6 Reasons You’re NOT Building Muscle (FIXED!) ATHLEAN-X™ 2024-10-18 | 6 Reasons You’re NOT Building Muscle (FIXED!)
The GREATEST Biceps Exercise You’ve NEVER Tried… ATHLEAN-X™ 2024-05-07 | The biceps is a two-headed muscle located on the upper arm and is one of the primary flexors of the forearm. The biceps also act as a forearm supinator and contribute to shoulder flexion.To build big biceps, most people will train them using exercises such as curls and chin-ups. These biceps exercises involve flexing the forearm while it is supinated. There are many biceps exercises out there, but they are all variations of a basic biceps curl.Since the biceps is made up of two heads, the short head and the long head, many people think that you can isolate which biceps head is worked. While this is untrue, you can preferentially target which head is being worked more than the other. To do this, you have to manipulate your arm position.Think of it this way; the head you see in the mirror is the head you preferentially influencing. So, if you see the long-head of the biceps, or the top / outer portion of the biceps, while curling - that is what you are targeting. To influence the biceps short head, you will want to see the inside of the biceps more when looking in the mirror while you curl.You can also influence the appearance of the biceps by working on the width of the upper arm and the peak or height of the biceps. This comes down to not just exercise selection, but how you perform the curls as well.When it comes to curls, since there are so many variations, there are different pieces of equipment you can use. These include dumbbell curls, barbell curls, chin-ups, cable curls, banded curls, machine curls, and even a combination of different equipment to curl.To get bigger biceps, you need to train them effectively and increase your mind-muscle connection. One way to do this is to use an offset grip when doing dumbbell curls. This will force supination automatically to engage a higher degree of biceps activation.Remember, it’s just what exercise you do, but how you do the exercises that matters most.If you are looking for more tips and tricks to get bigger arms, be sure to stay tuned to this channel and remember to subscribe so that you never miss another video from a physical therapist with a pro sports background as a PT and strength coach.You can subscribe to this channel here - http://bit.ly/2b0coMWFor complete step-by-step workout programs, head on over to athleanx.com and make sure to use the program selector to find the training plan that is best suited to your personal goals.Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS served as both the head physical therapist and assistant strength coach for the New York Mets. Jeff earned his Masters of Physical Therapy and Bachelor’s of Physioneurobiology from the College of Health Sciences University of Connecticut Storrs. He is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).
Oatmeal is KILLING Your Gains ATHLEAN-X™ 2024-05-03 | When it comes to nutrition, what you put in your body matters, especially if you are trying to build muscle. While some foods may appear to be the same, especially in name, they are not necessarily the same food. Just because name on the packaging says oatmeal, not all oatmeal is the created equal.When I was younger, I used to eat Quaker Oats instant oatmeal, you know, the ones that come in a packet and you put in the microwave. I was doing this because I had always heard that eating oatmeal was a healthy choice and would help in my pursuit to build muscle.What I didn’t realize, however, was just how much sugar one packet contained - 14 grams. Now consider the fact that I was eating two packets for breakfast every day, that is a whopping 28 grams of sugar. That is 10 grams less than a can of Coca-Cola.If you want to build muscle and stay lean in the process, you have to make the right choices on what foods you put in your body to help support that muscle growth and fat loss. Consuming large amounts of sugar and calories is going to lead to weight gain and potentially metabolic disorders.In order to combat this and to help your fitness pursuits, you want to opt for whole foods that are high in nutritional value. When it comes to oatmeal, choosing steel cut oats over instant oats which are loaded with sugar is the choice you want to make.For more tips on how to lock in your nutrition so you can build muscle and burn fat, be sure to stay tuned to this channel and remember to subscribe so that you never miss another video from a physical therapist with a pro sports background as a PT and strength coach.You can subscribe to this channel here - http://bit.ly/2b0coMWFor complete step-by-step workout programs, head on over to athleanx.com and make sure to use the program selector to find the training plan that is best suited to your personal goals.Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS served as both the head physical therapist and assistant strength coach for the New York Mets. Jeff earned his Masters of Physical Therapy and Bachelor’s of Physioneurobiology from the College of Health Sciences University of Connecticut Storrs. He is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).
Do THIS ✅ Not THAT ❌ (pt 2) ATHLEAN-X™ 2024-05-01 | There are countless exercises choose from when you want to build muscle, but you have to make sure you are doing them right to get the most gains out of them. I always say; it's not just what exercises you choose to do, but how you choose to do them that makes all the difference in the world. I put together a small sample of exercises that show how people normally perform them and a slight tweak to each that will make the exercise that much more effective, especially when it comes to safety in some cases.It starts with the cable curl.While I love this exercise and the strength curve adaptation that goes along with it, I often see it performed in a way that can not only leave gains on the table but limits the biceps activation from the very start. What I am talking about is not bending your wrist back when curling the bar up. This biceps master tip has two purposes. First, it creates better activation of the biceps which means that you will be delivering the most potential growth to the muscle you are working. Secondly, bending your wrists back into extension removes the contribution of the forearm flexors, which, when overworked, can lead to medial elbow pain.The second exercise up is the incline bench press.The incline bench press seems like the go-to option for people wanting to build their upper chest. However, the angle of the bench actually matters more than you think. Studies have shown that greater upper pec activation occurs when the bench is set between 30 and 45 degrees. Far too often do I see people in the gym setting their incline to 60 degrees and greater. This leads to greater front deltoid activation and takes some of the intended work off of the upper chest. If you want to build a bigger upper chest, make sure you get the angle of the bench down correctly.When it comes to getting a six pack and especially when it comes to developing the lower abs, bottom-up movements are going to be part of your bread and butter. You might choose to do a heels to the heavens exercise, but did you know that simply doing the exercise is not enough? To get the best activation of the lower abs and to remove the hip flexors from the equation, you want to think about curling your pelvis. This can be easily done with a swiper. By swiping your hands under your lower back for feedback, you will make sure that your pelvis is curling to the proper height off the floor.Next up is the shoulder press. Now, this is a great exercise option for hitting the shoulders, but the most common way of doing it can cause shoulder complications and even aggravation if you have an existing shoulder injury. This is due to the fact that most people press the dumbbells overhead with their shoulders directly out to the side, outside of the scapular plane. Lifting the weight this way disrupts the natural rhythm of the way the shoulder moves during the exercise. Instead, keep the elbows slightly out in front of you as you press to make sure you stay in the scapular plane and avoid any shoulder problems.Finally, we have the cable crossover. Instead of leaning into the forward motion of the cables as you cross them in front of your body, lean back. By leaning back and sticking your chest forward at the same time, you will be limiting the participation of the front delts and increasing activation of the chest, the muscles you are trying to target in the first place. A proud chest while pressing the cables forward will make sure that you are getting the results you are looking for when selecting this exercise in the first place.These are just a few exercise technique changes that you can make to make sure you are building the most muscle possible,For more tips on how to get the most out of every exercise you do, be sure to stay tuned to this channel and remember to subscribe so that you never miss another video from a physical therapist with a pro sports background as a PT and strength coach.You can subscribe to this channel here - http://bit.ly/2b0coMWFor complete step-by-step workout programs, head on over to athleanx.com and make sure to use the program selector to find the training plan that is best suited to your personal goals.Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS served as both the head physical therapist and assistant strength coach for the New York Mets. Jeff earned his Masters of Physical Therapy and Bachelor’s of Physioneurobiology from the College of Health Sciences University of Connecticut Storrs. He is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).
5 Things EVERY Ripped Guy Does (COPY THESE!) ATHLEAN-X™ 2024-04-29 | Getting ripped and lean and staying that way forever is not as complicated as some people make it out to be. In fact, it can be narrowed down to a list of just five things. In this video, I’m going to who you the 5 things that every ripped guy does that you can start doing yourself in order to get shredded and stay that way forever. No more bouncing up and down in body fat after watching this.To begin, ithelps to dispel some of the mistruths and inneffective methods in which people invest far too much time chasing fat loss and lower body fat levels. These include things like juice fasts and cleanses, not eating after 6pm at night, drinking apple cider vinegar within 30 minutes of waking and doing only fasted cardio. The issue is not that these methods aren’t capable of producing some changes on their own, but they are all short term and likely not able to be followed for ever. Throw in the fact that they produce incremental impacts on body fat levels and fat loss in the big picture and therefore have minimal abilities to make a real dent in getting lean.Instead, there are 5 science based mechanisms for losing fat that every ripped guy knows that you will need to copy if you want to unlock the true path to permanent leanness.First, no ripped guy that stays at low body fat levels forever diets. It just doesn’t happen. They have long ago figured out how to remove the word from their vocabulary and instead switched it out for the word nutrition. Though they both have to do with the food that you put in your body for fuel, the longevity of the approach varies greatly. Diets are short term, temporary fixes. They are often built around an approach to eating that is a big departure from what you are currently doing - often times centering around some form of deprivation. It is not uncommon for a diet to ask you to remove an entire food group or macro from your meal plan in order to produce its weight loss effects. The problem is, attempting an approach like this is almost always going to lead to long term failure since you cannot stay consistent with deprivation based strategies for long.Throw in the fact that the method you used to get down to the weight and body fat level you are at is often the same method that you are going to have to use to sustain your losses. If you can’t stick to the diet then this is going to lead to you putting back on the weight that you lost. On the other hand, when you eat healthy and enjoy the foods you eat you can stick to that style of eating forever.Next, you must drink enough water throughout the day. Staying hydrated will help you to differentiate between hunger and thirst and more importantly, prevent binge eating. It also helps your muscles perform at their best which will lead to more productive workouts and having an easier time building muscle. You should drink about one third of your bodweight in pounds in ounces of water to stay adequatlely hydrated.Speaking of building muscle, if given the choice between a cardio workout or weight training the guy that is ripped will show a preference every single time for the weight training workout. This is due to the fact that they know the biggest key to staving off body fat is to maximize lean muscle. The more muscle you carry the bigger your insulin storage depot is and insulin sensitivity. Next, you have to prioritize protein intake in your diet. This is especially true when you are at caloric maintenance or below. Ripped guys know that keeping their protein at around 1 gram per pound of bodyweight is a good target for staying lean year round.Finally, consistency is key. You must learn how to become consistent with your efforts in the above 4 areas if you want to get ripped and stay that way forever. For those that doubt their ability to be consistent, think about all of the bad habits you may have right now that you are very good at being consistent with. You just need to find the things that are healthier that you can stick to to replace them, and they are out there.If you are looking for a complete meal plan and workout program that will help you stay locked in year round head to athleanx.com and get your ATHLEAN-X training system.For more videos on how to get ripped and stay ripped year round without bulking and cutting be sure to subscribe to our channel via the link below and turn on your notifications so you never miss a new video when it’s published.Stay Ripped Forever - http://athleanx.com/x/every-ripped-person-does-thisSubscribe to this channel here - http://bit.ly/2b0coMW
The GREATEST Forearm Exercise You’ve NEVER Tried… ATHLEAN-X™ 2024-04-26 | If you want big forearms, then this might be the best exercise that you've never done.Most people will train their forearms with simple wrist curls and wrist extensions with either a dumbbell or a barbell. While these are certainly viable exercises to get big forearms, if you've been doing them for a while and you're not getting the results you are looking for, then look no further than this forearm exercise.The setup is simple; all you need is a band, a barbell in a rack, and either a dumbbell or kettlebell. Simply wrap the band around the handle of the dumbbell or through the handle of the kettlebell while it is resting on the floor. Then, wrap the other end of the band twice around the end of the barbell while it is resting in the rack to make sure it is secure.Once you have the band setup around both the weight and the barbell, grab the end of the barbell and start rolling it forward with your palms facing down. As you continue to roll the end of the bar, the weight that is attached to the bed will start to ascend upwards towards the bar. You can either roll the bar until the weight reaches the top or your forearms start burning too much that you can't continue rolling the bar, whichever comes first.This will will engage the forearm flexors and work on the meaty underside of your forearms.If you want to build the top of the forearms and work your forearm extensors then simply do the same thing but roll the bar towards yourself instead of away from you.Whichever part of your forearms you are looking to build, you have an option while using the same setup. Perform 2-3 sets in either direction, or both, if you are looking to get big forearms.If you haven't tried this exercise before, you are going to want to add it to your routine to build bigger forearms. Now, you'll have more options outside of the wrist curls and extensions you have likely been doing before this.For more tips on how to build muscle and get big forearms, be sure to stay tuned to this channel and remember to subscribe so that you never miss another video from a physical therapist with a pro sports background as a PT and strength coach.You can subscribe to this channel here - http://bit.ly/2b0coMWFor complete step-by-step workout programs, head on over to athleanx.com and make sure to use the program selector to find the training plan that is best suited to your personal goals.Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS served as both the head physical therapist and assistant strength coach for the New York Mets. Jeff earned his Masters of Physical Therapy and Bachelor’s of Physioneurobiology from the College of Health Sciences University of Connecticut Storrs. He is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).
How to Fix A Skinny Fat Body (STEP BY STEP PLAN) ATHLEAN-X™ 2024-04-22 | Do you suffer from a "skinny fat" body and happen to be looking for a fix? Don't worry, you've come to the right place. In this video, I am going to break down what a skinny fat physique looks like and how to fix it once and for all. The best part is that I have a very simple plan for you to follow in order to make a skinny fat transformation to lean and muscular.The Perfect Total Body Workout referenced in the video can be found hereyoutube.com/watch?v=R6gZoAzAhCgIt starts by identifying what a skinny fat physique looks like. When you think skinny fat, you picture someone that has skinny arms, no chest development, skinny legs, and excess of body fat on their midsection. As "Arnold" says in this video, someone that looks soft and frail at the same time. It really comes down to an understanding that someone with a skinny fat body is carrying excess body fat while lacking any muscular development. When it comes down to being skinny fat, don't be confused into thinking that this is a problem only for a certain age group. As a matter a fact, while you might think this is a problem for younger individuals, it occurs as you get older too, but gets even harder to get rid of as fat deposition changes as you age. You also have to understand that skinny fat is not a weight problem. As a matter of fact, two people that around the same height, carrying the same bodyweight could look vastly different. It comes down to the level of muscularity that an individual has.Muscularity is the game changer here. Someone carrying a little extra body fat, but is relatively muscular, will automatically look more appealing than someone that does not have the same muscularity but is at a lower body fat percentage. So, if muscularity is part of the solution, what do we do from here?Well, it starts by picking the right workouts to engage in. For those that are skinny fat, I always suggest that they start with a total body workout split, for a few reasons: they require low commitment in terms of scheduling, they contain compound movements to work multiple muscle groups at once, they train essential movement patterns, and they are easily progressed in terms of weight added and progressive overload.The one thing that I notice with people that are skinny fat that are currently training is that they are lacking an adequate training intensity. In order to see the best results possible and to really reinforce the skinny fat transformation, you have to be training intensely enough.The other half of the skinny fat solution equation is your nutrition. Now, while that might seem obvious, you have to understand where the likely shortcomings are stemming from. I find that the area that people that are skinny fat are falling short in is their protein intake. Since you are trying to build muscle, your protein intake needs to be high enough to support that. I recommend 1-1.2 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight if you are trying to build more muscle to get rid of the skinny fat physique.In order to combat the skinny fat problem through your nutrition, you need to start by making good choices in what you are putting in your mouth. The choices you are making are likely what's causing the body fat issue you have right now as well as the lack of muscularity. In order to build muscle and burn fat at the same time, you need to be in caloric deficit with the proper amount of protein. By increasing the amount of muscle on your frame, you will raise your basal metabolic rate, meaning that your current maintenance level of calories will soon become a deficit.Once you adopt this way of eating, stick with it for 1-2 months to not only make the way you eat a habit, but to also see what kind of results you are achieving. With your new style of eating, making a few swaps in the way you prepare your meals as well as some ingredients used, you can actually enter a greater deficit than you were in before. Not only will this allow you to burn off a few extra calories per meal, but you will still get to eat the same foods that you are already comfortable with. Start with your swaps in a single meal and see how it goes. If you find that you need to take in even less calories, make a swap to another meal as well, but I have never seen someone need to make more than two meal swaps per day to reach their goals.The Skinny Fat Fix - http://athleanx.com/x/skinny-fat-fixSubscribe to this channel here - http://bit.ly/2b0coMWIf you are looking for a complete training plan that comes with meal plans as well to help you build muscle while also keeping your ripped, be sure to head to athleanx.com via the link below and check out the ATHLEAN-X programs.For more videos on how to lose fat and the best way to fix a skinny fat body, be sure to subscribe to our channel here on youtube via the link below and remember to turn on your notifications so you never miss a new video when it’s published.
You’ll LOVE Doing Lunges After This… ATHLEAN-X™ 2024-04-18 | If you stopped doing lunges because you feel the balance required to do the exercise prevents you from either using enough weight to help grow your legs then be rest assured, you’ll love doing lunges after this. I’m going to show you the right way to step to make sure that balance is never an issue again whether you are doing barbell lunges or dumbbell lunges.People forget about the need to keep their base of support wide during the lunge. They think that they have to step forward (or in some cases backwards) in one straight line. This makes it almost impossible to balance, especially when you have an appreciable amount of weight in either your hands or across your back.As you watch Dwayne The Rock Johnson perform his walking dumbbell lunge in this clip, pay attention to the direction of his feet when he steps. They don’t just step straight ahead. Instead, he steps up and out every time he picks up his feet. At the bottom of the lunge you can see just how much wider his base of support has become. The distance between his feet has increased by many inches, which helps to keep his balance intact throughout the exercise.In truth, the barbell lunge or dumbbell lunge is one of the greatest leg exercises you can do. Far too many people opt to skip it in favor of a leg machine because they don’t like the feeling of compromised balance when doing the movement. This unilateral leg exercise is not only a must do for athletes but it has so many benefits that amplify any program that is based solely around squat patterns and exercises.If you do get your balance corrected and decide to start doing the lunge as you should in every leg workout, I would next suggest that you perform the reverse lunges if possible. This variation of the lunge can be so much easier on the knees if you are already someone that deals with knee tendonitis issues or anterior knee pain.The lunge that requires you to step forward can be pretty aggravating to the knee joint, especially if you forget to step into your forward lunge. As you’ll see if you watch the complete video which is linked to this one, The Rock remembers to lift the stepping foot high into the air and places it down from above rather than approaching the ground from a low angle. This helps to minimize the shearing stresses of the exercise on the knees.Combine that with the improved balance that you get from doing the lunge properly and you will no doubt love doing lunges again.The hypertrophy benefits of this powerful leg exercise are also something that you don’t want to take for granted. Yes, squats need to be the foundation leg exercise for all of your leg workouts but not remembering to do a great unilateral leg exercise that utilizes the lunge pattern would be a big mistake in terms of completing the growth of the legs.For more ways to to make sure that you are getting every exercise right with proper form to build the most muscle possible, be sure to stay tuned to this channel and remember to subscribe so that you never miss another video from a physical therapist with a pro sports background as a PT and strength coach.You can subscribe to this channel here - http://bit.ly/2b0coMWFor complete step-by-step workout programs that show you how to do every exercise without the guesswork, head on over to athleanx.com and make sure to use the program selector to find the training program that is best suited to your personal goals.Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS served as both the head physical therapist and assistant strength coach for the New York Mets. Jeff earned his Masters of Physical Therapy and Bachelor’s of Physioneurobiology from the College of Health Sciences University of Connecticut Storrs. He is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).
