Bodybuilding Training: Barbell Rowing Alternatives
July 28, 2009 by Bodybuilding and Weight Training Tips
Filed under Weight Training & Equipment
Barbell rowing has been the primary exercise to thicken the upper back for a long time. While this is an excellent exercise, it is not the only option. Using a large selection of back exercises in your routine will assist in recruiting many kinds of different muscles in the back, not to mention adding a little flavor to your work out as well. The following are some basic exercises that are very beneficial to the back.
Hammer Strength Machine Rows
This is widely used in the gym for a couple of reasons. First of all, they make the trainer maintain the correct range of movement during the exercise. There are no variables, it stays the same throughout the whole motion, and you can’t cheat. There is a constant path of motion. Second of all, the exercise itself is really safe. For a lot of the barbell and dumbbell exercises, the first heavy lift can lead to back injuries. Since the machine controls the entire motion, the chance of an injury is very low.
Cable Rows
This exercise lets the trainer have constant tension on the back muscles. There isn’t any time to rest when the weight stops moving. The bar places the exact amount of tension during every aspect of the lift.
Dumbbell Rows
These are a very popular choice because they let the trainer single out the lat muscle on the side of the body on which the exercise is concentrated. The dumbbell can be pulled up as far as the trainer wants, so the movements range has practically no limit. This is a very beneficial exercise for bodybuilders who are training their back.
Incline Dumbbell Rows
This exercise is almost identical to dumbbell rows, except now the trainer is lying face down on an incline bench. This will let the body remain tight while the lats lift up the weight from a steeper angle, igniting more of a variety of muscle fibers than normal dumbbell rows.
Two Arm Dumbbell Rows
This exercise can reduce the amount of focus a good trainer usually applies to an exercise. This is because they are now using both arms at the same time. The main attraction of this exercise is that it lets each arm be trained the same way. Some trainers will favor one arm over the other when doing exercises, which can lead to proportion issues in the future.
T-Bar Rows
This exercise is done on the T-bar machine. A lot of top-level bodybuilders use this exercise because it gets gains for the thickness of the center back more than most other exercises.
Thanks to Dane Fletcher for contributing this article to our Bodybuilding blog:
Hammer Strength Machine Rows
This is widely used in the gym for a couple of reasons. First of all, they make the trainer maintain the correct range of movement during the exercise. There are no variables, it stays the same throughout the whole motion, and you can’t cheat. There is a constant path of motion. Second of all, the exercise itself is really safe. For a lot of the barbell and dumbbell exercises, the first heavy lift can lead to back injuries. Since the machine controls the entire motion, the chance of an injury is very low.
Cable Rows
This exercise lets the trainer have constant tension on the back muscles. There isn’t any time to rest when the weight stops moving. The bar places the exact amount of tension during every aspect of the lift.
Dumbbell Rows
These are a very popular choice because they let the trainer single out the lat muscle on the side of the body on which the exercise is concentrated. The dumbbell can be pulled up as far as the trainer wants, so the movements range has practically no limit. This is a very beneficial exercise for bodybuilders who are training their back.
Incline Dumbbell Rows
This exercise is almost identical to dumbbell rows, except now the trainer is lying face down on an incline bench. This will let the body remain tight while the lats lift up the weight from a steeper angle, igniting more of a variety of muscle fibers than normal dumbbell rows.
Two Arm Dumbbell Rows
This exercise can reduce the amount of focus a good trainer usually applies to an exercise. This is because they are now using both arms at the same time. The main attraction of this exercise is that it lets each arm be trained the same way. Some trainers will favor one arm over the other when doing exercises, which can lead to proportion issues in the future.
T-Bar Rows
This exercise is done on the T-bar machine. A lot of top-level bodybuilders use this exercise because it gets gains for the thickness of the center back more than most other exercises.
Thanks to Dane Fletcher for contributing this article to our Bodybuilding blog:
Dane Fletcher is the world-wide authority on bodybuilding and steroids. He has coached countless athletes all over the world. To read more of his work, please visit either http://www.BodybuildingToday.com or http://www.SteroidsToday.com
How To Be The Best Spotter in The Gym
June 29, 2009 by Bodybuilding and Weight Training Tips
Filed under Weight Training & Equipment
Spotting is an important aspect of weightlifting safety, yet it’s not something that is ever taught to gymgoers. Having a spotter gives you security and a little extra help to push yourself harder.
Here are some guidelines and rules-of-thumb, both for spotters and for lifters, that will make you a much better (and much safer) spotter.
