(Odd) Exercises you've never tried before

[Espi]

For a Dutch fitness forum I'm reviewing a series of T-nation articles that present about 6-7 odd lifts in each one.
This started somewhere in March 2007 and I've been doing them in 'leaps' and 'bounds' ever since. Viz. sometimes doing 3 new exercises in every workout and then nothing at all for several months.
I've been having a separate thread for these in another forum, which is more physique-oriented and hence didn't get all that much feedback. Nor actually on the Dutch forum which is also more physique/bb-oriented.

Here OTOH a lot of people love 'fun' exercises, like Cross-Fit and the like.
The series has a bit of everything. Sometimes exercises that are extremely bb-esque in the sense that they focus on teeny tiny muscles , like the 'lateral head of the triceps' , but other times it's a full body exercise that is all about balance or just plain fun.

Sofar they have only appeared in my own log but I bet this gets more attention, which it deserves, as there truly are some gems in them. Right now I'm at chapter 13, so be a bit patient in responding.

There's 18 chapters total, so there's stil a ways to go. I'd love to see what others have to say about them as well.

To clarify the color codes that I'm using
Green = positive
Blue = neutral
Red = negative.

So here ya go!

Starting with article 1 of the ‘Exercises You’ve Never Tried Before’ : TESTOSTERONE NATION

This was however a blatant lie as I already tried 3 of these before (OH squat, Saxon side bend and glute ham raise). Didn't try the last one as there was nobody I thought who was worthwhile the fuss of dropping a db on their toe(s).

Actually, to my surprise I was warned by a gym-goer to not do the first exercise as it’d be bad for my back and try a 2-handed normal DL instead. Upon which I said that I already do normal DLs all the time. So that would have been the sole candidate. But I'm not someone who drops dbs on people's toes on purpose. I’m not like that.
And the 2nd last one = glute ham raise I dropped because of excessive DOMS in the hamstrings from the pullthroughs I did a couple of days before.

One Arm Deadlift
Stand beside (not in front of) a loaded Olympic barbell. Using good deadlift form, bend down and pick it up with one arm. This is yet another classic full-body movement that's been forgotten by the new generation of gym rats. That's too bad because the one-arm deadlift will hit your muscles in ways no other exercise can match. Not only will it work your legs, traps and shoulders, it will also make your torso rock hard as it trains the obliques and other deep back and abdominal muscles. Just remember to raise your body evenly as you stand up. When lowing the weight, keep your torso tight and sit back until the weight hits the floor. Do an equal number of sets for both sides.



10kg : 6x for each side
30kg : 5 for L 6 for R
40kg: 3 for L 5 for R
Now this was indeed a challenge. The problem was also that I can only manage a low weight with 1 arm and that the barbell is very low when it’s loaded with only 10 kg (used a fixed-weight bb). 30kg was slightly higher (2 disks of 10kg onto a 10kg bb) and finally the 40kg one (2x15 kg on each side) was relatively ‘easy’ because I didn’t need to lower myself as much to puck it up, but then of course it was quite a heavy weight. Quite a challenging exercise.

Opinion: too tricky as an exercise and injury-prone, won't do it again.

The Turkish Get Up
This is an old functional-strength standby that's making a comeback thanks to guys like Coach John Davies. Lie on your back and hold a dumbbell above your head with one arm. Your elbow should be locked. You goal is to stand up with it without unlocking your elbow and to keep the dumbbell in the air above you. Most guys turn to one side, prop themselves up on one hand, then try to get up on a knee and stand up. Then, reverse the movement until you're again lying on your back, weight held above you and the elbow locked.
Afterwards, do it with the opposite hand.
That said, there really aren't any rules to this exercise. No matter how you do it, you'll be hurting in muscles you didn't even know you had! The old timers did this exercise with a barbell. Try it if you think the dumbbell is "too easy."



3kg x 3 reps for each side
And then somewhere my hip said ouch. Blast, goddamn!

Opinion: perhaps easy for some, but again, injury-prone exercise for klutzes like me. Negative for me, could be neutral/positive for others.

The Overhead Squat

Warning: No sissies, complainers, whiners, or Body-For-Lifers are allowed to try this devious exercise!
The overhead squat is another total body incinerator that will improve balance, speed, flexibility, and power. Simply perform a squat with the bar held at arm's length over your head. Take a wide grip on the bar (hands outside the rings) and with your back arched and chest out, squat down slowly by pushing your hips back. Go rock bottom on this one if you can! Start light and add weight as you get accustomed to the movement.


10kg x 15
15kg x 10
Nice one.. would be good to try this more often. Only caveat is going heavy and hurting shoulder. But for now, OK exercise. Did a reverse shrug with the 10kg bb. (see shoulder rehab article). Had tried this only a few days before = last week.

Tried it again another week and it was much easier that time. Will be trying it a 3rd time in a few days and now with more weight.

Opinion: positive, this is really a neat way to do squats outside the Smith machine with lighter weights that are still taxing. A keeper..

The Overhead Squat Military Press Combo
And you thought the last one took some coordination! Ha, ha, ha, ha, cough, cough, gasp. Excuse us. We get a little asthmatic when we start with the fiendish laughter.
Anyhow, this variation, courtesy of Coach John Davies, is done exactly the same way as the overhead squat described above, only while in the "down position" you'll do one, two, three or more military presses before squatting up again. Got it? Holding the bar overhead, squat down slowly as far as you can go, and then knock of a few military presses (that's behind the neck) before squatting up again.
Adding this little "twist" to the overhead squat will only accentuate the benefits of the movement, in addition to giving your central nervous system a real kick in the pants. You might feel a peculiar kind of wearniness after this movement. If that happens, either take a nap or take a hit of 4-AD-EC.


