Tag: training
6 Worthless Exercises You Don’t Need In Your Workout
These 6 exercises are worthless and a waste of your time.
Just like us humans, no two exercises were created equal. While there are exercises which are incredibly effective in targeting your muscles by recruiting a majority of the muscle fibers, some are a complete waste of your time.
The exercises listed in the article need a lot of practice to do correctly and some people might not have the patience to get the most out of them. While it is important to try new things that push and challenge your body – it’s also important to complete the exercises correctly. That’s why this list can be taken with a grain of salt depending on your experience level. For many, it will be better to perform a variation of these exercises or even avoid them completely.
If you’re still interested in taking on these exercises after reading this breakdown – it’s important that you promise yourself to do them 100% correctly or you’re just wasting valuable time that could be spent growing.
Tricep Dumbbell Kickbacks
Dumbbell kickbacks are a hard exercise to perform as you need to stick to a strict form to target your triceps effectively. To perform the kickbacks correctly, bend over and pull up your shoulder and elbow. Keep your elbow in a fixed place throughout the exercise.
Most people make the mistake of using momentum to swing the dumbbell back and forth and miss out on contracting their triceps. Performing the kickbacks on the cable pulley machine can prove better for most people.
Rear Delt Pec Deck Fly
Rear deltoids are a hard muscle to train as they are at your back and you can’t look at them while training. Posterior delts can also be one of the most stubborn muscles and can take a lot of hard work to develop.
Using the pec deck fly can recruit the relatively stronger muscles like the back and traps, and miss targeting the rear delts. If you’re a beginner, you’d be better off doing exercises like the incline bench rear delt flyes or the bent over rear delt flyes.
Straight Arm Lat Pulldown
Some exercises are only meant for the advanced lifters, and the straight arm lat pulldown is one of them. If done with an incorrect form, the straight arm lat pulldowns can recruit the shoulders and triceps.
Bend over at a 45-degree angle with a slight bend in your knees and hold the straight bar extension with an overhand grip. Lock your elbows and pull the bar towards your knees. Return to the starting position without bending your elbows.
Barbell Lat Pullovers
Many people confuse the lat pullovers with chest pullovers and vice-versa. To target the chest, you need to bend your elbows as you lower the barbell toward the floor and pull the bar closer to your chest while returning to the starting position.
In the back version of the exercise, you need to keep your elbows locked out throughout the movement. You need to mimic the motion of a straight arm lat pulldown to target your lats. The dumbbell version of the exercise is easier than the barbell version.
Barbell Upright Rows
The upright rows are performed to target your trapezius muscle. Most people let their egos get the better of them while doing the upright rows and use weights which they can’t lift to their shoulders.
Performing the upright rows on the cable pulley machine can be a good alternative for the barbell rows. Make sure you’re not using momentum by bending forward and backward to lift the weights.
Good Mornings
Hamstrings are another common weak muscle group for most people as they can’t be looked at in the mirror while training. Not being able to see them directly can make it hard to establish a mind-muscle connection with them.
Many people complain of lower back recruitment and not feeling anything in the hamstrings while performing the good mornings. If you’re a beginner, you should start off by performing stiff-legged deadlifts and leg curls.
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Which other exercises should have been on the list? Let us know in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow Generation Iron on Facebook and Twitter.
Why Working Out Is Important to Recover After Rehab
The road to recovery is never an easy journey, whether you are a person with an injury sustained in an accident, operation or addiction. In all three of these cases having a regular workout will assist the body to heal. No, we aren’t asking you to sign on for the next marathon just yet.
It is Important to consult with your doctor before you start your routine. A doctor should be able to tell you which exercises to stay away from permanently and which ones to start off with. For example, one of the side effects of cocaine abuse is heart arrhythmia, running could cause further harm.
In the first two cases above you will need to ensure that your new exercise routine will not affect the injured part of the body. In the case of recovery from addiction, your body is already under stress from your withdrawal symptoms which can be really painful, so you don’t want to overexert yourself. If you have ever been for drug tests with urine, you know firsthand that drugs affect your entire body.
