Develop Powerful Shoulders Without Pain

Develop Powerful Shoulders Without Pain

Want crazy shoulders like Arnold? Don't get injured!

One of the best exercises for shoulder strength and size development is the Barbell Press Behind The Neck. But grabbing a loaded bar and trying to press it behind your neck without sufficiently warming your shoulders up is asking for trouble. So here's an awesome shoulder saver exercise.

Band Pull-Aparts Behind The Neck

This exercise takes all the muscles involved in the barbell press behind the neck and provides them with tension that helps activate them so they'll all contribute properly to the pressing movement.

As always, before any heavy lifing, make sure muscles that might oppose achieving the full range of motion are well stretched out first.

Stretch: Pecs, Lats, External Rotation

Warm-up:

Side-lying dumbbell external rotations

Serratus push-ups

Band pull-aparts behind the neck (as shown above) 1-3 sets

Rest sufficiently between sets to prevent accumulation of fatigue. Do only as many reps as you feel you need to fully activate the muscle. But make sure to stop your set before you feel fatigue or burning in the targeted muscles.

Pushing your warm-up and activation sets into fatigue will hinder performance of your heavy pressing movement to come.

Use this warm up and then do this balanced upper body workout to build awesome muscle size and strength.

1) Barbell Press Behind The Neck 3 x 8

2a) Mixed Grip Pull-ups 3 x 8-12

2b) TRX, Blast Strap, or chain suspended push-ups

3a) Barbell Shrugs 3x15

3b) Posterior Flyes 3x12

Let me know how it went in the comments section below.

WOW - Workout Of the Week

Trying to get the final touches on the new bootcamp website last week, I didn't have time to post last week's WOW for you guys... so here it is!

Workout Of the Week:

Foam Rolling: T-Spine, Pecs, Lats

Dynamic Stretching: Pecs/Lats/Shoulders

Activation: Serratus pushups, Band Pull-Aparts (behind neck), DB

retractions

Warm-up:

Barbell High Pulls & Muscle-Snatch

2 sets of 6+6 reps (just the bar, or for stronger guys, keep this still relatively light... should be easy... focus is on the mechanics)

Strength Work:

KB Snatch

Work up progressively to heavy 3x6

KB Push Press

3x6

Seated Cable Rows

Work up to heavy 4x8

Suspended Pushups

4x15

Superset:

Dumbbell Curls 3x10

Side-Lying Triceps Extensions 3x10

Mountainclimbers

3x40

Hanging Leg Raises

2x12

So get to the gym and hit up this WOW and let me know how it goes!

As always, I'd love to hear your comments or suggestions, so please leave them in the comments section below!

Strength Training On Limited Time

For whatever reason if you've got limited time to get your workouts in, don't despair, there's still ways to get stronger and build more muscle.

Key Points

1. Limit the number of exercises

2. Every other day training with upper/lower split

3. Ensure you get soft tissue work for a couple areas as well as some dynamic stretching and activation prior to your strength work

4. Pick one main exercise, one supplemental, and one accessory.

Example:

Monday - Day 1 - Lower Body

Foam Roller: Quads/IT Bands/ T-Spine

Dynamic stretching: Quads, Hip Flexors

Activation: Glute Bridges

Squats 5x5

RDL 4x8

Weighted Plank 3x60 sec

Wednesday - Day 2 - Upper Body

Foam Roller: T-Spine/Pecs/Lats

Dynamic Stretching: Pecs/Lats

Activation: Band Pull-aparts behind neck, Band Pull-aparts to chest

Bench Press 5x5

Chin - ups 4xmax

Barbell Curls 3x10

Friday - Day 3 - Lower Body

Foam Roller: T-Spine/Quads/IT Bands/Hams

Dynamic Stretching: Hamstrings/Squat-to-stand

Activation: Glute Bridge variations

Deadlifts 5x3

Split Squats 4x12

Hanging Leg Raises 3x15

Monday - Day 4 - Upper Body

Foam Roller: Pecs/Lats/T-Spine

Dynamic Stretching: PNF Patterns for shoulders

Activation: Wall Slides, Scapular retractions

1- DB Push Press 5x6

Seated Cable Rows 4x10

EZ-Bar Skull Crushers 3x10

Volume Considerations

Progressive volume manipulations will also keep you from plateauing.

