What American doesn’t come up with a new years resolution of “I am going to lose weight this year”…same thing I said last year and the year before that. We will see. With each new year I have gotten better at managing one aspect or another that ultimately helps me get closer to my goals.
For example, where as I have a horrible sweet tooth normally and hate the flavor of black coffee (especially low quality black coffee), I have removed the use of cream and sugar from my coffee. I still drink the horrible black stuff for its caffeinated properties but have found it in myself to remove the empty carbs and extra fat. One small step…but they all add up.
I have also focused quite a bit of my time towards learning more about what I am eating, when to eat it what, and what each food actually does to/for my body. This added knowledge has helped me at least know what I am doing right and wrong. This doesn’t always help me to not do the bad things, but at least I am now more aware of the big picture.
Add to this a light shoulder injury from heavy benching and you end up with a person that has more free time for aerobic workouts compounded with a better diet. This has lead to a 5lb weight loss in the first week (counting the last few days of last year) of the new year. A good start over all.
I have been looking quite a bit into more of the HIIT style aerobic workouts to get myself away from the mundane stationary bike and track running. I have tried lots of different styles of workouts. I recently came across an entry in mens health for a Spartan workout. This has been so much fun that I also implemented the routine with my kids. It consists of 10 different exercises done for a minute each back to back. A true circuit style routine. Then a 2 minute break between sets of each circuit. I will list the details of the routine shortly. It is fun!
Burpees - I understand that these are favored among convicts in the California penal system due to the fact that one can get a total body workout with a minimum of space. Currently I don't do them, but these were my favorite exercise about 3 to 4 years ago. Start in a standing position with feet close together. Now, squat down and put the plams of your hands outside and slightly forward of your feet. With your weight supported by your hands, thrust your feet backward so that you are in the traditional "up position" for a standard pushup. Do a pushup and return to the up position. Immediately after the pushup, pull your feet up to your hands in one movement, and stand back up to the original position. This is one "rep". These will flat wear you out in short order, and are a good overall body conditioner. This exercise is great in that it challenges the lungs, coordination, balance, and muscular endurance. Breathing is the key, and you have to find your personal rhythm for this in order to progress with this movement. Try to do anywhere from 20 to 30 in the beginning. I used to do a "Twenty-up" workout with these for grins. Basically, you do a one rep set, then a two rep set, then three, then four, until you get to a twenty rep set for a total of 210 burpees. Sometimes it's easier to start with twenty and work your way down. Just keep the rests between sets to a minimum. Sweat city.
Bear crawls (my kids love these) - Find yourself some space. Now get down on all fours and walk around like a bear. Sounds easy, right? Do this for three to five minutes and see what you get out of it. Works the entire body. Good for a warm-up, too. Yes, you'll look like that kid from 'The Jungle Book', but this movement should not be overlooked.
Crab walk (but they hate these) - You're on all fours, but this time you're facing upwards. Very awkward, and much more of a challenge to your coordination than the bear crawls. Builds strength and endurance.
Crocodile walk - You're face down again. This time the object is to crawl along the floor with your torso as close to the floor as possible without touching. It's hard to describe the leg/foot and arm/hand positioning. Just plop down and figure out what works for you. Helps body control, and develops strength. With all of the crawling movements, just go until you feel fatigued. Track your progress by what distance you can cover. For instance, how many laps can you crawl around the mat or dojang? Set ever-increasing goals.
Lemon Squeezers - This used to be my favorite ab/torso strengthener, and I need to get back on them myself. Lie flat on your back with legs straight and arms extended above your head. Now, "jack knife" your body by raising your legs straight up, and crunching your stomach until your toes and fingers meet straight above your body. Legs and arms are straight throughout the movement. Imagine that you're squeezing a giant lemon with your body.
Neck nods - Here's an old boxer's trick to help build neck strength and endurance. The old-timers swear this will help you take a punch..give it a try. Lie flat on your back with legs straight, and hands at your side. Now "nod" your head until your chin touches your upper chest. Return your head to the mat, and repeat continously. Try to do 50 of these and see how you feel. For a harder challenge, nod for 50 reps, and then hold your head in the "up position" and begin turning your head from left to right at a slow but steady rate. Do these for 50. When you can nod for 100 you're getting some strength.
