Should you be lifting heavy weights as fast as possible or light weights with a slow controlled tension if you want maximum muscle growth? In this video, I’m going to show you the best way to perform your reps if you want to build muscle and create muscle hypertrophy from your workouts. I’m going to break out the science and show you four examples head to head so you can make sure you don’t waste any more time in the gym using methods that are inferior.
There are many different ways that you can lift a weight. Often times, it doesn’t matter which exercise you perform since the principles apply to them all. The more important question you should be asking yourself is what your training goal is at the moment. For instance, if you are training for strength then your goal with every exercise should be to make it as efficient as possible. On a bench press for example, you would want to be sure that you are pressing the bar with good speed along an optimal bar path with all muscles contributing to the lift.
If on the other hand you were trying to use the bench press as a hypertrophy exercise for the chest in particular, you would want to find a way to lessen the contribution of the triceps and shoulders and more favorably press with the chest. In addition, you would want to make the movement more inefficient by spending more time on the negative of each rep as well as holding and squeezing the contraction of the pecs at the top of every rep as much as possible.
If instead you were trying to train for hypertrophy and muscle growth then you would want to apply this concept of movement inefficiency to every exercise you did. In this video, I use the lat pulldown taken to failure as an example exercise. Now, here is where you would want to squeeze your elbows down tight into your sides and back behind your body to maximally activate the lats. You would want to think less about using the forearms to curl the bar down towards you or your biceps to pull too much on every rep.
This would create as much tension as you could and direct it to the lats. In order to speed up the hypertrophy of a particular muscle, it is this focused tension that comes in handy to get the job done. That said, you wouldn’t discredit the value of simply taking your 10 rep max on the lift and just performing reps with a movement as a whole focus instead of directing your attention to any one muscle over the other.
This is where you would see the reps start out rather easy and peak at the highest difficulty level towards the final 2-3 reps. If you had opted to go with a slightly lighter weight however and made every single rep much more difficult by focusing tension into the lats and using intensifying techniques like slow negatives and paused reps, you would elicit a greater stimulus for hypertrophy versus just pure strength.
Check out the different variations shown here and see the different effect each has on your ability to build muscle and strength. When you are done watching and are ready to start performing a program where I lay out all the workouts, sets and reps you need to do to build muscle fast, head over to the link below and get the program best suited to your goals.
Dumbbells are definitely one of the best form of workout equipment due to their ability to be used in small spaces and their high degree of athletic carryover. With their three dimensional freedom, dumbbells allow you to workout in all planes of motion and require a great deal of core strength and stability to use them properly. That said, choosing the best dumbbell exercises ever can be quite a challenge since there are so many to choose from. In this video, I picked the 8 best exercises with dumbbells and give you a reason why each has earned its spot.
To begin, lets take a look at the best dumbbell exercises. They are:
Dumbbell Curl and Press
Crush Grip Goblet Squats
Thrusters
Farmers Carries
One Arm DB Incline Bench Press
DB Pullovers
Swings
Tripod Dumbbell Rows
Each of these exercises require either just a single dumbbell or two dumbbells. They were chosen given their ability to work multiple muscle groups in one dumbbell only workout. The more muscles you can train in one workout the quicker your training session will be and the more impact you can have on your body in a shorter period of time.
Dumbbell only workouts can be incredibly challenging. In fact, some people think that you can’t effectively train your legs with db’s since you aren’t able to load up the weight high enough. That’s not true at all. You can choose exercises that you load with even 100lb dumbbells and perform on a single leg and you are sure to be pushing yourself to your limits.
The same can be said for dumbbell chest workouts and dumbbell back and arm workouts. The fact that you aren’t using a barbell does not sacrifice the quality or effectiveness of the training session. That said, you cannot continue to lift light dumbbells and think that you are going to get a great enough workout. Even if you are training at home, aim to lift the heaviest dumbbells that you can lift if you want to build muscle in your workouts.
If you are looking for a complete workout program that uses just a few dumbbells, a bench, a pullup bar and a resistance band then head to athleanx.com and get the ATHLEAN-X Training System. By using equipment like dumbbells in your workouts, you’re training your body to move and look like an athlete.