Using squats as an example:

Starting week 1 with an 80% 1RM load (225 lbs), volume progressions might map out as follows. Weeks 5-8, 9-12, and 13-16 use the same manipulations as weeks 1-4.

Week 1: 5x5x225 Moderate volume moderate load

Week 2: 4x5x225 Reduced volume, moderate load

Week 3: 8x3x245 Increased volume, increased load

Week 4: 3x6x205 Significant volume and load reduction (deload week)

Week 5: 5x5x230

Week 6: 4x5x230

Week 7: 7x3x255

Week 8: 3x6x215

Week 9: 5x5x235

Week 10: 4x5x235

Week 11: 6x2x260

Week 12: 3x6x220

Week 13: 5x5x240

Week 14: 3x5x240

Week 15: 5x2x265

Week 16: 2x6x225

Such volume manipulations allow increased for strength increases that you wouldn't otherwise get from simple linear progression.

The same types of variations can be done with all main exercises, and some supplemental exercises such as chin-ups, and weighted pushups.

If you're a beginner, you can probably keep the same main exercises throughout the 16 week period, intermediate and advanced lifters need to switch out the main exercises after each 4 week block.

Example substitutions include but are not limited to:

Main Upper Body

Bench Press

Board Presses

Floor Press

Military Press

Fat Bar Press

Swiss Bar Press

Weighted Pushups

Dynamic Effort work with bands/chains

Main Lower Body

Squats

Box Squats

Giant Cambered Bar Squats

Safety Squat Bar Squats

Zercher Squats

Front Squats

Deadlifts

Trap Bar Deadlifts

BTR (Beyond The Range) Deadlifts

Sumo Deadlifts

Rack Pull (Partials) Deadlifts

Dynamic effort work with bands/chains

Exercise ADD

I just received an email from an old client yesterday. He wants to come back and train with me. It's been more than a few years since I last trained him, but he said he's eager to put on some size.

I turned him down. I told him I was too busy, that I had no room in my schedule.

The part about being busy is pretty much true, but I would never turn someone down who was eager to train and was ready to sacrifice at the alter... er.. in the rack, under the bar.

So why did I turn him down?

Because I couldn't get him to focus 100% of his energies on his training. It's not entirely his fault anyway, let's just say he's got an incurable case of exercise ADD.

The exercise ADD industry, yes.. it's an industry, has got the internet and bookstores and magazine racks and supermarket checkout aisles flooded with so much contradictory information that many people feel like it's impossible to change their bodies.

While they're feeling helpless they're buying into every new exercise fad, gimmick, or magazine with some crazy promise of overnight abs, or nutritional supplement with a cure for their plumbers' crack, instead of buckling down and committing to sacrifice... in the rack... under the bar!

When I used to train this old client of mine, and please understand, this guy was 28 years old, 6'2" tall, and he barely weighed 140 lbs, he was always emailing me ads he would find on the internet for the latest nutritional supplement, and while I would be putting him through his workout, he would see a piece of equipment at the gym or in my studio that he hadn't used and ask me if he should buy one for his home gym.

And every week he would ask me if we were going to do this exercise, or that exercise, or some other exercise instead of just sacrificing... in the rack... under the bar.

If You See This Man On TV...Turn it off quickly or you might end up with one of his ridiculous exercise gimmicks!

I would tell him we were going to be deadlifting today, and he would respond with, "Deadlifts? again? Didn't we do them last week?".

Can you see how frustrating this was for me?

Folks... I've been training for more than 20 years, and I would say that there hasn't been a month go by in those 20 years that I haven't trained deadlifts. Now it doesn't have to be deadlifts, it could be anything. But deadlifts are one of the moneymaker exercises. You just always deadlift.

So getting these kinds of responses just bores down on you over time.

I just can't take it anymore!

And I made a decision afterwards that I won't take any more clients who don't have the right attitude. Because guess what? If you don't want to deadlift... you ain't gonna get strong! And you're definitely not going to reach your goals.

Back in the day when nutritional supplements didn't exist, and fancy-schmancy equipment didn't exist, there were Men!

