…..
A couple months ago I did a full article on how to improve your pull-ups/chin-ups. Here’s one more technique I think you’ll love.
It’s just a simple ladder. This is for people who can do a few pullups/chinups – say 4 or 5 max, though it might work for people who are already doing 10 to 20 who (for some reason) want to increase further…
First decide if you are doing chin-ups or pull-ups (click here for the difference). I’m going to assume chin-ups for this explanation.
- Do 1 chinup
- Rest 30 seconds
- Do 2 chinups
- Rest 30 seconds
- Do 3 chinups
- Rest 30 seconds
- Continue in this pattern until you can’t move up any more. It will certainly be at a number less than your max, because you will have pre-exhausted the muscles.
- Now that you’ve tapped out, reverse the pattern, going back down the ladder.
That’s it! After a few weeks of doing this once or twice a week, you’ll see your max increase for sure. Have fun!
Join the forum discussion on this article, or comment below.
Looking to burn fat with weight training? Tired of typical routines?
Get my metabolic routine here: Fat Burn Furnace!
Those of you who have ever bought any of my lifting programs know I always include shoulder presses, in various forms.
I adamantly believe that the standard barbell vertical press (a/k/a barbell shoulder press, a/k/a military press, a/k/a some other names) is the best form to be doing throughout the year. That said, I hate monotony and include Arnold Presses in some routines (for example the 6x6x6 Routine).
Most people do Arnold Presses sitting down. DON’T!
Doing them sitting with your back on a seated bench has various drawbacks:
- reduced core stabilization
- usually done with improper back arch
- requires you to wait around for that seated bench to be available (wastes time)
- less transfer of skill/strength to other exercises
Instead, do them standing. This video shows you how to do them, but I add something most people forget about: low ceilings.
Many of you, like me, often work out in home gyms with low ceilings. So what should you do?
Should you do them sitting? Again, NO!
You do them kneeling. So I call them “Kneeling Arnolds”. You get almost all the benefits of standing.
Here’s the video: (more…)
Continue reading about How To Do Arnold Presses – Killer Shoulder Exercise
I hurt my wrist recently (long story) and so Yates rows have been causing pain. So I moved to dumbbell rows but added a couple variations. (The barbell requires pronated grip, which causes the pain, but the dumbbells allow for a semi-neutral grip and no pain.) Here’s a video: (more…)
Continue reading about Power Dumbbell Rows – A Great Row Variation
After last week’s post on lunges, I was inspired to put together a short list of the most popular variations on the squat. But I’d like your help. Sure, I could scour the web for all kinds of weird variations but I want to know which ones YOU do. So please add yours, with a short description on how you do them, in the Comments section. To start us off, here are the ones I have used myself over the years:
- Back squat - The bars is held on the back of the body at the base of the neck or lower across the upper back. In power lifting the barbell is often held in a lower position in order to create a lever advantage, while, in weightlifting, the barbell is often held in a higher position in order to keep the torso more upright in a deep squat. These variations are called low bar and high bar, respectively.
- Front squat - the weight (usually a barbell) is held in front of the body across the clavicles and deltoids in either a clean grip, as is used in weightlifting, or with the arms crossed and hands placed on top of the barbell.
- Overhead squat - a barbell is held overhead in a wide-arm snatch grip; however, it is also possible to use a closer grip if flexibility allows.
- Zercher squat - the bar is held in the crooks of the arms, on the inside of the elbow.
- Hack squat - a barbell is held in the hands just behind the legs; invented by early 1900s professional wrestler Georg Hackenschmidt.
Fellas, lunges ain’t just for girls. In fact, I’m willing to bet that if you aren’t already doing lunges, then adding them to your next leg workout will leave you crying. You won’t feel so manly then.
But the good news is that after a few weeks, you’ll start to love lunges. And you will start to feel more manly – in the sense that you’ll feel muscles growing that you either thought you were already hitting hard, or else didn’t know existed.
