exercise

The deadlift is the best pound-for-pound movement across the board for building a resilient frame equipped with full-body strength and power. A primary staple exercise in every training program through various forms and progressions/regressions, the deadlift is a key component to human movement...

What Is the Trap-Bar Deadlift? The trap-bar deadlift, also known as the hex-bar deadlift, is the same as the conventional deadlift except it’s performed with a trap bar. Here’s what it looks like: The most obvious difference between deadlifting with a trap bar versus a conventional barbell...

What Is a Superset? To understand what a superset is, it’s helpful to first understand how to perform a traditional strength training workout. In most strength training programs like Bigger Leaner Stronger or Thinner Leaner Stronger, you perform straight sets. This means you perform a set of an...

Chest: Barbell Bench Press Ok, I predict one of two scenarios happening after reading the bench press listed as my favorite chest exercise. Be honest…it either completely pissed you off or you are saying to yourself “of course the bench press is the best chest builder”. In my opinion...

This is an exercise I like to use in a lot of my training programs. One of the best things about this exercise sequence is that you can hit all 3 heads of the shoulder muscle in fairly quick time. Check out the video below to learn how to do the Hunt Fitness Shoulder Complex

We’ve all experienced the agony. The pain of trying to get out of your car, wobble up the stairs, or move normally after a hard workout. This soreness is called delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). If you’ve been exercising long enough, you’ve probably felt it. Some lifters relish this pain as...

The dumbbell pullover may be the best old-school exercise you are not doing. It was a favorite of the bodybuilding greats, including Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ronnie Coleman, and Dorian Yates. This exercise helped get their massive chests and backs that were the envy of the bodybuilding world. If...

Using mechanical drop sets while training at home means you can build muscle with minimal equipment. They work particularly well for blasting your chest. Traditional drop sets allow you to continue training past failure by lowering the weight and doing another set of the same exercise. With...

Step into a commercial gym around 5 PM any day of the week. Sure you'll come across some "strong" people who can lift heavy weights, but if you take a closer look, it'll become painfully obvious that most meatheads have simply lost the ability to move with any semblance of fluidity. Poor daily...

The inverted row is a fantastic exercise to build upper-back strength and size. It offers a fresh alternative to cable, barbell, and dumbbell row. And the inverted row is fast and easy to set up with suspension straps, Smith machine, or a bar in the rack. The inverted row is also a great way...

The stability ball hip extension hamstring curl is unlike any hamstring exercise you’ve ever done. Training the hamstrings is often an afterthought because the glutes and quads get most of the attention. And when the hamstrings are trained, it is usually on the hamstring curl machine where some...

ELIMINATION CIRCUIT WITH CLIMBING REPS This is almost like a game. You create a circuit of 5 exercises covering the whole body. They all have to be big movements: 1 squat variation 1 horizontal press (barbell or dumbbell bench/incline) 1 hip hinge variation (any deadlift, Olympic lift...

The standard plank isn't an exciting exercise, but it can be a foundational one. If you can't do one and hold it for while, you need to work on your core strength. But most coaches agree that once you can hold the standard plank for a minute or so, the exercise isn't very effective. You need to...

Dr. Stuart McGill changed the game with his outlook on core training to save the spine. He provides a great blueprint on bracing the core and all of the muscles that help stabilize your spine from just about every direction, which can improve performance. The "stir the pot" exercise is great...

The GHR: Everything You Need to Know Best Hamstring Exercise? The GHR You’re probably not doing the single most important exercise for building and strengthening the hamstrings: the glute-ham raise. Most people skip it because they just don’t know how to set it up and perform it properly...

SHOULDER TRAINING: A FORGOTTEN ART? Shoulder training used to be one of the cornerstones of any man's training program. There was a time when developing wide and full deltoids was such a priority that many men actually spent more time training that complex muscle group than any other! Old-time...

Pull-throughs could be the number one exercise you aren't doing, but definitely should be. I hear the functional dweebs scoffing. "What is this, 2002? Why bother when we can grab a kettlebell and swing away to our glutes' content?" I like kettlebells and use them regularly in my programming...

THE LEG DAY DILEMMA It's leg day and you have a decision to make. You're really not feeling it today. You take a look at your workout plan and groan. What do you do? As a dedicated lifter, you're not going to miss a scheduled workout. So should you stick to the program you've been following and...

I thought I invented this exercise, but I've since heard there are photos of Franco Columbo doing a variation back in the Muscle Beach heyday, but for now I'll take the credit. These are a modified version of a one-arm dumbbell row, using a T-bar instead. HERE'S HOW IT'S DONE Stand on the...

HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW... Getting in better shape typically requires some form of cardio work, but that doesn't mean hours on a treadmill or elliptical machine. A finisher is a short burst of high intensity performed at the end of a workout designed to speed up fat loss, boost recovery...