ATHLEAN-X™

The perfect shoulder workout should consist of exercises for your front delts, middle delts and rear delts (not necessarily in that order!). That said, even that doesn’t make the shoulder workout complete. In order to round out your shoulders with a well rounded workout you need to fill in the gaps of what is lacking on those popular shoulder exercises. That is what we do in this video.If you look at the four main exercises that people do in their shoulders workout you will see barbell or dumbbell overhead press, side lateral raises, front delt raises and maybe even dips. Take a close look into each of these classic movements and you will see one thing in common. That is, each of these exercises is lacking either a stretch position of the shoulder or doesn’t take the muscle through it’s full available range of motion.This is a problem when it comes to developing a complete set of impressive shoulders. Just because you are going through a full range of motion on the exercises that you are doing it does not mean that you are taking a muscle through its full range of motion. For instance, all shoulder exercises are performed by changing the angle of the arm at the shoulder. Because the shoulder is a three dimensional ball and socket joint, you have a great deal of motion available to you on your shoulder exercises.That said, we often overlook the fact that the shoulder joint is not just this ball and socket. Because the socket is technically the shoulder blade, you have to consider all of the other muscles that are connected to these bones that then play an important role in shoulder training. Not just that, but hypertophy should never be the only goal of your shoulder workouts. In order to be complete like an athlete you are going to have to incorporate some movements that train the explosiveness of the entire shoulder girdle and let you train all of these muscles together.The solution to this problem is to not forego the popular mass building shoulder exercises or even the lighter ones geared at mass but add to them, and overlook no element of complete training. Here is how to construct the perfect shoulder workout with that in mind.Warmup with Overhead Banded Press - 2 sets of 15 with 3 second holds each rep.OHP or Handstand pushups - 4 sets of 12,8,6,6 repsFinish with one set of dumbbell and band overhead presses for neuromuscular re-education x 15 repsDelt Stretch Tri-Set (21’s) - 2-3 sets of 7 reps in each direction for rear, middle and front deltsMake sure you perform these in the order of rear to front to account for fatigue.DB Cheat Laterals - 3 sets to failure on each armImmediately into a DB Push Press to failure on each armCable or Banded Face Pulls - 3 sets of 15Perform these with a mindset of 15 sets of 1 to ensure highest quality of every rep.When you put this together in the format as I’m suggesting here, you not only now hit the shoulders through their full range of motion but you hit every area of the shoulders as well. The drop down allows for the lesser intense exercise to be more taxing since it was just preceded by a more difficult compound lift.This is just one example of how to apply science to your shoulder workouts. If you want to train like an athlete you want to put science back in every workout you do. You can do that with the ATHLEAN-X Training Programs available at the link below and get started right away on building a ripped, muscular, athletic body.For more shoulder workout videos for the front deltoids, middle delts and rear delts, be sure to subscribe to our channel here on youtube at http://youtube.com/user/jdcav24 and don’t forget to turn on notifications so you never miss one

See WWE Superstar Finn Balor as he goes through an ab workout with trainer Jeff Cavaliere. They hit the functions of the abs that often get overlooked with a variety of ab exercises that challenge the core muscles through all planes of motion.The key to getting six pack abs like Finn Balor is to first be sure you get your nutrition in check. This means that you need to eat to obtain a low enough level of body fat that you can see the results of your hard work. If you don’t first clean up your diet then you will never see your abs, no matter how many ab exercises or workouts you do.When it comes to ab workouts you have to be sure that you are not just doing crunches and thinking that you are doing complete ab training. Flexion of the spine is just one function of the abdominal muscles. The complete abs workout would have you working on rotational, anti-rotation, anti-lateral, power, and lower ab training exercises.Finn Balor’s ab workout consists of movements that hit his core hard in all of these motions. The use of weights is something that allows him to overload his ab muscles (just as he would any other muscles that he was looking to develop) and create challenge instead of simply banging away at high numbers of less challenging reps.If you want to develop a six pack like Finn, you need to be sure to incorporate ab exercises that hit every region of your abs as well. Remember, a good looking midsection is not just composed of the rectus abdominis muscle. You want to be sure to develop the obliques, serratus anterior and the transverse abdominis as well. The key is to choose exercises that hit each area without spending too much time doing them. The key to any good ab workout is to challenge your abs and get you out of the gym in under 10 minutes.No need to spend long workouts training your abs. Instead, opt for a consistent approach to ab training and try to get your abs trained at least 4 to 5 times per week, if not more. If you are looking for a complete program that gives you day by day ab workouts as well as a meal plan that will ensure that you get shredded and ripped enough to see your abs 365 days a year, be sure to head to the following link to do so:Get Ripped in 90 Days - http://athleanx.com/x/my-workoutsSubscribe to this channel here - http://bit.ly/2b0coMWAlso, be sure you never miss another athlete training video or workout for abs by subscribing to this channel and turning on notifications. You can find us at http://youtube.com/user/jdcav24

The perfect biceps workout should consist of exercises that not only hit the long and short head but also the brachialis, a totally separate muscle. In addition, it must put the biceps through its full range of motion and utilize both the flexion of the elbow and the supination of the hand. That said, even that won’t complete your biceps workout! In order to round out your biceps you need to also include techniques that create unique stresses on the muscle giving it no choice but respond. That is what we do in this video.If you look at the main exercises that people do in their biceps workouts you will see a lot of curls. After all, a major function of the biceps is to flex the elbow. This is a problem when it comes to complete biceps development your biceps likely get plenty of activation during your back workout so in order to take your development to another level you need to include unique methods of stimulation. Just because you are going through a full range of motion on the exercises that you are doing and performing the major roles of the muscle 9elbow flexion and hand supination) it does not mean that you are giving the muscle sufficient stimulus to force growth. We all know guys who can do tons of pull ups and heavy rows but don’t have the greatest bicep development. The solution to this problem is to not forego the popular mass building exercises, those are still the foundation of our training, but we also need to add specialization exercises and techniques. With that said, here what the perfect biceps workout would look like:Cheat Curls - To Failure immediately intoBarbell Drag Curl - To FailurePerform for 3 SetsWeighted Chins - To Failure immediately intoPulsed Contraction Chin Curls - To FailurePerform for 3 SetsIncline Dumbbell Curls - 3 sets to failure (Utilize the stretch reflex of the triceps technique)Dumbbell Curl Trifecta - 2 sets of 8 on each arm for each exercise– Cross supination (Emphasizes the long head of the biceps)– Cross pronation (Emphasizes the brachialis )– No Money curls (Emphasizes the short head of the biceps)When you put this together in as I’m suggesting here, you not only now hit the biceps through it’s full range of motion but you hit every area of the biceps as well and in a fashion they’re not likely grown accustom to. Advanced techniques allows for a more intense sets which are obviously more taxing pair that with the difficult compound lifts and you have an excellent workout.This is just one example of how to apply science to your training. If you want to train like an athlete you want to put science back in every workout you do. You can do that with the ATHLEAN-X Training Programs available at http://athleanx.com and get started right away on building a ripped, muscular, athletic body.For more biceps workout videos be sure to subscribe to our channel here on youtube at http://youtube.com/user/jdcav24 and don’t forget to turn on notifications so you never miss one.

If you want to develop six pack abs you may think that you have to spend hours a day trying to get one. That is not the case at all. If you are able to commit to a consistent but short effort you will be amazed at how much better your abs could look in a short period of time when combined with a focused attention to what you eat as well.In this video, I have a short 7 minute ab workout for you to do along with me. As you will see and feel, an ab workout does not have to be long to be effective. As a matter of fact, I would probably say that the longer the ab workout goes, the less effective it becomes. The key to this working is that it is short enough to allow you to do it on a regular basis without having to fight to schedule it into your day.Remember, the key to getting a six pack is consistency. Now, don’t think that just because you might be doing the same set of exercises that it is becoming less effective. It is not. The choice of ab exercises in this workout is broad enough so as to cover all of the major functions of the abs. There are bottom up movements that better hit the lower abs. There are rotational movements that are initiated from the bottom up and the top down to really hit the rotation capabilities of the core muscles.There are also top down movements where the shoulders are lifted off of the ground as opposed to the legs, which are situated at the end of the workout to allow you to keep training your abs when they are fatigued. When there are purposeful ab exercises in your workouts they do not have to be long.The point of this video is to give you a follow along ab workout that you can do anywhere. There are no special pieces of equipment needed to do this. All you need is your body and some space on the floor. You might actually need a bit more than that, and that would be a heavy dose of determination to try and resist the burn of these exercises as you do them. Remember, the pain from ab training is usually only temporary. As soon as finish the exercise and the lactic acid starts to clear the abdominal muscles, you feel normal again.See if you can follow the entire ab workout along with me, resting when I do. If you need extra rest for some reason, don’t be bashful - take it. Maybe you can only do 40 seconds of one of the 60 second exercises. That’s ok, do what you can and rest for the remainder of that exercise. As you get stronger on these you will be able to do the whole thing without extra rest. Here is the ab workout as follows:Seated Ab Circles Left x 60 secondsSeated Ab Circles Right x 60 secondsDrunken Mountain Climbers x 60 secondsRest 30 secondsMarching Planks x 60 secondsScissors x 60 secondsStarfish Crunch x 30 secondsRest 30 secondsRussian V Tuck Twists x 30 secondsSo there is an ab workout you can do at home with no equipment that will get you started on getting that six pack you’ve always wanted. If you want to speed up the process you will want to make sure your diet is in place as well. If you want a step by step meal plan to get you ripped fast, head to http:/athleanx.com and get the ATHLEAN-X Training System.For more ab workout videos that you can follow for a six pack, be sure to subscribe to our channel here on youtube at http://youtube.com/user/jdcav24 and be sure to turn on notifications so you never miss when something new is posted.

The perfect chest workout should consist of exercises for your upper chest, middle chest and lower chest. That said, even that doesn’t make the chest workout complete. In order to round out your pecs with a well rounded workout you need to fill in the gaps of what is lacking on those popular chest exercises. That is what we do in this video.If you look at the four main exercises that people do in their chest workouts you will see incline bench press, barbell bench press, dips and pushups. Take a close look into each of these classic movements and you will see one thing in common. That is, each of these exercises is lacking a full adduction of the shoulder within the exercise.This is a problem when it comes to developing a complete chest. Just because you are going through a full range of motion on the exercises that you are doing it does not mean that you are taking a muscle through its full range of motion. For instance, all chest exercises are performed by changing the angle of the arm at the shoulder. Because the shoulder is a three dimensional ball and socket joint, you have a great deal of motion available to you on your chest exercises.That said, with the hands being fixed on a barbell, dip station or the floor through most of the common chest exercises you are not able to take your shoulder through the full horizontal adduction that it is capable of going through. Due to this, there is limited activation of the pecs since they are built to take the arm fully across the body, over midline into a more complete adduction.The solution to this problem is to not forego the popular mass building chest exercises but add to them, in drop set fashion. Here is how to construct the perfect chest workout with that in mind.Barbell Bench Press - 4 sets of 6,8,10,12 repsImmediately into a horizontal chest cable or band crossover for 15 repsIncline DB Bench Press - 4 sets of 6,8,10,12 repsImmediately into a low to high cable or band crossover for 15 repsWeighted Dips - 4 sets of 6,8,10,12 repsImmediately into a high to low cable or band crossover for 15 repsWeighted Pushups - 3 sets to FailureImmediately into a banded crossover pushup for 15 reps with band on each armWhen you put this together in drop set format as I’m suggesting here, you not only now hit the chest through it’s full range of motion but you hit every area of the chest as well. The drop down allows for the lesser intense exercise to be more taxing since it was just preceded by a more difficult compound lift.This is just one example of how to apply science to your chest workouts. If you want to train like an athlete you want to put science back in every workout you do. You can do that with the ATHLEAN-X Training Programs available at http://athleanx.com and get started right away on building a ripped, muscular, athletic body.For more chest workout videos for the upper chest, lower chest and inner chest, be sure to subscribe to our channel here on youtube at http://youtube.com/user/jdcav24 and don’t forget to turn on notifications so you never miss one.

One of the most gruesome mistakes you can make when doing the deadlift results in a torn biceps tendon. In this video, I’m going to show you exactly what is causing the bicep tendon tears when deadlifting and more importantly how to make sure it doesn’t happen to you.Many people think that the exercise itself is the cause. This is not the case. Thousands of reps of deadlifts are performed every day around the world and very few of them result in a torn biceps tendon. That said, when two ingredients are in place the risk of tearing a tendon become significantly more likely. These are the use of a mixed grip and improperly directing force into the bar through the arms at the top of the lift. Let’s look at the mixed grip first. This is a prerequisite for this injury because it places one of the hands in an underhand position via supination at the forearm. The reason this grip is used is so that someone with a weaker grip can have better grasp of the bar. The underhand provides stability by preventing the rolling of the bar out of the hands as it will with a traditional overhand grip.That said, it also immediately activates the biceps more and places tension through the upper arm that doesn’t happen through the pronated side. Next however, is where the combination of this and more tension along with stretch becomes the perfect recipe for disaster. When you start to reach the top of the movement the exercise becomes most difficult. You have probably seen people struggle to get through the top of the move and finish their hip extension. It is at this point that the person is likely to rely on other muscles to help get there. This is when the biceps is mistakenly relied on to try and curl the bar to the top. Big mistake.Often times, the amount of weight being handled on the deadlift is far surpassing any weight that can be reasonably or safely curled by the biceps. Combine this with the additional stretch that gets placed on the biceps tendon at this very moment (as the arm goes from a more flexed shoulder position to a more extended shoulder position - thereby placing more stretch on the biceps in the process) and you quickly see why tears occur in the distal attachment most frequently at this point.The best way to avoid this happening to you is to actively contract the triceps throughout every rep of the deadlift. Here is what that will accomplish. First, the contraction of the triceps around the elbow will reciprocally inhibit the action of the biceps and not allow it to contribute at the moment you do not want it to. You have essentially quieted the biceps and prevented it from administering tension into the bar.The second benefit is that through activation of the triceps you are creating stability of the scapula due to the long head attachment of the muscle. This combined with the conscious activation of the lower traps, rhomboids and lats will help to stabilize the shoulder blade and provide more power through the lift by removing slack from the kinetic chain. It is simple to do and is something you can easily be aware of if you slip and forget to do so.These and other advanced training tips is what training like an athlete is all about. If you are looking for a complete training program that shows you the fastest way to get gains, head to http://athleanx.com and look for the ATHLEAN-X Training Systems. Overlook nothing in your training and see how much more quickly you can take your physique to the next level of development.For more videos on how to increase your deadlift and the proper form on deadlifts, be sure to subscribe to our channel he

It is possible to build bigger triceps with a 7 minute triceps workout and a pair of dumbbells if you know how to do it. In this video, I’m going to show you the best triceps exercises you can do with a single set of dumbbells and it can be done anywhere. This is ideal for those that prefer to train at home or cannot get to a gym.The key to why this tricep workout works as well as it does is due to the use of the right exercises to hit every head of the triceps as well as specific intensity principles. The mechanical drop set is one of those techniques. The point of the mechanical drop set is to not make the weight you are using the limiting factor in your ability to continue training the muscle.For instance, if you were to do the first exercise in the workout which is the lying dumbbell extension to failure, you likely would not be able to do any more reps at that point. That is the definition of momentary muscular failure after all. That said, if you quickly changed the position of the dumbbells by varying the exercise, you could theoretically keep the reps coming. That is exactly what happens in this first combination.The lying dumbbell triceps extension is performed to failure and then immediately following that the dumbbells are brought over the chest. This shortens the moment arm on the triceps and lets the weight that you are holding “feel” lighter. With this having occurred you can now rep out some close grip dumbbell presses from the floor and take your triceps even closer to exhaustion. After you fail on this second half of the combo you earn a one minute rest. As soon as you’re done with that, change from the position of laying on your back and get up onto your knees in a tall kneeling position for the overhead dumbbell extensions. This is a brutal exercise because of the added stretch it places on the long head of the triceps. Be sure to keep your elbows pointed forward here however so as not to damage or aggravate the shoulder joint.As soon as you have reached failure you are going to place the dumbbells on the floor and grab them as if you are going to perform a dip. The dumbbells help you to keep your wrists in a neutral position so that you can comfortably keep repping out more reps to failure once again. The great part about the dip and this combo in general is that now you get to put the long head of the triceps in it’s fully contracted position with the arm back behind the body. Take another one minute rest here and then proceed to the final combination. Here you want to be leaning forward in a semi prone position for dumbbell kickbacks. Now if you find that the initial weight selected for the first exercise for triceps is too heavy then you may want to switch to a second pair of dumbbells that are a big lighter here. Perform the kickback and make sure you are keeping the elbow up behind the body.When done with these immediately place the dumbbells on the floor and perform the close grip pushups. The dumbbells here once again allow you to perform the exercise with a neutral grip. Keep the elbows tucked tight to your sides and rep out one final time until you cannot perform another rep. You have the option to do this for another round or two if your triceps allow or if you have additional time.For a complete program that helps you to annihilate your muscles quickly and gets you faster results by training like an athlete, head to http://athleanx.com and get the ATHLEAN-X Training System. See how longer workouts doesn’t mean better workouts and feel first hand how much better you can look by training like an athlete.For more

The hanging leg raise is one of the best ab, oblique and core exercises you can do. Today, I’m going to show you how to do a hanging leg lift exercise and the best ways to modify the movement for beginners and advanced trainees. We are also going to cover some alterations that can be made to make the exercise target more the abs, obliques or even hip flexors if desired.The hanging leg raise is definitely one of the more difficult ab exercises you can perform. This is because the external resistance that you are forced to lift is substantial because the weight of the legs is significant. That does not mean that you cannot make the exercise easier and possible for even beginners however. This is done by lifting the legs bent as opposed to straight. The shortening of the moment arm makes it less work for the abs to have to lift the weight of the legs.To perform the exercise, grasp a bar with an overhand grip and hang straight down. Depending on which area of the core you wish to focus on, you will initiate the upward motion of the lower body accordingly. For instance, if you want to develop more hip flexor strength then you would want to hinge at the hip socket and aim to keep your legs in a position at or above parallel to the ground throughout. Some people are confused as to why you would want to strengthen the hip flexors. If you are someone that incurs repeated quad strains then likely the reason is that your deep hip flexors like your psoas and iliacus are weak muscles. Strengthening them with direct lifts here will go a long way to fortifying you against recurrent strains of your quadriceps.Next, the hanging leg lift is a tremendous lower abs exercise. This is best hit by focusing on the initiation of the move from the pelvis rather than the hips. Here your goal is to lift the pelvis and curl it up as you raise your legs. Ideally, you want to be able to curl your hips so much that your rear end is facing out in front of you at the top of the lift. Going too far and trying to touch your toes to the bar actually takes the work off of the abs and negates the effectiveness of the exercise in end range.Back off a bit at the top and go no higher than shoulder height with your feet for the best impact on your abs. Finally, you can hit your obliques hard by initiating the lift from the ribcage. Watch as the obliques are activated throughout every rep simply by focusing less on the pelvis and legs and more on bending the body at the bottom of the rib cage and getting a slight twist to activate the obliques.If you are looking for more exercise tutorial videos and want to get a complete workout program with step by step instructions on how to get the most out of every exercise, be sure to head to http://athleanx.com and get the ATHLEAN-X Training System. Start training like an athlete and stop overlooking the small details that make every exercise more effective today.If you are looking for more how to perform hanging leg raises and other exercises, be sure to subscribe to our channel here on youtube at http://youtube.com/user/jdcav24 and turn on notifications so you never miss a video as it comes out.

Everyone’s favorite athlean every man Jesse is back at it, partaking in the revised military combat fitness test to showcase his current level of fitness. Now, nobody every claimed that Jesse was the epitome of fitness. That said, he does have some emerging talents and a well rounded set of physical attributes that make him perform pretty darn well on this test. It’s time to see where you stack up now. Take each of the following fitness tests and perform them within a two hour period to obtain your score. Jesse, to be fair, was asked to do all of this within 30 minutes for the purpose of speeding along the filming! That’s ok, he can take it. You on the other hand can have more time to more accurately represent the test as it was designed.The first test is the hex bar deadlift. If you have never performed this version of the deadlift before then you will likely find out two things about it quickly. First, it is a little harder to get used to the balance of the bar simply because it is placing the weight closer to your center of gravity. Secondly, because the bar is closer to your posterior chain muscles and the moment arm is shortened, you should be able to lift slightly more weight here. The max score on this is one’s ability to perform 345 lbs for 3 reps.Next is the Power Throw. This is performed with a 10 pound medicine ball that must be thrown backwards over the head without coming off the ground. The maximum distance to get a top score on this test is about 15 yards on the throw.Next is the sprint, drag, carry. Here you will be simulating battlefield activities through the use of a weighted sled (90 lbs total weight), some kettlebells that weigh 40 pounds each, and your own body. The goal is to cross the finish line within one minute and forty seconds to obtain elite status.Next is the hand release pushups. Now don’t be fooled by these. This exercise is much much harder than a typical hand release pushup. The lifting of the hands from the floor between every rep ensures that you don’t cheat the exercise. Instead, you have to reset the body and use pure muscle without momentum to get yourself off the floor every time. A maximum score can be achieved by performing 70 of these within 2 minutes.Next is the tuck hang. This is a combination of a hands close pullup with a knee raise. The goal is to touch your knees to your elbows on every rep while pulling our body up towards the bar. If you can perform 20 in two minutes you will have reached elite status on this test.Finally, the two mile run is a classic standard of conditioning. The best score is achieved by being able to run this distance within twelve minutes and forty-two seconds. Jesse happens to excel here since he has an extensive background of playing lacrosse. Ironically, there are some fitness youtubers that are extremely one dimensional and can likely not even run a mile let alone two and certainly not within any strict time period. Just saying.If you want to look like an athlete, you have to train like an athlete. This means being well rounded with your fitness. If you are ready to take your physique and fitness to the next level, head to http://athleanx.com and get the ATHLEAN-X Training System. Build a ripped, strong, athletic body and see fast results within just the next 90 days.For more videos on how to get in shape and the best athletic workout for being strong and ripped, be sure to subscribe to our channel here on youtube at http://youtube.com/jdcav24 and turn on your notifications so you never miss a new video when it’s published.

The pushup exercise is one of the most simple, common yet butchered chest exercises when it comes to form. The issue is that most of the time when people perform pushups they are not aware of what is happening with the rest of the their body, and therefore their form suffers. In this video, I’m going to show you how to do a perfect pushup every single you do them. In fact, I’m going to show you how to instantly correct how you do them and be able to tell the next time you do one improperly so you can prevent that.There is nothing that screams amateur more than not being able to perform a perfect pushup rep. Again however, this is actually quite common to see someone not do a push up properly. It starts with the innate cheats that the exercise promotes. Let’s break it down. We know that the goal of a push up is to lower our body to the floor and then push ourselves back up. As the chest and arms fatigue however, there is a tendency to try and take some of the stress out of them and shift it somewhere else. The first thing you see is a shortened range of motion by the arms during the descent. Instead of bending the elbows to 90 degrees, the amount of elbow bend is greatly minimized to reduce the impacts of the exercise on the mounting fatigue.The pelvis and hips are still allowed to drop however. This creates the feel and illusion that the body is still being lowered when it is just the lower body that is. This also makes it easier on the arms since the knees may ultimately touch the floor which will offset the amount of load being borne by the arms during the movement.Next, we see people do the opposite and instead of sagging the lower back and dropping the hips they actually raise them up to the sky. What this does is shift the focus of the work away from the chest and onto the shoulders. With the shoulders having to do more of the work, there is a temporary reprieve for the chest and arms and the pushup becomes possible to perform a few additional reps. In both cases however, these cheats are incorrect and are going to take away from the benefits of the exercise.What you need to do is focus not on the arms but on the chest and the pelvis. If you can connect the two in your head and make sure that the pelvis never moves an inch without the chest moving with it (or vice versa) then you will ensure that you do every rep properly. You can actually reinforce that you are doing this right with your phone. Simply place the phone between your shoulder blades on your upper back and start doing your pushups.If you lift your butt up too high you will find that the phone slides towards your neck and head. If you drop the hips and sag the lower back, you will find that the phone slides towards your butt. Again, either one of these is incorrect and will take away the results you should be seeing from your pushups in your chest workouts.This is just one example of how doing an exercise incorrectly can impact the gains you see from your workouts. If you are looking to get every exercise right and see much faster muscle growth because of it, head to http://athleanx.com and get the ATHLEAN-X Training System. Start training like an athlete and realize the benefits that doing so can have on your physique.For more videos on how to do a proper pushup and the hardest pushup variations for building a bigger chest, then be sure to subscribe to our channel here on youtube at http://youtube.com/user/jdcav24 and make sure you turn on notifications so you never miss a video.

The lat pulldown is one of the most classic lats and back building exercises performed in back workouts. That said, there are some limitations to the exercise when it comes to developing all of the muscles of your back. In this video, I’m going to show you four lat pulldown alternatives for a better back that you can use in addition to the classic exercise the very next time you train.To start, there are many different ways to do even the traditional pulldown exercise. You can perform it with your hands gripped underhand for instance. This helps to activate the biceps a bit more allowing you to lift more weight while also getting an anatomically good stretch on the lats in the top position of the rep. You can grip overhand and do so either narrow or out wide. The wider you go the more likely you are to activate the teres major muscle (an important yet overlooked muscle of the back).That said, there are many other things that you can do with the lat pulldown machine that aren’t exactly pulldown grip or width changes. For instance, you can begin by swapping out the attachment that you are using to perform the exercise. Don’t always use the default bar to perform your lat pulldown reps. Instead, try attaching a rope and doing what may be my favorite all time back exercise, the face pulldown. The face pulldown is a variation of the face pull (which is something that I recommend you do at the conclusion of every back workout you do). Instead of pulling purely horizontal as is often the case with the standard version of this, you’ll be getting a vertical pull and will be able to use slightly heavier weights here for more hypertrophy.Next, you can keep the rope in place and perform a straight arm pulldown. The rope, by virtue of the fact that it hangs lower than the bar, gives your arms more room to travel up and down and therefore get a better contraction of the lats at the bottom. If you used the bar you likely would have to stop because you run out of room on the pulley at about upper chest height. This will limit the degree of contraction that you are able to get in your lats. Instead, with the rope you can squeeze your lats hard and get the hands down to about waist level for a stronger contraction on every rep.Now you can always use the traditional bar attachment as well, just perform your exercises differently for a different effect. Here you would want to try the straight arm scapular strength pulldown. This may be the most grueling but effective of them all. This is a variation of an exercise I did on instagram that caught the attention of Sylvester Stallone. This works a key element of scapular strength that often gets overlooked. Not anymore.Finally, the scapula pulldown is another one of those small muscle exercises that delivers big results. Try to pull the bar and shoulder blades down without bending your elbows. This forces the muscles of the mid and lower traps to do it correctly. These muscles of the back often do not get the work that they should. Doing this exercise this way will deliver big results in a short period of time.For a complete workout that never overlooks the value of the small exercises while building your body into a ripped, athletic machine with the big exercises head to http://athleanx.com and get the ATHLEAN-X Training System. Start training like an athlete and see how much faster you can build muscle than with a normal training program.For more videos on how to get wide lats and the best back exercises for getting rid of low back pain and building a big back be sure to subscribe to our channel here on youtube at http://youtube.com/user/jd

