30 Exercises on Becoming Wonder Woman

8/12/2019 30 Exercises on Becoming Wonder Woman

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30 Exercises on Becoming a Wonder Woman

www.InspiredFitStrong.comCopyright 2013

Table of Contents

1.Disclaimer32.Testimonials....43.About Me..104.Introduction...155.Compound Exercises.236.Pulling Exercises...797.Core Exercises...928.Core Stabilization Exercises..100


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Disclaimer

I (Ines Subashka) strongly recommend that you

consult with your physician before beginning any

exercise program.

You should be in good physical condition and be able

to participate in the exercise.

I (Ines Subashka) am not a licensed medical care

provider and represents that it has no expertise in

diagnosing, examining, or treating medical conditions

of any kind, or in determining the effect of any

specific exercise on a medical condition.

You should understand that when participating in

any exercise or exercise program, there is the

possibility of physical injury.

If you engage in this exercise or exercise program,

you agree that you do so at your own risk, are

voluntarily participating in these activities, assume all

risk of injury to yourself, and agree to release and

discharge me (Ines Subashka) from any and all claims

or causes of action, known or unknown, arising out of

the content mentioned below

.


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Testimonials

Read the stories of other women like you and how

they gained their confidence back.

Alisia Kovacheva

I was a follower of Ines for a long time, but I never

found the courage to start working out with her. One

day I decided that I wanted to become fitter and

healthier because I was getting fatter with eachpassing day. Initially I was scared and everything

seemed so hard. The time it took others to finish a


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workout, was the time it took me just to complete the

warm up. But as the time went by, I was getting

better. The results became obvious and the fat was

melting off. I felt better and the Facebook page,

together with the daily posts kept me motivated.

Then I had a moment, when I became worried about

getting bulky. I like defined muscles, but everybody

told me I will become muscular as a man. And thats

when Ines posted one of her articles about womenand lifting weights, where I saw the video of a

beautiful woman- a bikini model. She said that she

was scared of weights, but she decided to give it a try

and if she doesnt like it she could always back off. I

followed her advice and Ive never looked back!

Ive been working out like this for two years and I amfar from bulky or too muscular. I and people around

me find my body to be athletic, strong and sexy and I

feel healthier.

Maya Zlatanova

Ive always believed that people are good on the

inside and instead of getting older, with time,they get

prettier and stronger. When I first met Ines, she was

an intelligent girl, who knew where she was going

and has made her decision of the life she wanted to

have and the kind of people that she wanted to be

surrouned with. Now, a few months later, she has


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become a really beautiful woman, a great

businessman and a role model for all of us.And this

transformation is not only because of her perfect body

or positive attitude, it's because she is one of the rare

people recognizing their mission to lead others in

their quest for a better life, by helping them find their

path to health and happiness. The training with Ina is

more than just exercises, it is attitude, belief. It is a

way to become true to your body and yourself. Iadmire her dedication and perseverance and

everything she does-this is what I call success- not just

having ideas, but making them real. Thank you, Ines,

for giving me the opportunity of being a part of

something so real and special!-

Milena Karpacheva

For me working out is my sacred time. It is the place

of harmony, strength, self-discovery. The moment

when I am all by myself and I go on a journey to the

furthest corners of my soul. Ive been through a lot of

mental states, while working out. Theyve all helped

me grow and become better. But just now, I can say

that I feel I am doing my best. And the reason for this

is called ,Ines Subashka.

She hasnt invented something revolutionary, but she

teaches you how to listen to your body, how to be

conscious, how to work out just for yourself, while


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still fighting to be stronger, better, closer to your best

potential.

I was a successful competitor. I was strong,

motivated, and I still am. But I wasnt even half of

what I am now and what I know I can become. Youd

ask why? Because when you work out for yourself

you are always motivated to give your best. It doesnt

matter who will beat, if you cant conquer your own

self.

And exactly this point of view, crossed my path with

Ines. In her, I see a mirror, a teacher, who is

flourishing in front of my eyes- as a person and an

athlete. And I am just floating on the current,

following the steps, because every fight is important,every day matters in the quest of achieving my best

self!

Ines is the motivator, the spice, that was missing in

my life, so I can find the courage to make one step

forward, while in the same time backing off to take a

more critical view on myself. I even got mad atmyself, because I knew I could be more- I saw it in

her eyes, and thats when I realized I needed more

time, patience and consistency.

I could hear how she was talking to me without

uttering a sound you are doing great, but you can

do it even better and I liked it, because I dont want


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to get to a point where I wont have more room to

grow.

Thank you, Ines! You are the real proof for my belief,

that small things, add up for great success!-

Dolya Pipileva


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Before I met Ines, I used to do ineffective cardio andmy nutrition consisted of just chicken twice a week, a

lot of doughy products and sweets. Initially, I was a

bit hesitant and nervous, because I wasnt used to

avoiding some foods, but the biggest worry came

from the idea of lifting weights. I was afraid I will

become too muscular and lose my feminine look. I

was afraid that I might have the opposite of the

desired effect. That is why for a long time, I was just

following Ines publications, but I nevertook an

action. I read one of her posts about the benefits of

lifting weights for women and I decided I had

nothing to lose. Thats when I started lifting weights

with her and the only thing I lost is the unwanted fatand the inches from my butt and thighs, that were

really problematic spots for me. Ive been working

out with Ines, for about an year and Ive never felt or

looked better. And the most important thing is that

my health improved and I forgot what it is to be sick.

Besides that I do not need to starve anymore- I eat

real food, as much as I need and I dont worry I willgain weight. Ines is beautiful and motivating and she

hasnt stopped being by my side, believing in me,

even when I lost faith in myself. I am so thankful for

her. I am happy I know Ines and that I made the

decision to work out with her, because this step

changed the quality and the direction of my life.


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About Me

My name is Ines Subashka. My passion for sports and

nutrition comes from an early age. Ive played almost

any sport you could imagine. You name it, I played it!

I am a certified personal trainer and I am on a mission

to spread my workout and nutrition philosophy.

Somewhere along the way, we stopped eating real

food. We are troubled to recognize basic, natural, and

nutritious fare, instead plucking processed, chemical

products off of store shelves and calling it food. My

goal is to help as many people as I could, pay

attention to the nutrition choices they make.


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I am a strong believer that no matter if you are a

professional athlete, a teacher, marketing director or

whatever, we all have the same body needs and we

all need to workout in a way that includes intensity,

variety and functionality.

I firmly believe that women arent designed to sit at

the hairdresser saloon all day long, reading fashion

magazines and admiring the skinny-fat bodies from

the coversand later on starving to death in order to

have that robbed from life look. Instead Id take every

woman with the notion of the mass media-induced

ideals of beauty and Id show them what true beauty

looks like.

Beautiful women are strong! Their bodies are nice andcurvy. They have muscles- the fruit of their hard

work and dedication in the gym! They are capable of

facing everything that our demanding life serves

them. They are aware that skinny girls from the

covers are just a mean trick played by the marketing

world, in order to sell useless products, created by

people hungry for money. Beautiful women areconfident, and arent tortured from an insecurity that

overtakes their life. They aint scared to look

themselves in the mirror-smile and be proud of what

they see! Beautiful women lift weights!

