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Fitness Article Index

Training Techniques Pg.1

Secret Training Tip #242 - Be 10% Stronger in Leg Curls Instantly!

Secret Training Tip #178 - One Simple Movement Can Double the Effectiveness of Pulldowns

Secret Training Tip #240 - Waist Your Breath - Breathing For A Thinner Waist

Strong To The Core of Your Being

Secret Training Tip #998 - Target: Rear Delts. One Simple Movement And They'll Be On Fire!

Secret Training Tip #504 - Breathing Backwards - Supercharge Your Back Workout NOW!

How To Do The Perfect Bench Press Rep

Intensity Techniques That Will "Kill" You AND Make You Stronger

Secret Training Tip #685 - A Back Blasting Superset - Bent-Over Rows to Deadlifts

Eight Mistakes I've Made In My Training and How You Can Avoid Them

14 Things To Do and Not Do When First Starting an Exercise Program

How to Do Negative Training Without A Training Partner

Partial Training For Full-Powered Results

You Don't Know Squat About Squats

Fitness Article Index

M Factor Articles

Overtraining

Undertraining

Nutrition/Supplements

Are You Cheating Yourself Out Of 50% or More Of Your Hard-Earned Results?

I Didn't Realize How Important Protein Was For Fat Loss Until I Discovered Something That Blew My Mind...

The Atkins Diet - Separating Fact From Fiction

Low-Carb Backlash - Is the Low-Carb Cookie Crumbling?

Common Sense Protein FAQ - Get Answers To Your Most Frequently-Asked Questions About Protein

The Glycemic Diet - Does This "Heir-Apparent" to the Fading Low-Carb Diet Boom Hold The Key to Effective Fat Loss?

Cutting Through The Hype Of Supplement Ads - No Punches Pulled

BASIC Nutrition - A Quick, Common-Sense Guide To What You Should Be Eating to Stay Healthy and Get Results Right Now

Impact Carbs, Net Carbs and Effective Carbs - Is Marketing Slang Messing With Your Low-Carb Diet?

Stop Wasting Your Protein Powder! How To Squeeze More Results Out Of Each Scoop Of Protein Powder You Take

Ephedra - Is It Safe And Effective?

Fat Loss

Fat Loss circuit training

Nine Sure-Fire Ways To Gain Fat

What Do You Mean Low-Intensity Training Isn't The Best For Fat Burning?

Follow the Path of MOST Resistance!

10 Things You Can Do To Lose Fat Without Even Trying

Seven Quick Tips To Speed Up Your Metabolism and Burn Fat Faster

How Fat Loss Pills Can Make You Fatter

Cardio or Weights. Weights or Cardio. What's It Going To Be?

Why We Get Fat - Hunting Big Macs and Gathering French Fries

The Insider Secrets of Interval Training - Learn How Now!


Muscle Building

Training With Muscle Soreness - Should You Do It? And Can It Actually Help You Get BETTER Results?

The Most Critical Lessons I Learned In My Very First Year of Training That Can Help YOU Maximize Muscle and Fat Loss

Training Frequency - How Often Can You or SHOULD You Train To Maximize Your Results?

Secret Training Tip #734 - How One Single Set of One Single Rep of One Single Exercise Can Build Massive, Strong Biceps

When One Side Of a Muscle Group Is Smaller Than The Other - How To Train to Fix It

How Stretching Can Explode Your Muscle Growth

Training to Maximize Your Muscle Fiber Types

How I Gained 25 Pounds in One Week

Daily Specialization Training - Transform Your Weakest Bodyparts Into Your STRONGEST Bodyparts!

Training on the Edge - Learn How Overtraining on Purpose Can Get You Maximum Results FAST!


Training Techniques 2

Secret Training Tip #622 - High-Rep Partial Training

The Sculptor in Training - How To Develop Your Physique to It's Fullest Potential By Working Different Parts of the Same Muscle

Mind Games - Powerful Mental Strategies For Getting More Reps Out Of Every Single Set You Do

Secret Training Tip #683 - 5 Groundbreaking Calf Training Techniques For Complete Calf Development and Rock-Solid Ankle Stability

Five Exercises You MUST Avoid If You Want To Stay Injury-Free

The Training Partner: Best Friend or Worst Nightmare?

Secret Training Tip #452 - Taking One-Arm Dumbell Rows To The MAX!

