ATHLEAN-X

If you ever thought of having a back like bane, this is the dense back workout you will want to follow. It can take even the most bony of backs right now and help build them into much thicker, denser bands of muscle like the popular Batman villain played by Tom Hardy. Now, the key to building a thick back is to perform exercises that focus less on width and v-taper and more on the front to back depth that you get from working on the mid back muscles. In this back workout, you’re going to get a chance to use back exercises that are highly capable of developing the look you are after. I’m going to present the exercises in this workout in the form of a choice. I want you to be able to think your way through your options to select the best back exercises for building up a bane back. The reason is, most of us are programmed to want to perform the same exercises over and over. The issue is, while they are all incredibly effective back exercises and can all help you to build a bigger back, some are better than others when it comes to building thicker, dense lats and back muscles. So with that, we start with an important note. If you truly want to build the thickest back possible you are going to need to start deadlifting. There is no better exercise for creating back muscle density than the deadlift.

If you’re looking for the best triceps exercises outside of the ones you’re already doing to build your triceps, then you’ve come to the right place. In this video, I’m going to show you the 5 best triceps exercises you’re not doing right now to help you get bigger triceps and fill your shirt sleeves. If you have been relying on the close grip bench press to overload your triceps with heavier weights, but it’s still not giving you the tricep size that you’re looking for, then you are going to want to try the PJR Pullover. This exercise will effectively target the long head of the triceps since you are putting them on stretch by getting your arms back behind your head. However, you will be able to use heavier weight thanks to the assistance of the lats during this movement as well as the use of a single dumbbell instead of the having the manipulate two in space. For those looking for a bodyweight option outside of just continuously doing pushup variations, you are going to want to try the Triceps Trunk Lift. This triceps exercise forces you to get your arms into extension behind your body as you come up off the ground, creating a great overload in the contracted position of the muscle. Most bodyweight triceps exercises, especially pushup variations, won’t have you reaching this level of contraction on the long head of the triceps because they lack the ability to bring the arm into extension. If you don’t have access to any equipment, this is a great option to add to your triceps workout.

The one hundred shoulder workout requires all out effort, but the results are nothing short of incredible if you follow the shoulder exercises and protocols shown here. As always a complete shoulder workout should consist of exercises for your front delts, middle delts and rear delts. That said, even that doesn’t make this workout for shoulders complete. In order to round out your delts and create boulder shoulders you need to spend more time focusing on the reps that actually matter to help you build bigger shoulders. That is what we do in this intense shoulder workout. As always, it’s important to define what training intensely looks like. When asked to train to failure in this shoulders workout, you want to be sure that you are still performing something that resembles the shoulder exercise that was intended. In other words, adopting poor form in order to squeeze out another concentric repetition is not allowed. You want to stop at the point when the breakdown of form starts to either short change your range of motion or introduce compensation that could turn the shoulder exercise into a risky one.

The hundred chest workout requires all out effort, but the results are nothing short of amazing if you follow the chest exercises and protocols shown here. As always a solid chest workout should consist of exercises for your upper chest, middle chest and lower chest. That said, even that doesn’t make this workout for chest complete. In order to round out your pecs with a well rounded workout you need to spend more time focusing on the reps that actually count to help you build a bigger chest. That is what we do in this workout. If you look at the four main exercises that people do in their chest workouts you will see incline bench press, barbell bench press, dips and pushups. Take a closer look into each of these basic chest exercises and you will see one thing in common. That is, each of these exercises is lacking a full adduction of the shoulder within the exercise. As we did in the perfect chest workout, we are going to make sure we address this oversight but remain in the effective rep range for each as we make our way through this chest workout. Remember, just because you are going through a full range of motion on the chest exercises that you are doing it does not mean that you are taking a muscle through its full range of motion. In order to grow fuller pecs you are going to have to train with this in mind and be sure to include chest exercises that take your arm through different planes of motion.