Practice: Big mistake to think this would be easy. I'd started with a 20kg fixed wt barbell but had to put it back because I fell over forwards when trying to do a MP in the bottom position. Managed just 3 reps with the 15kg barbell and then was exhausted enough to wimp out by just doing normal OH squats for the remainder of the set. But should try again another time when I'm less winded from previous front squasts/MPs and have more fuel in my system.

Opinion: positive again, but it might become too tricky to do more than 5 reps with the squats, will have to experiment. Another keeper.

The Saxon Side Bend
Some strength coaches call this the most effective exercise you can do to strengthen the core muscles. To perform it, simply hold two light dumbbells overhead with your feet spread about 18 inches apart. Now bend slowly to one side, come back up and bend to the other side. You'll immediately know why we recommend light dumbbells! Keep the torso tight and the dumbbells held the same distance apart throughout the movement. Do about six reps per side.


Practice
2x5 kg x 3
2x4 kg x 5
Now.. this was a big surprise. Not a new exercise as this has been in my routine for much longer. But I always did them with just 1 dumbbell, holding it up with both hands. I was in for a nasty surprise for how hard this one is with two dumbbells. Yeah.. I do feel a single 10 kg dumbbell pretty heavy too but two of 5 kg just seems so much lighter. WRONG! WRONG! 3 each side were heavy. 4 kg was more manageable.

Did it again a few days later, 4kg x2 felt heavy again, just like before.

Opinion: once again positive , though I haven't decided what I prefer more: either 1 db with heavier weight vs 2 dumbbells at lighter weights = harder to balance
ETA:
[quote author=Sensei link=topic=14486.msg284555#msg 284555 date=1191206972]
I used to think that Saxon Side Bends were the ****, but it's just a hard one on the shoulders. I think that heavy side bends or windmills are preferable alternatives. Just my opinion.
[/quote]

One arm Barbell Curl
Nothing too tricky about this one. It's just a one-arm curl, only you'll be doing it with a 7-foot Olympic Bar. It sounds easy, but it ain't. Given the amount of coordination and gripping power it takes to balance the bar, you might end up losing control of the bar and knocking out the guy next to you who's doing dumbbell bench presses. That's okay, though. It's all part of the learning curve.
This is a great movement for building the forearms. Plus, it activates the central nervous system like no other biceps movement.


Practice
10kg x 7 (left) / 8 (right)
Just like they wrote: it seems easy but it isn’t. Did it with the fixed weight bb (slightly shorter than the OL) and yes, hard indeed. But not as hard as the 1-arm DL!

A fellow forum member made lil' video from it.

YouTube - barbell curl

Opinion: neutral. Can't really say I'm jumping to do this one again.

The Glute Ham Raise

This is a mother of an exercise. Unless your hamstrings are copper-sheathed and iron clad, don't even try this movement. If you ignore our advice and decide to do it anyhow, take it easy.
Find some sort of pad lying around the gym. Fold it in two or three if you need to. Kneel on the pad with your hands on your hips. While your partner holds onto your calves, slowly lean forward toward the ground while keeping your back straight and not bending at the waist. If you're like most people, you'll only get about half-way before your hamstrings give out.
This next part is important so pay attention: as you fall toward the ground, catch yourself with your hands! Otherwise, you'll look like Jersey Joe Walcott after Rocky Marciano pasted him one in that famous picture of their heavyweight title fight.
Continue lowering your torso with your hands. Allow your body to come to a push-up position. Then, explode out of the down position until your hamstrings can pull you back up. Repeat until fatigued or until you hear a grotesque, gut-wrenching, tearing sound.



Finally tried this one, with the assistance of one of the gym trainers. And before even finishing 1 rep, one of the calves cramped up so much that I just couldn’t finish the movement. This is too freaking hard.
But… I might try again, but then in a cable station, a bit like how I do cable (rope) crunches. But then there still needs to be someone holding my feet. With a bit of counterweight it shouldn’t be as freaking hard or, rather impossible.

Opinion: positive. But it will require lots and lots and lots of practicing to get this one done. Only bummer is that you really need a spotter here.
And, for the one who's willing to try it onto an annoying gymgoer.

The Annoying Sissy Boy Toe Drop
This movement can be performed in conjunction with almost any weighted exercise listed above. Here's how it works: While doing those odd-looking exercises, an annoying sissy-boy who works at your gym will approach you to tell you how dangerous the movement is or that it isn't within the rules of the gym to allow such exercises. He will most likely approach you during your set and will justify his narrow-minded opinion based on the fact that he didn't see such an exercise listed in his ACE personal trainer home study guide.
While said annoying sissy-boy is giving his spiel (usually in a huffy, better-than-though tone), lock your eyes on his toes. This will help with the "mind-muscle connection." Now, depending on which exercise you're performing, drop the barbell or dumbbell directly on sissy-boy's toes. If you don't hear a suitable crunching sound accompanied by high-pitched squealing, repeat the "accidental" drop.
Explain to sissy-boy that if he would've added some variety to his training, he might have had the athletic ability to dodge the weight and avoid a debilitating injury. Tell him that when he recovers you'll gladly show him a few of the movements and loan him a copy of T-mag.
Walk away smirking with an air of superiority.
Practice: not yet.
Opinion: it depends on whose toes you're going to drop it.. it might backfire

[Espi]

Excercises You've Never Tried Before #2

Texas Arm Wrestler Curl

This one is apparently a favorite of competitive arm wrestlers. Here's how it's done:

Straddle a flat bench with your feet on the floor. Place your forearms and hands along your quads while holding a loaded barbell. The back of your hands should be near your knees. Sit up straight and concentrate on keeping the whole body tight and rigid by contracting your abs. Take a deep breath and hold it, then explode the heavy weight off your thighs into the finished curl position. Lower the bar back to your legs under control and repeat.
Try not to bounce the weight off your thighs, though. Rest the bar across your legs between reps for a full 4 seconds. (This is to keep you from cheating and using momentum, you sneaky bastard, you.)

