Bodybuilding Tips and Tricks

The Hanging Leg Raise is a great way to blast your abdominals, particularly the lower sections of the rectus abdominus. It’s always a good idea to work your lower abs early on in your abdominal routine (then move on to upper and obliques) as many of the lower ab movements are quite difficult and you’ll want to be as fresh as possible when performing them. Hanging Leg Raises are a favorite of mine because they place a tremendous amount of stress on the abs and high stress = great results. The key when performing this one is to keep the motion slow and controlled and be sure to NOT allow yourself to start using momentum and swing your legs up (as I see many people do) in order to accomplish your reps. The focus here should be feeling the burn in your abs, not just rushing through an inordinate amount of reps. Note: If leg raises seem too difficult for you, you may want to start out with hanging knee raises until your abs are stronger.

Performance: Hang vertically from a pull-up bar (or hanging sleeves or a vertical bench) with your knees slightly bent. Slowly lift your legs until they come slightly past parallel to the floor. Pause for a moment and then slowly lower your legs back to the start. When your legs are just short of the starting position, begin your next rep. This will be continuous tension on your abs and minimize the tendency to swing.

Muscle Emphasis: the entire front abdominal wall, particularly the lower sections of the rectus abdominus (lower abs)

If you’re new to cables, you might want to check out my Using Cables In Your Workout entry. One of my favorite cable exercises, cable curls are a great way to isolate and incinerate the biceps muscle. These can be done one arm at a time (as described here) or ith both arms together using a rope or cambered bar attachment. I perform one-arm cable curls near or at the end of my bicep workouts, sometimes using 21’s and sometimes doing them in straight sets. Either way the key here is to focusing on isolating the bicep (an objective cables are well-suited for) and really squeezing the hell out of it at the peak of the contraction. Also work on not letting your hand return completely to the starting position so you can make full use of the continuous tension provided by the cable apparatus. If you’re looking to etch some cuts in your bi’s, try cable curls on for size.

Performance: Stand facing a cable stack and grasp a D-handle attached to a low pulley in one hand. Turn your wrist outward (so it’s facing the weight stack) and stand slightly to the side so your working arm is in line with the stack, not your body. Concentrating on contracting your biceps, slowly curl the handle upwards. Hold the contraction at the top of the rep to get a nice squeeze happening. You also might want to twist your wrist slightly into your body (pinky of your hand moves toward your body) to put even more of a squeeze on the bicep at the top. Slowly lower the handle in a controlled motion to slightly higher than the start position (this will keep the tension on your biceps throughout the set). Repeat for reps. Some people like to bend their knees and lean into the weight stack for more balance and stability; I prefer to stand up straight. Try both out and see what you think.

Muscle Emphasis: biceps, secondary stress on brachialis and forearm flexors

Although push-ups may seem like too basic of an exercise to be very effective, this tried and true calesthenic movement can definitely build muscle and strength and cause you to work up a good sweat. To simulate the various pressing movements without weights or equipment, try raising either your hands (decline press) or feet (incline press; these are particularly difficult) in addition to the standard flat push-up. You can also change the width of your hands (a narrower “grip” places more focus on the triceps) or place your hands on “steps” so you can get a better stretch on your pecs by actually dipping below your hands. Anything to mix things up. I often do “diamond” push-ups when away from the gym or on the road (make a diamond/triangle shape with your index fingers and thumbs and do pushups that way). Once again, going slow and keeping focused and in good form are a must to get the most out of this simple exercise.

Performance: Push-ups are a pretty basic exercise that nearly everyone knows how to perform. The key is to lower and raise yourself in a controlled motion with a flat back (don’t sag in the middle).

