exercises

There’s more total-body benefits to be gained inside the squat rack than just everyone’s favorite legday staple, the squat. And, no, we’re not talking about biceps curls, but other heavily effective moves not quite mainstream yet that you should be aware of. At one time, the squat was...

Landmine training was invented long before the barbell attachment was created—unofficially—when the first gym bro stuck a barbell in corner and created a T- Bar rows variation long ago. For lifters who have shoulder mobility issues, landmine training is an excellent method to lift overhead...

If you’ve been around the gym trenches, you have heard the term if you cannot grip it, you can’t rip it, and forearms play a big part in it. Forearm strength and endurance are critical in all grip-intensive exercises like deadlifts, chin-ups, and all row variations. The grip often fails before...

Not everyone has bodybuilder-size calves—this writer sadly included. But if your calves need growth, you can still do what Arnold Schwarzenegger once did: Work on them—daily if necessary. You can begin your quest for quality calves by trying out some of the moves below—hurry, because shorts...

Athletically speaking, there’s very few things more visually appealing than watching an NBA star dunk a basketball or an NFL wide receiver elevate to catch a football, or an Olympic-caliber sprinter run a sub-10-second 100 meters. What do these feats have in common? These displays of power are...

Cardio machines like the treadmill, rowing, elliptical and stationary cycling are convenient and practical tools to enhance cardiovascular strength and endurance. You set the duration and intensity, and off you go. But they are not the only machines to get your heart rate up and work up a sweat...

Nowadays you don’t have to visit a CrossFit gym to see battle rope exercises in use. What used to be reserved for specific fitness niches and professional athletes is now utilized in home gyms, outdoor workouts, and boot camps. The simplicity of battle rope exercises are what makes them a...

The foam roller is still a fantastic tool to help release tension and soreness from muscles you never knew were tight or sore. It is a must pre and post-workout recovery tool. It comes in all shapes and sizes to improve mobility and movement and reduce muscle soreness, particularly if you are an...

Plyometric exercises are explosive moves (like jumping) that allow the body to gain power, strength, speed, and fast reaction time. Athletes and those dedicated to increasing their muscular power (amongst other athletic gains) utilize plyometric training as a way to level up their athleticism...

A straightforward way to give your workouts a new spin is to include some combination moves where you combine two or more exercises into each rep. Combination exercises help you build muscle, shed fat, and improve conditioning. These exercises are great when you’re short on time, in a fat-loss...

Your body doesn’t know what type of exercise you’re doing you’re performing a dumbbell exercises , a resistance band exercises, or even a dumbbell resistance band exercises. All it knows is that it feels resistance, and it has to overcome it. To add muscle and strength, progressive overload is...

Working out with a single dumbbell may sound foolish, but imagine the following scenarios. You walk into the gym, ready to roll, and it is packed, and most of the equipment is taken. This makes completing your current program an annoying challenge. Or the will to train is strong, but time is...

There’s no question that the basics of strength training work despite what you may see from time to time on the Internet. The barbell is the ultimate tool for strength and muscle and will continue to work for all who take it seriously. Incorporating the Big 3exercises—the barbell squat, bench...

There is a common misconception that you need a lot of time to train for it to be effective. Why bother if you haven’t 30 minutes to get your sweat on? Entering the holiday season, many people have more on their plate than usual, and gym time usually gets cut. You don’t need much time to...

The best measure of absolute pressing strength is not the bench press (please don’t tell the powerlifters) but the overhead press. Although the bench press is pretty standard among lifters, the same cannot be said for the overhead press or the many overhead press accessory exercises. Why? You...

Did the chicken or the egg come first? Who cares? Both chicken and the egg are delicious—and you’re wondering what this has to do with mobility exercises. Stay with me for a moment. In the fitness universe, “experts” have often debated which exercise quality is more important to train...

Unlike unilateral row exercises bilateral vertical and horizontal pulling exercises like chin-ups bent over barbell rows, and seated rows often get all the love and attention. Because this is where the gains are due to the fact you’ll lift more weight. It’s a shame that unilateral row exercises...

Our bodies are three-dimensional (3-D) movement machines, yet some gymgoers don’t tap into the potential of our 3-D movement. But what is 3-D movement and what does this have to do with lateral exercises? Let gets nerdy for a hot minute. The human body has three planes of motion: the sagittal...

The stability ball exercises gets a bad rap. Gym bros look at it and ponder how many gains can be had with what looks like a beach ball. Some women look at it and think, “I can do abs on that.” Many fitness professionals don’t like it, and some have even attacked it with a screwdriver (true...

Have you ever walked into a gym and seen a battle rope curled up in the corner and wonder why it is and what are some battle rope exercises you can do? First, it’s another tool in the toolbox when it comes to your conditioning. Second, it is not there to tie you in knots. Ropes were used way...