As the title says, what are some random training tips that you have learned throughout your years of lifting? I’m not talking about shit that has been said millions of times over like “arch your back,” “shoulders back and down,” “weight on your heels” etc.
I’ll give a few off the top of my head. Keep in mind these work for me but obviously may not work for everyone.
Keeping your wrists straighter during movements like the bench press tends to hit your shoulders harder than when your wrists are bent (suicide grip). When I am using suicide grip, there is almost zero shoulder stimulation.
When you are doing dumbbell rows on the flat bench, I have found that gripping the dumbbell slightly further up helps you pull in a more diagonal manner which aids in stimulating the lats more.
to feel lats during pullups wear a tank top and look at the way your lats spread during the bottom portion of the pullup. Pull your elbows back not your scapula. This is the only way i ever felt my lats work. Everytime your in the bottom position your lats should pop out like a cobra head. Has to be done in front of a mirror. Look at your lats the whole time. Lockout on the bottom and dont worry about the top portion of the pullup.
that and do neutral grip pullups (for lat emphasis) to the point where your arm is parallel to the floor no higher. Lockout to parallel thats it. Sorta like the bottom of 21’s
Well, it was kind of already mentioned, but suicide grip I find, after getting past the initial fear and shock factor, is the greatest and most comfortable way of pressing. Wonderful.
Other than that, I’d say use others as motivation but as means of comparison. There are people who can bench 225 or more within a couple lifting sessions if not immediately. There are those who couldn’t bench 95 lbs within their first couple sessions. Everyone =/= Everyone
Love small training tips, it’s all about the small tricks:
For person’s with shoulder issues, who love dips:
-Using fat grips, 3" D BB, or large foam pads help increase the surface area of the dip bar and eases tension off the shoulders, allowing people with mild-moderate shoulder injuries to do dips. *Also works with BB Bench Press, BB Incline Bench, and Close-Grip Bench.
Overhead pressing problems:
-Shifting the angle of overhead pressing motions to slightly neutral or half-way inbetween is sometimes enough of a shift to enable overhead work to be done by people with impingement syndrome problems. Varying angles of lifts can sometimes help accomplish the same goal and enable you to complete exercises that normally cause pain.
For knee pain w/o complete tears in meniscus or lig/tend:
-Sled dragging (forward/backward); prowler pushing; lunges while resistance is pulling backward from a harness eases pressure off the knee joints, while still giving the legs a great workout. Tire flips work great as well, only more for the posterior chain.
Randoms:
-Warming up with KB swings helps increase deadlift power tremendously.
-Jump squats improve overall squat performance.
-Ramping is the best thing next to marinated tri tip.
Just thought I’d throw in a few. I’m sure there are more, but that would require more thought than I am willing to put forth today.
Slightly tilting the pinky finger upward allows you to gain a better mind muscle connection with the posterior deltoid whilst doing some form of rear delt flyes.
-Warming up with KB swings helps increase deadlift power tremendously.
-Jump squats improve overall squat performance.
-Ramping is the best thing next to marinated tri tip.
Just thought I’d throw in a few. I’m sure there are more, but that would require more thought than I am willing to put forth today.
v/r
Gremlin[/quote]
I bet KB swings help with squats too. Anything that gets the posterior chain firing is beneficial for both of those lifts. KB swings are great. Wish i had access to some.
[quote]Teledin wrote:
Slightly tilting the pinky finger upward allows you to gain a better mind muscle connection with the posterior deltoid whilst doing some form of rear delt flyes.[/quote]
Damn that’s a super random tip, I’ll have to give it a try
[quote]Teledin wrote:
Slightly tilting the pinky finger upward allows you to gain a better mind muscle connection with the posterior deltoid whilst doing some form of rear delt flyes.[/quote]
Damn that’s a super random tip, I’ll have to give it a try[/quote]
Me too as I have trouble feeling my rear delts.
My contribution:
I think hormones are way more important than most people realise. Often when some ‘technique’ mysteriously works it can be traced back to the hormonal affect it had on your body.
if you are paying attention to what you eat, e.g. getting lots quality proteins and the right carbs - creating enough surplus to grow but not get too fat, use the mirror - lats should be wider than your fucking handles.
if you hit the gym w/ a plan, intensely, 4-6 days a week for a few years… results will happen and many questions you had as a novice lifter will fall away.
Can someone please tell me the correct foot positioning of the Squat (back) exercise. I normally turn the feet out 45 degrees to recruit more glute muscle. However, recently ive been putting the feet facing forwards? Which is more effective??