Your mind and your moods are affected. When you take drugs you’re adding a foreign chemical to your body and while it feels great at the time it wreaks havoc to your system.
Exercise can be a great way to kick start the natural chemicals for recovery in your body. Your new routine will also help your body to release the toxins faster. Having just finished rehab, creating a new routine with different forms of exercise throughout your week will also help to create a new structured lifestyle.
Exercise can be a healthy form of distraction. When cravings start, getting up and moving around will help to take your mind off it and prevent you from filling the gap with another bad habit. Eat healthy foods. Just as people who quit smoking sometimes play with pens or keep paper clips in their pockets to keep their hands busy and chew gum or carrot sticks to keep their mouth busy until the craving for a cigarette passes.
An Exercise routine is a great form of stress relief. Simple exercises can help to release feel-good chemicals, serotonin and endorphins, making you feel calmer and happier. This will help to alleviate depression. The movement will keep your body and mind engaged in the activity. The key is to try something that you will enjoy doing even if it is a little difficult at first. It builds your physical strength and reduces your risk of chronic diseases.
Exercise helps to build your confidence. How? Exercise helps to get the blood flowing to the different parts of your body. The increased blood flow will get more oxygen to your body. Your hair will start to look better. Your skin improves. Most drug users lose weight, this will be a great way to get your body looking and feeling healthy again. You have more energy. The more you exercise the more energy you have.
If you decided to join a gym, you start to make friends. You can sign up for different classes, light weight training, kickboxing, yoga, tai chi, swimming. The variety will keep you interested. Talking to people with similar interests in keeping fit and eating healthy is a great way to have a positive support circle around you. Join a running or hiking club. There are few things in the world that will make you feel as good as a walk in nature or a run on the beach.
Like I have mentioned before, it does not have to be complicated. Start simple. Try some stretching exercises.
It helps improve the quality of your sleep. One of the most important requirements for a healthy body and mind is your sleep. This should help to keep your mind clearer. Great way to burn off negative energy.
When someone goes through addiction their families go through a lot of strain and pain as well. While healing these relationships may be a long road, exercise could be a great way to reconnect. Taking family hiking trips and a picnic there after could prove to be a great relaxed environment to start enjoying each other company again. Going for a daily jog with your partner will also count as a way to reconnect and support each other through this. Trying something new together such as a dance class could be fun and exciting.
Exercise has become popular as part of the aftercare treatment. With all the benefits mentioned above, the greatest one should be, that it decreases the chances of relapse. When we have put in so much effort to start over, we all know that a moment of weakness can prove to be disastrous, but if we are feeling happier and healthier, in those moments we may turn to a better coping strategy like going to the gym or a session instead. Keep fit and keep healthy.
For more news and updates, follow Generation Iron on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Ruby J. Franke is a freelance blogger at noncouont.com and a mother. Ruby loves to read articles online and write about family, fitness, food, cooking, relationships and more.
3 No-Equipment Workouts That Will Make You Cancel Your Gym Membership
Best No-Equipment Workouts You Can Do At Your Home
“I don’t have enough time” and “gym memberships are so expensive” are probably the two most common excuses for not working out. Since you’re reading this article, chances are you too take comfort in these statements.
Some people fail to realize that they don’t necessarily need to go to a gym to workout and resistance workouts aren’t the only type of training. A solid grit is all you need to get and stay in shape.
Apart from the annihilating workouts, this article will show you that you don’t need fancy equipment to build the physique of your dreams, and that complicated isn’t always better when it comes to working out.
In this article, we’ll give you three different workouts that you can do at your home or on the move. The muscle pumps at the end of each of these workouts will make you wonder if you ever need to step inside a gym again.
Out of the three workouts, one will be an outdoor session, and the other two can be done inside a room. This program is designed to keep your muscular and cardiovascular conditioning in top shape.
Workout 1 – Run For Your Life
Run – 0.5 Miles
Lunges – 10 Each Leg
Jumping Jacks – 25 Reps
Circuits – 3 | Time – 15-20 Minutes
Remember, this isn’t one of your leisure runs. Each exercise on this list is meant to be done with the highest intensity possible. After you run half a mile, keep your hands on your sides and start performing the lunges.