1. Ask how the person you are spotting wants to be spotted. Some people, when doing dumbell exercises such as the bench press, prefer to be spotted at the elbows by pushing up from underneath with their elbows in your palms, while others prefer the wrists (pulling up on them). Neither way is necessarily right or wrong, it is a matter of preference.
2. Determine the rep range the person is going to be working in. If you start spotting at five reps and they’re doing ten, you’ve just ruined a set. If, on the other hand, you had to start spotting at five and they said ten, they may be expecting another five forced reps out of you.
3. Never take the weight away from the person (unless they really need it taken away for safety reasons). This is especially true on barbell exercises when you’re spotting on the bar. Do not pull or push so hard on the bar (unless they ask) that it takes the tension off the muscles. Good spotting means you just add enough force to keep the bar moving. When spotting exercises such as curls, spot by placing your hands under the lifters hands and pushing up on their hands rather than lifting on the bar itself. This will ensure you don’t take the weight away as you spot.
4. Find out if the person is going to do any set extension techniques, e.g. negatives, drop sets, forced reps, etc. You should know exactly what’s going on so you can be prepared for it. You don’t want to mistake an intensity technique for muscular failure that requires a spot.
5. Don’t scream encouragement at the person without first making sure they want that kind of thing. It can be very distracting and not everyone likes it or needs it.
6. When spotting on bench press, be sure to wipe the sweat off your face beforehand so you don’t drip on the person during their set (not a nice thing to experience). Also, don’t lean over them excessively. This can be distracting.
7. As well on bench, ask if the person wants help lifting the bar off the rack. Also, do not spot with one arm in a sort of one arm deadlift. This is a poor balance point and the pull is often uneven. This unbalancing can cause failure for the person lifting the weight.
8. Spot around the waist on squats, not on the bar. Lower yourself as they go down and follow them up. Help them rack the bar if they need help but never push them forward if they’re not ready to move.
9. When it is possible for you to spot yourself (e.g. 1 arm exercises, standing on a chair for chins, etc.), do it. You know better then anyone how much help you need. On the other hand, if you have a tendency to go easy on yourself and bail out too soon, get a spotter to force you to work.
10. When spotting on dumbell bench press, do not push inward on the elbows or the dumbells may cave in on their chest. Always push up.
11. There are exercises where you shouldn’t spot people, e.g. deadlifts, hyperextensions, crunches, power cleans, etc. If someone asks you to spot them on these, politely decline.
12. Sometimes a person may ask you to hand them a dumbell on exercises like dumbell bench, incline presses, shoulder presses, etc. Pick up the dumbell with your hands on the weight plate, not the handle itself. If you pick the weight up by the handle and try to hand it over that way, you and the lifter will have to try and somehow trade hand positions on the handle before they can lift the weight. This is not safe at all even with light weights but especially with maximal weights. An easy way to lift a heavy dumbell up to your shoulder level so you can hand it over is to pick it up first on the outside of the plates with both hands, then deadlift it to a standing position. Now rest the handle of the dumbell on one of your thighs, kick that leg up, throwing the dumbell up to your upper chest. Set it in their hand from there.
13. On some machines such as the pec deck, for example, it is better to spot by lifting the weight stack itself (watch your hands!). This keeps the tension on the muscle far better during the set. Do not place your hands underneath the plates, however. Just grasp the weight plates on the sides and push up to help. This should only be used for light help, not for full-power forced reps.
14. When using two spotters (e.g. for heavy squats or bench), have one at each end of the bar and ensure they pull up simultaneously. An unbalanced load can mean trouble.
15. If you need a spotter on every set of every exercise you do, you are either working too hard or not hard enough. On one hand, doing too many forced reps will rapidly overtrain you, while on the other hand, letting the spotter do much of the work will prevent progress. Try doing a few sets completely on your own (without any spot at all) to see if you are actually doing all the work. It is not good to be overly dependent on spotting outside of what is necessary for safety reasons. If you can’t lift the weight by yourself then you shouldn’t be doing it at all. The exception to this is negative training and legitimate forced reps.
16. A good spotting technique is the finger spot. If, for example, you are spotting someone on bench press and the bar is slowing down and almost stopped, use only your two index fingers underneath the bar. This is often more of a mental boost for the lifter than an actual spot. At this point, apply just enough pressure to keep the bar moving. If the fingers aren’t enough, grip the bar and continue to help just enough to keep it moving. This will make the lifter do much more of the work themselves. They’ll either love your spotting or never ask you to do it again!
17. When spotting, ease up as the lifter moves past the sticking point and into the stronger range of motion. For example, when spotting on bench, help just through the sticking point, then, as the leverage improves, reduce your help as the bar comes up, letting up completely as the bar comes to the top. To increase the value of the set, you may even want to lean on the bar a little as it comes to the top (check with your lifter first before doing this). This will help increase lockout power.