For more dumbbell workouts and exercises you can do with dumbbells for your chest, arms and shoulders be sure to subscribe to our channel here on youtube at youtube.com/user/jdcav24
Arnold Schwarzenegger had 6 favorite exercises that he attributed the majority of his muscle growth and massive gains to. In this video, I’m going to show you these “golden six” exercises, as he referred to them, and give you alternatives where necessary in case you cannot perform these for some reason or that an alternative is a biomechanical improvement over the original.
We are blending old school effort and the training strategies of the classic bodybuilders with new school science of strength training to give you the best exercises for mass and the fastest way to build muscle naturally.
We start with the classic barbell bench press. Arnold did a variation of this popular chest exercise where you took an extra wide grip on the barbell. He felt that by taking a wider grip that he could better stimulate the pecs by minimizing the contribution of the triceps. As a result, his weights that he lifted here were a little bit on the lighter side but the overall pec activation was greater.
That said, this position can be quite difficult for anyone that has shoulder pain or rotator cuff issues. The modification would not be to stop bench pressing all together but to take a more narrow grip instead. Two things happen when you do. Firstly, the shoulder will have an easier time getting through the full range of motion without getting painful and secondly the more narrow position is a better position to press from. You will have a stronger bench press if you push from this modified grip rather than the wide.
Next up was the behind the neck shoulder press. I have been very vocal speaking out against the use of this exercise. Very few people have the shoulder mobility required to perform this exercise as Arnold did. That said, it isn’t even necessary since you can get all of the muscle mass benefits of the move by simply pressing the bar from the front. If you would like, you can also use a dumbbell shoulder press instead.
Arnold’s third favorite exercise for building muscle and making massive gains is the chin up. In fact, this amazing pulling exercise was done both as an overhand grip pull-up and an underhand grip chin up. Surprisingly, Arnold and Franco Columbu used to perform these as a bodyweight only exercise, knocking out 50 reps before starting their workout. I tend to think that there is a great potential to make back and biceps workout gains by weighting this exercise.
Throw a plate or two around your waist and start performing this as a lower rep exercise and new back and arm gains will await you.
The fourth exercise of Arnold Schwarzenegger for building huge biceps was the classic barbell curl. There is nothing better than an overloaded curl for getting huge arms. Here, if I was going to make a suggestion however I would say to not always use the momentum gained from using heavier weights and make sure to include some strict curls as well. My favorite way to perform them is with my back against the wall and then step away for some cheat curls after reaching failure.
The sixth exercise is a surprise to many, as it was a devoted ab exercise — the situp. There is nothing wrong with this movement for your spine health provided you do it safely. The two most important things you can do is remember to paint your spine down to the ground on every rep by posteriorly rotating your pelvis and not anchoring your feet under something when you do it if you have back pain. Anchoring your feet over something will instead engage the hamstrings which will take some of the load off of the psoas and the strain off the low back.
Performing weighted sit-ups will also help to bring down the overall volume of the exercise needed to create the overload required to stimulate change.
Finally, you can’t talk about the golden six exercises without mentioning the squat. Arnold believed that the squats were the king of all lower body exercises. Load them up heavy and use them to build massive legs. If you can’t perform them due to knee pain, be sure to try the other classic leg exercise done with a barbell, the reverse barbell lunge.
The bottom line is, if you want to build a body like Arnold Schwarzenegger, you would be best advised to stick to the favorite exercises of his that he credits all of his mass building to. Try these 6 muscle building exercises and see for yourself first hand. If you’re looking for a step by step program that builds these movements in over a 4 month program to help you build a massive chest, biceps, legs, back and more be sure to head to athleanx.com via the link below and check out the Old School Iron program.
For more videos on Arnold Schwarzenegger’s workout routine and the best exercises for mass, be sure to subscribe to our channel here on youtube and remember to turn on your notifications so you never miss a new video when it’s published.
We all have exercises that we tend to fall in love with and those we tend to avoid. In this video, I’m going to show you the 8 exercises that I wish I did years ago that would have delivered better muscle, strength and stability gains much sooner. These will cover everything from the legs, core, arms, chest, shoulders, glutes and even overall training concepts that have made a significant difference in muscularity.
