CategoriesExercises You Should Be Doing

Exercises You Should Be Doing: Off-Bench Oblique Hold w/ Pulse

Let me preface all of this by asking you a question.  How stoked are you to go see Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim this weekend?  If you don’t know what it’s about all you need to know is this: Giant robots vs. giant alien monsters.

The only way this movie could be more manly is if the robots all had beards or something.

Or if by some stroke of writing genius (and movie studio cross promotion), Batman comes out of nowhere and starts Sparta kicking aliens left and right.  And Matt Damon reprises his role as Jason Bourne.  Just because.

I defy anyone to tell me that that wouldn’t win an Oscar for “Most Awesome Movie Ever Made.”

Think about it.

Anyhoo, I’m sitting here in a Panera Bread as I write this post and I told myself I was going to sequester myself into “academic quarantine” (a term I stole from Eric Cressey) so that I could spend a few solid hours working on my tan presentations for mine and Dean Somerset’s Boston Workshop at the end of the month (Hint: there are still some spots OPEN.)

But I wanted to make sure I posted up a little sumthin, sumthin before the weekend. And since it’s been a few weeks since I’ve shared a new Exercise You Should Be Doing, I figured it was perfect timing.

Off-Bench Oblique Hold w/ Pulse

Who Did I Steal it From:  On Tuesdays I typically train at Boston University Strength & Conditioning, and I’ve seen this exercise done with their athletes numerous times.  I liked it, so felt I’d steal it.

What Does It Do: I’ve long trumpeted the notion that I think planks (and all their infinite variations) reach a point of diminishing returns once people start getting carried away with how LONG they go for.

There’s no denying that there’s a lot of efficacy for their use with people suffering from low back pain, as guys like Dr. Stuart McGill and Dr. Craig Liebenson have long demonstrated their practicality in that regard

Watering things waaaaay down:  one of the major red flags when it comes to chronic back pain is when there’s a huge discrepancy or asymmetry in anterior, posterior, and lateral spinal endurance.  In this context, planks are a god-send as it helps teach people to engage and fire more efficiently the appropriate musculature (rectus abdominus, external/internal obliques, TVA, erector spinae, longissimus, iliocostalis, etc),  – SYNCHRONOUSLY (it’s NOT about isolating anything) – in an effort to better stabilize the spine.

But even then, it’s not like the objective is to plank people to death and make a run at the Guinness Book of World Records.

Technique can get dicey for many after a certain point, and I believe as of late, McGill et al are more in favor of short, intermittent planks holds such as several 5-10s holds done in succession.

And this doesn’t even take into consideration that when we’re referring to healthy, UN-injured people, performing planks for minutes on end makes about as much sense as wiping your ass with sandpaper.

I still find value in planks – I’m not trying to poo-poo on them altogether. Which is why I’d much prefer to make them more challenging than to worry about length.

To that end, the off-bench oblique hold with pulse is a great plank variation that ups the ante on core stabilization, as you not only have to fight gravity to a higher degree, but also resist the dynamic “pulse” of the plate coming back and forth from the body.

Key Coaching Cues:  Hook your feet underneath a secure bench (or GHR if you have one), and then extend your body so that your hips are on the very edge of the bench.  From there it’s important to ensure that you’re body is in a straight line, and that your not rotated too far one way or the other and that your neck is packed and not protruding forward.

Grab a plate, dumbbell, kettlebell, Easy Bake Oven, whatever (I was using 10 lbs in the video and that was plenty challenging) and “pulse” it back and forth from from your chest until your arms are fully extended.

Perform 8-10 reps per side and switch and perform the same process on the other.

Give it a try and let me know what you think!

CategoriesExercise Technique Exercises You Should Be Doing

Pull-Throughs for Elite Strength

“It’s Fourth of July, I think I’m gonna try to eat clean today.”

– Said no one. Ever.

Like many of you reading I’m recovering from a day of gluttony.  Although giving myself some credit, I wasn’t all that bad.  Instead of hitting up a few BBQs, Lisa and I decided to keep our Fourth a bit more low key and opted to head to the beach instead.

We packed a cooler full of fruit, chicken, guacamole, and Coke Zeros (we like to live lifer dangerously), along with some summer reading material (I was finishing up the book Decisive, Lisa was reading whatever it is girls read on the beach) and we soaked up some vitamin D.

