I was with a new client not long ago who said they were always complimented on their shoulder development, especially after working with their last training partner. I told them "that's nice" but their body was grossly imbalanced. They admitted the former partner commented they had the hardest time building up their chest and mid back and insisted it was due to bad genetics.
I shrugged and added, "Not true. Genetics is an abused excuse. They simply were not teaching you to exercise correctly." "Oh really?" Yes, oh really. Look, if you raise your shoulders off the bench when you perform a press, you aren't working your chest. Matters are made worse if you do not lower the bar all the way down either.
Try to imagine raising the barbell up to the top position with your arms straight holding the weight up. Next, imagine raising the bar even higher towards the ceiling with your shoulders coming off the bench. That extra raise you do is all deltoid work. You can feel it.
On top of this, by not lowering the bar all the way down and touching your pecs, you aren't sufficiently stretching the chest muscles to recruit enough muscle fiber to contract on the way up.
As far as the upper back exercises went, the client was not taught to row nor do pull downs all the way into the body, spreading the shoulder blades back at the end of the movement. Even worse, they were however taught to stretch way too far upward or forward creating unwanted shoulder work while pulling things back into position.
Add it all up, toss in your military presses and shoulder flyes, it was no wonder their shoulders looked so much more developed than their back and chest. I think you know, the point is, neither they nor the training partner realized all of this. In the 304 page Don Lemmon's KNOW HOW Book Two: The Ultimate Development (once titled Bodybuilding Lifestyles) I sum up subjects like this and a whole lot more.
When you perform your exercises correctly, you will require much less exercise to see results. You economize your time and recovery together at once. We train no more than 6 days every two weeks, usually only 5 days and sometimes only 4. There are certain conditions that we workout 4 days a week but it is not for extended periods and hardly necessary most of the time.
I explain this in The Ultimate Development. I am not saying I agree with the technique or form of the below movements, let alone the speed of the repetitions on these particular exercise clips, but they WILL give you a basic idea of what the movements are like and allow for a visual on how to perform them. In fact, it is early in my day and I must be brief, but let me critique each clip.
Keep in mind, all movements are meant to maintain a fairly consistent 4-seconds up, 4-seconds down pace. Anything faster or slower might not be beneficial. Ok, let's check out what we have for you here. Simply click on the exercise name to see what I am talking about in the description following each movement.
Inside The Ultimate Development we cover all of these exercises in much greater detail for the use of maximizing your results....
LEG EXERCISES
Hip Adduction - Good, push with the knees, not the feet or hands and sit back at all times. Hip Abduction - Same as the above, no wiggling. Front Squats - The form is great, the speed is too fast. Take four slow seconds to lower, pause momentarily, raise just as slowly to avoid abusing the joints and tendons. Barbell Squats - Same as the above but look to the sky, not at the floor in front of you. Hack Squats - Same as above advice. Machine Squats - She is going a hair too low and too quick. Only lower the hip joint to the level of your knees. Your butt goes down, butt not to the floor. Rack Squats - Not too bad, feet placement is high and wide on the platform and she isn't going too low. Dumbell Lunges - Your head better stay up with your face staring at the ceiling in front of you and if you move this fast, banging your knees to the floor instead of barely touching it, you'll be sorry! Leg Press - You only need to go half this far down. Your knees do not belong in your face. Leg Extensions - No wiggling, no using the hands as leverage and keep those toes pointed towards you... Stiff Leg Dead Lifts - Only go half that far down, keep your head up so your shoulders do not round forward, but arch back the entire movement. If you work slow enough, halfway is plenty to work the hamstrings. Dead Lifts - Wow! Perfect! Leg Curls - No wiggling, keep the butt down by curling slow and turn the toes out, but point them towards you... Seated Leg Curls - Great, but point the toes out and up.
UPPER BACK EXERCISES
Bent Over Rows - Ouch! My low back hurts looking at this guy! Head up, look at the ceiling, move slowly, keep the shoulders up and back and only row as low as the knees. If your arms aren't straight, you aren't leaning up and back enough. Seated Cable Rows - Same advice as above. You aren't seeing how far you can reach but how well you can pull things at arms length away into the midsection. One Arm Dumbell Rows - Not bad but again, too low. Seated Machine Rows - See how his shoulder blades look rounded forward? Not good. Head up, shoulder blades back, and kept back. Only reach as far as the arms allow. Pullover Machine - This guy likes to overstretch. Only reach up to a point the elbows are in line with your ears. Push down using the elbows, not the hands and strap in tight.. Pullups - Good. See how he pulls the bar to his chest versus just pulling up and going back down? Pullovers - The arm bends a hair but you want to focus on keeping them straight. The legs too, reach them forward and you will feel more muscle worked. But be gentle and slow... Underhand Pulldowns - Do not reach that high. Do pull the bar into the top of your chest. Do not move the head back and forth. Position yourself under the pulley so you only move arms during the exercise. Behind The Neck Pulldowns - Perfect, if he didn't reach so high. That is incredibly bad for the rotator cuff. Behind The Neck Pullups - Good, but do them slow.