To start, I recap with a lat pulldown variation I showcased in an individual video a few weeks ago called the rocking pulldown. This unbelievable exercise is one that I truly wish I had started doing many years ago because of its ability to allow for extension of the arm while performing the vertical pulldown exercise. You will instantly feel the intensity of the contraction in your lats once you try this exercise out.
As sort of an added bonus here, I also wish I did the one arm high pulley row a lot sooner. This exercise allows you to get an incredible stretch on the lats on every rep as well as the peak contraction and extension at the bottom. Nothing has allowed me to develop the sweep of my lats better than this exercise. It’s just a shame that I avoided it for many years early on in my training.
The squat is one of those lower body exercises that just can’t be avoided if you want to build your best legs possible. The problem is, many times people pick the wrong stance width and wind up paying for this mistake. I certainly did. I followed the general advice of placing your feet just outside of shoulder width and driving the knees out with the descent. The problem for me was it never felt right. I only wish I discovered just how much more natural it was for me to be much narrower with my feet.
The concept of straight arm scapular strength is maybe one of the most important that I have incorporated into my training in the last ten years. The straight arm pushdown is one of the best ways to do this, however there are bar variations like the front lever raise and the headbanger pullup that I demonstrated on instagram that all hit this key attribute. My fitness idol Sylvester Stallone even tried the latter after seeing it on my post and did an incredible job with this challenging movement showing just how locked in he is on his training and strength priorities.
Other key exercises you don’t want to overlook in your training are the glute ham raise and the 3 way dip. Both of these movements get muscles to work together that don’t often properly get allowed to do so. In the case of the glute ham raise you want the glutes to take over for the hamstrings, not the other way around. When weak glutes are unable to help you extend the hip, the hamstrings attempt to do so and wind up suffering strains.
In the case of the dip, the obliques, serratus, and abs are all capable of working together to propel the body up and beyond the height of the bars but you have to allow them to do so. The 3 way dip exercise is much more beneficial than the regular dips since it gets these muscles to participate without sacrificing the overall effectiveness of the movement for the originally intended muscles.
The key to these and any exercise for that matter is finding the ones that are capable of delivering the biggest results in the shortest period of time. In the ATHLEAN-X Training System found at athleanx.com you can count on getting only the workouts and exercises that deliver the biggest bang for your buck. Start training like an athlete and see just how much faster you can start seeing big gains.
For more videos on the best exercises for building a bigger chest and the 5 worst exercises you can ever do in a gym, be sure to subscribe to our channel here on youtube at youtube.com/user/jdcav24
The worst bodyweight exercises are often times the most common calisthenic exercises. In this video, I’m going to show you 8 bodyweight exercises you’ll want to stop doing, and more importantly, the exercise substitutions you should make to keep the gains coming and prevent injury from doing the wrong things.
We start with the popular bench dip. The reason people do this exercise for their triceps is to get a complete contraction on the muscle by getting the arm behind the body which allows for better activation of the triceps long head. The issue here is the position of the shoulder that many assume just to get in position to perform it. The head of the humerus is thrown anteriorly, which stretches and weakens the anterior shoulder capsule (an area already chronically weak and unstable on many). You can either vary the hand position as shown or switch to the cobra pushup as a way to get the same tricep benefits without the shoulder joint compromise.
Next we have the popular plank. Now, while this is a core exercise performed by many it doesn’t mean that it’s a good one. Besides the fact that it is entirely remedial for almost everyone that does it (not providing nearly enough of a core challenge to adequately stimulate or strengthen your core muscles) it also tends to reinforce some postural imbalances that are already all too common, with the posterior chain muscles getting too little stimulation in favor of the anterior chain. See the plank alternatives in the video linked at the end of this video.
The hurdler’s hamstring stretch is not at all the best way to stretch your hamstrings. Many will perform it but not understand why it’s so ineffective for creating actual length increases of the hamstring muscles. The issue is the amount of posterior pelvic tilt that occurs when you perform it. When this happens the hamstrings are put on slack and the stretch is greatly minimized. Instead, either do so out of a taller posture where the pelvis is rotated anteriorly or try the standing hamstring wall stretch for a much better effect.