Get into the jumping jacks as soon as you’re done with the lunges. Rest for a minute and start the circuit again until you’re done with the three rounds. Not only do you need to complete the number of reps, but you also need to do them within the time mentioned.
Keep a stopwatch running and if – god forbid – you’re not able to complete the workouts within the time target, your punishment is to do one additional round. Make sure you don’t compromise on your form while performing the exercises.
Workout 2 – The Rep Attack
Pushups
Squats
Situp
Burpees
Step-Ups
Reps – 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 | Time – 20-25 minutes
The second training session is a rep pyramid workout. You’ll start the workout by performing ten reps of each exercise in the first circuit. The second round will have nine reps, eight reps in the third and so on until you perform one rep of each exercise in the last circuit.
You will not stop for rest between exercises. However, you’ll be taking a 30-second breather after completing each circuit. This is a great workout to do anywhere. You pack in a ton of quality work – 55 reps of 5 different exercises – and perform the entire workout in one spot.
Workout 3 – Make The Time Count
Skier Abs – 30 Seconds
Jump Squats – 30 Seconds
Diamond Pushups – 30 Seconds
Mountain Climber Twist – 30 Seconds
Touchdown Jack – 30 Seconds
Circuits – 3 | Time – 15-20 Minutes
Time will be the focus of the third workout. You’ll be performing each exercise for the time mentioned in front of it. As with the other two workouts, you can take a 30-second break after completing a circuit and nothing in between.
The workout should get harder as you get into the second and third circuits. Make sure you’re not compromising on your form. If you’re a beginner, you can perform the high plank leg lifts in place of the skier abs and Russian twists instead of the mountain climber twists.
How often do you circuit train? Let us know in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow Generation Iron on Facebook and Twitter.
*Header image courtesy of Envato Elements.
Gym Crush – Anllela Sagra
Anllela Sagra – The Fitness Model
To some people, girls in gym clothes are hotter than girls in party dresses and Anllela Sagra is the perfect example of this. Sagra is a 25-year old Colombian fitness celebrity who has made her mark on Instagram with her drop-dead gorgeous face and a perfectly crafted physique.
Back at home in Colombia, lifting weights was thought of as a men’s thing and the idea of ‘muscular girls’ wasn’t well received. Anllela set out to challenge this mindset, and going by her gigantic following – she might have won the challenge.
A Flawless Physique
Anllela is from Colombia where being a fitness model wasn’t considered the right thing to do for a girl. Sagra started out wanting to become a normal fashion model but soon changed her ambitions after a chance encounter with a fitness enthusiast in the gym.
Anllela started lifting weights in the gym and turned her slim physique into a toned and muscular one. After getting a feel for the gym life, Sagra set out to become Columbia’s first female fitness model.
Anllela Sagra is beautiful, fit, strong and a lot of fun. Her unique personality and drive have garnered a lot of attention and turned her into a fitness icon, and her 11 million Instagram followers are proof.
Breaking Stereotypes
Don’t let her pretty face fool you. Sagra’s workouts are nothing short of brutal and will set your muscles on fire by the time you’re done. Anllela often shares her workouts on her Instagram page for you to follow along.
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Anllela is big on motivational training videos and chances are you’ve already seen her in such videos before. Sagra’s work ethic and dedication are what have helped her achieve a chiseled body and the fitness celebrity status.
Look at her photos, and it feels like she is best friends with the camera. The Colombian beauty will leave you awe-struck with her photos, and wondering why don’t more girls lift weights.
Bathroom selfies might be a thing but Sagra takes it one step further with her bathroom videos. Photos can be edited with filters but the videos Anllela puts up are untouched and show her Greek-goddess body in its full glory.
Sagra’s washboard abs can put most of the fitness athletes to shame. Anllela maintains her conditioning throughout the year and looks like she is always ready to jump onto a magazine cover.
Anllela is raising the standards of selfies for the female fitness athletes with her gorgeous pictures. Sagra has upped the game for the ‘woke up like this’ selfies with just one post.
Not being around a gym can’t stop Anllela from getting a workout done. She isn’t the typical gym rat and enjoys the outdoor life. Follow Sagra on Instagram and she’ll keep you glued to your phone for hours.