The Rocks Workout (BRUTALLY HONEST REVIEW) ATHLEAN-X™ 2024-04-14 | If you wanted to know all about Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s leg workout that was recently posted online, then you’ve come to the right place. In this video, I am going to break down what The Rock’s leg workout looks like and give my thoughts on what he’s doing as well as why I think he is doing it. Just like I’ve done for every celebrity workout critique that I have done in the past, I am going to be respectful and provide an unbiased review of The Rock’s workout leading up to Wrestlemania.The Rock’s leg workout starts with him walking into the gym and observing the equipment that he is going to be using. During this clip, you might notice something with his calf; one appears to have more muscle hypertrophy than the other. This is due to a muscle compensation that results from the fact that The Rock ruptured his achilles tendon back in 2006. So, knowing he has an injury history is important to understand some of the context of why he is doing what he’s doing.The first exercise up in The Rock’s giant set is an ISO lateral leg press. You will notice that he does 10 reps on each leg before doing 10 reps together for a total of 20 reps on each leg. A few things to notice here - the high foot placement and torso angle of The Rock in the machine. The foot placement and torso angle looks to me like he is biasing his glutes and hamstrings more than the quads. This could very well be by design as we know that athletes need to train the posterior train just as much if not more than the anterior chain muscles so that they can perform to the best of their abilities.The second exercise in The Rock's leg workout is a vertical leg press. Again, you have to take note of the torso angle here - with the angle between the torso and the hips being fairly closed, compared to open, the shift of the focus is going to be on the posterior chain again. Now, I don't love this exercise because of its ability to aggravate the SI joint. Anyone with SI joint pain or dysfunction is likely not going to find this exercise at the top of the list because of its biomechanics.Next up in this circuit is the belt squat. I love this exercise and ranked it as one of the best you can do to build your quads if you have access to the machine. Looking at the torso angle, The Rock is definitely more upright which shifts the brunt of the work to the quads. Now, some might want to get on him for his depth, but I think his range of motion is chosen for a reason. With a history of knee injuries, there is a possibility that going deeper might cause discomfort. There is also the reasoning that The Rock is keeping constant tension on the quads by staying within the limited range of motion and not stopping at the top or the bottom.Coming in the fourth spot of this 5 exercise giant set is the reverse hack squat. There are two ways to use this machine; facing in and facing out. The Rock chooses to face in, which means that he is, again, biasing the muscles of the posterior chain. Looking at the angle of the torso, which again is more closed, as well as the angle and direction of the feet on the foot plate shows that the quads are not going to be taking on the brunt of the work in this exercise. If he were facing outward with the angle of the torso being more open as well as the feet angle upwards instead of down, he would be biasing the quads.The final exercise that The Rock chooses for his leg workout is the dumbbell walking lunge. The lunge is one of my favorite exercises for training the legs and it makes me happy knowing that The Rock chose it for his workout too. With a slight lean forward, I think he is again trying to bias the muscles of the posterior chain a little more favorably. The first thing to notice is the way he steps up and out, increasing his base of support to maintain balance throughout the exercise. Also, pay attention to the high step he takes - this allows for full knee and glute extension as well as provides a soft landing which can be useful for someone with a history of knee discomfort.As a bonus exercise to finish the 3rd round of his giant set leg workout, The Rock finishes with a stiff legged deadlift.Here is what The Rock's leg workout looks like:GIANT SET x 3 rounds:A. ISO Lateral Leg Press x 20 repsB. Vertical Leg Press x 12 repsC. Belt Squat x 10 repsD. Reverse Hack Squat x 10 repsE. DB Walking Lunges x 20 reps*BONUS* Dumbbell Stiff Legged Deadlift - 3 x 10 repsWorkout Like The Rock - http://athleanx.com/x/the-rock-leg-workoutSubscribe to this channel here - http://bit.ly/2b0coMWif you are looking for a step-by-step workout program with a meal plan included, be sure to head over to athleanx.com and use the program selector to find the program that best matches your current training goal and ability levels.For more celebrity workout reviews, make sure to subscribe to this channel here on YouTube and remember to turn on your notifications so you never miss a new video when it’s published.
The “Old Man” Test (YIKES!) ATHLEAN-X™ 2024-04-13 | Ever wonder how “old” you really are? Try this simple 2 part test, where you will do something that you do every day (get dressed) except in a different way than you may be right now.The rules are simple. Stand on one leg and pick up a sock and put it on your foot. Without letting your foot touch the ground, lean over and pick up the shoe. Put the shoe on and tie it. At this point you may put that foot on the ground. From here you have to pick up the other leg and balance once again. Lean over and pick up the sock and put it on. Then put on the shoe and tie it.If you can complete the entire task without losing your balance to the point that the foot in the air makes contact with the ground at all, then this is indicative of the fact that your balance is not where it needs to be and you need some work.Let me know in the comments how you do.For more ways to to make sure that you are getting every exercise right with proper form to build the most muscle possible, be sure to stay tuned to this channel and remember to subscribe so that you never miss another video from a physical therapist with a pro sports background as a PT and strength coach.You can subscribe to this channel here - http://bit.ly/2b0coMWFor complete step-by-step workout programs that show you how to do every exercise without the guesswork, head on over to athleanx.com and make sure to use the program selector to find the training program that is best suited to your personal goals.Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS served as both the head physical therapist and assistant strength coach for the New York Mets. Jeff earned his Masters of Physical Therapy and Bachelor’s of Physioneurobiology from the College of Health Sciences University of Connecticut Storrs. He is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).
STOP Doing Hanging Ab Raises Like This! ATHLEAN-X™ 2024-04-11 | The hanging leg raise is an incredible lower ab exercise that provides the necessary overload that most ab exercises don’t provide. However, to get the most out of this exercise you need to pay attention to two simple details of the hanging leg raise. If you get these two cues correct, you will be on your way to developing the lower abs like you’ve always wanted.The first tip that I give on the hanging leg raise has to do with posterior pelvic tilt when performing the exercise. It’s not enough to just lift your legs. Why? Well, if you simply lift your legs without a posterior pelvic tilt, you are making this a hip flexor dominant exercise. This will minimize the contribution of the rectus abdominis.What you will want to do instead is imagine that there is someone in front of you watching the exercise. As opposed to showing your feet to the person in front of you, you will want to think of showing your butt to them. That means curling the pelvis underneath into a posterior pelvic tilt and focusing on lifting the pelvis instead of the legs to activate the lower abs more than the hip flexors.Remember, you are trying to strengthen your abs! You want to minimize the hip flexor contribution as much as possible.The second tip that I give for the hanging leg raise is to activate the lats prior to lifting your pelvis and legs. You can do this by packing the shoulders down and setting the lats in order to contribute to the stability of the exercise. Not only will it increase stability, it will plug any energy leaks that are present in the hanging leg raise.Energy leaks, if not addressed properly, will lead to instability throughout the exercise. This can lead to quicker fatigue and limit the number of effective reps that you can perform. You will want to prevent this in order to get the most out of the hanging leg raise so you can better target the lower abs.Don’t forget, while the abs (rectus abdominis) is activated in it’s entirety on every ab exercise that you do, you can preferentially activate the lower abs by making them perform most of the work. While the lower abs are the hardest part of the rectus abdominis to develop, choosing the right exercise and performing them correctly (especially with the overload provided by the weight of the legs) will lead to better overall development and can get them to finally show if that is something that you’ve struggled with.Remember, it’s not just what exercise you do that matters, but HOW you do the exercise that matters most. The hanging leg raise is now different. Instead of making the exercise hip flexor dominant, you want the lower abs to do as much of the work as possible. You can do that by following the tips I provide here.For more ways to to make sure that you are getting every exercise right with proper form to build the most muscle possible, be sure to stay tuned to this channel and remember to subscribe so that you never miss another video from a physical therapist with a pro sports background as a PT and strength coach.You can subscribe to this channel here - http://bit.ly/2b0coMWFor complete step-by-step workout programs that show you how to do every exercise without the guesswork, head on over to athleanx.com and make sure to use the program selector to find the training program that is best suited to your personal goals.Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS served as both the head physical therapist and assistant strength coach for the New York Mets. Jeff earned his Masters of Physical Therapy and Bachelor’s of Physioneurobiology from the College of Health Sciences University of Connecticut Storrs. He is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).
Man vs Pullups (MAN WINS) ATHLEAN-X™ 2024-04-08 | It doesn’t matter how many pullups you can do, whether it is 25 unbroken or you struggle to get even one, I have one tip that is going to make doing pull ups easy. With just one simple body hack, doing pull-ups will become a heck of a lot easier than they were before.The first thing you want to do when trying to make pullups easier is to pay attention to how you set up. Too often, I see people in the gym getting ready to do their pull-ups and they get the set up wrong almost every single time. It doesn’t matter how strong they are, when they get this wrong, they are sacrificing the number of the pull ups they can do significantly.The part of the setup that I see people in the gym get wrong all the time is that they simply just grab the bar and pull straight up. Now, this might not seem like anything to worry about, however, this could be shortchanging the number of reps you can do.What is happening here? The shoulders are unpacked, the lats are not pre-set, and the beginning pull is initiated by the arms. This means that the lats are not taking on the brunt of the work to start the pullup. By not setting the lats and not packing the shoulders, you are requiring greater effort and energy in order to initiate the pull up. The extra requirement will lead to fatigue quicker than necessary and will leave you performing less pull-ups than you are actually capable of.How do we fix it? Simple.When you grip the bar, lean back slightly. This will automatically pack your shoulders and engage your lats. Presetting the lats will ensure that they are taking on the brunt of the work as compared to your arms if you didn’t. To do more pullups, you need to make sure the right muscles are performing their job at the right time. That means getting the lats set and using them to initiate the pull-up instead of the arms. Remember, your arms will fatigue faster than your lats, so let’s make sure that the lats are doing the work so you can get more unbroken pullups in a single set.Remember, it’s not just what exercises you choose, but how you do them that matters the most. If you don’t pay attention to the nuances of the exercise, you might not be getting the full potential available from that specific exercise. The details matter when you are trying to build as much muscle as possible or you are trying to perform at the very best of your abilities.For more ways to make sure that you are getting every exercise right with proper form, be sure to stay tuned to this channel are remember to subscribe so that you never miss another video from a physical therapist with a pro sports background as a PT and strength coach.You can subscribe to this channel here - http://bit.ly/2b0coMWFor complete step-by-step workout programs that show you how to do every exercise without the guesswork, head on over to athleanx.com and make sure to use the program selector to find the training program that is best suited to your personal goals.Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS served as both the head physical therapist and assistant strength coach for the New York Mets. Jeff earned his Masters of Physical Therapy and Bachelor’s of Physioneurobiology from the College of Health Sciences University of Connecticut Storrs. He is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).
You DON’T Want to Curl Like This… ATHLEAN-X™ 2024-04-05 | The bicep curl is a very simple and straightforward exercise that can be done with either dumbbells or a barbell. However, it’s the dumbbell curl that seems to have people messing up more often than not. I want to make sure that you avoid a simple, but very common mistake that I constantly see people making when curling.You might think that it’s impossible to screw up a biceps curl since you are simply bending your elbow to move the dumbbell up and down. Now, we know the major function of the biceps is to flex the elbow joint, but if you ignore one other significant function of the biceps, you are going to not only screw the exercise up, but you will be missing out on the best benefits of the curl.The missing function of the biceps is supination. That is, the rotation of the forearm to turn the hands so the palms face up. Obviously the the forearm is supinated when curling, but actively supinating further while flexing the elbow is where the gains can be unlocked.The act of turning the hands outwards while curling activates further supination of the forearm. This will engage the biceps even more when you curl allowing for greater activation of the muscles.Simply put, curling without actively supinating means you are leaving gains on the table. To get bigger biceps and big arms overall, you need to make sure that curl properly. Avoiding this mistake means you will avoid doing this exercise with minimal gains.Remember, it’s not just what exercises you do, but how you do the exercises that matters the most. If you make mistakes like this one on the curl, you are not getting the full potential available from each exercise. The details matter when you are trying to grow as much muscle as possible.For more ways to make sure that you are getting every exercise right with proper form to build the most muscle while staying free of injury, be sure to stay tuned to this channel and remember to subscribe so that you never miss another video from a physical therapist with a pro sports background as a PT and strength coach.You can subscribe to this channel here - http://bit.ly/2b0coMWFor complete step-by-step workout programs that show you how to do every exercise without the guesswork, head on over to athleanx.com and make sure to use the program selector to find the training program that is best suited to your personal goals.Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS served as both the head physical therapist and assistant strength coach for the New York Mets. Jeff earned his Masters of Physical Therapy and Bachelor’s of Physioneurobiology from the College of Health Sciences University of Connecticut Storrs. He is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).
The Death of Face Pulls (2009-2024) ATHLEAN-X™ 2024-04-04 | If you had to choose between face pulls and lat pulldowns to build more muscle, which would you choose? In this video, I am going to compare the two and explain the application of each in order to build muscle. Now, you might think that you have the answer already, but pay attention to the end of this video to see if you were right or not.When looking at the lat pulldown, especially done in the way that not only I show them, but the way that Sam Sulek shows it as well - do you notice anything different? Now compare it to the face pull. Is there any difference between the two? Well, if you keep up with the trends in YouTube fitness, you should be able to identify it pretty quickly.What we are talking about right here is long length partials. Partial reps are nothing new, but they are currently in vogue with recent research highlighting the benefits of introducing them into your training. With a recent comment left by a viewer here on YouTube, the common sentiment might be that the lat pulldown is the superior exercise simply because it features these partial reps. If long length partial repetitions are the superior way to train and they do not lend themselves to use with the face pul, then obviously the face pull is the inferior exercise.Wait a moment. That can’t be true, can it?Well, it’s not really a fair comparison. Just because the exercise doesn’t apply long length partial reps, doesn’t mean that it is not an effective exercise. The commenter themself thinks that it’s time to move on from the face pull, but I can’t agree. There is an important reason to keep the face pull in your exercise arsenal.The face pull offers itself as an incredible corrective exercise to reinforce strength and stability in the shoulder girdle and the muscles of the upper back, including the rear delts. Not only is it a great corrective, it still has the ability to build muscle as well. If you don’t believe me, just take a look at the development of Jesse’s upper back.Now this underscores the point of the importance of corrective exercises, especially the face pull. Jesse was able to build himself up to a 560 lb deadlift over time, without injury. By attacking the muscles in the upper back and the rear delts, he was able to maintain greater strength and resiliency that allowed him to progressively overload with the deadlift to get to where he is today. If he had avoided the exercise altogether, it stands to question, would his upper back be strong enough to assist in pulling such heavy weights? Would he have stayed healthy enough and injury free in order to continue progressing? Would he have the same upper back development that he does now if he only did exercises with long length partials applied?Partial reps, while not a new concept, have gotten a lot of attention in the fitness industry as of late with recent research showing that partial reps are able to provide 5-10% more muscle gain than if they are ignored. That sounds like a significant amount of muscle gain. However, if you dive deeper, you might find that that 5-10% is not as significant as you thought it was.If a significant amount of muscle gain over the course of the year is 10 pounds, then what is a 5-10% increase? That would be 10.5-11 pounds total. Does 10 lbs vs 11 lbs seem like a major difference? I think you would be hard pressed to find that 5-10% increase to be noticeable in the mirror, especially if you have clothes on.Does that mean you should just throw out partial reps completely? No, of course not. As with most things in fitness, they have their time and place, just like the face pull. It's important to know when to apply the exercise or the technique in order to build muscle. So no, I don't think that you should avoid an exercise because it doesn't lend itself to long length partials. I also don't think that long length partials should be avoided because when applied as an intensity technique, they can extend a set to and through failure.Face Pulls vs Lat Pulldowns - http://athleanx.com/x/face-pulls-vs-lat-pulldownsSubscribe to this channel here - http://bit.ly/2b0coMWIf you are looking for a complete step-by-step workout program and meal plan that eliminates all the guesswork, be sure to head over to athleanx.com and use the program selector tool to find the training program that best matches up to your goals and current ability levels.For more videos on how to build muscle and the best exercises to do that be sure to subscribe to our channel here on youtube via the above link and turn on your notifications so you never miss a video.Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS served as both the head physical therapist and assistant strength coach for the New York Mets. Jeff earned his Masters of Physical Therapy and Bachelor’s of Physioneurobiology from the College of Health Sciences University of Connecticut Storrs. He is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).