I was a professional basketball player for 6 years.

Basketball was what I ate, slept and lived through! I

was on the Bulgarian National team for the whole


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time I played basketball. Ive won every single award

there is on a national level. I won an MVP award in

the WAB camp in 2005. I also went to play overseas in

USA, when I was 15 years old. There I won the award

Newcommer of the year. Later on I came back to

Bulgaria and in 2007 I became MVP at the Balcan

games. I was a young athlete with a lot of potential

and big dreamsand unfortunately with pretty weak

shoulders. After I dislocated both my shoulders-fivetimes I stopped playing basketball.


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Sports were still my passion. I couldnt bare the

thought that I was done with my dreams and my

goals. I needed to put the anger and the pain I felt

into something, so what could be better than

swimming. Thus, I started swimming and for about

3years I was a swimmer. Swimming helped me a lot

to recover from the injuries but I felt like it wasnt

what I was born to do. So I decided to keep on

searching.

thats how I found crossfit. Since then I decided that if

I couldnt be the professional athlete I dreamed about,

I could transfer everything I learned through my

experience and help others reach their goals. Thats


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how everything started and thats how I hope my life

will keep on goinghelping people achieve their

athletic goalshelping them make their life

betterand just hoping to make a difference


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Introduction

If you are reading this book, chances are:

YOUvetried every mainstream training program, and no

matter how hard you worked out, how many hours

youve dedicated on the treadmill, on the stepper and

how many sit-ups youve done, you didnt get even close

to the body of your dreams.

And now you are feeling in a stalemate.

When everything youve been taught about women and

working out doesnt seem to work, then your last choice is

to try exactly the opposite.

And in this case, the mass media has thaught you that

women should eat less, do more cardio and lift pink

dumbbells, if they want to be fit and lean. But thats not

how things work out in reality.

Thats why with this book I amgoing to challenge yourbeliefs. I am going to help you go out of your comfort zone

and try everything youve been avoiding until now- lifting

weights.

And I am not talking about pink dumbbells. I am talking

about lifting some heavier dumbbells, doing basic,

compound movements.


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I am going to ask you to say goodbye to the long,

countless hours of cardio, and greet short, intense

workouts.

And before you think Ive gone nuts, dont rush with the

judgement.

Dont close the book and keep on reading my story

Because Ive been there!

I know exactly how you feel, because I was one of those

women.

Ive spent most of my teenage years, desperately trying to

become fitter and leaner. Ive tried everything in order to

get nice, defined abs and a sexy, athletic body. And the

more I tried, the further I got from it.

Until I had nothing more to lose and I was challenged to

try what women have been told is just for men- lifting

weights;doing squats, deadlifts, push- ups and pull ups.


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How Did Everything Start?

I will never forget the fear of getting big and bulky.

I will never forget the days, when I went to the gym, did

the shortet, most intense workout, composed of just

basic, compound movements. That was the best time, Ive

ever had in the gym, and yet when I got home I looked

myself in the mirror and I was scared to death how this

type of training will reflect on my appearance.

Everybody around me kept on telling me that I was nuts,

and that I will become masculine and bulky.

But somewhere deep inside, I knew that I was on the

right track.

I somehow knew that this was my ticket to the athletic and

fit body, Ive been dreaming for so long. And thats what

gave me the courage to keep on returning in the gym,

getting stronger, lifting more and more weights.

Today people who used to mock me about my decision to

try lifting weights, are my biggest fans- those that are

always there to ask me how to get a body like mine; howto become more athletic.

I know how hard it is for you to believe it. It took me some

time as well.Even when I was noticing the changes, even

when I started feeling better about myself and my

appearance, I was still scared that if I keep on training with

weights, I will become big and bulky.


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But the more I lifted, the better I looked. I gained back

my confidence, actually Ivenever had confidence about

my appearance. Ive always been shy and Ive alwaysconsidered myself not attractive enough.

And thanks to my new lifestyle- lifting weights and eating

real food, I feel great about myself. You have no idea

about the power, the confidence, the boldness that weight

training gives you.

It was literally the spice to my life, that lightened the

fuel of passion within my heart. It is the spice that

taught me how to love myself,how to be strong both in

the gym and in life and how to chase my dreams until the

end.

Thats why Ive dedicated my life, to helping others learn

the proper way to sculpt and move their body. To workout in a way that doesnt take much time, brings a lot of

pleasure and a sense of fulfillment.

Ive dedicated my life to prevent others from walking on

the bumpy road of injuries, disappointments, emotional

eating, a sense of being worthless and unaccepted.

Why? Because Ive been there and I know how it feels.

And now, when Ive discovered the better, easier and

enjoyable way to achieve your body composition goals,

while enjoying perfect health and athleticism to rock your

life, I want to provide you with the tools, that will help you

apply it in your own life.

Follow me on the journey to gaining back your health and

functionality.


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What To Expect Out Of This Book?

With this book, I will provide you with some of the best

compound movements that you need to include in your

workout routine.

I will teach you how to perform them properly, so you

can get the benefit of doing them, without hurting your

body, due to improper technique.

I will show you some of the most common mistakes, the

reasons behind them and how you could fix them.

Once you master these movements, you will realize how

the work youve done in the gym, can be easily transfered

in your daily life.

The way you move in the gym, will help you learn how to

move in real life. Thus your workouts, wont be just a

time spend to feed your ego and sel-esteem. They will be

a time invested in a better lifestyle and a pain free

movement. They will be your free ticket to a healthier

life.

Do You Need More Proof That ThisTraining Method Works?

And if you still doubt my words, here is the last proof - my

own transformation.

The first picture is a vivid example, not just of my unfit

body, but an example of my chained soul.


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On the beforepicture, I was on a trip to Egypt ( one of my

dreamed destinations), but I was so miserable and

unsatisfied.

I felt terrible in my swimsuit and I lacked confidence. I

constantly covered my body with a towel so others

couldnt notice the cellulite on my thighs, the stetchmarks

on my love handles or the fat on my belly.

And on the after pic, I feel great about myself- not just

because of the way my body looks like, but also because

now my soul is happy to reside it. I feel confident and

satisfied with the work Ive done and the results I amgetting.

So, trust me! I will show you how to do it for yourself. Just

keep on reading.

Dolia Pipileva is one of my best clients, and eventhough

she had the same fears, as you do, she kept the vision of

her dreamed body and she trusted the process. She

believed my and my training and nutrition program, and


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now she is living her life to the fullest- feeling confident,

fit and sexy.

And do you know what is the best part about it?

Dolia was just like you.She was a women with the notion

of the mass media-induced ideals of beauty, she spentcountless hours in the gym, restricted her food intake and

every day, instead of getting closer to dreamed body, she

got further and felt even more miserable and unfulfilled.

But she had the courage to trust me and I showed her

what true beauty looks like. I taught her how to listen to

her body and how to shape the best body, training just

three times a week, for about 45 minutes, using basic,

compound movements and lifting real weights.


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And if I and she can do it, you could as well .

Forget about genetics and all the excuses and false notionsyouve been repeating to yourself- because eyou have

everything you need to be the fittest, sexiest version of

yourself.

Just let go of the wrong knowledge and be open for the

truth- women SHOULD lift weights and that is the best

road to a stunning, fit, sexy body.

