Tag: Lats

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Weight Loss Exercise

Best Bench Press Workout

The world will never agree on the best bench press workout to get you stronger in the fastest time possible. Advanced lifters use an in-depth training system which includes bench press bands and chains for greater resistance. They are effective but may be rather complicated for a person entering the bench press world for the first time. Also bear in mind that just because another method is simpler, i.e. not involving chains and pads, doesn’t mean that it’s not as effective. It is! It’s just different.

So let’s get to your bench press workout.

Bench Press Workout Technique

Best Bench Press WorkoutFirstly, getting the correct technique is vital. You are going to be lifting larger and larger weights as time progresses in your bench press workout and it is absolutely essential to get the right technique to avoid future injury. So, you need to use good leverage and be stable to bench press more weight. Lie down flat on the bench and using your middle fingers, hold the bar over the engraved lines. Gently shimmy up the bench so your chest is under the bar which is still on the rack at this stage. Steady your feet firmly on the floor and raise your shoulders away from the bench.

Then arch your back and place your neck and trapezoid muscles on the bench so only your butt and trapezoids are touching the bench. At this stage the bar, which is still on the rack, is still above your head. Now, squeeze your shoulder blades together and keep them squeezed throughout the lift. This will assist you to remain stable and lets you use your triceps and lats along with your shoulders and chest to move the weight.

So the next step now you have this position is to place about 25% of your bench press maximum weight onto the bar. Maintain your position as above and lift the bar off the rack. Have it at arms length above your chest then lower it, keeping control, to slightly under your nipple line. During the lift, your elbows should be at a 45 degree angle to your body leading to good leverage and line. Now, in a straight line, press the weight back to where you started.

Bench Press Workout Tips

Your bench press workout will change and vary over time. A time tested tip for when you are pressing the bar upward is to try and pull the bar apart. This helps you lock out the weight and you can angle your index finger knuckles towards you which makes it easier.

Now it’s time to add some more weight for your bench press workout. Place 55% of your bench press maximum onto the bar and using the same start position as above, repeat 5 presses as above. Ensure you adequately stretch and rest for at least 3 minutes between each set. Then you will be ready for the heavier weights.

Now put 75% of your maximum bench press onto the bar and lift for 3 repetitions. Rest and stretch as above and then place 80% onto the bar and lift for 1 repetition. Now place 85% of your maximum onto the bar and do 7 to 9 sets of 1 repetition, remembering to rest and stretch between each set as above.

Now it’s time to recover from your bench press workout. It is recommended to take some whey protein and creatine within 60 minutes after your bench press workout to gain in strength and size in a faster time.


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Weight Loss Exercise

How To Build Upper Body V Shape


How to build upper body V – that V-shape taper from huge shoulders to a small waist – is the first thing that many bodybuilders want to know. It is often what sets bodybuilders apart from others in the gym and makes them stand out on the beach or even in the street. It is what makes a guy look like a comic book superhero about to save the world!

There are three main muscle groups that you need to consider when you are planning how to build upper body to an impressive degree. Let’s take them one by one.

1. Lats

The lats (latissimus dorsi) are the muscles that cover the sides of the middle back, reaching up to the armpit. As a bodybuilder, you will always want to keep building bigger and wider lats.

There are two types of exercise that you need to use if you want to work and build the lats. The first involves chin-ups and pulldown moves. These build width. The second is rows (e.g. cable rows and barbell rows) and deadlifts, which build thickness. You will need to cover both.

2. Deltoids


The deltoids are the muscles that cover the shoulder joint, forming the rounded shape of the shoulder. Your aim when you are considering how to build upper body V will be to build a strong, round ball shape on the shoulder. This gives the shoulders that massive, wide look.

The way to build deltoids is to use both a heavy pressing action and leverage raise exercises. Take as much weight as you can without sacrificing form. Raises should always be performed with full control, never by swinging the weights.

Exercises that you might want to include are: seated press, dumbbell lateral raises, bent over lateral raises, and cable lateral raises both in front and behind the back.

3. Abdominals

While they might seem out of place in an article on how to build upper body, the abs are just as important as the other two muscle groups. Having a tight midsection sets off the shoulders and contributes to the appearance of width at the top.

If you are interested in how to build upper body V shape, you will want to tighten rather than build the abs so that you do not develop a thick waist. For this reason, some experts recommend that you avoid using weights in your abs workout and do not do side bends. This may go against what others tell you but give it a try if you want to increase the contrast between weights and shoulders.

Exercises to concentrate on here include crunches, leg raises, sit-ups and hanging knee raises. For the hanging knee raise, hang from the chin-up bar and bring the knees up as high as possible toward the chest. Lower and repeat.

Of course, you also need to follow a good bodybuilding diet with plenty of protein and complex carbs at the right times. Drink plenty of water too. Soon it will be very clear when you hit the beach that you know how to build upper body!

