6 Best Exercises for Strength

by Mike Robertson

Here's what you need to know...

1. Use power cleans to increase explosiveness on the field and court.
2. Do front squats to strengthen your quads and improve your vertical jump, help you decelerate, plant, and cut.
3. Use the trap bar deadlift instead of the conventional deadlift which requires more mobility. Strengthen your posterior chain.
4. Do close-grip bench pressing. Keeping your arms in tight translates better to the strength an athlete will need on the field.
5. Use resisted push-ups. They're similar to sporting movements that require you to control the upper back.
6. Chin-ups balance out all the pushing and pressing athletes do when they train.

Strength + Athleticism

Everyone can benefit from getting stronger. But for an athlete, there's a lot more to physical success than being strong in the weight room.

If you're a powerlifter, then squat, bench, and deadlift until the cows come home. If you're an Olympic lifter, snatch and clean and jerk repeatedly.

Related:  5/3/1 and Athletes

But if you're an athlete who wants to get strong while maintaining other critical qualities like power, speed, mobility, and general athleticism, these are your exercises.

#1  The Power Clean

Olympic lifts are fantastic for developing power and explosiveness. Can you develop it with med ball throws or jumping exercises? To a certain extent, sure. But these exercises belong more on the "speed-strength" side of the continuum.

The power clean is a great way for an athlete to improve or maintain explosiveness and power. If you're comfortable with it, make it a staple.

#2  The Front Squat

If you're an athlete, you need strong quads. Quads are critical not only for improving your vertical jump, but your ability to decelerate, plant, and cut as well.

However, quads are just the starting point. The front squat is an amazing anterior core exercise. You know how you can get totally caved over and still manage to finish a back squat? You can't do that with a front squat.

If your abs are weak, do a 2-3 month front squat cycle and you should walk away impressed with how much stronger and more stable your core and trunk are as a result.

The front squat also helps mobility. Front squatting ensures that you maintain ankle, knee, hip, and thoracic spine mobility. Make it a mainstay in your programs.

#3  The Trap Bar Deadlift

There's no way to downplay the deadlift's importance. For athletes, though, mobility could be a concern. Or they may not have adequate strength in the posterior chain to do conventional deadlifts safely and effectively.

The sumo deadlift doesn't work either as it doesn't get you into a very athletic position. This is why the trap bar deadlift is perfect.

When you use the high handles you can get into a very vertical tibia/inclined trunk position. This combo gives the trap bar or Dead-Squat™ Bar deadlift the potential to be very posterior chain dominant.

Related:  The Best Damn Posterior Chain Exercises

Trust me, if you work with enough athletes, you know they often have the posterior chain strength of Gwenyth Paltrow. They need stronger backsides, period.

Also, if you're an athlete who lacks mobility, the trap bar deadlift is a great starting point. It allows you to load your hips while addressing other mobility needs.

#4  The Close-Grip Bench Press

If your hands (or elbows) are out really far from your body and someone is coming to push you off your spot, you're going to lose.

But if you have your elbows and arms in tight to the body, you can maximize leverage, as well as effectively tying together the legs, trunk, and upper body.

The close-grip bench is an ideal exercise for building upper-body strength. I know the bench gets a bad rap, but there's something to be said for being flat-out stronger than your competition.

#5  Push-ups

As awesome as the close-grip bench press is for developing the upper body, it does have limitations. The biggest issue when benching is that even if your core and lower body are tight, they're rarely the limiting factor in your performance.

While close-grip benching is great for developing upper body strength, it doesn't tie that strength together by unifying the upper and lower body. Heavy, resisted push-ups do.

A well-executed push-up with the core stable and in neutral spinal alignment will absolutely crush your anterior core.

Try this little trick to get even more core development:

• Set up in the top position of a push-up and before you start moving.
• Exhale hard.
• Pull your head and neck back to get into a more "neutral neck" position.

Getting into a more ideal position through the neck and core will crank up the intensity.

The other huge benefit you get from performing a push-up versus a bench press is scapular stability. When you're doing a bench press, the goal is to "pin" your shoulder blades back and down. The scapulae are stable, but it's a very static kind of stability.

But a push-up is similar to actual sporting movements since you're forced to actively control the position of the scapulae.

Instead of simply pinning them back and down behind you, make sure they're moving appropriately and in the right place at the right time.

Finally, the push-up is a closed-chain pressing variation, meaning it's awesome for developing rotator cuff strength and stability.

Next time, instead of doing 3x15 shoulder external rotations with a Theratube to crush your rotator cuff, bang out 2-3 sets of high-quality push-ups.

You'll get more out of the exercise, and look infinitely more awesome to boot.

#6  Chin-ups

In most sports (and strength training programs), there's a ton of emphasis on pushing. All you have to do is observe the posture of someone who "presses" all the time, without balancing it out with upper back work, to see why this is an issue.

These athletes are a disaster waiting to happen. Chin-ups, however, will help balance out the equation.

Chin-ups also develop the lower trapezius. The lower trap is not only a key shoulder stabilizer, but (along with the upper trap and serratus anterior) constitutes one-third of the upward rotation force couple.

Related:  The Chin-Up Project

The key with chin-ups is that you need to focus on getting your chest to the bar and actively depressing your scapulae down.

Bottom line, if you only have a limited amount of time to strength train, at least some of that needs to be geared towards strengthening the upper back.

The chin-up will give you a ton of benefits and should be a staple in your athletic strength program.

Deadlifts: Which Type is Best For You?

by Mike Robertson – 4/25/2012
Which type of deadlift is best?
Trap bar? Conventional? Sumo?
I get this question almost daily. And like most training questions, the best answer typically is, "it depends."
But when that won't suffice, here are my follow-up questions:

What are your needs? Your goals?

What do you want to get out of training? Bigger muscles? Less body fat? A crazy strong deadlift?

Once you start answering those questions, we can start to figure out which type of deadlift is best for you.

The Big Assumption(s)

I'm going to make two big assumptions:

1. When discussing the trap bar deadlift, we'll focus on how most people perform it: high handles, hips down, more dorsiflexion, and a more upright torso.
2. When discussing the conventional deadlift, we'll focus on how most people perform it: hips high, minimal dorsiflexion, and a much more bent-over torso.

I've seen people trap bar deadlift with no dorsiflexion, a vertical tibia, and using all glutes and hams, and I've seen people who start their conventional deadlift with their thighs parallel to the ground.
Looking at all the possible variations would be ridiculous, so we have to use a few generalizations to get everyone on the same page.

Mobility Needs

Experienced powerlifters aside, I want lifters to deadlift with a neutral spine or flat back. One of the biggest issues we see when deadlifting is that many lifters don't have adequate mobility to deadlift safely and effectively because they can't get into an initial neutral spine posture.
For this reason, coupled with the fact that very few people can hip hinge and load their hamstrings effectively, we start most clients off with a Romanian deadlift.
From there, the trap bar deadlift is an ideal progression. The high handles minimize mobility demands while still allowing the lifter to learn the deadlifting pattern within their functional range.
This makes sense – high handled trap bar deadlifts are almost like a rack pull. But what comes next, sumo or conventional?
The sumo deadlift is easier for most lifters to learn. This may not be how they end up handling the most weight, but many will have an easier time getting into position on a sumo deadlift than a conventional one. The major limiting factor here will be groin flexibility.
A big component of this is also hamstring strength. To get into a flat back position on a conventional deadlift, you not only need a tremendous amount of hip mobility, but also hamstring strength. If your hamstrings aren't strong, chances are you'll turtle up and start from a horrible low back position.

Less Mobility		Mobility Demands
Trap Bar	Sumo	Conventional

Anterior or Posterior Chain

I hate the question, "Which type of deadlift is best?"
Which is why I typically answer with something like, "Best for what purpose?"
When most people trap bar deadlift, it's like a reverse squat. There's a lot of dorsiflexion at the ankles and the spine is very upright, and as a result they get considerable quad and anterior chain development.
The conventional deadlift is at the opposite end of the spectrum. Most have a tendency to shove their hips way back, incline their torso to a much greater degree, and start with their hips much farther back from the bar.
The end result is a tremendous exercise for building the entire backside of the body (glutes, hamstrings, and spinal erectors).
The sumo deadlift really is a hybrid between the two. Your hips start closer to the bar (especially if you think about pushing your knees out to get to the bar, versus pushing your hips back), and you're also much more upright.
In the end, the sumo gives you this weird blend of quad, glutes, hamstring, some lower back, and even some adductors.

Anterior Chain		Posterior Chain
Trap Bar	Sumo	Conventional

Stress on the Spine

"Deadlifts hurt your back."

Another quote likely disregarded by T Nation readers for years. While we're busy paying our dues and getting bigger, leaner, or stronger, these people are reading trusted fitness resources like MSN and Yahoo to keep them firmly entrenched on the treadmill to mediocrity.
Still, there's definitely a risk/reward trade off when it comes to deadlifting – but if there was no risk and all reward, everyone would be peacocking around with Inflated Lat Syndrome and a 500-pound pull to back it up.
Let's get one thing straight: Your lumbar vertebrae are pretty friggin' huge and are meant to deal with compressive forces. Compression is just like it sounds – when your vertebrae and discs are pushed closer together vertically, that's compression.
And anything you do will result in some compression. Simply tensing your abs and lower back muscles will result in compression, not just loading your spine vertically (as in a squat).
The key distinction here is load. The more load you have, the more compressive forces on your spine.
Let me be clear: When it comes to people in back pain, the last thing I'm worried about is compressive force. There are positions that are far more worrisome to me than compression.
Shear force is where many get into trouble. Shear forces occur whenever the torso is inclined to a high degree. As we bend over (or hip hinge), our vertebrae have a tendency to drift or slide forward on one another.
Unfortunately, most people don't tolerate shear forces very well. One of the biggest reasons is they simply don't have a good strategy to deal with it – they have no anterior core, no glutes, and no hamstrings, so their only strategy is to arch the low back as hard as possible.
In doing so, they combine compression with shear, thereby grinding their spine into a fine powder. It's about this time that I hand them my business card and tell them to call me when the time is right.
The more upright we are, the less shear we have to deal with. This is why someone predisposed to back pain can often get away with front squats yet back squats causes them pain or discomfort.
Regarding the deadlift, these lifters will probably do better with either a trap bar or sumo style lift, at least in the short-term, to reduce shear forces.

Less Shear Force		More Shear Force
Trap Bar	Sumo	Conventional

Deadlifts for Reps?

I hate performing deadlifts for reps.
There's really no two ways around it – anything over three reps of deadlifts feels like torture, or at the very least, cardio.
In fact, I modified Jim Wendler's 5-3-1 on the deadlift day, switching it to 3-2-1, because I thought I might die on the 5's day – even when using quite a bit below my 1-RM.
Somewhere in Texas, Jim is laughing his ass off and thinking I'm just barely NOV.
If working with a fat loss or physique-focused client, higher-rep sets of deadlifts are something to consider. But I wouldn't be a very good "corrective" or "rehab" guy if I got my clients injured a lot, and I know doing higher-rep sets of deadlifts is like playing with fire.
For that reason alone, I do my best to keep clients out of precarious positions. On sumo and conventional deads, I rarely (if ever) prescribe more than five reps per set.
But on a trap bar deadlift, though, I'll often go as high as 10-15 reps in a set, especially if the end goal is fat loss.
I'm just a lot more comfortable as a coach with the upright posture and less technical nature of the trap bar, which allows for more wiggle room.
Feel free to make your own decisions here, but I firmly believe this is the way to go.

Best Choice		Worst Choice
Trap Bar		Conventional & Sumo

Awesomeness

We can talk about joint stresses, mobility needs, anterior versus posterior chain and what not, but at the end of the day, what really matters is how awesome you look deadlifting.
For the record, I pull sumo. I do this partly because it's the way I was taught, and partly because it feels the most natural to me.
I also realize that some people call this "cheater style," and it's not as awesome as hoisting a monster deadlift conventional style. I'm okay with that – my best pull is 545 and was done at a bodyweight of 180.6, getting me into that exclusive 3x/body weight club.
However, one of my pet peeves now is people's obsession with the trap bar. Here's my two cents on the matter.
I only use the trap bar if:

• The client doesn't care how much they deadlift.
• The client is an athlete and I deem the risk: reward to be too great to use other styles.
• They don't currently have the mobility to sumo or conventional deadlift with a neutral spine.
• Their primary goal is fat loss.

If your goal is to be big and strong, learn how to sumo or conventional deadlift with good technique.
Because honestly, anyone who lifts heavy stuff doesn't care how much you trap bar deadlift. (Insert smiley-face.)

Lame		Totally Awesome
Trap Bar	Sumo	Conventional

Mike, how do gains in one transfer to gains in another?

A great question, and I'm pretty sure there's no great answer.
I know a lot of super strong guys that pull conventional in meets but pull sumo in the off-season, claiming it brings up their weak points.
In fact, I just had this discussion a few weeks back with Jeremy Hartmann, a 220-pound lifter who has pulled 788 in competition. He pulls conventional in meets but does a lot of sumo pulling in the gym.

I think it's working on your weak area that's most important.

For instance, if you typically pull conventional with the hips starting high, you're used to smoking weights off the floor and struggling at lockout.
In contrast, someone who pulls sumo with a lower hips position is used to struggling with weights off the floor, but anything that breaks the floor is getting locked out.
In this case, it's not so much that they're using an alternate style, but training for the specific areas where they're weak that's most important.
Mike Tuscherer once told me that you pick your poison when deadlifting. Either you get your ass down, chest up, and struggle off the floor, or you round over to get the bar rolling off the floor and struggle at the top.
If it comes down to specificity, you're going to see a high transfer between trap bar and sumo deadilfts, or between sumo deadlifts and conventional deadlifts.
The differences between the trap bar and conventional deadlift are a little bit too big to see massive carryover, but nobody said it couldn't work for you.

