I was talking with my daughter and future son-in-law the other day. The subject moved to weight training quickly, as it usually does…
They both have been working out for a few years. He’s after bigger muscles, she’s after a shapely physique, muscle included.
They were quizzing me on the best exercises, like rows for back. “Dad, T-bar rows or one-arm dumbbell rows?”
“Well, your arms are pulling directly to the rear with both—straight back—so your back muscles are only minimally involved. You’re really hitting delts, working the rear head. Your trapezius muscles on your middle back aren’t even connected to your arms.”
They both looked at me like I’m insane, so I threw in a “however.”
“However, both of those rows do provide stretch overload for the traps. That’s a good growth stimulator. So do some rows, but don’t make it your primary back exercise….
“Use cable scapulae retractions for mid-back, shrugs for upper traps, and cable pull-ins for lats—not pulldowns, which can impinge your shoulder joints, similar to overhead presses.”
I mentioned my friend and colleague Doug Brignole, who recently won the Drug-Free Mr. Universe at age 59. He used only the ideal exercises exclusively to sculpt his impressive physique.
“Doug’s the man with the biomechanics knowledge. It took him years to put together his “ideal-move” check list. He explains it all in The Physics of Resistance Exercise, if you’re interested.”
They still had skeptical smirks. Might as well drop another of his observations on them: “Oh, and if you want to effectively work your chest, ditch the barbell bench presses.”
“What? I love bench presses. I’m pushing over 300.” (That was my future son-in-law, not my daughter, talking.)
“Well, your pecs pull your arms inward toward your breast bone, right? So at least use dumbbells to make that happen.”
My daughter spoke up: “But my upper arms are moving from out at the bottom to in toward my sternum as I push the bar up.”
Me: “Well, to a degree. But imagine you’re using a greased bar. Would your hands slide in or out as you push?”
“I guess out.”
“And that’s involving more triceps than pecs. Sure, your chest is working, just not as efficiently as with dumbbells.”
They both seemed to be getting irritated, which I can understand. If the information I was telling them was right, they had been doing things very inefficiently. In their minds, that means wrong.
“Look, I’ve made all those inefficient missteps too—a lot of them for over 40 years. But it’s a learning process. You’re trying to make your workouts as efficient as possible for your goals, so at least experiment in the gym with what I’m telling you.”
I think they got it, but I thought they still needed encouragement and clarity…
“You don’t have to throw out rows and barbell bench presses. For example, for back you can follow the ideal exercise with T-bar rows or cable rows for some mid-back stretch overload. In fact, I recommend it…
“And if you like trying to push big weight on barbell bench presses, keep at it. Just know that if you want to build pecs, maybe also do a more efficient pec move after, like cable chest presses or dumbbell decline presses.”
They looked somewhat relieved with a maybe-you’re-not-so-crazy eyebrow raise. To avoid a straight jacket, I decided to wait to drop the bomb about barbell squats. To be continued…
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Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
Steve Holman
Former Editor in Chief, Iron Man Magazine
www.X-Rep.com
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