NECK EXERCISES
Shrugs - Good technique but move slow. Hunched Shrugs - Stay in one rigid position like he has. Machine Shrugs - This looks like he was racing to get something done and is a good way to pinch a nerve.
CHEST EXERCISES
Bench Press - Great! Notice how he doesn't reach for the sky lifting the shoulders off the bench? Lying Dumbell Flyes - Slow it down and we have a winner. Hammer Chest Press - Another great demonstration. Peck Deck - Only reach far enough that your elbows are as far back as the shoulder joint but you must touch the pads in the front. Incline Machine Presses - Nice! Dips - Good but I hate these machines. They make it easy on you to dip and that creates an ineffective movement. See the tricep dip below for a machine that works. I say dip with just the bars if you can and hold your feet up, bent knee, without crossing the legs.
SHOULDER EXERCISES
Behind The Neck Press - If you rock back and forth, the weight is too heavy. Keep your head forward, and use a wider grip. Military Press - Same advice here too. And do not go so low. Keep the head back, touch to the collar bone, push it right back up again. Front Alternate Dumbell Raises - He is raising too high and never rest one bell on your lap while waiting to go again. Upright Dumbell Rows - use a barbell instead, do not rock back and forth, raise only as high as the collar bone... Side Lateral Machine Raises - move slow, raise the elbow only as high as the shoulder joint and push up with the forearms, not the hands. Rear Lateral Raises - No rocking up and down, remain rigid.
ABDOMINAL EXERCISES
Twist Machine - Good, but move slower, and lean into the pads so your chest can do the twisting, not the hands. Seated Crunches - Pretty good, but I really do not think you need to lean all the way forward just because you can. Suck your stomach in, you will feel why. AB Machine - Same advice, but use the pad and chest to push, not arm strength. Crunches - Leaning too far back loosens the abdomen and impinges the spine. Side Bends - Hold dumbells in each hand, suck in the belly, lean slowly from side to side... Incline Chair Situps - Be more secure so you aren't slipping in your seat, letting the legs lose contact nor should you sit all the way forward. The stomach loses contractions that way. As always, keep the head up, chin on chest, and off the floor or bench.
BICEP EXERCISES
Alternate Dumbell Curls - No rocking left and right and keep the palms facing upward. Incline Dumbell Curls - Again, no leaning into the curl, sit upright and keep the palms facing upward. Preacher Curls - The bar is only raised to a perpendicular position with the floor. If you raise the weight too close to the face, the bicep loses contraction. And do not lower the bar so far the elbow bends back nor let the wrist drop back. Concentration Curls - He is using leverage and momentum to hoist the weight. Instead, curl it up slowly, lower it slowly. Barbell Curls - I have no idea why this guy is kissing the bar, only curl as high as your chest and do not rock back and forth to do so. No swinging!
TRICEP EXERCISES
Close Grip Bench Presses - Maybe the hands should be a "thumbs extended" but touching grip width. Next, push the weight moreso above the belly despite lowering it to touch the lower chest. Overhead Tricep Extensions - His legs wiggle because he is lowering so far back he loses balance, not good. Overhead Cable Tricep Extensions - Do not reach too far back and switch legs half way through the set. Seated Cable Tricep Extensions - He is reaching a little too far down and if you move the weight forward at the top, you will pull a lat or pec muscle. Pushdowns - Whoah buddy! The bar starts at chest height, is pushed down to an arms straightened but not locked out position. Move much slower than this guy and know how many reps you are going for each set. Switch what leg is held forward halfway through the set. Dumbell Tricep Extensions - GREAT! Kickbacks - Good, but no looking around and at the top, flex your tricep. Machine Dips - Strap in, lean a little more forward in the seat so your shoulders are rounded back, not to the front.
Ok, now you have an idea of what you may or may not have been doing wrong while working out by yourself. If you want further details, more tips and trick plus the most extensive definitions on how to perform over 100 different exercises in all... Read The Ultimate Development.
Enjoy the other Articles & Information located on this site:
