The Half Kneeling DB press is particularly useful because it sets you up in a stable position that really highlights any errors. The lower back is in a more stable position that standing as we have one leg forward and have 3 points of contact to the ground, compared to our normal 2 in standing. It allows you to brace really hard and keep your back in neutral keeping your joints as stacked as possible. It primarily works the shoulders and triceps but the core has to work hard too.
If you have been going to the gym for any length of time, you’ll notice that other gym-goers have fancy belts, knee sleeves and other pieces of equipment. In this article, I’ll share the 5 essentials that I feel everyone should have in their gym bag. These will help you prepare, organise and make the most of your training in the gym helping squeeze out those marginal gains to help you towards your goals that bit quicker. Inevitably, there may be some things that don’t make the list which could have a lot of benefit for some but these are the things that I simply would not go to the gym without, if I had the choice. All of the equipment and accessories mentioned are available at Strength Shop. This is my personal list, let me know what accessories you would never go to the gym without in the comments below.
The Lat Pulldown is an upper body compound exercises that targets the pulling muscles of the back and arms. Pretty much every gym has one of these and that means pretty much everyone will have tried it. That means that like the Bench Press it is most often performed poorly or with little thought. The loadable nature of the Pulldown makes it perfect for total beginners as you can put on any weight you like, this overhead pulling motion is normally lacking and is very difficult to train outside of a gym setting unless you can do chin-ups (which very few can!). As the motion exactly replicates the pulling motion for a chin/pullup it is perfect for getting in higher volume muscle and strength work to assist with building towards your first bodyweight pullup.
The kettlebell swing is a great movement for the hips and posterior chain (back of the body). It is very common so we need to understand how to do it and why. It can be a tricky one, it is suitable for beginners if coached in an appropriate setting by someone who knows what they are doing. The fast nature of them movement however makes it a lot more complex than other hip hinge variations and so should only really be utilised once you can confidently perform movements like Romanian deadlift. It is good for power development, getting all of your muscles firing quickly and in co-ordination as well as for conditioning. When you have the intent to move something as quickly as possible, it is very good for power development and very tiring!
The back squat is generally accepted as the hold standard of the squatting pattern. It allows for essentially unlimited load progression to continue to develop muscle and strength. It is suitable for most people but you should be comfortably able to squat your bodyweight, be familiar with the movement and have the requisite shoulder and hip mobility before you think about loading this movement. It is the king of building strong quads, glutes and overall lower body strength.
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AuthorAllan Young is a Personal Trainer and coach educator in Glasgow who operates Strength Coach Glasgow and is a 4x Scottish Champion Olympic Weightlifter. Archives
March 2021
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