Follow me and you will never look back!

Its your choice! You can keep on doing what the mass

media is telling you to do- thats cool,you will be forever

in the enchanted circle of starvation, self-punishment

through endless hours of cardio, and you will never gain

the confidence to rock your beach body and proudly walkin your swimsuit.

Or you can try something new, something different and

finally achieve your goals. You can finally feel confident

to go shopping, go out on a date and actually feel sexy

and stunning.

You dont have anything to lose- you can just gain the

happiness youve been searching for.Just give it a try.

Youve wasted so much time, just give yourself three

months of dedication and consistency and you start

enjoying your new and better life.


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1. Compound Moves

Squats

Problem: Do your knees hurt when you squat?

Solution: Follow me and you will teach you how to squat

with proper technique and not only your knees will stop

hurting, but they will even get the health benefits of

squatting properly!

If you learn how to do just one thing, then let it be

squatting.

There isnt a more natural movement, than a squat.

Squatting is really important and if you are still wondering

whywell keep on reading!

Do You Need Proof the Squat Is the most

Natural Movement?


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Lets start it simple. The squat is the most fundamental

movement to all of us. Just think about it. In your everyday

life even if you do not realize it you squat hundreds oftimes.

For example when you sit in a chair-you squat; when you

get up from the chair-you squat; when you sit down in

the busguess what? YOU SQUAT!

Even from our earliest age as infants, we first start learningto move by squatting. Think about a baby that is trying to

get up from the floor, or trying to pick up something from

the floor. It wont lean down with straight legs. Instead the

infant will squat down and take what it needs.

By the way if I should show somebody what a perfect

squat looks like, Id show them a baby picking a toy from

the ground. Infants squat with perfect form- weight on theheels, knees tracking over the toes and back straight.

See what I am talking about?

Seems like we are born with some instincts of how we

are supposed to move properly but later on influenced by

our environment we lose it and start moving in a waythat is hurting our health.

As we get older most of us lose the requisite mobility in

our hips, knees and ankles to be able to squat properly.

That is a result from our lifestyle- we spend way too much

time sitting. Actually most of our ancestors lifestyle,

demanded performing a squat- when you start with eating

a meal, ceremonies, gatherings, going to the toilet and

etcall of them were performed bereft of chairs or seats!


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But after the industrialization we started using chairs,

benches, couches and other similar furniture to perform

our daily tasks. As I already said this leads to a loss offunctionality.

Unfortunately, during the years the squat has earned a

bad glory as a dangerous exercise.Most people claim that

it hurts your back and your knees. But does it really?

Yea, my knees would hurt too, if I squatted like mostpeople in the globo gym do. Walk in a gym and look at the

corner where the squatting rack is. Shocking! People

squatting with rounded backs; with knees going way

forward; the weight on the toes instead of on the heels

and so on.

If I wanted to learn how not to squat, Id spend a day

watching these guys train their legs. Actually if you do thesquat properly-it is one of the safest, most natural

movements the human body can perform.

As I already said the squat is a really important movement.

It is the so called compound movement- meaning that it

exercises multiple muscles in the same time.

During the squat, the body recruits your glutes,

hamstrings, lower back and abdomen to successfully

execute the lift. A stable upper body is required for your

lower body to create enough force to drive the weight up

against gravity.

As we get older, being able to squat becomes even more

essential. Good knee health is a consequence of being able

to squat properly! And as the years pass, we need to make


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bodyweight variation.Then you can move on to the bar

and progressively add more weight.

The way I like to teach the squat is on the wall. Most

people do not have good mobility, and when you make

them squat, they compensate for it, by leaning forward,

going forth on their toes and so forth. Which is definitely

not the right way to squat.

Proper Technique:

1. Keep your feet shoulder width apart

2. Turn your toes slightly out

3. Wheight on heels ( even though I see that most people

take that too literally, and more often than not they raise

their toes and stay just on their heels.This is not the right

way to do it. Thats why I prefer telling my clients,that the

way to distribute the weight on your feet is to aim for the

tripod foot. And that is what this means:

4. Chest up I always love telling my clients that if I am

standing in front of them, they should aim to show me the

logo on their T-shirt. This really helps as a cue, when you

want somebody to keep the shoulders back and the chest

up.5. Pelvis turned forward

6. Eyes forward

7. Knees tracking over the toes.

This is really important. As you descend make sure that

your knees are tracking over your toes.This means theknee is parallel to your feet.


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You should feel your adductors activating.If you do not

feel them, this means that you are bringing your knees

inside.

In order to squat properly imagine that you are trying to

spread the ground, both when you descend and when

you ascend.This will help you keep the tension on your

abductors and thus interfere with your knees going inside.

Start with learning the squat on the wall.

Face the wall, and asses the proper squat position- feet

shoulder width apart, toes slightly turned out.Keep your

hands to the side and glide your upper body through the

wall as you descend.

Make sure you pay attention for the tripod foot,knees

tracking over the toes and spread the ground. The wall willhelp you master the proper way to hold your upper body,

because it wont allow you to lean forward, due to the lack

of mobility.

When you master thebodyweight squat, you can move on

to the Barbell Back Squat.But keep in mind, that you

should really master the bodyweight squat.

Leave your ego at the door and do not rush it. It is a lot

harder to repair an old, bad habit, once you learn it the

wrong way, than it is to first master it perfectly and then

move on to the next stage.


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Barbell Back Squat


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Proper Technique:

1. Keep your feet shoulder width apart

2. Turn your toes slightly out

3. Wheight on heels( dont forget the tripod foot)

4. Chest up( show me your logo)

5. Grip outside of the shoulders

6. Elbows tucked in(imagine that you are trying to tuck

your elbows in your pockets. It wont happen but it will get

your elbows pointing down, which is the goal)

7. Scapula Contracted (this will help you keep your back

tight)

8. Pelvis turned forward

9. Eyes forward

10. Knees tracking over the toes (dont forget to spread

the floor)

When you get down to the bottom of the squat,in order

to ascend with proper form, you should try to pull yourself

up. Imagine that the bar is a pull up bar. As you go up, pullthe bar. This will help you keep your body tight and it will

help you rise up with proper form.

So, the key points are show your logo, tuck your elbows in

your pockets, spread the floor and pull up for the bar as

you ascend.


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Bulgarian Split Squats

I love all squat variations, but if I had to pick just onevariation, that I could do to the end of my life, it would be

the Bulgarian Split Squat ( and do not get me wrong! It is

not just because I am a Bulgarian).

This is an exercise, which most people avoid, but an

exercise that could give you so much, when it comes to

becoming stronger, improving your balance and

coordination and achieving a sexy, well shaped lower

body!

I often hear people, who claim that they do not perform

the Bulgarian Squat, because it hits them in the knees.

With some exceptions, most people who claim this, just do

not perform the exercise properly!


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My observations show me that people, who have knee

pain, when they perform Bulgarian Squats, just use a really

short stance, which is tough on the knees and usuallythere is a shift of the weight towards the toes,

accompanied by taking the heel off the ground, which IS

NOT RIGHT!

If you perform the Bulgarian Squat with a longer stance,I

assure you that you wont have knee pain.

