(Odd) Exercises you've never tried before

[fitfairy]

Espi, tip on the towel pullup-if you slightly dampen the towel it helps with the grip issue. At least it did me

[He-man]

This is a great review, I love these articles from t-nation, but haven't seen any new ones in a while. I agree with you on most of your review.

The side deadlift is a great deadlift assistance exercise to change things up every once in a while. I got my girlfriend to do these with just an olympic bar, her balance was better than mine, the next day you will experience a whole new soreness.

Also the single leg deadlifts are a great alternative to give yourself a rest from deadlifting all the time, help correct imbalances, but while you don't use heavy weight, they are kick ass, but do require you to develop some balance before adding weight just like pistols.

Also bands for DB benching can be an easy way to add more weight, but should only be used 2-3 weeks at a time because of the extra stress they put on your joints. Bands are great for assisted pull-ups. I had my girlfriend start off doing them with bands and slowly weened her off of them and they helped her build up her strength where she can 5 on her own now, she is pretty proud, I highly recommend them for this, although they can be awkward on a lot of other exercises, but I find myself using them on a lot of things, including punching bags, making the bag come back at you a lot faster than usual so you have to hit it again.

Keep up these great reviews!!!!

[Espi]

Now I just wished I could edit your comments into that post. One can only edit posts for a few hours!

Failing having bands to assist with pullups, what do you think is a better way to improve pullups: lat pull downs or fat man pullups AKA supine rows? I'm thinking the latter and do those weighted too.

[Barrett]

Yea great set of excerises some of those I might have to try and implement into my program. Like the wall sit(ski squats) and The Glute Ham Raise. Also if you want to make the ski squats harder try holding your hands to the side with dbs. I used to be able to do these for three minutes. Keep em coming

Also i hope you don't mind but I saw others were talking about excerises with towels. I was doing NROL and they have a bicep curl with Dumbbells with towels. Real killer excerise. This video is similar yet you use Dumbbells and you have two towels.

[Espi]

Excercises You've Never Tried Before #15
Standing Barbell Wrist Extensions





Description: According to Chad Waterbury, weak wrist extensors will dramatically decrease your gripping strength. These weak extensors limit the amount of strength you can develop in your wrist flexors in order to protect the joint from injury (i.e. the body limits flexor strength since the extensors are weak). Here's the solution:

1) While standing, hold an unloaded barbell or EZ-curl bar with your arms extended in front of you at shoulder height.

2) Extend your wrists back as far as possible (pull knuckles up toward ceiling).

3) Flex your wrists down as far as possible to stretch the extensors.

4) Lift and repeat for 5 sets of 10 reps with 90 second rest periods

Follow these guidelines and you should be well on your way to improved gripping strength and bigger forearms!

Practice:
10x6, extremely painful for the lower arm. Weird enough, my grip rarely if ever fails in the vertical plane (only at monstrous wts) provided the bar isn't too thick. Wrists are very weak though. At home I’ve got a cast-iron skillet w a long handle that is a BITCH to handle.


Opinion: negative: definitely NOT going to destroy my wrists superfast. Even 10kg was far too heavy. Preferring the lighter 'curl up a small disk' method.

Lateral Trunk Extension and Flexion



Description: This exercise, popularized by Don Alessi, strengthens the side bending muscles of the obliques and quadratus lumborum while also stretching the typically tight illiotibial band.

Assume a side lying position with one arm placed on a flat bench. Flex the stabilized elbow into 90° adduction. The other free arm is placed overhead or on the pelvis. Extend the body so that the ankles, pelvis, shoulders, and ears are aligned. To begin eccentrically, lower the pelvis into a fully stretched position.

Concentrically, raise the pelvis through the midline in a coronal direction. Be careful not to rotate the pelvis or flex the hips.

Look too easy? Try three sets of 12 for each side and let us know!

Practice:
BWx3

Opinionnegative: Saxon side bends does the same in a much faster way

Forward Roll





Description: You've probably seen this classic ab exercise performed with one of those little wheel gizmos, but you don't have to have one to benefit from the forward roll. As Christian Thibaudeau demonstrates below, you can use a Swiss ball or even a barbell:

Whichever variation you choose, remember to keep the abdominals contracted/flexed during the entire movement. Contract the ab muscles as hard as you can (maximum static action) and focus on keeping this maximum contraction during the execution of the entire movement.

Also, when you roll yourself back up, you must do so with the abs, not the arms. Really focus on flexing your abs super hard to initiate the "roll-back." If your arms or back are tired after the set, you're not doing it properly.

