Today I have my 4 favourite exercises. These are the 4 exercises that I not only enjoy doing, no matter how beat I feel after performing them, but also that I feel give me, and probably you to, the best bang for your buck!
Pull ups A strong upper back is an absolute must! Most folks concentrate on training what they can see in the mirrors, chest, biceps, chest, abs, chest... you get my point! But in order to maintain good posture, balance must be made between the front and back of the body. Pull ups (or chinups) will help maintain that balance, and they look badass! Check out Neghar Fonooni busting out some weighted pull ups.
Deadlift While we are on the subject of working the muscles you can't see, we can't forget the deadlift. I love this lift. It hits everything down your back, through your glutes, hamstrings, calves and into your feet. Not to mention you arms, grip and core! But for the love of god, get someone who knows what they are doing to give you proper technique coaching, don't be this guy...
TRX body saw I love this exercise as it really focuses you into keeping the whole front of your core tight, and I mean from the chest right down to your knees! Having a slight hip hinges helps keep your core tight and saves your lower back sagging and stressing your poor lumbar spine.
To perform this movement, get in a face down position, feet in the TRX (which should be about mid shin height when you set it up), feet directly below the anchor point. Raise yourself up on your elbows, which should be directly under your shoulders, Push back with your armsso your body moves backwards while you hold it straight and tight, once your get back to a point about 8-12 inches behind your starting point, pull yourself forward to the start point. The video shows it better than I can describe it...along with an awesome tune!
1 arm Dumbbell press I wasn't gonna leave you without a pressing movement of some kind! It is almost Christmas after all! The difference with this one is the core component is there, because your loading is asymmetrical, you have to work that bit harder to stabilise your shoulder and torso. The added core component probably means that initially you'll have to go a little lighter than your normal DB bench load, once you are stronger and more easily able to stabilise the movement then you can work on increasing the load. Eric Cressey shows how its done.
Share and enjoy!
Don't forget to come back tomorrow for the next part of the 12 days of Christmas!
No comments:
Post a Comment