When you perform Bulgarian squats, keep the weight on

your heels, by staying on your whole foot( tripod foot),

without shifting the weight towards your toes or taking

your heel off the ground.

Keep your shoulders back and activate your lats.Do not

allow the weight, to drag you forward, making you lean

down. Imagine that somebody placed a pencil on yourspine, and you are trying to hold it, squeeze it with your

lats. This will help you think about keeping your shoulders

back.

Lower your back leg, until it reaches the ground.

When you reach the lowest point, do not relax your body.Stay tight and stand back up, by pushing off your heel

and by helping yourself with the foot on the bench.

Pay attention to this! Do not shift your hips to the side,

when you go up. If you are doing this, then you are

probably using weights that are too heavy!


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Key points when you peform Bulgarian

Split Squats:1. Place one of your feet on the bench, and the other one

on the ground. Make sure the foot on the ground is

pointing straight forward.

2. Experiment with your stance length, until you find the

one that allow syou to move without feeling pressure or

pain in your knees.

3. Keep your chest up, contract your scapula and keep

your belly tight.

4. Lower the back foot straight down. Imagine that you are

trying to hit theground with the knee of your back

foot.Make sure that you are not strtching your back footbut bending it down.

5. As you get to the bottom, keep your body tight and your

muscles under tension. Do not relax on the floor.

6. Push yourself back up, by pressing on the whole foot(

the one on the ground), while still pressing with your back

foot on the bench.

7. When you rise up, be careful to keep holding your torso

straight. Dont allow your shoulders to slouch forward and

your back to lean forward. Squeeze those lats.

8. If you do the Bulgarian Squat with the weight kept in

front, dont forget to push your elbows up- towards theceiling.


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Front Lunges

Lunges, have a bunch of, that make them an excellent

exercise to fix any disbalances between both legs,

improving your balance and coordination, and

strengthening the muscles that stabilize the knees. Besides

that they are a pretty good test about your core strength.

Proper technique:

1) Stand straight with your body tight( do not leaning, do

not drop the hips forward, keep your abs tight)

2) Make a longer step forward, by landing on your heel

and then transitioning to your whole foot.

3) Drop the leg behind straightly down, till it almost

touches the ground. Dont lean and dont let the knee of

your front leg go forward!

4) In order to get back up, push up through the heel of

your front leg and then push back until you get in the

starting position.


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Common mistakes:

1.You make a really short step forward and you put the

weight on your toes, lifting your heel. This is wrong and it

really loads your knees way too much.

2. You turn your foot inward. That also messes up the

knees and if you are doing the lunge with bigger weights

you could injure yourself pretty bad! More often than not

if you have instability in your ankles or a disbalance in yourcalf muscles, you turn your foot inward.

See how the foot is turned inward? That is wrong!

3. You let your knees cave in. One of the reasons could be

due to mistake number 2(turning your foot inward). That

instinctively forces your knee to cave in. Another reason

could be your weak glutes( your butt muscles). They play

an important role in stabilizing your knee and when they

are weaker, your knee will cave in.

See how the knee is caving in? That is wrong!

4. You lean forward. Often, beginners tend to lean

forward, way too much.

5. You lose balance. This is could be due to weak core, a

stride that is too short, or too wide and the other reason

might be that you are using heavier weights, than you can

handle.

When doing a lunge there are a lot of arguments about thelength of the step forward, but my observations and my


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experience, show me that longer step forward is better

because:

1.More often than not people doing a shorter step, make

the mistake to put more weight on their toes and lifting

their heel, which is wrong.

2.A lunge with a shorter step forward is a quad dominating

exercise, and personally I am not a fan of it, because it

puts more stress on the knee!

Reverse Lunges From Deficit

As every unilateral movement, reverse lunges from a

deficit, help you improve the strength imbalances betweenyour legs; they improve your balance and coordination,

they help you improve stability in your hips and mobility in

your ankles. Besides that they load pretty good your legs

and your butt!

And probably you are already wondering why perform

lunges from deficit and not traditional lunges?

The reason is that when you do them from a deficit, you

have a bigger range of motion(ROM) and you load your

butt a lot more, than doing traditional lunges. Besides that

a lot more leg muscles are activated, because you are

going way deeper when you perform the exercise.


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Why Reverse Lunges?

Personally, I always do reverse lunges, because they areeasier on the knees, unlike the front lunges. And do not

think that I am the kind of person, who thinks that

squatting and lunging is gonna ruin your knees! That is not

the truth, but when you perform reverse lunges, you do

not need to step forward and slow down, the weight of

your entire body!

Thus the stress on your knee is less! If you have problems

with your knees, and you are fooled into thinking that you

cant perform lunges, try reverse lunges! I assure you, that

you wont feel pain!

Before leanring the Reverse Lunges from Deficit, make

sure that youve mastered the Front Lunges.

It matters if you perform the lunge with the bar in front,

on your back or with dumbbells.

If you keep the bar on the front, as you do for a front

squat, you should keep your elbows high. Dont let your

elbows drop down, because you will lean forward, you will

load your back way too much and you will probably losebalance! And remember- the lower you get, think about

pushing your elbows up!

If you perform the exercise with dumbbells, keep them on

your side and when you are dropping down, be careful-

dont let your shoulders drop down and go forward. Dont

let the dumbbells go forward. If you do so, you are

changing the center of mass and you will lean forward,

losing balance and making it hard on your back!


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If the bar is on your back, think about your wrists- they

should be always straight( as for a back squat). When you

go up, think how you should be pulling yourself for thebar! You should press it down. This will help you keep your

body tight and it will keep you away from stressing your

back.

No matter which way you pick, you should be careful

about the height of the platform. Dont make it too high. If

your platform is too high, and your legs and butt arentstrong enough, you will compensate for the weakness by

shifting your hips to one side, which is not the right way to

do it! If you feel that you are shifting your hips to one side,

either take lighter weights or decrease the height of the

platform.

Proper Technique:

1. Step on the platform with both legs.

2. Keep your torso straight.

3. Chest up. Scapula contracted.

4. Make a long step back. (make sure both of your feet arepointing in the same direction ( forward)

5. Bend the knee of the back leg straight down.

6. Then pushing from the heel of your front leg, rise up,

and then go back to the initial position.

You can see them in a wide range of programs, from pure

calisthenics to kettlebells and even circuit training. While


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I'm obviously excited to see bodyweight strength training

getting its due from the mainstream, it makes me wonder:

Where does the pistol squat fit in to the fitness regimen ofthe average gym goer?

Pistol Squats

That is one of my favorite squat progressions (ok, I knowthat I say it about every lower body movement. But I just

freaking love strong legs.)

Pistols are a great movement and a true measure for

lower body strength. They train your strength, balance

and mobility and you can do them everywhere.

Pistols are not a piece of cake. Ok, they are but once you

have the strength to perform them. Before you manage to

do your first pistiol, you should arm yourself with patience

and dedicate to practicing them.

As difficult as the exercise seems, it is absolutely possible

for you to master them. You just need to start with easier

progressions, until you are strong and balanced enough to

perform a real pistol squat.

Before thinking about mastering the pistol squat, make

sure that you are a sensei in bodyweight squats and

Bulgarian split squats. Just then, you are good to start

with some pistol progressions.