Remember, too, that this exercise is meant to be done heavy. It's only a partial curl, so you've got no excuse to use one of those pre-set barbells that only go up to 85 pounds. Shoot for 4 to 6 maximal reps.

And, like always, don't cheat by lurching and gasping and drooling like the town drunk.


25kg x 3

Either I’m a weakling, or I was already too fried by the EZ bar arm curls. , as the 25 kg bb I tried to do it with only went up 3 times. Apparently the text led me to believe that 85 lbs /38kg was a wussy weight so 25kg would be an extreme wussy weight.. ok, I’m a wussy girl.
No explosive drive up either.

Opinion: negative, can’t be bothered to try this one again.

Zercher goodmorning


Zerchers are in fact sort of a hybrid good morning where instead of putting the bar on your back, you cradle it in the crooks of your arms.

Arrange the hooks on a power rack about chest high. Rack an Olympic bar on the hooks. Approach the bar and pick it up by cradling it in your arms. Hold the bar tight against your body by placing one hand against your upper chest and then grabbing onto that hand with the other.

Assume a wide stance and with the knees slightly bent, bend forward at the waist until your elbows scrape your inner thighs (remember to hold the bar against your chest tightly!). Coming out of the movement is basically a hip thrust, i.e., you explode your hips forward. This movement will bring you back to the start position.
While a standard Good Morning emphasizes the hamstrings a bit more, the Zerchers are primarily for strengthening hip flexors. However, they do also work the hamstrings, along with the spinal erectors.

If you like, you can start doing this movement with a 25 or 45-pound plate cradled against your chest instead of the barbell, which requires more concentration and is a little bit more brutal on the skin on the inner elbows.



Did this one immediately after the normal good mornings with an easy weight: just the empty bar, by getting my head behind the bar on the bench press station and then cradle it in my arms, get up and do good mornings.

Opinion: negative, why would I want to hurt my elbows and do an exercise like this? Didn’t bother to try it with a disk, thought hat might have been a more decent alternative.

Farmer's Walk

Pick up a pair of heavy, really heavy, dumbbells and take a walk around the gym. That's the essence of the farmer's walk. This killer old school exercise will set your lungs on fire, annihilate your grip, forearms and traps, and build a ton of mental and physical toughness.
Here's Strongman Competitor Chad Coy doing the Farmer's Walk with 330 pounds in each hand.
You can perform a designated number of "sets" for a certain distance or just see how far you can go with a certain weight. Each week, try to increase your distance or use heavier weights. Most men can easily start out with 100-pound dumbbells.




2x30 kg x few steps.

Again, OK so I’m a weakling. Took the heaviest dumbbells of 30kg out of the rack, fully expecting to be able to walk around the gym as well, I figured I’d be strong enough.
But unexpectedly this was prevented by the sides of the db digging very painfully into my wrists so decided to put the weights back into the rack.

Opinion:neutral. Could be a good exercise if you’re willing to do Strong(wo)man events where this is part of the required routine, but it’s hard to find weights that are really heavy enough and it’s a clumsy exercise to boot. Can’t really see a benefit for non-strong(wo)men other than ‘having fun doing weird stuff’.

Jerry Telle Chest Routine
This is a series of dumbbell flyes that transition into a modified dumbbell bench press. Telle's idea of an effective workout involves two important factors: high-fiber tension and fatigue. This chest routine will provide both in spades.

Start with a 135-degree wide-angle fly; in other words, with very little bend in the elbows. Lower the dumbbells to a count of three seconds, take a one-second pause then raise them back up. Continue until failure. Rest for only ten seconds and lie back for another set.

In this second set, you'll do flyes again, but this time bend your elbows more until you're doing about a 90-degree fly. Again train to failure, rest for ten seconds, and lie back for a third and final set.

On this last set, you'll perform standard dumbbell bench presses on the concentric portion, or lifting part of the lift, and then "fly out" on the eccentric portion, or lowering part of the lift, until failure. In other words, press the dumbbells up as if you were doing a standard dumbbell bench press. Then, with your elbows locked and while keeping your arms at a 135-degrees wide angle, lower the dumbbells all the way. To initiate the next rep, bring the weights to your side by bending the elbows (i.e., bring them into the start position for a dumbbell bench press). Ouch!

One final note: Use the same weight for all three sets..



Wasn’t exactly sure what weight to use because it’s been eons ago I did flyes. So, just picked an 8 kg dumbbell which didn’t seem too hard nor too easy.
Managed: 8 reps for 1st wide angle set
Managed 5 reps for 2nd 90° angle set
And only got up to 3 reps for the 3rd db press + flye out

Opinion: positive, looks like a good extra for a chest routine with db flyes as an alternative to regular drop sets to fatigue with.

Single Leg Standing Deadlifts
Just when we think we've heard of every exercise in existence, Ian King hits us with these two one-legged versions of popular lifts.
Let's start with the single leg standing deadlift. Stand on one foot with the other foot slightly off the ground. Bend the knee of the supporting leg a little but don't change the knee angle during the exercise.
Bend at the waist while allowing the back to round (yes, round!) and reach towards the floor. Touch the floor with the hands or the dumbbells if you're using them and go back up to the starting position. Use a speed of three seconds down, pause for one second at the top and bottom, and three seconds up.
Start with bodyweight only and when you can do ten reps at the correct tempo and without losing your balance, use light dumbbells.



Because of the extreme small font used for the printout, I just looked vaguely at the pic and only remembered the part about standing on 1 foot. And discovered pulling up a 40kg bb wasn’t a good idea. Upon reading the text tried again with BW only and managed 10 reps, but only barely.