When we got back into the city, though, I treated myself to an ice-cream sundae and then crushed an entire bag of honey wheat pretzels.  Holla!

In any case I’m not going out of my way to do a bunch of work today, and as such I’m just going to link to an article I had published on T-Nation the other day on the pull-through (which I feel is one of the most UNDERrated exercises out there).

I hope you  check it out, and I’ll be back on Monday with some new content!

Pull-Throughs for Elite Strength <=== Click Me

 

CategoriesExercises You Should Be Doing

Exercises You Should Be Doing: Prone Plank Push-Pull

There’s no debating the fact that planks (and all their infinite variations) have a place at the “big boy” table in terms of exercises which 1. offer a horde of benefits, and 2. are wildly popular in the fitness community.

Personally I have a love/hate relationship with them.

I love them because, well, it’s hard not to appreciate/respect the long-standing work of guys like Dr. Stuart McGill, Dr. Craig, Liebenson, and a slew of others who are way smarter than me who have routinely shown that building and improving upon spinal endurance is a key factor in addressing low-back pain.

Having the ability to buttress shear loads and maintain a “neutral” spine both from an anterior/posterior perspective (prone planks) as well as laterally (side planks) goes a long ways in demonstrating one’s ability to control the lumbo-pelvic-hip area.

While I don’t have the exact numbers in front of me, Dr. McGill has noted that one should be able to hold a perfect prone plank position for roughly 90-120s, and a side plank for roughly 60s (on both sides).

If one is unable to do so, compensates in any way, or there is a major asymmetry between left and right sides on the side plank, it’s cause for a red flag and more than likely will result in a dolphin gets punched in the face.

In short, planks (or to be more precise:  the ability to perform them correctly) can be a valuable assessment tool.

Which brings me to why I also hate them.

Walk into any gym, anywhere, at any time, and you’ll undoubtedly see people planking away.  And, more often than not they look god awful.

There’s this….

And this….

And this, which is actually kinda cool….

Worse is that some people will brag – like it’s a badge of honor – that they can “plank” for five minutes.  Well la-de-freakin-do. Unless you’re training for some World Planking Championship, who cares????

And that’s not even the worse offense. I’ll give a free pass to the general fitness population because they don’t know any better.  But what really grinds my gears is when I see personal trainers having their clients perform planks for minutes on end, and it looks like the first two pictures from above.

What purpose does that serve?  And more to the point:  how is it you’re letting your client get away with such atrocious technique???????

AHHHHHHHHHHHH.

Okay, deep breaths Tony.  Everything will be okay.

Just so we’re on the same page:  I am NOT saying that planks are a waste of time.  Like I said there’s definitely a ton of efficacy for their inclusion in a well-designed training program.  But I’m also in the camp that believes there’s a rate of diminishing returns after a certain point.

If you’re working with a banged up client with a history of low back pain that’s one thing; but if you’re working with a “healthy” client with no contraindications or symptoms then I’d rather make planks more challenging rather than go for longer periods of time.

Which brings us to today’s exercise you should be doing.

Prone Plank Push-Pull

Who Did I Steal It From:  fellow strength coach and Cortland State alum, Justin Kompf.

What Does It Do:  it definitely brings a new flavor into the mix on two fronts.

1.  By taking one arm off the floor, you’re taking away a base of support which inherently makes the exercise more challenging.

2.  It also adds a dynamic component where the trainee has to RESIST me  with the push component, and then pull AGAINST my resistance with the pulling part.

All this while still maintaining a “neutral” spine and not allowing the torso to compensate in any way.

Key Coaching Cues:  All the same rules apply, and this means making sure your technique is spot on.  Meaning, there should be absolutely no compensating in the lumbar region (dipping or hiking), no forward head posture, and the glutes should be firing along with a significant abdominal brace throughout the duration of the set.

Additionally, I like to yell out the cues during the set:  Push!, Pull!, Push!, Pull!, your sister’s hot!, Push!, Pull!, Push!, Pull!,  so on and so forth.

Shoot for 6-8 reps on one side, switch, and repeat the same process on the other.

And that’s about it.  Give it a try today and let me know what you think!