And I'm Out

There's no shortage of deadlifting articles at T Nation, and for good reason – the deadlift is many a strong guy's favorite lift. I think even the most diehard deadlift fan will appreciate this concise breakdown on the similarities and differences between the trap bar, sumo, and conventional deadlifts.
The question is, will they agree? Good or bad, I await your comments in the LiveSpill.

5 Simple Tips for Bigger Tugs

by Mike Robertson – 11/29/2011

I remember the first time I deadlifted "heavy."

Granted, I'd pulled what I thought was heavy before, but I'm talking about my first legit grinding, eyeball-popping, "I'm glad I didn't wear those white shorts Grandma got me for Christmas" kind of a pull.

It was October of 2000, and I was gearing up for my first powerlifting meet. It was also the first semester in my Masters program, so we had to train at six in the morning. Needless to say, this isn't the optimal time for neurally demanding lifting!

Powerlifting seemed like a great fit since I was no longer active in any organized sports and I needed an outlet for my competitive juices. Although I had no clue what I was getting into, I knew I wanted to get stronger and learn more about lifting technique.

On this particular day, the goal was to determine what a good opening weight would be in our meet. I'd done a set of five at either 275 or 285, so I figured 335 would come up lightning fast.

It didn't. Sure, I grinded it out, but "easy" wasn't the word that first came to mind.

I learned a powerful lesson that day: deadlifting heavy is hard friggin' work. It separates the men from the boys, the women from the girls, and the serious lifters from the cable curl kids.

If you're serious about your training and your physique, then the deadlift is an animal you need to tame. This article will help you do just that.

Here are five tips to help you take your pull to all-new levels.

1. Get Your Lats Tight!

Possibly the most common mistake I see when deadlifts get heavy is the bar drifting away from the body.

Many lifters assume that a deadlift is just picking the bar straight up, but this isn't effective! As you pile on the plates, you need to think about actively engaging the lats and pulling the bar back into your body so that your weight shifts backward slightly.

If you find your lats are too weak, start performing some heavy upper back work, specifically vertical pulls (chinning/pulling) and horizontal pulls (rowing). Doing so will not only improve your pulls but also increase the thickness of your back, and probably bump up your bench press to boot.

This tip alone is worth the price of admission. Keeping the bar in tight helps ensure every pull is smooth and efficient.

2. Get Your Hips Down

Lifters often miss deadlifts because their lift is 100% lower back dominated.

We walk a fine line here. You don't want the hips down too low – this isn't a squat – but if there's virtually no knee bend and the lift looks like two distinct motions (hips shoot up, lower back finishes), you need to get your hips down more.

The best deadlifters in the world make it look smooth. Their torso angle starts in a certain position and they get enough leg drive to keep their hips underneath them. It's much easier to finish the weight this way than if you're totally hunched over and reliant on your lower back.

The down side? Your weights are going to go down, at least for the time being.

However, in the long run, getting your hips down will not only give you more leg drive, it will also keep your back healthier. This is a true win-win.

3. Strengthen Those Hamstrings!

There's no way you're going to pull a ridiculously heavy weight if your hamstrings resemble over-stretched dental floss. The question is, what kind of hamstring assistance work is going to drive up your deadlift to newfound heights?

If you miss at the top, you're probably weak in the hip extensor function of the hamstrings. To bring this up, focus on big-bang assistance lifts like good mornings, Romanian deadlifts, safety bar good mornings, and the like.

If you miss in the bottom, focus on developing the knee flexor function of the hamstrings. Start with ball leg curls to develop the pattern of maintaining hip extension while simultaneously flexing the knee, but eventually glute-ham raises should be a big part of your program. There's simply so substitute for them.

4. Mix it Up

Specificity is critical if you want to move maximal weights in any lift.

For instance, if you want to squat a lot, you need to squat a lot. If you want to bench a lot, you need to bench a lot.

In other words, you need to practice how you play!

The deadlift is a slightly different animal. Even if you never have aspirations of lifting in powerlifting gear, employing chains and/or bands into your training can pay dividends and help you set some PR's along the way.

When using chains or bands, you've got two options:

• Lifting against the bands or chains
• Lifting with the bands.

I'm sure some of you are wondering, "I've never used these before. How can I work them into my training?"

I've found two types of mesocycles with bands and chains to be effective:

The first option is a two-week rotation. This is a good choice if you're already an experienced deadlifter, or if you need to rotate your exercises a bit more frequently.

In this case, pick one exercise and use it for two weeks. It looks something like this:

Exercise: Deadlifts against bands

Week 1: Work up to 75 or 80%, and then perform 3-5 singles.
Week 2: Work up to 90 or 95% for one single. No big psych-up or extra arousal here – save the ammonia snorting routine for another day. Use a belt if you typically use one.