Jake Gyllenhaal: Natty or Not (ROAD HOUSE) ATHLEAN-X™ 2024-04-01 | With the release of the new movie “Road House”, Men’s Health highlighted the workouts and training that Jake Gyllenhaal underwent to achieve the physique he has in the leading role. The question I always get asked when it comes to an actor’s physical transformation is: “did they take anything to achieve that physique?” And when it comes to my review of Jake Gyllenhaal’s transformation and training for Road House, I know this question is being asked.What is the answer? Well, in my opinion, it doesn’t seem like he had taken anything along the lines of PEDs to achieve the body he has in the movie. While some might disagree with me, I have some reasons as to why I think Jake stayed natural throughout his training for the movie.The first reason I think that Jake Gyllenhaal stayed natural during his Road House transformation is because Jake didn’t make some sort of insane transformation nearly overnight. As a matter of fact, if you look at the timeline over the years that it took him to achieve his current physique, it is certainly achievable over that period of time.Secondly, Jake didn’t actually gain a significant amount of size or muscle. On the contrary, he went on a cut to remove excess body fat while building muscle, dropping around 20 pounds in the process. As we know, stripping away body fat and getting leaner leads to the appearance of overall more muscularity. Being able to see definition in the muscle will make the body appear larger and more muscular when in actuality, the person just has low body fat that doesn’t cover muscle definition or striations.Another reason that I think Jake Gyllenhaal had a natural transformation is because of how long he and his trainer spent together preparing for his role in Road House. The body that they worked for was not achieved in a matter of weeks or months, but rather over the course of about a year. Looking at where Jake started and where he ended and understanding the time frame of the training journey, what he achieved appears to be very natural and possible. Again, he didn’t add significant size while staying lean in a relatively short period of time.When factoring all these aspects together, it doesn’t appear to me that Jake Gyllenhaal was taking PEDs or steroids in order to achieve his physique for the movie Road House. It looks to me like he did this naturally with proper training, good nutrition, and a realistic timeframe. For more celebrity workout reviews and critiques as well as information you need in order to get the most out of your own workouts, be sure to stay tuned to this channel and remember to subscribe so that you never miss another video from a physical therapist with a pro sports background as a PT and strength coach.You can subscribe to this channel here - http://bit.ly/2b0coMWIf you are looking for a step-by-step workout program with a meal plan included, be sure to head over to athleanx.com and use the program selector to find the program that best matches your current training goal and ability levels.Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS served as both the head physical therapist and assistant strength coach for the New York Mets. Jeff earned his Masters of Physical Therapy and Bachelor’s of Physioneurobiology from the College of Health Sciences University of Connecticut Storrs. He is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).
STOP Doing Tricep Dips Like This! (SAVE A FRIEND) ATHLEAN-X™ 2024-03-30 | The tricep dip is an incredible exercise for building bigger triceps. Unlike most other triceps exercises, the bench dip puts the long head of the triceps into peak contraction by making sure the elbows are behind the body. Knowing that this exercise is great way to build bigger triceps, you might want to add the bench dip to your exercise arsenal. However, if you do tricep dips incorrectly, you could be setting yourself up for a whole host of orthopedic issues.The common way of doing this exercise requires you to put your hands facing forward on the bench while you perform the dip. Unfortunately, doing so means that you will be putting your shoulders into internal rotation as descend during the rep. Throwing the head of the humerus into the anterior shoulder capsule is a recipe for disaster.Since it is easy to perform a large number of reps while doing the dip, you will be continuously aggravating the shoulder joint. If only there was a way to save your rotator cuff and prevent these issues from occurring in the first place.Thankfully, there is a simple modification that you can make to ensure that you get all the same benefits of the exercise while keeping your shoulders healthy and lasting forever. The fix is simple; just turn your hands outwards and open your chest to externally rotate the shoulders. Doing so will prevent the head of the humerus from being thrown into the anterior shoulder capsule while still maintaining the peak contraction from having your elbows behind your body.Remember, before you descend into your first rep, make sure those hands are facing outwards and that you open your chest. Making sure you have a broad chest will help to ensure the external rotation that you are looking for while your hands are in the proper placement. This will make sure the exercise not only builds big triceps, but keeps your shoulders healthy in the process.I always say, it’s not just what exercise you do that matters, but HOW you do the exercise that matters most. So, instead of performing an excellent triceps exercise with inherent risk, make a simple modification that will deliver even better gains while keeping you injury free.For more ways to to make sure that you are getting every exercise right with proper form to build the most muscle while staying free of injury, be sure to stay tuned to this channel and remember to subscribe so that you never miss another video from a physical therapist with a pro sports background as a PT and strength coach.You can subscribe to this channel here - http://bit.ly/2b0coMWFor complete step-by-step workout programs that show you how to do every exercise without the guesswork, head on over to athleanx.com and make sure to use the program selector to find the training program that is best suited to your personal goals.Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS served as both the head physical therapist and assistant strength coach for the New York Mets. Jeff earned his Masters of Physical Therapy and Bachelor’s of Physioneurobiology from the College of Health Sciences University of Connecticut Storrs. He is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).
The PERFECT Pushup ATHLEAN-X™ 2024-03-27 | To do a perfect pushup you have to first make sure that you’re correcting the most common push-up mistakes. It starts in the setup.Far too often, people will find themselves setting up to perform a push up with shrugged shoulders. This is wrong. If you want to perform a proper pushup you want to be sure that your scapulae or shoulder blades are going to be able to move correctly. It is impossible for that to happen when the shoulders are not in the correct place.By actively un-shrugging the shoulders and pulling them down and away from the ears you are setting the shoulder blades and taking them out of elevation. Here they have the ability to stay more engaged with the rib cage and follow the natural arc of the arms as you descend into and out of the pushup.Next, you want to make sure that you are not letting your knees or hips sag. This is one of those areas that doesn’t get enough attention in this popular chest exercise. The hips or knees being lax will cost you whole body tension on the exercise. If you want to be as efficient as possible during each rep you have to keep your entire body tight and engaged.This is easily done by forcefully contracting your quads (which will straighten your knees) and then squeezing your glutes (which will put the hips in their proper alignment). Next you want to focus on the position of your elbows as you descend into the push-up. You do not want to flare the elbows as you lower down. This will place your shoulder joints in a compromised position and limit your strength on the exercise. Instead, let your elbows ride down and back at a 45 degree angle to the torso to maximize both strength and stability on the pushup. You can watch a quick tutorial on how to do that in every rep by checking out this short here - Finally, how do you know if you have gone low enough on the pushup and whether or not you are using proper range of motion on the chest exercise? By simply performing a hand release pushup. Instead of guessing if you have gone low enough ensure that you have by lowering yourself down to the ground under control and when you’ve reached the floor, briefly lift both hands off the ground, place them back on the ground and push up. This will not only remove the momentum from the movement but it will again ensure that your range of motion was full and adequate for producing chest growth and gains. It also takes away the speed component from the push-up exercise allowing you to place more of the tension on the chest.For more tips on how to do a perfect pushup or any other exercise and how to get the most out of every exercise you do, be sure to stay tuned to this channel and remember to subscribe so that you never miss another video from a physical therapist with a pro sports background as a PT and strength coach.You can subscribe to this channel here - http://bit.ly/2b0coMWFor complete step-by-step workout programs, head on over to athleanx.com and make sure to use the program selector to find the training plan that is best suited to your personal goals.Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS served as both the head physical therapist and assistant strength coach for the New York Mets. Jeff earned his Masters of Physical Therapy and Bachelor’s of Physioneurobiology from the College of Health Sciences University of Connecticut Storrs. He is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).
Pro Athlete Trainer Critiques Jake Gyllenhaal’s “Road House” Workout ATHLEAN-X™ 2024-03-25 | If you wanted to know all about Jake Gyllenhaal’s workout for his new movie “Road House”, then you’ve come to the right place. In this video, I am going to break down what Jake’s workout looks like and what he did in pursuit of the body that he achieved for this movie. Just like I’ve done for every celebrity workout critique that I have done in the past, I am going to be respectful and provide an unbiased review of Jake Gyllenhaal’s workout for Road House. Not only that, I am going to break down what parts of the workout you can add to your own as well as what might be unnecessary for your training.To preface this video, I don’t have access to Jake’s entire workout program that he used to prepare his body for this movie, but we do have a snippet thanks to a recent video from Men’s Health. In that video, you get an example of the type of training that Jake Gyllenhaal did, but because it’s simply a small sample size of what he did, I can’t necessarily say that his programming was entirely good or bad. Without the important information, saying one way or the other would be an unfair critique and that’s what I want to avoid when doing these celebrity workout reviews.That said, to start off, Jake does some flexibility work with poles. Now before you think that there is something special or even gimmicky about the poles, that is not the case. These help you to perform assisted stretches. In very much the same way that a squat rack could help you increase a pec minor stretch or a bench can improve a thoracic mobility drill, these help push you beyond your passive limits.From here we see some work on the Proteus. This athletic training device is one that many pro athletes and sports teams use. It provides three dimensional resistance, particularly for rotation dominant athletes. Here, with Jake preparing to be a fighter in Road House, he wanted to move and perform like one. Given the dual benefit of conditioning to help him get cut and lose weight for the movie as well as train his core, this seemed like a good choice. If you don’t have access to this you can perform a landmine twist exercise, as shown in the video.Next we see some isometric work. While I think traditional isometrics performed as resistive holds are good and can increase strength within a limited range of motion from where the isometric is performed, I think there are even better benefits that come from performing overcoming isos. There are a few examples shown in the video to help you get the concept and learn how they improve type ii muscle fiber recruitment.Keeping with the theme of athletic training, up next is sled work. Here we get a good eccentric free exercise that can be done for both strength development in the legs as well as conditioning. Because of the lack of eccentric stress we can perform these multiple times per week without accruing muscle soreness.Now some would argue that there isn’t any traditional weight training being performed here. Well, that’s where the squat and bench press come in. Both exercises are here and have been progressively overloaded. The choices of a safety squat bar and swiss bar seem to be to accommodate a bad shoulder for Jake Gyllenhaal. Though different, I don’t believe they are a compromise and therefore have no problem with them.Continuing on we have chain pushups.This is actually not a gimmick exercise. The chains help to better match the resistance curve of the exercise to make it challenging throughout the entire range of motion. At the bottom of the rep the chains are piling up on the floor and unweighting. At the top, where we are strongest, the chains are lifted and more total weight is added to the system.We finish up with some cross body movement patterns, push/pull combos and some interval based cardio to end.I like the placement of the cardio at the end of the workout so as not to interfere with hypertrophy training as a rule, but here, where the pattern of the workouts is very conditioning based as it is it seems like more of a finisher than it does an avoidance of cardio early on. The push pull patterns are athletic and a great way to train the core. If you are looking to build more strength you can opt for a hang clean and press.Overall, I like Jake Gylllenhaal’s workout. It checks many of the boxes helping him to achieve the body that caused you to look up the workout in the first place.Workout Like Jake Gyllenhaal - http://athleanx.com/x/jake-gyllenhaal-workoutSubscribe to this channel here - http://bit.ly/2b0coMWif you are looking for a step-by-step workout program with a meal plan included, be sure to head over to athleanx.com and use the program selector to find the program that best matches your current training goal and ability levels.For more celebrity workout reviews, make sure to subscribe to this channel here on YouTube and remember to turn on your notifications so you never miss a new video when it’s published.
Do THIS ✅ Not THAT ❌ (pt 1) ATHLEAN-X™ 2024-03-21 | Welcome to the Iron Graveyard, or as you might better know it, do this not that. This is the place where not so great exercises give rise to much better alternatives for a multitude of reasons. Let’s dig into the exercise options and see what you can replace them with to not only get better gains, but to do them more safely.We start with the upright row. To me, there is no worse exercise in the gym. Why? Because it has a close relative that is capable of getting just as many gains (if not more) and in a much safer way. The upright row combines internal shoulder rotation with elevation with weight driving you into internal rotation. Whether you have shoulder impingement, an inflamed shoulder bursa or just plain blanket shoulder dysfunction this is going to be a bad idea in the long run.The better option is to perform the dumbbell high pull. The simple act of letting your elbows trail your wrists by keeping your elbows down as you pull high with the hands is a game changer. Your middle and rear delts will feel the brunt of this shoulder building exerise but so will your traps.Next up we have the lying triceps extension. Now there isn’t anything inherently bad about the skullcrusher variation of this but it does take away a lot of the tension on the triceps at the top of the exercise. The downward force of gravity runs paralell through the forearm rather than more perpendicular and therefore takes some work away from the triceps. Not to mention, this exercise when performed as a skull crusher can be pretty tough on the elbows for some.We move onto the one armed dumbbell row. Typically this is performed on a bench with one knee up. This causes a pelvic instability that, when combined with momentum of swinging a heavier weight dumbbell, can cause you to place a high amount of tension stress on the inguinal canal and create an increased hernia risk. Instead, keep both feet on the floor and do a tripod dumbbell row. Nothing is compromised at all in the row and you ensure that you are performing a great exercise, more safely.We have to talk about the chest fly if we are going to start throwing exercises into the iron graveyard. For me, second to the upright row is the dumbbell chest fly performed unsupported on a bench. This is one of those exercises that stresses the anterior shoulder capsule the deeper you go on it and can result in a pec tear if you aren’t adequately loose when performing it.Using the same exercise and dumbbells on the floor eliminates that risk. You still get a chance to perform a good eccentric overload exercise for the pecs without having to worry about the lack of a safe landing spot for the elbows at the bottom of the rep, where the muscles are most vulnerable to an overstretch. You still get a good stretch on the pecs at the bottom of a floor fly, you just have the extra benefit of having a safety net should you fail.Finally, the lat pulldown behind the neck is not ideal. Your elbows tend to drift too far out to the side when performing this which takes you out of the normal scapular plane. Instead, perform a rocking pulldown or just a plain old traditional lat pulldown to the front. In either one, you’re targeting the lats with a great vertical pulling exercise without compromising the natural biomechanics of the shoulder joint.These are just some of the exercises that exist in the iron graveyard.For more tips on how to get the most out of every exercise you do, be sure to stay tuned to this channel and remember to subscribe so that you never miss another video from a physical therapist with a pro sports background as a PT and strength coach.You can subscribe to this channel here - http://bit.ly/2b0coMWFor complete step-by-step workout programs, head on over to athleanx.com and make sure to use the program selector to find the training plan that is best suited to your personal goals.Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS served as both the head physical therapist and assistant strength coach for the New York Mets. Jeff earned his Masters of Physical Therapy and Bachelor’s of Physioneurobiology from the College of Health Sciences University of Connecticut Storrs. He is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).
STOP Doing 100 Pushups a Day! (I’M BEGGING YOU) ATHLEAN-X™ 2024-03-18 | Have you been told to do 100 pushups a day to build a bigger chest? If so, you’ve likely been given bad advice. In fact, if you can do any more than 20 to 30 reps in a given set, you are leaving better chest gains on the table. Here’s why.In order for an exercise to build chest muscle you have to be sure that it’s progressively overloading the target muscle. Far too often, people will advocate a high volume approach without paying attention to the necessary intensity needed to stimulate new muscle growth. This is especially true when it comes to high rep sets.Research shows that in order for high rep sets to produce muscle growth in the pecs (and other muscles for that matter), you must take those sets to total muscle failure. Stopping a few reps shy of failure and relying on the volume alone will not produce the gains that you were seeking by performing 100 push ups a day.So even though the consistency of the 100 reps of pushups each day is admirable, the effort is not going to be worth the work.So what to do instead?Choose a more difficult push-up variation. Pick one that allows you to complete no more than 12-15 reps in a given set and take each set to failure. Perform 4-5 sets of these either in one shot or spread them out throughout the day as you are able. The key is to complete your 4-5 sets each and every day (or at least 5 times a week at minimum). This volume approach to hypertrophy is still effective and it accounts for the missing intensity that comes from the sub failure approach that we get from 100 pushups a day.You don’t have to stick to the same pushup variation either. You can use pushups that target more of your upper chest by performing decline options or more that hit your lower chest by performing incline options. The key is that you choose a version that challenges you and takes you to failure on each set performed within that 15 rep range.Again, if you were wanting to do more reps you could but then it still requires that you perform the set to absolute failure if you want to see any gains from it.So the next time that you are considering doing 100 push-ups a day think again. Try this higher intensity approach instead and report back as to your progress on this short. Please share this with someone that you know that is stuck in the purposeless pushup cycle.For more tips on how to increase pushups and how to build a bigger chest without weights, be sure to stay tuned to this channel and remember to subscribe so that you never miss another video from a physical therapist with a pro sports background as a PT and strength coach.You can subscribe to this channel here - http://bit.ly/2b0coMWFor complete step-by-step workout programs, head on over to athleanx.com and make sure to use the program selector to find the training plan that is best suited to your personal goals.Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS served as both the head physical therapist and assistant strength coach for the New York Mets. Jeff earned his Masters of Physical Therapy and Bachelor’s of Physioneurobiology from the College of Health Sciences University of Connecticut Storrs. He is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).