CategoriesExercises You Should Be Doing

Exercises You Should Be Doing: Seated KB Curl to Bottoms-Up Overhead Press

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve added a new exercise to the Exercises You Should Be Doing arsenal, so here you go.  How’s that for straight and to the point?

What Is It:  Seated Kettlebell Curl to Bottoms-Up Overhead Press

Who Did I Steal It From:  It just so happens that former CP intern, Jordan Syatt, stopped by the facility for a cameo yesterday and I noticed him performing this deceivingly challenging exercise towards the tail end of his training session – so all credit goes to him.

What Does It Do: As is the case for every exercise I throw onto this list, for me, the biggest determining factor is whether or not it provides a lot of bang-for-one’s-training-buck. A huge reason why I rarely (if ever) include machine based exercises or “isolation” exercises is because, for the most part, I view them as a waste of time.

Granted if you’re a bodybuilder, have an aesthetic bias, and you’re looking to bring up a lagging body part, it makes sense to include those types of exercises in your weekly training repertoire. I don’t feel they should make up the crux of your training, but they do have a time and place.

Outside of that, since most people who read this blog aren’t stepping up on stage anytime soon, lets just move on.

Oh, and least I forget (because I know someone will inevitably get their panties in a bunch and mention it): I should make note that isolation or machine based training does have merit with regards to people who are post-surgery or who are woefully deconditioned.

With respects to the former, take ACL repair as an example.  Motor control will definitely come into play, and it’s often advantageous to introduce “load” in a more controlled, predictable manner.  So things like leg presses, leg extensions (and the like) will definitely come into the picture.

As far as the latter:  you can bet that if I’m working with an obese client or someone who’s just really deconditioned my main focus is going to be on getting them moving and eliciting some semblance of a training effect, and less on whether or not they can do an ass-to-grass squat, deadlift 2x their bodyweight, or beat them into submission and have them perform burpees until they can’t feel the left side of their face.

If I have to resort to a pec deck or utilizing a Cybex circuit – so be it.

But just so we’re clear: the bulk of my time is still going to be on working on improving certain movement patterns like the squat pattern, hip hinge, push-up, core stability, and not to mention I have yet to meet anyone who can’t push a Prowler.

But I’m getting a little off-track here.

Today’s exercise is a bit sneaky.  It looks simple and nondescript enough that I wouldn’t be surprised if many who watched it probably dismissed it right off the bat.

I mean, seriously TG…….a KB curl?  I thought you just said you don’t like isolation-type exercises? What’s next….crunches on a BOSU ball?

Fair enough. But lets break this badboy down before everyone grabs their pitchforks and storms the castle.

Yes, there’s a curl involved. But in the grand scheme of things it’s not like I’m expecting this exercise to add four inches to your arms in two weeks. In fact I could care less about the curl component. The curl in this sense actually serves as a sorta “self-pertubation,” forcing you to fire your entire core musculature synchronously so as to PREVENT any lateral flexion or rotation.

I’ve expounded on my preference for one-arm training in the past, so I won’t belabor the point here.  But because I don’t want to leave any new readers hanging, simply put, performing more off-set loaded exercises (where you hold a DB or KB in one hand only) places a HUGE challenge on your core because everything has to fire so that you don’t fall or tip over.

Moving on into the bottoms-up position and performing the overhead press, while the action itself still offers a significant core challenge, it also forces the rotator cuff to fire like crazy through a process called irradiation.

Basically you MUST grab the handle of the KB with a death grip (I like to tell people to melt the handle), so that it doesn’t fall over.  In doing so you send a signal to the rotator cuff (irradiation) to “pack” itself which makes the joint more stable.

Moreover, because holding the KB in the bottoms-up position makes it more challenging (unstable), you force the muscles of the rotator cuff to do their job in a more “functional” manner, which is to center the humeral head in the glenoid fossa.

What’s more, it’s an unparalleled scapular stability exercise to boot!

In short, with this exercise there’s a lot more going on than meets the eye.

High five for the Transformers reference!

Key Coaching Cues:   You won’t need a whole lotta weight in order to do this exercise, so be a bit conservative with this one.  I believe I was using the 17 lb KB in the video and I was struggling.  Take that for what it’s worth.