Have you ever wondered which raise is best for bigger shoulders? In this video I am going to show you 4 different versions of the lateral raise to help you determine which one is best for you and your shoulder training. They might look fairly similar, but it’s the details that matter. First, it’s important to know how NOT to perform a lateral raise. In the pursuit of big shoulders, we also need to be conscious of the health of our shoulder joints as well. It would be of no surprise to me if you had heard the tip to “pour the pitcher” when performing lateral raises. That is, at the top of the movement, elevate your pinky above your thumb and put your shoulder into internal rotation. If you are doing this, I am begging you to stop! By “pouring the pitcher,” you are putting your shoulder into internal rotation with elevation. This action creates impingement stress within the shoulder joint which can lead to longterm pain and discomfort. For healthier, bigger shoulders, we should be making sure that the thumb is higher than the pinky at the top of the range of motion. This will actually create external rotation which leads to more room for movement within the shoulder capsule.

If you want to develop six pack abs you may think that you have to spend hours a day trying to get one. That is not the case at all. If you are able to commit to a consistent but short effort you will be amazed at how much better your abs could look in a short period of time when combined with a focused attention to what you eat as well. In this video, I have a short 6 minute ab workout for you to do along with me. As you will see and feel, an ab workout does not have to be long to be effective. As a matter of fact, I would probably say that the longer the ab workout goes, the less effective it becomes. The key to this working is that it is short enough to allow you to do it on a regular basis without having to fight to schedule it into your day. Remember, the key to getting a six pack is consistency. Now, don’t think that just because you might be doing the same set of exercises that it is becoming less effective. It is not. The choice of ab exercises in this workout is broad enough so as to cover all of the major functions of the abs. There are bottom up movements that better hit the lower abs. There are rotational movements that are initiated from the bottom up and the top down to really hit the rotation capabilities of the core muscles.

Of all the biceps curl variations out there, there is one in particular that has seemed to have drawn the ire of some without actually knowing why they feel the way they do. In this video, I’m going to break down the Waiter’s Curl. We’ll take a look at the exercise in regards to its effectiveness as a biceps exercise and specifically, its ability to more efficiently target the long head of the biceps. Let’s talk about the objections. First, some believe that the waiter’s curl doesn’t have enough supination in order to build bigger biceps. This one is actually just blatantly incorrect. Not only is this biceps exercise being performed from a position of supination but it also allows for active supination during the movement. It starts with taking the right grip on the dumbbell. Instead of gripping the sides of the dumbbell you have to be sure that you place your hands and fingers flat against the undersurface of the dumbbell. Push through the pinky side heel of your palm and allow the wrists to bend back as you lift to maximize the supination. Next, the idea that this is an unnatural or weird exercise is not understood. In fact, biomechanically it is quite similar to the rope curl. It’s also occurring predominantly in a hinge joint that is known for its ability to restrict unnatural motion.

If you ever wanted to get a 6 pack and wanted to do it quickly, then this is a must watch video. Here I’m showcasing what Japanese social media influencer Hiiragi Sensei did to get impressive abs and build more muscle with just a single 4 minute workout repeated every single day for 5 months. But was it the ab workout he did or something behind the scenes that was responsible for his real results? Let’s break it down. So the gameplan for Hiiragi was to perform a basic one exercise workout for 4 minutes in Tabata style. This means that he performs the single exercise for 20 seconds and then rests for 10 seconds every 30 second period. He continues this for a total of 4 minutes. The exercise of choice was the basic burpee. I will say however, that the one that he called a burpee was actually not quite a burpee. The removal of the chest to ground requirement of the burpee resulted in him performing a simple squat thrust. This is still a metabolically demanding exercise but not quite as difficult as the full chest to the ground version that he likely should have chosen - particularly if he wanted to build more muscle. Nonetheless, he performed this workout every single day for 5 months. There were no days skipped. As his conditioning level improved he was able to do more and more burpees in that same 4 minute workout. He started out getting about 5 reps done in every 20 second period and finished at the end of 5 months with the ability to perform 8 reps every 20 seconds for the entire 4 minutes. This was obviously a form of progressive overload and something that helped him to build more muscle during the period, not just lose the noticeable amount of fat that he did. In total, it is claimed that he lost 13.5kg (or 28lbs) in just 150 days.

