Rolling The Bar On Deadlifts? Keep Your Arms Locked

It is becoming more and more commonplace to see top-level bodybuilders and power lifters roll the bar towards them when initiating the deadlift. Because of this, gym lifters are starting to pick up this habit. While rolling the bar can be a safe practice, it is generally not performed correctly.

Watch a few Youtube deadlift videos that involve “bar rolling.” You will notice two things:

1. Most lifters as using an over/under grip, meaning one hand is palm down while the other hand is palm up.
2. The arm featuring the palm up hand tends to bend as it works to roll the bar towards the lifter.

When you initiate a deadlift with a bent arm, you increase your risk of injury. The weight on the bar will abruptly force your arm to lock out, which can lead to bicep tears and lower back strains (due to the jarring).

Target Big Muscle Groups With A Compound, Machine And Isolation Exercise

There are 5 major muscle groups commonly targeted during workouts: back, chest, shoulders, quads and hamstrings. If you are unsure about how to train these groups, try the following approach.

Start each major muscle group workout with a compound exercise. Compound exercises are difficult multi-joint exercises such as bench press, squats, dips, rows, deadlifts, overhead presses and stiff leg deadlifts. After this movement, use a challenging machine lift such as a Hammer strength variation, or a Smith machine exercise. Round out each workout with an isolation, or single joint exercise.

Here is an example for chest:

• Bench Press – Compound Exercise
• Hammer Strength Chest Press – Machine Movement
• Incline Dumbbell Flyes – Isolation Exercise

Have you tried this approach? What exercise combinations did you choose? Please let us know in the comments section below.

Monitor Rest Between Sets To Improve Your Workout Results

When’s the last time you monitored how long you were taking between sets? If you’re like most people, probably never.

One of the best ways to increase your focus, workout engagement and results is by monitoring rest between sets. By keeping tight rest periods you will not only keep your workouts moving along, but also get out of the gym more quickly.

Here are some general guidelines you should follow:

• Big Compound Movements – For extremely challenging compound movements, like heavy squats and deadlifts, you may need to rest up to 5 minutes between sets. The key here is to wait until you feel “ready again” before starting your next heavy set.
• Compound Movements – Rest about 2-3 minutes in between sets.
• Machine Movements, Compound – Rest about 90 to 120 seconds between sets.
• Machine Movements, Isolation – Rest about 60 seconds between sets.
• Isolation Movements – Rest about 60 seconds between sets.
• Bodyweight Movements – Rest about 60 to 90 seconds between sets.

Have you been taking too long in between sets? Tell us if this article has helped your gym performance and results.

When It Comes To Healthy Eating, Learn To “RISE”

In his book Lose It For Life, Dr. Steven Arterburn provides a helpful healthy eating acronym: R.I.S.E. RISE is a dieting strategy that stands for reduce,increase, substitute, and eliminate.

You first reduce bad food choices, then increase good food choices. Next you make quality food substitutions, and finally eliminate the unwanted foods from your eating plan.

Reduce:

• Sugar and High Fructose Corn Syrup
• Processed Foods
• Saturated Fats and Trans fats
• Chemicals and Nitrates
• Junk Food Calories

Increase:

• Vegetables
• Fruits
• Whole Grains
• Legumes
• Lean Meats
• Nuts
• Good Fats
• Fiber
• Exercise

Substitute:

• Use lower sugar foods
• Whole foods for processed foods
• Use olive oil instead of canola oil
• Eat 100 calorie snacks
• Use lower calorie food choices instead of high calorie choices
• Recipe books with statistics instead of those without

Eliminate:

• Sugar and High Fructose Corn Syrup
• Processed Foods
• Saturated Fats and Trans Fats
• Chemicals

Reduce Your Risk Of Heart Disease By Taking These Steps

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the modern era. But you can reduce your worries if you take care of your body. There are many things that you can do to help prevent heart disease.

1. If you smoke, stop. Smoking damages your heart by narrowing the blood vessels. Within one year of stopping, you will have dramatically reduced your risk of heart disease.
2. Do not add extra salt. Extra salt added to your food will increase your blood pressure.
3. Exercise for 30 minutes a day. This will decrease your chances of getting other diseases or conditions that will stress the heart.
4. Lose weight. If you are overweight then you should try to lose a few of the extra pounds. The extra weight puts excess pressure on the heart.
5. Eat a diet made for the heart. Include low fat dairy, whole grains and fruits and veggies as the staples. Stay away from processed foods, foods high in fat as well as food high in trans fat.
6. Get screened. Screen yourself on a regular basis for diabetes, high blood pressure, and cholesterol.

When Performing Overhead Presses, Use An Appropriate Grip Width

Your grip width on overhead presses will vary depending on the variation. Let’s analyze why.

When pressing overhead, your wrists should always be directly over your elbows. This is not only an optimal leverage position, but it will also help prevent wrist and shoulder pains and strains, as your joints are not set up in awkward positions.

Behind the neck presses will command a wider grip.  It is impossible to maintain a narrow grip with the bar behind your head, simply because your wrists will not be above your elbows. Therefore a press from the front will naturally feature a more narrow grip width.

Video your grip width and make necessary adjustments before adding weight to the bar. Once you are sure that your set up is ok, it’s time to move some iron and work your shoulders.

Did this tip help? Let us know in the comments section below.

Make A Public Weight Loss Or Workout Journal And Hold Yourself Accountable

It can be easy to quit when no one is watching. Most of us have mastered the art of giving up. How many times have you said to yourself: “I’ll start again on Monday”?

Next time you start, do it in the public eye. Make a training journal on an Internet forum, or start a public blog. Lay out your goals and ask others to hold you accountable.

You will find that by remaining transparent, and keeping a public journal, it will be easier to stay motivated and harder to quit. It can be humiliating to quit when the world is watching.

Don’t wait. Start today.

Have you tried keeping a public journal or training log? Did it helped you remained focused and motivated? Let us know in the comments section below.