Everyone knows exercise plays an important role in our general health, but whether its a lack of motivation, the need to travel to the gym, the cost of equipment, or simply know-how, these supposed obstacles often stand in our way. In reality, all you need is yourself. Here’s how you can get a full-body workout with nothing but your body.
Think of your core muscles as the sturdy central link in a chain connecting your upper and lower body. The necessary motions either originate in your core, or move through it. No matter where motion starts, it ripples upward and downward to adjoining links of the chain. Thus, weak or inflexible core muscles can impair how well your arms
Post-activation potentiation refers to a short-term improvement in performance (e.g. jumping) as a result of using a conditioning exercise (e.g. back squats). Many conditioning exercises, for example back squats, deadlifts, plyometrics and isometric contractions have all been shown to improve subsequent performances. This performance improvement is due the muscles being placed into a ‘potentiated’, or ‘activated’ state. At present, there
If you’re still doing straight sets for 5×5, don’t be surprised when your bench press stops going up. That’s not to knock five-sets, they’re great and safe. They’ll get you benching more than your bodyweight. They probably won’t get you to 1.5 times your bodyweight and they definitely won’t get you to 2 times. If you want a better bench press, you need a better
Having well-defined pectorals, or “pecs” for short, is essential to a balanced body. A great chest definitely turns heads, but more importantly, it’s essential to making an athlete stronger for competitions and for helping perform many everyday tasks. When talking about your chest, it’s important to remember that the pecs consist of three separate sections: Upper. Mid. Lower. Interestingly, the
Your goal is to build a perfect back, but you don’t have the time! You can train hard, you can eat right but you really do not have the time to spend in the gym. You go to work, you take care of your family and you are not the same gym goer you used to be. Believe it or not, you
The upper chest area can be one of the most stubborn to grow and has been the source of frustration for many advanced bodybuilders and novices alike. Luckily, every problem has its solution, and it’s up to you to learn from their mistakes and successes! So how can you target your upper pecs with perfect precision and maximum effectiveness? With these
Maintaining flexible joints will help any lifter improve his or her health and fitness. Learn how to stretch your gains with this complete guide to stretching! The most established and obvious benefit of stretching is to help improve flexibility and range of motion. As the body ages, muscles can become tighter and range of motion in the joints can be
The questions about glutes come from both female and male athletes, as well as general fitness enthusiasts. All of whom truly want to increase their speed, power and strength. The proper development of glutes can allow individuals to not only run, jump and swim faster, but can also increases their explosive power during sporting activities. These muscles, when properly developed, also give
When talking about upper body workouts, you can’t forget to mention the pull-up. In comparison, the lat pull-down exercise isn’t even close in importance to the pull-up, even though it can add great variety to your workout. The pull-up, which is by far the most effective upper back developing exercise, because it achieves the maximum possible neuromuscular activation, unlike all the