If you have lower belly fat or you are just soft in that area, you might be wondering how to target your lower abs and get visible lower abs. In this video, I am going to show you that not only yes, you can preferentially target the lower abdominal muscles, but how to do so in the most effective way possible. With three simple exercises (plus a bonus exercise) and some tips on how to do them, you will be well on your way to sculpting your lower abs. You might have been told that there is no way to isolate one area of the abs over the other. In other words, you cannot work the lower abs without also working the rest of the abdominal muscles. This is true. However, based on where we initiate the movement from, we can preferentially influence the portion of the abs that we are looking for. To target the upper abs, you would perform top-down movements such as a standard crunch, but if you wanted to hit the lower ab muscles, you would perform bottom-up movements. The lower abs are subject to another anatomical manipulation and that comes from the position of the pelvis and the low back. To most effectively influence the lower abs, you will want a flat back throughout every ab exercise that you do. To achieve this back position, you are going to need to be in a posterior pelvic tilt. By curling your pelvis in and under, you are also helping to reduce the activation of the hip flexors during these movements. Next, you are going to want to set your hip angle. Ideally this will be at 90º for both your hips and your knees. However, to make the exercise easier, you will want to bring that angle closer towards your chest and to make it harder, open the angle so that your legs are farther away. Whatever angle you set, make sure to keep that angle throughout the entirety of the exercise.

If you ever wished you had a no b.s. way to get lean because things you have tried in the past to lose body fat just haven’t worked, then this is for you. In this video, I’m going to go over the simplest way to lose weight and get lean by dropping body fat levels the right way. There are things you can do with your nutrition and your workouts that are going to help, you just have to know the proper ones to focus on. It all starts with the four most important words when it comes to losing fat and getting lean. Those are calories in, calories out. The law of thermodynamics states that we need to be in a net energy deficit in order to lose fat. This comes in the form of two approaches, or most successfully, with a combination of both of them. First we can talk about the calories out part of the equation. This refers to your exercise, or as I like to call it, training. Training is exercising with a purpose. Most of the time people focus on cardio and conditioning in an attempt to lose weight fast. The problem here is that the amount of caloric burn, while helpful, is never enough to offset a poor nutrition plan. It is so important to look beyond the treadmills and elliptical machines as a way of burning off calories and fat. The better focus of the plan should be on strength training and the use of weights. Now the actual workouts that involve weightlifting are generally not going to result in any significant calorie burn either. That isn’t where their benefit comes from however. They instead, will help you to build muscle which is metabolically more active tissue, so even at rest your body will consume more calories allowing you to lose fat easier. The best type of workouts for getting lean are going to be the ones that allow you to build the most amount of muscle and focus on the multi-function, multi-muscle group exercises. These are often in the form of total body splits and push pull legs splits. If you are very short on time you may want to focus on turning these workouts into either complexes or circuits to get some additional conditioning benefits. Keep in mind however that these latter two approaches are not as effective for building or burning as the traditionally performed versions of each.

If you’re looking to get in shape and want to know how you can do it the quickest, you are going to want to watch. In this video, I show you how nutrition, diet, training, flexibility and sleep - while important - are not the most important things that you need to focus on when trying to get in good shape. Instead, you have to look below the surface, to the root elements that determine the real success or failure of your diet plan or fitness plan. While all of these things mentioned above are critical elements of a complete fitness program, they can all be undone by other elements that may be missing from your approach.