Muscle Emphasis: pectorals, triceps, and anterior deltoids. Secondary emphasis is placed on the medial heads of the deltoids, the lats, and upper back muscles

Probably the most famous exercise of all time and the reason we have the phrase “Hey dude, how much you bench?” in our vernacular. Despite it’s notoriety however, there’s some dissension as to whether the flat-bench barbell press is simply an “ego” exercise or a legitimately effective pectoral mass-builder. Either way, you should definitely include flat bench presses in your chest routine at some point, whether you use them sparingly or as one of your main movements. As with back exercises (although to a lesser extent here), you really need to focus on tensing and squeezing with your chest when pressing. I found that my arms tended to do all of the work when I first started benching. Also, since the flat-bench barbell press is definitely a “macho” move, most guys try to lift waaaay too heavy on this one. As with all other exercises, this is the sign of a true amateur. Check your ego at the door and pick a weight you can control and will allow you to maintain good form. Who cares what the guy next to you thinks? He’s going to throw his back out or tear his shoulder or crap out on his workout plan entirely after a week or two. Be the minority: do things right, don’t worry about the hype.

Performance: Like the push-up, this is another one that most people are familiar with. Lie faceup on a flat bench and place your feet flat on the floor. Grab the bar with a slightly wider than shoulder-width overhand grip (palms facing toward your feet). Unrack the bar and lower it slowly to your chest (it should be in line with right around your nipple area). When the bar just touches your chest, press if forcefully upward and focusing on tensing and squeezing your pectoral muscles. Raise the weight until your arms almost (but not quite) lock out, then lower and repeat for reps.

Muscle Emphasis: pectorals (especially the lower and outer portions), triceps, and anterior deltoids. Secondary emphasis is placed on the medial heads of the deltoids, the lats, and upper back muscles

Skull Crushers (or lying French presses) are probably my favorite triceps exercise (definitely the one with the coolest name, at least) and one of the best ways to pump up your tri’s. You can do these with a straight barbell or the E-Z curl (cambered) bar, but the E-Z curl is definitely easier on your wrists. For me, I seem to “feel” French presses better when I use the E-Z curl bar, but try them both out and see what you think. Try to lift as heavy as you can when performing skull crushers, but (as usual) not so heavy that you go out of form. Perform the movement slowly and smoothly, focusing on feeling the contraction in your triceps. I like to pause a bit at the top and bottom of each rep (at the bottom to feel the stretch in my tri’s, at the top to give the little buggers a firm squeeze). Triceps are great because you can definitely “feel the burn” when they’re worked correctly. Do this one right and fry those babies.

Performance: Lie faceup on a weight bench, holding a barbell or an E-Z Curl bar at arms’ length above you. Keeping your upper arms stable and hinging just at your elbows, slowly bring the bar down in an arc towards your forehead, then return to the starting position. If possible, use a spotter for safety so this exercise doesn’t live up to its skull-crushing nickname.

Muscle Emphasis: primary emphasis is on the inner and medial heads of the tricep

Tricep pressdowns are another fundamental movement in your triceps routine. They can be done with a straight bar attachment, a V-bar attachment, or a rope attachment. I find the rope attachment to be more difficult as it requires you to add a bit more stabilization when performing the exercise, so pop on the rope if you want an extra challenge. Once again, form and focus is crucial here. I see many people (usually because they are trying to move too much weight) flare their elbows out to the side and turn the tricep pressdown into some sort of inverted bench pressing movement (it looks like they’re pressing down on the plunger of one of those cartoon dynamite detonators lol). To prevent this error in form (which will work your shoulders and chest more than your triceps), be sure to keep your elbows tight at your side and press your hands down in an arc, not straight up and down to the floor. Focus on contracting your triceps and feel the burn.

Muscle Emphasis: outer head of the triceps brachii, secondary emphasis is placed on the medial and innder heads.