Secret Training Tip #321 - Squatting With Your Core - This Never-Before-Seen Technique Can Make You Stronger in the Squat Instantly!

Practical Exercise Ideas For the Time-Strapped Person

Your Keys To Rock-Solid Ankle Stability, Explosive Sports

How To Be The Best Spotter in The Gym

Training Techniques 3

Secret Training Tip #914 - 10 of the Most Unique and Powerful Training Tips That You WON'T Find Anywhere Else

Supersets - What They Are, Why They Work, and Several Unique Variations You Can Try In Your Next Workout

Unique exercises

Secret Training Tip #146 - "Small Ball" Crunches - An Amazing Abdominal Exercise For Everyone From Beginner To Advanced!

Secret Training Tip #788 - Unstable And Proud Of It! Learn How To Turn The Ordinary Push-Up Into An Exercise "In Stability"

Secret Training Tip #463 - The Most Amazing (and Effective) Trick For Stiff-Legged Deadlifts

Secret Training Tip #623 - Wave Goodbye to Flabby Arms - Bench Dips For The Triceps and How to Make Them Work Better For You

Secret Training Tip #427 - Chain & Plate Side Delt Laterals

Secret Training Tip #793 - Seated Hanging Leg Raises - A New Approach To An Old Favorite

Fitness Humor

The Top 10 Most Outrageous Exercises I've Ever Seen

Bodybuilding Products That SHOULD Be Invented

The Complete Gym Personality Guide - Part 2

The Complete Gym Personality Guide - Part 1

A Bitingly Sarcastic Look at Useless Supplements and Worthless Training Equipment

RANT - Move over Dennis Miller--I've Got Some Things To Say About Health, Fitness and Nutrition

RANTS #2 - I've Got More To Say And There's No Stopping Me Now!

The Absolute Worst, Most Incredibly Terrible Workout I've Ever Witnessed In My Entire Life!

35 Pieces of Interesting Training Trivia to Make You The Life of the Party
Secret Training Tip #242 - Be 10% Stronger in Leg Curls Instantly!
By Nick Nilsson

Imagine how something as strange as changing how
you hold onto a leg curl machine can increase your strength!


This is a trick to be done on a leg curl machine. By simply changing where you grip your hands on the machine, you can increase your strength in the movement by as much as 10% instantly!

Lie face down on the bench as you normally would when doing the exercise. Instead of gripping the machine on the handles below the bench with your arms bent, extend your arms straight overhead in front and grab on to whatever is there. This is generally the frame on either side of the weight stack. Be aware that this trick will not work if there is nothing there to grab - some machines just end at the bench and have the weights stack to the side or behind.

Do your leg curls as you usually would but using this different grip. You should feel stronger when doing them.

One of the best ways to see this principle in action is to do a set as you normally would with your normal grip for about 10 to 12 reps. When you can't do any more reps, switch to the grip as explained above. You should be able to get a few more reps out.

When using this grip you should also find that you can use a little more weight than you usually do for reps.

The reason this trick works is that having your arms straight removes your biceps as the limiting link in the exercise. It transfers the force through your stronger back muscles instead, resulting in instant increased strength!

For information on how to do the leg curl exercise, go to:

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Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of the online personal training company BetterU, Inc. He has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been inventing new training techniques for more than 16 years. Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding eBooks including "Metabolic Surge - Rapid Fat Loss," "The Best Exercises You've Never Heard Of," "Gluteus to the Maximus - Build a Bigger Butt NOW!" and "The Best Abdominal Exercises You've Never Heard Of" all available at (http://hop.clickbank.net/?mfactor/betteru). He can be contacted at betteru@fitstep.com.

Secret Training Tip #178 - One Simple Movement Can Double the Effectiveness of Pulldowns
By Nick Nilsson

Learn a simple technique that you can use to dramatically
increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the lat pulldown.


The Pulldown is an excellent exercise for working the Latissimus Dorsi muscles of the back (also known as the lats). It is a little known fact but there is a way you can dramatically improve the effectiveness of this exercise by performing one simple movement before each rep.

Many people have a hard time feeling their lats working when they do pulldowns. The biceps may have a tendency to take over the movement. Some people just don't feel anything in their back at all.

This little movement trick can change all of that.

The movement is simply a shoulder drop and even though it may seem like a SMALL thing, it can have a HUGE impact on your back workout.

To demonstrate this movement, start by sitting in a pulldown machine with a moderate weight on the stack. Take a close grip on the bar with your palms facing you (known as a reverse grip). Do a few reps using your normal technique so you have a gauge to measure against.