If you are looking for chest exercises that help you to build a bigger upper chest, then you are going to want to watch this video. Here, I’m going to break down some of the most popular upper chest exercises that people perform to grow the clavicular head of the pecs. You may be surprised to learn that some of the ones most often done are the ones that really don’t provide the muscle growth and strength you’re after. As always, it’s important to define what the characteristics of a great upper chest exercise are. First, the exercise must be capable of either driving strength gains or size gains, or ideally both. The strength is going to come from those chest exercises that allow for progressive overload. That said, some smaller isolation chest exercises are going to do a great job of creating hypertrophy and cannot be ignored in the overall ranking.

If you are looking for the smartest way to get a 6 pack then you are going to have to look at 6 important things. In this video, I’m going to show you to get the smartest, most effective method of getting your abs to show in the fastest amount of time. Let’s start off by getting the most important caveat out of the way - nutrition! If you don’t have your diet in check, then the rest of what I am going to tell you isn’t going to matter. The fact of the matter is that if you want your abs to show, you are going to have to lose the body fat surrounding them and that comes through proper eating. The first key to getting a six pack is to start training your abs directly. There is an argument that you will get all the ab training you need simply by performing compound exercises. While yes you will be training the abs through stabilization on the bigger lifts, you are not taking them through the function of producing movement, which leaves a lot on the table. To get your 6 pack to show, you are going to have to incorporate direct ab workouts. The good thing about this, however, is that it doesn’t take a lot of time. You can get a great ab workout done in under 10 minutes.

No matter how many pull-ups you can do right now, you CAN do more pullups just by doing what I’m going to show you in this video. The key to performing this upper body exercise is to know how to be efficient in the movement and use all the muscles that you have at your disposal to get the job done. Here, I’m going to give you four pullup tips that will work for everyone watching, to do more pullups than you’re doing right now. This applies to those who can do 30 in a set, all the way to those that can’t even do one. The key is to start by realizing that the exercise has a built-in mechanism for getting anyone to perform it at the level they are capable of. The pullup has what I call, a built in mechanical drop set. This means, that you can either do the concentric part of the rep (pulling your body up to the bar), the holding part (keeping your chin above the bar), or the eccentric part (lowering your body down from the bar). The important element of this is that we are all stronger eccentrically than we are isometrically than we are concentrically. This is ironic since the part that most of us focus our efforts is on building our strength to pull.

The One Punch Man workout continues with performing 100 sit-ups everyday. I am a big proponent of daily ab training and appreciate the fact that this workout promotes that idea. However, my issue with this part of the routine is that you are training your abs very one dimensionally. I love the sit-up, but the abs and obliques are multifunctional in that while they work through flexion of the spine from the top down as well the bottom up, they also provide and prevent rotation while also preventing extension. By not training through every function of the core, we are limiting the benefits that can be achieved. The next part of the One Punch Man workout contains 100 bodyweight squats. What I do like about this is similar to what I like about the 100 sit-ups portions: increased frequency of leg training. Often enough, I see people opting to train their legs only once a week or at even worse, skip training their legs altogether. I’m grateful to see One Punch Man being able to promote MORE leg training. My big problem, however, with the 100 bodyweight squats is the remedial nature of the exercise and the lack of ability to overload and thus I think there are better options for building more muscle. The final part of the workout is the 10 kilometer run. Another area where I have an appreciation and in this case, the merit of daily conditioning. Now, while cardiovascular training is not necessary to be ripped and lean, it is, however, important to our overall health. Cardio is extremely important for a healthy and optimally functioning heart - something that can’t ever be ignored. It doesn’t matter if you have to walk, run, or ride a bicycle, you need to train your heart. My issue with this part of the One Punch Man workout is that running 10 kilometers is a little daunting for many, but that doesn’t mean we can’t start somewhere. So while I wouldn’t recommend that One Punch Man workout as something to be part of your daily routine, I would say it could be a good measure of your overall fitness. In fact, in the ATHLEAN-X Training System, we have a similar workout that is presented as a challenge to do just that, called the 400 Challenge. It includes 100 reps of pushups, sit-ups, inverted rows, and bodyweight squats. While the 400 Challenge seems similar, the key differences are that is simply a challenge, a measure of your fitness level as opposed to a daily workout, and that it includes an exercise to train the posterior chain (something I mentioned previously).