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Bench Pistol

This is your first step.

1. Stand in front of a bench or another low object of your

choice.

2. Reach one leg into the air.

3. Carefully sit back onto the object. Perform it as slow asyou can, even though at the beginning you might not be

able to control your body very good and you might sit back

too quickly. Dont worry. It is part of the process. Just be

careful not to hurt yourself.

4. Keep the weight on the heel of your base foot.

5. Keep your abs tight and your arms stretched in front.


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6. By pushing off the heel and reaching forward with your

hands, try to stand back up.

7. As it becomes easier, increase ethe range of motion and

perform the Bench Pistol Squat on a lower object.

Elevated Pistols

1. Stand on top of an object with one leg hanging off of the

side (if you are in the gym you ight pile up some bumpers

and step on them, or if you have a box thatd be great).

2. Reach your arms in front.

3. Lower to the bottom of a squat by allowing your

opposite leg to hang down. This make sit easier to balance


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the pistol squat, while keeping your leg hanging, instead of

straight forward.

As you get better, increase the height of the object. This

will make it harder and get you closer to the pistol squat.

Assisted Pistol

1. Stand in front of a pole or another vertical object.

2. Grasp the pole with your hands.

3. Reach forward with the opposite leg ( the one on the

outside).


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4. Lower yourself down, until you reach to the bottom. Be

careful to distribute the weight on your whole base foot. (

i.e. let the footremain flaton the ground)

5. In order to get back up, lightly use the help of your

arms, in order to pull yourself back up. Initially you will rely

more on your arms to pull you back up, but as you

improve, you will start pushing more off of your leg and

you will need your arms less and less.

Pistol with Counterweight


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As strange as it may sound doing pistols with a weight in

your arms, might be easier, due to better balance.

Real Pistol Squats

And now you are ready to do pistol squats EVERYWHERE!

When you can perform a couple sets of 15 reps of all the

progressions above, you are good to progress and becomea master of the real pistol squat.


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Good Morning

Problem: You often hurt your back during

daily activities.

Solution: When you learn the proper GM technique, this

will save you a lot of injuries in your everyday life, because

you will learn how to lean, without bending and without

hurting your lower back!


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One really underestimated and rarely performed exercise

in the gym, is the so called Good Morning.

Unfortunately just like deadlifts and squats, the goodmorning also has a bad name. Interesting!

All UNIQUE exercises and absolutely essential exercises

that ensure the good health of a person, are being denied

and claimed as dangerous! No wonder that most people

spend their time in the gym, sitting on different, weird

machines and no wonder that so many people have a badposture, lower back pain and so on.

One of the best exercises, which you could perform in

order to strengthen your posterior chain are Good

Mornings.Unfortunately people rarely take the time to

learn the proper way to do the exercise and usually their

first try to perform it, ends up with a sharp lower back

pain. Thats how myths about the danger ofthe exercisestart!

Well, I want to tell you that there arent many exercises,

which could contribute so much to you getting rid of

lower back pain, as Good Mornings(GM) could!Thats

right! Not harm you, but actually help you!

Besides that it will help you shape nice, strong hamstrings,

get your butt tighter and strengthen your lower back

muscles.GM is a great exercise that could help you

increase the pounds on the deadlift if you are in a plateau!


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Proper technique:

When you perform it, you could do it with a wider or

narrower stance. This respectively changes the loading.

When you do it with a wider stance you get more tension

on your hamstrings and glutes!

Personally I switch through the stances, so I can load my

muscles from a different angle.

1. Choose the width of your stance.

2. The weight should be on your heels, as with every other

exercise!

3. The bar should be placed on your back, as when you

perform squats. Keep your body tight, activate your lats,

so you will carry the load on your back muscles and not on

your spine!

4. When you place the bar on your back, imagine that

behind you there is a wall and you need a couple more

inches to reach it with your butt. Then take your hips back,

so you can try and touch the wall. Be careful to do it with

the hips, and not bent over from your upper body!

5. The load, should be felt on your hamstrings and glutes.

You will feel them stretch!

6. You shouldnt feel bending in your lower back! It would

be wrong to bent forward! This will really hurt your back!

7. Imagine the wall and try to take your hips back, as if you

are trying to reach back to it!


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GM resembles swings and deadlifts, the difference is in the

loading vector and the ROM.

8. Reach back withyour hips and butt, while you feel full

extension of your hamstrings and glutes!

By pushing back, your upper body will lean forward! This is

ok. But keep in mind it will LEAN not BEND! The leaning

will come from pushing your hips back, not from a bend in

your lower back!

9. After that contract your glutes in order to get back .

Your glutes should contract! As when you perform a swing,

you should lock the hips to get back in the initial position!

Here I want to emphasize again, that getting back,

shouldnt be done by lifting the weight with your back, but

by using your glutes!

I just want to add, that when you learn the proper GM

technique, this will save you a lot of injuries in your

everyday life, because you will learn how to lean,

without bending and without hurting your lower back!

Keep in mind that if you are a beginner, you better focus

on mastering the swing and the deadlift. Just when youare good at the hinge movement, add the GM exercise!


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Hip Thrusters

I think that strong legs and glutes are the base of a

healthy, athletic, functional and good looking body!One

of the exercises, which I LOVE are hip thrusters! Here the

credit goes toBret Contreras,who is known as The glute

guy! This is probably due to the fact that hip thrusts are

incredibly effective, when it comes to strengthening your

glutes and hamstrings! Everything I know about thisexercise, Ive learned fromBrets website(HERE),which is

an outstanding source of information, especially for those

of you who are interested in the details of what, how and

why you are supposed to do!
http://bretcontreras.com/2012/07/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-hip-thrust/http://bretcontreras.com/2012/07/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-hip-thrust/http://bretcontreras.com/2012/07/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-hip-thrust/http://bretcontreras.com/2010/03/hipthrust/http://bretcontreras.com/2010/03/hipthrust/http://bretcontreras.com/2010/03/hipthrust/http://bretcontreras.com/2010/03/hipthrust/http://bretcontreras.com/2010/03/hipthrust/http://bretcontreras.com/2012/07/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-hip-thrust/


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What is a hip thruster?


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Thats why I will take advantage of the fact, that you

wont see me blushing, explaining you how you should

imagine, that you have a bill, which you should keepbetween your butt cheeks! For that purpose you should

try to squeeze it, i.e. to squeeze your butt! That is how

you should finish the movement!

Its the same as when you perform swings or deadlifts. You

have to finish the movement with your hips.

The cool thing about hip thrusters is that they help you

improve at deadlifting. So a well performed hip thruster

will help you increase the weight on the deadlift!

When you perform the movement you should be careful

to lift the bar with your hips, and not with your lower

back! Your back should be straight!

More often than not, people who perform a hip thruster,

make the mistake of putting too much weight on the bar,

and they dont perform the movement with a full range of

motion, or they try to lift the bar with their lower back,

because of the lack of strength in their glutes.

Remember that the movement finishes when youvesqueezed your butt- when youve reached hip extension,

and not when youve lifted your butt off the ground.

Control the movement. Keep the bar with your hands.

If you are still not feeling ready to try it with weights, first

learn the technique with your bodyweight.

