º angle to the floor, they are perpendicular to it.
Reverse Leg Curls (Hamstrings)Kneel on the seat of a lat machine with your ankles hooked under the knee restraints. Hold a bar or broomstick at one end with the other securely touching the floor at a right angle (for support). Keeping your body rigid, lower yourself towards the floor, using only your biceps femoris muscles. Once your torso is parallel with the floor, raise yourself back up until it's again perpendicular to the floor. Sprint Raises (Shoulders)Grab a pair of dumbbells lighter than what you would use for laterals. Bend at the hips and knees as if you were crouching down to begin a race. With your torso at a 45º angle pick up the dumbbells. With elbows slightly bent raise one to the front and the other to the rear simultaneously. Imagine you are sprinting as you swing the dumbells in opposite directions, using no momentum, only your front and rear delts to move them.
One-Arm Bar Raises (Forearms)
Grasp an empty bar weighing between 10 and 25 pounds a few inches off from its center line. Let your arm hang at your side with one end of the bar touching the floor in front of you. Raise the end off the floor using only your forearm strength, until it's parallel to the floor. This targets the brachioradialis. To hit the wrist flexors, reverse where you grip the bar and the movement itself.
Drag Curls (Biceps)
Grab a barbell with hands at shoulder width. Drag it up along your body as high as you can while pulling your elbows straight back. Hold at the top for a second and squeeze the biceps. This is a great movement for finishing off a biceps workout.
Good Mornings (Lower Back)
Place a relatively light barbell across your shoulders as if you were going to squat. Bend at the hips, lowering your torso forward until it is nearly parallel with the floor before coming back up. Be careful not to let the bar roll onto your neck by pulling it down into the nook between your traps and shoulders.
Cross Bench Pullovers (Lats, Intercostals, Triceps)
Place a dumbbell on one end of a bench. Squat down next to the bench and place your shoulders on it at its centerline. Hoist the dumbbell to arms length. With a slight bend of the elbows lower the dumbbell behind your head stopping just before it hits the floor and raise it again, making usre to keep your hips down and breathing deeply with each rep.
Palms-Up High Laterals (Shoulders)
The starting position is with a dumbbell in each hand, arms out to your sides, parallel to the floor, at what's basically the top of a traditional lateral raise. Raise the dumbbells to a point just short of vertical above your head and lower to start position.
Maybe you used to do them and forgot. Maybe you never heard of them before. Either way, take a look at this list of a dozen little-practiced exercises, and consider freshening up your current routine by throwing in a few of them...
Seated Cable Concentration Curls (Biceps)
Attach a single handle to a seated cable row machine or a low pulley with a very light weight set on the stack. Sit down, either on the pad or on the floor facing the stack and grab the handle with one hand. With your arm parallel to the floor and your elbow unsupported, curl the handle to your shoulder and squeeze before extending your arm again.
One-Arm Cable Serratus Crunches (Serratus, Obliques)
Position yourself under a high pulley with a single handle attachment. Hold the handle next to your ear and crunch your body in to one side using only your serratus and intercostals to pull you down.
Stiff-Arm Lat Pulldowns (Lats)
Grab a wide bar attached to a lat pulldown machine slightly wider than shoulder width with thumbs over the bar. Bend slightly at the waist and without bending the elbows pull the bar down in an arc in front of you until it hits your thighs.
Weighted Bench Dips (Triceps)
Space two flat benches about 36” apart. Sit on one with your hands at your sides, holding the edge of the bench. Place your feet on the other bench. Have a partner put a 45-pound plate on your lap to test your strength. If you can perform 15 reps try two plates the next set. Smaller plates could be added as well. Make sure your partner is on hand to prevent the plates from sliding and to strip them off as you begin to fail.
Spider Curls (Biceps)
Lie face down on an elevated bench (assuming your gym doesn't have a spider bench, which is a pretty safe assumption) with your arms hanging over one end. Pick up either a dumbbell, a pair of dumbbells, or a barbell and curl it up. This is similar to a preacher curl, but instead of your upper arms being at a 45º angle to the floor, they are perpendicular to it.
Reverse Leg Curls (Hamstrings)Kneel on the seat of a lat machine with your ankles hooked under the knee restraints. Hold a bar or broomstick at one end with the other securely touching the floor at a right angle (for support). Keeping your body rigid, lower yourself towards the floor, using only your biceps femoris muscles. Once your torso is parallel with the floor, raise yourself back up until it's again perpendicular to the floor. Sprint Raises (Shoulders)Grab a pair of dumbbells lighter than what you would use for laterals. Bend at the hips and knees as if you were crouching down to begin a race. With your torso at a 45º angle pick up the dumbbells. With elbows slightly bent raise one to the front and the other to the rear simultaneously. Imagine you are sprinting as you swing the dumbells in opposite directions, using no momentum, only your front and rear delts to move them.
One-Arm Bar Raises (Forearms)
Grasp an empty bar weighing between 10 and 25 pounds a few inches off from its center line. Let your arm hang at your side with one end of the bar touching the floor in front of you. Raise the end off the floor using only your forearm strength, until it's parallel to the floor. This targets the brachioradialis. To hit the wrist flexors, reverse where you grip the bar and the movement itself.