ETA: here's a better video of a single leg DL/SQ

Opinion: negative, too much balancing too little weight

Single Leg Standing Goodmornings
Now for the one-legged good morning. It's basically the same as above only you'll be holding a light barbell (or even a broomstick until you get used to it) across your back. The shift in external resistance will make it feel a bit different than the single leg deadlift. Follow the same rules as above.



Because I’d just done normal GMs, did them as BW only. Apart from the balancing act, it was fairly easy. Could’ve done them with a light bb.

Opinion: negative, again too much balancing with too little weight

Ham pull through

This is a favorite of guys like Dave Tate and Coach Davies. Attach a rope like you'd use for triceps pushdowns to a low pulley cable. Face away from the weight stack, straddle the cable and hold the rope at crotch level. (Yes, you'll find the rope in a peculiar position!)
Spread your feet to wider-than-shoulder-width, with a slight bend at the waist. Now walk out a little so you'll be able to keep constant tension. Start the eccentric (lowering) part of the movement by pushing the butt back and reaching your hands through your legs. Full extension of the movement comes as your forearms/elbows touch the sides of your knees. The concentric or lifting part of the movement is a forward, upward explosion to a standing position, where your hands return to the crotch position.
These ought to hold you over until our next installment. If, in the meantime, you've got some fancy-schmancy exercises that are either new or were somehow left behind in the old days of weight training, let us know and we'll think about using them in the column?as long as you don't want any free stuff as a reward or anything.


Funny, I’m doing this series of ‘Exercises You’ve never tried before and the 2nd instalment has you do the pull through, which is currently part of my normal (apparently not so normal) routine. No suprises here.

11,3 x 17-20 (last week: 8,8x20-22)
Form is improving, same amt of reps as last week!! On towards higher weights.

This is really a good hamstring exercise, but you have to pay attention to not let the arms go too far up and turn it into a front raise. Remember pulling the cable from way behind to just near the knees. The tricky part is that the weight to be used is deceptively low. Because of the constant tension on the hams, the TUT (time under tension) becomes very long. So, very small weights can result in major DOMS.

PS: upon rereading the explanation I see that I still do it wrong. I don't become erect in the final position, but keep a bend at the knee.. probably because i'm terrified to get another shoulder incident by accidentally making it into a front raise like I have done before.

Opinion: positive of course, otherwise I wouldn't have added it to my normal routine.

[Espi]

Excercises You've Never Tried Before #3

mixed grip chinup

Here’s a variation of the chin-up you may not be familiar with. It’s simple, all you do is perform a regular chin-up with one hand pronated (facing away) and one hand supinated (facing you). This makes one arm (usually the one supinated) perform more work, making this a good step on your road to performing a one-handed chin-up.
Just remember to do an equal amount of reps for both arms. If you know which arm is weaker, start with that arm in the supinated position. As you progress, spread the hands wider on the bar which makes the movement even tougher. If you’re really strong, spread the hands wide and use a dipping belt to attach a tubby aerobics instructor.

BWx2 – 2

Actually did this one on Monday too as I trained in the gym where there’s no neutral grip bar and I just automatically copied the mixed grip I was using for deadlifts as well. Then it was done on the cable station, today on the Smith machine.
Comment: positive. It’s a good exercise to do especially when there’s no fancy chinning station available, but only a straight bar.

offset curls

We picked this one up from T-mag contributor George Baselice. Sit on a bench and hold a dumbbell in one hand. The thumb side of your hand should be resting against the inside surface of the dumbbell plate. In other words, you’ll be holding the dumbbell off to one side. Start the exercise with a neutral grip (as if holding a hammer) and curl the weight while simultaneously supinating your wrist (turning your palm up) as you complete the curling movement.
The purpose of the offset grip is to provide resistance upon supination; otherwise each side of the dumbbell would counterbalance the other as it does during the commonly performed rotational curl. This places emphasis on the supinator muscle of the forearm along with the biceps brachii. The brachioradialis also assists with supination. For added resistance upon supination, you can stick a magnetic 1-1/2 pound Platemate to the heavier end of the dumbbell.

10x 10/11 – 10/12 (left/right)
The difference between a normal and an offset curl is very subtle, but interesting.

Comment: neutral-negative. Biceps work is an isolation exercise already, this feels like super-isolation (neutral). Perhaps good if you get down to the last small detail work, for now: superfluous (negative) unless you replace your regular biceps exercise with this one, but I’m preferring bb/EZ-curls with heavier weights.

Ski Squats

Never have you felt so much pain in the gym without even touching a weight! This is a great quad exercise to throw in as a "finisher" to your normal squat workout. Heck, this one is a killer no matter when you perform it!

Stand about two feet away from a wall with your feet shoulder-width apart. Squat down to a few inches above parallel and lean back against the wall. Even though you’re leaning against a wall, you’ll feel your quads contract as they support your weight. Hold that position for 10 to 20 seconds. This is the part where you’ll think this exercise is way too easy. Now you’re going to drop down two inches at a time for four more drops. Each two inch drop you’ll hold the position again for 10 to 20 seconds. By your second or third drop, your thighs should be parallel to the ground. This is the part where you begin to rethink your previous thoughts about this being "too easy." After parallel, you’ll have two drops to go. By the last drop, you’ll be "ass to grass." This is the part where you begin to cry for momma.

Remember, take no rest between drops. Add five seconds to each drop, each workout. If you think this is too easy, try it one leg at a time. If that’s too easy for you, you may not be human. If you aren’t human, try coming back up after you reach bottom with three to five more stops along the way.

BW x 3

Did this one at the end. Will need to get technique right, because I was either cheating or form was off as it didn’t feel that hard.

