Chest

Bench Press

THE BEST Bench Press with backward grip (requires insurance!)

START: Get into a lying position face up on a bench. Spread your feet wide apart and rest them firmly on the floor. Grasp the barbell in a wide reverse grip and remove it from the rests. Hold the barbell over your chest with straight arms. The spotter stands behind your head and easily supports the barbell by the middle.

EXECUTION: Slowly bend your elbows and lower the barbell to your chest. Try to spread your elbows as wide apart as possible. When your elbows are just below your shoulders, stop. Do not lower the barbell lower because of the risk of injury to your shoulder ligaments. From the lower position, controllably squeeze the barbell onto your straight arms.

NOTES: For many bodybuilders the inclined bench press does not work because of the banal stoop. Such bodybuilders do the press in the head-up position with the strength of their triceps. As a result the pectoral muscles do not get the necessary load and therefore do not grow. Bench press with reverse grip is unique because it transfers the whole load on the upper chest area, 'turning off' the triceps. In the horizontal position, these small muscles no longer limit the weight of the bar, so the bodybuilder can apply a critical load and is guaranteed to pump up the champion's upper pecs.

Back

STANDARD: Pullovers in the prone position.

BEST:Pullover head down.

START: Assume a supine position on a reverse incline bench. Place your feet under the rests. Hold the barbell with straight arms over your chest. Hold the bar straight, shoulder width apart.

EXECUTION: Bend your arms slightly to relieve elbow joints tension, and lower the barbell down to the floor behind your head in a controlled manner. With a powerful, dynamic effort, return the bar to its original position above your chest.

NOTES: The wider the amplitude of the pullovers, the greater the kickback. However, when performing the exercise from a horizontal position, the range of motion of the arms from the lowest point to the vertical is involuntarily limited. If the angle of the bench is reversed, the amplitude of movement is significantly lengthened. Due to this, the load on the broadest muscles of the back increases many times.

Press

STANDARD Curls on the Block

BEST!:Standing curls on the block

START: Stand with your back to the upper block. Grasp the ends of the rope handle and pull it down, running the ends on either side of your neck.

EXECUTION: Bend your knees slightly to strengthen your stance. Slowly "twist" your body forward through the isolated effort of your abs. Pause distinctly at the bottom point. Slowly return to the starting position.

NOTES: Usually, twisting on the block is done while kneeling on the floor. This position gives the body stability and seemingly increases the isolation of the abdominal muscles. However, in fact, the load on the abs is reduced. The secret is that the abdominal muscles are directly involved in maintaining an upright body position, and therefore only in the standing position do they experience maximum nerve innervation. For this reason, twisting in the standing position is much more "punchy" for the abs.

Legs

Standard Deadlift

BEST: Sumo Squat.

START: Stand in front of the barbell lying on the floor. Spread your feet wide apart. Spread your toes. Keeping your back straight, lower yourself into a half crouch and grasp the bar at shoulder width with a different grip (one palm towards yourself, the other away from yourself). Keep your head in line with your spine straight. Keep your chin up. Slightly move your pelvis upward and lock your arms and the barbell shaft into a rigid frame.

EXECUTION: The movement starts with the head. Imagine that the giant has his arms around your head and is pulling you up, and the head is dragging your whole body along with it. If you start the movement with an involuntary pelvic jerk, it means the weight of the barbell is too much. Decrease the load to return to proper technique. When you straighten up, do not tilt your body backward. This "trick" can cause injury to the lower back. Keep your torso straight. Then slowly return the bar to the floor. Without removing your hands from the bar, immediately begin a new repetition.

NOTES: The traditional deadlift requires exceptionally strong lumbar muscles. Because beginners have weak lumbar muscles, they cannot cope with large weights. And small weights in the deadlift are of no use at all. The deadlift in sumo wrestler's stance relieves the load from the lower back and therefore allows you to apply a critical load. And changing the initial position not only does not "worsen" the standing position, but on the contrary makes it more effective. According to scientific research, Sumo thrust puts a heavier load on quadriceps and inner thigh biceps than the usual deadlift.

Delts

STANDARD Lifts to the sides

BETTER!': Arm Lifts with Support

START: Stand sideways to a stationary support and grasp it with one hand. Lean back from the support with a straight arm so that your body takes an oblique position. Lower your dumbbell arm along your body.

EXECUTION: Keeping your body still, lift the dumbbell arm to the side until it is parallel to the floor. At the extreme point of the lift, make a distinct pause. (If the pause does not come out, then the dumbbell weight is too much.) Slowly lower your arm back to the starting position. After doing all the specified repetitions, turn to the other side and repeat the movement.

NOTES: Performing deadlifts while standing is extremely stressful on the shoulder joints and the muscles that serve them, in addition to the deltoids. As a result, the exercise is perceived as "uncomfortable" and the delts do not take up much of the load. When your body takes an oblique position, the pressure on the working joint is reduced and the exercise becomes more targeted. It is also important that the amplitude of the arm raises due to the tilt of the body. This further increases the efficiency of the exercise.

