rows

4 Ways to Add Variety to Upper Back Exercises

If there’s one thing we can learn from high-level bodybuilders, it’s that hitting a muscle from slightly different angles can help spark new muscle growth. Exercise novelty doesn’t equal guaranteed hypertrophy, but if subtle variety keeps you motivated and helps you discover exercises that get you a really strong contraction and quality soreness in the …

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Squat, Bench Press and Deadlift Tips – September 5, 2019

Here’s the next installment of Squat, Bench Press and Deadlift Tips, which this weekend isn’t about squat, bench press and deadlift at all! In fact, this week is all about accessory exercises that we use to build the big 3. Each week I’ll be delivering three new videos to help you get stronger and improve your big …

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trap bar

Technique Tuesday: 2 Unconventional Uses for the Trap Bar

The trap bar is a fantastic tool to build strength for almost anyone. Team sport athletes and general fitness enthusiasts especially can use it as their go-to strength builder. Unfortunately, the trap bar has limited carryover to powerlifting. It’s too far removed from a conventional or sumo deadlift to have a big impact, so I don’t recommend it …

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Technique Tuesday: Chest Supported Rows for Upper Back Strength

This week’s Technique Tuesday continues to focus on assistance exercises to increase your powerlifts, and no other exercise builds upper body strength quite like chest support rows. Upper back strength is paramount for all three powerlifts. You hold the bar on your back when you squat. You support your bodyweight on your upper back when …

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4 Ways to Sneak More Upper Back Volume into Your Workouts

A strong upper back is arguably THE most important physical attribute for any strength endeavor. You can have monstrously strong legs, but without a strong back, you’ll never squat or deadlift impressive weight. And no matter how big your arms are chest are, you’ll still look like a weenie in a t-shirt if your lats and …

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Technique Tuesday: Pendlay Rows to Improve Your Deadlift

I’m a day tardy with this week’s Technique Tuesday but I promise it’s worth the wait. We’ve broken down all three main powerlifts, so now it’s time to explore different accessory exercises to drive your strength to new levels. This week, we’ll talk about Pendlay rows and how they can improve your deadlift by increasing upper back …

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lats

The Last Word on Lats

The fitness world is exceptionally prone to the overreaction/under-reaction phenomenon. That is, fitness-minded people often fall victim to an all-or-nothing view of certain foods, exercises or training methodologies. Remember how scary dietary fat was in the 80’s? How about evil carbs in the 2000’s? Spinal flexion sure was terrible 10 years ago, but now extension …

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3 Exercises to Keep Your Shoulders Healthy

We all know the famous quote by bodybuilding legend Ronnie Coleman: “Everybody wanna be a bodybuilder, but nobody wanna lift this heavy-ass weight.” But something similar could be said about the bench press: “Everybody wanna bench press a house, but nobody wanna take care of their broken-ass shoulders.” Lots of people have really lousy posture …

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