Neck bridges are just not something you want to do to your neck. Yes, they are incredibly effective for creating overload and developing larger neck muscles, but at what expense. You only get one set of cervical vertebra in your lifetime. Protect them. Avoid the compression and shearing stresses piled on your discs with this exercise in favor of the flexion and extension isometrics shown.
Kipping pullups are not pullups. No further discussion needed!
Scorpions are performed to increase spinal mobility and movement. The problem is, increased lumbar rotation is not something you should be aspiring to create. The lumber spine is designed to be stable. Mobility in the area should come from the hips not the low back. Instead, opt for the t-spine mobility drill shown here to attack the area most capable of giving you the rotation that you seek.
Sissy squats are another bad bodyweight exercise you should avoid. It’s not so much the knees over toes that is the issue but that it is combined with the extra stretch on the quads from above that creates a tremendous amount of stress on the quadriceps and patellar tendons. Opt for a single leg modified pistol squat instead.
Finally, while popular, the pushup is one of the most often misperformed bodyweight exercises around. Be sure not to cut the range of motion even a few inches here if you want to see the real benefits of the exercise.
For a complete workout program where all of the exercises are selected based on science, be sure to head to athleanx.com at the link below to see how to train like an athlete and look like one in just a few months of proper training. Our Xero program is 100 percent bodyweight and requires no equipment at all.
For more bodyweight exercise videos and the worst exercises you should avoid, be sure to subscribe to our channel at the link below and remember to turn on your notifications so you never miss a new video when it’s published.
There are so many exercises you can do in your workouts but these 5 in particular are ones you are going to want to swap out right away. In this video, I’m going to show you the five most popular exercises that deserve to be replaced with alternatives that are not just more effective but safer in the process.
The first of these exercises is the lat pulldown. While this is a great exercise for building the lats it just isn’t the most functional or powerful movement you can do if you want to train like an athlete. The same can be said for the king of the bodyweight exercises, the pullup. The pullup has your body suspended off the bar hanging freely. There is no grounding of the feet and therefore no power transfer up the kinetic chain. With the one arm cable pulldown however, all is improved. You are not only standing up but you’re letting the abs and lats work together as they prefer to while getting a much better stretch on the lat muscles on every rep.
Next up is the seated dumbbell shoulder press. Once again, you lose a big amount of athleticism the second you sit on the bench to perform this exercise. Beyond that, you are driving your back into the pad and disrupting the normal scapular rotation that should occur when you lift your arm above your head. The easy swap here is to perform this exercise standing. Even better, clean the dumbbells off the floor at the start of every set for an even more functional exercise without compromising the growth of your shoulders.
Next is the back squat. In no way is the back squat a bad exercise. The problem with it however is that it can hide a lot of mobility and flexibility restrictions that could make performing it long term an unwise idea. Instead, if you swap to the front squat you will see very quickly what areas and restrictions you have that need to be fixed. Maybe your thoracic extension is limited. Maybe your ankles lack mobility. Whatever the issue you will want to reveal it with the front squat and then fix it before returning to back squatting.
Next is the upright row. This is a flat out terrible exercise for your shoulders. While some may like the benefits it provides the delts in terms of growth there is no debating the punishment it places on your shoulder joint over time. There is a quick and easy fix however and that is to swap it out with the dumbbell high pull exercise shown in this video. The act of externally rotating the shoulder rather than internally rotating it is enough to turn this exercise from bad to good quickly.
The dumbbell fly is another potential long term shoulder killer by artificially stressing the anterior shoulder capsule under an insecure load. On top of that, it’s again a non functional pressing exercise since it removes a good deal of the cooperation from the rest of your body by having you lay down on a bench. Stand up and perform the 3D crossover instead. You will still get the horizontal adduction of the arm that the fly is known for while protecting the shoulder joint and getting muscles to work together that prefer to in the first place.
The concentration curl is an added bonus. Once again, training your biceps is always going to involve some version of a curl. That is what your elbow joint does. That said, this is the worst one you can do. There is absolutely no functional carryover at all. Stand up and curl those dumbbells together at the same time. This will require the entire core to work harder than if you were to curl one dumbbell at a time.
