Test your strength and stability by trying these with bodyweight. Example: A 200 pound man should be able to use a 100 pound dumbbell in each hand.
To do this correctly, resist forward flexion and stay more upright.
Add some weight and rest-pause style reps to your inverted rows to make this so-called sissy exercise into a real back builder.
This accessory lift teaches you to maintain tension, and it increases time under tension during most lifters' weakest phase of the deadlift.
This variation of the neutral-grip pull-up really nails your grip and forearms.
Good at pull-ups? Nice. Now try this variation.
Most lifters have tight hip flexors. Here's how to fix them up.
Stand on a plate or study platform, then deadlift. This increases the range of motion, making it one of the toughest lifts out there.
Overall athleticism is a combo of movement quality, coordination, strength, and speed.
Do an isometric hold every third rep or so to produce greater muscle activation and stimulate size gains.
Go through a full range of motion, then a quarter of the range of motion. That's one rep.
Also called the reverse inverted row, this odd-looking exercise boosts your bench press by teaching lat and upper back activation.
Tension builds muscle. Stop your reps just short of lockout if your main goal is hypertrophy. It's a good finisher after your full ROM sets.
An inflexible T-spine can lead to a host of problems. Get it moving right with this drill. Note the different arm positions.
The open grip and wrist position here allows for better pec isolation.
This simple drill takes care of a few different mobility issues.
Add a suspension trainer attachment to the cable machine to hit your back and rear delts in a new way.
Pittsburg Pirates outfielder, Austin Meadows, demonstrates this variation of the rope row. Note the hand rotation for more activation of the lats and upper back.
Go light, be meticulous with your form, and focus on contracting all the small muscles working in your upper back and shoulders.
Bring up your rear delts, rhomboids, and external rotators with this movement.
This exercise hits both the long and short heads of the biceps, which most biceps exercises can't do.
Without moving your hips back and forth, get a good stretch in the lats, then pull the bar into the lower abs.
Combine lat isolation, a long range of motion, and a good stretch and you get this great row variation.
Build your legs and challenge your anterior core strength and stability with this move.
If squats are causing you pain right now, you can still train your legs. This exercise will load the spine less and still blow up your legs.
