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!
By now many of you have seen in the news in the last few days the story regarding the personal trainer who apparently trained a first time client into the hospital. The news story obviously piqued my interest what with the talk of kidney damage so of course I have something to say on the…
Want to really target the shoulders – this exercise is a great way to isolate those deltoids!
The Shoulder Extension Stretch is to help stretch out your shoulder muscles and also your chest muscles.
This exercise is to help set your shoulder blade and give a bit of a balancing challenge. The stabiliser muscles of the shoulder have to kick in to keep your shoulder blade and humerus bone in place. A great warm up protocol for when working with shoulders!
My mum would make this AMAZING chicken soup for us as kids. It took a while but the result was soooo good and was perfect for a cold, wintery evening. I decided to take this recipe and revamp it a touch to make it a bit quicker to make and also I removed some of…
As stability and strength improves add a DB to one hand.
This is an often underused exercise often because people don’t do them properly. There is some great benefit in leg extensions provided that you lose your ego and recognise that heavier is most likely to be counter productive to your goals.
This exercise is regarding full leg extensions.