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Weight Loss Exercise

Fast Weight Lifting Workout


Read a great review of the Fat Loss for Idiots program. See if you can lose 9 pounds in 11 days and what Cycled Eating is

Fast Weight Lifting Workout

Fast Weight Lifting Workout

I know I only do this occasionally but thought that it would be nice just to post my fast weight lifting workout for the day today. This whole workout had my body worked out hard within30 minutes

As I have commented before on Twitter and on Facebook, I have switched to a much shorter, fast weight lifting workout based on lots of science but also trying to find convenience for myself. I was on the verge of splitting my workout to a 2 day split a few months ago and over the summer started trying to find ways to do heavier quicker workouts. The example I will show you today of my current fast weight lifting workout is quite good but there is still room to improve.

Start of Fast Weight Lifting Workout

So I started my workout today with a simple circuit. To me lately the key to all of my workouts are doing compound exercises, this way I am leveraging different muscles on each set and getting all of my minor muscles groups done. I hate remembering weight amounts but I will give as much detail as I can.

Please note that I did this warmup set back to back to back in about 5-10 minutes or so.

  • Bench press – machine – 12 reps I pushed these out ok and this was mostly warming up the shoulders triceps and chestFast Weight Lifting Workout
  • Military press – machine – 12 reps I find that I have a bit of soreness in my left shoulder but this exercise is a good warmup for triceps and shoulders
  • Wide Grip Pulldowns – machine – 10 reps I do wide grip pulldowns to get a good stretch and warmup my lats and biceps
  • Close Grip Rows – machine – 10 reps – Here I am working my lats differently and also stretching out my lower back. I get the weight up higher for this than a traditional warmup because I love the lat burn.
  • Tricep Pushdowns with rope – 12 reps – This is just an addon to a regular pushdown where the rope allows you to get a better peak contraction. I had a higher weight on this as well.
  • Alternating Bicep Curls – dumbells – 10 reps per arm I was just getting a good contraction for my biceps as the back exercises warm up the biceps but they could still use some work.
  • Seated Hamstring Curls – machine – 12 reps I skipped squats today to isolate a bit (maybe I was lazy?) this exercise really hits the hamstrings good and was a good warmup
  • Leg Press – machine – 12 reps I always love leg press as I can really feel the burn in the quads and the flex in my knees

Now that I was warmed up I did one superset for each of my main muscle groups. These supersets woulde make sure that I was able to get a fast weight lifting workout in and still really pound my muscles. All of the exercises were to exhaustion meaning that I could not get one more rep out even if I had to. Also there were no breaks in between the superset sets but about 2 minutes before I did the next muscle group.

Chest Superset
Cable Crossovers x 10 then machine bench press x10 Here is where I found that I am a lot stronger. I had moved up the weight I regularly use for crossovers and it was still not quite hard enough so my reps were to high. I really pushed the bench press though

Back Superset
Wide Grip Pulldowns x 8 Seated Rows x10 I did the same as my warmup sets for back but I really increased the weight. I did not get the weight high enough for the seated rows so I need to remember this for next time.

Shoulder Superset
Front Laterals x10 Side Laterals x 10 Pullups x 10 I know that the laterals are really an isolated exercise and should maybe do military press but I get a great contraction and burn with laterals vs militarys. My shoulders were really burning by the time I did the pullups and I kept my knees loose and really focussed on my form so I did not swing the weight around.

At this point I was really wiped and breathing a bit harder than I expected, I moved to legs before arms

For legs I did the same as the warmup (again I am a wimp for not doing squats) and I turned up the weight for hamstring curls and leg press.

For biceps I did 7-2-1 exercise which is done with a bar. 7 reps from bottom to half way up, 7 reps from half way up to peak contraction, and then 7 full reps. All this in one set.

For Triceps I did kickbacks to really get a great burn. I have fairly strong triceps so I get cocky about tricep exercises.

And that was the workout. Does not seem like much but this is kinda what I am doing twice a week for weights and I have to say I am getting stronger fast and think I am making better muscle gains because of the fewer sets.

Improvements needed for my fast weight lifting workout

Fast Weight Lifting Workout I am still not having perfect sets or workouts. I feel great but I have not got perfect conectration on each set and my intensity could always get better. One more thing that I need to dial in better is the weight that I use in each set. I want to get my reps to about 7 reps per set but I am not quite there yet, going a little too light compared to my strength.

And finally, I still struggle a bit with ego issues. If I do compound exercises properly then I should be able to get away with Squats, chest, back, and shoulders with no bicep or tricep exercises, I feel though still that I have to work those guns.

Why should we do a fast weight lifting workout?

There are a few things that are helping me these days and I will psot them as seperate post to make sure that they get the attention they should get but I have been moving up my strength in a large part due to the fact that I am doing less sets but each set has far more intensity. Also I am taking my sets to the very end, making sure that I am getting the most from each and every set. Finally I am concentrating on good form and a peak contraction on every rep.

I know that my exercise routine changes over time and I am sure that just as I am reducing sets now that a year from now I am sure that I will have spun it up to more sets per muscle group. Remember the most important thing to do in any workout, especially a fast weight lifting workout, is to create confusion in your muscles, making sure that you workouts, sets and reps are always changing.

Doing a fast weight lifting workout is a great way to do all of the above and save time getting stronger.