bench

For years, I’ve been posting some crazy challenges for a group of friends I used to train with in Los Angeles in order to keep each other motivated. These days, it’s more to fight the tedium that threatens our fitness lifestyle. For more than three decades I’ve worked out at least once a day...

The barbell bench press is a rite of passage lift for most lifters. The first two exercises people usually do are the bench press and biceps curls. And then the love affair begins. The barbell bench press allows you to build upper-body size and strength which is great for performance and the...

Let me guess, you find yourself like the millions of others in the modern world waiting in line on Monday for the bench press? Ready to kill your pecs into oblivion? Twenty plus sets and a boatload of intensity techniques ready to go? Kill it! You think to yourself – it’s going to be brutal...

The Top 7 Muscle Building Exercises Squats. Squats are the king of all muscle and strength building exercises. No workout should be without deep squats. They are performed with a barbell, generally in a squat rack. Squats not only build massive legs, but also stress most of the upper body. They...

Here is a ranking of the best exercises for building a better chest based on personal experience and the training articles of top IFBB pro bodybuilders. This is not necessarily a determination of exercise order, but the exercises that are most effective for muscle fiber recruitment and targeting...

The human body is amazing. No matter what we throw at it, it adapts, and it adapts quickly. The body’s fast adaptation to change is the reason why bodybuilders and strength athletes experience “plateaus”. You know what I’m talking about, you’re not getting bigger, you’re not getting stronger, no...

How to Build a Workout Routine Step #1 - Determine Your Training Split I suggest training 3 to 4 days per week. This is the best place to start. Many lifters live by the belief that more is better. More might be better for you, but how will you know unless you construct a 3 to 4 day protocol...

Let’s get the science out of the way; the pectoralis major is comprised of a clavicular and a sternocostal head, or better known as the upper and lower pec respectively. When flat benching, both heads are stressed evenly. The anterior deltoids also come into play, and the triceps are used during...

Barbells get all the love, but what happens when every bar in your gym is being used by some bro hitting biceps curls? Can you still make sweet, sweet gains without the big three barbell lifts? In short, yes. In fact, too many lifters neglect dumbbells altogether, relegating their gains to...

With an increasing range of fancy workout machines crowding gym floors, it’s easy to assume that there are more mass building options than ever. Workout machines, various cables, and gimmicky training devices can be fun to use. However, nothing beats gutting it out under the unforgiving weight...

If you have ever missed a bench, the number one limiting factor that I’ve found is tricep strength. I know others will argue about lat strength, shoulder strength and so on, but tricep strength – or the lack thereof – has always stood out to me as the biggest limiting factor, especially when it...

405 is seen by many as the ultimate goal for squats and deadlift, and not just the bench press. By the way, it’s 405, not “4 plates.” God, I hate that term. It sounds like you’re loading the Hammer strength machine. It’s FOUR OH FIVE. “4 plates” is a light day at the buffet for me. More on that...

There are some iconic photos that stand the test of time. One of them is of Arnold Schwarzenegger hitting his classic side chest pose. His pecs in that pic are full and large. They look like you could set a shaker cup on them and not worry about it falling off. While many people who aren’t...

Of all the reasons Arnold Schwarzenegger is considered a legend – and there are certainly many – the Arnold Press, a shoulder exercise named after the Austrian Oak, is one that every gym rat has performed. As a guy who has loved the gym for as long as I can remember, that’s a definite sign of...

When it comes to working out there are very few exercises that are more popular than the barbell bench press. It is a staple when it comes to building a strong upper body and a massive chest. Here are 10 ways to improve your pressing power. Some of these tips will allow for an instant increase...

Bench press Monday is a global institution in just about every commercial gym. So is bench press Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday… You get the picture. Weekend warriors and all-round keyboard tough guys commonly speak as if a 300 pound bench is easily performed by every other gym rat. The reality is...

Even though high frequency training isn’t a new concept when it comes to conditioning, it’s a whole other story when it comes to muscle-building. Traditional bodybuilding programs often have you training each body part once per week with a high volume of sets. Body-specific training and long...

Well, it's a good thing you happened upon this article, I'm going lay it all out for you with some step-by-step guidelines. I'll even throw in a sample program at the end if you want to look like the Solution but move like Lebron. All too often, I see guys get stuck on the non-essentials and...

48 Bicep Curl Variations Below are some of the traditional bicep exercises, as well as many of my favorites, and some great methods for muscle development. Pick a couple of them and add them to your training. Your training sessions will be more entertaining (and your biceps more developed)...

Building a big chest is just about every gym goer’s primary focus at one point or another. However, most people think that the bench press alone is the best and only movement that really builds big pectorals. But really, there are other ways you should be training if you really want to achieve...