June 20, 2011 by Nick Nilsson

7 Mental Tricks to Supercharge Your Favorite Exercises

Stuck in a rut? Hit a plateau? It’s time to stop phoning in your workout and put some BRAINPOWER into action.

One of the most common issues I see with people in the gym, ESPECIALLY those who are having trouble getting results, is a lack of mental focus on the exercises they’re performing.

Sure, they’re going through the motions and in a lot of cases even lifting a substantial amount of weight…but what they don’t realize is that by really engaging their BRAIN in the act of lifting they could be getting MUCH better results with the same amount of effort.

So to help with that, I’ve put together a list of my favorite “mental notes” for some of the most common exercises in the gym…using this can make an immediate difference in your exercise performance and even add some substantial weight to your lifts!

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April 25, 2011 by Nick Nilsson

One-Arm Bench Push-Ups…Bodyweight Muscle-Building for Chest

Push-ups are a staple bodyweight exercise for the chest and for good reason…they work. But one of the BIG problems with the push-up becomes apparent as you get stronger…you’re limited by your bodyweight for resistance.

That’s where the One-Arm Bench Push-Up comes in.

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April 11, 2011 by Nick Nilsson

A Simple Tweak to FORCE You to do Your Barbell Curls Right

The “normal” barbell curl is obviously one of the most used exercises you’ll ever see in the gym. It’s the exercise people think of when they think of lifting weights (except possibly bench press).

And (like bench press), it’s one exercise that is totally misused and abused!

THIS little training tweak is going to automatically fix your form on EVERY single rep.

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April 10, 2011 by Will Brink

Prowler Sled Day!

If you follow my stuff, you know I’m a big fan and regular user of drag sleds. As I said in a prior blog post, If you are not doing sled dragging, you should be! I consider it the most under utilized lower body exercise going. Forward is hard, reverse is brutal. According to the Elite Fitness site, the benefits of sled dragging is:

• GPP Work
• Injury Rehabilitation
• Strength Training
• Prehabilitation
• Increased Work Capacity
• Hypertrophy
• Starting Strength
• Acceleration Strength
• Strength Endurance

I’m a big fan of drag sleds. However, the Prowler sled takes it to another level. It’s your standard drag sled on steroids! The Prowler is, bar none, one of the best strength, conditioning, GPP tools you can use! Below is a short vid of my pal Jim and I doing some Prowler sled pushing… If you’re interested in The Prowler, there’s a link to EFS via the recommended products section HERE.

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March 19, 2011 by Will Brink

Leg Day With Stephanie Villers

Stephanie is an NPC Figure Competitor. We did this yesterday at Golds near me. She was trooper and pushed hard through any challenges! No “toning and firming” silliness here!

Note: It’s hard to judge depth from where I was standing, but on seeing the vid, she have could have gone deeper. I thought at the time she was hitting right at parallel which is fine when working with 3-6 1RMs, but she was above it on the back squat.

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March 17, 2011 by Will Brink

“Best” Time Of The Day To Workout?

So what is Best Time To Workout? Early in the morning? Mid afternoon? Between 2:12pm and 4:18pm??? When does testosterone peak? Does it matter???!!!

I answer this age old question ONCE AND FOR ALL!!!!!!

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March 14, 2011 by Nick Nilsson

Single Leg Lockout Partial Squats for Unilateral Power and Athletic Performance

There is always a huge debate in sports, athletic and bodybuilding training about the benefits of single leg training as opposed to double leg training…for example, should you do regular barbell squats or are lunges better?

Do single leg exercises have greater carryover to sports and athletics or is an athlete better off using an exercises like squats that you can load more heavily in order to build overall strength then use athletic practice to develop specific strength.

I’m not going to get into that whole debate here…my approach is to do BOTH. They each have their benefits and their place in training.

THIS exercise, however, gives you the advantage of serious loading on the target muscles AND doing it one leg at a time to develop that functional strength we’re looking for. It’s also a great core strength workout as the tension is going to be going primarily through one side of your body.

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February 22, 2011 by Nick Nilsson

In-Set Superset of Dumbell Split Squats with Forward Lean – GREAT Posterior Chain Training

This exercise is a GREAT combination exercise done using the In-Set Superset technique where you alternate reps of two different exercises in one set in order to focus the work on one common bodypart.

In this case, however, both exercises tend to work the same general muscles (quads, hams, glutes, lower back), just in a different fashion.

For this exercise, you’re going to be combining a dumbell split squat with basically what amounts to a stiff-legged deadlift with one leg forward (hence the forward lean). Your leg and foot position stays the same the whole way through…you just alternate between reps of one exercise then the other then you switch legs and do it again.

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February 15, 2011 by Nick Nilsson

Rack-Rail Leg Raises for DEADLY Bodyweight Lower Ab Training

This one is a variation on the classic “leg raise” exercise…the key difference here lies on WHERE you’re doing the exercise.

It’s not a hanging version – it’s actually a fair bit harder than that!

With this version, you’re going to be supporting yourself on the safety rails of the power rack – it almost looks a bit like the Iron Cross position a gymnast gets into on the rings.

So first, set the safety rails on the rack to about the level of the bottom of your rib cage – you can adjust height any time.

I like to set the height so that I can set my hands on the rails while in a standing position, then bend my knees to get my feet off the ground. I find this to be easier than trying to jump up in order to have straight legs at the bottom.

The arms should be about 45 degrees at the shoulder.

Set your hands on the rails and hold on! Bend your knees and get your feet off the ground. You will instantly feel big-time tension in the abs and torso because of how you’re supporting your body in this position.

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December 6, 2010 by Nick Nilsson

Why Your Big Toe Is Your Key To Great Calves…

This tip is a bit of a change of pace… no pictures…no video (this one would be tough to show in a picture or video but is pretty easy to explain).

If you’re looking to really build your calves, this one little piece of advice will help TREMENDOUSLY. Yet you rarely, if ever, see anybody mention this when you get instructions on calf exercises.

So what is this advice? It’s a simple thing…when you do a calf raise exercise and you’re coming to the top of the movement, be sure to COME UP ON THE BIG TOE KNUCKLES (on the bottoms of your feet, of course).

This activates the gastrocnemius (calf muscles) muscle bellies strongly. The difference contraction and fiber activation will surprise you!

Next time you do calf raises, don’t use this technique and just do them as you regularly do them. Notice how your feet move as you come. Chances are, as you do the calf raise, your feet roll to the OUTSIDE.

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7 Mental Tricks to Supercharge Your Favorite Exercises

One-Arm Bench Push-Ups…Bodyweight Muscle-Building for Chest

A Simple Tweak to FORCE You to do Your Barbell Curls Right

Prowler Sled Day!

Leg Day With Stephanie Villers

“Best” Time Of The Day To Workout?

Single Leg Lockout Partial Squats for Unilateral Power and Athletic Performance

In-Set Superset of Dumbell Split Squats with Forward Lean – GREAT Posterior Chain Training

Rack-Rail Leg Raises for DEADLY Bodyweight Lower Ab Training

Why Your Big Toe Is Your Key To Great Calves…

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