Glue your feet into the ground, and brace your abs.  Your torso should be completely upright and you want to avoid any HYPERextension of the lower back.

From there I think it’s pretty self-explanatory.  This is more of a CONTROLLED movement, so try not to rush.

I’m more inclined to think of this as a nice finishing exercise to complete a training session, and I’d shoot for 2-3 sets of 6-8 reps per side.

Also, if you wanted to make it more challenging you could do the same thing in the standing position.

And that’s that.  Give it a try to day and let me know what you think!

CategoriesExercises You Should Be Doing Strength Training

Improving Exercise Technique: Pull-Throughs

I know some reading are going to scoff at the title of this post and immediately go off on some diatribe about how pull-throughs are so 2002 and about why we’re even having this conversation in the first place when we can just mosey on over to the corner of the gym, grab a kettlebell, and swing away to our hearts content.

Everyone knows that kettlebells are far superior in every way – whether we’re referring to hip hinge patterning, posterior chain strength, explosiveness, overall conditioning, or some of its lesser known uses like how awesome it is as a door stopper, fish line sinker, or paper weight.

I agree that kettlebells are fantastic tool in the exercise toolbox, very versatile, and something that I implement into my programs quite often.  However, as with anything else, there’s a time and place for them.

In my opinion pull-throughs are one of the more underrated exercises out there, which is unfortunate because it offers a lot of advantages in its own right.

A look at from a few vantage points:

1.  It’s very user friendly.  Granted, with proper coaching, a KB swing can be easily taught within 5-10 minutes.  The key point to consider, though, is “proper coaching.” I don’t know about you, but Iv’e been in my fair share of commercial gyms and I can count on one hand the total number of times I’ve seen someone perform a proper KB swing – and this includes those who are actually under the supervision of a trainer!

Needless to say, there’s a lot more to a KB swing than just casually picking one up and hoisting it around like it’s some kind of toy light saber.

I find that pull-throughs are a much more “convenient” way to introduce the hip hinge pattern to people – especially those with limited training experience under their belt.

What’s more, not everyone has access to kettlebells, and pretty much everyone has access to a cable system.  So there.

2. Furthermore, and going along with the whole versatility angle, pull-throughs are a staple amongst powerlifters (it’s a fantastic accessory exercise for the hamstrings and glutes), as well as beginners who are just learning their way around the weightroom.

3.  Likewise, there’s very little spinal loading (assuming form is up to snuff) so it’s a fantastic option for those people working around back pain as it forces people to learn to dissociate the hips from the lumbar spine.  If anything it helps to slow people down, which is an important factor when trying to learn a new pattern.

All that said, despite the seemingly innocuous nature of the exercise people tend to butcher its execution.  In the video below I discuss some common mistakes as well as a few coaching cues I often use to help clean up technique.  Hope it helps!

CategoriesExercises You Should Be Doing

Exercises You Should Be Doing (Better): Box Jumps

Today’s guest post is brought to you courtesy of Michael Anderson: friend, strength coach, and fellow lover of dead animal flesh (and Alicia Keys).

I felt this was an outstanding post and something I’m hoping people will take to heart.  As Mike notes below:  box jumps, while considered “easy” and much of the time haphazardly tossed into programs without much thought, are actually a lot more complicated (and coaching intensive) than people give them credit for.

In this post Mike discusses some common mistakes as well as offers a few coaching cues to help set the record straight.

Enjoy!

Note from TG:  apparently the videos are a little wacky for some people. Depending on the browser you’re using, you’re either going to get the appropriate box jump videos (Chrome, IE) or the same squat video for every video except for the last one (Firefox).

I have no idea how to fix the issue, so I apologize in advance for those who aren’t able to watch the actual videos.

Hey, it could be worse:  they could have linked to a whale giving birth instead.  Either way, the internet is stupid!

There are a ton of new exercises that you should be mixing into your training, but today I want to show you how to get the most out of an old favorite: box jumps.

Everybody and their mother has been doing box jumps for ages; it’s almost always the first plyometric exercise that is taught to young athletes and thus people continue to keep them in their routine for years and years. It’s simple right? Set up a box and jump onto it. So easy a caveman could do it. Well, not quite.

There’s a bunch of ways to screw up this seemingly simple exercise.

