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When it comes to Olympic lifting, it’s about more than just the time you spend under the bar performing snatches and clean and jerks. You can hone the strength, stability, and technique required for these lifts through various olympic lift alternatives that don’t involve actual Olympic lifts...

People aren’t quick to admit that like many competitive sports, there’s an “ideal body type” for weight training success. Anyone can get a training effect from lifting weights, but leverages and skeletal build can help (or hurt) an individual tremendously when it comes to having a mechanical...

Numerous exercises claim to improve core strength, often dominating social media, each asserting to be the ultimate solution for core gains. While some of these claims may be true, others are not. However, the Ab Rollout, a tried and tested exercise, stands out for its proven effectiveness...

The quadriceps are one of the largest muscle groups on your body, and almost every compound, lower body movement is going to involve them to some degree. From big lifts like a squat or deadlift pattern, assistance exercises like a lunge or leg press, or even “glute-focused” patterns like...

BUILD A THICKER BACK AND BIGGER BICEPS WITH THIS MULTIFACETED, FREE-WEIGHT WORKOUT. There’s a fine line to walk on those one or two days a week you find yourself hitting back and/or biceps: Don’t overthink it by getting too cute with novel exercises, but don’t be so predictable that your...

A raw, full-body six-week workout that will get your body rock solid. By Sarah L. Chadwell, NASM-CPT Want to get jacked and lean super fast? Get back to basics with a full-body, push-pull split workout. With this plan, you execute a targeted exercise for each muscle which results in...

What Are the Side Delts? The deltoid muscles—or “delts”—are the muscles that cover your shoulder joints and help your upper arms move forward, backward, and out to the side. Each deltoid is made up of three sections or “heads:” the anterior deltoid, the lateral deltoid, and the posterior...

HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW... To build the deadlift, prioritize the squat for 6 weeks while not pulling heavy at all. Powerlifter Dan Green's number one deadlift tip is to regularly perform the stiff-leg deadlift. Mike Tuchscherer recommends building the deadlift by pausing at the bottom of...

The leg press gets a lot of love and hate. On the advantage side is the fixed range of motion, and your stable trunk takes core stability out of the equation. These two factors allow lifters to move massive weights. The fixed ROM and increased stability are a godsend for lifters who suffer from...

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...

Beyond Biceps Build Legs With This Bar Beyond Biceps Build Legs With This Bar 4 Effective Lower-Body Exercises It’s not just for curls. Use the EZ-bar for classic leg exercises and set fire to your quads, hams, and glutes. Here’s how. Every gym has an EZ-curl bar 21, and it’s not just for arm...

Bending down to pick up a barbell in front of the body places great demands on your ankles, hips, and spine to get into the right position that's conducive to spinal integrity. I rarely have clients deadlift with a straight bar. There are plenty of safer alternatives for non-powerlifters that...

The landmine Romanian deadlift (RDL) offers a lot. Done right, it can work your hamstrings harder than most other deadlifts and it's kinder to your lower back. Here's how to get the most from them, and how to solve all your landmine grip issues. THE BENEFITS There are a bunch of ways to do...

We've always preferred to read books written by (or about) strongmen and weightlifters from the early 1900s to the '60s. Back then, they didn't have the Internet or any pre-formed lifting dogma; everybody who trained with weights was basically left to themselves. They found out what worked and...

Planks are special. The more you do them, the more they seem to make everything else you do in the gym better. Whether you're trying to smash a PR in a big lift, recover from a back injury, get faster on the field, or simply get better abs, planks can help. Unfortunately, planks get a bad rap...

When it comes to pain-free shoulder stability when bench pressing, sometimes locking into a range of motion and position can be challenging. But using the right tools can fix this problem. There's a reason many smart sports rehab pros are gravitating toward kettlebells for movement remediation...

The squat-stance deadlift combines the best elements of conventional and sumo. It basically has no sticking point. Unlike the other two styles of deadlift, it has even tension throughout. This deadlift style has incredible transfer– squat to deadlift and deadlift to squat. Each time you train...

With all the cool shiny gym “toys,” it is easy for you to get sucked into needing to use them all to get a great full-body workout. In reality, you don’t need much space, a lot of time, or multiple pieces of equipment to get a great training. Just take this full body landmine workout for...

SQUATS AND SHOULDER PAIN The squat is a staple. It's foundational to many other lifts. If you've experienced any increased shoulder pain from doing it, you're already be aware that squatting and shoulder health are related in some way. How exactly are they connected? And how can we fix what's...

The reverse lunge involves a simple reverse step instead of the traditional forward step. Due to the change in torso angle, the reverse lunge creates more activation at the proximal hamstring and gluteal group and less compressive stress over the front side of the knees. These are all good...