Who would you like to see featured in the next Gym Crush article? Let us know in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow Generation Iron on Facebook and Twitter.
*All images courtesy of Instagram
10 Great Benefits of Lifting Weights
10 Benefits of Working Out
Lifting weights isn’t a fad which is going away anytime soon. Working out has longstanding benefits which make it a worthwhile sport for anyone to follow. People might come to the gym because of their resolutions but stay because of the positive changes they see.
It might take some time to reap the rewards of working out but once you do, there is nothing more satisfying than that. If you’re a critic of lifting weights, this article might help in changing your opinions.
Gain Muscles Mass
It’s no secret lifting weights can help you in building muscles. Most people get a gym membership to gain muscle mass. If you want to buff up, hitting the gym is arguably your best option.
Get Stronger
Lifting weights with consistency will invariably lead to strength gains. Setting new PRs every few weeks is a sign you’re not plateauing and are getting stronger. The strength from the gym will carry over to your daily life and the things which once felt heavy will no longer feel that way.
Look Good Naked
Bodybuilding can change your body structure. A slouching back or slanting shoulders aren’t the sexiest of body features. Working out can help you develop your arms, shoulders, back, chest, abs, and legs for when it matters the most – the bedroom.
Increases Stamina
Lifting weights and doing cardio workouts can help in improving your cardiovascular strength. Apart from your stamina, working out can also improve your core strength, flexibility, agility, and conditioning.
Stress Buster
Working out can be a great stress buster. A good training session can be the best reliever after a hectic day. Some people like to use the gym as an outlet for the frustration and anger built throughout the day.
Makes You Disciplined
If you want to see changes in your physique, you need to be disciplined. A fit lifestyle demands discipline with your workouts, diet, and recovery. Over time, you’ll find yourself starting to get accountable in other areas in your life.
Enhances Mood
While you train your body releases endorphins which are the hormones responsible for making you feel happy. You’ll hardly ever come out of a training session feeling depressed, especially if the workout was good.
Get Better at Visualising
Bodybuilding isn’t just about lifting a couple of heavy dumbbells. Arnold emphasized the importance of visualization in bodybuilding. He considered himself to be the crafter of his physique and with every rep, he was shaping his body into a masterpiece.
Makes You Psychologically Tuffer
You’ll be challenged both physiologically and psychologically while lifting weights. Resistance training will regularly put you in spots where you’ll have to break your mental barrier if you want to progress.
Teaches You the Importance of Diet
Diet plays one of the most integral parts in bodybuilding. People who lift weights and are in good shape will rarely be suffering from otherwise common problems like obesity, high blood pressure, cholesterol, etc. Once you start lifting weights, you’ll realize the kind of impact the food we eat can have on your bodies.
What are the other benefits of lifting weights? Let us know in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow Generation Iron on Facebook and Twitter.
*Header image courtesy of Envato Elements.
5 Ways To Build Monstrous Rear Delts
Image via Instagram @mrolympia08
Follow These Steps To Bring Up Your Rear Delts
Rear delts are a weak muscle group for most people. They make it even worse by not training them often. They are two major reasons why most people have underdeveloped rear deltoids. First, the rear delts are a small muscle group which most people overlook training.
The second reason is much more profound. Since the rear delts are on your back, it is hard to build a mind-muscle connection with them. Your shoulders consist of three parts; front, medial and rear. You should be training each of them equally.
1. Train Your Rear Delts At The Beginning of Your Workouts
Most people do a single exercise of rear delts at the end of their workouts. If you have underdeveloped rear delts, a single exercise at the end of your workouts isn’t going to do anything for you. If you want to bring up your lagging rear deltoids, start training them at the beginning of your workouts.
You are fatigued at the end of your workouts and won’t be able to target your rear delts optimally. Establishing a mind-muscle connection with your rear deltoids when you train them at the beginning of your workouts is easier.
2. Train Them Twice a Week
Training your rear delts twice a week is one of the most effective ways of bringing them in tune with the rest of your physique. Since your rear delts are on your back, you can train them on your back day.