In this variation you'll simply swap exercises every two weeks. So for two weeks you'll perform deadlifts against bands, and then the next two-week cycle you'll pull against chains, or with bands, etc.

The key with this option is to not max out every other week. It will be tempting, but I suggest only going for a legitimate PR every 2-3 months.

For those less experienced with bands/chains or who need a bit more time to "learn" an exercise, here's a better option. We'll stick with our example of deadlifting against bands.

Week 1: Light technique work. Work up to 50-60%, hit this for 8-10 singles.
Week 2: Moderate technique work. Work up to 75 or 80%, then perform 3-5 singles.
Week 3: Bordering on Max Effort. Work up to 90 or 95% for one single. No psych up or extra arousal. Belt-up if needed.
Week 4: Deload.

Using this method you'll simply rotate from month-to-month, or mesocycle to mesocycle.

Your months might look like this:

Month #1: Standard deadlifts
Month #2: Deadlifts against chains
Month #3: Deadlifts against bands
Month #4: Deadlifts with bands

Finish month #4 with a taper, and then test your pull. Chances are if your technique is on point and you've picked good assistance exercises, you're going to set a serious PR!

5. Don't be Afraid to Grind!

One of my biggest pet peeves is when new or young lifters fail to stick with a lift.

Look, there are times when you need to know when to bail. If the bar gets out in front of you, you're horribly rounded over, or the weight is just too damn heavy, fine.

But what irritates me to no end is when someone hits the sticking point, holds the weight there for .23 seconds, and then drops the weight.

WTF?

Look, if deadlifting heavy were easy, everyone would do it. Instead, you've got to learn how to grind.

Want to know what a grinder really looks like? Here's my training partner Lil' Stevie. He'll teach ya how to grind!

This weight was just too much. Sometimes it happens. But he can walk away from that attempt knowing he gave it everything he had, and next time around, that weight will be his.

Hopefully you can say the same thing.

Summary

In no way was this list meant to be all-inclusive – I could probably come up with another 10, 15, even 25 tips to improve your deadlift without breaking a sweat. But these five are my all-time favorite tricks for adding pounds to your pull today!

Take a moment to review these tips and see where your tugging game may be lacking. Then, leave your own favorite deadlifting tip in the "Comments" section below. I look forward to seeing what's worked for you!

Wikio

The Truth About Single-Leg Training

BY Mike Robertson


Single-leg training is all the rage in the fitness industry. It seems as though everyone is touting its unilateral praises.
The worst of the worst are the clowns who act like they've been on the singe-leg bandwagon since Jimmy Carter carried his own golf clubs. They boast and brag about how long it's been since they or their athletes have done a bilateral exercise like somehow it's a testament to their skill as coaches.
Let's get biases out of the way up front. I like single-leg training. I think it can benefit athletes and lifters of all shapes and sizes.
Baseball player? Yep.
Distance runner? Sure.
Elite-level powerlifter? Absolutely. I even created the Single-Leg Solution DVD and manual to explain all the ins and outs of single-leg training. So I'm hardly a single-leg hater.
Instead, let's focus on the biggest reason that single-leg training can help you achieve your goals, whether they're strength or physique focused.
It all comes down to stability.

Squats or Leg Presses?

How many reading this can squat more than you can leg press?
Even if you can squat 600 pounds for breakfast, I'll bet you can lie down on any leg press machine in the world and probably move several hundred pounds more than that.
The reason is stability, and lots of it.
In a free squat exercise (front, back, basically anything other than a Smith machine), your body is required to develop a tremendous amount of internal stability.
Your hips are trying to control your knees so they don't cave in. Your core and torso are working tremendously hard to keep your chest up and your back flat. You're using a ton of muscle just to stabilize and support the weight, let alone move it up and down!
In contrast, on a leg press you have a ton of built-in, external stability.
You have a built-in core, as your entire lower back is supported. You don't even need to use your torso as much because it's not supporting the weight to the same degree as you would in a squat.
The sled also minimizes hip and knee stability, as all you have to do is hop in and push the weight up and down.
So this is a great lesson in stability – the more external stability you have, the more prime mover activation you can achieve.

Less Stability		More Stability
More Stabilizer Activity		Less Stabilizer Activity
Less Prime Mover Activation		More Prime Mover Activation

In contrast, the less external stability you have, or the more unstable you are, the more stabilizer activity you elicit as your body is just trying to keep you upright.

Bilateral or Unilateral?