Lunges - Stand with feet close together. Now step forward with one leg into a deep lunge, and keep the other leg straight. Push yourself back up and repeat with the other leg. Be careful not to let your knee go farther than your toes on the leg that lunges forward. Lunges and hindu squats comprise my core movements for lower body strength and endurance. Don't overdo the lunges in the beginning unless your significant other doesn't mind helping you get off of the toilet (you think I'm joking...ha ha). Keep it to 10 each leg, and try to work yourself up to 20 to 30. I used to do 30 on each leg (total set of 60) with a 35 pound plate held at my chest. I need to get back there. Dumbbells are also good to add resistance when you start getting used to these.
Bootstrappers - Get yourself in a standard pushup position. Now walk your hands back until they are about 2 and a half feet in front of your toes (adjust accordingly for your body size). You are now in a "jack knife" position with legs straight. Now bend your knees until your butt touches your heels, arms are still straight. Straighten your legs and repeat continously. This is another good warm-up exercise for the legs, but also really helps strengthen the knees.
Exploding Star Jumps - Don't do these until your muscles and joints are warmed up pretty good. I recommend wearing athletic shoes and exercising on a somewhat soft surface (carpet or a mat). Slowly lower yourself into a full squatting position. Now explode upward and forward as high, hard and fast as you can. As your body reaches it's apex...extend your arms and legs into a "star" shape. Cushion your landing by flexing your knees, don't land with stiff legs. Jumping and extending not only develops power, but also challenges your coordination and body control. Go for quality, not quantity on these. Five to ten is plenty.
Hello Dollies – Lay on your back with your stomach facing up. You can put your hands under your butt or not depending on how difficult you want this exercise to be (hands over head is more difficult). Then raise your feet to six inches off the ground. Now in a four count movement open your legs as far as you can without putting your feet on the ground. That is one. Then close your legs…two. Open them again…three. Close them again …four. Do 20 four counts and your tummy will be burning!
Flutter Kicks – Lay on your back as before with your hands under your butt or not. Raise your feet to six inches off the floor. Then raise one leg to 36 inches off the floor. Now alternate kicking one leg up and one leg down as though you were swimming. This is another four count exercise.
Iron Chair – This one is quite a bit of fun and at first seems to be quite easy to do. The general principle of this exercise is to lean against a wall with your back flat against that wall. Then lower your butt towards the floor until you create a 90 degree bend in your knees. Your thighs should be parallel to the floor. Then stretch your arms straight out in front of you. See how long you can sit there. This is a great alternative to the so called “time-out”.
Driving Mrs. Daisy – This is similar to the Iron Chair only now you get to hold something in your hands to simulate a steering wheel. We frequently used our M16 in the Army. However a bag of rice or some other 5lb object will work just fine.
Posted on Dutchbodybuilding.com. I maxed on the Bench Press yesterday. It went easy. But afterwards I had shoulder pain.
One day later my shoulder still hurts from the Bench Press. The pain is on the right side. First it was in the front of my shoulder. Today the pain is more on the side of my shoulder.
It’s not really the muscle that hurts, but more the joint/bone. The shoulder pain goes into my biceps. I can feel it in the inside of my elbow & in my forearm. My wrist also hurts.
What’s the cause of my shoulder pain? The Bench Press? A nerve stuck? I fear having to cut the weight on the Bench Press if this shoulder pain doesn’t go away soon.
Bench Press & Shoulder Pain. When you have pain in your:
- Arms: biceps, wrists, elbows, forearms, …
- Shoulders: front, back, ..
- Neck
Check your shoulderblade. If your shoulderblade doesn’t work like it should, other muscles will compensate. In the long-term this translates into pain. Pain is your body telling you something is wrong. Listen to your body & you’ll avoid injuries.
Never train through the pain. Think long-term. It’s better to cut the weight for 2 weeks, than no upper body training during 2 months. Here are some solutions for shoulder pain.
Bench Press Technique. Check your technique on the Bench Press:
- Shoulders back & down
- Chest forward
Don’t let your shoulders come forward. It leads to injury. You just maxed on the Bench Press. Cut back the weight and focus on speed & technique. This will give your shoulder time to recover.
Shoulder Posture. Same as for the Bench Press. Shoulders back & down when sitting behind your computer, shoulders back & down when walking around, shoulders back & down when driving your car. Don’t be a Quasimodo.
Behind the Neck Band Pulldowns. This is one of the many exercises that you can use to strengthen your lower traps. They also put your shoulderblades where they should be.