Finally, only go as low as you can while maintaining a flat back. Flexing your abs forcefully at the start of the movement will flatten your lordosis (lower back curve) somewhat. You must maintain that flattened position during the entire movement. When you feel that your lower back is "sinking/curving," it means that you've gone too low for your capacities.

Practice: Swiss Ball x6 , not heavy enough since ball is too large, not done w bb since that variation has already been discussed in a previous chapter

Opinion: neutral-negative for Swiss: has to be a small ball to make it work , positive for bb roll out as discussed already in Chapter 6

[bigDman]

-JM Press
YouTube - JM Press with intro
Kills the triceps very nice.
-Floor Press
YouTube - EliteFTS.com - Floor Press Strip Set
Great for bench teaches you to stay tight and keep going without leg drive
-Tate Press
Same as elbow out triceps extension
YouTube - Tate press

-Rolling triceps extensions
cant find a good video, but it really brings the triceps through a full ROM
-Chain suspended goodmornings
YouTube - 565x1 Chain Suspended GM Southside Barbell

-Anderson Squats
YouTube - Giant Camber Bar Anderson Squat
-Dimel Deadlift
YouTube - Doin' Some Dimels

fries the hammies and glutes

the ones frank mention all good

[Espi]

Just 1 today

Excercises You've Never Tried Before #15
Standing Dumbbell Reverse Fly



Description:
Most lifters really neglect their "rear" delts. Here's an exercise to fix that.

Grasp two dumbbells and stand in a bent over, knees flexed, arched back position. The neck is neutral with the head propped on the top of an incline bench.

Next, position the elbows extended, wrists pronated and directly under the pecs, narrower than shoulder width. To contract, rotate the wrists and arms laterally (externally), flex the elbows slightly and extend the shoulders to their end range. The elbows will assume a 110 degree angle at mid-point.

Hold this mid-point briefly before lowering the dumbbells to the initial starting position. Don't forget to wipe off the incline bench, you sweaty bastard!

Practice:
(2x6)x F , too heavy
(2x5)x8.
Tougher exercise than I had thought

Opinion: neutral-negative: not a bad isolation exercise and frankly one of the better ones for rear delts Just can’t be bothered to do this small stuff myself.

[Espi]

Just one today

ODD EXERCISES
Excercises You've Never Tried Before #15
Single Arm Overhead Dumbell Squat



Description:
This might be the best "core stability" exercise we've tried. We learned this full-body challenge from Alwyn Cosgrove.

Use two dumbbells for this exercise – a heavy one and a lighter one (50-60% of the load of the first dumbbell). Taking a shoulder-width stance, hold the heavier dumbbell in your left hand by your side, and the lighter dumbbell pressed up over your head. Now, maintaining an erect torso, squat down, keeping your body weight in the center.

The offset load will create a large torque through your back and midsection. Fight your body's natural tendency to want to lean to one side!

Practice:
6/3 x 5 for each side
8/4 x 5 for each side
The arm that holds the db overhead wants to go sideways and starts to hurt at a certain angle , so most time was spent trying to find the least painful position, which turned to be a kind of 'cleaned' position'

Opinion: neutral: was hesitant to try it at higher wts due to shoulder issues, but may be an interesting balancing exercise that is good as a core builder for those w/o shoulder issues

[Espi]

Finally, the last exercise of Chapter 15!

ODD EXERCISES
Excercises You've Never Tried Before #15

Good Morning Squat





Description: Here's one you don't see very often: a hybrid squat and good morning!

This John Davies favorite really terrorizes the all-important posterior chain. With a shoulder-width stance, initiate the movement by pushing the back to neutral position, then drop to low squat position and back up. Once you get used to this powerhouse variation, your work loads will go way up!


Practice:
Did those when doing the series of good mornings and after 3 reps thought about turning this into a GM+squat combo.

Opinion: neutral-negative: hmm I don't think this is a good exercise to promote. It's already a problem to not make a back squat turn into a GM, w/o even intentionally doing a GM. I'd rather keep those 2 exercises separate, so as to reinforce better form w a true squat. Besides.. the load is too light for squatting.

[Espi]

When I was looking for vids of GMs I found this video of a GM+squat combo!

YouTube - Dave Performing Good Mornings and Good Morning Squats

I also found a great description of how to do a GM properly!

Originally Posted by TheDeliverator
Goodmornings are, in my eyes, one of the most important movements for nearly any lifter. When it comes to overall strength, and, developing the backside of the body, very few movements come close to the bang-for-buck of the goodmorning.

That being said, there are a handful of difficulties that make this particular movement rather easy to dislike. I'll go ahead and list out what I feel are things to know when performing (or deciding to perform) goodmornings.