Comment: positive, good quad stretching exercise. It could replace the sissy squat which for some is too stressful on the knees.

The Original Hack Squat
Most people think of the hack squat machine when they visualize this exercise, but there’s an older, more effective version. Barbell hack squats can boost your squat and deadlift numbers as well as target the coveted "teardrop" muscle (the vastus medialis) in the quads.

Stand in front of the loaded bar with the bar either resting on the floor or supported on blocks. With feet shoulder-width apart, bend down, reach behind you and grasp the bar. With your back straight and shoulders pinched back, drive from the heels. Maintain an angle of ascent with the bar near the calves and as the weight nears your hamstrings, punch the hips forward. Return the weight to the floor by reversing the motion. Done correctly, this looks almost like a behind-the-back deadlift.



30x7
40x5
50x3

This exercise seemed very intimidating at first but worked out OK. Only problem is that the bb really scrapes against the calves. Which is less painful than the shins, but also why you tend to stay away from the shins while deadlifting. Now this can’t be avoided. Perhaps just as well? Can’t decide whether this is a behind-the-legs DL or hack squat. I vote for: a BTL DL!

Opinion: positive, this is an exercise that can be an alternative to regular squats. It seems to work the quads harder than most.

Lower Trap Raises
Think shrugs are all you need to build impressive traps? Well, that’s what you get for thinkin’! Shrugs are good, but you need to also focus on the lower traps for complete development. This exercise can help you do that.

Start by facing forward on an incline bench. Grip two dumbbells with the thumbs up (like in a hammer curl). Keeping your arms straight with the elbows slightly bent, raise the dumbbells toward the ceiling at a 45-degree angle from your head (the 10:00 and 2:00 positions of a clock.) Retract your shoulder blades (squeeze them together) at the top position. Try to pause for two seconds at the top of each rep. If you can’t, use lighter dumbbells.



(2x2)x5-10

One of the very rare occasions the lightest dumbbell seemed good enough for me. This could be a rotator-cuff destroyer.. or perhaps, an excellent rotator cuff protector if done light enough?

Opinion: negative-positive. As a shoulder exercise it seems like a good way to hurt yourself. It might be very good as a rehab exercise with teeny weights.

Deadlift Walks

This one is part of Chad Waterbury’s Next Big Three program, but it makes a cool stand-alone exercise as well.

First move the hooks or barbell supports to the front (outside) of a squat cage or power rack. They should be set up just below your knees. A couple of blocks will work, too. Now load up the bar with about 65% of your raw deadlift max and place it in front of the power rack about two full steps away from the supports. Take a shoulder-width stance and use a pronated grip (both palms facing you).

Deadlift the weight as you normally would, then take two steps forward, reset your stance and place the bar on the uprights, hooks or blocks. Release all muscular tension, re-lift the weight, take two steps backwards, reset your stance and lower the weight again. That’s one rep! Without resting, repeat for the desired number of reps. You may then go to the corner and throw up.



45x10 – 5 – 5 – 3

Oops, obviously I hadn’t read the explanation well enough. I’d already done 3 sets of 10-5-5 reps until I realized that the instructions called for just 1 single DL rep each and having you walk back and forth every single time. So, when I finally got that message, I was already too exhausted to do more than 3 reps. After all 7 RDL sets plus 3 deadlift walks is enough to wear out anyone, even with piddly weights of only 45 kg.

I had to be very inventive here as our gym doesn’t have racks. I used 2 benches which had to be placed really close together while using the shorter barbell. Couldn’t use the longer one as I’d have poked the guy next to me in the stomach. This set-up made me realize I can use it in the future for rack pulls as well!

Opinion: positive, but will have to try this one another time again, since being fully exhausted wasn’t helping here.

PS: a little extra fun thing:

a guy doing bb squats on a Swiss ball

[Espi]

Excercises You've Never Tried Before #4


Wrong Way" Pull Over
This movement was "discovered" by doing dumbbell pullovers the wrong way. With traditional pullovers, the lifter attempts to keep the arms relatively straight, but if he bends the elbows and keeps them fixed, he'll get one heck of a triceps exercise!

Lie on a flat bench and hold one dumbbell with both hands. The elbows should be pointed behind your head and the upper arms should remain relatively fixed throughout the movement. Lower the dumbbell into an extreme stretch position, pause, then bring it back up and squeeze your triceps for two seconds at the top. Given that the arms are kept at an angle, tension remains on the triceps for the entire movement. The end result is that the movement is much more effective than traditional seated dumbbell extensions.

Go heavy with this one and shoot for four to six reps per set.



9x 6 – 7

Ouch.. with the slight pain from doing oblique crunches on Sunday, this really felt like ripping apart my rib cage. Only a 9kg db was hard. Only thing I had a problem with is knowing how far up to raise the db. Above the face or keep the arm extended backwards all the time.

Opinion: positive, feels more effective than a regular pullover. If I want to do those again, I’ll definitely do them this way.

Reverse Incline Hammer Curl

Take an incline bench and adjust it so that it's at a 60 to 70-degree angle. Then, after grabbing a pair of dumbbells, sit backward on the bench so that your chest is leaning against the bench. Let the dumbbells hang straight down, and using a hammer grip, curl both dumbbells up so that they touch your shoulders.

This is a cool movement for a variety of reasons. First of all, it's impossible to use body English on them. Secondly, it makes it really difficult to recruit the front deltoids, which allows for a more "pure" biceps movement. It also allows you to draw the elbows back a bit as you curl the weights up, which helps recruit the long head of the biceps, which seems to be underdeveloped in most bodybuilders. And lastly — and this is subtle — it forces you to straighten the arm out completely. Most lifters have some sort of a Popeye syndrome where they almost never fully extend their arms, but by doing this movement — straightening the arm out completely — it may actually feel like the elbow is hyperextended.


