Whether your goal is to gain muscle shred fat or build strength the majority of your efforts in the gym should be focused around a
Heavy compound movement, and progressive overload that's where
95% of your results going to come from and I'm not here to bullshit you guys with three weird exercises
you've never heard before that probably will make any difference in your overall physique to begin with
Instead what I want to do is address three major compound movements that are often underutilized
And will help you not only build size and strength, but can also correct muscle imbalances and prevent injuries
so if you like, what you hear
And smash that like button and let's get started the first exercise is the reverse grip barbell bench press
The upper chest is usually a stubborn area to grow for a lot of guys and most people usually go for an incline bench press
variation to try to improve this area
But is this your best option and the answer is no in fact a far superior
Option is the reverse barbell bench press
And you can do it either on a flat or inCline bench
This is because the mechanics of this exercise make it very effective at targeting the upper chest even when you're using the flat
variation because with your hands reverse on the barbell to
Focus a resistance will ship from your front delts to your upper chest in fact if you're interested in a more
In-depth comparison of why the reverse press works better than an incline press you can check out my verses video?
I did in this topic later
It actually goes over the mechanics of both exercises and clearly demonstrates which one you should be focusing on
But the main reason why you should include this exercise in your program becomes very apparent when you examine the anatomy of the human body
any
Standard grip press including the incline barbell press will place your shoulders in an internally rotated position
Which is a vulnerable position for the shoulder joints to be in
Especially if you're not retracting your scapula before the start of every set even with proper form guides
It can still become an issue with lifting super heavy weight if your form begins to break down
But with the reverse grip bench press your shoulders are externally rotated which is a far superior
Position to be in when benching this means the joints are more open and less cramped up which greatly reduces the chance for shoulder
impingement or an ACL injury
So if you can perform an exercise like the reverse grip bench press which is more effective [than] [the] incline bench press
But with less risk of injury why wouldn't you do it? All right guys now
I want to go over proper form for this exercise
And you're basically going [to] get set up the same exact way you would [for] a regular bench press
You want to make sure you're retracting your shoulder blades and keeping them down and back so what I like to do is Satya
And then basically slide myself down the bench to make sure my shoulder blades are retracted as much as possible
Keep a slight arch in your back. I like to stick [my] knees out flex your glutes
Can also keep your core flexed love the entire movement as well once you're in place?
You're going to grab the barbell with your hands outside of shoulder width so you're not grabbing here
You're grabbing here and obviously your palms are facing your face because using a reverse grip on the movement
Once it's a position you can have a spot or help you if you have a hard time on racking the barbell
But you should be able to do it on your own you [just] going to pick it up
Just like this, and then once you're in place. You're going to lower it down
Just below the bottom of your chest and then press it back up return to the static position
And this is how you perform the barbell reverse grip bench press now. There are a few things
I want you guys to keep in mind when you're doing this you want to keep the barbell within this plane of motion
So you want to go a straight line from the bottom of your chest?
Pushing straight to the ceiling you don't want to bring it down to the bottom of your chest and then press it up
And over your face and bring the weight [over] your shoulders
Okay, you want to feel a nice high chest contraction
But you want to keep the barbell over your chest not over your shoulders also a lot of people complain about wrist pain
when they do this
Usually wrist pain happens because your elbows start to flare out like this as you begin to fatigue or you're just not paying attention
So in order to Avoid pain. You're [guess] what you're actually going to do is take your elbows
And you're going to twist them in as much as you can [so] [as] you come down
Twist them in and push them into your torso and as you go up make sure they're still staying twist it in
So that you can perform the movement without wrist pain
and
also guys if you're going to do this on
incline as well you can and you're going to setup the same exact way you would for a regular
Incline press so about a 45 degree incline on the bench and then use the same exact form I just showed you guys
Except you're not going to be bringing the barbell down underneath your chest
It's going to be more about mid chest or on the upper portion of the pectorals as you perform each repetition
Again keep those elbows twisted in so you don't have any wrist pain and make sure you're pressing straight up
Flexing squeezing your chest as high as you can on every single repetition
Also guys I know some of you are going to ask if you can use dumbbells for this movement and to be honest I would
Stay away from them
put the reverse grip bench press to target the upper chest you need to have a wide grip and for most people [as]
Soon as fatigue starts to set in with the dumbbells you can't really hold them wide enough to
Overload the chest with heavy weight and the movement becomes more of a tricep press
Next is the dumbbell lat pull over now while the majority of your back size and strength is going to come from
Exercises like deadlifts rows and pull-ups your workout should always include a pullover type exercise
Such as the dumbbell pullover or similar versions this exercise
Which is a cable push down now despite being a compound movement
The Dumbbell pullover is going to heavily focus on your lap and more
specifically it will emphasize back with so if you already have some thickness going on, but you're interested in more with
Pullover should be a staple in your back workout, but if you want to include pullovers in your back workouts
You should know exactly
how to perform them because depending on the actual form use you can end up training your chest or
Not target the last as high as you potentially could so first things first guys you're going to lay flat
On a bench now you will see people in the gym laying off the side of the bench like this
to perform the movement
But you do not need to lay this way to maximize the exercise in fact you'll be actually able to better
Maximize the movement to hit your last or chest even hotter when performing this exercise
by laying on the bench the flat way because you'll be [able] to maintain a
Stronger core because it's resting on the bench the entire time your feet are planted on the ground and your whole upper body is stable
Allowing you to focus on just moving your arms behind your head and then back over your chest so in order to do this movement
Properly to make sure all the resistance is going into your lap and not your chest what you're going to do is
Lay down like I just said
Retract your shoulder blades. So make sure you retract your scapula, and then I like to basically position myself
the same way I would be if I was benching so my glutes are flexed my core is tight have a slight arch in my
back and then when you lower the dumbbell
You basically want to lower it so that the dumbbell stays as close to your head as [possible]
And you're basically flaring your elbows out as much as you can while you lower the weight so like this
[turn] keep the dumbbells close to your head as you can
Flare those elbows out and as you get to about here
You should really start to feel some ripping through those lats
And you'll feel it continuously as you bring the dumbbell down as low as you can now I have really healthy shoulder mobility
So I can actually bring this dumbbell all the way down once you reach the floor you're going to bring it back up
But again keep the dumbbell as close to your head as possible and keep [those] elbows flared out
So I'll show you guys again
This is the starting position [fly] those elbows out feel the flat stretch and pull
Come back as far [as] you can just like this go as low as you can and then return back
To the starting [position] and we'll do one more repetition
Come back keep that dumbbell as close to your head as you can flare those elbows out really feel those lats pull
and then return back to the starting position and
Complete for all the repetitions that you're doing in your set now if you want to gain more of an understanding of how to utilize
this exercise for your chest [I] will link you to my comparison video down in the info section below and
lastly guys
Remember that this is an excellent movement to include in your workouts if your shoulder mobility needs improving as well as it provides
extreme shoulder extension
Successfully mobilizing the joint and improved shoulder [expansion] can help with squats?
overhead presses pull-ups
And of course your everyday posture the third and final exercise is the barbell glute bridge now
I notice a lot of dudes are usually not too fond of this exercise
And I can't understand why aside from building bigger and stronger glutes if you're looking for more
Explosive power through your hips to increase your squat and deadlift then this exercise should be a staple [in] your weekly routines
Most people especially women who want to target their glutes usually use some sort of glute, Kickback
Machine or even do goop kickbacks with their bodyweight extending one leg into the air at a time. This is not
How you progressively overload your muscles for Growth?
And it's definitely not how you get the best results remember that your glutes are powerful
explosive muscles and need to be trained with intensity and
Finally for those of you with hip or lower back pain who might have a slight case of anterior pelvic tilt
This exercise will work wonders for you
and this is because it will force your glutes to work synergistically with your hamstrings and abs and this is exactly how you correct a
Pt. All right so before I show you guys proper form with this movement. [I] do have a few things
I really want you [to] take home so that you don't mess it up
And if you're a woman watching this video make sure you pay attention because 99% of the women in my gym do this exercise
incorrectly
It's like they go for speed and weight versus proper form and they never really get that glute activation
That they're looking for because they do this one mistake right here
And that mistake is they do not flex their glutes and hyper extend their hips at the top of the movement now
I'm going to do this standing
It's going to look a little weird so just bear with me, but you mostly see people this exercise in the gym
So they're like butts on the floor and they kind of do this and the [legs] never really go straight and their hips never lock
out on
Every single repetition of the bottle glute bridge you need to flex your glutes as high as you can like
Squeeze your cheeks so hard together you can't even get your finger in there, [and] that sounds weird
But that's exactly how you need to feel when doing this exercise
All right
You're going to squeeze your butt cheeks as hard as you can and you're going to hyper extend your hips
Forward so you have to have this [hyperextension] at the top or else you're falling short
And you're not maximizing the [benefits] of the exercise and the other thing
I want to say is you can put a pad across this barbell to do this movement. I
Personally don't like using one
And I've gone as heavy as four hundred five hundred pounds without a pad if you find the sweet spot on
Your hips which is usually about right here?
obviously you're going to feel it a little bit
But it's really not that painful [if] you have the barbell in the wrong place
Then you know it's going to you're going to feel it because it's going to hurt
So for me in order to maximize this exercise and do it right
I like not having the pad because it forces me to make sure I have the bible in the correct position so to
[get] into place as you guys can see I just sat down on the ground
[I'm] going to roll the barbell over my legs, so you can go like this
And then roll it to you or get into like I just did and you want to try to already kind of center yourself
on the barbell and then from here you [want] to get your heels as
Close to your glutes as possible the closer your heels to your butt the more pushing power
You're going to have with your hips if your feet are out here
You're going to have a really hard time lifting a lot of weight with this exercise, okay?
And you're definitely going to have a hard time
Locking out your hips at the top and hyper extending through while squeezing your glutes together so lay down on the ground now
[I] like to grab my shoes kind of like this
And then pull them in as close as I [can] to my butt and then once in place
I roll the bar forward and then I'm not just holding it like this
[I'm] actually going to push the barbell into my hips so locks into place into that sweet spot
[I] was just telling you about that once everything is in place
are you going to do from [here] is push through your heels and extend your hips to the ceiling and then [one] tear here
You're going to make sure you flex those glutes and hyper extend your hips up as high as you can
Bring it back down or turn to the static position
And then push back up like this and repeat for reps
And if you have to reset after a few reps because you're sliding on the floor. That's okay
Just let go adjust let your feet are close to your glute on each side
Get back into position and then start again all the way up all the way down
Another trick you can do if you have a workout [patna] or if you can just find someone is you can literally have them
Stand like this, so your head is right here granted
It's not the most flattering angle some to be standing in but if they stand like this
And you have your shoulders [press] up against the heels of their shoes it will prevent you from sliding across the floor especially
if you're using a lot of weight
So there you have it guys three exercises that you should definitely start incorporating into your workouts
and if you need help
incorporating them into your current program make a free profile on my website muscularstrength.com and
Post your questions and our forums be sure to smash that like button
Subscribe if you haven't already and as always more good stuff coming soon. See you guys