TheNeuroStrengthCoach

Start standing and take 2 dumbbells and get them into the overhead position by curling and pressing them so that your arms are straight up with the palms facing away from you. Without hitting yourself in the head or the ears, bend the elbows and lower them slightly until the head of the dumbbells rest on the cap of the shoulders. Then flex the triceps and the shoulders to return back to the overhead position. This exercise will hit triceps, shoulders, and upper back. It is a limited ROM exercise, but when these go up, all pressing motions will go up as well.

Set your bench to about a 45° incline. Take 2 dumbbells and rest them on your thighs. Use a knee pop to get the dumbbells up near your chest and then rock back until your back is resting on the pads. Start with one chest press to get the dumbbells over your chest with locked arms. Slowly bend the elbows to the side folding the dumbbells in towards midline until the caps of the dumbbells rest on your chest. Using the triceps, “unfold” the dumbbells back up until the arms are parallel with elbows locked out. Go slow with these and repeat for repetitions. Tate presses will help blow up your bench press, pushups, or any other pressing motion that you are struggling with. It is normal to feel pressure and discomfort, but if there is pain lower the weight and build them up slowly over time.

Using a smith machine or a squat rack, set a barbell at hip crease height and position your hips directly up against the barbell. You can use a squat sponge to protect your hip bones and can use heavy dumbbells to anchor your feet if you are going super heavy. Use dumbbells for more range of motion or kettlebells for less range of motion and rounded back deadlift them reaching away from your body. The farther you reach away the more lower back you will use. You can use a band on the floor like in the video to make a visual “border” to cross. These are fantastic for strengthening weak lower backs and building lower back flexibility as well. You do not need a lot of weight!

Loop a long loop aka pullup band through a pullup bar and setup a box underneath the bar to allow you to more easily get into position. The thicker the band the more assistance you will have. Step into the band so the band is near the middle of both feet. Grab the bar about shoulder width apart with your palms facing you and jump into the top portion of a chinup where your chin is above the height of the bar. Perform small ROM pulsing repetitions where you focus on lowering your body a few inches before pulling right back up. This will help you develop the arm strength needed to finish your chinup which is an often weak portion of the exercise. This will help us build our reversal strength and spend more time under tension in this position and is a fantastic accessory and skill builder.

Loop a long loop aka pullup band through a pullup bar and setup a box underneath the bar to allow you to more easily get into position. The thicker the band the more assistance you will have. Step into the band so the band is near the middle of both feet. Grab the bar about shoulder width apart with your palms facing away from you and jump into the top portion of a pullup, where your chin is above the height of the bar. Perform small ROM pulsing repetitions where you focus on lowering your body a few inches before pulling right back up. This will help you develop the arm strength needed to finish your pullup which is an often weak portion of the exercise. This will help us build our reversal strength and spend more time under tension in this position and is a fantastic accessory and skill builder.

Set up a box underneath a pullup bar where the majority of the box is behind the bar as opposed to being in front. Stand slightly behind the bar. Grab the bar with the arms about shoulder width apart. Bend the knees and hips slightly to get some momentum and jump up flipping the elbows and shoulders over the bar and using the triceps and chest to hold yourself up with straight arms. Lower yourself back down until your feet rest on the box. You can make these easier by using a taller box, adding bumper plates to the box you are on to find the perfect height, or by squatting down lower to get more “jump” assist into it.

Loop a long loop aka pullup band through a pullup bar and step in the band so the band is near the center of each foot. The thicker the band is the more assistance you will get. Grab the bar with the palms facing away from you and start your first muscleup by doing a small jump and shooting the feet out down low and in front of you. Time the reversal of this motion and perform and explosive pullup where you are trying to bring your waste to the bar. Bend the hips slightly to curl the body around the bar while you flip the elbows over the bar and then perform a straight bar dip to lock your arms out at the top of the muscle. Carry this momentum through, lower yourself again making sure to kick the feet down and in front before repeating these for repetitions. Throughout the entire motion imagine you are moving in a “C” shape and don’t try to move in a straight line as this is an extremely advanced version that requires insane wrist, shoulder, and core strength.

Adjust the pulley so it is about shoulder height and use the single arm handle. Pull the cable out until your arm is completely straight with the wrist curled. This can be done with the thumb or without the thumb. The false grip position involves curling the wrist to use the forearm muscles and is used for many gymnastics movements and for arm wrestling. Adduct the shoulder until the armpit is completely closed with the hand down by your side with the wrist straight. As you raise the arm back up you will reestablish the false grip by re-curling the wrist. At the top portion you should be in a false grip with the arm straight out – at the bottom portion you will have the arm closed with NO false grip.