Now we will add the shoulder drop. Let your arms go straight and let your shoulder girdle rise up as though shrugging. Your shoulders should be up by your ears. Now drop your shoulder girdle down in the opposite movement to the shrug, pulling the weight down as you do so. The range of motion is small, being only a matter of a few inches. Repeat this drop and raise several times to get the feel for the movement. You should feel your entire shoulder girdle moving up and down.

We will now do a rep with the shoulder drop movement. Start in the stretched position with your shoulders up by your ears. Drop your shoulders down, lean slightly back then do a pulldown. Be sure to keep your lower back arched and your chest puffed out to meet the bar on the way down. You should feel your lats working harder than usual.

Squeeze hard as though trying to touch your shoulder blades together as you come to the bottom then let the weight back up slowly. You can repeat the shoulder drop movement at the start of every rep or you can simply keep your shoulders down and locked in that position throughout the set.

Dropping your shoulders down like this serves to lock the lats into the movement and helps to minimize the biceps involvement in the pulldown. You should find that you get a much more effective lat workout using this technique.

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Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of the online personal training company BetterU, Inc. He has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been inventing new training techniques for more than 16 years. Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding eBooks including "Metabolic Surge - Rapid Fat Loss," "The Best Exercises You've Never Heard Of," "Gluteus to the Maximus - Build a Bigger Butt NOW!" and "The Best Abdominal Exercises You've Never Heard Of" all available at (http://hop.clickbank.net/?mfactor/betteru). He can be contacted at betteru@fitstep.com.

Secret Training Tip #240 - Waist Your Breath - Breathing For A Thinner Waist
By Nick Nilsson

Learn how simply changing the way you breathe while
doing crunches can actually help tighten your waist!


The crunch exercise is the backbone of abdominal training. It develops the muscles of the abs to help you build that much-desired six-pack. But did you know that there is a way to do crunches that can actually decrease the size of your waist?

The key to this technique is the top position of the crunch where your abdominals are contracted as hard as they are able to.

When you're in this top position, I want you to breathe in and out slowly a few times. Try to relax every other muscle except the abs. This breathing in and out will intensify the contraction (as you will find out very rapidly).

Here's how it works:

The muscles of the abdomen are arranged in layers around your midsection, similar in concept to the rings in a tree. While you are contracting the rectus abdominus (the top-most front layer of your abs, also known as your six-pack) continuously, the deeper abdominal muscle fibers are relaxing and contracting each time you breathe.

Each time the deep fibers relax, your rectus abdominus (because it is contracting so hard) will squeeze them in a little more, making your waist-area a little smaller and tighter.

The reason this works to decrease the size of your waist is simple. Usually, most people's abdominal muscles just kind of sit there. They don't stay tight, therefore your midsection tends to slouch forward and outward.

This technique teaches your abdominals to maintain a degree of tightness and tone in them even when you are relaxed. This keeps your abs in, leading to a visually smaller waist.

For more information on how to properly execute the Abdominal Crunch, go to:

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Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of the online personal training company BetterU, Inc. He has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been inventing new training techniques for more than 16 years. Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding eBooks including "Metabolic Surge - Rapid Fat Loss," "The Best Exercises You've Never Heard Of," "Gluteus to the Maximus - Build a Bigger Butt NOW!" and "The Best Abdominal Exercises You've Never Heard Of" all available at (http://hop.clickbank.net/?mfactor/betteru). He can be contacted at betteru@fitstep.com.

Strong To The Core of Your Being
By Nick Nilsson

Dramatically improve sports and weightlifting performance and say
goodbye to lower back pain! Plus, you'll learn two exercises
you can do at home that directly target the muscles of the core.


If you were to ask me which muscle group in your entire body you could work to get the greatest benefits in the shortest amount of time, I would tell you without hesitation, "the core." Strengthening the core can realize tremendous benefits to anyone regardless of his or her training experience and can do so very quickly.

But what is the core?

The core, as it's known in strength training circles, consists of all the muscles in your abdominal and lower back areas. This includes all the abdominal muscles (rectus abdominus, internal and external obliques, transverse abdominus and intercostals) as well as the muscles associated with the spine (the erector spinae group) and the hip flexors (iliacus and psoas, collectively known as the iliopsoas).