First and foremost, you have to be in shape to properly execute the movement. Many will disagree with me here, but, it is my firm belief that the body should be both conditioned and prepared to perform goodmornings before they should even be contemplated. What I mean is, you have to make sure a lifter has a strong mid-section/core and is able to adequately use said core. If a lifter doesn't have strong abs, low back or obliques, or, cannot adequate call on their abs to function in the way needed for goodmornings, the lifter should not be performing goodmornings.

Second, lats and the upper back will play an extremely large role when performing goodmornings. They are, in essence, the muscles that will not only keep the movement safe, but, protect the lower back as well. One of the biggest reasons lower backs round is that the upper back rounds first. When an upper back is rounded, the lower back is nearly sure to follow, and this can be prevented with a properly developed set of lats and traps.

Third, the lifter has to have been around the iron game for long enough to be able to feel how their body is moving and more importantly, be able to "see" how their body is moving in space through what they feel. This should not require the use of mirrors, by the way. We don't have a single mirror in either Powerlifting gym we train in. Mirrors are distractions, more over, a mirror will not let you see what you need to see for the majority of high-risk movements. This consideration is best observed by asking a lifter to keep their back arched while pushing the hips/ass back...many inexperienced lifters will bend at the waist while strongly believing they are, in fact, doing what they've been told.

Now, on to the movement. For the sake of convenience, I'll use the standard straight-bar goodmorning for my example.
Many people will tell you to setup underneath the bar the same way you would for a squat, and, many people would be wrong. Bar position varies drastically from lifter to lifter for the squat, and, the vast majority of lifters will utilize a high-bar position for their squats because a "lower" position feels uncomfortable (because of weak and small upper backs, mostly, but that is a different thread completely).

For the goodmorning, it is best to set the bar as far back as comfortable -notice that I did not say low. Many lifters (powerlifters especially) will use the term low-bar to convey the idea of placing the bar farther back on the lifter. This is a much different meaning than conveyed by the term low.
For the goodmorning, the hands should be on the bar, tightly squeezed, and the upper back should be pulled together and pinched as tightly as possible. This should, development permitting, create a shelf (composed of the rear delts and lower traps). This is where the bar should sit. The reasoning for this is to get the bulk of the weight off of your neck and onto your back...a bar position that is farther back on a lifter will also aid in keeping the upper back properly positioned (read: arched).

It should be noted that when unracking a straight bar for goodmornings from a rack, the lifter should not be standing straight up (the same goes for squatting from a rack). If a lifter unracks straight up, with the bar properly placed, it will not only be extremely uncomfortable, but, will want to fall off of the lifter completely. A slight lean, while maintaining an arch, is preferred.

For most lifters, a shoulder-width stance will be the most comfortable. The head should be turtled back into the bar, not looking up or down. Try to slide your head backwards into the bar. Take a deep breath into your belly (as I mentioned in an earlier post) while pushing our your abs. A very loose belt is a great learning tool for this purpose; try to make a loose belt tight by blowing our your stomach and flexing your abs.

The breath is held for the entire movement -no exhaling or inhaling while in motion for goodmornings, ever!

The first movement is to push the ass backwards as far as possible. You do this while maintaining an arch in the upper and lower back. Keep pushing the ass backwards without letting your knees bend. Naturally, your knees will have to break in order to keep moving your hips backwards, but, the less you think about squatting the less likely you are to turn this movement into one.
The ass is pushed back until the torso is around parallel with the floor. Obviously, with an arched back (both upper and lower) it would take a lot of ROM to be parallel with the floor, but, too many lifters turn a goodmorning into a half squat with a slight bend and ruin a perfectly good movement (as well as successfully looking like complete morons).
Remember, if the bar doesn't travel past the knees, it isn't a goodmorning.

The reversal of the movement is not gentle, it is [size=12pt]violent [/size]-but controlled. To reverse the movement, drive your upper back and head (turtled) into the bar while squeezing the ass. The stomach stays tight this entire time, again, no breathing during the movement -ever!

At the top of the movement, take a second breath before the next rep, but, with a weight on your back, it is common to round over the upper back when you exhale. If you are prone to this, it will take a special amount of focus and accessory work to develop the strength needed to prevent this from happening. Don't start a goodmorning (or a squat or a pull or a press) from a shitty position. Get strong and get into position before trying anything!

These are, generally, the in's and out's of the basic goodmorning. The movement has several variations (GCB, SSB, suspended, round-backed, GM-squat, seated, etc.) but, the general jist of the movement will remain unchanged.

Seems he recommends doing good mornings till you're parallel with the floor. Next time I'll drop the weight and go to parallel.