Very Strong men!

The Great Eugene Sandow

Men who couldn't care less about whether they were lifting a bar, a stone, or the back of a car.

They didn't care about silly spandex outfits!

They just wanted to get STRONG!

And they knew if they just persevered through the torn and sweat stained shirts, that they would become Powerful Beasts!

They lifted kettlebells, heavy sandbags, they pulled cars, trucks, boats, and even airplanes using thick ropes. They flipped massive tires, and did thousands of bodyweight exercises.

The Great Goerner...

Deadlifting With Only TWO Fingers!

They'd even resort to lifting other people when no other tools were at their disposal... or.. if it might get them laid!

The Great Paul Anderson

They'd never seen an exercise bike, a treadmill, an elliptical machine, or a stairmaster, and even had they seen them they would have probably tried to lift them not ride them.

The Great Paul Anderson Bench Pressing A Plate Loaded Power Rack!

Lionel Strongfort with 105 lb Kettlebell

These men were ripped to the bone and not one of them did any cardio!

Why?

Because they knew without knowing, that aerobic metabolism continues in the background throughout their tortuous workouts of lifting, carrying, pushing and pulling!

While spandex wearing fufu men would do traditional cardio, which is fueled by aerobic metabolism, these men would allow their aerobic energy system recover them from their lifting.

These men were committed...

These men came prepared...

These men sacrificed...

In the rack...

Under the bar...

Where do you stand?

Overtime Can Kill You

You gotta watch your back!  

Overtime is out there! 

 And if you haven't seen it... YOU WILL!

Gotta get that project finished in a hurry?  Working lots of overtime?  If so, you've got a 1.6 fold increased chance of a heart attack!  That's right, all that overtime can kill you!

At least that's what a recent study published in the European Heart Journal says.  Six thousand and fourteen British civil servants (4262 men and 1752 women), aged 39–61 years who were free from CHD and worked full time at baseline (1991–1994), were followed until 2002–2004, an average of 11 years. 

The study, adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics showed that 3–4 h overtime work per day was associated with 1.60-fold (95% CI 1.15–2.23) increased risk of incident CHD compared with employees with no overtime work. 

There are 21 independent risk factors for heart disease, and even once these risk factors were adjusted for, the results were largely unchanged.

The study concluded that overtime work is related to increased risk of incident CHD independently of conventional risk factors, and that overtime work adversely affects coronary health.

It seems pretty clear to me from this study, and it also makes a lot of sense, as stress is one of the leading causes of heart disease, and most people who work significant overtime are highly stressed.

Take home points:

1. Try to plan ahead more to avoid running into last minute crises that force you to work overtime.

2. If your boss won't pay you (at LEAST your regular rate... if not time and a half) for your overtime work, now you can at least tell him that you won't do it because it's bad for your health.

3. Always remember that next to not creating the stress in the first place, exercise and a healthy diet is your best way to combat stress.

4. Always pack a cooler to take with you to work each day, and make sure you always have a bit extra in the pack in case you have to stay and work late.  Don't worry, if you're packing healthy foods, you'll auto-regulate how much you should eat each day.

Hope you're heading home early today!

If you have any questions or comments about this post, please leave them below in the comments section!

I think I Just Threw Up In My Mouth...

Sadly... I have just seen a new evolution in the ever-pathetic pussification of the fitness industry!

People need ways of becoming stronger, not WEAKER!

Getting stronger means applying INCREASED loads to our muscles not DECREASED loads!

A new product is now available that removes the requirement to have any calf or ankle strength when engaging in running and jumping type physical activities.

I couldn't get the video to embed here, but you can watch it by clicking the link below the picture of Mario the Kangaroo:

WATCH MARIO THE KANGAROO!

(warning: try not to vomit)

Points to note in video:

1. Obviously pre-Kangaroo athletically inclined, body built with genetics and weights "Mario the Kangaroo who is demoing the product.

2. Remove Mario the Kangaroo from the video, and how exciting does it look?

3. Note how great of a workout she had at end of video by all the sweat on her, even though she says it was a great workout.

4. Tell me you're going to bounce up stairs like that without risking a good fall? You've got a half moon on the bottom of your foot... not so smart!