These muscles all work in harmony to provide stabilization for your body and to transfer power from the legs to the upper body and vice versa. The core muscles also function to keep your insides in, where they belong!

And why is strengthening the core so important?

Weak core muscles contribute to all kinds of problems in the body, the most prevalent of which is lower back pain. By strengthening the muscles that help support the spine and improve posture, you can dramatically decrease the symptoms of lower back pain.

Picture your spine as a column of soda cans stacked one on top of the other. If you wanted to keep that column standing up under stress, what do you think would work better: a "tenser" bandage (as is used for wrapping injured ankles) or Scotch tape? Sure the tape would keep the cans together but the cans wouldn't receive a whole lot support, would they?

When you strengthen the muscles of the core, you are in effect turning that Scotch tape into a nice, tight "tenser" bandage, increasing the amount of support that your spine gets.

Core training also has the potential to greatly improve sports performance. Watch a baseball pitcher throw a pitch in slow motion. The power of the throw starts at the legs, gets transferred through the abdominal area (a.k.a. the core) then ends up in the arm where the ball is released. Imagine how much speed and power would be lost from that throw if the core muscles couldn't efficiently transfer the force from the legs to the throwing arm.

The core is the one area of the body that will always give you a great return on your investment.

So how do I train my core muscles?

Exercises that work the abdominals and the lower back are the staples of core training. Also, exercises that target the stabilization and power-transfer duties of the core muscles are very effective.

The most basic abdominal training exercise is the standard crunch. You can go to the following URL to see the proper technique for this exercise:


But I've got an exercise for you that blows the standard crunch right out of the water. The equipment required for this exercise: one rolled-up towel.

The exercise is known as the Abdominal Sit-Up. It uses a sit-up-like movement but focuses directly on the abdominal muscles rather than the hip flexors (which a regular sit-up does). It is also very safe for your lower back. Another advantage it has over the standard crunch is that it targets the stretched (arched back) range of motion of the abs, which is totally missed in standard floor crunch.

How To Do It:

Lie on your back on the floor. Roll up a towel or mat and slip it underneath your lower back, just above the waistband (the size of the towel affects your body position during this movement - use a fairly large towel).

Your knees should be bent about 90 degrees. Keep your feet close together and knees fairly wide apart. This prevents the hip flexors from having a direct line of pull, helping to minimize their involvement.

Do not anchor your feet or have someone hold them down. This automatically activates the hip flexors. You will get the most out of this exercise by minimizing their involvement.

The difficulty of this exercise depends on where you hold your hands. The hardest position is above your head at arms-length, then beside your head, then across your chest, then straight down between your legs or at your sides. Start with the easiest first then progress to the other positions as you get stronger.

You are now ready to begin.

Keeping your torso straight and stiff, start the sit-up by  tightening your lower abs then lifting your upper body off the  floor.
As you continue up, imagine trying to push your face up  against the ceiling (think up, not around).
When you reach about 25 to 30 degrees above horizontal, hold  there for a second or two and squeeze your abs hard.
Keep your lower back in contact with the towel at all times  and always maintain tension in the abs.
Lower yourself down slowly and under control. Do not just drop  back to the ground. The negative portion of this exercise is  extremely effective.
Remember to adjust your arm position depending on the strength  of your abs (see above).
You can see pictures of how this exercise is done by going to:


Incline Ab Sit-Ups

If you are a beginning trainer, this is a good starting variation of the Abdominal Sit-up.

Set an incline sit-up board to a slight incline. If you don't have an incline sit-up board, you can use an adjustable incline bench, a decline bench, a Step platform with a riser under one of the ends or a flat bench with something under one end. You can even use a propped-up 2 x 6 board!

Your head should be on the higher end with your feet placed on the floor.

The execution is exactly the same. The only difference is that the tension on the abs is much less due to the greatly improved leverage in this position, allowing even people feel that their abs aren't strong enough to do the exercise.


Lying Superman Raises - An Exercise For The Lower Back

Though this exercise has a rather unique name, it is an excellent strengthening exercise for the lower back that you can do almost anywhere.

How To Do It:

Lie face down on the floor with your arms stretched out directly overhead (like Superman flying, hence the name).

Raise your left arm and right leg into the air at the same time, also raising your chest slightly off the floor. Hold there for a second and squeeze the muscles of your lower back. Lower your limbs back to the ground then raise your right arm and left leg and hold for a second. You can push down with the hand that is on the ground to help raise your other arm and chest higher off the ground.

