Exercises RSS

  Do you get stuck on the chest with your bench press?Have a hard time pausing weight?Enter the T Shirt press! One of my favorite variations that all of our athletes have experienced at one point or another!The T Shirt press will help you develop brutal strength off the chest because you are never touching the chestThere is no deload of the weight! Not even the slightest. The goal is to touch the fiber of your t shirt without ever touching your chest!It's more difficult than it sounds and demands some serious control!You may be asking what the difference between...

Lying skullcrushers are an awesome tricep builder but unfortunately they usually get a bad rap for causing some elbow discomfort. Typically due from a lack of mobility from the lifterThese are a few variations you can add to your skullcrushers to make them friendlier on the elbow and more effective long termUse an EZ curl or cambered bar to perform them. This allows you to stay internally rotated more. Whereas a straight bar forces that external rotation you might not have Use a little momentum to change the strength curve. By using some body english with the lats in the bottom...

  The Thompson style Spoto press is a challenging bench press variation that intentionally makes the movement harder so you get more out of itWe are going to be increasing the speed of the descent here just beyond the limits of our control so that it becomes harder to stabilize at the bottomThink of a NFL wide receiver making an open field cut. You need to be able to stop your momentum and redirect very quickly. This demands our backs work overtime to help with this.Warning, that if you're not confident in your ability to stop weight with your lats,...

The overhead press is one of the most valuable movements towards getting your bench up! However there is typically a lot of technique missing here.Treat the OHP just how you treat the bench. There is really no difference except one you perform lying, the other you perform standing. In terms of activation, it remains the same Start from the ground up. Screw and spread your feet into the floor. Everything from your feet towards your hips should feel tight and you should feel rooted into the floor Brace your midsection like you would in any of the other lifts. Breathe...

Tempo bench press is something I like to program the first 1-6 weeks after a meet, or as a way to get a lifter to work on control. Since the most muscle breakdown occurs on that eccentric/downward phase, it's a great opportunity to build some muscleThe tempo I most often use with my athletes is 5:1:0. That is a 5 sec eccentric, 1 sec pause, and an explosive press upwards. I also accompany this with a long holdAgain, a great opportunity to break down muscle, increase time under tension, and work on controlNo matter what variation or what rep scheme,...