But don’t cut out your squats! There are some advantages to lunges, as I’ll explain, but they don’t replace squats. They complement them.
In this article you’ll learn what lunges are, how to do them (and variations), why they are effective, and how they compare to squats.
Let’s start with what lunges are… (more…)
I started writing a post on box squats and had just finished it when I came across my buddy Caleb’s article on doubleyourgains – on the exact same subject! And his was much better than mine! Thankfully, he allowed me to reprint it in its entirety for you.
Why Box Squatting Sucks & Why You Should Do It Anyways!
by Caleb Lee from http://doubleyourgains.com/
- Dave Tate Coaching The Box Squat (from doubleyourgains.com)
I have discovered a new world of pain … agony … and ego-wrenching … and it’s name is the Box Squat.
Before I tell you of all the amazing benefits of box squatting and how you may have to end up buying clothes with a big “S” sewn on them after starting to squat on the box, let’s first discuss …
Why Box Squats SUCK!
Normally, when I say an exercise sucks … I’m talking about exercises that suck at actually doing something for your body. Throw bicep curls, tricep kick backs, any type of curling in the squat racks, leg extensions, etc in this list …
BUT … when I’m talking about box squatting — I simply mean it just plain SUCKS to do!
Why?
- Lower Weight – your ego is going to be bruised the first time you box squat and you realize you’re lifting almost 100 pounds less than your regular squat …
- No Cheating — you can’t cheat with a box squat. You go down the proper depth, and if you don’t (more…)
Continue reading about What Are Box Squats And Should You Do Them?
I get asked a lot about what my personal lifting routine is. I am pretty rigorously following a 12 month cycle with 4 smaller cycles. Each of the smaller cycles follows a 12 to 14 week program. It’s all about periodization (sticking with a program long enough to make progress but not so long that you plateau).
Below is what I do. I give all my routines a name (’cause it’s cooler and easier to remember).
There’s no way I can fully describe the details of each routine in one post, so I give a brief explanation of what each program is, at the end.
I’m sharing these so that hopefully you can see the logic behind the periodization. Sure you can always buy my routines, but you can also use this as a model for your own designs. Feel free to post questions/comments and I’ll try to get a good discussion going here about what makes a good year-long program.
I always start newbies and beginners with series A and then go to series B. After that, the series depends on the person’s goals. Likewise, intermediate or advanced lifters might start at different points and rotate the series’ differently. For example, I try to time things so that I’m doing my Fat Burn Furnace in the Spring to get ready for Summer.
Note that I have a basic routine (a “theme”) but within that 12 or 14 week cycle I circle back with 1 week every so often to a previous routine – but just for one week. And you can’t forget the importance of taking a week off once in a while.
Darrin’s Annual Routine:
| SERIES | WEEK | THEME | EXACT ROUTINE |
|
A |
1 |
Full Body Attack |
Full Body Attack |
There are two basic reasons for a spotter:
First, a spotter helps prevent injury that could be possible if you are either caught with too much weight over you or forced to use really bad (dangerous) form to complete the last rep.
Second, a good spotter helps you get the most out of a set by giving you the smallest amount of assistance needed to complete your last rep without sacrificing form.
[Always remember – if you have to use crappy form to get that last rep, then don’t count that last rep! Ditto for using a spotter for your last rep – it doesn’t “count” – but it’s still a fantastic idea to use a spotter.]
But sometimes, you don’t have a spotter.
So what do you do?
Here are a few tips to either prevent injury or get one more “partial” rep out of your set, for each of The Big 7 exercises.
Squats
1) Use a squat rack, or a power rack the with horizontal catch bars set to be lower than your full decent position.
- If you fail, no worries, you’re fine. Of course, you’ll have to strip the weights to get the barbell back up to the starting position (smile).
2) Use dumbbells instead. While I don’t recommend this as (more…)
Continue reading about Tips For Training Without A Spotter – The Big 7
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