This exercise, even though it only uses your limbs as resistance, provides an excellent way to strengthen the lower back muscles.

Conclusion:

These two exercises will give you a good place to start with core training. You can begin improving your core strength by doing these exercises 3 times a week for 2 to 3 sets each. Make core training a priority in your exercise routine and you will rapidly reap the benefits of having a stronger, more injury-proof midsection and back.

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Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of the online personal training company BetterU, Inc. He has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been inventing new training techniques for more than 16 years. Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding eBooks including "Metabolic Surge - Rapid Fat Loss," "The Best Exercises You've Never Heard Of," "Gluteus to the Maximus - Build a Bigger Butt NOW!" and "The Best Abdominal Exercises You've Never Heard Of" all available at (http://hop.clickbank.net/?mfactor/betteru). He can be contacted at betteru@fitstep.com.

Secret Training Tip #998 - Target: Rear Delts. One Simple Movement And They'll Be On Fire!
By Nick Nilsson

The rear delts can be tough to isolate. This trick takes
ALL the stress off the assisting back muscles and
places it squarely where you want it.


The Bent-Over Lateral Raise is one of the most common exercises used for working the rear or posterior deltoids. For most trainers, it can be difficult to really feel the rear delts working during this movement as the larger, stronger muscles of the back have a tendency to take over.

To really get the most out of this exercise, you need to remove the back muscles from the equation. This can be easily accomplished with a simple technique.

How to Do It:

First, get yourself into position for the Bent-Over Lateral Raise. This can either be standing, seated or with your chest on an incline bench. The same technique applies to all variations.

Your arms should be hanging straight down in the start position.

Now, drop your shoulders down towards the ground without moving your torso. You will be keeping them down throughout the exercise. This forces the back muscles into a stretched position, thereby reducing their involvement in the exercise.

Once your shoulders are dropped, start the movement by doing a reverse wrist curl with the dumbells. This means simply bending your wrists back and up and holding them there.

Now squeeze the weights up to the top position of the lateral so that they are in line with your head at the top and squeeze hard at the top.

Here is an excellent tip for the way up: as you raise the dumbells, imagine as though you are trying to wrap the backs of your arms around a tree. You've often heard that you should try to wrap your arms around a tree for dumbell flyes, now apply it to this movement.

Also, try to force your hands into as wide of an arc as possible and keep the dumbells as far away from your body as possible. This technique will help you to keep your shoulders down as you lift the weights.

What all these tips accomplish is to reduce the ability of the stronger back muscles to contract during the exercise, forcing the rear delt muscles to "shoulder" the burden of the exercise.

The keys to remember are:

1. Shoulders down throughout the movement.
2. Do a reverse wrist curl at the start.
3. Wrap your arms around a tree on the way up.
4. Raise the dumbells up in line with your head.

Incorporating these tips into the bent-over lateral movement will target your rear delts like a laser beam!

For pictures on how to execute this technique go the following URL:

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Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of the online personal training company BetterU, Inc. He has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been inventing new training techniques for more than 16 years. Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding eBooks including "Metabolic Surge - Rapid Fat Loss," "The Best Exercises You've Never Heard Of," "Gluteus to the Maximus - Build a Bigger Butt NOW!" and "The Best Abdominal Exercises You've Never Heard Of" all available at (http://hop.clickbank.net/?mfactor/betteru). He can be contacted at betteru@fitstep.com.

Secret Training Tip #504 - Breathing Backwards - Supercharge Your Back Workout NOW!
By Nick Nilsson

If you've ever had a hard time feeling your back
muscles working, this technique is for you.
Discover how breathing backwards will
SHOCK your lats into new growth!


Every experienced weight trainer knows that the proper way to breathe during a set is to inhale during the negative (lowering) phase and exhale during the positive (lifting) phase. But is this the best way to breathe in all exercises?

As a matter of fact, it isn't. I am going to show you exactly how and why you should breathe BACKWARDS during many if not most back exercises. I will use the lat pulldown exercise to demonstrate this powerful technique.


Fact: the pulldown movement is more effective when done with an arched lower back and puffed-up (expanded) chest.

This body position more fully activates the latissimus dorsi muscles. In fact, if your lower back isn't arched, it is extremely difficult for your lats to contract. The straight-back position throws more tension on the biceps and upper back muscles.

Expanding your chest helps to accentuate this arched-back position.