[Espi]

ODD EXERCISES
Finally found time to do those again.. or rather, shy away from the first one. Yet, a description so you can try for yourself.

Excercises You've Never Tried Before #16

One Arm Push Up Progression

Description: You've probably seen newbies do push-ups against a wall or using the Smith machine's bar. Don't laugh too hard; there's something even the advanced guy can learn here. According to Eric Cressey, you can use this trick to work on your one-arm push-ups.

Just set the Smith machine bar at mid-height and perform your "push-ups" with one arm. As you progress, lower the bar to increase difficulty. Once you can do them on the floor, women will toss their panties at you and clap. Yep, happens every time. Especially if they're hookers and you pay them.


Practice: BWx ½ and then chickened out of it coz’ of fear to lose my teeth when crashing down. Did another half-hearted attempt at the counter (chest height) and chickened out again. Wil try to get someone at the gym crazy enough …

Opinion: positive. Push-ups get a worse rap than they deserve. This is an excellent way to build up strength for those who can do regular push-ups till they go zzz and don’t have access to equipment or a gym

Blitzkrieg Triple Dumbell Press





Description: Nothing new about a dumbbell press, but here's a "fun" way to perform it that used to be a favorite of Coach Poliquin's. This drill is really a combination of three exercises: the high incline, low incline, and flat bench press. All three are performed as one set, using the same weight.

First perform high incline dumbbell presses until you reach muscle failure. Then rapidly adjust the bench to a low incline and continue to perform reps until failure. Finally, drop the bench to a flat position and knock out a few more reps.

This is one set. If one of your kidneys flies out your ass and smacks a personal trainer in the head, discontinue the set but give yourself ten points for accuracy.


Practice:
(10x2)x15 @ position 4 (normal incline
(10x2)x10 @ position 2 (very low incline)
(10x2)x10 @ position 0 or flat
(10x2)x15 @ position -2 (decline on step bench) going to utter failure
Actually started at a too low incline , so decided to take it to decline.

Opinion: positive. Nice way to fry the chest

[Espi]

Stolen from Stingo's log!

Read he was doing a deck squat. Nutbar looked them up and somehow I saw a different video than she showed. So I'm giving links to both.

Essentially it's a combination of a goblet squat (holding a db or kb in front of you and squat down with it) and a drill used in self-defense : roll backwards and then come up again.

In the very first vid, you see it done with a kettle bell and NO momentum as a real crunch

YouTube - Kettlebell Deck Squat Jump - StudioMiletto.com


In the second video it's done as part of a boxing drill and a boxer (with gloves on) squats down, rolls back over and (with momentum) comes back up and punches his sparring partner.

YouTube - Deck Squat Drill

Boy! Respect for who can do this!

[Depalma2002]

On his Spartan 300 Workout DVD, Steve Maxwell does these deck squats single legged. This from a guy in his mid-50's. Tried to find a video for it, but you tube only has him do a two-legged version with a kb and it was very grainy.

[Espi]

Excercises You've Never Tried Before #16

The Cross Over and Overhead Lunge






Description: Yes, real men need to train their hip abductors and adductors for performance gains, size increases, and injury prevention. But, they don't need to train them in those sissified "ab/ad" machines built for fat chicks! Instead, use the crossover lunge we learned from Mike Robertson. With the chest-up, lunge across the body. Land on the heel, drive off the heel, and don't let your ego take over. This version of the lunge is one of the toughest to master with regards to coordination and performance.

Too easy for you, punk? Try an overhead lunge!


Practice: found the lightest fixed wt barbell of (probably?) 15kg and went to the thick matted area of the gym, in full anticipation of what undoubtedly was going to happen: yep, falling or nearly crashing down.

Did 4 wobbly reps for each side with the barbell in the regular ‘back squat’ position and managed just 1 measly regular lunge (not even a crossover) with the bb in the OH position. Boy, am I ever glad there’s a rather large area in this gym with mats and no ab rollers lying around!



Opinion: positive. Excellent way to build more stability, except that it’s one of those other exercises that need to be done before all other exercises when you’re still fresh.



Rocking Calf Raise









Description: This is a great option for calf training that doesn't require any stinkin' machines. From a standing squat position with a barbell on your back, perform a standard calf raise. As you return your feet flat to the ground though, raise the toes off, hence "rocking back."

Perform with caution and get the feel of the exercise as tempo should be slow with total control.


Practice:

Same 15kg barbell x 2 very wobbly calf & toe raises. This was actually worse than the crossover lunge! And yes, I did them on bare feet.



Opinion: negative , no use to do this for calves when the loading has to be so light in order to not fall over. This is an exercise where balance is not the main goal, but working calves is. You can’t do this when you’re falling backwards.