Set up an incline bench in front of a pulley attachment. Use the rope attachment on the cable machine and set the pulley so that is parallel to your arms when you are leaning into the bench in a chest supported position. Keep your knees bent so you are not standing, but also not fully seated. You will be leaning forward onto the bench. Pull the cable attachment towards you bringing your elbows out and back targeting the upper back. Squeeze your upper back as you pull the rope apart in the back position. Bring the rope together and control the eccentric until the arms are straightened. Repeat for repetitions.

Start by grabbing the cable attachment at the end of the rope with your palms facing down while sitting upright with the knees bent and feet on the foot plates. Slightly lean back keeping the upper back straight and shoulders slightly rounded forward at the starting position. Next, squeeze the your lats and back muscles and drive the elbows back pulling the rope attachment towards your upper abdominal region. The rope will naturally pull apart and spread around your torso allowing for more range of motion for a better lat squeeze. Return to the starting position by controlling the eccentric until the back is slightly rounded before you repeat for repetitions. This was a favorite variation of a cable low row done by famous bodybuilder Phil Heath.

Load up a barbell with plates and use a squat sponge or folded yoga mat to protect your hips from the bar. Position 2 bumper plates, crash mats, stall mats, or whatever you have to elevate the barbell next to a bench and far enough apart so that the barbell can rest on them. With your legs straight roll the barbell towards you climbing onto your blocks until it reaches your hip crease. Bend your knees until your feet are flat. “Climb” your upper back onto the bench so your upper back is supporting your weight and NOT your elbows. Grab the bar at a comfortable with and with slight forward pressure on the barbell, push through the heels, tuck the chin, and squeeze your glutes until the weight is lifted off the blocks and your hips are fully extended with the abs tight. Your shoulders, hips and knees should be in a straight line at the top. Lower the weight under control until the weight is rested on the blocks. Repeat for repetitions. Trainer Tips: As the weights get heavy (~350lbs +), you may need more than just the squat sponge. You can add a folded yoga mat between your hips and the squat sponge.

Anchor a band to something stable in front of you by looping it through itself. Put ab mats down or a yoga mat to protect your kneecaps. Start in a kneeling position with the glutes squeezed, abs tight and keeping your torso straight. Lower yourself under control until you can’t go any further – do NOT bend the hips to go down further. Push off the top of the feet to return back to the upright position. These are very challenging, pressure in the knee, quads, or hip flexors is normal, but it shouldn’t be painful. Take your time with these and build them up slowly over a long period of time until you can eventually go to the floor with no band assist.

Loop a long-loop resistance band around a pullup bar above you. Climb through the band so that it is on your hip bones – or under your chest if you prefer that way. The thicker the band is the more assistance it will give you. Start with your feet shoulder width apart (it will be more difficult with the feet together). Use a slam ball, medicine ball, stacked weight plates or stacked yoga blocks to create an elevated surface for your chest to rest on at the bottom of your pushup. A slam ball will give you some assistance as well as it will get compressed and help you push back up. Stacked plates are ideal to make small adjustments as you can easily add or remove height based on your specific strength levels in order to achieve the desired reps using plates that have different thicknesses to achieve the perfect height for your strength level. This is a better alternative to knee pushups as a more efficient way to build your pushups and upper body strength. Set the plates under your torso so that when you complete a pushup you can rest either your chest or abdomen on the dumbbells. Start in a pushup position with your hands directly under your shoulders and your legs and core engaged. Spread your fingers and squeeze your fingertips into the ground. Lower yourself by bending your elbows until your chest or abdomen rests on the plates. After a 1-2 second rest on the plates, reengage your upper body muscles and straighten your arms to complete the pushup. As you progress, lower the height until you can perform complete pushups. Trainer Tip: Even if you can perform perfect pushups, these dampen the stretch reflex to help build starting strength and increase power. If you want to prioritize triceps, make the ROM smaller. If you want to hit more chest and core, make the height lower.

Loop a long-loop resistance band around a pullup bar above you. Climb through the band so that it is on your hip bones – or under your chest if you prefer that way. The thicker the band is the more assistance it will give you. Start with your feet shoulder width apart (it will be more difficult with the feet together). Start in a pushup position with your hands directly under your shoulders and your legs and core engaged. Spread your fingers and squeeze your fingertips into the ground. Lower yourself by bending your elbows until your chest or abdomen is about 1 or 2 inches off of the floor. Maintain total body tension and hold this position for the allotted time or until failure. It is very common for people to be weak towards the floor of the pushup, so spending more time under tension at your sticking points will help build the weak portion of your pushup. When you fail or are done, just drop the ground and don’t waste your time on the concentric.