Fact: exhalation (breathing out) makes your chest contract. Inhalation (breathing in) makes your chest expand.

Fact: the typical breathing pattern of the pulldown consists of breathing out as you are pulling the weight down and breathing in as you are letting it back up.

What this means to you is that the typical breathing pattern is caving the chest in when you should be puffing the chest out!

Take a deep breath in and notice what happens to your chest. It puffs out and expands. This is the optimal position for your torso during the pulldown exercise.

Now carry this logic over to the pulldown movement. As you pull the weight down, take a deep breath in. Your chest will puff up to meet the bar automatically and your lats will engage strongly.

If you've ever had a hard time feeling your lats working when you do back exercises, use this technique and you will certainly feel an immediate difference.

This amazingly simple technique can be applied to almost any back exercise from pulldowns to chin-ups to seated cable rows. Try this technique the next time you work your back and you'll see just how powerful breathing backwards can be!

For a visual demonstration of how your body position changes with breathing.

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Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of the online personal training company BetterU, Inc. He has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been inventing new training techniques for more than 16 years. Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding eBooks including "Metabolic Surge - Rapid Fat Loss," "The Best Exercises You've Never Heard Of," "Gluteus to the Maximus - Build a Bigger Butt NOW!" and "The Best Abdominal Exercises You've Never Heard Of" all available at (http://hop.clickbank.net/?mfactor/betteru). He can be contacted at betteru@fitstep.com.

How To Do The Perfect Bench Press Rep
By Nick Nilsson

Learn the secrets to bench press form that
will send your strength and muscle
development through the roof!


The Flat Barbell Bench Press is one of the most popular exercises in the gym, yet how many people know the most important techniques for maximizing strength and power during each rep?

In this article, you will find solid tips without the fluff. These tips will instantly help you to improve your bench press RIGHT NOW! You don't need any special equipment to use these techniques, just a willingness to learn.

Several of these tips will be further demonstrated with pictures (there will be a link to this picture page at the end of the article).


1. The perfect bench press rep starts without any weight on the bar. Why no weight? The first thing you need to do is determine your proper hand spacing on the bar.

Lie down on the bench and unrack the bar as you normally would. Lower the bar to your chest and have a partner take note of the orientation of your forearms. For optimal power, your forearms should be as close to vertical at the bottom of the rep as possible. Adjust your grip accordingly and take note of where your hands are in relation to the smooth rings on the Olympic bar.

The reason for this is simple: if your hands are placed wider, some of your pushing power will be expended pushing outwards rather than upwards. If your hands are placed closer, power is expended pushing inwards. When your forearms are vertical, the vast majority of your power goes to pushing the bar directly up.


2. Now that you have your grip properly positioned, put some weight on the bar. Lay back on the bench and plant your feet firmly on the floor. Your knees should bent at about an 80 degree angle (I will explain the reason for this later - this tip has an accompanying picture). DO NOT place your feet up on the bench. You will lose stability and potential power by doing this.

Place your hands on the bar in the grip width that you determined previously.

A technique that I like to use to lock my shoulders into the position for maximum strength and stability is as follows:

Instead of placing your palms on the bottom of the bar, place them on the back of the bar (this tip also has an accompanying picture).

Now, without removing your grip, rotate the bar down so that your palms are now directly under the bar. This has the effect of placing your shoulders into their most stable and strong position. It will almost feel as though you are "locking down" your shoulders.

As you are rotating the bar and locking down your shoulders, lift your torso slightly off the bench and force your shoulder blades together tightly underneath your torso.

This will force your shoulders back and puff your chest out, placing the pectorals in a position where they have a more effective line of pull. It also has the added bonus of making your torso thicker, reducing the distance you need to press the weight.

Keep your shoulder blades squeezed tightly behind you for the duration of the set.


3. Remove the bar from the racks and tighten up the muscles of your torso. Begin lowering the bar under complete control to a point at the bottom of your sternum (about even with the bottom of your sternum, a.k.a. the breastbone). Imagine as though your muscles are springs storing up all the energy of the weight lowering and getting ready to explode it all back out. Inhale as you lower the bar and feel it tightening up your chest.

Lightly touch the weight to your chest. DO NOT bounce the weight off your chest! This can cause injury in the form of cracked ribs or even snapping the tip of the sternum (a little bony protrusion known as the Xiphoid Process). It also diffuses the tension you've built up in the pectorals, reducing the effectiveness of the exercise for building strength and muscle mass.