(2x6)x14
(2x7)x11

Apart from the funny way you sit, a good exercise Feels better than a normal hammer curl, even with less weight.

Opinion:neutral-positive. Too much isolation work to my liking, but if you must do a hammer curl, this is a good alternative.

Towel Chin-up

This one will set your back, biceps, and forearms on fire! All you need is a towel, a chin-up bar, and a high tolerance for pain. Now, without tying any knots in the towel, throw it over the bar. Grasp the towel and hang on tight. Now perform as many chin-ups as you can. After a few sets, when you can no longer pull yourself up, just grab the towel and hang off of it. Then call a cab, because you won't be able to steer your car home.



BWxF

No f*ing way I can do this. Keep sliding down and can’t even hold on because I’m lacking grip strength. Probably too small fingers. The weird part was when I asked an innocent girl, that I’d just met in the gym to try it. While she didn’t seem strong, she was able to hang onto the towel. Yet she proclaimed to not be able to do any pull-ups. We figured it was because she is taller than me and didn’t need to jump high in order to keep in the highest position. Along with her being taller, she has longer fingers too, enabling a better grip, despite lower strength. Boy was I ever pissed!

Opinion: neutral-positive, despite the failure. Neutral because I wonder what the actual advantage is of this exercise. Positive coz’ I love everything related to pull-ups (macha thing yanno )

Superman

This is a very basic but very neglected core exercise that's great for athletes and bodybuilders alike. Lie on the floor facedown with your arms and legs outstretched. Lift your arms and legs as high as possible and hold them there for a three to five second count. Return to the floor and repeat. Leaping tall buildings with a single bound optional.


BWx6, holding for 5s each

Seems easy but is more difficult than I had imagined. Hurt at the hip when raising the legs.

Opinion: positive, can be a good exercise to increase flexibility

Iron Cross

This is a great overall conditioning exercise we picked up from Coach John Davies. It also makes a good warm-up or finisher.

Hold two light dumbbells or plates in your hands and squat from a wide stance with the buttocks pushed back. Arms should be held straight ahead, parallel to the ground and thumbs up. As you squat up, push your hips forward while simultaneously moving your arms to the sides in a cross position. Return to the start position by moving in the precise inverse fashion and keeping your arms constantly parallel.



(2x4kg)x6

Didn’t do it to failure. Had expected it to be really hard to balance myself, but while the front raise was challenging on its’ own, the exercise was really far less difficult than expected, and really fun to do!

Opinion: positive, a great warm-up & balancing exercise!

Excercises You've Never Tried Before #4


Cable Row to Neck with Rope (or face pull)
Here's an exercise 90% of gym rats should be using. Why? Because they probably spent a good part of their lifting careers doing a lot of bench presses and very little reciprocal work for the upper back (which can negatively affect posture.) Cable rows will make up for those youthful indiscretions.

Set an adjustable pulley so that it's directly in front of your pecs. Use a triceps rope — it'll reduce the stress on your forearms and wrists. Grab the ends of the rope as if you were grasping a pair of hammers. Start with the shoulders protracted and the forearms extended. Begin the movement by retracting the shoulder blades, and immediately bend the elbows to continue the movement until the forearms make contact with the upper arms.

Make sure to eliminate the lower back from the equation by keeping it perpendicular to the floor at all times. If the development of your rhomboids is lacking, you may choose to pause for a moment when the shoulder blades are retracted.



11,3x20
13,8x8

Not a new or odd exercise at all. Been doing this one for a long time now. Previously always seated, later as a standing ‘face pull’ as I tend to call them. Seated ones are way easier.

Opinion: positive, otherwise they wouldn’t have been a mainstay of my routine for so long.

Rolling Swiss Ball Press
Charles Poliquin can do two things well: come up with unique exercises and bake brownies. (You should see the big guy in an apron. He's adorable we tell ya!) He refuses to let us post his brownie recipe here, but here's one of the unique chest movements he invented.

Lie back on a Swiss ball as if you were about to perform normal dumbbell bench presses. Press the dumbbells up and (here comes the interesting part) drop your hips until you're now in an incline position. Now lower the weights slowly. After a pause, roll back up to the "flat" bench position and start over. In effect, you're doing a flat bench on the way up and an incline bench on the way down.

Since you're weaker in the incline press than in the flat press position, you'll use the strong leverage from the flat position to help you get the load up in preparation for the eccentric part of the movement. A very cool use for the 'ol Swiss ball.



(2x8)xF
(2x4)x12

Not sure what happened, but when I started with 8 kg dumbbells my hip suddenly gave up on me again, so I scurried back to the weight rack and took a pink weight of 4 kg.
Weird exercise, but actually quite a lot of fun to do.
Opinion: neutral, it is a fun exercise, but unsure about how practical it really is.

Excercises You've Never Tried Before #4


Plate Pinch

Grip strength isn't all about crushing power. It's also about finger power, or what some call "pinching" power. To improve finger strength, try doing plate pinches. Grab a pair of dimes (newbie translation: ten pound plates) and place them together, smooth side out. Hold them with your finger tips and keep them pinched together. That's probably easy, so now move up to a pair of quarters (25's). Keep track of how long you can hold them and each time you try it, see if you can squeeze out a few extra seconds. You're a certified bad ass if you can do it with 45s!



2x5 kg x 20s (left)-30s (right) while walking around.

Here it shows again these articles are biased for men. There’s no way I can pinch 2 10kg disks as even lifting them up is impossible. It is possible to do this for two 5kg plates and walk around with them. It feels very easy at the start, but gets progressively more difficult.