Now, let's take this example and apply it to bilateral versus unilateral lifts.
Stability demands are obviously in play in a squat, which we've discussed. But in any lift, you have what's called a base of support (BOS). A general definition for BOS is the area underneath and between both feet.
Think about multi-ply powerlifting for a moment. These guys are masters of efficiency and gear use. How do they squat?
They go extra wide, not only to maximize the gear use, but to give them a tremendous base of support. This is important if you want to handle maximal weights because a wider BOS means more stability and more stability means more prime mover activation.
Now, let's take that wide base of support and move it in; and not just a little like a narrow squat, but a step further into a split-stance position like a lunge.
Notice that your base of support just got a hell of a lot smaller?

Small BOS			Large BOS
Single-Leg Exercise	Split-Stance Exercise	Traditional Squat	Powerlifting Squat

And that's just a split-stance exercise! Think about how small your BOS is when you perform true single-leg work like single-leg RDL's, step-ups, or single-leg squats?
As you can see, it's a tradeoff. The more stable you are, the more prime mover activation you get, and the less stable you are, the more stabilizer activation you get.
Which leads me to my main point for this entire article:

Why use so much damn weight on single-leg exercises?

I'm not talking about using baby weights. What I'm saying is that if you're doing single-leg work with a ton of weight, falling all over the place, and making yourself look like an idiot, you need to check your ego at the door and do it right.
You wouldn't put one plate on each side of the leg press to get more stabilizer activity. If you did, you'd be using the wrong tool for the wrong job. If you're going to leg press, the goal is to go heavy and build some steel wheels.

The goal of single-leg and split-stance training is to improve your stability so that when you go back to your bilateral lifts, you're inherently more stable and can use more weight!

You don't have to use 10-pound dumbbells, but you just might, if that's what it takes to stay stable and build some internal stability.

The Powerlifting Example

I've been lucky in that over the past year I've done a lot of work with the guys over at Elite. Needless to say, these are some of the strongest humans in the world (if you can consider anyone who squats a grand a human) and it's an honor to work with them.
When I evaluate many of them, it's crazy. Obviously they're big and stiff, which allows them to move a ton of weight, but these guys are incredibly "stuck" in their gear. Even when they don't have gear on, it looks like they have gear on.
Their hips are abducted and externally rotated, their hip internal rotation is shot, and due to all their time in a wide-stance and in gear, their hip stability is really bad.
This is a difficult idea for some to get their head around. How can a guy that big be unstable?
Just because you're strong doesn't mean you're inherently stable, especially if you're getting much of your stability from supportive gear and manipulating biomechanics.
One of the first things I do with these guys is to get them on a regular soft-tissue and mobility routine, just to get them some basic movement capacity. And if they're in the off-season, I absolutely get them doing some single-leg work, even if it's only one or two exercises per week.
The results speak for themselves. These guys often report feeling "healthier" and having fewer aches and pains while also hitting PR's in their following meet.
I didn't do anything to improve their strength, like write up a circa max or block periodization program for their squat. Instead, I gave them more internal stability, so that when they go wide and throw the gear back on, their prime movers can engage even harder than before.
It's like taking a Ferrari and giving it the ultimate tune-up. A super powerful sports car just got even more awesome!

But which one is better?

Are split-squats and single-leg work better?
Shouldn't we just be squatting heavy?
Can I do leg presses instead of squats?
It's like asking which is better between a hammer, a wrench, and a screwdriver. They're all important, and each one has value in certain situations. All it really comes down to is your needs and goals. The more external stability you have, the more prime mover activation you can get.
Want to know why some bodybuilders spend so much time on machines? Because they don't give a rat's ass about being functional. It's about building a muscular physique. And machine-based training is a surefire way to build your prime movers to a high degree.
Powerlifters, Olympic lifters, and athletes squat because they get a strong carryover to their sports. There's no better way to get strong than heavy squats and deadlifts.
Single-leg work absolutely plays a role as well. I don't think you're going to become a monster by focusing solely on your step-up and split-squat for the next 10 years, but you can definitely improve your stability and performance by incorporating them into your program.
I'm over debating which one is "superior." I really don't care. You're free to do and train however you want. If something helps you achieve your goals, good for you. The goal (at least for me and my athletes) is simple: To be able to train hard and stay healthy, for as long as possible.

And I'm Out

My hope is after reading this mini-rant/diatribe that you have a better understanding of how single-leg training can improve your physique and performance.
In the end, the goal is to maximize stability so when you go back to the heavy bilateral stuff, you're going heavier than before and achieving new PR's. It may not be the Holy Grail of training technique, but intelligent use of single-leg work can absolutely take your strength and physique to the next level.
Good luck, and please post your comments, be they positive or negative, in the LiveSpill!Wikio

Long Live the Overhead Press

by Mike Robertson – 8/18/2011

Overhead pressing should be a staple in almost everyone's workouts. Unfortunately, some people can't overhead press pain-free, period.
I know I'm going to catch some flack. "But Mike, back in the day guys overhead pressed all the time and never had shoulder issues. What gives?"
I hate to break it to you, but a lot has happened since then.
Computers. Gaming. More driving. And a much more sedentary lifestyle. These things have greatly affected our ability to not only overhead press, but often to just reach overhead!
Look, I think overhead pressing is awesome. I'd rejoice in a world where everyone could do it safely and effectively, building the kind of superhero deltoids that any pro-level bodybuilder would be proud to sport.
But for many that's not the case. If you're serious about training, and not just getting strong but staying healthy and doing it for a long time, you need to be qualified to overhead press.