After that increase the weights on the bar.


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Where Should You Feel The Tension?

If you feel the load more on the quadriceps, than on the

hamstrings and the glutes, try taking your heels closer to

your butt and perform the movement again. Another

reason for feeling the load in your quadriceps, might be

the fact that you have really tight hip flexors, so make sure

to use your foam roller, more often!

Why should you do hip thrusters? Because they are one ofthe best exercises, which will help you strengthen your

glutes. It will help you strengthen your posterior chain,

and as you now nowadays most people suffer from the so

called dead butt syndrome.

And of course lets not forget that hip thrusters will help

you increase the weight on the deadlift, which is one of my

favorite movements, as well.


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One Legged Hip Thrusters

You are already familiar with Hip Thrusters.In my opinion

this is one of the best exercises, you could do, in order to

make your posterior chain stronger. But still, as each

bilateral movement, hip thrusters, allow some cheating,

by compensating for the imbalance between both legs,

pushing more out of the stronger leg.

So here is when one legged hip thrusters come in hand.Unique movement! It seems like a waste of time, but just

as every other exercise, which looks easy from the

sidelines, in reality it turns out really demanding when you

go ahead and try it yourself.

What Happened When I First Tried One

Legged Hip Thrusts?


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Myfirst experience with one legged hip thrusts wasjust

another hit for my ego!I usually do bilateral hip thrusts,

with 70-90kg., so I decided that I will do well with 40kg. onthe single leg hip thrusts.

Well, my tries went like this:

First try: 40kg.

Results: No chance!

Second try:30kg.

Results: Go ahead and remove some more bumpers.

Third try:20kg.

Results: Ok, you are overvaluing yourself.

Forth try:15kg.

Results: It was about time!

So, it took me some time, adding and removing bumpers,

till I found out it is not as easy as it seemed.

First, master hip thrusters with your own bodyweight.

Then move on to bilateral hip thrusts with weights. Try

one legged hip thrusts with your own bodyweight and

then add some weights. I hope that you will pick the right

weight, faster than me!


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Proper Technique

1.Set yourself as if you are gonna do a bilateral hip thrust.

2. Then perform the ingle leg hip thrust by being careful

about the same key points, as you are when you perform

the bilateral version. The difference is just that you keep

one of your legs either bend in the air or straight in the air

and you push just through the base foot.

Another option for a progression is to perform hip thrusts

with both legs in the concentric part of the movement,

then lower on just one leg in the eccentric part.


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Deadlift

Problem: Does your backhurt when you perform

deadlifts?

Solution:Its not the exercise that is hurting you, but the

way you perform it! Follow me and learn the proper

technique.


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The deadlift is one of the best hinge movements. I think

that what people lack in the way they move through

everyday activities is the knowledge how to perform thehinging move properly.

Once you learn to hinge, you will be a master in the

deadlifts, swings, hip thrusts and most importantly you will

quit injurying your back, while you bend down to pick

something from the floor. Because the key to keep your

lower back healthy is to forget about bending down and

start hinging back.

I often hear people saying that they avoid deadlifting

because it hurts their lower back and leads to unwanted

injuries! Truth is that it is not the deadlift that is hurting

your lower back, but rather the way YOU do it!


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Proper technique:

1. Your feet should be at shoulder-width

2. Your hands should be a little wider than shoulder-width

( place them on the outside of your legs)

3. Shoulders should be in front of the bar. Chest up.

4. Head should be in neutral position( in one line with yourspine)

5. Keep your back arched

6. The bar should touch your shins

7. As you lift up keep the bar close to your legs

8. Dont lift the bar with your hands.(Imagine them as

chains which are just holding the bar)

9. As you go up- push on your heels.

10. Going up, keep your glutes and your abs tight

11. Shoulders and hips, should move up at the same rate,

till you reach the level of your knees

12. After you pass the level of your knees, you should lock

up your hips. Come to full extension with your chest up

and your shoulders back.

13. Then go back to the ground following the pattern

backwards.


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Key points:

When you set yourself for deadlifts, make sure that you

hinge back, i.e. take your hips back. Imagine the wall

behind you and try to reach back to it. Lower your hips by

reaching back.

Keep your chest up. Show me your logo,remember?

Always keep your elbows locked.Your arms are just chainssupporting the bar.

As you go up, make sure that you are leading with your

chest and that you are pulling the bar towards your shins.

If you dont havetrace marks on your shins, you are not

pulling enough.

As you go up, make sure to spread the floor and push from

your heels.

When the bar gets at knee level hight, squeeze your

glutes, as if you are trying to keep a hundred dollar bill.

Then go back down, following the same pattern. Keep your

back straight and your shoulders back. Dont let the weightdrag you down and force you to bend. HINGE!


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Common mistakes:

1. The stripper deadliftThis is the most common mistake.I love the name of this

WRONG deadlift variation.If you think that this is a type

of deadlift , that you should learn, you are DEADLY

WRONG! This is one of the worst ways to do the deadlift

but unfortunately it is the common way people perform it.

You are doing the stripper deadlift, if you let the bar move

forward and drag you down, and rush to extend your hips.

Thus you will have your legs straight, but your upper body

will be still in the starting position. From there, the only

way to lift the bar is using your arms and lower back,

which is WRONG. In case you didnt get my point, go to

Youtube and watch a stripper, you will immediately

understand what a deadlift DOESNT look like.

2. Allowing your knees to cave inIf this is your problem, think about spreading the floor

when you go up. Think about pushing your elbows with

your knees.

3. Rushing with the hip extensionThis mistake is often due to the fact that you are either not

pulling the bar towards your shins;you are not leading up


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with your chestand thus you are letting your shoulders

drop forward or you are doing both.

So think about the trace marks and show me your logo.

4. You are lifting with your arms, instead ofusing your hips for the lock out.

You are probably keeping your elbows flexed. Always start

with your elbows locked and keep them this way. They arejust chains, remember?

5. Instead of finishing the movement withyour hips, you are arching yourself and

doing a strange type of bend.

In order to avoid this mistake, push through the heels and

squeeze your glutes.Imagine that you are trying to jump

up, but your heels are sticked for the ground. Now, when

the bar gets to knee level, push from your heels and

squeeze those glutes.


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Kettlebell swings

The kettlebell is one of the best training tools ever. You

can take it everywhere and do a bunch of exercises with

it.One of the best things you could do are kettlebell

swings. They are pretty good when your goal is to get

more power and explosion, and they train your posterior

chain.

. When I show how the swing is supposed to be done,

most people start laughing because they make the wrong

associations with the explosive hip snap.

There are two types of swings-one is the traditional

swing(also called Russian swing), and the other one is the

overhead swing(called the American swing).


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Why Do I Prefer Russian Swings?

1. American swings are not for everybodyWhat do I mean by this? Tell you the truth, I rarely see

people, who perform American swings properly. Most just

think that their technique is good. Most of the trainees

have a problem with holding weights above their head(

no matter if we talk about different kind of pressing

variations, swings or something that requires your handsto be held overhead), and still manage to keep their body

in neutral position. Instead what most people do is arch

their lower back way too much- getting in the so called

hyperlordosis, lifting their chest up and keeping their

belly relaxed, in order to compensate for the lack of

mobility. This puts a lot of stress on the spine and it is

definitely not something that youd like to experience.