Loop a long-loop resistance band around a pullup bar above you. Climb through the band so that it is on your hip bones – or under your chest if you prefer that way. The thicker the band is the more assistance it will give you. Start with your feet shoulder width apart (it will be more difficult with the feet together). Start in a pushup position with your hands directly under your shoulders and your legs and core engaged. Spread your fingers and squeeze your fingertips into the ground. Lower yourself by bending your elbows until your elbow bend is at or around 90°. Maintain total body tension and hold this position for the allotted time or until failure. It is very common for people to be weak at this portion of the pushup, so spending more time under tension at this sticking point will help build the weak portion of your pushup. When you fail or are done, just drop the ground and don’t waste your effort on the eccentric.

Loop a long-loop resistance band around a pullup bar above you. Climb through the band so that it is on your hip bones – or under your chest if you prefer that way. The thicker the band is the more assistance it will give you. Start with your feet shoulder width apart (it will be more difficult with the feet together). Start in a pushup position with your fingertips wide, hands about shoulder width apart, with your hands in line with your eyes or forehead as opposed to being under your shoulders. Keep your whole body tight and slowly lower yourself down to the ground by bending your elbows and keeping your elbows in tight until they rest completely on the ground. Push off your hands and wrists and flex your triceps to straighten your arms out and return back to the high plank or pushup position. Trainer Tips: The wider your arms are the more chest you will use and less triceps you will use. I recommend doing these at multiple different widths. Really close together will be very hard on the elbows but is great for advanced athletes. It is normal to feel pressure here. If you feel pain either use more band assistance or put your arms out slightly wider.

Setup two benches or boxes far apart so that your elbows are on the edge of one bench while the toes are on the edge of the other bench. Stay on your forearms (you can grab the bench edge with your fingers) and bend your knees until they come close to the ground directly under your toes. Keep your abs and glutes squeezed the entire time. Flex your quads to return back to the low plank position with locked out legs. You will using lots of lats, serratus, and core strength here as you will need to flex the shoulders creating space near your armpits when you are in the bottom position. This will stretch the lats at the bottom and require them to be contracted to return back to the top position.

Prop yourself up against a bench with your hips and knees having 90° bends with your upper back against the edge of the bench. Grab a dumbbell and hold onto the head of the dumbbell and with straight arms actively stretch your lats and anterior side of the body by reaching back behind you. Perform these either for time or for slow repetitions as shown here. You can also add head movement as well and play around with extending the neck as well and driving your chin up towards the ceiling to match the movement of the arms.

Start in a seated straddle position with your feet out wide in front of you and your legs flexed to lock your knees out. Start with your fingertips gripped into the floor in front of you in between your legs. Squeeze your abdominal muscles in order to lift your legs off the ground. If you want to increase the difficulty walk your fingertips more in front of you to increase the amount of compression strength needed in order to lift your legs up. Although rounding the back is normal, imagine you are folding at the hips closing the hip angle as tight as possible. Trainer Tip: The wider your legs are the more difficult it will be as well as how far out your arms are.

Start in a seated L-sit position with your feet out in front of you and your legs flexed to lock your knees out. Start with your fingertips gripped into the floor near your hips and squeeze your abdominal muscles in order to lift your legs off the ground. If you want to increase the difficulty walk your fingertips up closer to your feet to increase the amount of compression strength needed in order to lift your legs up. Although rounding the back is normal, imagine you are folding at the hips closing the hip angle as tight as possible.

Grab a bench and 2 kettlebells and position the top of the foot of your rear leg on the edge of the bench, while your other leg out is out in front with your knee over your foot. With the kettlebells in the front racked position, lunge down bringing the rear knee to the floor and leaning slightly forward to load the front leg. Push off the front foot to come back up using minimal assistance from the back leg.

Load up a barbell with plates and use a squat sponge or folded yoga mat to protect your hips from the bar. With your legs straight roll the barbell towards you until it reaches your hip crease. Bend your knees until your feet are flat. Pushing forward on the barbell, push through the heels and tuck the chin until the weight is lifted off the ground and your hips are fully extended with the abs tight. Your shoulders, hips and knees should be in a straight line at the top. Lower the weight under control until the weight is rested on the ground. Repeat for repetitions. Trainer Tips: As the weights get heavy (~350lbs +), you may need more than just the squat sponge. You can add a folded yoga mat between your hips and the squat sponge.