18. If you see someone struggling with a weight, don’t run over and yank the weight up. This can be dangerous for the trainer and tends to make people angry. Make your presence known but don’t help until the trainer signals you for help. If you see someone being crushed under a bench press, however, that is when you should run over and help without asking.
19. When spotting, focus all your attention on the set, no matter who walks by or who talks to you. You are responsible for ensuring the safety of the lifter.
20. Don’t spot until it is absolutely necessary. The most productive part of a set is near the end where the lifter is struggling with the weight. By helping too soon, you will reduce the effectiveness of the set.
21. Don’t base the amount weight you use totally on the strength of your spotter. You should be using your own strength for your sets. This is not to say you shouldn’t have a strong spotter, though. Another exception is dumbell spotting where the spotter must hand the weight to you. Obviously, you’ll need to find someone strong enough to be able to do that effectively.
22. Machines that have foot levers to help you get the weight into position can be used to spot yourself. If you can get the coordination right, you can use the lever to catapult the weight out of the bottom position.
23. Spotting is okay for beginners learning form and limitations but only for safety, not for excess reps. This is one of the major mistakes beginning trainers make when starting a training program. Overuse of forced reps, i.e. unnecessary spotting, can lead to burnout and excessive soreness. In these cases, spotting should only be used to keep the lifter safe, not to push them harder.
As you can see, there’s more to spotting than simply pulling on a bar or pushing on the elbows. A good spot should maximize the results and safety of the lifter. Remember these guidelines the next time someone asks you for a spot or the next you ask someone else for a spot!
Thanks to Nick Nilsson for contributing this article to our Bodybuilding blog:
Here are some guidelines and rules-of-thumb, both for spotters and for lifters, that will make you a much better (and much safer) spotter.
1. Ask how the person you are spotting wants to be spotted. Some people, when doing dumbell exercises such as the bench press, prefer to be spotted at the elbows by pushing up from underneath with their elbows in your palms, while others prefer the wrists (pulling up on them). Neither way is necessarily right or wrong, it is a matter of preference.
2. Determine the rep range the person is going to be working in. If you start spotting at five reps and they’re doing ten, you’ve just ruined a set. If, on the other hand, you had to start spotting at five and they said ten, they may be expecting another five forced reps out of you.
3. Never take the weight away from the person (unless they really need it taken away for safety reasons). This is especially true on barbell exercises when you’re spotting on the bar. Do not pull or push so hard on the bar (unless they ask) that it takes the tension off the muscles. Good spotting means you just add enough force to keep the bar moving. When spotting exercises such as curls, spot by placing your hands under the lifters hands and pushing up on their hands rather than lifting on the bar itself. This will ensure you don’t take the weight away as you spot.
4. Find out if the person is going to do any set extension techniques, e.g. negatives, drop sets, forced reps, etc. You should know exactly what’s going on so you can be prepared for it. You don’t want to mistake an intensity technique for muscular failure that requires a spot.
5. Don’t scream encouragement at the person without first making sure they want that kind of thing. It can be very distracting and not everyone likes it or needs it.
6. When spotting on bench press, be sure to wipe the sweat off your face beforehand so you don’t drip on the person during their set (not a nice thing to experience). Also, don’t lean over them excessively. This can be distracting.
7. As well on bench, ask if the person wants help lifting the bar off the rack. Also, do not spot with one arm in a sort of one arm deadlift. This is a poor balance point and the pull is often uneven. This unbalancing can cause failure for the person lifting the weight.
8. Spot around the waist on squats, not on the bar. Lower yourself as they go down and follow them up. Help them rack the bar if they need help but never push them forward if they’re not ready to move.
9. When it is possible for you to spot yourself (e.g. 1 arm exercises, standing on a chair for chins, etc.), do it. You know better then anyone how much help you need. On the other hand, if you have a tendency to go easy on yourself and bail out too soon, get a spotter to force you to work.
10. When spotting on dumbell bench press, do not push inward on the elbows or the dumbells may cave in on their chest. Always push up.
11. There are exercises where you shouldn’t spot people, e.g. deadlifts, hyperextensions, crunches, power cleans, etc. If someone asks you to spot them on these, politely decline.
12. Sometimes a person may ask you to hand them a dumbell on exercises like dumbell bench, incline presses, shoulder presses, etc. Pick up the dumbell with your hands on the weight plate, not the handle itself. If you pick the weight up by the handle and try to hand it over that way, you and the lifter will have to try and somehow trade hand positions on the handle before they can lift the weight. This is not safe at all even with light weights but especially with maximal weights. An easy way to lift a heavy dumbell up to your shoulder level so you can hand it over is to pick it up first on the outside of the plates with both hands, then deadlift it to a standing position. Now rest the handle of the dumbell on one of your thighs, kick that leg up, throwing the dumbell up to your upper chest. Set it in their hand from there.
13. On some machines such as the pec deck, for example, it is better to spot by lifting the weight stack itself (watch your hands!). This keeps the tension on the muscle far better during the set. Do not place your hands underneath the plates, however. Just grasp the weight plates on the sides and push up to help. This should only be used for light help, not for full-power forced reps.
14. When using two spotters (e.g. for heavy squats or bench), have one at each end of the bar and ensure they pull up simultaneously. An unbalanced load can mean trouble.
15. If you need a spotter on every set of every exercise you do, you are either working too hard or not hard enough. On one hand, doing too many forced reps will rapidly overtrain you, while on the other hand, letting the spotter do much of the work will prevent progress. Try doing a few sets completely on your own (without any spot at all) to see if you are actually doing all the work. It is not good to be overly dependent on spotting outside of what is necessary for safety reasons. If you can’t lift the weight by yourself then you shouldn’t be doing it at all. The exception to this is negative training and legitimate forced reps.
16. A good spotting technique is the finger spot. If, for example, you are spotting someone on bench press and the bar is slowing down and almost stopped, use only your two index fingers underneath the bar. This is often more of a mental boost for the lifter than an actual spot. At this point, apply just enough pressure to keep the bar moving. If the fingers aren’t enough, grip the bar and continue to help just enough to keep it moving. This will make the lifter do much more of the work themselves. They’ll either love your spotting or never ask you to do it again!
17. When spotting, ease up as the lifter moves past the sticking point and into the stronger range of motion. For example, when spotting on bench, help just through the sticking point, then, as the leverage improves, reduce your help as the bar comes up, letting up completely as the bar comes to the top. To increase the value of the set, you may even want to lean on the bar a little as it comes to the top (check with your lifter first before doing this). This will help increase lockout power.
18. If you see someone struggling with a weight, don’t run over and yank the weight up. This can be dangerous for the trainer and tends to make people angry. Make your presence known but don’t help until the trainer signals you for help. If you see someone being crushed under a bench press, however, that is when you should run over and help without asking.
19. When spotting, focus all your attention on the set, no matter who walks by or who talks to you. You are responsible for ensuring the safety of the lifter.
20. Don’t spot until it is absolutely necessary. The most productive part of a set is near the end where the lifter is struggling with the weight. By helping too soon, you will reduce the effectiveness of the set.
21. Don’t base the amount weight you use totally on the strength of your spotter. You should be using your own strength for your sets. This is not to say you shouldn’t have a strong spotter, though. Another exception is dumbell spotting where the spotter must hand the weight to you. Obviously, you’ll need to find someone strong enough to be able to do that effectively.
22. Machines that have foot levers to help you get the weight into position can be used to spot yourself. If you can get the coordination right, you can use the lever to catapult the weight out of the bottom position.
23. Spotting is okay for beginners learning form and limitations but only for safety, not for excess reps. This is one of the major mistakes beginning trainers make when starting a training program. Overuse of forced reps, i.e. unnecessary spotting, can lead to burnout and excessive soreness. In these cases, spotting should only be used to keep the lifter safe, not to push them harder.
As you can see, there’s more to spotting than simply pulling on a bar or pushing on the elbows. A good spot should maximize the results and safety of the lifter. Remember these guidelines the next time someone asks you for a spot or the next you ask someone else for a spot!
Thanks to Nick Nilsson for contributing this article to our Bodybuilding blog:
Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of BetterU, Inc. and has been inventing new training techniques and exercises for 17+ years. Nick has written many training books including “Muscle Explosion! 28 Days To Maximum Mass” & “Metabolic Surge - Rapid Fat Loss” - http://www.fitness-ebooks.com
Increase the Number of Pull-ups You Can Do By 50% in One Day
June 12, 2009 by Bodybuilding and Weight Training Tips
Filed under About Bodybuilding
Pull ups are hard, but they are one of the few true tests of strength. I say this because some powerlifters can bench 600 or squat 800, but they also weigh 300+ and can barely manage 5 pull ups. This is one of the few exercises where you can measure relative fitness by comparing the ratio of the number of pull ups completed to bodyweight.
