Shoulder Press

Reality:

•  Main Muscle Group: shoulders  

•  Secondary Muscle(s): Triceps

•  Exercise Type: Strength

•  Equipment Required: Machine, (or dumbbell but we are focusing on one exercise at a time: DB, BB and machine are actually quite different in regards to grip, stance, muscles worked etc.)

•  Mechanics: Compound

•  Force Type: Push

•  Experience Level: Beginner

Now What:

1.      The bar comfortably comes down just next your face; I guess this depends on how big your head is?  

2.        Do not be brave here.  I suggest you do a few, (2 to 3), and imagine doing at least 10.  Do not feel weak seeing the peg high on the rack, low on kilograms.  If you are doing it correctly on a cable machine… it is not easy.

3.        Next, add the weight you want to use and sit down on the bench.

4.        Un-rack the weights and bend your elbows slightly. This is the starting position for the movement.

5.        Slowly lower the weight down until the bar is just below chin height, pause, and then raise the bar back to the starting position without locking your elbows out at the top of the movement.

6.        This can also be done on the smith machine by setting a bench down with the back to a 90-degree angle.

7.        Repeat for ambitious number of repititions.

Performance Pointers:

1.     The smith machine shoulder press is a viable option for moving heavy weight without a spotter. Cable machine is also more supportive regarding the importance of back and core muscles.  My personal opinion… the shoulder press with free weights is more taxing on core muscles if you have correct form; therefore more of a compound and beneficial exercise.  Better still; stand, or sit on a fit ball, or stand on one leg, or sitting on a fit ball with one leg raised????  BUT, not with heavy weights!!! If you want to be hulk, do it sitting, do it supported.

2.        Don't lock your elbows out at the top of the movement.

3.        Always warm up first to lower your risk of shoulder injury.

I’m just saying:

·      Always lower the bar below your chin to complete a long range of motion if using a barbell.

·      Do not be afraid to hold your reps at the top or bottom of movements for maximum effect.

·      Know when you are losing form; quality not quantity is the key.

Lying Leg Curl

Reality:

•  This is the most drooled on piece of equipment at the gym.

•  Main Muscle Group: Hamstrings

•  Secondary Muscle(s): None

•  Exercise Type: Strength

•  Equipment Required: Machine

•  Co-ordination: High, this is awkward to position yourself correctly and look ‘cool’

•  Mechanics: Isolation

•  Force Type: Pull

•  Experience Level: Beginner

Now what:

1.     The lying leg curl is a great exercise to isolate the hamstrings. Set up for the leg curl by selecting the heft you want to heave on the stack and adjusting the padding to suit your leg length.  I am tall, but often think I follow a giraffe on this machine, people will not judge you on the specs that you leave the machine, so be honest to avoid injury.  (Ankle adjustment low to embellish long legs and 50kg left to heave on leg curl stack is not going to fool anyone when you are 160cm tall and 60kg in structure. Just saying… we have camera surveillance. I see all!)

2.        Lay face down on the machine. As mentioned often, “This piece of equipment is the one that gets the most action or attention in the gym”, apart from the abductor, adductor… that deserves another blog entirely.

3.        The padding should be positioned just above the back of your ankles. If it's higher than that, adjust the length, measure your height, and acknowledge that what you see in the mirror actually has shorter limbs.

4.        Tense up the hamstrings by taking the weight slightly off the stack. This is the starting position for the exercise.

5.        Squeeze the hamstrings and curl the mass up as far as conceivable.

6.        Squeeze the hamstring hard, and then slowly release the movement back to the starting position.

7.        Repeat for desired reps or as requested by personal trainer.

Performance pointer:

1.     Common mistakes with the leg curl;

    ·      Moving the weight up and down too fast

·      Not using a full range of motion.

·      Not controlling the weight throughout the set. Don't use momentum to move the weight up, and don't allow it to drop back down quickly.

2.    Always use a full range of motion by curling the weight up as far as possible and lowering it as far as possible   without the weight dropping on the stack.

In all honesty, this exercise has recently been given a bad wrap.  It is a piece of equipment available in the gym, so I just want to ensure that we are using it correctly.  Personally, I like this.  I am focusing on a particular muscle, if I keep belly to the pad, and concentrate on no back arch; I think I am all good. 

By the way, did anybody else notice how awkward it is to get in and out of this machine? Between this and the 45% leg press, I definitely left grace and co-ordination at the door.  Dare you to do it gracefully. The only time your hamstrings will ever work in isolation is when you do this exercise. The hamstrings are meant to act in unison with the glutes and lower back, so training them alone only leads to imbalances, especially in the posterior chain—the interrelated muscles on the back side of your body that are responsible for explosive speed and power. And ‘apparently’, that's not just bad, it's a catastrophe, because a faulty posterior chain can leave you with an excruciating hamstring pull—even if you're just out for a jog.

Perhaps:

How about the weighted 45- degree back extension? Use a back extension apparatus while holding a weight plate to your chest. This exercise works the hamstrings, spinal erectors, and glutes together. While you'll probably never find yourself in a leg-curl position outside the gym, you'll always be bending forward to pick things up off the floor, (if you are clumsy like me), and the back extension trains all the muscles that make that possible.  (There is a great one-legged extension for the back that I am sure I will share in the month to come.)

Rumor is out that a ‘dead lift’ is also a good alternate exercise; heavy barbell weight, stretch down calf, a nice movement, but you are inviting other muscles to play so it is definitely not isolated.

Close Grip Lat Pull Down

Have you ever been in the gym and watched those that can pump out chin ups as though there is a ghost boosting them from their feet?  My initial reaction is “Show off”; but you know what? Not fair.  It should be admiration.  I should not be jealous of someone that has obviously put in a lot of effort to achieve this exercise in good form.  My latest goal is to do 5 chin ups, without looking like a wind charm swaying from a tree in Wellington.  (FYI, Wellington New Zealand is currently the windiest city in the world.)  

I must admit the monkey bar fail at ‘True Grit’ event was a prompter for my new chin up goal. How do I achieve this?  I either loose 15kg, (so there is less weight to lift), or I gain more strength, (so I can lift that extra 15kg)?  I figure I’ve got this... no time limit on this goal friends, but I have put it in print, so now I am held accountable.

A few exercises that will assist my ambition:

1.       Isometric chin up

2.       Suspended pull up

3.       Eccentric chin up

4.       Band-assisted chin up

But, I am going to start with the “Close Grip Lat Pull Down” 

Reality

•   Main Muscle Group: Lats

•   Secondary Muscle(s): Biceps, Middle Back

•   Exercise Type: Strength

•   Equipment Required: Cable

•   Mechanics: Compound

•   Force Type: Pull

•   Experience Level: Intermediate

Now what:

1.            The close grip lat pull down is similar to the regular pull down, but close grip means that you have a close grip, duh… oh, and that your biceps are more involved in the exercise. Set up for the close grip lat pull by attaching a small triangle bar to the machine, (if you are itty bitty and on the short side, ask a trainer to reach it for you), set the weight on the stack (be realistic), and adjust the knee pad, (you don’t want to bob up and down like a toffee apple).

2.            Grasp the handles with determination and grip.

3.            Sit down on the machine with your arms fully outstretched. This is the starting position. This would be a good time to hold onto the bar otherwise you may look a little bit odd at this point with your hands randomly in the air.

4.            Keeping your back and body straight, slowly pull the weight down to your upper chest.  Lucky females, this may be a higher point for you then the men; but you get the general idea.

5.            Pause, and then slowly raise the weight back to the start position. Do not let the stack drop.  If you do, you will get nasty looks from staff and shocked looks from fellow gym goers.

6.            Repeat for desired reps.

 Performance pointer:

1.            Keep your elbows tucked in by your side when pulling the weight down. No chicken wings here please.

2.            Don't lean back at any time. You may find yourself in a slight lean but remember it makes the exercise easier - it's cheating! Shock horror, those grunters who do the lat pull down practically horizontally, not good form!

3.            Control the weight at all times - don't let it drop quickly. Once again you'll get annoying looks from bystanders.

4.            To add extra intensity pause for a count of 2 at the bottom of the movement squeezing through the lats. If you are with a trainer, more than likely we will get you to pause at the bottom, and midway at some stage of the set… (insert evil laugh here, bwa ha ha ha).

5.            Focus on squeezing the lats to move the weight. Your forearms should only be responsible for holding the weight. Breaths out as you pull, grunt if you must, a squeal is not necessary, although a song would be appreciated.