5. How much money are you going to let them make off your continued lower limb dysfunction?

It's bad enough you have to pay upwards of $120 for a decent pair of running shoes. So let's double that price and enable you to maintain your puny useless ankles and feet!

But hey, maybe trying it will make you a believer?

So picture this. You'll be wearing these joke Kangaroo Shoes and you'll be out for a jog and you'll notice that you can jog longer than you could before. You'll enjoy it a bit more perhaps. Why? Because your feet and calves won't get as sore.

Great... right?

Well no.. because as the rest of your body is adapting to being able to do more, your poor little calves and ankles are being left behind to rot and wither.

Mainstream fitness doesn't mention much about the importance of lower limb strength because it doesn't sell magazine covers. But if you think about it for just one second.. your calves, ankles, and feet are the one part of you that connects you to the ground.

Just look at how good you are with a sprained ankle. Useless as 3 legged mule!

Hey.. I know... Let's go put a 450 block engine into our little Toyota but screw the tires and suspension... who cares...

Exactly... completely retarded!

"But wait... there's all sorts of studies cited at www.kangaroojumps.com that show how great they are.. "

Are you kidding me?

I didn't bother reading any of the studies, because OBVIOUSLY they're all going to show that people got increases in cardiovascular health with less lower limb injuries.

Duh!

You can take any fat out-of-shape population get them running with Kangaroos and then compare their rate of lower limb injury and obviously they'll have more injuries.

The point is that as any personal trainer, strength and conditioning coach, or fitness instructor/leader or anything similar, your job is to help your clients to become stronger and more functional, NOT LESS!

There is rarely someone who can't develop foot and ankle strength and flexibility sufficient to begin walking and eventually progress to some degree of jogging/running, and along the way, their cardiovascular system will benefit.

When most people don't move around enough to begin with and have withered, weak, feet and ankles, the one thing they DON'T need is to circumvent their situation.

It is rare that you can circumvent a problem in the body without creating another. Just look at what the rise of "low fat" foods has done to our growing epidemic of obesity!

So are there any situations where Kangaroos might be beneficial? Sure! If you've been in an accident and you've completely destroyed your ankle or had the calf muscles torn off the back of your leg, then this could be a very useful MEDICAL device.

But for the rest of you lazy slobs who think this is a great invention... let me save you some money and help you get yourself ready to run again:

1. Get yourself a foam roller and start using it!

2. Back up the foam roller with a once a month trip to see a good, experienced soft-tissue specialist who uses Active Release techniques.

3. Start by walking more. Walk on different types of terrains. Grass, sand, some hills... a little hike.

4. Add in some pace variations. Fast/Slow.. kind of like interval training.

5. Make sure you get lots of barefoot walking in too on softer surfaces.

6. Then maybe, just maybe you might actually go for a few short jogs.

7. Work on some uphill jogs.

8. Add in uphill speed work before distance.

In other words.. gradually stress the structures in your lower limbs and get them strong enough so that if you do want to go for a 5-10km run one day.. you can just throw your NORMAL running shoes on and hit it!

The point I'm trying to make is that todays fitness industry is largely a joke, and these Kangaroo boots are no exception. Everyone in the industry is out to somehow make things easier.

Understand this.. to be strong and fit will take hard work, no matter how you cut it. Don't believe me? That's fine... I couldn't care less. I have no time to try and convince you otherwise.. as there's more than enough people out there who know it takes hard work and are ready to invest in themselves to get strong and in crazy shape!

And for all of you guys who know and understand this...

It's Roo Roastin' Time!

Be Strong,

Shane

P.S. I do believe I mentioned previously how organic grass-fed Kangaroo is one of the best sources of CLA, a potent anti-cancer, anti-heart disease, anti-inflammatory nutrient. If you missed the article, you can read more by clicking the link below.

Roo-Roastin' for Health

Supersets and Exercise Pairings

I went to visit a client at their gym on the weekend. She was training her bench press, and was really pushing her limits with a 5x5 protocol, so although her first set wasn't an all out effort, by the last few sets, she was definitely seeing stars as she was grinding them out!