First off, let me show you what a good box jump looks like.

The big thing to notice here is the vertical displacement of my hips (Thanks to Chad Wesley Smith for  confirming the use of that phrase. It’s something I’ve been using for a while now).

I’ve created a line for the lowest point of my hips and the highest point, and the space between them is significant. This is caused by full triple extension and the intention of jumping as high as I can. You can see that I’m jumping straight up and landing softly on the box. This is the reason we do the exercise; it allows the athlete to jump as high as they can without having to experience the eccentric stress caused by the landing of the jump.  

Without really exploding through your hips, you’ll be missing a lot of the benefits of this exercise.  This is what a box jump with incomplete hip extension looks like:

You’ll notice that when compared to the other video, all I’m really doing is moving my feet from the ground to the box as quickly as possible.

My hips don’t move very high when compared to the jump with complete extension. When left to their own devices, a lot of athletes will revert to this because it feels faster, so it must be better…right?

Wrong, these athletes aren’t even actually jumping! They’re just efficiently moving their feet from point A to point B. Cue these athletes to get tall during the jump or to try jumping over the box.

Another common fault is the rebound jump; this often happens for a variety of reasons. One is that it’s a faster way to do box jumps if you happen to be doing them for a timed event. Another reason is that coaches feel that it’s more plyometric in nature so that’s how they coach the exercise.

Still, other coaches feel that linking jumps together like this allows for the use of higher boxes and is more “sport specific”…because jumping on a box repeatedly happens all the time during sports.

This action actually places a ton of stress on the body and has recently resulted in a slew of Achilles tendon tears. And trust me, you don’t want to tear your Achilles tendon.

Landing loudly is something that a lot of athletes will do with this exercise because it’s not something they think about.

A jump is a jump, right?

It’s up to the coaches to catch them landing loudly and to fix the problem. I like to tell my athletes to land like a ninja. Have you ever heard a ninja land? Hell no!

Note:   while doing the stomp for this video, I was reminded of why to not do it, because it hurt so damn badly!

Lastly, another common fault with the box jump is very specific to female clients and athletes; landing with your knees together.

Concurrently, this also happens quite often during the takeoff portion of the jump – many athletes (female AND male) will initiate the movement by allowing their knees to cave in.

Teaching athletes to both start and land with the knees out will do a ton in regards to ACL care/prevention.

The stress placed upon the knees when they are allowed to cave or drift in – as demonstrated in the video above – is huge. Preventing ACL injuries in female athletes is one of the hallmarks of a good strength and conditioning program, so please make sure that this simple drill doesn’t work against your overall goals.

If the athlete’s can’t keep their knees out, either lower the height of the box or work on a different drill.

And for my own edification (and because I feel it should be common sense): please don’t do box jumps onto absurdly high boxes.

This isn’t an expression of your ability to produce power so much as an expression of your hip mobility. The box jump isn’t an e-penis measuring contest, so please keep the boxes at a safe height.

To the best of my knowledge box jumps aren’t a contested event, they are just a training drill. Keep them as such, and don’t end up like this guy:

Note:  As a final note, I’d like ask everyone to please check out this great cause and consider donating!

I hope everyone found this useful! Have a great day, and go lift something heavy!

Author’s Bio

Mike is a Boston area personal trainer and currently interning with Boston University Strength and Conditioning. Mike is also finishing his degree in Exercise and Health Science at the University of Massachusetts Boston. He loves bacon, beer and his 7 year old pit bull Lexi. You can reach him with any questions, comments or notes of affection at [email protected]. You can also visit his website:  http://commercialgymtrainer.blogspot.com/

CategoriesExercises You Should Be Doing

Exercises You Should Be Doing: KB Lateral Lunge with Pulse

Some of you may recall an exercise I featured a year or two ago that I stole from Dan John called the Goblet Squat with Pulse.  For those who may need a gentle reminder you can click HERE to get the gist.

Similarly, today’s exercise takes the same “pulse” concept yet adds a slight modification in the form of a lateral lunge (and some pretty sweet techno in the background).

KB Lateral Lunge with Pulse

Who Did I Steal it From:  Well I guess by extension Dan John, but given I haven’t yet seen this tweak anywhere else on the interwebz, Cressey Performance is calling dibs on this one.