All of this just increases the risk of an injury, because when

the body is not in neutral position, and when it is held like I

described above, the loading becomes harmful.

2. Russian swings allow for heavier weightsto be used

As you know, I do not encourage you to be a slave of your

ego and aim at increasing the weight, while compromising

your proper technique. But, I think that Russian swings

are a lot more appropriate, if we keep in mind that they

allow heavier weights to be used, respectively they help

you increase your strength and power.


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Proper technique:

1. Set your squat stance (feet shoulder width apart, toes

slightly turned out)

2. Hinge back (magine that you have a wall behind

yourself, and you are just 3 inches away from touching it!

Then, move your hips back, as if you are trying to touch

the imaginary wall)

3. Keep your chest up

4. Remember that swings are not squats! You do not need

to squat!

5. Shove your hands into your crotch: Keep the kettlebells

triangle high in your triangle (the handle of the kettlebell

should always stay above your knees.Dont keep the

kettlebell too low!

6. Keep your arms straight.

7. In order to lift the kettlebell up, use your hips, not your

arms.Perform a snapping movement from the hips.

A cue I love using is as fllows: Imagine that you are doing a

long jump. You know how to set yourselfproperly for one,

dont you? Now imagine you explode with a jump forward.

It comes from the hips. Do this with the kettlebell, but

instead of jumping forward, stay in one place and push

from the heels.


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In case, that you cant remember, I will remind you that in

order for an exercise to have the desired effect on your

body you should perform it with PROPER TECHNIQUE!

As a whole, even the best training program, could seem

ineffective, if you are not performing the exercises with

proper technique!

One exercise that at first sight looks really simple, and

everybody from the 4 year old boy, to the 80 year oldgrandpa is trying to perform, yet most people perform it

with terrible technique is the push-up.

Proper technique

1.Get in a plank postion, with your arms fully extended.

Your body should be straight and tight- head, shoulders,

torso and legs should be in line. Imagine your body, as a

piece of board!

2.Your fingers should be spread and you should be trying

to grab the ground.

3.Imagine that you should keep a piece of paper or a

pencil under your armpits. Then squeeze your armpits, so

you can activate your lats! Did you imagine that?

4.Make sure that your abs and your glutes are tight. Your

torso shouldnt be dropping down!

5.Push your toes into the ground, so you can make sure

that your whole body is tight


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6.Then row yourself down, until your chest touches the

ground. Be careful for your torso. Dont let it drop down.

Stay tight and straight. Your body should be in perfectalignment the whole time! Dont forget that you are a

board.

7. Your body shouldnt look like the letter T. You should be

more like an arrow. So try to keep your elbows closer to

your body and not to the side!

8.Then push yourself up, until you reach a full lock out. As

if you are trying to push yourself away from the ground.

Common mistakes:

1.One of the most common mistakes is to let

your elbows go to the side, and look like the

letter T.

Truth is that this is the easier way to perform a push-up,

because you activate less muscles. The tension on the

triceps is a lot more, when your elbows are closer to yourbody!

Besides that, push- ups, when performed as if you are the

letter T, could lead to shoulder pain and shoulder injuries!

As a person who has a lot of shoulder injuries, I will tell

you from my own experience that T-letter push-ups arent

good!


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2.Your torso drops down

At times you could see people performing push- ups in areally comical way. They are mostly dropping and lifting

their torso, than actually rowing their body down.

As I told you, the torso should be tight. To achieve it, make

sure that your abs and glutes are kept tight!

If your torso, reaches the ground before your chest, thismeans that you are not performing the push-up correctly!

And besides that, this puts a lot of stress on your lower

back, because you are not activating the proper muscles!

3.You dont do the push-up with a full ROM

As I said, a push-up is considered for a rep, when your

chest, reaches the ground. More often than not, people

fool themselves, that they are in good shape and that they

can do more reps, when in reality this is far from the truth.

Often times, if you ask somebody, who is showing off, how

he can do 20-30 push- ups in a row, to perform them allthe way down, he will probably hardly get 10 straight reps!

Ive said it before and I will repeat it! Leave your ego at the

door! Perform the exercises correctly! It is far better to do

10 good push-ups, than 30 crappy reps!


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Dips

Proper Technique

If your have shoulder problems, you might not be able to

go as deep as you are supposed to, or you might not be

able to keep the proper forward lean. In this case stay

more upright, but still keep your chest up.

1. Squeeze The Bar. The more force you apply to the bar,

the stronger you are.

2. Look Forward.. Look to a point slightly in front of you.


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3. Keep your chest up & shoulders back.

4. Take a big breathe while hanging with locked elbows &hold it. Lower yourself & come back up. Breathe at the

top, not during reps.

5. Bend Your Legs. And cross your feet.

6. Go down below parallel.The deeper the stretch, the

more you train your chest, but if your shoulders disagree,

scale the depth of the dip.

7. Lock Elbows. Drive out of the bottom until your elbows

are locked. Squeeze your triceps.

Common Mistakes

1. Not Hitting Parallel.Your shoulders must go lower than

your elbows on each rep.

2. Not Locking the Elbows. Lock your elbows at the top.

Squeeze your triceps . Keep chest up.

3. Don't let your shoulders roll forward& don't let yourtorso shift forward too much. Keep your chest up.

4. As you go up, be careful to keep your body tight, dont

let your back arch in hyperextension.


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Side Dumbbell Press

This is one of my favorite pressing movements.


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Proper technique:

1. Set your feet at shoulder width.

2. Take your right foot one step back, but leave your hips

forward.

3. Grab the dumbbell with your right hand and place it

close to your shoulder.

4. Let your elbow hang to the side, on your hips.

5. Slowly start pushing the dumbbell straight up. Let your

forearm be vertical to the floor.

6. Slowly twist your palm as you go up, until your palm is

faceing forward. When you fully extend your arm, go down

the same way.


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One Arm Landmine Press

This pressing variation is easier on your shoulder due to

the different angle of the movement. So if you have

problems with your shoulders, you will absolutely want to

include this exercise in your program.

Proper Technique:

1. Find a corner where you will stuck the end of the

barbell.

2. Set up your feet at shoulder width.

3. Take your right foot back.

4. Grab the end side of the barbell with your right hand.


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5. Brace the core tightly to resist extension and rotation.

6. Press straight out, not across your body.

7. Dont allow the elbow to migrate past the body too

much.

Overhead Press

This is another great pushing exercise. You can perform it

with the bar or with a dumbbell. But due to the fact that I

mentioned earlier when we talked about kettlebell swings,

i.e. lack of enough mobility, most people have a hard time

performing the movement.


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Thats why when I work with my clients, Id rather use

dumbbells, instead of the bar. First because it allows for

lighter weights, the trajectory of the movement could becontrolled better, than if you are using the barbell and

thus it doesnt lead to the ugly twists, most people do

when they try to compensate for their lack of mobility.

Proper Technique

1. Foot Stance should be shoulder-width apart. This allowsfor better stability and thus strength.

2. Grip Width. Should be about shoulder-width apart.

3. Chest Up.

4. Elbows Forward. Elbows in front of the

barbell/dumbbells when looking from the side. But dont

make your elbows parallel to the floor as you would with a

fron squat. Jut make sure that youve locked the bar.

