Putting The Dirty Bulk To Rest
You often hear the same questions no matter what gym setting you are in. What’s your max bench? What pre-workout ...
Exercise Execution
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Nutrient Deficiencies and How to Rectify Them
Vitamins and minerals are essential nutrients that help you maintain optimal health by regulating your metabolism, hormones, and aiding in ...
Top 40 Muscle-Building Foods
Protein 101 Those of you following any of my programs and / or striving to be a top bodybuilder or ...
Nutrient vs Caloric Density
It is true that a person’s caloric intake has a very direct impact on their weight. Consume more than is ...
Glutamine
Almost everyone is familiar with the idea that glutamine is great for muscle recovery, but it is often under utilized ...
Leucine: ‘THE’ Growth Switch!
Leucine is the most important of the BCAAs. When it comes to signaling muscle building (protein synthesis), Leucine is King ...
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Trap 3 Isolation
Building an impressive physique starts with a strong foundation... these are an awesome tool to add to your arsenal!
The Essentials of Bodypart Specialization: Hamstring and Glute Training
In preparation for writing this article, I wanted to see what exactly was written out on the web when it ...
Leg Presses
Ben's top-shelf tips for leg pressing your way to massive legs!
Pullups & Pulldowns
BPak's best execution tips for getting the most out of pull-up and pulldown movements!
Side-Delt Movements
Want side delts like BPak? Here you'll find his best execution pointers for the medial delt exercises you should ...
Shrugs
Want titan-sized traps? Here are the best 'shrugging' exercises and how to execute them to pack on the pounds!
Pullups & Pulldowns
General guidelines for all Pull-Up and Pulldown movements
(unless specifically stated otherwise)
- back flat / abs tight, elbows in as close to body as possible (avoid letting them flare)
- attempt to remain perfectly vertical throughout (avoid leaning / throwing hips back)
- keep wrists, elbows & forearms in a straight line as close to perpendicular to the ground as possible
- relax the arms to minimize their involvement, focus instead on stabilizing from the back
- contract the scapula (shoulder blades) & lats throughout while pulling through the elbows (as opposed to the hands)
- on the concentric, pull the shoulders back, aim chest to the bar, & drive the elbows simultaneously towards the floor & away from each other; avoid any ‘shrugging’
- on the eccentric, extend / protract the scapula & let the shoulders roll forward at the extreme
- ‘shove’ hands outwards throughout (intent)
- when performing with an overhand-grip, don’t allow the elbows to come behind the body (drive them towards the lats). When performing with a neutral / underhand-grip, end the concentric with elbows as far behind torso as possible, chest touching the bar.
Pull Ups / Chin Ups (incl. ‘Assisted’) – overhand / neutral / underhand grip
At the top
- Exercise Specific:
- variable hand grip and spacing is acceptable (besides very narrow) from workout to workout – though stick with the same choice during each individual workout
- if / when performing Assisted Machine Pull-ups, place knees at the back of the pad unless directed otherwise.
Ring Pull-Ups
- Exercise Specific:
- during the exercise, consider your hands like hooks – do not pull with the biceps or forearms
- allow pronation of the shoulders at the bottom of the rep (you may need to rotate your hands / arms externally on the way down so that your palms end facing away from you at the bottom)
- take a neutral-grip during the concentric portion of the rep.
Push-Away Pull-Ups – advanced exercise
- Exercise Specific:
- the focus is spent on the eccentric / lowering portion of the movement
- do what it takes to get to the top, then slowly ‘push away’ extending the arms straight out in front; really fight against the descent while staying as high as possible
- make an extra effort to try and maintain a vertical plane (as depicted above, you can see it is not easy!).
Lat Pulldowns – Overhand, Reverse, or Neutral Grip
Performing with an Overhand Wide-Grip
Performing with a Reverse-Grip
- Exercise Specific:
- as a general rule, position body as appropriate to achieve a vertical plane of movement (slide butt forward if necessary) – depending on your structure, you may however find that to achieve full engagement of the lats, you need to lean backwards slightly instead
- if the above is true for you, or you are instructed specifically to perform the exercise with a backward lean, lean from the hips, NOT from the spine (keep the abs tight).
- If performing with a reverse or neutral-grip: take a shoulder-width grip on the bar, and end with elbows behind the body at the bottom, chest touching the bar.
Incline Supine Overhead Reverse-Grip Pulldowns
Extended at the top
End position
- Exercise Specific:
- set-up:
> if possible, attach leather straps to the pulley instead of a bar (to avoid ‘over-supinating’ the hands)
> place a bench facing away from the apparatus and set at a high incline
> a spotter may be required to pass / take the weight when beginning / ending each set. - with a neutral-grip and slight arch in the back, expand the lats on the way up (push them towards the ceiling)
- aim for a strong stretch at the top
- aim wrists to hips and finish with elbows behind torso as much as possible at the bottom.
Hammer Iso Lat Pulldown
Supinated-grip
- Exercise Specific:
- chest up tall, no arching from the lower back or hips.
