This piece of gym equipment is rarely used. Most people look at it not knowing exactly what to do with it so they just avoid it. Those who do use it are rarely using it for the correct reasons! However when there is an actual need and a purpose – it can be a very effective piece of equipment.
This exercise is an evolution of your standard dumbbell press. By placing the bench in an incline position, we get to put emphasis on the upper pectoral muscles. This is because we have changed the angle in which the muscles will contract in conjunction with gravity.
An evolution from the Bent Hollow Hold, this exercise is a more challenging position to hold your abdominals tight in. As you get more proficient and stronger with the movement, you can extend your legs and arms further.
This variation of the bench press is a fantastic way to get the upper muscle fibres of your chest muscles to get involved. It is important for you to keep those shoulders pinned back and down while doing it and to ensure that your elbows stay directly under the bar as you do this exercise.
One of the best exercises to target your triceps for two reasons. 1. Neutral grip (where palms face towards each other) in the lying down position allows you to effectively recruit the triceps, particularly the long head. 2. In the decline position the arms are overhead, which allows full contraction in the triceps as it is the only muscle head that attaches above the shoulder joint.
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Walking Bar Bell lunges are a fantastic exercise for developing your legs and also working on your ability to stabilise your movement. There are two minor variations for this exercise – continuous and pausing. If you are doing continuous, as your step up and out of the lunge, your previously rear leg does not touch the ground until it has stepped out in front to be the forward leg. In a pausing variation, the lunger will step up and out of the lunge with the previously rear foot being brought alongside the other foot grounded where a pause will take place and then the lunge forward will take place. This pause allows for a reset or refocus for the next movement. If you get tired or feel unstable doing continuous walking lunges – you should default back to pausing after each lunge/rep.
Building calves seems to be one of the most elusive body building goals for those who want to get some shape to their legs. More times than not – the reason why all those calf raises being done are ineffective is because the muscle is not being worked to its full potential. By doing a standing calf raise where you are focused on getting the ankle FORWARD as well as up, this is the key to shortening and thus contracting the muscle correctly and to start getting some progress with them! You won’t need a lot of weight (Body weight is often enough for single leg calf raises!) to start but as you get better, you can add small increments of weight by putting a dead ball on one shoulder or holding a weight in one hand while the other hand holds onto a something for balance and support.
Building calves seems to be one of the most elusive body building goals for those who want to get some shape to their legs. More times than not – the reason why all those calf raises being done are ineffective is because the muscle is not being worked to its full potential. By doing a standing calf raise where you are focused on getting the ankle FORWARD as well as up, this is the key to shortening and thus contracting the muscle correctly and to start getting some progress with them! You won’t need a lot of weight (if any!) to start but as you get better, you can add small increments of weight by putting a dead ball on one shoulder or holding a weight in one hand while the other hand holds onto a something for balance and support.
The Bulgarian split squat is a version of a single-leg squat where the back leg is elevated on a bench or a sturdy chair. As a single-leg, unilateral squat, the exercise places a greater focus on the quadriceps than other, similar lower-body compound movements.
By changing the grip on the bar, we can alter the way in which this lat pull down activates your lats and supporting muscles. By using an underhanded grip, we target the lower lats more than overhand grip. Also, as the hands are relatively close together, it also increases the range of motion beyond wider-grip pull-down variations.
Let’s be clear here – Chin ups are hard. But you have to start somewhere and that is why assisted chin ups are great for working with a weight that is in line with your current strength. Most assisted chin up machines have varying grips so be sure to work with the grip that is given to you by our trainers.
Doing an exercise one arm at a time is a great way to focus on your form, body positioning and that all important contraction of the muscle. The single arm tricep extension is no different!
If you can use an ankle attachment or something you can attach to your wrist so you not holding it and you’re driving through your wrist. No cables? No problem – try using a theraband!
To get those lat muscles firing, this exercise stretches them out and then allows you to shorten the muscle as much as possible to get that all important squeeze! Core stability is also important for the exercise – make sure the right muscles do their job!
The preacher curl is an exercise that gained popularity from Mr Olympia competitor Larry Scott and has often been in the program for many a body builder since then. It is a great exercise to help improve strength and size of the bicep. The important point of this exercise is that you must control the descent of the weight otherwise you run the risk of causing injury. Time under tension is key!
To mix up the stimulus of this exercise, you can perform this exercise using a low pulley instead of a dumbbell. In this case you will need to position the bench in front of a cable machine or pulley based piece of equipment.
This is a great exercise to engage your lat and rhomboid muscles to help develop stability and strength in your back. No cables handy? No problem – you can always improvise and use a power band lassoed around a post or solid, unmovable structure. It’s important to remember that this exercise is about retracting your shoulder – not about getting your elbow as far behind you as you can.
This exercise is a great alternative to a lying hamstring curl machine. Most gyms will have a cable machine and if not, there should be somewhere you can anchor a theraband/powerband to replicate the movement!
This exercise is a great alternative to a lying hamstring curl machine. Most gyms will have a cable machine and if not, there should be somewhere you can anchor a theraband/powerband to replicate the movement!