Exercise of the Week
May 10, 2010 by danny · Leave a Comment
I usually tell trainees to make sure they use a full range of motion (ROM) with every rep of every set. But, just like with most things in life, there is a time and place to “break the rules.” Planning to do an exercise with a reduced ROM can be very smart to increase overall strength and/or hypertrophy (grow bigger). Just to be clear, I do not like the idea of reducing ROM mid-set because you are too tired to finish the set the way your started it. If form starts to break down during the set, or you can’t keep as much ROM as you did on rep #1, stop the set. But, if you go into the set with a plan to perform the entire set with partial ROM, then I’m cool with it (as long as you do this OCCASIONALLY, and NOT all the time Mr. 1/4 depth squatter).
Every guy that has ever lifted a weight has bench pressed before. Us strength coaches often joke that Monday is “National Bench Press Day” because if you walk into just about any gym in America you’ll see guys waiting in line to get their bench press in.
I’m not against the bench press per se. But I do believe the world be a better place if guys put just a touch less emphasis into their bench, and a bit more emphasis in bringing up their chicken legs. And when I say, “just a touch less emphasis into their bench,” what I really mean to say, is that I wish most guys would cut their bench work in 1/2 – AT LEAST! If you are bench pressing every week, the chances of developing a shoulder injury will increase. And this leads us to the exercise of the week. The pin press.
Pin Press
The pin press is a great variation of the bench press. The reduced ROM will help to keep your shoulders healthy. It is also a great exercise for the triceps. Your pecs and anterior delts will come into play as well. Another benefit of temporarily reducing your ROM with lifts, is that you can use more weight. This will allow your nervous system to get used to the bigger load, allowing you to use more weight when you return to full ROM pressing. In the video below I set up the pins so they put my arm at about a 90 degree angle. You can also set the pins a little higher or lower.
Now, I’m not going to ask you to stop benching forever. That would be like me asking Hubie Brown to go more than 3 minutes without making reference to a “high percentage shooter,” – just aint gonna happen. I am going to ask you however, to reduce the amount of time you spend bench pressing, and to start incorporating the pin press. Please? Now go get some horseshoe triceps…
Overrated and Underrated Exercises: Part III
April 26, 2010 by danny · Leave a Comment
Installment # 3 in this series is here. Just as I did in the previous overrated/underrated posts, I’ll start off by explaining what I mean by “overrated” and “underrated,” when it comes to exercise selection… I think Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time. BUT, if the general public was to make this statement; “You give me Michael Jordan with 4 guys off the street, and I’d take Jordan’s team in 6 games over the ‘86 Celtics.” Well, IF that was the thinking of the majority of people, then I’d have to say that even Michael Jordan is overrated! So, if one of your favorite exercises gets tossed in the overrated category, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you should never perform that exercise again, and/or call me mean names. It just means that in my opinion, this particular exercise is way overused by the majority of trainees, often times at the expense of an exercise that could be a much better option.
Bulgarian Split Squats
Out of the hundreds of clients that I have trained over the years, I believe I’ve had 2, maybe 3 of them say; “We have bulgarian split squats today? Yes!” This is an exercise that is generally NOT a crowd pleaser. Why? Because they are hard. Yeah, but they are very effective. Most of us don’t spend enough time performing unilateral (one leg at a time) exercises. And bulgarian split squats are a must, if you are looking for big-bang-for-your-buck exercises. To perform them, keep your chest high, abs tight, and the weight on the heel of the down (working) leg. Do not add weight until you are able to get nice and deep (hip down to knee height) on each rep. The glutes come more into play the deeper you get. If you want a nice round, firm booty, work on getting low! Perform all reps on one leg, before switching legs. It will look something like this…
Again, not enough people are using this movement in their training, and it is as very effective exercise. Soooo …
Underrated!
Tricep Kickbacks
The tricep kickback – an exercise that I see people performing in the gym all the time. And usually, it is a female using the 3-pound pink dumbbells. To top if off, if I was to ask her; “what are your goals?” She would probably respond; “to lose fat.” Well, with such a little movement, and with such light weight, the tricep kickback is NOT going to burn a whole lot of calories. Would I ever be ok with someone using this exercise? Acutally, yes. If you have put at least a couple of years into training and have gotten a lot bigger and stronger, then go ahead and throw in some kickbacks every once in awhile. But if you are fairly new to training, and/or have a main goal of fat loss, do yourself a favor and ditch the tricep kickback.
Definitely goes in the overrated category.
Going forward, make sure to include bulgarian split squats in your training! And ask yourself; “with my experience and my goals, are tricep kickbacks a good choice for me?” Only you can answer that, but make sure to keep my above comments in mind when making your decision. Best of luck in accomplishing your goals!