- Grip a mini band at shoulder-width
- Look forward
- Chest forward
- Shoulders back
- Squeeze your glutes
- Keep your torso upright
- Pull the elbows forward, not back
- Pull the band down behind your neck
- Hold the contraction & reverse the movement
Here’s a video of behind neck band pulldowns.
If you don’t have bands, you can perform the same exercise while standing against a wall. The same rules apply.
- Back against the wall
- Elbows & hands against the wall
- Pull your elbows down toward your sides
- Squeeze at the bottom
- Reverse the movement
Ghost Pulling Knifes.
- Look forward
- Chest forward
- Shoulders back & down
- Torso upright
- Squeeze your glutes
- Right hand on your spine
- Left hand behind your head
- Tighten your right biceps
- Tighten your upper back
- Pull your right shoulder forward
- Pull forward with your left hand
- Push your neck back
- Hold for the contraction
Perform 3×20 Behind the Neck Band Pulldowns & 2×60 seconds Ghost Pulling Knifes several times a week. Take some time off the Bench Press & the shoulder pain will go away in no time. Good luck.
The Bench Press is the most popular lift in the gym. It’s the upper-body exercise that lets you lift the most weight. The Bench Press builds upper-body strength like no other exercise.
Unfortunately the Bench Press causes the most injuries, especially shoulder injuries. This article will teach you how to Bench Press with proper technique so you can bench more weight without injuring yourself.
What’s The Bench Press? Lie on an upright support bench or a bench inside a Power Rack. Unrack the weight & lower it to your chest. Press it back up until your arms are locked. You’ve done a Bench Press.
You have several ways to Bench Press by varying grip, grip width, bench angle, etc. Some Bench Press variations are:
- Close Grip Bench Press. Shoulder width grip. Emphasis triceps.
- Reverse Grip Bench Press. Palms facing you. Also emphasis triceps.
- Incline Bench Press. From an incline bench. Emphasis shoulders.
- Decline Bench Press. From a decline bench. Allows more weight.
- Floor Press. Bench Press while lying on the floor. More triceps.
Benefits of The Bench Press. Why should you Bench Press? Here are two reasons to do the exercise.
- Builds Muscle. Bench Press if you want a big chest, as popularized by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 70s. Front Shoulders & triceps work too.
- Builds Strength. The Bench Press is the strength training exercise that lets you lift the most weight using your upper-body muscles.
Bench Press Safety. Most injuries in the gym happen when doing The Bench Press. One reason is of course because it’s the exercise done the most. Other reasons are not using the following tips.
- No Thumbless Grip. Use your thumbs when doing the Bench Press. You don’t want the bar to slip out of your hands.
- Start Light. Add weight gradually. You’ll get a feeling of what you can & can’t handle while learning proper Bench Press technique.
- Ask Someone to Spot. Spotters will help you if you get stuck with the bar on your chest. If you don’t have a spotter, read the guide on how to Bench Press safely when you’re alone.
Bench Press & Shoulders Pain. Shoulder pain from doing the Bench Press is common. Switching to dumbbells or quiting the Bench Press avoids pain, but doesn’t solve your shoulder problem. What you should do:
- Improve Technique. If you don’t Bench Press with proper technique you’ll injure yourself sooner or later. Read on.
- Fix Posture. You can’t Bench Press with proper technique if you have slouching shoulders. Start doing shoulder dislocations. Focus on bringing your chest forward & squeezing your shoulder-blades.
- Avoid Muscle Imbalances. The Bench Press works your front shoulders more than the back ones. If you don’t strengthen these by doing the Barbell Row & Overhead Press, you’ll get a muscle imbalance. Causing bad posture & thus bad Bench Press technique.
Bench Press Setup. You need a strong base to press the weight from. Tighten your upper-back. Grip the bar hard: try to break it apart like breaking spaghetti.
- Grip Width. Too narrow & you’ll lose strength. Too wide & the distance the bar travels shortens. Grip width should be about 55-71cm/22-28″ depending on your build. Forearms perpendicular to the floor when the bar touches your chest.
- Gripping the Bar. Secure the bar with your thumbs by rotating your hands in. Put the bar in the palm of your hand, close to your wrist. If you put the bar close to your fingers, you’ll get wrist pain.
- Tight Upper-back. Squeeze your shoulder-blades before getting on the bench. Keep your shoulder-blades back & down at all times. This gives your body a solid base to press the bar from.
- Chest Up. Don’t allow your chest to go flat or shoulders to roll forward. You’ll lose upper-back tightness, losing power & increasing risk of shoulder injury. Keep your chest up at all time.