The “Dark Side” Of Ozempic (HEALTH PROFESSIONAL EXPLAINS) ATHLEAN-X™ 2024-03-14 | If you or a loved one has thought about taking Ozempic or any other similar weight loss drugs, you are going to want to watch this video until the very end. Today, I am going to explain what Ozempic is, how it works for weight loss, and what you should consider if you are taking or thinking of taking semaglutide based drugs.Ozempic is the brand name for the drug semaglutide, falling under the GLP-1 drug class. Some of these drugs you might know by the name of Ozempic, Wegovy, and Trulicity. These drugs are used to control weight loss in users using a different method than previously applied drugs. Instead of using amphetamine based drugs that essentially “sped up” the calories-out portion of the calories-in-calories-out equation, they are used to control the calories-in portion.These new drugs, such as Ozempic, are now manipulating the calories-in half of the equation by controlling appetite at the neurological level as well as delaying gastric emptying to help you feel more full for longer periods of time, again helping to curb appetite.For those that need Ozempic medically, this drug has been an absolute game changer. While being able to combat the weight gain that is associated with type 2 diabetes, it is able to do so without the worrying side effects of other drugs.I find it common, sometimes even coming from myself, that people are quick to blame someone being overweight for their lack of dedication and effort to combat their severe weight issue. However, that is not always the case - they might be doing the same thing that everyone else is doing in their pursuit of weight loss. The problem is, they could be such a metabolic mess, that despite their best efforts, they just can’t achieve the same results as someone else.While the intended use of Ozempic is noble and helpful, the misuse of the drug is rampant. People are running to using semaglutide products such as Ozempic in a pursuit of losing 10 lbs for their upcoming vacation. This has resulted in issues for the people that actually need the drug, namely: a supply shortage along with the price of the drug skyrocketing making it less affordable to those that really need it.Now, this brings forward the issue of the unintended side effect of Ozempic and similar weight loss drugs; where is that weight coming from? is it all fat, or is it something more? You might not know this, but a significant amount of weight loss does not simply come from fat stores, but also from lean muscle tissue. This becomes a major problem for anyone taking these drugs and is something that they need to be made aware of.In any case of weight loss, there is going to be a portion of that weight that comes from body fat and a portion that comes from muscle as well. However, it is up to you to maximize fat loss while minimizing muscle loss. With drugs like Ozempic, the weight loss is rapid making it hard to control just how much muscle you are losing along with the fat being burned.Studies have shown that taking weight loss drugs like Ozempic resulted in a loss of muscle tissue being between 25-35%That’s not good.In my profession, if I were responsible for someone losing 25-35% of muscle mass, that would be cause for major concern. This would actually lead to the presence of a skinny-fat physique, which is something that is undesirable. Someone who is skinny fat does not have that is lower bodyweight, but does not carry any significant muscle mass.The problem with being skinny fat, especially at the end of a weight loss journey, is that there is a limited supply of metabolically active tissue. This means that if you were to resume eating the way you were before, you’d be packing on fat just quickly as you did before you started your path to losing weight.The trick? Start strength training.The benefit of strength training is that it gives you metabolic forgiveness; the more lean muscle you carry, the less effect food has on you metabolically. You can have that cheat meal without as much worry than if you were not training. If you focus on your efforts in the gym and rely less on drugs like Ozempic, you are helping yourself metabolically, aesthetically, and you are leaving more of the drug available to those that actually need it.Make sure to keep watching to the end to hear about how important your nutrition is in your pursuit of weight loss. It can't be overlooked even for a second.The Truth About Ozempic - http://athleanx.com/x/ozempicSubscribe to this channel here - http://bit.ly/2b0coMWIf you’re looking for a complete workout program and meal plan be sure to head to athleanx.com and use the program selector tool to find the program that best matches up to your goals and current ability levels. For more videos on how to burn fat and build muscle, be sure to subscribe to our channel here on youtube via the above link and turn on your notifications so you never miss a video when it’s published.
John Cena Workout Revealed! 😮😮 ATHLEAN-X™ 2024-03-12 | What does John Cena’s workout look like? Here is some behind the scenes training footage of John Cena in action. Watch the WWE Superstar perform a dumbbell bench press and then pose for the camera after the chest workout is completed. For those wanting to see John Cena’s full workout split, here is the workout routine that his trainer Rob MacIntyre puts him through to build size and strength.Day 11. Squat (see progression notes below)2. Front Squat (see progression notes below)3. Leg Curl – Sets: 3 Reps: 6Day 21. Bench Press (see progression notes below)2. Pause Bench – Single Reps3a. Dumbbell Row – Weeks 1–3: Sets: 4 Reps: 8; Weeks 4–6: Sets: 4 Reps: 53b. Incline Dumbbell Press – Weeks 1–3: Sets: 4 Reps: 8; Weeks 4–6: Sets: 4 Reps: 5 (switch to barbell incline press)4a. Pullup – Weeks 1–3: Sets: 3 Reps: as many as possible; Weeks 4–6: Sets: 3 Reps: 5 (with weight)4b. Pullover – Sets: 3 Reps: 10–12Use the following chart for squat, front squat and leg curl sets and reps…Week 1: 3 sets of 8 repsWeek 2: 3 sets of 6 repsWeek 3: 3 sets of 5 repsWeek 4: 3 sets of 3 repsWeek 5: 3 sets of 2 repsWeek 6: Test your maxDay 31. Snatch (see progression notes below)2. Power Clean (see progression notes below)3. Front Squat (see progression notes below)Day 41. Push Press – Weeks 1–3: Sets: 3 Reps: 5; Weeks 4–6: Sets: 3 Reps: 32. Close-grip Bench Press- Weeks 1–3: Sets: 3 Reps: 5; Weeks 4–6: Sets: 3 Reps: 33a. Lying Dumbbell Triceps Extension – Sets: 4 Reps: 63b. Cable Backhand – Sets: 3 Reps: 8–103c. Seated Dumbbell Curl – Sets: 3 Reps: 84a. Bradford Press – Sets: 3 Reps: 84b. Reverse Curl – Sets: 3 Reps: 84c. Barbell Shrug – Weeks 1, 3, 5: Sets: 4 Reps: 6; Weeks 2, 4, 6: Sets: 3 Reps: 12And use this chart for snatch and power clean sets and reps…Week 1: 4 sets of 3 reps at 75%Week 2: 4 sets of 3 reps at 80%Week 3: 4 sets of 2 reps at 83%Week 4: 4 sets of 2 reps at 85%Week 5: 2 sets of 2 at 90%, then 3 sets of 1 at 95%Week 6: Test your maxFor more tips on how to train like John Cena or any other high level athlete and how to get the most out of every exercise you do, be sure to stay tuned to this channel and remember to subscribe so that you never miss another video from a physical therapist with a pro sports background as a PT and strength coach.You can subscribe to this channel here - http://bit.ly/2b0coMWFor complete step-by-step workout programs, head on over to athleanx.com and make sure to use the program selector to find the training plan that is best suited to your personal goals.Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS served as both the head physical therapist and assistant strength coach for the New York Mets. Jeff earned his Masters of Physical Therapy and Bachelor’s of Physioneurobiology from the College of Health Sciences University of Connecticut Storrs. He is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).
How to Fix an UGLY Squat! (ONE MOVE) ATHLEAN-X™ 2024-03-10 | Want to get a stronger squat with less low back or hip pain along the way? Try this simple squat tip. This is the single best squat tip I can give you if you want to increase your squat pain free, and the best part is, it’s quick and easy to implement.The problem with most squat tutorials is that they provide tips that are difficult to integrate into your movement once you put weight on the bar. This is because they are asking you to focus on areas of the legs or feet that are hard to control or move with precision into proper position.Here, I’m going to make it extremely easy for you.Focus just on your chest and pelvis. This is easy to do since these two areas of the body are large and very controllable.When you descend into a squat you want to make sure that your chest and pelvis are moving down at the same time. The hips will naturally drop back to allow for hip flexion but the timing of their movement will be together with the chest or breast bone. While this may seem rather easy to control during the descent, it does get much more challenging on the way up. In fact, not getting this right leads directly to the dreaded Squat Morning which is a bad mashup between the squat and good morning exercise that places far too much stress on your lower back.Once in the bottom of the hole, your only thought should be to rise straight up out of there by moving your hips and chest up at the same time. Far too often, people lead with their hips. They move their pelvis first which often causes it to shoot backwards which throws your torso forward and places strain on the lumbar paraspinal muscles. Instead, visualize your chest or sternum and your pelvis initiating the upward movement at the same exact time. This will lead to an explosive drive out of the bottom of the squat that should be simple to maintain throughout the rest of the range of motion since you would be past the sticking point already at the bottom. What makes this even easier is the fact, like I pointed out, that the hips and chest are easy places to control. You do not need a lot of proprioceptive control in order to be not only aware of the position of these in space but also to move them in synch with each other.Not only does this prevent the de-segmentation that leads to the uglier versions of the squat but it also allows you to maintain a straight bar path. Having a straight up and down path of the bar during the squat is a critical requirement of perfect squat form. Any deviation forward or backward of the bar will lead to compensation in some of the joints (either the hips, ankles, knees or lower back) that can cause breakdown over time.So next time you step under the barbell and prepare to squat, make sure you focus on the chest and pelvis moving together and I promise you will see an increase in your squat weight and an improvement in your form right away.For more tips on how to squat with perfect form and to make sure you get the most out of every exercise you do, be sure to stay tuned to this channel and remember to subscribe so that you never miss another video from a physical therapist with a pro sports background as a PT and strength coach.You can subscribe to this channel here - http://bit.ly/2b0coMWFor complete step-by-step workout programs, head on over to athleanx.com and make sure to use the program selector to find the training plan that is best suited to your personal goals.Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS served as both the head physical therapist and assistant strength coach for the New York Mets. Jeff earned his Masters of Physical Therapy and Bachelor’s of Physioneurobiology from the College of Health Sciences University of Connecticut Storrs. He is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).
Heavy vs Light Weights for Muscle Growth (WHICH WORKS BETTER) ATHLEAN-X™ 2024-03-07 | If you have ever wondered whether to use heavy vs light weight to build muscle, you’ve come to the right place. In this video, I am going to explain to you whether you need to use heavy weight or light weight in order to build muscle and when to use both in your training. You might think one is better than the other in your pursuit to build muscle, but this might be a flawed way of thinking and you could be leaving gains on the table.The video starts off with a quiz where I want you to leave your answer in a comment below. In this side-by-side of Jesse performing the dumbbell bench press, I want you to make a guess as to which clip shows Jesse building more muscle. Is it when he uses the heavy weight or is when he uses the light weight? In the heavier set, Jesse is using a 8-10 rep max and in the lighter set, he is using a 20-30 rep max. Clearly he hits failure earlier in the set with the heavier weight and he is still grinding out reps with the lighter weight. Once you have your answer, leave a comment thinking which one builds more muscle.My answer? Jesse is building muscle with both the heavy weight and the light weight.If you answered like me or even chose lighter weight as the winner, you would be wrong according to a comment left on a recent video. The commenter believes that you cannot build muscle with anything less than 80% of your one rep max and that using lighter weight is a waste of time.This is where I have an issue. Research has pointed out that you can build muscle in any rep range as long as the intensity of the set is adequate. At heavier weights, this effort and intensity does not require you to achieve failure simply because the amount of tension on the muscles is greater due to the heavier weight. However, to achieve the same adequate tension required for muscle growth when using light weights, the intensity has to be much greater. That means as the number of reps you perform goes up, the closer to failure you have to go.See, when it comes to building muscle, tension is the driving factor. With heavy weight, tension is achieved simply by the amount of load used. With light weight, there is far less tension outright, thus to equate it to heavy weight, training to failure is required.It doesn’t stop there, however. There needs to be an understanding of what failure is within these rep ranges. In low rep ranges with heavy weight, there is no subjectivity. You either can lift the weight or you cannot. When using moderate weight, especially in the 8-12 rep range, failure becomes slightly more subjective. You will probably have a good indication of failure, but in many cases, you might be able to squeeze out another rep or two.When using light weights and the amount of reps you are performing gets higher, such as in the 20-30 rep range, failure becomes extremely subjective. You might stop the set when your muscles begin to burn, thinking that it’s become too uncomfortable to perform another rep. However, I would argue that this is where your set is just beginning. If you decided to revel in the burn and push past that uncomfortable feeling, you would see that you are capable of quite a few more reps. This is where the magic happens.I like to say that if you are using light weight and that you give up the set when the burn starts, you’ve wasted not only your set, but your time. The most productive, growth-inducing reps occur when the burn starts. As a matter of fact, those light weights can produce just as much muscle growth as the heavy weights as long as the set is taken to true failure.As a matter of fact, you should explore training in all rep ranges as we know that heavy tension (in the form of weight) will only produce gains for a limited amount of time. Moderate rep ranges are great for eccentric overload, but with the packaged soreness that comes along with it, there needs to be something else that allows you to train hard. This is where metabolic training comes in thanks to the use of light weights.But now comes the question; when should you use light weight and heavy weight in your training?Continue watching the video to see the other scenarios where light weight and heavy weight should be used to build muscle.Heavy Weights vs Light Weights - http://athleanx.com/x/heavy-vs-light-weightSubscribe to this channel here - http://bit.ly/2b0coMWIf you’re looking for a complete workout program and meal plan with sets and reps done right be sure to head to athleanx.com and use the program selector tool to find the program that best matches up to your goals and current ability levels. For more videos on how to build muscle be sure to subscribe to our channel here on youtube via the above link and turn on your notifications so you never miss a video when it’s published.
Pullups Just Got a Lot Easier! (CHEAT CODE) ATHLEAN-X™ 2024-03-03 | Are you looking for a way to make pullups a lot easier? What I am going to show you in this video is how making a simple change to the way you do pullups can make the exercise a whole lot easier which will allow you to get more reps in than ever before.When it comes to pullups, one of the most overlooked aspects of the exercise is the present energy leaks when performing the movement. By not addressing these leaks, you will actually be making pullups a lot harder than they need to be, meaning you will perform less reps and as a result, see less gains.The best way to make sure you can do more pullups and see greater muscle growth as a byproduct is to plug those energy leaks before you even begin your next set.It starts with your hands and how you grip the bar when you perform your pullups. First, let me ask you a question; do you just pull straight down when you do pullups? If so, there is a simple change that you will want to make. Instead of pulling straight down, try to pull your hands inward towards each other, while pulling down at the same time.I realize that they will not actually travel towards each other since they are locking into place by the grip on the bar, but what this will do is engage the chest muscles as they are in the same position of the finish of an incline bench press.This simple action will actually stop those energy leaks from occurring as you are creating rigidity throughout your torso. By allowing your body to be limp and simply go along for the ride when you do pullups, you are thwarting an opportunity move your body in space with more control.The more control you have over your body in space while performing the exercise will allow you to perform more pullups every time you do a set of them. Remember, it’s not always just what exercise that you do, but how you perform them that matters. If you want to see the best results possible when doing pullups, you need to address the small nuances that make the exercise easier by nature. Just going through the motions of the exercise won’t accomplish the goals you are after, whether that is the ability to do more pullups or simply to build muscle.As I always say; the details matter.So next time you go to perform a set of pullups, remember to address the way you grip the bar when you perform the exercise. Don’t just pull straight up and down. Try to pull those hands down and inward towards each other. This will make sure that you are plugging those energy leaks and keeping your torso nice and rigid.For more tips on how to do more pullups and make sure you get the most out of every exercise you do, be sure to stay tuned to this channel and remember to subscribe so that you never miss another video from a physical therapist with a pro sports background as a PT and strength coach.You can subscribe to this channel here - http://bit.ly/2b0coMWFor complete step-by-step workout programs, head on over to athleanx.com and make sure to use the program selector to find the training plan that is best suited to your personal goals.Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS served as both the head physical therapist and assistant strength coach for the New York Mets. Jeff earned his Masters of Physical Therapy and Bachelor’s of Physioneurobiology from the College of Health Sciences University of Connecticut Storrs. He is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).
STOP Messing Up Chest Training (EASY FIX!) ATHLEAN-X™ 2024-02-28 | f you want to stop messing up your chest training then consider this video as a roadmap to making sure you get your chest exercises right every single time. It starts with understanding the anatomy of the chest, and for that, we break out the muscle markers here to help us. When it comes to the pecs there are 3 separate heads:- Upper Chest (clavicular head)- Middle Chest (sternal head)- Lower Chest (abdominal head)The most important element of the different heads of the pecs is the orientation of the muscle fibers that run through this portion of the muscle. For example, when you look at the lower or abdominal head of the pecs you see that the fibers travel high to low. In order to best hit these fibers you would then want to perform exercises that allowed your humerus to travel from a high to low position. This would not only align the fibers best mechanically for the direction of travel but it would also help you to subject them to the greatest stretch at the end range of motion of the exercise.When it comes to the lower chest we are talking about exercises like dips, decline bench press, and incline pushups (along with of course the crossover performed from a high to low position). Make sure to include at least one of these exercises into your chest workout if you want to have a balanced chest without a saggy lower chest line.The next area of the chest to focus on is the largest area and that is the sternal head. Here the fibers run more horizontally from the sternum to their attachment on the humerus. Given their straight east to west alignment you will find that in order to hit this area the most you will want to perform exercises that allow your humerus to move in this direction.The obvious ones like crossovers and banded saws are those that drag the arm not only to midline but across the body at the same time for a complete chest contraction. Adduction of the arm across the chest is key if you want to see your greatest chest growth. That said, any movement where the arm travels between 45 and 90 degrees of abduction at the shoulder in relation to the torso is going to do a good job of helping you to grow this area of your pecs.Think of the basics like heavy bench pressing and dumbbell bench press variations.Finally, the upper chest fibers or clavicular fibers run from a low to high position. They originate from the clavicle and travel down again to the common attachment point on the humerus. That said, if you are going to follow the fibers and train this area most effectively then you are going to need to perform exercises that allow your arms to travel from a position low and away to up and across your body.This includes things like decline pushups, incline dumbbell bench press or incline barbell bench press as well as crossovers that run from low to high.When you follow the fibers (muscle markers not needed) it makes it so much easier to apply chest training science to your training. When this happens, you ability to grow a bigger chest becomes almost automatic. Start following this advice today and I promise your chest will start growing and your chest exercise selection will become second nature.For more workouts to build a bigger chest be sure to stay tuned to this channel and remember to subscribe so you never miss another video from a physical therapist with a pro sports background as a PT and strength coach.You can subscribe to this channel here - http://bit.ly/2b0coMWFor complete step-by-step workout programs, head on over to athleanx.com and make sure to use the program selector to find the training plan that is best suited to your personal goals.Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS served as both the head physical therapist and assistant strength coach for the New York Mets. Jeff earned his Masters of Physical Therapy and Bachelor’s of Physioneurobiology from the College of Health Sciences University of Connecticut Storrs. He is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).