You don’t need to use heavy weights while training your rear delts. Focusing on your form and maintaining a full range of motion will get you the best results. Schedule your rear delt workouts in a way that you have at least 48 hours to recover from your last workout.
3. Do At Least A Couple of Exercises
For most people training rear delts is doing one exercise at the end of their shoulder workouts. You need to be doing at least two exercise to improve your rear caps. You could perform one exercise at the beginning of your workouts and one at the end.
Doing an exercise at the beginning of your workouts will help in activating your rear delts and you will recruit them in every exercise you do. Performing an exercise at the end will help you complete the workout with a nasty pump in your rear deltoids.
4. Use Advanced Training Techniques
Just like with the other muscle groups, you should be using advanced training techniques while training your rear delts. Advanced training techniques like drop sets, super-sets, intra-stretch stretching, etc. help you in shocking the muscle.
If you perform the same exercises every time you train your rear caps, your muscles will get used to your training and will stop responding to your workouts. Use the advanced training techniques to keep your muscles guessing.
5. Use Cables
Don’t limit your rear delt gains by only using dumbbells. Using cables in your workouts can give you an edge. Cables put a constant amount of tension on your target muscle group throughout the movement.
On the other hand, while using dumbbells, you have tension on the concentric movement but have no load on the muscle on the eccentric movement. Incorporate the bent over cable rear delt flyes, cable face pulls, reverse pec deck flies in your workouts to completely smoke your rear delts.
Are your rear delts lagging? Let us know in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow Generation Iron on Facebook and Twitter.
5 Rules of Building Monstrous Calves
Build Monstrous Calves With These 5 Rules
If you were to make a list of the most undertrained and overlooked muscles, calves would probably end up at the top spot. Most people have toothpick calves because they treat them as accessory muscles.
You need to train your calves like you train all your other muscles. You should know about the unsaid rules of training calves. Calves can be one of the most stubborn muscles to develop and you need to be ruthless with them if you want them to grow.
Train Them From All Angles
For overall development of the calves, you need to train them from all the angles. Changing the feet placement on the machine targets different parts of the calves. Standing with your feet parallel to each other will target the medial calves.
To target the inner calves, stand with your toes placed apart and your heels together forming a “V”. Placing your toes together and heals apart (forming an “A”) will target the outer calves.
Switch the Intensity
You can’t expect to perform the same calf exercises in every workout and expect to see results. You need to shock your muscles in every workout for them to grow. Perform different exercises in every workout.
Change the intensity of your calf workouts by switching between light weight and high reps and heavy weights and low reps. While using light weights, perform a lesser number of sets as compared to using heavier weights.
Full Range of Motion
Most people make the mistake of lifting weights which are too heavy for them. Lifting heavy while training calves can limit your range of motion. You need to follow a full range of motion to recruit all the muscles fibers in your calves.
While performing the calf raises, your heels should be a few inches off the ground at the bottom of the movement. At the top, your feet should look like that of a ballerina standing on her toes.
Train Them if They Aren’t Sore
A rule of thumb for training calf is you can train them if they aren’t sore. Calves are relatively small muscles and need a smaller amount of time to recover after your workouts. If you have weak calves, you can take the liberty of training them whenever they aren’t sore.
You need to perform a variety of standing (legs extended) and seated (knees bent) calf exercises to optimally train your calves. The standing variation trains the gastrocnemius muscle while the seated trains the soleus muscle.
Use Advanced Training Techniques
You can take your calf training to the next level with the advanced training techniques. Use supersets, drop-sets, intraset stretching, forced reps, negative reps, and other advanced techniques to completely annihilate your calves.
You don’t have to stick to the vanilla calf training. If you have special needs, cater to them by going out of the way. If you have weak calves, don’t blame your genetics, work on your calves until they turn into full brown bulls.
How often do you train your calves? Let us know in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow Generation Iron on Facebook and Twitter.
Natural Bodybuilding: 3 Awesome Old School Principles to Live By
Train like an old school, natural bodybuilder.
When it comes to natural bodybuilding, the old school players new exactly how to train for the best results. They held to principles that were far more simplistic in order to get the most gains. Before steroids were introduced as an option for bodybuilders, athletes had to train differently.