- Feet. Use a wide foot stance to increase stability on the bench. Feet flat on the floor, weight on the heels, lower leg perpendicular to the floor. This prevents extreme arching of your lower back.
The Bench Press. Remember to keep the tight position during the Bench Press from start to finish. Squeeze the bar, keep your upper-back tight & your chest up. Unrack the weight with straight arms. Bench.
- Bar to Chest. Touch your chest where your forearms are perpendicular to the floor when looking from the side.
- Press in a Straight Line. Don’t look at the bar. Fix a point at the ceiling. Press the bar in a straight line above your chest, not towards your face. Keep the bar above your elbows during the whole lift.
Common Errors. The following Bench Press errors are either inefficient or potentially dangerous. Avoid them at all costs.
- Unracking with Bent Arms. Don’t risk the bar falling on your face. Your arms are strongest when your elbows are locked. Unrack & bring the bar above your chest with locked elbows.
- Pressing to Your Face. The shortest distance between 2 points is a straight line. Press in a straight line. Fix a point at the ceiling where you want the bar to go. Don’t look at the bar.
- Bending Your Wrists. This will get you wrist pain. Put the bar in the palm of your hand. Close to your wrists, not close to your fingers. Squeeze the bar so it doesn’t move.
- Elbows. Too high is bad for your shoulders. Too low is inefficient. Put your elbows between perpendicular to & parallel with your torso.
- Shoulders Forward. Don’t let your shoulders roll forward. It’s bad posture, bad technique & a guaranteed way to get shoulder injuries. Keep your chest up, shoulder-blades back & down and upper-back tight.
- Glutes off the Bench. This makes the distance the bar travels shorter & thus the Bench Press easier. However it puts pressure on your back, especially when the weight gets heavy. You’re more stable when your glutes are on the bench. Keep them there.
- Pushing Your Head into The Bench. You’ll injure your neck. Tighten your neck muscles, without pushing your head into the bench.
Ask For Help. You train alone so a training partner is out of the question. What you can do:
- Ask someone training at the gym to help you
- Ask the gym manager to help you
- Take someone with you to help you
- Schedule your Bench Press at times people are there to help
My advice is to schedule your Bench Press session when someone is there to help. You have your reasons to train in the morning or late at night. Unfortunately you’ll have to sacrifice. It’s either this or the smith machine.
Stay Away From Failure. If you think you can’t do another rep: stop the set.
Example, you’re in set 4. Your goal is 5 reps, but you feel after the 3rd rep another one will be hard or impossible: stop. Set 4 is over. Do your 5th set. Try to get as many reps as you can. Stop again when you think you’ll fail.
Take note of the number of reps you achieved & try to beat this the week after. As long as you’re a beginner: stop when you think you can’t do another rep. It’s better to stop too soon than to get injured.
Bench Inside the Power Rack. Know what you’re doing for this one: this isn’t 100% safe. Rule number one: learn to Bench Press correctly: press the weight above your chest, not towards your face.
Power racks come with safety pins. Set the pins at about the same height the bar touches your chest. Not too high so the bar doesn’t hit the pins. Not too low so you can put the bar on the pins in case you miss the lift.
If you fail the rep: lower the bar back to your chest. Let it rest on the safety pins by pulling your stomach in & get under the bar. You’ll look like a clown doing this: don’t care about it. Being a clown is better than getting injured.
A friend and I are going to start a month long cutting phase. I have been working over the past 6 months or so to bulk up and get stronger and now feel that it is time to make a good effort at stripping off some layers of fat. Why before Christmas would I want to do such a thing? I am thinking that if I can go into Christmas in better shape than I currently am two things should happen. One, above all else, if I start Christmas eating lighter than I am today then I shouldn’t blimp up anywhere near what I currently weigh. But even better, I am hoping that after spending a month eating bland low-carb food shedding fat on a daily basis that when it is time to gorge on Christmas goodies I will be less inclined to want to ruin all of my progress.
We will see how it goes. If I can seen any noticeable gain over the next few weeks I will be sure to post some pics.
Ok ok, this is not exactly how the phone call went. I had a friend call me the other day needing help to fix his wireless router. But prior to that conversation he had to blurt out “oh by the way I can deadlift 415lbs!” and then he and his wife giggled to one another in the back ground. (:P) To me that is a nah nee nah nee boo boo if ever I heard one.
