If you’ve ever picked up a VHS off the shelf at Blockbuster—you still do that too, right?—you know that movies often aren’t what they appear to be at first glance.

  • The Deer Hunter isn’t about hunting deer.
  • The Neverending Story actually, you know, ends. There’s even a sequel.
  • 50 Shades of Grey is not a coloring book.

Strength training is the same way. Plenty of movements look like a whole lot of weirdness—or a whole lot of nothing—when you see them in a 10-second YouTube clip without context. But with a little more context, they turn out to be just the thing you needed all along to build an epic overhead press or nail that first pull-up.

These three movements are all worthy of being performed without a shred of self-consciousness. Still, it’s a good idea to be prepared for the inevitable question: “What is that working?”

Continue Reading on BodyBuilding.com….

SPOILER ALERT: exercises discussed in the article are HBT (Hanging Band Training) Overhead Press, Lying Hollow Position, and the Spoto Press (pictured above).1.

  1. I’m purposely not bringing the bar all the way to my chest. So, relax, inevitable internet hero who’s going to try to call me out for not using a full ROM.