Bitches!

What Does It Do:  I love this exercise for people with short or stiff adductors for obvious reasons, but really this is a fantastic exercise for just about anyone as it gets them out of their comfort zone in the sagittal plane. Moreover, the pulse component adds a significant anti-flexion flavor into the mix that Ben & Jerry can’t touch, not to mention, by association, helps encourage people to maintain more t-spine extension which is never a bad thing.

Key Coaching Cues: First of all don’t be a hero and automatically reach for the 24 kg kettlebell, because that ain’t gonna happen. As far as weight selection goes, I’d start on the conservative side – the lighter the better.

One major point to dive into is how to perform a lateral lunge.  Many people make the mistake of stepping to the left or right and allowing their knee to translate too far forward over their toes.  Now I’m not one of those alarmist who feels that the knees should never go past the toes (try walking up a flight of stairs without that happening, or play a sport), but in this scenario I coach people to make their step/lunge to either side and to SIT BACK into the hip.

The knee is obviously going to come forward slightly, but the heel should stay DOWN and glued to the floor at all times. If anything, the tibia (lower leg) should stay a bit more vertical, but if you’re making an effort to sit back into the hip this shouldn’t be an issue.

Once in the bottom position, press the KB out in front of you until your arms are fully extended (elbows locked out), and pause for 1-2 second count.

Bring the KB back towards your torso, return back to the starting position and repeat for the desired amount of repetitions.

I generally shoot for anywhere from 6-8 reps per side.

For those who don’t have access to kettlebells, you should still be able to perform this exercise with a standard dumbbell.  Except in this case you’ll have to hold the DB with both hands wrapped around the handle.  It’s a bit more cumbersome, but doable.

And there you have it.  Try it today and let me know what you think!

CategoriesExercises You Should Be Doing Strength Training

Exercises You Should Be Doing: Half Kneeling Vertical Pallof Press

It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of Pallof presses – and all their variations. While I’ve definitely curbed my views with regards to core training and the whole anti-everything mantra most of the fitness industry adopted in recent years (lets be honest:  it’s perfectly okay for the spine to go into flexion every now and then. Loaded flexion is one thing, but lets try not to shit an EMG every time someone has the audacity to bend their spine.  Life……will…..go…….on), I’d still be remiss not to note that the bulk of my core training, and that of my clients, revolves around stability and preventing “unwanted” motion.

Maybe a year or two ago my good buddy, Nick Tumminello, described a cool Pallof variation called the Vertical Pallof Press, which I thought was a simple – albeit brilliant – twist into the genre.

Fast forward to two weeks ago, another buddy of mine, Philadelphia based strength coach, Andrew Zomberg, asked my thoughts on half-kneeling or even tall-kneeling Vertical Pallof Press variations.

In a nutshell he was curious as to whether or not I’ve tried them or if I saw any efficacy in including them into my programming.

Of course!

Half Kneeling Vertical Pallof Press

What I like most about this variation are a few things:

1.  It trains anti-extension.

2.  With the half kneeling version, you can “encourage” a bit more posterior pelvic tilt by squeezing the crap out of the kneeling side glute.  And when I say “squeezing the crap out of the kneeling side glute,” what I really mean is “squeeze that badboy as if you’re trying to crack walnut.”

3.  Additionally, we get an awesome active “stretch” in the kneeling side hip flexor.  I put the word stretch in quotations there because for those people who feel as if they have chronically tight hip flexors (despite going out of their way to stretch them to death with little or no improvement), it’s more likely the fact that the hip flexors are pulling “double duty” for an unstable spine.  Hence, they feel tight because they’re firing 24/7 to prevent the spine from wrecking itself before it checks itself (Ice Cube fans will enjoy that reference).

In a sense, we could make a solid argument that the reason why many people feel as if they have “tight” hip flexors is NOT because they’re short/stiff, but rather their core is weak and unstable.

If I just blew your mind or if that piques your interest at all, I’d HIGHLY encourage you to check out Dean Somerset’s post on Reasons Why You Should Stop Stretching Your Hip Flexors.

If you’re too lazy to read it:  just know that working on core stability could help resolve those “tight” hip flexors of yours.