The biceps workout technique I’m going to show you is going to make you feel as if your arms are going to explode. In this video, I’m going to put the science back in strength and show you how always using the same weight on the concentric and eccentric portions of a biceps curl is holding back the gains that you can be seeing from your training. Beyond that, the use of standard negative reps alone is also leaving untapped some potential for more growth.We start with the curl however. This is the basic foundation exercise for building bigger biceps. Of course it can be performed using with a barbell, dumbbells or a cable as I’m demonstrating. The key to the curl is that it follows a strength curve in which the exercise is easiest in the beginning and end of the range of motion. This is because at these two points in the movement, the forearm is nearly parallel to the downward force of gravity.In order to make the exercise more difficult you either have to figure out a way to vary the exercises that you are performing to maximize the point in the strength curve that you feel the most tension. This can be done by including spider curls for the peak contraction and incline dumbbell curls for maximum stretch on the biceps.The exercise can be made harder however by understanding that your muscles (not just your biceps) have a greater capacity to lift heavier weights eccentrically than they do concentrically. This is due to muscle physiology. When a muscle contracts it shortens by forming a series of ratcheting bonds between actin and myosin. The speed at which the muscle contracts ensures that these bonds are formed in greater number and with more stability if you take it slow enough on every concentric rep.This is a reason why you would not want to speed through your reps if your aim is to create as strong a contraction as possible and the best mind muscle connection that you could develop. From here, because those bonds are already in place, the eccentric lengthening of a muscle is essentially breaking those bonds one by one as the muscle is lengthened under load. The bonds are much more resilient to the breaking of them than it is to energy costly building of them. This is why you are at least 1.5 to 2 times as strong on the eccentric than on the concentric.Now in this video I’m using the Kineo Training System which is amazing at allowing you to vary the loads eccentrically and concentrically. If you don’t have the budget for a machine like this however don’t despair. You can use the partner assisted technique that I show you at the end. By simply having a training partner not just let the bar or dumbbells fall down slowly on the return of every rep but press down to make you resist the force, you will be getting an overloaded eccentric which is very capable of assisting in the muscle growth process.For step by step workouts that help you to use the right scientific workout principles at exactly the right time, head to http://athleanx.com and get the ATHLEAN-X Training System. Start training like an athlete and see much faster muscle gains because of it.For more biceps workouts that you can do at home or in the gym that will help you to build huge arms, be sure to subscribe to our channel here on youtube at http://youtube.com/user/jdcav24 and remember to turn on your notifications so you never miss a video when it’s posted.

If you have tried to build a muscular back but it just doesn’t seem to be responding, then you are going to want to watch this video. Here I’m going to show you how to get a bigger, wider back and to get all of the muscles in your back to stand at attention. The key is knowing how to activate each of these muscles fully and then develop them through the rest of your training.As I did with the biceps and shoulders, I’m going to show you again how important the mind muscle connection is to developing the most muscularity as possible in any given muscle group. The back is no exception. In fact, because of all the muscles located in the back including the lats, traps, rhomboids, teres major, teres minor, infraspinatus, rear delts, erectors and more you will want to be sure you know how to activate them all.The first thing to do is experience the feeling of an intense contraction in your back muscles. This can be accomplished by taking your elbows and tucking them as hard into your sides as possible. You should immediately feel the lats working if you do this properly. Now some people lacking a good mind muscle connection may not be able to feel this that much. There is no need for panic but you should be aware that you will need to work more on your ability to feel the contraction by doing this drill a few times every day.The idea is to squeeze as hard as you can and see if you can develop a bit of discomfort in the muscle. If you contract but cannot feel any type of shortening discomfort or contraction then you likely are missing the mind muscle link that is helpful for brining out and developing maximum muscularity, size and performance.Next, you want to not just tuck your elbows into your side but then drive them back behind your body. This will engage many more of the muscles of the back including the scapular muscles and traps. See once again if you develop any type of discomfort when doing this. The idea should be that even if you didn’t on the first one you will on this one since it intensifies the muscles participation. Finally you want to try and include a rotation to the movement. Here you will pull one elbow back and around your body to really feel the squeeze. If you still can’t feel any strong contraction then you definitely want to focus on getting better at doing this by frequently performing these three activations multiple times per day and week.To hammer this home however I have a complete back workout activator called the Size in 6 Minutes workout for back. By alternating a lat pulldown variation with the bodyweight y press exercise you will be able to hit every single muscle in your back. The key is not to speed through your repetitions but rather work hard to squeeze every one of them hard, even if it means holding the squeeze for 4-5 seconds each time.Go from underhand pulldowns to y presses, back to overhand squeeze pulldowns, y presses and two final variations of the pull down. See if you can keep it up for 6 minutes straight. This is not easy but it is a great way to reinforce the contraction that you are able to engage through the bodyweight version of the sequence. Once this is improved and you are able to start applying it to all of the other exercises you do like rows, pullups, chinups, etc you will be amazed at how much more muscular your back will be.For a complete step by step plan that shows you how to build a more muscular body from head to toe be sure to head to http://athleanx.com and get the ATHLEAN-X Training System. Start training like an athlete and overlook nothing in your training.For more videos on how to b