Some of you might get mad at me, talking about powerlifters training for strength rather than endurance, but the fact of the matter is that when I was powerlifting I could still do 15 pull ups at 195 lbs.
Now, let me take you back to high school gym class; the year was 1993, I was 15 years old. Mr. Buatti the gym teacher, who happens to bare a striking resemblance to Coach Buzzcut, called my name to stand up in front of the class and do an many pull ups as I can. The football jocks each knocked out from 10 to 20 and the wiry tough kid with only 3 fingers on one hand completed 14 of them. I got 3. It was humiliating.
Now we come back to the present. Recently I started doing pull ups again after a year layoff. On my first set, I got 5 reps. A week later I was up to 8 reps. Just yesterday I did a set of 11 reps. But I want more. I have done 18 pull ups before; I have also done 5 pull ups with a 45 lb plate hanging off a belt. So, how can I get back to that place? How can YOU get to that place?
The Pyramid Pull Up Strategy
This is the description of a little program that I have used to increase my pull ups quickly in the past.
Here are the instructions:
1. Start by doing one pull up.
2. Rest for 10 seconds, but don’t hang there. Stand on something and take all the tension off your arms and back.
3. Do one pull up more than you did in the previous step.
4. Go back to step 2 and repeat until you can’t complete the required reps.
5. Take a break for 2 minutes and do it again. Complete 2-3 sets.
You might feel weak because normally you can do 10 or 12 pull ups in a set, and you finish this exercise with a set of 6. We need to look at an example to see why this is so effective.
Normally I could do 3 sets of 11, 9, and 7 reps for a total of 27 reps at bodyweight. Using the pyramid I ended up doing sets of 1,2,3,4,5,6 then 1,2,3,4,3 and 1,2,3,1 for a total of 41 reps at bodyweight in nearly the same amount of time. That’s nearly a 50% increase in the number of reps in just one day!
Which protocol do you think will force your body to adapt and grow stronger?
Try completing a pull up pyramid twice a week for 1 month then see what your new 1 set max is. Over the course of 4 weeks I have gone from 5 reps to 11 reps by doing the pyramid once a week and 1 regular set of pull ups every other morning.
Thanks to Steve Hanson for contributing this article to our Bodybuilding blog:
Some of you might get mad at me, talking about powerlifters training for strength rather than endurance, but the fact of the matter is that when I was powerlifting I could still do 15 pull ups at 195 lbs.
Now, let me take you back to high school gym class; the year was 1993, I was 15 years old. Mr. Buatti the gym teacher, who happens to bare a striking resemblance to Coach Buzzcut, called my name to stand up in front of the class and do an many pull ups as I can. The football jocks each knocked out from 10 to 20 and the wiry tough kid with only 3 fingers on one hand completed 14 of them. I got 3. It was humiliating.
Now we come back to the present. Recently I started doing pull ups again after a year layoff. On my first set, I got 5 reps. A week later I was up to 8 reps. Just yesterday I did a set of 11 reps. But I want more. I have done 18 pull ups before; I have also done 5 pull ups with a 45 lb plate hanging off a belt. So, how can I get back to that place? How can YOU get to that place?
The Pyramid Pull Up Strategy
This is the description of a little program that I have used to increase my pull ups quickly in the past.
Here are the instructions:
1. Start by doing one pull up.
2. Rest for 10 seconds, but don’t hang there. Stand on something and take all the tension off your arms and back.
3. Do one pull up more than you did in the previous step.
4. Go back to step 2 and repeat until you can’t complete the required reps.
5. Take a break for 2 minutes and do it again. Complete 2-3 sets.
You might feel weak because normally you can do 10 or 12 pull ups in a set, and you finish this exercise with a set of 6. We need to look at an example to see why this is so effective.
Normally I could do 3 sets of 11, 9, and 7 reps for a total of 27 reps at bodyweight. Using the pyramid I ended up doing sets of 1,2,3,4,5,6 then 1,2,3,4,3 and 1,2,3,1 for a total of 41 reps at bodyweight in nearly the same amount of time. That’s nearly a 50% increase in the number of reps in just one day!
Which protocol do you think will force your body to adapt and grow stronger?
Try completing a pull up pyramid twice a week for 1 month then see what your new 1 set max is. Over the course of 4 weeks I have gone from 5 reps to 11 reps by doing the pyramid once a week and 1 regular set of pull ups every other morning.
Thanks to Steve Hanson for contributing this article to our Bodybuilding blog:
Steve Hanson has 10 years experience in the fields of exercise science and sports nutrition. He writes articles on all forms of athletic training and nutritional theories. View the blog to learn more about your favorite exercise and nutrition topics.