Outside of those key points, I’d note that the other things to consider would be on the technique side of things:

– Keep your chin tucked (make a double chin).

– As you extend your arms above your head, try to prevent your rib cage from flaring out.

– For those who need to work on improving scapular upward rotation (especially overhead athletes), once your elbows hit shoulder height, you could  lightly shrug at the top of the movement.

– Try not to make this a tricep exercise.  Those who tend to feel it more in that area are pressing the cable too far outward and focusing on elbow extension.  Instead, you need to literally press straight up, preventing the cable from pulling you backward.

For an additional challenge, you can try a one-arm variation

Half Kneeling 1-Arm Vertical Pallof Press

All the same benefits apply here:  it trains anti-extension, but because you’re using one arm at a time there’s also a significant anti-rotation component as well.

Too, it’s great for glute activation, encouraging more posterior pelvic tilt, and serves as an active hip flexor “stretch” (seriously, read Dean’s post).

About the only thing it doesn’t do is multiplication tables and buy you dinner.

And there you have it.  Try it out today, and let me know what you think!

 

CategoriesExercises You Should Be Doing Strength Training

Exercises You Should Be Doing: TRX Batwing

A few months ago Dan John wrote a blog post (or maybe even an article) on his “batwing” principle, which is a subtle exercise tweak one can make to standard rowing variations that aids in “waking-up” the rhomboids and the upper back musculature as a whole.

It was a very simple idea – albeit brilliant, because I had never dawned on me before and it’s something that can easily be assimilated into most programs without much thought or coaching.

I mean, come on, it’s pretty self-explanatory!

After the fact my good buddy, Ben Bruno, went a head and shared with the world a few of his own variations that he implemented with his athletes. And, having been hit by the “Ah HA” fairy myself, I too came up with a cool variation: the Half Kneeling Cable Batwing/Pulldown.

It pretty much changed the world.  True story.

Anyways, fast forward to the other day when I received an email from a former distance coaching client of mine , Tom.

We still keep in touch every now and then, and in this particular case he shared a batwing variation that he felt would be a nice fit to the Exercises You Should Be Doing series.

TRX Batwing

NOTE: Before we begin, I recognize that people hate (HATE!) vertical videos.  In the ranking of things to hate, a list may look something like this:

1.  Hitler.
2. Justin Beiber’s general level of douchebaggery.
3.  Rocky V.
4.  Vertical videos
5. Cold sores.

In the grande scheme of things you can blame me, because even though Tom sent me the video as is, it’s my fault for forgetting to film one myself when I tried the exercise out at the facility the other day.

My bad.  But moving on…….

Who Did (We) Steal It From Him:  I stole it from Tom, who stole it from both Dan John and Joe DeFranco.

What Does It Do:  Lots and lots of stuff going on here.  Tom mentioned that Joe DeFranco discussed a variation where you hold yourself in the push-up position on the TRX (with the arm locked out), and you grab either a kettlebell or dumbbell and perform a standard row.  Perform “x” number of reps on one side, switch, and repeat on the other.

However, Tom really liked Dan John’s idea of “reawakening” the rhomboids and instead of performing standard reps up and down, you hold each rep for time.

I agree.  Most people have woefully weak posterior chains (this includes the upper back) and IMO there’s really no such thing as too much horizontal rowing.

Too much Santa, yes.  Too much horizontal rowing, no.

By that token, this variation provides an incredible anti-rotary component (and anti-extension), as well as rotator cuff activation (because you have to have a death grip on the TRX so that you don’t tip over), and of course, provides a light training effect for the upper back muscles.

You’re not going to be crushing any big weights or breaking any PRs with this exercise, but it’s a nice way to include some LIGHT horizontal pulling while simultaneously getting in some “core” work.

Key Coaching Cues:  The most obvious: don’t fall over…..;o)

The wider the stance, the more stable you’re going to be, so depending on your ability level you’re going to have to make a judgement call here. Er on the side of caution, though and start with a slightly wider than hip width stance. Adjust from there.

Also, try to squeeze your glutes as if you’re trying to crack a walnut.  The entire backside should be in a relative straight line, so if you’re hiking your hips up in the air, squeeze those bad boys!

Along the same lines, your lower back shouldn’t be dipping.