I'm there with her, spotting her, and coaching her through her workout, and a guy walks over and introduces himself as a "certified" trainer and proceeds to suggest that her workout would be more efficient if she were to superset a set of bent-over rows in between each set of bench press.

The funniest thing... is that I saw this guy coming from the other side of the gym, and I knew exactly what was going to happen... and I was right.

So first, before I say whether he had a good suggestion, I seriously doubt he could bench press 5x5x125 which is what my client was doing. This guy barely had any facial hair let alone any muscle on his frame.

That said, I can't be upset with him, as I used to do that all the time. Yep.. I was the annoying kid who had to teach everyone everything I learned the moment I learned it.

It all comes down to perspective. When you're young, when you learn something, you think the world should know it, and that they probably don't already know it.

So did he have a good suggestion?

It really depends on the goals of the training session. If "Jill" was doing 5x5x125 and her 1RM was 155, making her 5x5x125 at 80% 1RM, as was the case, then I would say no. But if Jill's 1RM was 175, then she's training at around 70%, which means her 5x5x125 would not be too taxing.

In other words, if the weights you're going to be lifting are going to be close to your limits for a given repetition range, you don't want to superset other exercises in as it will interfere with your ability to give 100% effort to the exercise you're trying to focus on.

High CNS involvement multi-joint-compound movements take way more out of you than other less demanding exercises, so pairing them up isn't always a good idea.

The main key is to decide what your main purpose is for the exercise. If you want your bench to go up.. then you don't want to be supersetting it with another exercise. But if your goal is just general strength and overall conditioning, and getting more weight on that bar Goddamnit.. is NOT the end all be all for you, then you can superset with another exercise.

Good Exercise Pairings

Vertical Push + Vertical Pull

ex: Military Press + Wide Grip Pull-ups

Horizontal Push + Horizontal Pull

ex: Bench Press + Inverted Rows

Vertical Push + Horizontal Pull

ex: 1-DB Push Press + Bent-Over Dumbbell Rows

Horizontal Push + Vertical Pull

ex: Dips + Chin-Ups

For lower body work, since both squats and deadlifts work both quads and hamstrings it would rarely be advised to superset quad/ham. Instead, and only if maximum strength is not your goal, you could superset another non-competing exercise.

Quad Dominant + (Biceps, shoulders)

Squat + DB Curls or dumbbell shoulder press

Hip Dominant + (Chest, shoulders, triceps)

Deadlifts + Pushups, Military Press, DB Tricep Extensions

There are many options, but these are just some.

Always bear in mind your goals, and construct your program with pairings that are suitable if any.

If you have any questions or comments about this post, I'd love to hear about it in the comments section below.

Low Back Pain Solution

Is this YOU at any point of your day?

Any solution for low back pain must of course fit the cause of the pain, of which there are many. But a common cause of low back pain is excessive lumbar flexion when bending forward. There are cases where some people have tremendous lumbar flexion without problems, but just because they can, doesn't mean you can or should even try.

Don't Try This

Just Because Some Other Silly Twat Can Do It!

When you have to bend over for whatever reason, you should be trying to get as much movement at your hips, otherwise you your lumbar spine usually takes up the slack.

This is tough for many simply because the mechanics of flexing at the hip are unfamiliar. An excellent exercise to help develop good posterior chain strength and good hip flexion/extension mechanics is the 45 degree back extension.

The 45 degree back extension is also good for those who are not strong enough to do normal flat back extensions.

Key Technique Points:

1. Maintain neutral arch throughout movement.

2. Brace abdominals firmly throughout.

3. Pull into top position with glutes, not lower back.

4. Avoid lumbar flexion on descent.

5. Mental focus should be on maintaining rigid torso through abdominal bracing and moving only at the hips.

Progressions for 45 Degree Back Extensions

1. Add external resistance using dumbbells, barbell across shoulders, or plates at your chest.

2. Use accommodating resistance such as bands or chains.

3. Use one leg only. (this provides additional benefit due to additional torque from rotational forces which must be resisted - this is an advanced technique)

4. Reduce rest between sets.

VIDEO: 45 Degree Back Extensions

Other Considerations:

If your hamstrings are too tight or too short, your range of motion may be very short forcing you to round your back to make much of a descent. If this is the case, resist the urge to go deep, and only do the range of motion possible with the neural lumbar arch. And of course, a good deal of hamstring stretching is on order as well.