An Anatomy Primer

Let's quickly discuss the pertinent anatomy involved. Effective overhead movement begins and ends with the thoracic spine. Quite simply, if you're in an excessively kyphotic or "slouched" shoulder position, there's no way you're going to safely press overhead.
When the thoracic spine is excessively kyphotic, it places the scapulae in a poor position. Instead of being tucked down and back a bit, it's forced to ride up higher on the ribcage. This forward drawn position also narrows the subacromial space, which will force you to impinge sooner.
(Granted, there's some degree of "impingement" any time you press overhead. The real issue is when your mechanics are off and this impingement becomes excessive, problematic, or causes pain.)
Finally, by being excessively kyphotic you lose the ability to fully flex the shoulder.

Try this right now.

• Slump forward while sitting at your computer.
• Reach up as high overhead as you can. Note how high you get.
• Now, sit up as straight as you can and repeat the test.

Chances are your shoulder range of motion improved dramatically. You just learned how important the thoracic spine is!
Quality overhead movement goes further than just the t-spine. You also need quality upward rotation of the scapulae. The upper traps, lower traps, and serratus anterior all play a role in promoting upward rotation.
Finally, a strong rotator cuff will help depress the humeral head and position it appropriately in the glenoid fossa.
To summarize, you need three things to overhead press well:

• Adequate thoracic spine extension.
• Adequate upward rotation of the scapulae.
• A strong and stable rotator cuff.

Note. One thing you have absolutely no control over is the shape of your acromion, which decides how much space your rotator cuff has to "breathe."

There are three types of acromions, and they're roughly distributed between thirds of the population. In other words, 1/3 of you have a Type 1, another 1/3 have a Type 2, and the final 1/3 have a Type 3.
Check out the picture below:

Type 1. Genetically blessed and probably able to overhead press without issue. I would imagine most high-level Olympic lifters fall into this category.

Type 2. 50/50, could go either way. You might be fine pressing overhead (especially if your mechanics are on point), but then again, you might not.

Type 3. Your shoulder genetics are giving you the middle finger. You may do many things right in your programming but overhead pressing still gives you issues.

I'm a huge believer in mechanics. You can't "fix" your anatomy, but you can absolutely take an active role in improving your movement. Some people may not be the most genetically blessed to overhead press safely and effectively, but you'll never really know unless you take the necessary time to fix your mechanics.
That said, let's look at some things you can implement in your program immediately to qualify yourself to overhead press.

Moving and Shaking with the T-Spine

The t-spine is a driver to the rest of the upper body. If your t-spine is out of whack or in poor alignment, it throws off everything else down the kinetic chain.
Poor t-spine extension may not necessarily manifest itself in shoulder issues, either. I've seen many people with crappy t-spine mobility compensate by excessively arching and compressing the hell out of their lower back. Either way, your lack of t-spine motion will cost you.
Best case? Your performance suffers. Worst case? You end up seriously injured.
To get the t-spine in better alignment, I like a multi-pronged approach.

• Behavior modification.
• Specific mobility drills.
• Skewed programming.

Let's examine each.
Behavior modification is easy. If you sit all day long, you need to improve the position in which you sit. Sounds simple, right?
When you read that, did you just adjust your posture? Did you sit up a bit taller?
I'm assuming you did, and that's fine. What we need is a subtle cue that you can use throughout the day to get tons of these little "corrections."
While paying the new kid in accounting 10 bucks a day to jab you with a cattle prod every time he sees you slumping at your desk may be effective, it likely isn't practical, so I have a more tech-savvy approach.
I'm assuming you have a cellphone with a timer on it. If not, go to any department store and pick up a cheap kitchen timer. Whenever you're working at a desk, driving your car, gaming, etc., set the timer for 15 minutes. When the timer goes off, check your posture and if it ain't kosher, fix it.
Once you've done that, start the timer up again and repeat this process throughout the day. So if you work a standard eight-hour shift, and you correct your posture four times every hour, that's 32 postural corrections every workday!
Does this excite anyone else or is it just me?
In all seriousness, this is a simple but critical step. If you want to improve your t-spine posture, get serious about fixing it throughout the day.
Next, mobility drills are key. You need a blend of thoracic spine extension, and thoracic spine rotation.
For extension, there's nothing better than working to wrap your upper back over a foam roller pre-workout. It's like what I predict a date with Lindsay Lohan will be in 2013, cheap, easy, and effective.