There are obvious high protein foods and then there are those that you never knew had this much protein. In this video, I am going to show you 10 foods that have a lot more dietary protein than you may have ever expected and fit perfectly in to any bodybuilding diet for those looking to build more muscle. Now we all know that protein is required to build muscle, but how much exactly? Research is mixed and suggests anywhere between .5 grams and 1.5 grams per pound of bodyweight. We like to make the recommendation of .7-1 gram for most people. That said, the traditional choices of chicken, beef, fish, eggs and milk are not only obvious but sometimes not permitted in people’s meal plans depending on their style of eating. These 10 undercover proteins provide amazingly potent alternatives that can either substitute or supplement the high protein diet you are already eating. Let’s break them down one by one. First up, we have whole wheat pasta. While traditionally labeled a carbohydrate, whole wheat pasta provides 7.5 grams of protein per cup. Now, a cup of pasta really doesn’t take up much room on the plate, so we can likely double that number, bringing the protein content up to 15 grams. For someone trying to build muscle, including this protein source is a great idea. While whole wheat pasta is an incomplete protein, we can pair it with another to fill in the gaps all the while driving up that protein content. The perfect pairing? Green peas. Peas have 4 grams of protein per .5 cup, which also doesn’t take up much room on the plate. Putting these two together will help to boost any bodybuilding diet that is being used for more muscle growth. A less sneaky source of protein, but certainly one that is higher in content than you might’ve expected, is parmesan cheese. With 11 grams per ounce, that’s significantly higher than the 6 grams found in cheddar cheese. Another protein source that you might not have expected to have as much as it does is spinach. That’s right, Popeye’s favorite food is a potent muscle builder, packing 5.5 grams of protein in a cup of cooked spinach. The fact is, if you’re eating to build more muscle, you’ll want to include this leafy green in your diet, too. We all know that nuts and seeds are a solid source of protein, but did you know that pumpkin seeds have the most? A whopping 8 grams per ounce! Not only that, but pumpkin seeds are one of the most cost effective sources of proteins in comparison to other nuts and seeds. Dairy is an obvious source of protein, but there is one dairy product that might be higher than you think: cottage cheese. With 30 grams of protein per cup, cottage cheese should find its way into your meal plan as you look to build muscle. Another food that is traditionally looked at as a carbohydrate but contains a surprising amount of protein in it is quinoa. Not only does it contain 8 grams per cup, but it is also a complete protein. This is an important factor to consider when choosing protein sources as alternatives or supplements to your current protein intake. A food that is high in protein that you might not have thought of, is edamame. While soy is often debated on its health benefits and drawbacks, it is commonly agreed that natural soy is better than processed soy. Edamame is not only a natural soy product, but it is a complete protein, and packs 21 grams of protein per cup! If you want to start your day off right with a meal that will help you build muscle, I suggest adding oatmeal to your morning routine. You might not have known that oatmeal contains 8-9 grams of protein per only .5 cup. Add in the fact that you can add further protein sources such as milk, nuts, or even protein powder. One of the most powerful alternative protein sources is lentils. Lentils contain 18 grams of protein per cup and not only that, but also packs 16 grams of fiber in that same cup. This protein source is not one to be overlooked as it will provide plenty of benefits to any bodybuilding diet. Last, but certainly not least, is the food source with the most protein on the planet - spirulina. Containing 57 grams of protein per 100 grams, there is no other food that concentrated. Adding it to a shake is quick and and easy way to get the most protein possible. The fact is that outside of the standard protein sources, we have plenty of high protein options to act as alternatives or supplements to our current muscle building diet. If you are looking for a training program with a step-by-step meal plan included, then head over to athleanx.com using the link below. Start training and eating like an athlete today.