Stop Doing 3 Sets of 12 To Build Muscle (IM BEGGING YOU!) ATHLEAN-X™ 2024-02-26 | If you are doing “3 sets of 12” in your workouts to build muscle, then you must watch this before your next training session. You see, there is inherently nothing wrong with any rep scheme that you perform if you do so with high effort and an adequate amount of intensity to build muscle. The problem is, 3 sets of 12 is so commonly performed as the end goal rather than considering the effort behind it that it can become a hallmark of ineffective workout programs.I start this video off by having Jesse perform a sets of dumbbell incline bench press for 12 reps. Your job is to see if you can spot what he is doing wrong on the set. Many might look to the angle of his elbows, the path of the dumbbells or the position of his hands even. None of these would be right. The problem is the speed of each rep, more specifically, the speed of the eccentric or lowering part of the rep.When you perform your eccentric reps too quickly you miss out on one of the most significant muscle hypertrophy stimuli that is available to you in your workouts. Often times, people will speed through this portion of the rep, completing the lowering of the dumbbells in one second or less. This is not as detrimental when the weights that are being used are significantly heavy and the main driver of growth in this case is mechanical tension.When the weights start to get lighter, allowing for reps to failure that are greater than 5-6, and more accurately up in the 8-12 rep range, then you need to rely on alternate methods for driving overload. The eccentric muscle damage pathway is one that is perfectly suited to help you to grow. The key factor here is to try and extend that period to about 3 seconds per rep, paired with a 1 second explosive concentric. This is a total of 4 seconds per rep.When performing a set of 12 reps, this would take you to 48 seconds for the set duration - enough accumulated time under tension to make an impact when it comes to building muscle.Remember, tension is the language that muscles speak. You must become fluent in it if you want to build muscle fast and forever.In the absence of heavy weights, that many would argue are better suited to build strength rather than size, then you need to employ methods of set intensification that will help you to grow muscle. Far too often, people see “3 sets of 12” written on their workout program and they simply want to be able to check off each set and every rep as either accomplished or not. What I am saying is that this mentality is short sighted and not the original goal of the prescription. Who cares if you get to 12 reps? If you fail at 11 is the set not still effective? If slowing the speed of the eccentric down causes you to feel each rep in the target muscle more easily and engage that muscle as intended - does it matter that you came up one rep short of your 12 rep mission?The answer to all of these questions is no, it does not matter.Stop fixating on a specific rep count and instead make sure that you make your reps count.Add onto this the fact that research has shown that you can build muscle with up to 30 reps as long as you perform these sets to absolute failure. The lighter the weights you use, the more important it is to push through the metabolic burn to the point of momentary muscle failure in order to see growth from it. The point is, the 12 rep range isn’t magical but it does require a few modifications to it to make sure that your cumulative tension is equated to the much higher mechanical tensions delivered to muscles when using heavier weight sets.Likewise, when it comes to performing 3 sets, why? Is there something magical about the number three in so far that doing just 1 or 2 sets would render the exercise ineffective? If you are lightening up your weights because you are fearful that you can complete all 3 sets with that weight then you are already making your first mistake. Instead, use the heaviest weight that you can perform 10-12 reps with in your first set and simply adjust down as needed in subsequent sets to match your output level around your fatigue.The bottom line is, becoming formulaic with your workouts and fixating on numbers for sets and reps is often a limiter of your ultimate muscle gains. 3 sets of 12 are fine, but when it becomes your mentality it becomes a major roadblock for more muscle growth.Do This Instead - http://athleanx.com/x/3-sets-of-12Subscribe to this channel here - http://bit.ly/2b0coMWIf you’re looking for a complete workout program and meal plan with sets and reps done right be sure to head to athleanx.com and use the program selector tool to find the program that best matches up to your goals and current ability levels. For more videos on how to build muscle be sure to subscribe to our channel here on youtube via the above link and turn on your notifications so you never miss a video when it’s published.
The ONLY Way to Wider Biceps (SCIENCE BASED) ATHLEAN-X™ 2024-02-19 | If you have skinny arms that you want to get wider biceps so you can fill out your shirt sleeves, you are going to want to watch this video. Here, I am going to show you the only way for you to get wider biceps and get bigger, thicker arms in the process. More often than not, people will focus their attention to the height of their arms by working on building up their bicep peaks. While this is will help to grow bigger biceps and bigger arms in the process, it’s not how you grow wider biceps.In order to get wider biceps, especially when you viewed from the front, you are actually going to want limit the biceps involvement and focus on another muscle in the upper arm; the brachialis. If you don’t know where it is, the muscle is situated beneath the biceps and is slightly visible if you flex the arm and palpate on the outside of it. Just underneath the long head of the biceps and located between the biceps and triceps, the brachialis is muscle responsible for elbow flexion.Unlike the biceps however, the brachialis only has the job of flexing the elbow as opposed to being able to supinate the forearm and flex the shoulder. The main difference however is that due to the fact that a muscle is strongest in its midrange, the brachialis is going to be more strongly contributing to elbow flexion in the beginning third to half of an elbow bend and the biceps will kick in more strongly from the midpoint up.Now, since the two muscles share the common function of flexing the elbow, it is impossible to completely isolate one muscle over the other. That being said, there are a few things you can do to favor the brachialis by reducing some of the contribution of the biceps by impairing it’s preferred action (supination) which can be done by simply keeping the forearm pronated.The reason you want to focus on the brachialis as opposed to the biceps themselves is that by building up this muscle, you are actually going to be thickening the outer side of the upper arm, between the biceps and triceps. Training this muscle will also increase the biceps peaks, creating a fuller appearance overall and allowing you to fill those shirt sleeves.You might be thinking that the best exercise for targeting this brachialis is the hammer curl. While this is certainly an option, it’s not going to give you the optimal results you are looking for simply because the grip needed to hold the dumbbells during a hammer curl is neutral as as opposed to the pronation you are ideally looking for.Instead, we need to find exercises that will have you using a pronated grip as opposed to neutral or supinated.The first exercise in your arsenal to attack this muscle is the cross body hammer curl. This version of the hammer curl allows you to stay pronated through the concentric portion of the lift, meaning that you will be preferentially targeting the brachialis as opposed to the biceps. You will likely be using lighter weights than you would on a traditional hammer curl, but that’s okay. Lighter weights doesn’t mean less gains.The next exercise is a close grip pull up. Utilizing bodyweight for this exercise will allow you to provide more overload to the muscle than you would traditionally be able to using free weights. If you are not strong enough to perform pull-ups without assistance, that it is fine. Instead of skipping the exercise altogether, I implore you to use a resistance band under your feet in order to allow you to perform the exercise in the first place. You will still be able to overload the brachialis this way.The third exercise up is the Kong curl, a cable curl variation that takes some of the stress off the biceps by once again performing them out of a more pronated position and with less tension in the fully elongated or stretch position. This is not a cable crossover. This is not for the chest. You want to curl your hand in a similar manner to the cross body hammer curl.This particular exercise allowed me to transition back to doing the standard cable curl. Coming off the biceps tear this was something I just simply could not do. Not only did this biceps exercise help me to build up to that but it also noticeably helped to build back some of the width to the upper arm that was lacking after the injury.Lastly, we have something called a drop curl. Here you keep the tension on the brachialis by holding the "non-working" dumbbell in the midrange position. Alternating dropping one dumbbell down at a time and keep the hand facing down or slightly down in order to minimize the biceps and maximize the brachialis.For more exercises to get wider biceps and more bicep exercises ranked, be sure to subscribe to this channel here.For complete workouts and step by step meal plans be sure to head to athleanx.com and use the program selector to find the plan that best matches your exact goals.Wider Biceps Here - http://athleanx.com/x/only-way-to-wide-bicepsSubscribe to this channel here - http://bit.ly/2b0coMW
Long Biceps vs Short Biceps (IT MATTERS!) ATHLEAN-X™ 2024-02-15 | Do you have long biceps or short biceps? In this quick video you’ll learn the difference between the two and it can easily be determined by the number of fingers you can fit in the gap between the end of the biceps muscle and the forearm (when the arm is flexed at 90 degrees).In general, there are two popular anatomical configurations of the biceps brachii. Those with not much gap showing, able to fit only one finger at most, are noted for having very large arm size overall with a very full biceps muscle. At the same time, the amount of biceps peak that is visible in these types of arms is usually minimized. On the other hand, when the gap widens and two fingers can be fit in the space when flexing the arm, this is known to be a shorter biceps. Here you may lack some of the fullness and width of the biceps brachii but will likely have more height and peak on the biceps.In both cases, the visible development of the muscle is going to depend on you training the biceps appropriately.Now that said, there is nothing that you will be able to do in training and your biceps workouts that is going to fix the gap in your biceps. This is entirely genetic and determined by the length of the tendons in relation to the muscle belly that gives the appearance of the gap. Nothing you do can add muscle to a tendon. That said, you can work to increase the height of your biceps peak.This is determined once again largely through genetics but does also have the ability to be influenced by the developoment of the long head of the biceps. This outer head of the biceps, when trained, can grow giving the appearance of a taller biceps. Likewise, when training, it is possible to choose the proper exercises to more effectively influence this area of the arms.These long head of the biceps exercises are ones that place the arm in a position behind the body since this places a great stretch on the long head prior to each rep. Biceps exercises like the drag curl, cable stretch curls and the incline dumbbell curl are all options for effectively hitting the long head. The incredible waiter’s curl is another that hits this area with more bias.Regardless of what your biceps looks like right now, you can have an amazing looking set of arms when flexed if you put in the hard work and look to grow bigger biceps. Even the guy with the 5 finger gap shown in the video has worked to improve the size of his biceps and his hard work has paid off. Don’t let your genetics dictate whether your biceps hold back your overall physique aesthetics.For more biceps training tips and bicep workouts you can do with limited time and equipment, be sure to stay tuned to this channel and remember to subscribe so you never miss another video from a physical therapist with a pro sports background as a PT and strength coach.You can subscribe to this channel here - http://bit.ly/2b0coMWFor complete step-by-step workout programs, head on over to athleanx.com and make sure to use the program selector to find the training plan that is best suited to your personal goals.Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS served as both the head physical therapist and assistant strength coach for the New York Mets. Jeff earned his Masters of Physical Therapy and Bachelor’s of Physioneurobiology from the College of Health Sciences University of Connecticut Storrs. He is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).
15 Most JACKED Athletes Ever! (NFL EDITION) ATHLEAN-X™ 2024-02-14 | Have you ever wondered who the most jacked athletes ever were in the NFL? In this short, I am going to show you the top 15 most jacked NFL players of all time, with not only pictures of what they look like, but what some of their training looks like as well.When it comes to an athletic body, you will notice that along with size and muscularity, there is a level of leanness that goes along with it as well.Remember, when performance is the goal, especially with skill position players; excess body fat is going to hinder just how well that player does on the field.Strength, size, and muscular development is just as important. Why? In order to make and break tackles, as well as create separation from opposing players, an NFL athlete needs to put on that specific size and muscular development. This will help them perform at the highest level.Being a jacked athlete is extremely important to their success on the playing field, especially with NFL players.Now, some might immediately presume that an athlete that has significant muscular development is guilty of abusing performance enhancing drugs; it is important to remember that these athletes have strict diets and workout regimens that allow them to reach their physique and athletic skills. It always comes down to hard work and consistency in both of these aspects.The list of jacked athletes from the NFL are as follows:15. Tyreek Hill14. Will Levis13. Saquon Barkley12. Christian McCaffery11. Antonio Brown10. Bo Jackson9. Derrick Henry8. Chris Carson7. Miles Garrett6. JJ Watt5. Aaron Donald4. Danielle Hunter3. Steve Weatherford2. Shannon Sharpe1. DK MetcalfWhat do you think of this list? Did I miss anyone that you think might be the most jacked NFL player of all time? Leave a comment below to let me know just who is on your mind.For more jacked athletes coming from a variety of different professional sports, be sure to stay tuned to this channel and remember to subscribe so you never miss another video from a physical therapist with a pro sports background as a PT and strength coach.You can subscribe to this channel here - http://bit.ly/2b0coMWFor complete step-by-step workout programs, head on over to athleanx.com and make sure to use the program selector to find the training plan that is best suited to your personal goals.Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS served as both the head physical therapist and assistant strength coach for the New York Mets. Jeff earned his Masters of Physical Therapy and Bachelor’s of Physioneurobiology from the College of Health Sciences University of Connecticut Storrs. He is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).
Stop F*cking Up RDLs (PROPER FORM!) ATHLEAN-X™ 2024-02-11 | Do you know how to do an RDL? If not, you're in luck. In this video, I am going to show you exactly how to perform RDL’s so that you can perform the exercise every time without making a single mistake. Remember, it's not just what exercise you do, but how you do them that matters the most and I want to make sure that you get the RDL form right every time you do them.Step 1 of this RDL guide is using where you grab the bar:If you take too narrow a grip on the barbell then you are likely going to run out of room for your hands when you lift the bar to the top. You want to avoid taking too wide of a grip however since that is going to make it difficult for you to engage your lats and keep the lift tight and stable from the bottom to the top. The ideal grip width on the RDL is to have your hands just outside your knees so that your biceps are touching them.Step 2 of this Romanian Deadlift guide is making sure that the lats are kept tight throughout the lift.Building off of what was just pointed out, you want to make sure that you not only tighten the lats as if you are doing a straight arm pushdown at the start of the movement, but that you keep them that way throughout the entire movement. Tightness of the lats is key to making sure that the bar doesn’t drift out in front of you and cause your form to breakdown. Drifting of the bar too far forward is going to cause unnecessary strain on the low back as we will point out later.Step 3 of this RDL’s tutorial is using keeping the right cue in mind when lifting the bar up.Never think of the RDL as a vertical movement if you want to do it right. Instead, think of it as a horizontal movement where the forward motion of the hips from a hinge position is what “lifts” the bar off the ground. If you think vertical, the tendency may be for you to pull too much with the extensors of the lower back rather than properly loading the glutes and hamstrings with a hinge.Step 4 of this facepull tutorial is the hinge:Arguably, the most important biomechnical element of a proper RDL is making sure you execute the hip hinge correctly. Here is a visual if you have a hard time knowing what this is supposed to feel like. Take your hands and place them along the inguinal creases that run down the upper portion of your thighs. From here, imagine closing an open drawer behind you using your butt only. This will require that your pinkies fold into the crease and are hidden between the lower abdomen and the upper thigh.Step 5 of this Barbell RDL how-to is the path of the bar on the way down and up.If the hinge is performed correctly, you will find that the bar path is nearly vertical straight up and down throughout the lift. If you don’t hinge back enough the bar will naturally want to drift too far forward as mentioned earlier which will cause you to put too much stress on the low back extensor muscles. This will also cause a crooked bar path which will be a dead giveaway to anyone watching you perform the lift from the side.Step 6 of this RDL how-to is the finish:Remember what was pointed out before. You must move the bar to the top and finish with your hips in full hip extension. The only way to do this is to think of this as a forward and back exercise rather than an up and down one. The hips must finish fully extended by concentrating on recruiting the glutes to drive them there. Step 7 of this RDL instructional is to understand how to do dumbbell RDL’s if you prefer using them.The place that you carry the dumbbells is critical to getting the dumbbell RDL right. You don’t want to carry them out in front of your body. This will, like with the barbell, create too much strain on the lower back. You also don’t want to carry them directly at your sides. This will make the biomechanics of this posterior chain glute and hamstring exercise feel awkward. Instead, you need to angle them at 45 degrees and place your hands on your thighs. Keep them there throughout as you let them ride up and down as you perform the rep.Perfect RDL Form Here - http://athleanx.com/x/how-to-RDLSubscribe to this channel here - http://bit.ly/2b0coMWIf you are looking for step-by-step programs that include how-to guides on every exercise you do, you can find them over at athleanx.com and be sure to use the program selector to find the program that best matches your goals.For more exercise guides and how-to instructionals, be sure to subscribe to this channel here on YouTube and remember to turn on your notifications so that you never miss a new video when it's published.
$20 For A Massive Deadlift ATHLEAN-X™ 2024-02-09 | If you want to get a stronger deadlift, working up to possibly even three times your bodyweight or more, then you’re going to have to get your deadlift form right. One of the earliest places that you can intervene is with the tightness of your lats when you setup to the bar.All too often, people forget to create genuine tightness in their lats which causes a loose upper body and one that is likely to succomb to gravity and allow the thoracic spine to round once they initiate the lift. This will instantly break down the stiffness of the torso that will be beneficial and necessary to lifting heavy weights on a deadlift and setting a new pr.So what do you do?Learn what real stiffness should feel like by using the $20 bill technique for tightness. Take out a twenty dollar bill and place it under the armpit on one side. Make sure to squeeze it tightly to your body and not allow it to slip out or drop to the floor at any point during the lift. In fact, even if given a slight tug at any point during the deadlift, the bill should not be able to be removed if you are properly engaging your lats.Now if you don’t have twenty dollars you can certainly do this with a smaller bill or you can even place something thin like an envelope under your armpit and get the same effect.The goal is not to go around deadlifting with bills in your armpits forever but rather to learn the proper technique and form on the deadlift to get the lats to be extremely active participants in the lift. This is just one of the many form checks that you need to be aware of when working on getting a stronger deadlift. How far over the bar you are when you attempt to lift it is also extremely important. If you find yourself leaning too far forward then you are going to lose the leverage needed to break the bar off the ground. If you are sitting too far back then you are going to lose your balance as you get towards the top.Likewise, forgetting to bring your glutes to the bar as you cross the knee and drive the bar to the top is a big deadlift mistake. It is important to remember that the exercise is less about lifting the bar straight up as it is extending the hips forward to drive the bar up. These are all important elements of the deadlift that you need to get right if you want to increase your deadlift strength.For more ways to make sure you are getting every exercise right with proper form to build the most muscle possible, be sure to stay tuned to this channel and remember to subscribe so you never miss another video from a physical therapist with a pro sports background as a PT and strength coach.You can subscribe to this channel here - http://bit.ly/2b0coMWFor complete step-by-step workout programs, head on over to athleanx.com and make sure to use the program selector to find the training plan that is best suited to your personal goals.Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS served as both the head physical therapist and assistant strength coach for the New York Mets. Jeff earned his Masters of Physical Therapy and Bachelor’s of Physioneurobiology from the College of Health Sciences University of Connecticut Storrs. He is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).
