Due to their prominence, well-developed back muscles have been described as wings. Want wing-like back muscles? On the short list of things that allegedly “give you wings” are energy drinks, good deeds, and upper body vertical pulling. After consuming energy drinks throughout my younger years, I can dispatch the first claim. Alertness and insomnia? Yes.
Exercise Guides
The lat pulldown can be a reliable and effective alternative to back-training staples like chin-ups or pull-ups. Pulldowns can be useful for novice lifters who may not yet be strong enough to perform high-quality repetitions, as well as more experienced lifters looking to minimize the role of their core or lower body while zeroing in
Physical therapist John Pallof shared a simple exercise with a few influential strength coaches in the early 2000s. It offered an effective way to challenge core stability in an upright, athletic position. Due to the exercise’s relative starting and ending point, he called it the belly press. Fast-forward two decades. Pallof’s “belly press” was renamed by
Ask several people to describe the toe-to-bar movement and you’re likely to hear multiple descriptions of how the outcome should be accomplished. That is, actually getting one’s toes “to the bar.” You might think the exercise was relatively simple enough considering its self-evident name, but that’s like thinking there’s only one way to “squat.” Credit: Jordi
For most lifters, a week full of workouts just isn’t complete without some tickets to the gun show. But good arm training goes beyond simply ripping through some biceps curls and triceps pressdowns. There needs to be a method to the madness if you want to do more than build a pump that only looks
When it’s time to train your lower body, barbell back squats get plenty of attention, but single-leg training should spend more time in the spotlight. In particular, it’s worth focusing on the dumbbell split squat to bring awareness to the staggered position and learn to coordinate weight distribution across both feet. The dumbbell split squat,
Everyone in the gym has their own ideas about ab training. And the majority of people seem to hate it. It’s the one thing most lifters leave to the end of their workout in favor of movements for other body parts, if they bother to train their core at all. People often neglect core training
Imagine this: It’s peak hour at your gym and you’ve spent all day looking forward to attacking some front squats, but the wait for a squat rack is longer than the line at the smoothie bar on half-price day. Or maybe you’re trying to get a quality workout in a sparse hotel or still-growing home
When a new lifter finally gets a kettlebell in their hands, the swing is typically one of the first exercises they try. But it shouldn’t be. The swing is arguably the most popular kettlebell exercise and it might actually be the movement that’s synonymous with the oddly shaped weight, but the swing isn’t exactly a
Maybe you first saw the pullover performed in low-res videos of Golden-era bodybuilders. Now, it’s common to see in commercial fitness centers, rehabilitation facilities, and home gyms. The dumbbell pullover is a classic back and chest exercise that’s experiencing a renaissance — and for good reasons. Credit: Wavebreakmedia / Shutterstock This guide covers step-by-step instructions,
The recent rise (and arguably unnecessary obsession) with “functional training” has seen the renegade row become a staple in CrossFit, fitness boot camps, and bodyweight workouts across the world. It’s likely that many gym-goers or home-gym lifters have done this ground-based exercise at least a few times before — holding a straight-arm plank while performing
When it comes to developing an upper body that looks great and performs even better, the best coaches in powerlifting, strongman/strongwoman, weightlifting, bodybuilding, and sports performance all agree on one thing: a strong upper back is a must-have. Ivan Kochergin / Shutterstoc While it may not be as impressive-looking as strapping plates around your waist
Talk to anyone in your average gym about training to build conditioning or cut body fat, and the Turkish get-up is probably not going to be one of the first exercises mentioned, if it comes up at all. It may not have the recognition as a squat or deadlift, but a lack of relative popularity
If you listed the most popular ab exercises, there would be some familiar contenders like crunches, planks, and leg raises, no doubt. But one dark horse in the race is the Russian twist. Credit: diplo_game / Shutterstock You’ll see it performed by bodybuilders, fitness influencers, “functional fitness” athletes who wear toe-gripping shoes that look like
The barbell deadlift is the king of the jungle when it comes to pulling exercises. It’s a primary movement with the potential to move the most weight. Plus, it’s a competition lift in powerlifting, along with the back squat and bench press. The classic deadlift will always be popular. But if you’re looking for a
Big basic exercises like the bench press, pull-up, and barbell row are great for building your back, chest, and even shoulders, but they might not suffice to fill your sleeves and build an impressive set of guns. Credit: pixelheadphoto digitalskillet / Shutterstock Training your biceps directly will not only contribute to specific muscle growth, but
Exercises like the chin-up and the deadlift are seen as the kings of back-builders by many lifters, but they are only the meat and potatoes. You have to add some seasoning if you want the best final product, and the extra flavor (and extra results) will come from your exercise choices. The problem is that
Most shoulder exercises involve pressing a weight overhead, while most back exercises involve pulling a weight toward your body. The upright row is a little bit of both. This unique vertical pulling exercise targets your shoulders as well as your upper back. Credit: Benoit Daoust / Shutterstock This movement forms the basis of the Olympic
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