Once you have more extension, it's time to get more rotation. Concerning the t-spine, extension is the key that unlocks rotation. If you can't extend, you sure as heck won't be able to rotate well!
One of my favorite drills to unlock t-spine rotation is the quadruped extension-rotation.
Start off in the quadruped position and place the fingertips of one hand behind your head. From here, take your elbow down towards the opposite side knee, and then reverse the motion and "open up" towards the ceiling. I find that using the head and eyes as a driver really helps with the motion.

You can use these movements pre-workout as well as before bed, or within a "mini-mobility" circuit that you perform on off days.

Scapular Upward Rotation

Once the t-spine is in proper alignment, we need the upward rotators to be on point so they can help "drive" the scapulae into the correct position.
As mentioned, the upper traps, lower traps, and serratus anterior all play a role in upward rotation. It's very rare to find a truly "weak" upper trap, so let's focus on the other two muscle groups.
The lower traps are not only involved in upward rotation of the scapulae, but in scapular depression (think about tucking your shoulder blades into your back pockets).
Similarly, push-ups not only upwardly rotate the scapulae, but protract them (think about gliding them around your rib cage towards the front of your body).
What you often see in gyms are guys and gals trying in vain to "activate" these muscles. Activation is fine, but at some point you need to cement that activation with actual strength.
Fortunately, there are non-sissy options for developing both the lower traps and serratus, and they're exercises you may already be incorporating into your routine. The key, however, is doing them with precision and focusing on the little things that most trainees gloss over.
For the lower traps, I've found nothing better than chin-up and pull-up variations. However, most people take that term "chin-up" too literally. I almost prefer the term "chest-up" as your goal should be to get your chest/collarbone to the bar.
As you're approaching the midpoint (top) of each repetition, think about keeping your chest out and pulling the shoulder blades down into your back pocket.

This is true scapular depression, and for many, those last 2-3 inches of getting to the bar will be incredibly difficult. If this is the case, don't let your ego get in the way –try either a chin-up ISO, or a band-assisted chin-up to ensure you can get to that top position.

Push-ups are cut from a similar cloth. Many know about the benefits of doing push-ups, but there's one subtle thing most miss out on.
When performing push-ups, folks rarely finish the rep. In other words, they don't exaggerate pushing their body away from the floor. I almost hate the name "push-up plus." I want everyone doing the "plus" at the end of their push-up, as that's what really develops the serratus.
When performed correctly, you should feel a burn along the side of your ribcage. Many will confuse this with the lats, but it's really the serratus doing the work.
Furthermore, don't feel constrained to simply doing push-ups with body weight. There are many awesome push-up variations such as X-vest push-ups, band-resisted push-ups, and of course, chain push-ups. (Deep down, we all know that any time you use chains, you're immediately more badass.)

If overhead pressing just isn't happening for you, make these lifts a priority over the next 2-3 months. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised with the result.

A Strong, Stable 'Cuff

The final component to safely pressing overhead is a strong and stable rotator cuff.
People assume far too often that if they do some internal and external rotations at the end of their workout that they're somehow free and clear of any shoulder pain.
Wrong.
The rotator cuff is much more dynamic than people give it credit for. Instead of focusing on basic rotation exercises, your goal should be to get more integrated in your approach. The goal is to get your 'cuff to naturally or reflexively turn on when it's supposed to, so it can put the humeral head in the right position.
Rather than finding 50 more external rotation variations, try these two exercises below.

A final option is to just setup several med balls next to each other and "walk" across them using your hands. This is incredibly taxing on the rotator cuff and integrates the core to boot!

One Last Thing

I know some of you will incorporate these tools into your program and then immediately want to throw down a PR overhead press. Please don't do this!
It's much wiser to ease back into overhead pressing. For example, start with a single-arm, neutral grip overhead press to start. This will get your core engaged, open up that subacromial space, and get you back into pressing without killing yourself the first workout.
From there, use a two-dumbbell variation (still with a neutral grip), or even go back to a more standard grip for a month.

Once you've worked your way through that progression, test the waters with a barbell and see where you stand.

Summary

Although it warms my heart to see the sheer awesomeness of the overhead press finally being recognized, it unfortunately isn't a lift that certain populations can do safely or effectively.
For those who qualify to press overhead, I wish you all the best in your efforts to fill out your sport coats. For those who don't quite measure up, there are other methods you should explore before hoisting the heavy iron to the ceiling.
Got a question or comment? Leave them in the LiveSpill and I'll do my best to help you out!

Wikio