These 5 exercise swaps are just the beginning of what it means to train like an athlete. If you want a complete program to get you training, and gaining, like an athlete right away then head to athleanx.com and get the ATHLEAN-X Training System. I
For more videos on the 5 worst exercises that you need to stop doing as well as the best exercises for building muscle be sure to subscribe to our channel here on youtube at youtube.com/user/jdcav24
There are muscle gaining mistakes that can affect anyone of any age that lifts weights, and then there are those that are even worse when you get to be 40 years old. In this video, I’m going to show you the 8 biggest muscle building mistakes that you can make and how they are amplified when you get to be a little older.
The first is the warmup. This one is tricky since many people forget to warmup at all when they are getting ready to lift weights. On the other hand, those that turn their warmups into workouts themselves are doing far too much and it’s actually holding back the progress they should see on their workouts. Four sets working up to your working weight on compound exercises and 2 sets working up to your working weight on single joint exercises is a good recommendation of what is needed. A general total body core temperature raiser like jump rope or a bike is also important for overall prep.
When it comes to the actual training you can never forget to prioritize strength training. It doesn’t matter what age your are, training for strength via progressive overload on the big lifts should always be the base of your training pyramid. The issue comes when the pursuit of that strength comes at the expense of responsible training. This means that chasing numbers at the expense of your joints and muscle health is a big mistake. Ensure that you own the weight you’re lifting by incorporating paused lifts at every opportunity.
Not including enough of a focus on developing your mind muscle connection (and maintaining it as you age) is the next big workout mistake for men over 40. This is because the ego tends to get in the way and focusing on getting the weights from point A to point Z becomes more important than ensuring that the muscles you were trying to train to get them there are actually doing the job.
Since we focus on quality of reps, the way to expand this out to the entire set and the whole workout is to include some metabolic training into your plan. This is actually important for trainees at all levels since metabolic stress is one of the three known drivers of muscle growth (along with eccentric muscle damage and progressive overload) but it is particularly so for men over 40. The reason this works so well is that it doesn’t leave you with the soreness that makes it tough to recover between workouts and the joints are given a break by the lighter weights.
Next you cannot forget to do what we preach all the time on this channel, and that is train like an athlete. This not only means taking a scientific interest in the type of training that you do but to actually get out there and include some athletic activities in your workouts. Things like running, jumping and doing agility work are all things that your body will lose if you don’t use them. The old phrase of use it or lose it has never been more true.
This also brings about the importance of doing corrective exercises. Things like face pulls and band pull apart may seem like small and unnecessary exercises but they are not. Particularly when you get older, these exercises have a high value and allow you to get more out of the more commonly performed exercises simply by making sure there are no imbalances in place to get in the way.
As you can see, there are many things that you must make sure you’re getting right if you want to look your best not just in your 40’s but well past. This is what the ATHLEAN-X Training Systems allow you to do better than any other program out there. If you’re ready to start training like an athlete again and look better than ever before, click the link below and start training with me today.
For more videos on how to build muscle at any age and the biggest muscle gaining mistakes to avoid, be sure to click the link below to subscribe to this channel right now. Don’t forget to turn on your notifications so you never miss a new video when it’s published.
The bench press is one of the most classic powerlifting lifts you can add to your chest workout. That said, it is one of the most complex simply because there are so many places in the lift that you can go wrong. In this video, I created a check list to give your helpful reference for each of the most important places in the lift that you will want to get right so you can increase your gains and keep your joints safe in the process.
As a physical therapist, one of my biggest concerns will always be the long term safety of a movement as well as the risk to reward ratio of performing the lift. In the case of the bench press, this is one of the most fundamental power moves that all athletes and novice lifters should master. There are plenty of things that can go wrong however, and the joints like the shoulders, wrists, elbows and even your back can become vulnerable if you don’t get it right.
The first thing you need to note is where you are going to be doing the bench press in the first place. Ideally, you’ll have access to a power rack that you can set up a bench in and have the appropriate pins in place to catch the bar should you fail. If doing it here, you will also want to put the clips on the ends of the bar for added safety. If you are training at home however, the clips might be best left off the bar just in case you get stuck under the bar and need a way to dump the weights to get out from under it.
Next the alignment of the bar in the rack and the bench on the bar is crucial to setting up a good lift. Simple enough, but make sure that everything is centered before laying back on the bench. Next look up at the bar and ensure that your eyes are at the same height as the bar itself. This will set you up for a good liftoff from the rack. Along the same lines, you want to be sure that your bar holders are not too high or too low. If you arms are fully extended as you reach up for the bar then you are set too high and will have no leverage when it comes to lifting the bar out of its resting position.