While there are tons of supplements and even gear to be utilized in the modern age, for a natural athlete looking to keep themselves completely clean, old school bodybuilding theory and practice is definitely the avenue to travel down.
Here are some great principles to live be as a natural bodybuilder looking to make solid, quality gains.
Full Body Workouts
Training splits were handled far differently back in the old days. The major difference was that a bodybuilder aimed to train the entire body in one workout rather than focusing on individual muscle groups on a given day. There was no chest day or back day or leg day. Instead the focus was on training the entire body as a unit.
For the most part bodybuilders trained three times a week with a Monday, Wednesday, and Friday approach to their split. On those days they would target everything from the chest, shoulders, back, legs, and arms, training every muscle group with classic staples like the bench press, squats, barbell rows, and far more.
Perhaps the biggest drawback of this approach is that it could be time consuming meaning a lifter would stay in the gym for extended periods of time. This can be modified these days by either choosing to add an extra day to the process and reducing volume or by simply mixing and matching body parts. Whatever body part is lacking can be doubled up on or trained on every day of the split, while stronger body parts can be trained once or twice a week.
Volume
Speaking of volume, reps and sets in old school bodybuilding were also treated differently. Usually reps and sets were 10×10 (10 reps, 10 sets) on each particular exercise. That kind of volume for each body part meant the muscles were getting absolutely thrashed during every training session. That kind of volume meant the muscles would be taking a great deal of damage in order to adapt and grow.
This immense volume would also increase muscle strength, hormone production, and even bone density. Training in this manner can be punishing which is why you’ll need proper rest in order to prevent your body from breaking down.
Recovery
Which leads us to another ideology, recovery. For those using steroids and other forms of gear, recovery is as simple as one, two, three. For those of us wishing to keep their bodies clean and free of foreign agents, being sure to have a solid recovery day in mind is absolutely paramount.
There’s a reason that the old school bodybuilders trained every other day. If you’re putting yourself through a full body workout then it’s necessary to take those off days and use them to recovery from the thrashing you put your body through the day before. Steroid users have the benefit of recovering fast due to the extra help.
As a natty, the only alternative is resting your body, which means having more down time, but ultimately if your goal is to avoid anabolic substances then this is going to be your best and only option. Exercising patience is ultimately the key to success as a natty.
For more news and updates, follow Generation Iron on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
*Header image courtesy of Envato Elements.
11 Best Muscle Building Gym Machines
Best Gym Machines / Equipment
No two gym machines are the same in terms of the effect they have on your muscles. While some gym equipment can have a big impact in shaping your physique, a few others are just useless.
It is essential you get rid of useless machines in your workouts and stick with the ones which will give you the best bang for your buck. In this article, we will be taking you through the best machines you can use for building each muscle group. In this article, we will be using ‘machine’ and ‘equipment’ interchangeably.
Chest
Bench Press
Bench Press is the ultimate chest builder. It is also one of the first exercises you learn to perform when you join the gym. The bench press is one of the most basic gym equipment and is present in almost every gym.
Pec Deck
The inner chest and striations are the hardest to develop. The people who have a problem performing the flyes with dumbbells can find the pec deck machine helpful in maintaining the right form and range of motion.
Back
Seated Machine Row
The seated machine rows help in developing the thickness and volume in the back. Most people make the mistake of going too heavy on this exercise and load up the machine with more weight than they can handle.
Lat Pulldown
Lat Pulldowns build the width in your back. Performing the lat pulldowns with a strict form will help you get the best results. Avoid swinging, using momentum while pulling the bar to your chest as it recruits your shoulder and biceps.
Shoulders
Machine Shoulder Press
Unlike using the dumbbells, the machine shoulder press helps in maintaining constant tension on your shoulders. Machine shoulder press is a substitute for the military presses and is great with people who have shoulder problems.
Triceps
Dips Machine
The dip machine helps in the overall development of your triceps. If you don’t have access to the dips machine in your gym, you can use the parallel bars on the assisted pull-ups machine.