Cant Get Bigger Biceps? (JUST DO THIS!) ATHLEAN-X™ 2024-02-06 | Are you doing curls but struggling with getting bigger biceps in the process? Well, there is a reason for that that I will show you and explain the best way to fix it. By making this one change, you will unlock bigger biceps.It starts by knowing the three major functions of the biceps:1. Supination of the forearm2. Flexion of the elbow3. Shoulder flexionBy activating all three of these functions when performing any kind of bicep curl, you will be making the first step towards getting bigger biceps.Unfortunately, this where people often screw up the curl and hinder their biceps growth. Too often, I see people engaging shoulder flexion too early in the rep, leading to their arms coming out in front of them, shifting focus from the biceps to the front delts. If you allow this to happen, you will be giving the biceps less work on each rep, making the ability to get big biceps that much harder.There is an easy fix for this, however and making one simple change to your routine will help you grow bigger biceps; that is to simply start doing strict curls. Performing the strict curl will force you into proper curl mechanics which will help you to build big biceps. To perform the strict curl, you need to have your butt, upper back, and head against the wall with your feet no more than 12 inches from the wall and then initiate the curl. At no point during the rep do these points of contact leave the wall.You will notice that the strict curl will force you to perform the curl without letting the front delts take over the exercise. How? If you allow your elbows to drift out in front of your body, the strict curl becomes near impossible. This is because the front delts are not strong enough to lift the weight without major assistance from the biceps. With the arms too far out in front, you are taking away biceps contribution.To make sure that you don't fail a rep, you need to make sure those elbows stay tighter to your body without coming out too far forward. Remember, a little bit of shoulder flexion at the end of the rep is normal and again, one of the major functions of the biceps. Just don't go overboard.Once you nail the mechanics of the strict curl, you can bring the same form into your normal biceps curls. If you just do this, you will be on your way to bigger biceps. Remember, it's not just what exercise you are doing, but how you do them that matters the most. By making some slight tweaks to the exercise, sometimes by performing another one in addition, you will be able to make sure you get the form right every single time.For more ways to make sure you are getting every exercise right with proper form to build the most muscle possible, be sure to stay tuned to this channel and remember to subscribe so you never miss another video from a physical therapist with a pro sports background as a PT and strength coach.You can subscribe to this channel here - http://bit.ly/2b0coMWFor complete step-by-step workout programs, head on over to athleanx.com and make sure to use the program selector to find the training plan that is best suited to your personal goals.Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS served as both the head physical therapist and assistant strength coach for the New York Mets. Jeff earned his Masters of Physical Therapy and Bachelor’s of Physioneurobiology from the College of Health Sciences University of Connecticut Storrs. He is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).
STOP Doing This AFTER Your Workout! ATHLEAN-X™ 2024-02-04 | When it comes to working out, it isn’t just what you do during your workout but after your workout as well that makes a difference in how much muscle you can build. In this video, I’m going to share with you the 10 worst things to do after training that can hold back your gains and undercut the effectiveness of the time you spent in the gym.The first of these is the use of NSAIDS or ibuprofen after a workout. People often take these in order to diminish the delayed onset muscle soreness they may experience the next day. While this may in fact help with that it also prematurely interrupts the inflammatory process that is a natural part of muscle repair and recovery. Without this, your body may not grow to its fullest muscular potential. The next thing you want to avoid if your goal is to build muscle is jumping into an ice bath. While cold water immersion therapy has been shown to be beneficial in so many ways it, similar to the use of aspirin, can prematurely blunt the natural inflammatory process that is a natural part of helping to grow muscle.Next up is one that many are likely happy to put in the rear view mirror and we are talking about the anabolic window. It was once thought that you needed to ingest protein within 45 minutes following a workout in order to see the benefits of muscle protein synthesis. Thankfully, that is no longer supported by science. As long as you have protein either before or within a couple hours after training you are good to go if your goal is to gain muscle mass.That said, you do not want to diminish the importance of protein in general. Some have taken the lower importance on protein timing to mean that protein intake can also be casual. This is not the case. You need to try and ingest at least .8 to 1.2 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight. Doing this in small and somewhat equal amounts will ensure the consistency is there to see your best muscle growth possible.Next you want to be careful about when you are doing your conditioning and cardio workouts. If the choice was to do them before or after your workout and your goal was to build muscle then you would definitely opt for after since you wouldn’t want to tire yourself out before your strength training. That said, even right after your workout can be counterproductive for reasons supported by science. You are better off putting them on off days if able.A couple of things that people might overlook but they are no less important in terms of seeing results from your gym workouts is not weighing yourself after a workout and forgetting to look in the mirror before you leave the gym. If you gauge the effectiveness of your workout by the weight on the scale you are going to be misled, either up or down, by the number. Also, if you forget to look at yourself with a pump you are missing a golden opportunity for motivation to keep you coming back based on the fact that this is one of the only times you get a glimpse of what the after will look like when you are currently the before.There are a few other mistakes you are going to want to avoid and make sure you’re not doing after a workout. I will summarize them with time stamps here to follow.In the meantime, be sure to avoid these after workout mistakes and make sure to head to athleanx.com if you want a step by step workout and meal plan to help you build muscle without any guesswork at all.For more science based workout and nutrition videos like this, be sure to subscribe to our channel here on youtube via the link below and remember to turn on your notifications so you never miss a video when published.Subscribe to this channel here - http://bit.ly/2b0coMW Build Muscle with Science - athleanx.com/x/muscle-scienceJeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS served as both the head physical therapist and assistant strength coach for the New York Mets. Jeff earned his Masters of Physical Therapy and Bachelor’s of Physioneurobiology from the College of Health Sciences University of Connecticut Storrs. He is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).
STOP Doing Pushups Like This! (SAVE A FRIEND) ATHLEAN-X™ 2024-02-02 | Do you know where your hands should go when doing push ups? There is actually one specific spot that is best for your body to ensure that you not only do proper pushups and effectively target your chest but that you keep your elbows, wrists and shoulders healthy in the process.Far too often when people do push ups they place their hands either too close or too wide on the floor. This has repercussions up the kinetic chain that can affect your shoulders or even your wrists.If you place your hands too close to each other, the angle of your wrists will be torqued in order to keep your hands flat on the floor. If you place them too wide then you will introduce too much stress to the anterior shoulder capsule and may lead to shoulder pain.This is especially true when you consider that the pushup exercise is often one of those high rep exercises that people do many of per week or even daily. Some even go as far as doing 100 pushups a day and thinking that it will help them build a bigger chest. That is topic for another video but suffice it to say, you need to have your hands in the right place.In order to do this, there is a simple 4 step process that will make sure you get your pushup hand placement right every single time.First, lay face down on the floor with your arms outstretched in front of you on the floor. From here, slide your elbows down towards your sides and stop when they are at a 45-60 degree angle from your torso.At this point, don’t think about moving your arms anymore. They are exactly where they need to be.Simply slide your hands back along the floor until they are directly under your shoulders. At this point, push yourself straight up and enjoy the benefits that this great upper body push exercise has to offer. You can build a big chest with pushups as long as you do them properly. This isn’t the only thing you need to know about how to do pushups correctly.If you want a complete video on proper pushup form and the biggest mistakes people make when doing push ups, be sure to check it out on this channel. Also, as mentioned, if you want to know why 100 pushups a day workouts are a bad idea you’ll want to check that video out as well.For more ways to make sure you are getting every exercise right with proper form, be sure to stay tuned to this channel and remember to subscribe so you never miss another video from a physical therapist with a pro sports background as a PT and strength coach.You can subscribe to this channel here - http://bit.ly/2b0coMWFor complete step-by-step workout programs, head on over to athleanx.com and make sure to use the program selector to find the training plan that is best suited to your personal goals.Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS served as both the head physical therapist and assistant strength coach for the New York Mets. Jeff earned his Masters of Physical Therapy and Bachelor’s of Physioneurobiology from the College of Health Sciences University of Connecticut Storrs. He is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).
STOP Doing Face Pulls Like This! (IM BEGGING YOU) ATHLEAN-X™ 2024-01-30 | The face pull is an incredible exercise for not only building the rear delts and upper back muscles, but there is one way that people screw up the face pull. Luckily, there is a simple fix that will make sure you get the exercise done correctly every single time you do it.First, it is important to understand the benefits of the exercise - not only is it going to help build muscle at the right loads, but it acts as an incredible corrective exercise to keep your shoulders healthy and working forever.Face pulls are primarily an exercise that reinforces external rotation of the shoulder joint. Training this function is important as we often spend our time with internally rotated shoulders. Internal rotation can lead to dysfunction, discomfort, and potentially injury as well. Unless we train the external rotator muscles in the shoulder, undoing that bad posture of internally rotated shoulders becomes that much more difficult.Believe me, for the best performance and healthy shoulders, you are going to want to train the rotator cuff muscles.This is where facepulls come into play; directly training the rotator cuff, the rear delts, and the upper back. These overlooked areas need a little extra attention to make sure nothing goes awry with your shoulders.When doing face pulls the traditional way with a single rope attachment, you are not getting enough range of motion to adequately train these muscles. If you take a look at the finishing position of the exercise, you will notice that your forearms are not at 90 degree position in relation to your upper arm. In fact, you will see that there is a pretty acute angle that has the hands directly over the biceps.The fix is easy though.You need to make sure you are using the right equipment. Instead of using the standard single rope, providing a smaller range of motion and limited external rotation of the shoulder joint, you will want to use either an extra long rope or, if you have enough of these lying around, two standard ropes. This will give you the extra length needed to properly externally rotate the shoulders. In the finishing position, you will notice that your forearms are now at that desired 90 degree angle.Remember, external rotation is the name of the game when using face pulls as a corrective exercise or even as a primer before heading into your pushing compound exercises such as the bench press or the overhead press. The best way to achieve external rotation is to get those hands out wide enough which is only achievable through the recommendations I made in terms of the rope attachment(s).For more ways to make sure you are getting every exercise right with proper form, be sure to stay tuned to this channel and remember to subscribe so you never miss another video from a physical therapist with a pro sports background as a PT and strength coach.You can subscribe to this channel here - http://bit.ly/2b0coMWFor complete step-by-step workout programs, head on over to athleanx.com and make sure to use the program selector to find the training plan that is best suited to your personal goals.Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS served as both the head physical therapist and assistant strength coach for the New York Mets. Jeff earned his Masters of Physical Therapy and Bachelor’s of Physioneurobiology from the College of Health Sciences University of Connecticut Storrs. He is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).
Do This Every Day To Get Lean (SCIENCE BASED) ATHLEAN-X™ 2024-01-28 | If you want to get lean, it is definitely possbile if you can commit just a few minutes every day to make sure it happens. And that is what is important, it isn’t going to take all day, just a little bit of time each day to make sure you are taking care of the calories out part of the calorie equation.And when it comes to getting ripped or just having lower body fat levels it always comes down to what I call the three C’s. What you consume or the food you put in your body, your conditioning and your consistency. I have a dedicated video on exactly how to eat to get lean that I’m going to link for you at the end of this video.In the meantime, I want to lay out a cardio workout plan for you that is going to be foolproof and tell you exactly what to do each day to get lean.It starts with understanding your max heart rate. This is a simple percentage that can easily be calculated by subtracting your age from 220. This will give you your maximum heart rate in beats per minute. Now it’s important to know this number since all of the cardio zones that you will be training in are determined by this number.In the example given in the video, a 40 year old man or woman would have a maximum heart rate of 180.Now, the different cardio zones, many of which you have likely heard through the recent works of Dr. Peter Attia (like Zone 2 cardio and Zone 5 cardio) are based off of this number as I said. Your zones break down as follows:Zone 2 Cardio - 60-70 percent of max hrZone 3 Cardio - 70-80 percent of max hrZone 4 Cardio - 80-90 percent of max hrZone 5 Cardio - 90-95 percent of max hrEach of these zones applies a different stimulus to your body and will have a different training effect. Now before you think that cardio workouts are only for those people that want to lose fat or lose weight, that is not true. Recent research has shown that the greatest way to decrease all cause mortality is through the adoption of a frequent cardiovascular training plan.The plans and workout that I’m laying out for you here will be a great place to start doing that.Now each week, the goal should be to perform 4 zone 2 workouts, 2 zone 5 workouts and one zone 3.5 as I like to call it.This last workout is actually a bodyweight workout that has an aerobic benefit by virtue of the fact that you will be performing a series of anaerobic exercises without rest. These are great for helping to stress the muscles with overload that can help to build muscle at best and stave off muscle loss at the very least.Be sure to follow the sequence of these workouts throughout your every day plan even if you decide that you may want to shift the days a bit during your week to better accomodate your schedule.The different types of zone 2 and zone 5 workouts are described here. In general, you have a great amount of choices as to what you want to do as long as you do it at the right intensity level. A proper zone 2 cardio workout will have you breathing hard but still able to converse if needed. These are typically done for the longest amount of time - you are just starting out with 15 minutes in the first month.The Zone 5 workouts are at a much higher intensity level. Again this is at 90 percent of your maximum heart rate. You will see that you are out of breath and really working hard, but you won’t have to do them for long. If you are running or cycling you will perform these with a 1:2 work to rest ratio. If you are rowing or swimming you can do this at a 1:1 work to rest ratio.The Zone 3.5 workout is comprised of a series of bodyweight exercises that will hit your entire body. There are bail out exercises provided in case you either can’t do the main exercise or can’t sustain it for the entire 45 seconds that it is prescribed. Just do as much as you can within your means. If you stick to this cardio workout plan I promise, you will get lean as long as you maintain your consistency.The prescribed amount of time that you are training for will increase in each of these three zones by 5 minutes each month.When you’ve done this, please be sure to check back in every month and leave an update in the comments about how you are doing and how much weight loss you have had.If you’re looking for more science based workout videos, please remember to subscribe to our channel here on youtube via the link below.If you want a complete meal plan to help you strip away the body fat as part of the calories in part of the equation then head to athleanx.com and use my program selector to find the program that best matches your training goals.Subscribe to this channel here - http://bit.ly/2b0coMW Get Lean Fast - athleanx.com/x/do-this-get-lean
Youll LOVE Bulgarian Split Squats After This... ATHLEAN-X™ 2024-01-24 | If you have ever done bulgarian split squats and thought about how much you hated them, then you need to watch this quick video. Here I’ll show you the most important part of this amazing leg exercise that you need to get right if you want to start loving them. We have to start with the setup and proper form on the bulgarian split squat. If you don’t do this proprely you are going to, at best hate the exercise and not feel it like you should and at worst, lose your balance and never be able to do it correctly.To execute proper form on bulgarian split squats, make sure that you are putting your feet in the correct positions on the bench and on the floor. We start by sitting down with the dumbbells on your legs. At this point, extend your dominant leg straight out in front of you and place your heel on the ground. Now, move your foot a little bit out to the side.You are going to need this extra space to make sure your body is centered when you stand up.Next, reach down with your dumbbells and place one on each side of your foot on the ground.Now, stand up without moving your front foot placement at all.At this point, you now have to get your back foot placed properly. This is the tricky part where many people screw up. You don’t need to hop or change your body position at all. Simply lift your back foot and place it on the bench. If you did step one properly then you should be perfectly aligned with the bench behind you and you won’t come up too short or overreach the bench.The key to the placement however is the position of the foot on the bench. Do not point your toes down and rest on the tip of your foot. This is incorrect and gives you too little surface area on the bench to have adequat standing balance. Instead, roll to the outside of the foot and rest it along the surface of the bench. This will give you a much broader area of contact and help you instantly maintain much more balance.You will also notice that the width of your stance will be ideal because of shifting the first foot that you placed on the ground a little more to the outside. The base of support will be wide enough to create a nice stabile base and the contact areas of the feet will be optimal as well.From here there are many other things that you will want to do properly to ensure correct form on the bulgarian split squat such as angling the torso correctly and getting the depth of the exercise right. You can find out how to perform all of these aspects of this popular leg exercise right by watching the longer version of this exercise for legs on the channel.If you are looking for a complete program where each of the exercises included comes with a video teaching you how to get next level gains from it by nailing the proper form and execution tips right on all of them, be sure to head to athleanx.com and use the program selector to find the plan that best matches your current goals.If you’re looking for a complete video on bulgarian split squat form and other how-to exercise videos then remember to subscribe and turn on your notifications so you never miss a new video when it’s published.If you haven’t already subscribed you can do that here.Subscribe to this channel here - http://bit.ly/2b0coMW Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS served as both the head physical therapist and assistant strength coach for the New York Mets. Jeff earned his Masters of Physical Therapy and Bachelor’s of Physioneurobiology from the College of Health Sciences University of Connecticut Storrs. He is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).
I Ate Carbs for 30 Years (HERE’S WHAT HAPPENED) ATHLEAN-X™ 2024-01-22 | If you eat carbs as part of your diet plan then you need to watch this short video. Some will have you believe that eating carbs is the fastest way to get fat and put on weight. But is this really true? The answer is a resounding no. This is especially not true if you are an athlete and need to perform at a high level. Carbohydrates are either starchy or fibrous. The starchy carbohydrates are the ones that get the bad rap and are the ones that you are advised against eating. The issue is, if you are leading a sedentary lifestyle and don’t have any appreciable amounts of lean muscle mass on your body, then sure your body will be less forgiving of their consumption.If you are training however, your muscles will act as a storage depot for carbohydrates in the form of glycogen. When present, they provide both an immediate source of energy in the form of circulating blood glucose and again, as an energy reserve to fuel muscular contraction in the form of stored glycogen.Low carb diets, no carb diets, carnivore and keto are all ways that people recommend eating when they believe that carbohydrates do nothing positive for your health and wind up leading to health damagine inflammation and weight gain. This truly is short sighted and not reflective of all of the available literature and data that we have on carbohydrate consumption.If your goal is to build muscle and fuel performance then you don’t want to avoid complex or starchy carbs all together. Instead, you want to find a way to include them at least in some part in your daily meals. Now, my best recommendation is to eat double the quantity of fibrous carbohydrates or green vegetables as you do starchy carbohydrates per meal.You can even make this simpler by using the visualization method. Cover one third of your plate with a lean protein, and in the remaining two thirds choose carbs but make sure that the fibrous options amount to double the volume of starchy.Carbohydrates don’t only help fuel muscle contraction but their ingestion tends to keep people sane and able to stick to their diets long term. All too often, the carb restricted diet plans are set up for failure because people enjoy their carbohydrates too much and they are unwilling to forego them entirely for the rest of their life. As soon as they cannot resist their inclusion in meals any more, they fall off of their diet and wind up putting back on any weight that they had lost.This doesn’t have to be the case.If you are looking for a meal plan that allows you to eat carbs without deprivation and gets you to build muscle more easily and to a greater degree then make sure you keep watching this channel. There are plenty of diet videos and meal plan videos to follow.If you haven’t already subscribed you can do that here.Subscribe to this channel here - http://bit.ly/2b0coMW For complete programs, head to athleanx.com and use the program selector to find the plan that is best suited to your personal goals.Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS served as both the head physical therapist and assistant strength coach for the New York Mets. Jeff earned his Masters of Physical Therapy and Bachelor’s of Physioneurobiology from the College of Health Sciences University of Connecticut Storrs. He is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).