4. As you start to change the direction of the bar and begin the press up, drive with the legs. This is a technique that most trainers do not know about. It's strange to think about it but your leg power can actually help you bench press more weight!

This technique should be practiced with an empty bar before attempting it during a regular set. Start by planting your feet flat on the floor with your knees bent about 80 degrees. This angle is very important as it is what allows you to push with your legs.

Lower the empty bar to your chest. The moment you start to push the bar back up, push hard with your legs as though you are trying to slide your body up the bench.

With an empty bar you probably will be able to slide yourself up the bench. When you have a loaded bar, however, the weight will keep you from sliding and the pushing power from your legs will get transferred through your body and into pushing the bar up.

This is what's known as driving with your legs. It can really beef up your power out of the bottom of the rep.


5. Exhale forcefully through pursed lips as you continue to push the weight up. This will help maintain your torso stability better than simply exhaling all at once.

Keep your feet firmly planted on the floor even if you start to struggle with the weight. The moment you lift your feet off the floor, you break your base of power and the odds of you completing the lift diminish greatly.

If you have a tendency to shift your feet around, try placing 2.5 pound plates on your feet. This is not to weigh your feet down but to help you be more aware of what is happening with your feet. If a plate falls, your foot has moved. Strive to keep those plates in place.

The bar should follow a slight backwards arc as you press it up, moving from your lower rib cage to over your face at the end of the rep.

Be aware of your sticking point and try to drive the bar through it rather than letting the bar slow down as you come up to it. There are many training methods for working on sticking points that I will delve into in a future article.


6. Power the weight up to lockout. You have just completed the perfect rep! Now do it again!!


Using these techniques can add immediate poundage to your bench press. Your chest will thank you for it!

For picture demonstrations of several of these tips, go to:

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Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of the online personal training company BetterU, Inc. He has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been inventing new training techniques for more than 16 years. Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding eBooks including "Metabolic Surge - Rapid Fat Loss," "The Best Exercises You've Never Heard Of," "Gluteus to the Maximus - Build a Bigger Butt NOW!" and "The Best Abdominal Exercises You've Never Heard Of" all available at (http://hop.clickbank.net/?mfactor/betteru). He can be contacted at betteru@fitstep.com.

Intensity Techniques That Will "Kill" You AND Make You Stronger
By Nick Nilsson

Forced reps are great but these incredible techniques
will open a whole new world of results for you!

Intensity techniques are among the greatest weapons in your arsenal for building a truly astonishing physique. However they are not for everybody. Beginning trainers should definitely NOT use techniques such as these.

Intensity techniques allow you to push beyond conventional failure in order to work your muscles harder, providing an irresistible stimulus for the muscles to get larger and stronger.

Try these techniques in your next workouts. You can even try using several of these techniques in one set if you really want to work yourself hard. Be careful not to overuse them, however, as they can be extremely demanding and difficult for your body to recover from.


1. Triple Drop and Rebound Sets

This is a variation of the Triple Drop Set. The Triple Drop Set is where you start with a heavy weight, do a set to failure, reduce the weight, do another set to failure, reduce the weight a third time and do a final set to failure.

Do the regular Triple Drop Set then quickly go back and do your starting (heaviest) weight again for a more few reps. Usually you will be able to get one or two reps with it. The reason for this is that the last of the drops uses a lighter weight, which recruits different muscle fibers than when you are using heavier weights.


2. Isolation/Compound Rebound Sets

Do a Triple Drop Set of an isolation exercise, e.g. flyes, then immediately go back and use your starting (heaviest) weights for a set of a compound exercise for that muscle group, e.g. dumbell bench press.

This is a type of advanced Pre-Exhaust training. Pre-Exhaust training is when you do an isolation exercise (an exercise that involves motion at only one joint, such as a dumbell flye) immediately followed by a compound exercise (an exercise that involves motion at two or more joints, such as a bench press).

The idea with the Pre-Exhaust training is to basically exhaust your target muscle group (in this case the chest), by first working directly with one exercise, then doing another exercise that utilizes other muscles to assist it. This increases the intensity of the work done by the chest as the assisting muscles will you allow you to push thechest further.

By utilizing a triple-drop set format for the isolation exercise, you dramtically increase the exhaustion of the target muscle, allowing you to push it extremely hard.


3. Jump Sets

This is a way of doing a large number of heavy sets for several muscle groups without losing as much strength from set to set.