So I figured I would try a 415lb deadlift today. While I am sure that my deadlift didn’t go as smoothly or as quickly as my friends…I still got it up!
Ok – I must admit that I have a very patient and understanding wife. I finally got my first no with regards to my pursuit of a scary body! I currently have my home gym in what would probably be the living room or family room (depending on how you like to arrange your furniture). I have a huge smith machine, three different types of benches: flat bench (with sucky incline/decline and leg extension/leg curl at the end of it), good incline decline bench with adjustable seat angle, and a sit up bench, a roman chair for doing extensions, a heavy bag, a speed bag, a head bag, a 250lb plus tractor tire, an exercise ball, a collection of free weights including dumbbells, bars and plates, and various other accessories. There is also a mirror, large white board, various posters, and a big fan on the walls. And I have a military style pull up bar just outside the front door which the kids and I can do pull ups and hanging leg raises and various other ab routines on. We just moved the exercise bike to the other family/living room to give the kids and I more free floor space in the gym to sword fight and box in. The only other big piece of equipment that I think I need is a leg press (I am thinking about the 7 degree Yukon leg press).
I recently got it into my head to add some monkey bars somewhere (great upper body workout!). The kids have some monkey bars outside as part of their play equipment but they are about 7’ off the ground. Standing flat footed I can easily touch 8’. Not a good combination for doing the monkey bars! I was thinking that I could add these out front bout I highly doubt that the neighbors would care for this! So I got it into my head that I could easily add them to the ceiling of my gym going one direction or another. To me this is a good idea as it gets to be over 115 degrees in the summer and snows in the winter which is never a big incentive to work outside in! Having them in my gym would be great!
To this idea I have only heard NO NO NO! Usually I can slowly win the wife over…and I might be able to on this eventually…though I doubt it currently. I may have to wait till after we buy a house (where I plan on having a 30’ x 60’ foot space dedicated to my home gym…inside of which I can (hopefully) do with as I wish! In the meantime I may have to mount bicycle hooks from which I can TEMPORARILY suspend a ladder or something…the ultimate form of jury-rigging!
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A few months ago I read an article in Muscle & Fitness that prescribed not using the full range of motion in heavy lifts such as the bench, squat, and deadlift with the result being the ability to move more weight quicker. It suggested instead to do “partial movements”. A partial movement per this particular article generally started in a power rack. Partial movements rely on the use of the safeties in the rack. In a normal heavy movement exercise you would start at the top of the range of movement, then work through a negative movement towards the bottom, and then explode back to the top of the movement and final resting place. In a partial movement pretty much everything is reversed. You start the weight on the safeties at the bottom of the normal movement, explode to the top of the movement, and then work through the negative range to the resting place. Then you remove all stress from your muscles for a brief moment and start again.
With the bench press for example, rather than starting at the top of the exercise with the bar resting in its normal position, you would instead place the bar on the safeties just below the top of the movement (say 6-10” lower). This removes the negative movement that you are usually forced to deal with in the beginning and instead allows you to focus on the upward pressing movement first. You would press the bar up as high as you can go and lower the bar all the way back down to the safeties. Then take your hands off the bar for a moment. That is one full rep. This is a very small range of motion. You still perform as many reps as you normally would but with this brief rest at the end of each movement. And because you are only doing the top portion of the full movement you are actually able to move a LOT MORE WEIGHT.
As the amount of weight that you are able to push for a small partial movement increases you can start from a lower and lower position. This increases the distance that you are moving the weight but also adds range of motion to your over all movement. This means that you are training more of your muscles for the given movement. Eventually you will get to the bottom of the movement (which is usually the sticking point) with the increased weight. Once you do you can start to train the movement in the traditional style. You should see huge improvements.
This works well for deadlifts, squats, and benches. I am sure there are applications for this in other movements but these three are the ones I have tried so far. And for all three I have seen huge improvements. I went from a meager 180lb bench press when I was getting back into things all the way up to my current 350lb bench. Same goes for my deadlift and my squat. My squat is now up to 385 (ran out of weight!).
Here is a good article to explain this concept further: http://www.criticalbench.com/partial_weight_training.htm
I can’t say that squatting 385lbs is all that impressive. It is only a bench mark for me because it means that I have ran out of weight and need to go buy some more! Come this Friday I will be purchasing a couple more 45lb plates. I was able to perform three sets of eight reps so I am hoping that by getting more weight I will be able to post “Squatting 400+ pounds” in a few days! Check back soon.