Hips Off Dumbbell Bench Press I'm willing to bet you don't create enough tension when you press. I know I don't. How do I know this? Just go to the gym and watch folks bench press. You'll see lots of wiggling around, feet tapping and moving, knee coming in and out, hips up and down. But watch the strongest, smoothest bench. What do you see? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLrecJPciy4 None of that, usually. There is always that dude who is a freak, has craptastic technique and is waaaaaay stronger than almost everyone else. But we call those people freaks, lucky, outliers and wasting lots of potential if they just got their shit … [Read more...]
You Should Do This: Iso Hold Dizenzo Row
May 7, 2020 by
Dizenzo Row If I said it once, I've said it a hundred times, a hundred different ways. "You can never have too much ass, abs and upper back." "Muscles up front are for show, muscles in back are for GO!" "You can tell if someone is strong when they have a big ass and thick upper back." If you're posterior chain is lacking, you're leaving better posture, performance, and injury prevention on the table. "A healthy posterior chain is required to counteract forces, sudden movements, and physical demands and is fundamental in physical performance, prevention of injuries, and physique development . A healthy posterior chain also enables good posture and motor control … [Read more...]
Chaos Training: Bees Knees or B.S.
December 13, 2019 by
"Better learn to get tight, real f**cking fast, or you'll lose some teeth" - Matt Wenning That's the best way I've heard chaos training ever described. If you've been around here for a while you should know by now that i'm not really a fan of unstable surface training for strength, power, hypertrophy and really all things awesome. Occasionally, it can be used as a deload, to strengthen "stabilizers" and just be a change for monotony. But it ain't gonna do much for you long term. The fundamental issue with unstable surface training, The Ground Moves and joint centration becomes a beotch, force needs to be diverted from power production to joint … [Read more...]
You Should Do This: Stability Ball Dumbbell Bench Press
February 26, 2018 by
Yeah, I know I rag on wobble stuff all the time. I even did Masters Work on unstable surfaces. So I can say with a fairly high degree of certainty: If you're trying to get really strong, This Exercise Should Probably NOT be One of Your Primary Strength Exercises. But for accessory stuff, it ain't all that bad. Here's The Deal: We'll start with the bad <---ALWAYS start with the bad. Get up and "eat the frog" Using an unstable surface instantly makes you weaker. "It has been established that there is a significantly lower peak isometric force and rate of force development during resistance exercises under unstable as compared to stable conditions. In … [Read more...]
You Should Do This: Floor Press
June 15, 2017 by
The Floor Press: It's nothing more than a bench press without the bench. <---like you couldn't figure that one out. Why It's Awesome: Limits the range of motion at the shoulder joint. It's pretty hard to "dump" (approximation the Humerus) the shoulder forward with these. MUCH easier on the lower back than the bench press cause the legs are out of the equation. The floor provides MUCH better feedback than the bench for maintaining shoulder tightness (packing) and driving the shoulders down into the ground to press the weight. Full Pause or Touch and Go? Either.... Full Pause Floor presses are GREAT for building speed, starting strength and … [Read more...]
Doing It Better: Spotting
February 26, 2013 by
You spot like a jackass Don't take it personal, you're just like everyone else cause they spot like a jackass too. Plain and simple, 99% of people spot wrong. Yes, even the guy at the gym who goes around not really lifting but spotting everyone: DOES NOT KNOW WHAT HE'S DOING... In reality there are only 3 ways to spot someone: At the wrists/ hands for dumbbells Around the ribcage/ chest for squatting At the middle of the bar #1. Spotting Dumbbells Ever seen this before? I know you have because that's how the vast majority of people think you're supposed to spot dumbbell exercises. Hell, some of the certifications even teach it that … [Read more...]
Doing it Better: Elbows Flared Edition
December 6, 2012 by
Here's a secret: Just about every guy (and girl) gets into working out because they want to look better. This has been the truth since forever... At the heart of it all: We all want to get laid We want to get laid by good-looking people. We believe that being "in shape" gives us the best chance of this occurring. So if you're like me and about a gazillion other red-blooded, testosterone driven teenage boys out there you decide to start lifting weights. Eventually, after a few weeks, months, years maybe of aimlessly doing whatever..... i.e. 3 days a week of benches, incline benches, dumbbell flys, biceps curls and a set of leg extensions just for … [Read more...]
Overhead pressing vs. the bench
December 10, 2009 by
Something is going around the interwebs lately that I'm kind of confused with. I keep hearing that the bench press is, wait for it...wait for it....wait for it..."not functional"!!!! ......and dangerous.. Which, in many aspects, may be true...and reasonable. But somehow, some way, overhead pressing is both....."Functional" (which I can see but don't totally agree with) but also SAFER! Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot..... Get it? Whiskey, tango, Foxtrot???? get it? (WTF...it's very subversive) How? How is pressing a weight overhead safer than a bench press? Anatomically this makes no sense....Take a skeleton raise the arm overhead, as would happen in an overhead … [Read more...]
