The glute ham raise is one of my favorite lower body accessory exercises to build the hamstrings. If your gym has a GHR, chances are you’re in a good gym (but if not, read this). A lot of strong lifters can’t even do a single glute ham raise on their first try. But with some practice, …
Technique Tuesday: 2 Ways to Make the Glute Ham Raise Harder without Adding Weights Read More »
Overtucking the elbows during the bench press is a huge problem for a lot of lifters. This week’s Technique Tuesday will show you a quick fix for this that helps you “feel” exactly what it means to use the lats to tuck the elbows instead of your wrists. Simply wrapping a band around your wrists …
Technique Tuesday: 1 Quick Way to Improve Your Bench Press Elbow Position Read More »
Of all the powerlifts, the sumo deadlift might be the trickiest. While there are huge benefits to reducing your range of motion with a wide stance, it takes a perfect setup and lots of patience to effectively utilize the technique. This week’s Technique Tuesday breaks down three common sumo deadlift mistakes that I see lifters …
Technique Tuesday: 3 Common Sumo Deadlift Mistakes Read More »
Chin-ups are no doubt an excellent exercise to build upper body strength. A big strong upper back may be THE limiting factor in the squat, bench press, and deadlift, so chin-ups have a place in almost any powerlifting program. The only problem: they can be super uncomfortable for many lifters, especially in their shoulders. That’s …
Technique Tuesday: 3 Ways to Make Chin-Ups More Shoulder Friendly Read More »
Continuing off last week’s theme of spotting, this week’s Technique Tuesday shows you how to spot the bench press. Whether you’re just learning the exercise or trying to move big weights, having a training partner who knows what they’re doing with a hand-off and spotting technique can make a huge difference in safety and performance. …
We often focus on how to perform the squat, bench press and deadlift during our Technique Tuesday videos, but this week we’ll shift to an often-ignored subject: how to SPOT the big lifts. This week we’ll delve into spotting the back squat. It may seem straightforward, but to ensure maximal safety and let the lifter …
The flu knocked me out for a few days last week, but I’m back with a slightly-delayed Technique Tuesday. Last week, we covered block pulls, which are interesting because they can either be really helpful or completely useless. It all depends on your setup. The key to an effective block pull is all in the …
Technique Tuesday: Block Pulls – Helpful or Totally Useless? Read More »
This week’s Technique Tuesday continues the theme of accessory exercises, and pin presses are about as good as it gets if you’re looking for a stronger bench press. I didn’t always love this exercise, but once I realized how quickly it forces you into an optimal position at the bottom of the bench (where everyone …
Technique Tuesday: Pin Presses for a Stronger Bench Press Read More »
We use the landmine press with our baseball players at Cressey Sports Performance all the time. We love it because it builds upper strength while improving scapular upward rotation and challenging the athlete’s core control. But we also train a lot of powerlifters and people who just want to get brutally strong. Does the landmine …
Technique Tuesday: Should Powerlifters Use the Landmine Press? Read More »
This week’s Technique Tuesday will help you fix two pesky deadlift weak points using two of my favorite Romanian Deadlift variations. The RDL is highly specific to the competition deadlift, making it an excellent accessory exercise to drive up the main lift. However, this pair of close relatives to the RDL can hone in on …
Technique Tuesday: 2 RDL Variations to Fix Your Deadlift Weak Points Read More »