Opinion: neutral, probably good exercise if pinch gripping strength is important to you, like for rock climbers. But personally, I can’t see the benefit of it. That was it folks. Had wanted to try the most fun exercise of them all, viz. iron cross, but I was a bit tired from all the disk swapping I had to do for the wave loading. [/color]

[Espi]

An addendum to #4

did 3 new exercises.
I first started with 2 new dynamic stretching exercises, called spiderman crawl and Frankensteins.

Here’s a video of the Spiderman Crawl.

It wasn’t even that easy and here I really noticed how stiff my hip joints are.. really need to work on loosening these up again with the neglected Mensendieck exercises.

Frankensteins
Extend your arms out in front of your chest. In the process of your walk, swing one leg into the air keeping the leg as straight as possible to achieve a hamstring stretch, and attempt to hit your hands.
Really easy exercise! Superfast way to stretch hamstrings.

And finally at the end, tried out how an assisted pull up works in the gym’s cable station. It involves putting on a belt and attaching the cables to the rings on the belt. It is a bit tricky to set up, but doable when you really can’t do pull-ups at all or want to crank out 10 (I can manage 4 with a lot of effort). Obviously our gym doesn’t have an assisted pullup machine.

[Espi]

Excercises You've Never Tried Before #5

Overhead Cable Curl

Here's a biceps exercise even we had never tried until Don Alessi introduced it to us.

Position yourself on a shoulder press bench facing away from the high pulley machine (back toward the machine). Grasp an EZ swivel bar overhead with the elbows extended and close to your ears. Next, flex the elbows behind the head. Return to extended position, then wait patiently for some dweeb to ask you what the f%*k you're doing!




21x3
14x11

Opinion: negative, an extremely clumsy feeling exercise. Can’t be bothered to do this one again.

Incline Russian Twist
This ab exercise, popularized by Christian Thibaudeau, will leave you moaning and groaning. Oh yeah, and it'll build some bulletproof abs and obliques as well!

Anchor yourself on an incline board (or Roman chair), then do a half sit-up so that your lower back isn't in contact with the board. Keep that position during the whole exercise. The execution is simple: rotate your torso from side to side. The arms are fully stretched out in front of you and they stay locked in position — only the trunk is mobile. Try for the longest range of motion possible. Do 8 to 12 reps per side, or 8 to 12 full rotations.



4kg on a bench x 6 reps each side
4kg on a ball x 11 reps each side
8 kg on a ball x 9 reps each side

The feeling in the back when doing on a bench was unpleasant or perhaps not so much the feeling, but what I heard = a cracking of the back vertebrae like when you’re straightening knuckles to make that popping sound from the vacuum that’s been released.
On a ball, I’ve done this exercise for a couple of weeks already, since it’s part of the dynamic warmup in the NROL. It feels very good to do the same exercise on the ball with more weight.

Opinion: negative for bench, though it might be good for others. Positive when done on a Swiss or Bosu ball.

Repeated 1 day later:
4kg x 6 – 6 reps each side

Revised Opinion: neutral. OK, I changed my mind. Reason is that I now did it on a proper decline bench meant for ab exercises, viz. with leg support. Much easier to brace yourself and to not get hurt. Still, I prefer using Swiss balls.
While talking to the gym owner he said that indeed Swiss balls would be a good idea, the gym clientele would start playing soccer with them, so he wouldn’t acquire any. (my own gym attracts an older and better behaved crowd )

ETA:
[quote author=Sensei link=topic=14486.msg284555#msg 284555 date=1191206972]
Sometimes the instruction in those articles aren't the best and I think you'd be left w. a much different impression of the exercises if they had done a better job of describing them - for example, the Russian Twist. If you do it right, it shouldn't be a chiropractic adjustment, but most people think it's a side to side swing and you're definately going to be making it a spinal rotation challenge if you do. Do it under control and it should be a stability builder.
[/quote]


Dumbell Swing

Here's an exercise guaranteed to freak out the skinny ACE certified personal trainers in your gym.

Swings can be performed with either a dumbbell or a kettlebell (if you're one of the six guys in the country who actually own kettlebells). This multi-joint exercise is easy to learn and really hits the posterior chain and improves the grip. It's also perfect to use as an active recovery exercise since there's little to no eccentric (negative) movement.

For the two handed version pictured below, hold a dumbbell with both hands, legs in a wide stance. Start from a neutral back position with the buttocks back and begin the acceleration of the weight by pushing the hips forward. Really try to explode the weight up. Show control of the weight and gradually increase range of motion such that the weight moves from waist level to above the head. You can also perform a single-handed version of this lift.

Avoid dropping the weight on your head. If you do, then you may find yourself with an ACE certification yourself and that would be a goddamn travesty





2kg x5
4kgx5 – 6
9kg x 7
Woot, I really was dreading this one, but what fun to do it. I first did it the wrong way by jumping up in when the db swung upwards, but you’re not supposed to do this. So the next few times I learnt how to brace myself to not let myself fly up with it. It’s going to be a lot tougher if I ever try this with heavier weights.

Opinion: positive, as long as you’re not working with very heavy weights, quite fun. Might be dangerous at higher weights.

Waiter's Bow
Coach Davies is known for two things around here: unique exercise suggestions and making a six pack of MGD disappear faster than you can say "Renegade Training." Here's an exercise that's part of his very effective Man of Steel program.

Simply hold a plate across the chest with legs apart roughly shoulder width and knees slightly bent. From an upright position, bend forward until you're at 45 degrees. (The movement from rotating forward comes from the hips and is quickly felt in the hamstrings.) Then simply explode back to the starting position.


20kgx 5

Opinion: negative since a 20kg disk is the heaviest available and it didn’t make me feel as if I was doing something for my back. However, do it in an hyperextension thingy or a glute-ham raise station, and it would work way better. Even with much smaller weights. How do I know? Since I’ve done weighted hyperextensions often enough. Only problem with those were that I’m too short. Even in the lowest position, the hips are never free and always supported.