A shoulder workout does not have to be long in order to be effective. Here, I’m going to show you a 3 minute shoulder workout that utilizes popular shoulder exercises done from a different position for an entirely unique impact on your upper body. It is important to point out that the deltoids are not the only muscles that control the shoulder. People tend to obsess about them the most because they are the ones with the most visible size and are what are referred to as the shoulders by many. That said, there are 17 muscles that attach to the scapula or shoulder blade, and in doing so, have a direct impact on the actions of the shoulder.While at times it is necessary and beneficial to single out the delts as best as possible when creating a hypertrophy or muscle growth response, it is also important to integrate muscles that prefer to work together as well. In the case of the shoulders, these seventeen muscles are largely good at working with the delts to produce an amplified effect on your delts.The main key is to change the position of your body when performing the popular front, side and rear delt raises. While these lifts are staples of targeting the front, middle and rear delts respectively they do not always have to be performed from a standing position. By simply doing each of these from a kneeling position you are not only going to be able to still hit them very effectively but also involve the muscles of the upper back and shoulder girdle.For instance, when you perform a front shoulder raise from the kneeling position you first get the benefits of having your shoulders in a closed chain position. When you lift one of the dumbbells in the air to perform the exercise you have your body weight being controlled and stabilized by the single arm that remains in contact with the floor. This is great for developing shoulder stability.Beyond that however, you not only continue to experience peak tension on the delts at the top of the range of motion of the exercise but, because of the relative elevation of the arm that you get out of this position, you also engage the much needed lower traps. This builds in automatic stabilization to the exercise that is lacking when performing it in the classic way.The same thing happens when you perform your side lateral raises out to your sides. The additional recruitment of the rhomboids when done this way is something that helps to round out your development and ensure proper stabilization throughout the shoulder girdle. Finally, we can do the same thing when performing the rear delt raises and the W raise which is a unique move that favors external rotation and activates the undertrained rotator cuff.The goal is to continue to alternate repetitions on each arm to the front, side, rear and then W for 3 minutes straight. If you are looking to do this as a shoulder workout finisher then you will want to see if you can last for the entire 3 minutes without resting. If you wanted to turn it into a complete shoulder workout then you would rest in between rounds about 2-3 minutes and repeat for 3-4 total rounds.If you are looking for a complete workout program that builds big athletic shoulders as well as a complete muscular body, be sure to head to http://athleanx.com and get the ATHLEAN-X Training System. Start training like an athlete and you’ll look like an athlete faster than you ever thought possible.For more videos on how to build bigger shoulders and the best exercises for your front delts, middle delts and rear delts, be sure to subscribe to our channel here on youtube at http://youtube.com/user/jdcav24 and turn on notif

A shoulder workout does not have to be long in order to be effective. Here, I’m going to show you a 3 minute shoulder workout that utilizes popular shoulder exercises done from a different position for an entirely unique impact on your upper body. It is important to point out that the deltoids are not the only muscles that control the shoulder. People tend to obsess about them the most because they are the ones with the most visible size and are what are referred to as the shoulders by many. That said, there are 17 muscles that attach to the scapula or shoulder blade, and in doing so, have a direct impact on the actions of the shoulder.While at times it is necessary and beneficial to single out the delts as best as possible when creating a hypertrophy or muscle growth response, it is also important to integrate muscles that prefer to work together as well. In the case of the shoulders, these seventeen muscles are largely good at working with the delts to produce an amplified effect on your delts.The main key is to change the position of your body when performing the popular front, side and rear delt raises. While these lifts are staples of targeting the front, middle and rear delts respectively they do not always have to be performed from a standing position. By simply doing each of these from a kneeling position you are not only going to be able to still hit them very effectively but also involve the muscles of the upper back and shoulder girdle.For instance, when you perform a front shoulder raise from the kneeling position you first get the benefits of having your shoulders in a closed chain position. When you lift one of the dumbbells in the air to perform the exercise you have your body weight being controlled and stabilized by the single arm that remains in contact with the floor. This is great for developing shoulder stability.Beyond that however, you not only continue to experience peak tension on the delts at the top of the range of motion of the exercise but, because of the relative elevation of the arm that you get out of this position, you also engage the much needed lower traps. This builds in automatic stabilization to the exercise that is lacking when performing it in the classic way.The same thing happens when you perform your side lateral raises out to your sides. The additional recruitment of the rhomboids when done this way is something that helps to round out your development and ensure proper stabilization throughout the shoulder girdle. Finally, we can do the same thing when performing the rear delt raises and the W raise which is a unique move that favors external rotation and activates the undertrained rotator cuff.The goal is to continue to alternate repetitions on each arm to the front, side, rear and then W for 3 minutes straight. If you are looking to do this as a shoulder workout finisher then you will want to see if you can last for the entire 3 minutes without resting. If you wanted to turn it into a complete shoulder workout then you would rest in between rounds about 2-3 minutes and repeat for 3-4 total rounds.If you are looking for a complete workout program that builds big athletic shoulders as well as a complete muscular body, be sure to head to http://athleanx.com and get the ATHLEAN-X Training System. Start training like an athlete and you’ll look like an athlete faster than you ever thought possible.For more videos on how to build bigger shoulders and the best exercises for your front delts, middle delts and rear delts, be sure to subscribe to our channel here on youtube at http://youtube.com/user/jdcav24 and turn on notif