Biceps
Preacher Curl Machine
The preacher curl machine is a great bicep isolation exercise. Hold and squeeze your biceps for a second at the top of the movement. Doing this will fill up your biceps with blood and lactic acid.
Legs
Squat Rack
Forget leg extensions and leg curls, the squat rack is where you should be spending most of your time on a leg day. Squats are a complete leg builder and are arguably the best leg exercise.
Leg Press
The leg press can be used to target your quads and hams from different angles. Don’t let your ego get the better of you while performing this exercise and use weights with which you can maintain a full range of motion.
Multipurpose Gym Machines
Smith Machine
Smith machine is one of the most versatile gym machines. Our favorite exercises to perform on the smith machine are incline and decline bench press, standing calf raises, lunges, and squats.
Cable Crossover Machine
Cable crossover machine can be used to perform a range of exercises. It is also the gym equipment most used on the bicep and triceps day. Cables are great for maintaining constant tension on the muscle throughout the movement. Dumbbells and barbells put tension on the muscle on the concentric movement, but have no tension on the muscle on the eccentric movement.
Which is your favorite gym machine? Let us know in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow Generation Iron on Facebook and Twitter.
*Header image courtesy of Envato Elements.
Advanced Training Techniques To Take Your Gains To The Next Level
Advanced Training Techniques You Should Know About
The reason you’re not building muscle could be because you’ve hit a plateau. Once your body gets used to your usual training techniques, it stops growing. You need to be shocking your muscles in order for them to grow.
Advanced training techniques can help you get the most of your workouts by annihilating your muscles. Incorporating these techniques into your workouts will keep your muscles guessing with what hit them and will force your muscles into growing bigger.
5 Advanced Training Techniques To Incorporate Into Your Workouts
1. Supersets
All of these techniques are supposed to make your workouts harder. Doing this will push your muscles to work harder and in the process will make them stronger and bigger. Supersets are one of the most common advanced training techniques used in the gym.
In supersets, after you’re done with an exercise, you move onto a different exercise for the same muscle group without taking any rest. This cycle of exercises is considered to be one set. Sets with three different exercises are known as a giant set. Supersetting alternate muscle groups are known as antagonistic supersets.
2. Drop Sets
Drop sets can take your workouts to a whole new level. This technique is the best if you’re aiming for muscle failure. It’s not uncommon to have sore muscles the day after you perform some drop sets.
Drop sets can take lesser time as compared to the supersets as you don’t have to switch between exercises. After you’re done with your set, lower the weights and do another set until you hit failure. Avoid stopping for rest between the supersets.
3. Intraset Stretching
Intraset stretching is a relatively newer training technique. Dr. Jacob Wilson and his team at the Applied Science and Performance Institute in Tampa, Florida put this technique to test and it came out with flying colors. In intraset stretching, you complete your normal set and then hold the weights at the stretched position.
The pump and added tension of holding the weights at the stretched position intensify the muscle pumps and makes your muscles go through a huge amount of damage. You complete another set after holding the weights at the stretched position for 10 seconds.
4. Blood Flow Restriction Training
Getting a pump is the best thing which could happen to you in the gym. A pump is when your muscles are filled with blood. Blood carries all the nutrients, including protein, to your muscles. This is the reason bodybuilders chase the pump.
Some people confuse blood flow restriction training with occlusion training. Blood flow restriction training allows the inflow of blood into the muscle but restricts the outflow when you have a pump. Occlusion training, on the other hand, cuts off the blood flow to the muscles completely.
In BFR training, you tie an elastic band around your working muscle. You would only be able to lift around 50-60% of your regular weights with your muscles tied. The pumps and pain while using this technique is something you should experience at least once.
5. Rest-Pause
Rest-pause training is a complete overkill for your muscles. Your muscles will be filled with lactic acid and you won’t know what to do with them by the end of your workout. The rest-pause technique turns your sets into multiple mini-sets.
While using this technique, your main goal is to exhaust your muscle fibers and leave nothing in the tank. Once you hit failure, rest for 5-10 seconds and resume the set until you can’t do any more reps.
Which advanced training technique will you use for your next workout? Let us know in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow Generation Iron on Facebook and Twitter.