exercise

Are you familiar with the saying “Less is more”? In the realm of fitness, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) is a prime example. These workouts, defined by alternating short bursts of vigorous exercise with brief rest periods, pack an impressive number of health benefits into a small time...

So you want to be a bodybuilder! Good choice – their is no other sport that has the potential to improve your body from head to toe so dramatically. At the same time, it will make you far healthier on the inside. But it will only do those things if you do it right. In this article, we provide a...

For those of you who are looking to drop a few pounds, or perhaps a significantly larger amount, one thing you need to realize is that the process is not quick. In fact, it can last for what may seem like an age, even with the use of a TDEE-Calculator. You see, when it comes to losing weight...

Progressive overload is king regarding improved strength and muscle. Lifting more weight for more reps is a surefire way to a better flex time, but two routes are sometimes forgotten to achieve that. Lifting unilaterally and changing angles. Strengthening imbalances between sides and changing...

The past few years have taken a toll on the mental health of millions around the world. Whether it’s dealing with pandemic fallout or fears of a recession, stress and anxiety seem especially high these days. With that increase in worry, individuals are searching for help. People spend millions...

1. Assisted Nordic Hamstring Curl In the assisted Nordic hamstring curl, you wrap one end of a resistance band around something sturdy several feet above your head (a chin-up bar, for example) and the other around your chest. This means that the band supports some of your weight as you perform...

Split Squat: Benefits 1. It trains your entire lower body. The split squat trains your entire lower body, including your quads, hamstrings, glutes, and calves. It also mimics movements we make in everyday life (e.g., climbing stairs, stepping over objects, and running). Hence, the split squat...

1. Zercher Carry Zercher carries are a good alternative for those who want to emphasize postural strength. To program them into your workout routine, add them to the end of a leg or lower-body workout and try to cover a set distance or complete a set number of steps. 2. Zercher Split Squat...

What Is the Zercher Squat? The Zercher squat is a barbell exercise that primarily trains your lower body and back. To perform it, hold a barbell in the crooks of your elbows, and while keeping an upright torso, squat down until the bar touches your knees, then stand back up. It gets its name...

The most heated argument in strength and conditioning today is to crunch or not to crunch. It's bewildering that this seemingly harmless, short ROM exercise could create such a rift between so many smart strength and conditioning professionals, yet the great crunch debate rages on. At the...

A Simple Tip for Olympic Weightlifting Training Robert A. Panariello MS, PT, ATC, CSCS Professional Physical Therapy Professional Athletic Performance Center New York, New York When instructing the non-Olympic Weightlifting athlete who has never performed Olympic Style Weightlifting (OSW)...

For decades one of the popular upper body exercises to perform in the weight room has been the bench press exercise. One common question many high school athletes or any athlete may ask their peer is “How much can you bench”? With regard to upper body strength and power when was the last time...

We know a lot about the physiological part of training, nutrition and recovery. You may think that if you optimize these factors you will have optimal progression and gains. People don’t often think as much about sleep, circadian rhythm, life outside the gym, and especially about stress. A...

The Problem You’re captured by hostile terrorists and held captive in a large jail cell with just a bunk bed in the corner, a barbell, and plenty of plates. The commander informs you that you’re free to lift weights during your captivity, but you can only perform ten barbell exercises. If...

Bret_ContrerasElite Coach First, I apologize if I left out one of your favorite exercises. Don’t take it personally. I performed these experiments in my garage, and while I have one of the baddest garage gyms in Arizona, I don’t have a lot of machines. Furthermore, there are probably 200...

Every guy has his own theory about which exercises are the best and which exercises suck. Whether we’re analyzing the biomechanics of an exercise (not very likely), “feeling the burn” (more likely), or simply doing a ton of sets and seeing how sore we get over the next few days (ding, ding...

Most people tend to view exercise through the lens of the ‘additive’ energy model: More exercise = more calories burned. But back in 2016, Herman Pontzer and colleagues published a study that put forth the ‘constrained’ energy model: Energy expenditure does increase with added activity, but...

Now and again, when scrolling through your social media feed, you see an exercise that makes you stand up and take notice. The Swole Press is one of those exercises. How can you not with a movement called the Swole Press? This exercise is a hybrid clean and press performed with a dumbbell and...

If you want glutes that look good and make you stronger on and off the field, barbell hip thrusts are your go-to exercise, but you better make sure your hip thrust form is on point. Since Bret Contreras, Ph.D., C.S.C.S., aka “The Glute Guy,” popularized this and invented equipment to do it on...

What is Dynamic Stretching? The short definition of dynamic stretching is “stretching as you are moving”. The opposite of dynamic stretching is static stretching, which is the stretching you are probably used to such as reaching down to touch your toes. Static stretching, as the name implies...