exercises

By Bret Contreras There are three certainties in life: death, taxes, and some meathead on Facebook advising a lifter to “just squat” when he sees a picture or video of a woman performing a glute exercise he isn’t familiar with. I refer to these meatheads as “just squat” bros. Is their advice...

Lifting novices often omit the more "complex" exercises that they don't understand how to perform or work their way into. Instead of deadlifting and squatting, they stick to machine and isolation exercises that don't require much coordination. As experienced lifters, we make similar mistakes...

You are probably not learning or progressing if you’re not making mistakes. When you make mistakes, then you know better and then do better. If you make the same mistake twice, you will learn better the third time. In the weight room, when striving for progress, mistakes are going to be made...

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...

How to Fix Lower Back Pain First and foremost, your lower back pain could be caused by any number of issues including – but not limited to – the issues you mentioned. If I had to guess, though, I’d assume your back pain stems from a combination of: Insufficient hip mobility Weak posterior...

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...

My lats locked the weight out for me… I’m now one of the only people in the world to deadlift 4x my bodyweight It was a momentous occasion and one that helped me progress as both a lifter and a coach. Now, years later, I not only understand how to use my lats in the squat, bench press, and...

5 Muscle-Building Mistakes (And How To Make Gains) By Brad Schoenfeld 1) You Always Train in the Same Rep Range The claim that muscle growth is maximized in a moderate rep range (6-12 reps per set) continues to be a source of debate in the fitness field. Although this theory is backed by some...

A detailed look at the most potent muscle building exercises, as well as a bodypart by bodypart breakdown. Stop wasting time in the gym and start getting results! A workout is made up of only so many sets and exercises. Constructing a workout without a purpose, and without the use of the best...

This article takes a close look at the reasons why you're not building muscle and gaining weight. Read this is you're having trouble getting big! Here’s a question I see time and time again in online bodybuilding & fitness forums: This is an all too common story for people with no experience or...

To stay healthy and progress on your upper body lifts, you've got to take care of your shoulders! Add these 6 exercises to your routine to improve shoulder stability. One of the greatest issues facing athletes and weightlifters is the ability to stay healthy while lifting weights and training at...

To get better at performing chinups, you need to do more chinups. It would be best if you actually did the thing, which some people miss. But when doing more doesn’t improve performance, it’s time to train smart. This is where these four chinup accessory exercises come in. Chinups are one of...

Ballet-dancer-turned-actress Natalie Burn kicked butt in her starring role as a runaway bride in the action-thriller-horror, “Til Death Do Us Part” (read the full interview here) and now shares with M&F readers the killer workouts that kept her core strong for some of those grueling action...

Healthy Shoulders Grow Faster Adopt this workout structure today. Not only will your delts grow faster, but you’ll also reduce the wear and tear on your joints. Here are five things to start doing, plus a full workout plan. 1. Train Your Rear Delts First Don’t be one of those people with a...

OPTIMIZE EXERCISE QUALITY For any given lifter at any given time, some exercises are better than others. By "better" I mean a more optimal benefit/drawback ratio. What makes an exercise "better?" Lots of things: Exercises you can perform safely and effectively are better. If bench...

THE PROBLEM WITH BACK TRAINING A seasoned lifter knows how to manage the ratio of training volume and intensity against accumulated fatigue. Accumulate too much central nervous system, cardiovascular, or mechanical fatigue during or across workouts and your results won't be optimal. But when...

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...

It might be the challenge you need to give yourself a swift kick in the pants. A pyramid is a collection of sets in which you do any given exercise starting with higher reps during the initial sets and progressively fewer reps as you work your way through the pyramid. Basically, reps start high...

IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK IT IS Contrary to popular belief, the "pump" is NOT increased blood flow to your muscles. Instead, it's fluid accumulation. Specifically, this fluid accumulates in the spaces between your muscle cells (the interstitial space). As you lift weights, the contractions of...