Next focus on the position of your feet and your chest before initiating the liftoff. Your feet need to be under your knees in order to be able to contract the glutes during the movement and add to your pushing power on the bench press. If they are too far out in front of you, much of your pushing power will be lost before you even begin.
Likewise your chest must be arched. This establishes a stable base of your shoulder blades pushing down and into the bench, which will act as a counterforce for the bar as you press it in the opposite direction. Lift the bar and tighten the abs as you lower it down to the chest. The bar path is crtiical. Make sure it is traveling down and forward and not just straight down. This will be more easily accomplished by keeping your elbows tucked closer to your sides, about 75 degrees away.
At the end of your set, fully straighten the elbows and then slowly allow the bar to travel backwards towards the catches. From here, lower the bar once it has engaged the rack and you’re done. A perfectly executed bench press set. Let the chest gains begin, and let the healthy shoulders and joints continue!
If you are looking for a complete training system that puts the science back in strength to help you get the most out of every lift while keeping the latest in sports medicine at the forefront of your workouts to ensure your gym longevity, head to athleanx.com and get your ATHLEAN-X Training System. Start training like an athlete so you can look like an athlete in the next 90 days and beyond.
For more chest workouts and videos on how to do the bench press and the best bench press for your upper chest, be sure to subscribe to our channel here on youtube at youtube.com/user/jdcav24
Have you ever felt that no matter how hard you trained your biceps they just won’t grow. In this video, I’m going to show you the two biggest reasons why I believe your bicep size is not what you want it to be. Between the number of times that you are knowingly and unknowingly training them to the more important concept of hitting them with fewer exercises but more techniques.
First we should talk about the amount of times per week that you are training your biceps. Many people think that more is better however that is not the case, especially in the instance of such a small muscle group. The use of direct biceps training is effective in building bigger arms but you must still include all of the accessory work they get through exercises that bend the elbow (a key function of the biceps).
When you think about all of the back exercises that bend the elbow like barbell rows, pulldowns, pullups, chinups, one armed rows, etc you quickly realize how much extra work that arms are getting even on non bicep days. That doesn’t mean that the volume isn’t still accruing and becoming something that you must consider in your overall ability to recover.
If you are performing a push, pull, legs training split at the moment and performing each of these two times per week then any direct biceps training is going to also wind up adding significant volume to your biceps. The mistake is often to continue to add more and more when you are trying to force a change in muscle size. The right thing to do is to first step back and take away volume and frequency and monitor how your body responds.
Most often, as a natural lifter you will find that dropping this back is exactly what your body needs in order to be able to grow and resume your gains. That said, one of the other big keys to getting bigger biceps (or any other muscle for that matter) is progressive overload. Now this most often comes in the form of adding weight to the exercises that you are doing. Some will also attempt to simply add new exercises as a form of stimulus overload that keeps the gains coming.
In the case of the biceps however, the variety of bicep exercises is extremely limited due to the nature of the elbow joint. Given that this is a hinge joint that functions primarily to flex and extend the elbow, the different variations of bicep exercises often look the same; they are all some form of a curl. Whether it be preacher curls, concentration curls, barbell curls or seated incline dumbbell curls, they are all just bending the elbow.
This is why switching exercises is often not enough of a stimulus to promote new growth. It is here that the switching in of techniques is far more effective. I demonstrate three in particular for you in this video. I show you the In10sity technique for using heavier weights on your curls and getting more high intensity reps completed in a workout. The sliced reps technique for getting more time under tension and peak contraction. And finally, the arc variation technique that allows you to train to and through failure by manipulating the moment arm of the biceps as you fatigue.
All of these techniques and more are built into my Ultimate Arms program available at athleanx.com and are designed to help you build your biggest biceps possible in the shortest amount of time. By training like an athlete and taking your intensity to a whole new level, you will be amazed at the impact this has on your gains.
For more videos on how to get bigger arms and the best exercises for building big biceps, be sure to subscribe to our channel here on youtube at youtube.com/user/jdcav24
sport