There are lots of 100 Pushups a Day Workouts available, but should you be doing them. That is the question that gets answered in today’s video. The attraction of a simple to follow, easy to remember exercise plan that has the ability to deliver bigger chest and arm gains is definitely something that cannot be denied. That said, is it the best use of your time? To start, it’s important to realize just why 100 pushups a day is something that has been done and tried by many. Some perform this routine for 30 days, 60 days, 90 days or even an entire year. If there were no results to be had from doing it, it is hard to imagine that people would continue to spend their time doing it. But what if there were something better. Here I’m going to show you something better than 100 pushups a day. The first issue with making the number simply one hundred is that it will only match the ability levels of about 3 percent of those watching. In order for an exercise to be progressive, it should have the capacity to challenge the person that is doing it. Now, the benefits to this technique are almost wholly due to the dramatically increased volume of the pushup exercise that comes with doing them daily. Over time, the sub maximal volume, done in much greater amounts, is enough to drive muscle adaptation and size gains in the chest, arms and shoulders. That said, not all increases in volume can do this. Many times, the excessive volume becomes simply junk volume. That is, an accumulation of reps that are so below your capability levels that they serve to do nothing to progress the muscles that you are trying to build and more often only cause irritation, inflammation and aggravation of the joints involved in the exercise. No exception here with pushups. People who engage in pushup routines that require daily pushups for more than 3 weeks will often times see a decrease in their muscle output and strength as well as development of poor posture from rounded shoulders. These are caused by the muscle imbalances that occur when focusing all of your efforts on chest development. In my 22 Days to a Bigger Chest Routine, we not only propose plan involving pushups but important variations of the move that shift the focus more to your triceps or shoulders to offload some of the work being done by the chest. As always however, with the daily recommendation of doing face pulls you will be sure you have enough posterior chain training to counteract any postural issues that could come from an abundance of push ups. Here, what is suggested is to not only perform your pushups in sets rather than as a firm fixed number of 100 but to shift that fixed number of reps to another exercise - the Superman Pressout - to avoid any of the imbalances that could come. So, with the fixed number of sets rather than pushups we are able to accommodate to a person’s ability level much better. For example, someone that can do 60-75 reps of pushups in a given set is going to be far less challenged by a 100 pushups a day routine than someone who can only do 5-10 in a set. Here, we equalize the stress by having each person do 5 sets, 5 reps short of failure. It’s important to keep these sets short of all out muscle failure. This will help with the recovery from these workouts as the consecutive days start to pile up. The next most important element however is that immediately following each of these 5 sets you will perform 20 reps of the Superman Pressout exercise shown. This will work the often overlooked and important muscles of the rotator cuff and rhomboids, helping to prevent postural shoulder rounding that could come from overworking the pecs. You can perform these sets all at the same time or break them up over the course of the day. Just be sure to include the set of 20 reps of Superman Pressouts immediately following each of the sets to ensure that you get your 100 reps of that exercise in throughout the day. Try this out and let me know how you do in the comments

The strength curve of a dumbbell curl maxes out in the middle of the exercise but loses tension at the top - right when you want it the most - when the biceps is in peak contraction. A banded curl provides max tension at the top, filling in the missing element of the dumbbell variation, but is too easy in the midrange. Combine the two and you get the best of both worlds. An exercise capable of delivering better gains by overlapping strength curves and putting the science back in strength.