Jump Squat
Haven't tossed your cookies in the gym in a while? That's a shame really. Here's an exercise to help you properly throw up while training. As a bonus, jump squats will build a great pair of quads, as well as causing that all important retching and gagging effect!

Using a much lighter load than you'd use with normal squatting, squat down with a fast (but controlled) eccentric. Shift to the concentric (lifting) phase with as little delay as possible. Jump for maximal height and land with knees bent, absorbing the shock. Pause, reset mentally, and repeat. The passwords are speed and height. Shoot for six to ten reps per set.





10kg x6
17,5kg x 4
Taking it easy by doing only a few reps with very low weights.

Opinion: positive, another fun exercise to add to your list if you’re tired of doing the same ole’ exercises. It might be not so good for anyone with back issues or too much ego, as even low weights are straining for the joints.

Decline Dumbbell Extension
This one isn't all that exotic, but most people use an EZ-curl bar extension on a flat bench to train the tri's. Try this variation instead. The decline makes it more effective by keeping constant tension on the triceps and targeting all three heads of the triceps. Additionally, the dumbbells make it more comfortable on your elbows compared to using a bar. In fact, many who say they "can't" do barbell extensions can do this version quite easily.

Lie back on a decline bench holding two dumbbells in a hammer-style grip. Lower them to your ears and come back up. You can point your elbows up towards the ceiling or back behind you just a bit, whatever feels best for you.




(2x4) x18
(2x6) x 8
Hey, this is a really cool way to do triceps extensions and doing it in a decline position (better yet, on a decline ab bench) is a great little addition.

Opinion: positive, one of the few isolation exercises I’ve tried in the series that can make a difference. If only to alleviate strain on the shoulders because of the gentler hammer curl position.

And then there was no more time to do the single-leg press with stops or de ‘limited range dumbbell pull-over.

Hmm about 2 hrs later, my back is complaining a bit. Not yet sure if this is just soreness or a problem. These were really a lot of spine-taxing movements: db swings, jump squats and Russian twists as well as the waiter's bow all take their toll.

[Espi]

ODD EXERCISES
Excercises You've Never Tried Before #5


Limited Range Dumbell Pull Over

We picked this one up from T-mag contributor John Paul Catanzaro.

To increase chest size, you have to train both the pec major and minor. The minor tends to get overlooked since it's not as glamorous as the major. The limited-range pullover will target the pec minor, which in turn will "push out" the pec major, thus making it look bigger. Think of it as a natural pec implant.

Cup a dumbbell between both hands and lay back onto a flat bench. With your arms fully extended above your face, carefully lower the weight until your outstretched arms are in line with your body. Keep the small of your back pressed against the bench and brace the abdominals throughout to protect your lower back.

Make sure the elbows stay in (don't let them flare out) or else the lats will kick in. Elbows should be directly beside your ears in the bottom position. Raise the dumbbell in an arcing motion only about six to eight inches, or 45 degrees from horizontal. Keep your arms straight throughout and keep the abdominals tight!

If your chest development has stalled, try limited-range pullovers!



8x11
9x9
10x11

It must have been eons ago that I tried pull-overs. So started conservatively, also considering the twinges in the shoulders when doing the military presses. After 2 sets I got the hang of it again and went till failure.

Opinion: positive, but it’s an exercise that’s only useful in a 3- or 4-split, otherwise you’ll just drop it as it remains (in my eyes) an isolation exercise.

Overhead Cable Curl

Here's a biceps exercise even we had never tried until Don Alessi introduced it to us.

Position yourself on a shoulder press bench facing away from the high pulley machine (back toward the machine). Grasp an EZ swivel bar overhead with the elbows extended and close to your ears. Next, flex the elbows behind the head. Return to extended position, then wait patiently for some dweeb to ask you what the f%*k you're doing!



3,75x14
6,25x13

I’d done this exercise before, but then in the lat pull down machine. This time it was in the cable station. I’ve tried it from the low pulley position though as the high pulley felt too awkward. Getting seated and into position was a bit awkward, but the movement itself went much smoother. Gonna try the high pulley position another time.

Opinion: neutral-negative, better than in a lat pulldown station but still a too fancy schmancy isolation exercise.

[Espi]

Chapter 1 thru 5 were done in March - April 2007 and then.. after a long break, during which I've tried my hands on NROL but got way nervous about enforced rest perioids and longed back to my own routine. But still wanted to have fun with odd/weird/funky exercises again. Some are great additions, like iron crosses and above all the dumbbell swing and renegade row (or did I get them somewhere else?)

So here we go again..

Excercises You've Never Tried Before #6

Bar Roll-outs
Description: There are several versions of this abdominal movement, including Swiss ball and "ab roller" variations, but here's a version from Ian King that requires no special equipment.
Kneel on the ground, placing a barbell loaded with small plates in front of you. Grip the barbell with your hands at shoulder width. Keeping your arms relatively straight, roll the bar out in front of you and lower your trunk down towards the ground. If you can, go all the way down until your body is nearly touching (but not resting) on the ground.
Keep the hips and trunk in line as you lower and lift. That is, your body should form a straight line between your knees and shoulders at all times. Resist the temptation to stick your butt in the air, particularly during the up phase.
Control down for about two to three seconds then lift as fast as you can without losing the appropriate line between the knee and hip. This is tougher than it looks. Try not to pee your pants.

Practice: Did this one last Saturday already but haven’t written about it as it was in another gym, aptly named ‘NoNonsense Gym’ as it has a lot of good stuff lying around.
It took some thinking to find out how this one is supposed to work, but you start at around