muscles

What Is a Cable Pullover? The cable pullover (also called the “cable lat pullover” or “lat prayer”) is a lat isolation exercise performed using a cable machine. To perform the cable pullover, grip a handle attached to a high cable pulley, take a few steps backward until your arms are stretched...

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...

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...

Key Takeaways The muscle “pump” refers to the temporary increase in muscle size that occurs when you lift weights, especially when you use higher reps and shorter rest periods. Pump training should never be your primary focus if you want to gain muscle as fast as possible, but it can help you...

By Bret Contreras Robert A. Panariello MS, PT, ATC, CSCS Professional Physical Therapy Professional Athletic Performance Center New York, New York In recent years the gluteal muscle group has received much notoriety in the physical rehabilitation, fitness, and sports performance industries...

BY BRET CONTRERAS, PHD, CSCS Yoga and Pilates are excellent forms of exercise that have numerous health benefits. I encourage you to give each a try to see if you enjoy the training. This article does not attack Yoga and Pilates methodology, it attacks the marketing tactics used by some of...

Bret_ContrerasElite Coach Flex Your Brain Bodybuilders have been referring to the mind-muscle connection for a long time, and they’ll typically recommend that new lifters spend time flexing their muscles independently and learning how to activate the muscles properly against resistance. On the...

We all want bigger muscles, and to build bigger muscles we need to get stronger – much stronger. Gaining strength through progressive overload ensures that we continue to place more tension on the muscles over time, forcing them to adapt by growing larger. Heavier weights equals greater tension...

Tiny tweaks in your wrist position when pumping iron can result in impressive muscular improvements. “It is often overlooked how a simple change in hand placement can make a difference in muscular results,” explains Natalie Wolfe, NASM, CPT. Without having to change an actual exercise, “Simply...

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...

Rest Days Believe it or not, our bodies recover on the days AWAY from the gym, not while we are actually training. To better understand this, think of your muscles like a cut. When you cut yourself, you leave the wound alone so that your body has the time it needs to repair the damaged...

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...

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...

When it comes to posture, upper back strength, and completing the rounded caps of the deltoid, the face pull is the exercise for you. Read on to learn more. When it comes to posture, upper back strength, and completing the rounded “cap” of the deltoid, you can’t get any better than the face...

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...

If you want to increase mobility, strength, power, or muscle mass, you need to create a pain-free environment from which your body can function. But if you've gotten little to no relief from foam rolling, corrective exercises, and modified variations of the big lifts, you need to learn these...

GROWN MEN DON'T NEED BRO SPLITS You're not 15 anymore. The traditional bro split where you train one body part each workout (usually 5 workouts a week) isn't efficient or effective, especially for an adult with a job who actually communicates with real-live women in their non-pixilated form...

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...

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...

It's not every day you see tree-trunk legs on a guy who's over 6'2". The truth is, it's difficult to build enough mass to disperse over such a long body. A tall guy can spend years developing himself and he'll often pale in comparison to a shorter, more compact lifter who's done the same thing...