f you want to build big forearms and want forearm exercises that you can do anywhere, you are going to want to pay attention. When it comes to building bigger forearms you want to be sure that you perform exercises for both the front and back sides. The muscles on the underside of the lower arm are called the flexors and the ones on the top side are called the extensors. All too often, we feel as if the only forearm exercises we can do in our workouts for forearms require a barbell, dumbbells or a plate. In this video, I’m going to show you some exercises for your forearms that you can do anywhere without anything but your own bodyweight. It starts on the ground with two movements, one for each side of the forearms. These were shown to me by Olympic medalist gymnast Jonathan Horton at my live event a few years back. They not only help to overload flexion and extension of the wrist but they develop wrist stability and strength on the way to building bigger forearms. The key to having strong wrists is that it carries over into many of the other barbell based exercises and benefits your overall strength, like the bench press and overhead press. If you have weak wrists you are never able to handle the heavy loads that you ultimately are capable of on either of those foundational weightlifting exercises. We start by targeting the flexor muscles of the forearm. The way we do this is by getting on your knees on the ground and placing your hand flat on the floor as if getting ready to do a pushup. I use a muscle marker to draw a line across the knuckles at the base of my fingers to reinforce where I want to push through as I perform the movement. Obviously, this is not a requirement of the exercise. From here you push down into the ground through this spot on your hand and drive your body up. The more you anchor your bodyweight directly above where you are pressing, the more weight your wrists will have to lift up against gravity. If wrists mobility is an issue for you or you need to off load some of the work being done you can sit back more on your heels and press from there. The wrists will be going from this extended position to a neutral position at the top of every rep. This flexion of the wrist is resisted and causes the muscles in the flexor compartment of the forearm to be overloaded. Just as with any form of resistance, when applied properly, you can build big forearms with this exercise. There is a standing variation if you want something that requires even less motion and mobility at the wrist. To target the opposite side of your forearms, the extensor muscles, you want to start with the back sides of your hand flat on the floor. Again, if you are limited by wrists immobility issues, you can do this with the variation pointed out in the video. Here you want to slowly extend the wrist and the fingers, as if trying to spread them into the floor, until you get your wrist once again back into a neutral position. The act of going from a flexed to a neutral position requires extension of the wrist that is going to help to build bigger forearms. You can easily add some more forearm exercises into your repertoire here as well by simply including a back pack. Weight it with some books, water bottles, sand or anything to create some load that your forearm muscles are going to have to lift. Perform wrist extensions, wrist curls, and reverse curls to build up your brachioradialis, flexor and extensor muscles of the forearms. Finally, simply just hanging from a pullup bar can help to build good strength, stamina and toughness. If you don’t have a bar, you can easily get this done from a tree limb out in the yard. The fact is, there are no excuses when it comes to finding the right forearm exercises you can do anywhere and build big forearms. You just have to be willing to put in the work. If you’re ready to start putting in the work and are looking for a daily workout and meal plan, be sure to head to athleanx.com via the link below. Use our program selector tool to find the workout program that best matches up to your current goals and I’ll take care of the getting you the results you want. For more videos on forearm exercises and forearm workouts to build big forearms, be sure to remember to subscribe to our channel here on rumble via the link below https://rumble.com/c/c-1246143

If you do face pulls, then you need to watch this video to see the right way to do one and how to stop making this huge face pull mistake. If you’re not doing face pulls, then I have to ask, are you even watching my channel? Everyone knows how important I believe this exercise is. The key however is not just doing it but making sure that you do it right. The face pull is a great exercise for developing the muscles of the upper back, rhomboids, rear delts and rotator cuff. When it comes to the rotator cuff muscles, their job is to externally rotate the shoulder. In fact, their only movement function is to create external rotation of the shoulder. Ignoring their function is a recipe for long term shoulder health issues. In order to keep a shoulder functioning normally with proper biomechanics you have to take the time to strengthen the muscles that keep the humerus centered within the glenoid. If this is in place, as you raise your arm up overhead you will keep the arm out of an impingement position and limit the inflammation and pain that can come as a result. Whenever you do an overhead pressing exercise or a barbell OHP, you want to be sure that your shoulder has the ability to remain stable. If you aren’t doing face pulls right now, make sure you start. If you are, be sure you’re doing them the right way. Far too often people will lead with their elbows when performing this exercise. That is not correct. When leading with the elbows you are creating internal shoulder rotation with elevation. This can lead to impingement over time. A good exercise with amazing benefits can quickly become one that isn’t so beneficial at all. Instead, think of it as a race to the back between your hands and your elbows. If your hands win the race then you’ve done the exercise correctly. If your elbows win the race then you’ve done it incorrectly. Maintain the ninety degree angles between your elbows and shoulders as well and you

