Here’s a simple way to reduce stress on your shoulders during pressing movements. Next time you’re in the gym, take a look around. Most people perform presses with a pronated grip (palms forward) and flared elbows—an approach that can put a lot of strain on the shoulders and eventually lead to injury. A healthier alternative…
The Angles90 grips are a great tool to add variety and reduce joint stress during pull-ups. One challenge, however, is that their lower starting position can cause the plates from a chin/dip belt to hit the floor at the bottom of the movement. If that’s the case, switch to a weighted vest like the Xvest…
Here’s a glimpse of my latest workout—a circuit training routine based on a system I call Modern Muscle Moulding. If your goal is to drop body fat while maintaining muscle, circuit training done the right way can be incredibly effective. The Modern Muscle Moulding approach blends strength and conditioning for maximum efficiency. You can read…
Paused reps can be a game-changer in your training. By deliberately stopping at key points during a lift, you reduce momentum, reinforce proper technique, and dramatically increase muscular tension. In the case of chin-ups, pausing at the bottom not only reduces cheating, but also provides a brief decompression for the spine and shoulders—something many lifters…
Now it’s Barb’s turn to train upper body while Terry works his lower body. Strategic program design allows both of them to push hard in the same session, with individualized focus — a win-win approach for any couple looking to stay strong and healthy together.
While Terry focuses on upper-body strength, Barb targets her lower body with personalized training that suits her needs and past injuries. This is a great example of how couples with different goals and histories can still train together effectively — without compromising their progress.
Last week, the strength community experienced a huge loss with the passing of Charles Poliquin. Charles was a highly successful strength and conditioning coach—a thought-leader who introduced many groundbreaking training and nutrition concepts. His legacy includes German Volume Training, German Body Composition methods, BioSignature and BioPrint hormonal profiling, tempo prescription, thick-grip training, the meat and…
Cueing the right muscles at the right time can make all the difference during strength training. Next time you deadlift, crank this song! In all seriousness, music can have a profound effect on your training. Choose the wrong track, and it could actually hinder your performance. To understand why, take a look at the classic…
Back in the March ’98 issue of Muscle Media, strength coach Charles Poliquin introduced a unique form of training that involved flexion of one limb with simultaneous extension of the opposite limb. For example, you would do a dumbbell curl with the right arm while doing a cable pressdown with the left arm. This method…
Most people would agree that static stretching and aerobic training are boring. Personally, those activities are like watching paint dry! I find strength training far more exciting—but that’s not the case for everyone. Some people do find strength workouts boring. And it’s not just recreational lifters—even athletes can feel this way. Here’s how I deal…