Jump sets are best used on antagonistic bodyparts such as back and chest, biceps and triceps, or hamstrings and quads.

For example, if you plan on doing 5 sets of chin-ups and 5 sets of bench, start with 3 sets of chin-ups, then 3 sets of bench, then go back and do your remaining 2 sets of chin-ups and 2 sets of bench. The extra rest will allow you to be stronger on your last 2 sets than you normally would.

Jumping between antagonistic muscle groups also seems to benefit strength. This can also be done going back and forth on every set instead of groups of sets. This is not a superset - take your normal rest period between each set. This technique enhances recuperation by providing more rest to the bodyparts but within the same workout time. This allows you to do more weight for each
exercise.


4. 2 Up - 1 Down Negatives

This is a variation of negative training that is best done with machines. Use two arms or legs for the positive phase of the movement then lower it the weight using only one arm or leg.

This type of negative training is useful if you do not have a partner to work with as it is done completely solo.

A good example of this technique is the machine bench press. Set the weight to about half of what you would normally use for the exercise. Press the weight up with both arms then remove one and lower the weight with one arm.

When using this technique, you can alternate arms/legs or do the complete set of reps with the one arm/leg, then the complete set of reps with the other arm/leg.


5. Combination Sets

With this technique, you will use two different exercises alternated with each rep, e.g. lying tricep extensions and close grip bench, dumbell flyes and dumbell press, rows and deadlifts. You should use exercises that are easily switched from to the other within a set.

To take the set even further, when you fail on one exercise, continue with the one you are stronger in until you fail on that one, too. For example, when combining rows and deadlifts, continue with deadlifts after failing on rows. Your legs will help push your back further. This whole technique is like an extended pre-exhaust superset.


6. Rep Targeting

Set a target of a certain amount of reps and get that target of reps no matter how many sets it takes you to get there. For example, if you pick a target of 50 reps on chin-ups, say you get 30 on the first set. Rest a little while, e.g. 10 to 30 seconds. Do another set. Say you get 10 reps this time. Rest 10 to 30 seconds again. Get 5 reps. Rest. Get 3 reps. Rest. Get 2 reps. Done.

A different version of this is what I call Time Subtraction. The amount of time you rest between sets is the amount of reps you have left to get to your target. For example, if your target is 50 and you get 30 reps, your rest period is 20 seconds. Say on the next set you get 10 more reps. This leaves you with 10 reps to go so rest 10 seconds then go again. If you get 4 more reps, and you have 6 left, rest 6 seconds.


7. Add Sets

These are the opposite of drop sets. Start with a light weight for high reps and add weight on progressive sets. This works the slow-twitch, higher rep fibers first, then the fast-twitch, powerful fibers. This technique works very well for calves as they recover very quickly. It also works very well with selectorized machines. You can combine this technique with drops sets, doing add and drop sets or drop and add sets like a pyramid.


8. Static Hold Weight Pyramiding

This technique only works on plate-loaded machines or on a barbell exercise with two spotters.

Start with a moderate weight that you can do a static contraction with for a long period of time. Hold that weight in the contracted position of the exercise you are working, e.g. pec deck.

Have a partner add plates to the machine while you continue to hold in that static position. Keep adding plates (small ones such as 2½'s, 5's, 7½'s or 10's work best, depending on the exercise and your strength levels) until the weight starts to drop. At that point, pull off one plate. Hold until it starts to drop again. Pull off one plate and hold. You may come to a point where your partner is pulling off weights as fast as he can just to keep up with your lagging strength.

Make sure you have effective communication such as a nod or a grunt when you want the next plate off or on. Continue this process until you end up at your original weight (you can continue to no weight if you want).

This is an incredibly intense static hold and will fatigue pretty much every muscle fiber in the target muscle group except for the explosive ones. To hit them as well, when you are the top of the pyramid using the heaviest weight, do as many partial, explosive reps as you can in the contracted position.

You may also wish to try this technique with a barbell and two spotters. Make sure that they add and remove weights simultaneously in order to allow you to keep the bar balanced.

For more information on other intensity techniques you can put to work in your training, go to:

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Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of the online personal training company BetterU, Inc. He has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been inventing new training techniques for more than 16 years. Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding eBooks including "Metabolic Surge - Rapid Fat Loss," "The Best Exercises You've Never Heard Of," "Gluteus to the Maximus - Build a Bigger Butt NOW!" and "The Best Abdominal Exercises