As I alluded to above, you have two options here:

1.  You can perform “x” number of repetitions per side (8-12) using a kettlebell or dumbbell.  I’m indifferent either way.

OR (my preference)

2.  Hold each “rep” for an allotted time frame.  I think a great starting point would be 5x5s holds PER ARM.

Focus on pulling the elbow towards the hip (but don’t go past the hip! You want to try to avoid too much glenohumeral extension), and pausing in the top position for  FIVE SECOND count.  Perform five reps per side.

Feel that? Yeah, those are your rhomboids working.

Try it out today, and let me know what you think.

 

CategoriesExercises You Should Be Doing Program Design

Exercises You Should Be Doing: 1-Legged RDL to Squat

I haven’t done one of these in a while, so I figured I’d throw a bone everyone’s way and introduce you to a brand spankin new exercise that I’ve been throwing into my own programs as well those of my athletes and clients.

I know (some) people are under the assumption that since I’ve omitted the bulk of single training from my programs, that this also means I’m avoiding them like the plague and that I’ve written them off entirely, or that what applies to ME also applies to my clients.

This is false, and couldn’t be further from the truth.

In fact, I heart single leg training and think it behooves pretty much anyone with a girl down there part or guy down there part* to include them (to some capacity) in their strength training programs.

The advantages in doing so are numerous, and something I’ve beaten to death numerous times on this blog so I won’t belabor the point now.  If you’re that curious, though (or if you’re new to the site – thanks for stopping by!) just do a search for “single leg training” or “listen to Tony because he’s the smartest man alive, even smarter than Yoda, and is also uncannily witty and awesome” in the search function in the bottom righthand corner.

Or you can visit my buddy Ben Bruno’s site and watch in awe as he demonstrates feats of strength on ONE leg that most people would give up their first born to be able to do on two.

Anyways, without getting too off-track, and since I can’t really think of a smooth segue ,I think single leg training is kind of a big deal and something that should be utilized by most trainees.  Here’s a new one you can try out.

1-Legged RDL to Squat

Who Did I Steal If From:  one of my former distance coaching clients, Laura, sent me an email a while back telling me that she had a nomination for an Exercise You Should Be Doing, and that it was one that her current trainer, the one and only Bill Hartman, had her performing on a regular basis.

What Does It Do: There’s really no other way to describe it other than how Laura explained it to me:

It’s a Frankenstein of a contralateral SLDL (Single-Leg Deadlift) and a RFE (Rear Foot Elevated) squat.

The first half of the exercise is a hip dominant RDL that places heavy emphasis on the hamstrings and glutes, while the second half is more of a quad dominant squat pattern.

It’s a marriage of both worlds, and takes the SLDL to a whole new level and really hammers hip stability, rotary stability (especially with the offset loading), as well as generally increases people’s level of awesome.

Key Coaching Cues:  Trust me, it’s a lot more difficult than it looks, so for those of you who may be scoffing at the “wussiness” of the exercise, just give it a try. It’s a much more humbling exercise than you think, as evident by the fact that I’m clearly struggling a bit with performing it correctly myself.

A few comments:

– Grab a kettlebell and crush the handle!  Literally try to make the handle “melt” in your hand.  Doing so will help the rotator cuff fire through a process called irradiation, and help make everything more “compact.”

– I find that this exercise is much easier to perform with a kettlebell, but if you don’t have access to any, a dumbbell would be a suitable substitute.

– Initiate the movement by hip hinging and forcing the brunt of your weight into your heel.  I like to tell people to try to drive their rear heel towards the ceiling, but also to pretend like they’re trying to push the wall away from them. More to the point, try to think to yourself “make the spine long.”  The entire backside – from head to toe – should make a straight line.

– Once the weight is just below your knee, bend at the knee and single-leg squat the weight to the ground.  This is the main reason why using a KB would be better here, as you don’t have to quite as low to reach the ground.

– Once there, single-leg squat the weight back up to knee level, and then SLDL hinge back to the initial standing position (making sure to finish the movement with your glute!).

– I’d say that anywhere from 5-8 reps per leg would be the goal here.

Try today and let me know what you think!

* In other words: the Who-Ha and Jiggly Bits.  Okay, we’re all grown ups here.  I’m referring to vaginas and penises, okay!  There I said it.