What Muscle Failure ACTUALLY Looks Like… ATHLEAN-X™ 2024-01-18 | Are you actually training to failure or are you stopping too many reps short and leaving gains on the table? Here is a video demonstration of what it looks like to train to failure. You may have even been told that it isn’t necessary to take your sets to failure and that leaving two to three reps in the tank is just as effective for building muscle as going to failure is.I disagree.Way too often lifters underestimate their true effort and capacity to work. When this happens the entire premise of RIR or reps in reserve is distorted. If you feel that you have worked to your highest level of effort but in reality, you are already 1-2 reps short of your max effort, then you are going to wind up closer to 4-5 reps shy of the type of stimulus that allows you to grow.By training to failure, you are ensuring that you’ve met the threshold for adequate growth stimulus at best and at worst capped yourself at no more than 1-2 reps short of true maximum effort. Either way, you are more likely to get gains with this approach.That said, the level of intensity can be tough to maintain week in and week out. If this is happening to you then you may want to make sure that you are downshifting your volume a bit to account for the higher effort. Shaving off 1-2 sets per exercise in a given workout is an easy way to do this.You can also take an extra off day per week if you find that you are systemically fatigued or not recovering from your training.Now, if you are more of an advanced lifter then you likely have good intuition with what your body needs as well as plenty of experience with what true effort looks and feels like. You will find it much easier to rely on a method like RIR or RPE since your estimates of effort are likely to be much more closely matched to reality. Beginners however will struggle to get this right, and following this advice is likely to leave them far too short in intensity and frustrated with their lack of gains by not being able to cross the stimulus threshold. Now, the ironic part about this entire “train to failure” debate is that many of those who claim it is better to not do so are the same people who regularly train to failure in their actual workouts and posted videos. This is a case of do as I say and not as I do.They also are commonly flip flopping back and forth between recommendations, not based on new science but rather because of discomfort on being called out for their inconsistencies. My stance on the subject has been the same since day one. If you want a muscle to grow you need to stimulate it in a manner that is progressively more challenging than what it is currently equipped to handle. This stimulus can come in many different forms (weight, reps, rep tempo, etc) but they all have one thing in common - higher level of effort or work performed than the last time.Enjoy your gains and let me know how this training advice works for you.For more great tips on how to build big biceps be sure to subscribe to our channel herehttp://bit.ly/2b0coMWFor a complete plan on how to get big arms check out all the workouts available at athleanx.comFor more videos on top fitness tips and trending workouts in fitness be sure to subscribe to my link below as well as head to athleanx.com to see what all the hype is about and get the top rated program for getting in your best shape ever by training like an athlete. Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS served as both the head physical therapist and assistant strength coach for the New York Mets. Jeff earned his Masters of Physical Therapy and Bachelor’s of Physioneurobiology from the College of Health Sciences University of Connecticut Storrs. He is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).
How To Get Jacked, Ripped and Defy Aging (SCIENCE BASED) ATHLEAN-X™ 2024-01-14 | As we start the new year we look towards the hottest fitness trends for 2024. That said, if you want to keep up with the times then you need to make sure that you also avoid the trends in fitness that are out this year. So without further ado, here are the top 17 fitness tips and advice that you are going to want to listen to if you want to stay on top of your game and not look like a gym newb.And to kick it all off we have to focus on the rising popularity of longevity training. The works of Dr. Andrew Huberman and Dr. Peter Attia have gone a long way towards popularizing a more global and holistic approach to fitness. It’s no longer just about one dimensional strength but rather having strengths of overall health in many more domains such as cardiovascular fitness, mobilty, flexibility and balance.Ice baths took a big hit in 2023, with many in the lifting circles calling them worthless and actually gains killers. This may be something that is true if you always perform your ice baths within 4 hours after your hypertrophy inducing workouts. That said, why not schedule them for your off days or no cardio days? The benefits that reach far beyond the muscle growth are hard to ignore and one you won’t want to if a complete picture of health is your goal.Ambient background noise, low not so noticeably heard, is profoundly impactful if you choose the one that works best for your goal and personal physiology. Try either green noise or pink noise if you have trouble sleeping and want to calm intrusive thoughts that keep you up at night. Try brown noise if you want to improve your focus at work and have a more productive year than last year.The type of youtube fitness videos are also taking a step in the right direction - away from the screaming unimaginative content empty channels and more towards the true science based channels like the one you’re watching along with others like Andrew Huberman and Dr. Peter Attia. Even those fitness channels you thought were scientific have fallen victim to the study that doesn’t mean what they say it does. Tread lightly and choose carefully, your fitness education depends on it.Think you get enough Omega-3 fatty acids in your diet? Well, particularly as you age, this may still not be enough. In this upcoming year you are definitely going to want to prioritize your omega-3 ingestion and try to exceed 5g per day especially if you are over the age of 40. New research is pointing to the anabolic potential of these nutrients in their ability to stave off muscle protein breakdown and sarcopenia. Stay tuned.Long length partials were the talk of the town as 2023 came to a close. The issue? They are far from new, and as is almost always the case with something that everyone is talking about, they usually go too far and stray away from the forest for the trees. Just because there is some evidence as to the effectiveness of stretch tension for producing hypertrophy that doesn’t mean that full range of motion isn’t useful. In fact, it’s still just as critical to overall physique and performance development as it ever was. Find out how to incorporate both by watching the video.Other things that get discussed in this video of the hottest fitness trends for 2024 are the increased focus on recovery supplementation for muscle growth, A.I. generated workouts and their lack of solid information, worksite health promotion, balance training and the use of anabolics as the top method of making gains in the gym this year.Make sure to leave a comment of the trends that you think you’re seeing right now and I’d love to read itFor more videos on top fitness tips and trending workouts in fitness be sure to subscribe to my link below as well as head to athleanx.com to see what all the hype is about and get the top rated program for getting in your best shape ever by training like an athlete. Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS served as both the head physical therapist and assistant strength coach for the New York Mets. Jeff earned his Masters of Physical Therapy and Bachelor’s of Physioneurobiology from the College of Health Sciences University of Connecticut Storrs. He is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).Subscribe to this channel here - http://bit.ly/2b0coMW Get in your best shape ever in 2024 - athleanx.com/x/17-fitness-trends-in-20240:15 Training for Longevity0:45 Cold Water Immersion1:30 Ambient Background Noise2:50 Training to Failure3:45 Unsubstantiated Science4:35 Drama-Free Creators5:30 Omega 3's6:20 Metabolic Training7:15 Partial Reps8:00 Fancy Intros9:00 Bananas in Smoothie9:30 The Use of Steroids10:05 AI Generated Workouts10:40 Filming Yourself in the Gym11:30 Recovery Supplements 12:30 Heath Promotion at Work13:10 Balance Training
Mike Mentzers GREATEST Chest Exercise of All Time ATHLEAN-X™ 2024-01-12 | The dip is one of those “high reward” exercises that can significantly build up your chest, shoulders and triceps better than even many traditionally “weighted” dumbbell and barbell exercises. According to the legendary Mike Mentzer, dips are the best exercise that you can do to grow your chest, shoulders, and triceps. The dip is a powerful compound exercise that targets multiple muscle groups at the same time.Certainly being one of the best "bang-for-your-buck" upper body exercises, the dip is something that you should include in your training routine if you want to add strength and size to the pecs, delts, and triceps.Remember, it's not just the exercise you do, but you how you do it that matters the most when you are looking to build muscle. When it comes to the dip, you need to make sure that you lean far enough forward to actually target the chest when performing the movement. By leaning forward, you will take a predominately tricep biased exercise and make it more compound as the chest and shoulders become increasingly involved.The dip is another exercise that greatly benefits from the chest "master tip" that I have shared in the past. In order to get the most chest engagement, you want to un-shrug your shoulders. This will benefit you in the long run when it comes to building your chest, shoulders, and triceps. This master tip will be used for another reason that I will explain below.Dips can be performed either weighted or by simply using your bodyweight. If you are not strong enough to use only your bodyweight when performing the exercise, you can achieve the same goals by using a band to assist yourself on the concentric portion of the lift. So even if you aren’t strong enough to do them without assistance, you don’t have that as an excuse to not be able to perform the exercise.While dips are one of the best upper body compound exercises capable of building serious muscle size and strength, they don’t come without risk however. They can be shoulder shredders if you forget two incredibly important stability tips.First, don’t lower below 90 degrees at the elbows. Second, keep those shoulders UN-SHRUGGED the whole time!! Remember the master tip I just mentioned? It comes into play here for a safety reason. Performing both of these actions when doing dips will prevent the head of the humerus from diving forward into the anterior shoulder capsule at the bottom of the dip and leading to pain and potential injury down the road.Keep your form on lockdown and you’ll unlock the true power of this movement. You may even be singing its praises just like Mike - as it becomes your staple upper body builder!FYI: Rocking dip station was NOT an intentional way of adding instability to the exercise. I had an unbalanced foot on the dip station that lead to the excessive teetering! Felt like a bamboo bar for crying out loud! Oh well, nothing a little gym towel stuffed underneath it couldn’t fix!!For more ways to build muscle and increase strength with every exercise you choose to do, be sure to stay tuned to this channel and remember to subscribe so that you never miss another video from a physical therapist with a pro sports background as a PT and strength coach.You can do that by subscribing to this channel here - http://bit.ly/2b0coMW For complete programs, head to athleanx.com and use the program selector to find the plan that is best suited to your personal goals.Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS served as both the head physical therapist and assistant strength coach for the New York Mets. Jeff earned his Masters of Physical Therapy and Bachelor’s of Physioneurobiology from the College of Health Sciences University of Connecticut Storrs. He is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).
STOP Doing Russian Twists Like This! (SAVE A FRIEND) ATHLEAN-X™ 2024-01-10 | When performing Russian Twists for six pack abs, there's one mistake that you have to avoid at all costs if you want to see the results you're looking for when it comes to your abs.The Russian Twist is a great exercise for targeting the obliques due to the fact that the exercise inherently requires rotation of the core to perform the exercise in the first place. As we know, rotation is key for development of the obliques.The mistake people make with the Russian Twist that I see all too often is that they are not allowing their torso to rotate as much as needed to influence the obliques to their maximal engagement. Instead of rotating their body, they simply tap their hands to the ground on each side, often times too quickly as well. Add in the fact that if you are simply tapping to each side, you are now turning the Russian Twist into an isometric exercise with very little benefit to your six pack.I like to call this version of the exercise the Russian Tap, instead of the Russian Twist.There is an easy fix to this common mistake when you're looking to develop your abs. Instead of tapping your hands on the ground to each side without much rotation, actively rotate your body in space. You can visualize this by trying to actively row your elbow back behind your body to each side. When you try to row your elbows back and behind you, you will ensure that you are getting proper rotation to target the obliques and develop the six pack you've been seeking.So, when it comes to building six pack abs, you'll want to avoid the mistake of turning the Russian Twist into the Russian Tap. Thankfully the mistake is easy to correct and making the simple change will benefit your abs as well - not just in appearance, but strength and performance as well.For more ways to prevent yourself from making common exercise mistakes so you never have to sacrifice your gains, be sure to stay tuned to this channel and remember to subscribe so that you never miss another video from a physical therapist with a pro sports background as a PT and strength coach.You can do that here. Subscribe to this channel here - http://bit.ly/2b0coMW For complete programs, head to athleanx.com and use the program selector to find the plan that is best suited to your personal goals.Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS served as both the head physical therapist and assistant strength coach for the New York Mets. Jeff earned his Masters of Physical Therapy and Bachelor’s of Physioneurobiology from the College of Health Sciences University of Connecticut Storrs. He is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).
2 Bicep Exercises You NEED To Do Together ATHLEAN-X™ 2024-01-04 | When it comes to selecting your biceps exercises for your arm workout, you have a lot of choices. You better be careful about which ones you pick. Too many people pick bicep exercises that overlap each other in terms of strength curve and even which head of the biceps they work.To get the biggest biceps you are going to want to choose exercises for biceps that compliment each other.We start with a barbell curl. This classic barbell exercise is one that hits both the short and long heads equally well and can really be loaded up sufficiently. This is the exercise that was most responsible for my early biceps development and it follows a traditional bell shaped resistance curve. TThis means that the weight is easiest to manage in the beginning and end points of the range of motion but most difficult in the middle. This is due to the perpendicularity of the barbell against the downward force of gravity during the exercise. When the forearm is perpendicular to the torso in the middle of the rep it is maximially subjected to the force of gravity and the weight in your hands will “feel” heaviest as the moment arm will be at its longest position.When the barbell is lifted further, the effect of gravity on the bar is diminshed and the weight begins to feel less challenging to the biceps muscle. In fact, one could hold a substantial amount of weight in this top position of the curl because of this. Likewise, you could hold the weights at the bottom of the rep with very little effort as well and likely, would want to drop it first mostly because of fatigue in your forearms and grip.Now, while this one is great for building big biceps it still leaves a gap at the beginning and end of the range of motion. Personally, I don’t like to overload the initial part of the curl where the biceps is in its most stretched position. Not only is this something that is incredibly uncomfortable for me given that I have a torn distal biceps tendon in my right arm but its something that generally isn’t as important for biceps development as load applied in the exaggerated stretch position that the biceps would allow for isn’t as safe as it is with other exercises.This is because the stretch position of the biceps is going to require that you place not only your elbow in a fullly extended position but that you also allow your arm to drift back behind your body into shoulder extension. When using any kind of significant weight here the biceps can feel more stressed than stretched and the risk begins to rise a bit. Not something that you want to avoid entirely but definitely something that you are going to want to use lighter weights for which then limits some of the hypetrophy stimulus that you see from the stretch bicep exercises like an incline dumbbell curl.That said, you do want to preferentially stress the biceps in their most contracted position and to do that you are going to have to choose something other than a standing barbell curl.This is where something like the spider curl turns out to be the perfect complimentary exercise. This is due to the fact that the spider curl has an ascending resistance curve. As the weight gets closer to the end of the rep the so too does the resistance felt by the biceps. Applying this increased tension on the biceps in their most fully contracted or shortened position can be a great stimulus for growth and a good way for those that have trouble feeling their biceps during bicep workouts to get to respond.Pairing the spider curl and barbell curl up together in the same biceps workout is a great way to maximize the gains you see from your training.Remember, it’s not always what biceps exercises you do but how you do them that results in the greatest growth and arm size.For more great tips on how to build big biceps be sure to subscribe to our channel herehttp://bit.ly/2b0coMWFor a complete plan on how to get big arms check out all the workouts available at athleanx.com
STOP Doing 1 Arm Rows Like This! (SAVE A FRIEND) ATHLEAN-X™ 2024-01-01 | The 1 arm row or single arm dumbbell row is one of those exercises that can easily be messed up and cause an injury - and it doesn't have to be. There is a very simple dumbbell row form fix that can decrease inguinal hernia risk and give you a better back exercise option in the process.First, it is important to understand the risk of the common dumbbell row, performed with one knee up on the bench and the other leg dropped back behind you.This places tension stress on an already weakened inguinal canal. This is the area in the groin where the testicles once dropped through to assume their current position. While this canal closes down almost entirely, there still is an inherent weakness that persists at the near closure which makes the area susceptible to tension stress.When performing the one arm dumbbell row with the knee up, this area gets exposed to the asymmetrical stress and increases the vulnerability of the area. Combine that with the heavy weights that are commonly used on the exercise and you will see that, with a little added uncontrolled swinging, that the groin is under a high amount of stress. This can lead to a higher degree of inguinal hernias on this exercise than on even something performed with heavier overall weights - like a deadlift. The fix is easy though.Just perform the one armed row with both feet on the ground in a variation called the tripod row. Keep both feet firmly planted on the ground and put one hand on the back of an incline bench or even the dumbbell rack to support your upper body. The ground reaction forces will instantly be distributed much more evenly across the muscles of the pelvis which will decrease the asymmetrical overload that occurs on one side of the groin during the knee based version of the exercise.You can transition to a version without holding onto anything with the upper body. This is called the gorilla row. You should have good low back strength to perform this version however since it will require it to perform it explosively and safely. The key is, regardless which version you perform, both are better and consistently aligned with helping you to grow bigger, wider lats without compromising your gains with a lower body strain or hernia.Obviously, make sure to perform all of your sets with your feet squared up to your anchor point. This means, you want to point them straight ahead and keep the angle of your back steady throughout. Keep the lower back slightly arched to prevent rounding and handle weights that are heavy but still able to be managed at all points of the range of motion. This means that you should be able to hold a strong contraction at the top or even stop the dumbbells at any point in the range of motion when you perform them.For more ways on how to prevent gym injuries be sure to stay tuned to this channel and remember to subscribe so you never miss another video from a physical therapist with a pro sports background as a PT and strength coach. You can do that here. Subscribe to this channel here - http://bit.ly/2b0coMW For complete programs, head to athleanx.com and use the program selector to find the plan that is best suited to your personal goals.