There are optional exercises and then there are exercises that everyone should have in their program. In this video, I’m going to go over the 12 Exercises that EVERYONE Should Have in Their Program to build the most muscle and a strong body that is resilient to injury. You may find that you are doing many of these exercises, but are you doing them all? Unless there is a physical limitation preventing you from performing them, I believe they are must-do movements that need to be in your workout plan. Even in the instance of a nagging pain getting in the way of you performing the exercise, I’m going to show you a variation that should help you to overcome this issue and put you back on track to doing every one of these dozen best exercises. When putting together an exercise list like this it is important to not only select the movements that are most effective for building bigger stronger bodies, but to make sure that these exercises are complimenting each other as well. There is no need to select five different versions of a bench press since doing so will only lead to major muscle imbalances and an unbalanced muscular development. Here we hit all three planes of motion as well as the all important corrective exercises to make sure no stone is left unturned along the way to making the best exercise selections. We start with the king of all lower body exercises, the squat. There is nothing more fundamental when it comes to movement patterns of the legs, hips and glutes than the squat. That said, sometimes people can experience an aggravation of low back and knee pain with the exercise. Beyond learning the proper mechanics on the squat you do have an option to switch to an alternative version to alleviate your discomfort. The bulgarian split squat will help offset back pain while box squats will dramatically decrease knee stress. The deadlift is the twin king of the lower body, this time focused on the posterior chain muscles more effectively. Once again, it’s the movement pattern that is critical far more than the exact version of the exercise you perform. The hinge movement is one of the most fundamental to all human performance. Learning it is going to protect your lower back. If pulling from the floor is still too challenging however, simply switch to a mat elevated or trap bar variation to keep the gains coming without the pains. The bench press is the main upper body pressing exercise you should be doing, at least in the horizontal plane. It involves the chest, shoulders and triceps to a great degree and gives you the opportunity to load up as able to build up not only your muscle size but your strength as well. Here again however, the exercise can be troublesome for some with shoulder issues. If this is the case for you, switch to a slowed down dumbbell press and most of your issues will decrease significantly as stability is restored to the press. Pullups are not only one of my favorite bodyweight back exercises, they are one of my favorite back exercises - period. Of course, here again the loading options are many. If you find that you can do too many reps with your own bodyweight you can easily load some weight around your waist and make this a weighted pullup for more gains. Likewise, using a band can help offload some of your bodyweight making an assisted pullup possible for all. Facepulls and banded external rotation are two critical exercises that sometimes elude the common exercise routine. Don’t make this mistake. They are just as important to the overall health of your joints while strengthening the weak points that undermine your performance on the bigger lifts. Pushups belong on this list. Period. Just make sure that you’re doing the right kind of pushup. What I mean is, make sure that you are doing a variation that is challenging to you. Continuing to rep out 30,40 or even 50 reps in a set is not doing enough to increase your strength on the exercise since you can already do lots of reps. Pick a harder version to challenge your body and force new growth. Of course, other exercises make this list as well. Lunges, Rows, and direct arm exercises like barbell curls and triceps extensions are all key exercises that should be included in every program. Watch the video for a detailed breakdown of why. If you’re looking for a complete workout plan that has all of these must-do exercises in them, be sure to head to athleanx.com via the link below and use the program selector to find the program that best matches your current goals. If you’re looking for more videos on the best exercises for building muscle and the best band exercises, 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.