Drag Curls (Biceps)
Grab a barbell with hands at shoulder width. Drag it up along your body as high as you can while pulling your elbows straight back. Hold at the top for a second and squeeze the biceps. This is a great movement for finishing off a biceps workout.
Good Mornings (Lower Back)
Place a relatively light barbell across your shoulders as if you were going to squat. Bend at the hips, lowering your torso forward until it is nearly parallel with the floor before coming back up. Be careful not to let the bar roll onto your neck by pulling it down into the nook between your traps and shoulders.
Cross Bench Pullovers (Lats, Intercostals, Triceps)
Place a dumbbell on one end of a bench. Squat down next to the bench and place your shoulders on it at its centerline. Hoist the dumbbell to arms length. With a slight bend of the elbows lower the dumbbell behind your head stopping just before it hits the floor and raise it again, making usre to keep your hips down and breathing deeply with each rep.
Palms-Up High Laterals (Shoulders)
The starting position is with a dumbbell in each hand, arms out to your sides, parallel to the floor, at what's basically the top of a traditional lateral raise. Raise the dumbbells to a point just short of vertical above your head and lower to start position.
for Bigger Bench Press :
Strengthen Your Muscles TRX-Style
For a bigger bench, it pays to work your stabilizing muscles TRX-style
By Rob Fitzgerald
There’s more to benching big weight than just having strong pecs. You also need powerful leg drive and enough triceps strength to be able to lock out the bar at the top of the lift. And perhaps most important, you've also got to strengthen your stabilizing muscles—the peripheral ones in your shoulders and core that keep you balanced and in your “groove.”
If you don’t, you’re not letting yourself get as strong as you can be. The solution? TRX suspension training. When you try performing suspended push-ups for the first time, you’re in for a rude awakening if you’ve never focused on stabilization. You may be able to crank out multiple reps, but your entire upper body is almost guaranteed to shake—a telltale sign that your stabilizers need work. Get that shake out of your system with a solid program of TRX work, and you’ll be more stable under the bar and a lot stronger as a result.
Start with the handles positioned at knee height and lower them when you’re capable of performing at least 20 reps without shaking excessively. Your ultimate goal is to accomplish this with your feet elevated.
Try the following workout—without benching—for three weeks and watch your bench numbers skyrocket.
TRX SUSPENDED PUSH-UPS
Assume a push-up position with your hands holding the TRX handles in a neutral grip. Keeping your elbows tight to your body, descend as low as possible, then press yourself back up.
TRX TRICEPS EXTENSIONS
Set the TRX straps to a height just below your chest. With your feet together and your core tight, lean forward until your hands are to the sides of your head and behind it.
PUSH-UPS
With your hands approximately shoulder-width apart, mimic the TRX elbow tuck and perform as many push-ups as you can, stopping one short of failure.
The Workout:
Exercise Sets Reps Rest
TRX TRICEPS 3 As many as possible 90 Seconds
PUSH-UPS 3 As many as possible 90 Seconds
TRX SUSPENDED PUSH-UPS 3 As many as possible 90 Seconds
For a bigger bench, it pays to work your stabilizing muscles TRX-style
By Rob Fitzgerald
There’s more to benching big weight than just having strong pecs. You also need powerful leg drive and enough triceps strength to be able to lock out the bar at the top of the lift. And perhaps most important, you've also got to strengthen your stabilizing muscles—the peripheral ones in your shoulders and core that keep you balanced and in your “groove.”
If you don’t, you’re not letting yourself get as strong as you can be. The solution? TRX suspension training. When you try performing suspended push-ups for the first time, you’re in for a rude awakening if you’ve never focused on stabilization. You may be able to crank out multiple reps, but your entire upper body is almost guaranteed to shake—a telltale sign that your stabilizers need work. Get that shake out of your system with a solid program of TRX work, and you’ll be more stable under the bar and a lot stronger as a result.
Start with the handles positioned at knee height and lower them when you’re capable of performing at least 20 reps without shaking excessively. Your ultimate goal is to accomplish this with your feet elevated.
Try the following workout—without benching—for three weeks and watch your bench numbers skyrocket.
TRX SUSPENDED PUSH-UPS
Assume a push-up position with your hands holding the TRX handles in a neutral grip. Keeping your elbows tight to your body, descend as low as possible, then press yourself back up.
TRX TRICEPS EXTENSIONS
Set the TRX straps to a height just below your chest. With your feet together and your core tight, lean forward until your hands are to the sides of your head and behind it.
PUSH-UPS
With your hands approximately shoulder-width apart, mimic the TRX elbow tuck and perform as many push-ups as you can, stopping one short of failure.
The Workout:
Exercise Sets Reps Rest
TRX TRICEPS 3 As many as possible 90 Seconds
PUSH-UPS 3 As many as possible 90 Seconds
TRX SUSPENDED PUSH-UPS 3 As many as possible 90 Seconds