Triceps

Supersets

STANDARD French Bench Press

BEST: French Bench Press in Sitting Position

START: Assume a sitting position on an incline bench, holding the barbell in bent arms behind your head.

EXERCISE: With an isolated triceps effort, straighten your elbows and lift the barbell to your straight arms. Without pausing at the top of the amplitude, bend your elbows again and return the bar to its original position.

NOTES: It is well known that exercises that allow for a starting stretch of the working muscle are orders of magnitude more effective than all other exercises. The traditional version of the French bench press, where the barbell is lowered to the forehead, requires the elbows to be upright, a position that prevents the triceps from being stretched. It is recommended to put the bar behind your head, but then you have to keep your straight arms tilted. This is uncomfortable and difficult, especially in the last reps. The sit-up allows you to powerfully stretch your triceps at the start, which is why it is more effective than the classic version.

Lumbar

STANDARD|Hyperextensions

BEST:Hyperextensions on a block

START: Stand with your back to the lower block. Run the cable of the block between your legs, holding the ends of the rope handle in front of your thighs. Step away from the block a few steps to allow the rope block to tighten. Bend your knees slightly.

EXERCISE: Keeping your back straight, slowly bend over until your body is parallel to the floor. With your straight arms between your knees, give way to the weight of the weight. Next, slowly straighten up, keeping your head in line with your spine. Bend over again.

NOTES: Hyperextension on support makes the load on your lower back too targeted, whereas normally the lumbar muscles don't have to work alone. As a result, your lower back loses its usual connection with the other muscles in your back. In addition, it is extremely uncomfortable to hold the pancreas against your chest. As for the hyperextension on the block, however, it's a hit on the ten! The exercise has a comfortable biomechanic and allows you to gradually increase the load up to the most critical one.

Biceps

STANDARD: Standing biceps curls.

Biceps curls in a sitting position.

START: Take a sitting position on the end of a gymnasium bench. Spread your feet and rest them firmly on the floor. Hold the barbell with your hands bent at your hips. Grip backwards, shoulder width apart. EXECUTION: Keeping your elbows still, bend your elbows and raise the barbell toward your collarbones. Slowly return the barbell to your hips. Keep it weighted and do not allow it to rest on your feet.

NOTES: As you know, the barbell is lifted from the lower position in a standing position by the combined force of the brachioradialis and brachioradialis muscles. The biceps muscle is involved in the movement at a later stage, when the elbow is already bent at a right angle. So, when you are intentionally swinging biceps, the first phase of the exercise is useless. Moreover, the small muscles strongly limit the weight of the bar. Try sitting position, and you'll be surprised that your biceps are able to overcome much bigger working weight. So it turns out that in the standing position you chronically underloaded them.

Trapezes

STANDARD: Back Arms.

BETTER: Back Back Arms in the Scimitar

START: Place the bar of the Smith trainer at a height just below your waist. Stand with your back to the bar. Grasp the bar with a straight grip at shoulder width and remove it from the rests. Stand straight, holding the bar behind your back.

EXERCISE: With a powerful, controlled movement, lift your shoulders as vertically as possible. At the top point of the amplitude, pause for a one-two count and lower your shoulders. If the pause does not come out, the weight of the bar is too much.

NOTES: Regular front-back barbell pulls act only on the upper trapezius areas, creating spectacular bumps on either side of the neck. From behind the back, the barbell exercises not only the "cosmetic" upper area, but also the middle of the trapezius muscles. Because of this, the trapezius becomes larger and stronger. As a result, the overall power potential of the back is increased, since the middle area of the trapezius is the most active in all of the basic pulls. The back pulls in the Smith are more targeted, since the exerciser imposes a strictly vertical motion of the bar. In addition, the trainer allows using heavier weights.

Calves

STANDARD: Standing Toe-Ups

BETTER: Standing Toe-Ups in the Crest.

START: Place the barbell bar at waist height. Place a 15-20 cm high support under the bar. Place your toes on the edge of the support and grasp the barbell's barbell. Remove the barbell from the support and take the weight on yourself. Lower your heels to the floor until you feel a strong stretch in your calves.

EXECUTION: Holding the barbell in your straight arms, raise yourself up on your toes as high as possible. At the top of the lift, pause briefly and lower your heels to the floor again.

NOTES: Toe raises are usually performed with one foot. A dumbbell is held in the hand with the same name. It is clear that dumbbells heavier than 80 kg can be found only in the personal gym of Roni Coleman, and even that not every hand can hold it. The popular trainer for standing toe raises has the same problems. It cannot give loads over its limit. As for the Smith training machine, here you can put any weight on the bar and pump up your calves to Mike Matarazzo's size - more than 50 cm! Despite the fact that you have no support at hand, as in the one-sided version of the exercise, you do not risk losing your balance. You will be held by the bar of a Smith machine moving along a fixed trajectory.