7 Foods I’ll NEVER Eat! (Based on Science) ATHLEAN-X™ 2023-12-31 | As we ring in the new year, you will likely be looking to clean up your diet and remove some foods that are making you fat. But what about the foods that may be keeping you unhealthy and you didn’t even know it? Today, we break down 7 foods I’ll never eat again starting in 2024 and we’re making our decisions based on science and the latest research that points us towards better food options.We kick off this list with a fruit that gets a lot of attention but never necessarily for these reasons. We’re talking about bananas. Now some like to blame the banana, saying that it is a ‘high calorie’ fruit that packs on weight when eaten. I’m sorry but I am not buying it. Though higher in calories than say strawberries, blueberries or any other type of berry, it is not impactful enough to make people fat by eating one or even two a day.What is shocking however is the recent findings of the effects of bananas on the bioavailability of anthocyanins and polyphenols in smoothies when they are included. They contain an enzyme called polyphenol oxidase that acts to degrade up to 80 percent of the polyphenols present in blueberries and greens in your shake. That isn’t to say that eating the banana on its own at a different point during the day is bad, but it should get you to start rethinking their inclusion in your antioxidant rich smoothie that you are eating to boost your health.Next we look to Doctor Lustig MD for his warning on whole grain bread. While we may think we are buying whole grain bread in the store, there is a high likelihood that what we purchase is no longer whole grain bread. The food industry allows the labeling of these breads based on what the product started as, not what it arrives to you as in the package.Too often, during the manufacturing of these breads they pulverize the grains which ends up releasing the inner contents much too soon during the digestive process. This can cause a rapid spike in blood sugar and insulin which sets off a cascade of metabolic issues that can lead to you getting fatter faster. Instead, you have to look for real whole grain bread found in specialty health food stores that is much more dense and, some would say, less tasty.We keep moving on with my personal experience with food PTSD that came from eating white bean soup just prior to experiencing one of the worst GI sicknesses of my life. Though it was just unfortunate timing it still left a mark in me that causes physical nausea and stomach upset every time I see the soup - even now when perfectly healthy.That said, it does bring up a very important point regarding soups. If you eat any soups from a can right now you are definitely going to want to remove them from your diet in 2024. The amount of sodium and nitrates contained in these soups is just unnecessary and not conducive to long term health. Don’t fall for the label lies either. The amount of sodium stated, though already high, is usually for just half the can. We likely are eating the whole can so you can double that amount if you want to find out how much salt you truly are getting.Next we have to focus on avoiding food dyes at all costs. There is a great amount of research attributing things like blue #1, yellow #5 and #6, and red #40 to hyperactivity and behavioral disorders in kids. Throw in the fact that a mounting amount of research has suggested that these dyes are directly linked to increases in carcinogenic disesase and they are surely things to avoid - since they do nothing more than make your foods look prettier on your plate.Speaking of these food dyes. You’re going to want to watch how they make their way into farm raised salmon. Not many people know this but the natural color of this fish is gray, not pink. Watch to see how they do this.Also, be sure to check out why Dr. Lustig thinks that eating yogurt may not be giving you the gut benefits that you thought it was supposed to.Research Referenced:Polyphenol breakdown in smoothies from bananaspubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlehtml/2023/fo/d3fo01599hBlue #1 Associated with ADHDpubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36262950For more videos on foods to avoid when on a healthy diet be sure to subscribe to our channel via the link below, and for a complete meal plan and workout plan that helps you get the food part of the equation right every time - head to athleanx.com via the link below as well.Eat this Not that - http://athleanx.com/x/7-foods-to-avoidSubscribe to this channel here - http://bit.ly/2b0coMWJeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS served as both the head physical therapist and assistant strength coach for the New York Mets. Jeff earned his Masters of Physical Therapy and Bachelor’s of Physioneurobiology from the College of Health Sciences University of Connecticut Storrs. He is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).
Your Gym on January 1st ATHLEAN-X™ 2023-12-28 | When you head to the gym this January 1st, remember, things may look a little different for awhile. Stay calm. Relax and breathe. You'll get through this. By the third week, statistics say that things will get back to normal. All kidding aside, the thought of stepping into a gym for the very first time can be an intimidating one. But remember this, every one of us had our own "first" time. It takes courage to step through the doors but that step may very well wind up being the most important one you ever take for yourself as it could unlock a lifetime of fitness that would have otherwise been impossible if not for putting aside your insecurities. Make this year your year and crush your goals. If you're looking for a youtube fitness channel that can help guide you from beginner to advanced on how to train properly and how to put the science back in training, be sure to subscribe to our channel here on youtube via this link:Subscribe to this channel here - http://bit.ly/2b0coMWTo make sure that you get off to the right start however, simply avoid any of the stunts shown here and you'll be well on your way to a productive first year in the gym.To anyone offended by these obviously funny clips (where the person performing them is almost certainly aware of their own parody), remember this - laughter is one of the greatest forms of medicine. Lighten up and have a chuckle. Also, see if you can spot Jesse. He's in there!Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS served as both the head physical therapist and assistant strength coach for the New York Mets. Jeff earned his Masters of Physical Therapy and Bachelor’s of Physioneurobiology from the College of Health Sciences University of Connecticut Storrs. He is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA). #gym #exercise #fitnessmotivation #fitness
STOP DOING THIS! Overhead Press Form Fix ATHLEAN-X™ 2023-12-21 | If you want to get a stronger OHP (overhead press) and feel like you’ve been stuck at the same weight for a long time, then these will be the best 25 seconds you ever watched. Everyone knows that one of the staple exercises for bigger shoulders is the overhead press. Preferably this is performed in every shoulder workout. That said, there are two things you can do every time you do the exercise that are going to instantly increase your strength on this popular shoulder exercise.The first thing you want to do when you approach the bar is focus on your grip. Many people take a grip that is too wide. What this does is it takes you out of your mechanically strongest position to overhead press the most weight possible. It also takes the shoulders out of their safest joint position in the process.Let’s talk about the pressing part first. With a narrow grip on the bar you are going to see that your elbows travel in front of the body during the press rather than directly out to the sides. This allows you to get better recruitment of the triceps during the press which ultimately leads to a stronger total on the lift. On any pressing exercise you want to get the chest, shoulders and triceps working together when the goal is to get as strong as possible. When performing the OHP, you need to not forget about the benefit that strong triceps play in getting you to your strongest possible on the exercise.Not only does the increased triceps involvement help increase your OHP strength, but the position of the elbows forward demands that the shoulders get out of the position of being pointed directly out to the sides of the body. This is incredibly important when it comes to the long term health of the shoulder joint. The scapular plane, as it is known, is an angle where the arm points forward at about 30-45 degrees from the side. This is the natural position that the shoulder joint likes to move in, and can do so the safest with least risk of impingement. A more narrow grip on the barbell overhead press is going to allow the shoulder to reach this natural position more easily. From here, you want to start pressing. That said, you want to be sure that you don’t forget to do the second most important tip in this video. That is, be sure to squeeze the glutes together before you initiate the overhead press. Tightening the glutes instantly plugs the energy leaks that propagate up the kinetic chain and sap you of your overall top end strength.The way to have the strongest overhead press is to ensure that any power that you generate through your legs is not lost through a weakened core. With the glutes being one of the major core muscles, you want to be sure that you are not forgetting about them when you are getting ready to perform the lift. That said, start by squeezing your butt together as hard as you can just before pushing the bar up overhead. See if for yourself. This simple act is going to greatly increase your pressing strength. Try a rep with engaging the glutes and try one without. You’ll notice the difference instantly.Speaking of instantly, if you do the two things I show you here I promise you are going to see a quick improvement in the amount of weight that you can press on the OHP. Almost every time, no matter what weight you are lifting right now, the inclusion of these two tips to your next shoulder workout are going to result in you lifting more weight and getting stronger on the overhead press.Give it a try and when you are ready to put the same level of science into all of your strength workouts and build a ripped athletic body in 90 days, be sure to head over to athleanx.com via the link below and use the program selector tool to find the plan best suited to your current goals of getting big shoulders and a stronger body.For more videos on how to get strong and the best exercises for shoulders, be sure to subscribe to our channel here on youtube via the link below and remember to turn on your notifications so you never miss a new video when it’s published.#ohp #exercise Build ripped athletic muscle here - http://athleanx.com/x/my-workoutsSubscribe to this channel here - http://bit.ly/2b0coMW
Quick Ab Workout | 5 Minutes (FOLLOW ALONG!) ATHLEAN-X™ 2023-12-17 | If you need a quick ab workout that can be effective in just 5 minutes this is going to become your go to follow along workout for abs. You don’t need any equipment at all to perform this fast ab workout. You can perform this at home with just a little space on the floor.The key to any quick ab workout is that in order to be effective it has to follow the principles of science based ab training. That means that the ab exercises selected have to hit all of the areas of the core including the upper rectus abdominis, lower rectus abdominis, and obliques through each of the major functions of the abs. This means that rotational exercises are going to be important as well.Rest time should always be kept to a minimum when performing ab workouts. The key to making the exercises doable even as you get fatigued is to shift the focus of the workload around the core. It is known that the lower ab fibers can be preferentially biased by performing ab exercises that initiate the movements from the pelvis. When you lift the pelvis back towards a fixed upper body you can more effectively hit the lower abs.The downside to this approach is that the sheer act of lifting the legs can be quite challenging for many. Your legs have weight to them and performing lower ab exercises can be hard for those who have abs that aren’t strong enough to lift that weight. That said, performing these exercises is key to improving the overall strength of the core and getting you to be able to do this fast 5 minute ab workout easier over time.Likewise, it is possible to influence the upper abdominal fibers more favorably when you perform 6 pack ab exercises that move from the top down. This means that when your shoulders are lifted off the floor and move towards a fixed pelvis these upper abs are going to be more active. The key to being able to perform an ab workout without getting fatigued to a point where you can’t continue is saving these easier top down exercises for last in the workout - as we have done here.People may ask if it is ok to perform this ab workout every day.You can.The abs are made up of predominately slow twitch fibers good for helping to maintain posture. These tend to be very resilient to frequency and volume. That said, a long ab workout isn’t necessary to see results from ab training. You are better off developing a habit of consistent daily ab workouts in order to see your six pack abs develop in conjunction with following a diet plan that will help you to strip away any unwanted body fat that could be covering them right now.Here is what this science based ab workout looks like:Heels to the Heavens - 60 seconds (lower abs)Twisting Pistons - 30 seconds (lower abs and obliques)Dueling Clocks - 30 seconds (lower abd and obliques)Rest - 30 secondsStarfish Crunches - 60 secondsCanoe Crunches - 60 secondsTwisting T Planks - 30 secondsIn just 5 minutes you are able to get an effective workout for abs that can be performed each day to help you carve up your midsection and leave no stone unturned when it comes to training the muscles of your core.If you are looking for a complete program that helps you develop the rest of your body in addition to your abs, be sure to head to athleanx.com and use the program selector tool. This will help you find a program catered specifically to your body and goals.For more follow along ab workouts and videos on how to get 6 pack abs be sure to subscribe to this channel using the link above and turn on your notifications so you never miss a video when it’s published.Get 6 Pack Abs Here - athleanx.com/x/5-min-ab-workoutSubscribe to this channel here - http://bit.ly/2b0coMWReferences:Study on Ab Muscle Fiber Compositiononlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1748-1716.1979.tb06482.xStudies on Lower Ab Fiber Activationncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3761871journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/abstract/2003/08000/electromyographic_comparison_of_the_upper_and.8.aspx
5 Stretches We ALL Could Use! (TAKES 5 MINUTES) ATHLEAN-X™ 2023-12-14 | If your muscles are feeling tight and you are tight on time, I’m going to show you how to unlock your flexibility in 5 minutes. In this video, I not only show you how to unlock your flexibility in 5 minutes, but I am going to explain how you can do this anywhere.Unlock Your Flexibility Here - athleanx.com/x/5-minute-flexibilitySubscribe to this channel here - http://bit.ly/2b0coMWIf I had to guess as to why you have tight muscles, it might be due to the fact that you aren’t stretching them in the first place. Not to worry, in just 5 minutes, you are going to unlock your flexibility so that you not only feel better, but move better too.The first muscle group that you need to stretch is the peroneals. These muscles run up and down the outside of your leg and are often chronically tight. You might notice this tightness even more if you have flat feet. The reason you are forgetting to stretch the peroneals is likely because you didn’t know that you could stretch them in the first place.The best way to stretch these muscles is with the sit-to-stand frog stretch. Start off by sitting in a chair and put the soles of your feet together. From here, slowly stand up and bring your knees together while keeping your soles in contact with each other.With the sit-to-stand frog stretch, you are going to want to hold this position for 45-60 seconds a few times throughout the day.The next muscle that you are forgetting to stretch is par of the all important rotator cuff, and that is the subscapularis. This muscle is often neglected simply because it sits “out of sight” and thus “out of mind.” Unable to actually see this muscle often leads to us forgetting that it exists in the first place, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still stretch it.To stretch the subscapularis, you will need a broomstick, mop, or dowel of some kind in order to complete the movement. Bring the broomstick behind your bicep, reach across your body and grab the lower end with your other hand and open your chest (pulling the broomstick with that reaching hand). To get a further stretch, we need to achieve external rotation and you can do that by pulling up on the broomstick as well.Perform this dowel stretch for 45-60 seconds on both sides, at any point during the day.The third muscle that should be stretched is the rectus abdominis, better known as the abs. With tightness in the anterior chain already pulling our shoulders down and forward, tight abs will further exacerbate our postural problems by pulling down on the ribcage. Thankfully, there is an easy way to stretch this muscle with the use of a physioball.Lay on your back over the top of the ball, allowing yourself to contour to the shape of the ball. From here, drop your pelvis down and reach your arms back overhead. This will create a greater distance from the pelvis to the ribcage which will elongate and stretch the abdominals. With enough attention, you can help to fight your postural deficiencies.Hold this stretch for 45-60 seconds, 2-3 times per day when you can.The fourth muscle that you are forgetting to stretch is the quadratus lumborum, otherwise known as the QL. The reason we forget to stretch this muscle is similar to why we skip the subscapularis; we can’t see or necessarily touch it. Just because we can’t reach it with our fingers, doesn’t mean that it can’t be stretched, however.With the QL slide, you are going to start on all fours, slide one leg down and drop your hip. From here, you will push off the hand resting on the ground and lean slightly forward. This will give you a good stretch on the QL when you might not’ve been able to reach it very effectively trying to stretch it in the past.Perform this stretch for 45-60 seconds each set and is best done in the morning if you want to feel amazing throughout the day. Lastly, you might be forgetting to stretch the lats. Even if you are stretching them, I have a particular movement that I think is one of the best ways to stretch the lats. If you want to learn more about that stretch, you will want to click the link below.If you are looking for a training plan where everything is laid out for you step-by-step and overlooks nothing in terms of muscle building, mobility, and flexibility, then you are going to want to check out the ATHLEAN-X training programs via the link above.For more videos on the best way to take care of your body when it comes to building muscle, then you are going to want to subscribe to this channel here on YouTube using the link above.Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS served as both the head physical therapist and assistant strength coach for the New York Mets. Jeff earned his Masters of Physical Therapy and Bachelor’s of Physioneurobiology from the College of Health Sciences University of Connecticut Storrs. He is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).
Stop F*cking Up Bulgarian Split Squats (PROPER FORM!) ATHLEAN-X™ 2023-12-10 | Do you know how to do a bulgarian split squat? If not, you're in luck. In this video, I am going to show you exactly how to perform a dumbbell bulgarian split squat so that you can perform the exercise every time without making a mistake. Remember, it's not just what exercise you do, but how you do them that matters the most and I want to make sure that you get your bulgarian split squats form right every time you do them.Step 1 of this bulgarian split squat tutorial is getting the setup right:When doing a dumbbell bulgarian split squat, you are going to need a pair of dumbbells and an adjustable or flat bench. I would say that 90 percent of the problems with the exercise and the mistakes made during split squats is on how we position the feet in front of the bench and on top of the bench. Let’s start with the foot placement in front of the bench.Step 2 of this bulgarian split squat how-to is your front foot position:Sit down on the bench with the dumbbells held on your thighs. From here, extend one leg out until the knee is straight and the heel is positioned on the ground. This will represent the position of your heel when you stand to do the leg exercise. Before you do anything else however, move the foot out to the side another 2-3 inches.Step 3 of this bulgarian split squat form guide is your back leg and foot positioning:With the front heel in the place that you measured in step 2, you will know put your back foot up on the bench. The way you place the foot is critical however. If you put just your toes down on top of the bench then you are likely going to have balance difficulties. The toe is just not enough of a contact point with the bench to keep stability once the movement of the exercise starts. Instead, allow the ankle to fold in naturally and increase your foot/bench contact area by involving the outer portion of the foot and ankle.Step 4 of this bulgarian split squat how-to is the torso angle:This is where you get to target the muscles of the legs that you want to focus on with this versatile dumbbell leg exercise. If you want to hit more of the quads then you will want to make sure you keep your torso upright throughout the entire movement. If you want to make this more of a glute focused exercise then you would want to angle your body forward (without rounding your low back) and maintain this slight lean throughout the set.Step 5 is how low should you go on a bulgarian split squatThis one is easy. You want to be sure that you go low enough that the dumbbells make contact with the floor without fully resting them on the floor. Many people will go low enough but remove the tension from their legs temporarily by disengaging and letting them rest even momentarily. This isn’t correct. You want the dumbbells to make contact but you want to feel their weight in your hands at all time to ensure that they are at no point resting.Step 6 of how to do dumbbell bulgarian split squats is the intensity techniques that you apply to your sets:There are so many ways that you can intensify a set of bulgarian split squats to further improve their ability to help you grow bigger legs. The first is by incorporating a pause rep at the bottom of the reps. This will increase the tension in the stretch position of the quads and glutes leading to a better hypertrophy response. The second thing is to take it one step further and perform them as one and a half reps. This will require that you lower to the bottom, come up just half way, go back down and then come back up to the top. This is just more stretch tension on the reps making for an even greater growth stimulus. Finally, you can perform this leg exercise without any dumbbells at all and do them explosively as a plyometric bulgarian split squat.Now that you know how to bulgarian split squat properly, you will not only be able to set a good example for other gym-goers, but you will eliminate any risks that comes along with the traditionally performed version of this exercise. When it comes to form on a dumbbell bulgarian split squat, how you do it is going to determine whether you are setting yourself up for injury or if you are going to build bigger quads and glutes without that risk.Bulgarian Split Squats Programmed Here - http://athleanx.com/x/how-to-bulgarian-squatSubscribe to this channel here - http://bit.ly/2b0coMWIf you are looking for step-by-step programs that include how-to guides on every exercise you do, you can find them over at athleanx.comFor more exercise guides and how-to instructionals, be sure to subscribe.Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS served as both the head physical therapist and assistant strength coach for the New York Mets. Jeff earned his Masters of Physical Therapy and Bachelor’s of Physioneurobiology from the College of Health Sciences University of Connecticut Storrs. He is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).