Rows of any sort are great for adding thickness to your lats. They also target other muscles such as the trapezius and upper back. The bent-over barbell row is a particularly good mass-builder and should definitely be included in your back routine. Varying your grip on the barbell targets different areas of your back. An overhand grip (palms facing you) stresses the middle and upper lats as well as the trapezius and upper back. A reverse grip (palms facing away from you) targets the lower lats. If your back is weak, you may want to start out doing bent-over barbell rows on a Smith machine to make things easier. Make sure the machine allows you to lower the bar to full extension so you get a nice stretch in your lats at the bottom of each rep. If you aren’t getting a good enough stretch, try standing on an aerobic step (or something similar) to raise yourself off the ground. Eventually, work your way up to performing bent-over barbell rows without a Smith machine; you’ll get a much better workout if you do.

Muscle Emphasis: primary emphasis is on the latissimus dorsi, secondary stress is placed on the arms, traps, erectors, delts.

In effect, pullups are another form of lat pulldown. Instead of pulling the bar down, you’re pulling your body up. Once again, form is paramount here. Try to keep your hands and your body in the same vertical plane (the tendency is to arch your back outward when the going gets tough). Vary your grip (from narrow to wide and everything in between) to hit your lats from a variety of directions. The closer your grip, the lower the emphasis on the lats; a wider grip focuses more on the upper lats. Reverse grip tends to put more stress on the biceps. Be sure to focus on contracting your back muscles for each rep, and let yourself get a good lat stretch at the bottom of each rep (yes this makes it harder, that’s the point!). This will give you a better and stronger contraction when you pull yourself up.

Lat Pulldowns are the quintessential exercise for adding width to your lats. These will help you create the flared “winged” appearance bodybuilders possess when viewed from behind. This, along with well-developed delts (shoulders), also has the added benefit of making your waist seem smaller than it actually is. Lat pulldowns (as with most back exercises) also target your biceps to some degree and upper back muscles are incorporated as well. Despite the fact that nearly everyone knows that lat pulldowns are a good exercise for developing your back, this movement seems to be one of the most poorly executed form-wise (at least among gym-goers I’ve observed). The key to the lat pulldown (described fully below) is keeping your back straight throughout the movement. Many people lean back (often because they’re trying to pull down much too heavy of a weight) and this turns the movement into more of a row, a different exercise all together. So, be cognizant of keeping your back erect through every rep. When you pull the bar down, it also helps to focus on contracting your back muscles, as opposed to just letting your arms do all the work. Varying your grip on the bar (from close to wide and reverse to overhand) will hit your lats from different directions for full back development. The closer your grip, the lower the emphasis on the lats; a wider grip focuses more on the upper lats. Reverse grip tends to put more stress on the biceps in addition to the lats.

Muscle Emphasis: latissimus dorsi, posterior delts, biceps, brachialis, and forearm flexors

Hammer (the name comes from the grip you use when performing them) curls are a great way to strengthen your wrists and build up your forearms, in addition to targeting the brachialis part of your bicep, so they’re a great addition to any biceps routine. If you’d like to strengthen your wrists and forearms, but don’t have the time or the inclination to set aside time specifically for wrist/forearm training, hammer curls are a good exercise to drop into your biceps routine. You can perform hammer curls seated or standing, one arm at a time, alternating, or both arms together. Another variation are To-The-Front Hammer Curls in which you curl the weight across the front of your body as opposed to the normal upwards arc of a typical curl.

Performance: Stand (or sit) with your back erect, holding two dumbbells in a neutral grip (palms facing each other). Keeping your elbow and upper arm stationary, slowly curl one (or both) of the dumbbells towards your shoulder without turning your wrists. Pause and squeeze at the top of the rep, then slowly lower to the starting position and repeat. To perform To-The-Front Hammer Curls, assume the same start position,then curl one of the dumbbells (you’ll have to do this version one arm at a time for obvious reasons) in front of your chest without twisting or bending your wrists. As you reach the top of the rep, lean slightly into the dumbbell to ensure that your arm and the weight clear your body. Squeeze the muscle hard, then lower the weight slowly and repeat with the other arm.

Muscle Emphasis: brachialis, forearm flexors