A strong back is so so important these days what with so many people using computers and other technology. The Seated Row is a great exercise to strengthen the back.
Some points to remember when doing this exercise.
1. Keep your chest up and don’t slouch.
2. When pulling the grip towards you, try and keep your forearms in line with the cable. From your elbow, up your forearms and up the cable, it all should be a straight line at all times.
3. This exercise is about retracting your shoulder blades, don’t forget to do so!
This is a simple yet effective exercise that helps with learning and improving external rotation. The key to this exercise is not going heavy. Your external rotator muscles aren’t big so they don’t require big weights being thrown around. Light yet precise movements are key for this.
This is an easy stretch that can be done in line with your current level of flexbility. If you are a bit tight and don’t have much range of motion, you can keep this one simple. Whereas if you have a bit more flexibility, you can evolve it.
The exercise so many guys do to get GUNS.
Yes well.. the barbell curl will indeed develop your biceps and that’s certainly not a bad thing!
My main tip for this exercise is don’t cheat! Keep your elbows from coming forward. If you can see yourself side on and your forearms end up being vertical, it means you’ve cheated! Your humerus bone should be the only bone that should be vertical.
The chin up is such a strong and versatile exercise. You don’t need any real equipment other than something above your head and able to be hung onto. Alas with an underhand chin up, a bar is the much preferred apparatus.
Dead Lifts have a few different variations but Sumo Dead Lifts are certainly fantastic for glutes.
Some tips on this exercise!
1. Ensure that when you get to the top of the lift – squeeze your glutes!
2. Also while at the top of the lift, don’t arch your lower back – tuck your hips under yourself instead. This will help with upper hamstring lower glute activation.
3. When you are lifting, keep your knees wide and don’t let them collapse inwards.
Another variation on the classic deadlift. The Hex Bar Deadlift offers a slight change in the force curve in how weight is distributed during the lift. Those who might find the classic deadlift to be a strain on their lower back often find the body mechanics of the hex bar deadlift to be better on their lower back.
Another movement that is considered to be one of the staple exercises for weight training; the military press is a fairly simple move that can really give great results for your shoulders – provided you do it right!
Tips to getting this move right are various but all very simple!
1. Do not let the weight roll your wrists back towards your face and keep the weight stacked above the wrists and elbows. If you roll your wrists back, the weight comes closer to your nose and face and that will in turn affect your posture during the lift.
2. Always make sure your forearms are vertical. This is from both a front on view but also a side view also. If your elbows end up behind the bar, chances are that you have rolled your shoulders thus putting you your shoulder in a problematic and less efficient position for the lift.
3. Remember your core and remember your breathing!
The good old ITB. ITB stands for Iliotibial Tract or Band and is often involved in causing tightness and soreness in the lower back as it can tilt the hips forward thus creating a pinch on the lower spine.
No point in sugar coating this one- this release can be uncomfortable BUT it doesn’t have to be unbearable. By using your free hands and free leg, you can support a good amount of your weight to take some of the pressure off. As you get better at doing this release and of course as the ITB becomes less tight, you can apply more weight.
Tips for this exercise are quite simple.. use your free leg to take some of your weight. If you want to get a bit of your TFL or Tensor Fasciae Latae involved (which is attached and part of your ITB) you can slightly change the angle of your body from the side and onto your stomach but we are talking only ever so slightly.
The lying glute stretch can be done anywhere (yes – anywhere.. except at maybe a night club because in all honesty.. would you really want to lay on the floor of a nightclub? NO) and is a great stretch for your glutes.
If you want to deepen the stretch, while holding onto your right knee, with the other hand push your left knee away from you!
Incline Curls are a great variation to the good old bicep curls. Due to laying on the incline bench, it means the angle of the shoulder to elbow still vertical but your torso now is at a different angle and it actually creates a stretch in the bicep. I also find this exercise to be great as it really shows if someone is ‘cheating’ with their curl. If you forearm ends up being vertical, it means you have shifted your elbows from their starting point. The only part of the arm that should stay vertical is your humerus bone (upper arm where you bicep is!).
The Squat.. one of the BIG lifts in the gym and with good reason as well since they are so effective! There are a number of different of variations as well but I feel that nothing truly beats the classic barbell squat!
This is one of my favourite foam roller releases! So many of us sit in front of a computer for hours on end and use all the muscles on the front side of our body yet the muscles on our back get a bit tight, weak and ignored! Slouching happens and posturally it all goes to crap!
By rolling out on a foam roller, we can loosen up those tight muscles, encourage some blood flow and help get some thoracic extension happening to counter act the day to day lack of movement in that area!
I find that if you take a big breath in and really expand your rib cage you will naturally extend your middle to upper spine. Feel those lower ribs stretch out!
The Goblet squat is a great variation of the standard squat. By holding a weight in front of you, it changes the weight distribution of the lift and puts a more frontal weight distribution which can definitely get the quads burning!
Compared to a chin up, this exercise is a great start to strengthening your back while being able control the weight lifted. While it is often a goal to be able to a chin up, starting with Lat Pull Downs is the best way to build up to achieving this. Focus on posture and technique is better achieved doing this motion also. This exercises is also an effective way to activate lower trapezius which is often a problem area for those in office work type jobs.
OUTSIDE THE METABOLIC WINDOW
This Choc-Orange Smoothie is delicious and full of all the right stuff for growing bodies.
This filler was something I randomly created because well.. I hate our pantry and I had no idea what as in it. Al is effectively the gate-keeper for the pantry and I struggle to know what the spices are half the time. I am getting better though!
This protein component meal works AMAZINGLY well with the Epic Super Salad. Cook up the Moroccan Style Turkey Mince and then combine it with the Epic Super Salad. Incredibly tasty and very nutritious while being very quick to make!
You know those meals where they taste sooo soo good and you just LOVE when they are on the dinner agenda? This is one of them. So healthy and so easy to make! These can be made with both the inside and outside window in mind. If eating inside the window, use the tortillas and wraps. If outside – don’t use the tortillas and wraps and just mix the filling and toppings together on a plate!