If you have any questions or comments about this post, I'd love to hear about it in the comments section!

And as always.. please "LIKE" my video on the YouTube page! Helps with ratings!

Ginger Kills Cancer

So then they invented this...

"Hey mom, yes I'm feeling much better! I had cancer, but the Doctor made me drink 12L of Ginger-ale and I'm cured!"

Obviously this isn't exactly the case, but pay attention because it is important for your health!

For many, ginger is just a spice used in Thai food or eaten with Sushi. It has such a strong, distinct taste that it's difficult to add ginger in any significant quantity to most dishes without it becoming the focus flavour of the dish.

Can you imagine everything tasting like gingerbread? Yuck! Sure gingerbread is great, but for me it's a little too intense to think of having it outside of Thai or Sushi.

That said, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to know that there's something in ginger that's good for us. It almost tastes like "natural" medicine.

Thankfully this is not mere conjecture. It's actually backed up by science. It has long been known to have strong anti-bacterial, anti-viral properties, and anti-inflammatory properties. (2)

But there is also substantial research pointing to the ability of certain substances in ginger to kill cancer cells. (1,3,4,5)

Dr J. Rebecca Liu of the University of Michigan medical school found that ginger kills ovarian cancer cells in lab studies. Results were presented to the American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting.

Now before you get your pants tied in a knot and run down to the health food store to buy ginger pills, as I've shown you before, it doesn't quite work that way. You can't harness the power of certain compounds found in foods and put them into pills and get the same benefits as you would if you ate the intact food in it's natural state.

So the big problem is how do you get enough ginger in your diet when it has such a strong and often unwanted flavour.

(Hint: It's not by drinking Ginger-Ale!)

Solution:

Of course you'll think I'm crazy, but this is great! Trust me!

When you make your morning shake, add some fresh chopped organic ginger (skin and all) into the blender before you blend it all up. Believe me, that super strong ginger taste turns into a very likeable hint of ginger that you are sure to enjoy.

As an aside, if you think you don't have time for a morning shake it doesn't take long to get it ready. Check it out: http://tiny.cc/zdxsx (now just imagine me adding some ginger too!)

When we were in Australia in March, staying with some friends, they had a juicer and made us some fresh juice. I watched as it was being made and I shuddered watching how much ginger was going into the juice. But knowing how good it is for you, I downed the glass as fast as possible to get it over, expecting my eyes and throat to be burning afterward. But it never happened. I was amazed at how the expected sharp pungent bite was much more mellow and tolerable.

The moment we arrived back home I started adding it to my shakes every morning. Haven't missed a morning yet!

Hope you like it as much as I do!

Supporting Research

1. Katiyar SK, Agarwal R, Mukhtar H. Inhibition of tumor promotion in SENCAR
mouse skin by ethanol extract of Zingiber officinale rhizome. Cancer Res. 1996
Mar 1;56(5):1023-30.

2. Mascolo N, Jain R, Jain SC, Capasso F. Ethnopharmacologic investigation of
ginger (Zingiber officinale). J Ethnopharmacol. 1989 Nov;27(1-2):129-40.

3. Park KK, Chun KS, Lee JM, Lee SS, Surh YJ. Inhibitory effects of [6]-gingerol,
a major pungent principle of ginger, on phorbol ester-induced inflammation,
epidermal ornithine decarboxylase activity and skin tumor promotion in ICR mice.
Cancer Lett. 1998 Jul 17;129(2):139-44. Erratum in: Cancer Lett 1998 Sep
25;131(2):231.

4. Surh YJ, Lee E, Lee JM. Chemoprotective properties of some pungent ingredients
present in red pepper and ginger. Mutat Res. 1998 Jun 18;402(1-2):259-67.

5. Murakami A, Tanaka T, Lee JY, Surh YJ, Kim HW, Kawabata K, Nakamura Y,
Jiwajinda S, Ohigashi H. Zerumbone, a sesquiterpene in subtropical ginger,
suppresses skin tumor initiation and promotion stages in ICR mice. Int J Cancer.
2004 Jul 1;110(4):481-90.