5. Look Forward.

6. Keep your core tight- squeeze your glutes and keep your

abs tight.

7. Press the barbell/dumbbells overhead in a straight line.

8. When you press up, tilt your head slightly back, so the

bar can pass your chin you needing a plastic surgery.

9. Once the bar reaches forehead level, shift your torso

forward.


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10. Squeeze shoulders. Lock your elbows. 11. Then go back

down, following the same route backwards.

Common mistakes

1. Keeping your feet together.This gets you out of

balance, so keep them shoulder width apart.

2. Allowing your elbows to drop down. This shifts the

weight away from the center of gravity and once again

takes you out of balance.

3. Instead of pressing straight up, people often press up

and forward. Once again you are keeping the weight in

front of the center of gravity, and this takes you out ofbalance and puts a stress on your back.

4. You over arch your lower back and relax your core.This

leads to a position of hyperlordosis and stresses your

lower back. Always stay in neutral position.

5. At the top of the movement make sure that your wrists

are straight. Most often than not people fail to keep the

wrist straight and bend them back.This Is not a proper

way toperform the overhead press.

6. On the way down, make sure that you are keeping the

straight line and you are bringing the elbows forward, not

flaring them to the outside.


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Pulling Movements

The sooner you realize, that the main purpose behind

working out and eating healthy should be your HEALTH,

the sooner you will become fit, and the sooner you will

start looking the way youve always dreamed! Besides

that the better you will feel in your own body!

Ive noticed that most trainees, usually pick up their

exercises on the foundation of a really weird logic! Menare really incline dto doing a bunch of pushing movements

and often neglect the pulling movements, or they perform

them with poor technique.Women totally neglect

compound movements and I often hear them say I dont

wanna do pull ups, because my back will become huge; I

wont do military press, because my upper body will

become too muscular; I dont wannasquat, because mylegs will get big and so on.

And after all, exactly what are you gonna do? Walk on the

treadmill and sit around the ab machines! Wonderful! If

that is all, you are about to do in the gym, you better go

for a walk in the park and stop every 10 minutes, to

complete a couple crunches!

But in case, that you really wanna be in better shape, start

choosing exercises, that will help you look better and in

the same time improve your health! Look on your

workouts as the ticket, which will offer you the best seats,

in the theatre of life- those of the healthy, active people!


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Why Do You Need Pulling Movements?

Problem: Do you have a slouched posture?

Solution: Due to a lot of lifestyle factors most people have

really weakback muscles, which contributes to a slouched

posture and a lot of unwanted pain. Thats why you need

to emphasize on pulling movements and wake up your

sleepy back muscles!

Do you have back problems? Or do you have a bad

posture? Do you sit with slouched posture? Then, there

isnt anything else, you would need, as much as youshould do upper body exercises ( and I am assuming, that

you have already started training your lower body)

Why?The main muscles, which are responsible for the

retraction ( the pulling back) of your shoulders, are those

in your upper back. In your words, those that are gonna

get huge from doing pulling movements(for women). By

refusing to work these muscles, you are voluntary cursing

yourself to contribute for your bad posture, which is gonna

lead to a lot of pain!

How?The main muscles, which do the opposite function

of retraction, i.e. take the shoulder forward are the

pectoralis and your deltoideus( picture the muscles on

your shoulders and your chest). As a consequence of toomuch sitting in front of the PC and many more activities


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we do on a daily basis, in a combination with not enough

pulling movements to balance this, the pecs and delts

become too short!

Thus, the lengthened, weak muscles, which are

responsible for retraction, in combination with the

shortened muscles, which take the shoulder forward, you

have the perfect formula for a bad posture, which leads to

a lot of neck, back and lower back pain!

In order to balance this, you should emphasize on the

pulling movements, which will wake up the muscles

responsible for retraction. So, the pulling movements are

your investment in a neutral, good looking, sexy posture

Pull ups

Start each rep from a dead hang with straight

elbows. Clear the bar with your chin on every rep.


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Proper Technique:

1. Squeeze the bar about soulder width apart.

2. Chest Up. Always spay attention to this. Dont let your

shoulders roll forward.

3. Drive with your elbows to the floor.

4. Make sure you are pulling with your ack (retract thelats)

5. Bend Your Legs and cross your feet.

Common Mistakes:

1. Rolling your shoulders forwardand not using your backmuscles properly. This puts a lot of stress on the shoulders

and it is not a proper mechanical pattern. Keep your chest

up and shoulders back.

2. Starting with your arms bend and not going all the way

up.A pull up starts with a dead hang and finishes when

you clear the bar with your chin.Not straightening the

arms.

3. Pulling unevenly, i.e. relying more on one arm. This is

due to imbalance between both arms, so be conscious

about pulling harder with your weaker arm, and do some

unilateral pulling movements in order to fix that

imbalance.


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Lat Pull Downs

Before I show you how to perform the exercise, I want to

make an agreement with you. NEVER perform lat pull

downs behind your neck! NEVER! Ok?

Now that I said it, I can continue.

This is a great exercise, especially if you cant perform pull

ups.


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Proper technique

1. Set your arms a little wider than shoulder widthapart.Squeeze the bar.

2. Get yourself straight under the bar. Hands should be in

line with your ears ( parallel to them)

3. Start with your elbows locked.

4. Pull with your elbows forward and try bringing them to

the ground and even a little to the back. ( imagine that you

are trying to hit somebody behind you with the elbows)

5. Pull with your back. Dont roll your shoulders forward.

6. When pulling down, keep the bar as close to your face

as possible.


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7. Pull the bar to your chest.

Common mistakes:

1. Lifting your chest to the bar, and not pulling the bar to

your chest. Always keep your abs tight and dont let your

chest flare up. Otherwise this hyperlordosis puts a lot of

stress on your spine.

2. Rolling your shoulders forward. Dont do it. Pull withyour lats. Imagine you are trying to squeeze something

between your lats.

3. Pulling with the bar kept way in front. Always pull as

close to your face as possible.

4. Not finishing the movement. Take te bar to the chest.

5. Starting with your arms bend. Always start with your

elbows locked.

6. Leaning back in the starting position. Always keep

yourself under the bar.


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Half-Kneeling Single Arm Pull Down

This is a great pulling exercise, for those that have an

imbalance between both arms.It helps you train your

pulling movement unilaterally and besides that it is great

for those that have problems activating their lats, and

make the mistake to rolltheir shoulders forward, whenperforming pulling movements.


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Proper technique:

1. Get in a half-kneeling position. (The bend leg is the

opposite to the pulling arm)

2. Keep your chest up, ribs down.

3. Start with your arm fully extended.

4. Then pull with your back, to the side of your body.

Common mistakes:

1. Not steting yourself properly, i.e. kneeling on the wrong

leg.

2. Rolling your shoulders forward. Remember to activateyour lats and keep your shoulders back.

3. Starting with your arm bend or not finishing the

movement.

4. Allowing your chest to flare up. Remember to always

keep your ribs down and keep your abs tight.

30 Exercises on Becoming Wonder Woman

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Transcript of 30 Exercises on Becoming Wonder Woman