Exercise Breakdown: Do Your First Chin-Up

Most people know that chin ups and pull ups are one of the best exercises for the upper body including but not limited to:

• Building stronger lats, traps, shoulders and arms.
• Demonstrating proper balance around the shoulder blade, if you perform them correctly
• Creating strong shoulder stabilizer
• Balancing out the numerous pressing motions in most workout programs (unless it's my program, you'll be doing pulls in one form or another every workout)

From a technical standpoint it really should be called chest ups. This means that you aren't barely clearing your chin over the bar, rather bringing your chest to the bar which ensures you're getting proper scapular depression and retraction.

HOW TO (there are many ways to get up there, this is how I like to teach the move)

1. Pull patterning w/squat

Aside from not having the strength to pull yourself up to the top of the bar, most have zero clue how to create full body tension. This is noticeable when watching someone who can sort of do 2-3 reps but swing around A LOT.

This is why using a pull-up assist machine doesn't quite help overcome the stabilization you'll need once you jump onto a free standing bar. Not to mention most of these machines are built very poorly with the hand spacing being very off. 

This drill allows the lifter to learn the movement correctly, engage the proper muscles (as much as they can) while also focusing on maintaining a tight core the entire time. 

I would combine this with Chest supported DB Rows. This will allow you to initially start properly engaging the correct muscles in a safe manner. 

2. Inverted Rows

The next exercise I like to progress people to is the inverted row. We usually stay with this until the person can comfortably perform a set of 8 reps with their body underneath the anchor point of the suspension trainer or barbell. 

I love the inverted row and will start here for those with some established pulling strength in place. It adjusts very easily and allows for quick change by either stepping back or moving forward. 

I would combine this with the pull up + single leg patterning. 

By lowering the amount of stability and help the legs give with only one foot on the floor it gets harder without actually changing much else.  Here we continue to work on stability during the pull up while increasing both the strain on the upper body and need for body control. 

3. Kneeling Pull-up

I would then move them to a suspension trainer or smith machine they can go from a tall kneeling position into a pull up. This is fantastic since you'll have your legs still on the floor for help but they won't be fully engaged given the positioning of the body here. 

This is a great drill for really turning up the tension needed for all vertical pulling. 

This can also be used in conjunction with Negatives and isometric holds from the bar. 

4. Band Assist Pull-Ups

The final progression is to use a superband and perform them hanging from a bar. 

Here's a video I created outlining some of the mistakes I see such as putting an unprepared client in a heavy band and watching them practically swing into the other end of the rack. 

There's no predetermined amount of time any one person will spend with each of these movements. What's most important is finding what works the best for you and hammering that as hard as possible working towards overloading the muscles. Be patient and in time you'll be flying up and down that pull-up bar. 

Exercise Breakdown: Proper Shoulder Blade Motion During Rows

If you've followed me for any extended period of time you'll know one of my favorite yet easily butchered exercises are ROWS!!!

One thing that I continue to see is the idea of "STAYING PACKED" as opposed to allowing for free motion of the shoulder blade. The shoulder blade needs to be able to move freely on the rib cage to maintain positioning of the ball in the socket.

See if you keep the shoulder blade packed (squeezed hard down and back) then you create a lot of torque going across the glenohumeral joint. To put it into plain English: the more you stress out that part of your shoulder, the greater the chances you will create some sort of impingement. By not allowing the scapula to move, you create a lat dominant style row (I.E: imbalanced movement).

This is in contrast to proper movement during a row where you're allowing protraction of the scapula and retraction when pulling your arm back. It all comes down to this:

When your arm moves forward, so should your shoulder blade. When your arm moves back , your shoulder blade should move back. This concept applies to pull ups as well.

Exercise Breakdown: Scap Pull-Up

• The Scap Pull-Up is one of my favorite "feeler" moves that help individuals groove the initial movement pattern of a chin/pull up.

Most of us sit in an anteriorly tilted position (seated desk hunchback position) which is a result of tight internal rotators and weak external rotators. This move helps to facilitate pulling through posteriorly tilting the scapula via serrates anterior, traps, rhomboids and most importantly using their lats.

Tip:

• I coach my clients to think about pulling through their lats by imagining strings attached to their elbows pulling them down to their sides and not only using their arms. 
• Aim to squeeze the lats and pull the shoulder blades together.
• Squeeze for 2-3 second count, and relax but careful to not aggressively shrug, "keep your neck visible". 

Don't You Have Any Other Interests?

I recall a conversation with a fellow trainer in our facility who said something along the lines of 

"All you talk about is training and food, don't you have any other interests?"

Of course I do.

I love sports, cats, and I'm even growing an interest in the geopolitical landscape. My biggest "outside" interest which I suppose ties into fitness and food is a burning desire to improve society on a much larger scale.

But all those things take a back seat to what I'm currently focus on. 

I live, breathe and sleep exercise, nutrition, cooking and all that my business entails. 

Here's the thing, if you're happy with the current life you have as a trainer, office worker or salesman; then don't change a thing. Keep doing what you're doing and feel free to mock me and my lack of diverse interests. 

But if you want to make big changes. Make big moves. And you're still late, wasting money or unfocused; how on earth are you ever going to get there?! Your actions don't map out your words. You my friend are, pardon my French, full of sh*t.

I can say this because I once was as well. I would talk a big game, say I'm going to make a lot of money and make a difference in this world. And how is that going to happen by waking up at 10am and barely working a few hours. Hell I watched more TV than I worked!

I've cut out Basketball (which pains me), poker, and "hanging out" because I don't have time for these things these days. This is the classic "I don't have time" excuse. Making more time often comes at the expense of the softball team or the bowling team or the book club; something you've decided to occupy your time with. It should never come at the expense of family time. This feels right to me, while it may be "unhealthy" to you. Whatever the case may be: YOU need to DO YOU.

Every moment, every minute of my life is consumed by the burning desire (you might say obsession) to be the best.

Every morning I wake up not content wanting to be the best version of myself, but to be
The Best

Exercise Breakdown: Losing Tension During Deadlifts

If you've ever set up for a deadlift, conventional or sumo, you should feel two things.

1. Tension in the hamstrings
2. Tension in the core and lats

What you get results in added stress to the lower back with a suboptimal set up.

First would be to address the initial hinge. Are you feeling it in hamstrings? If not that's the first place you would want to address. A drill I like for that is the butt tap hinge.

From there you continue down, a great cue from Dead Somerset is to squeeze behind your knee continuing to crank up the tension. All before you even grab the barbell or kettlebell. 

At this point you should be over the barbell, from the side view you should have your armpits directly over the barbell once you drop down to the bar.

The goal is always to create tension in the lats without changing the position of your arms. If you retract the shoulder blades aggressively. You want to "squeeze the orange" under your arm pit. 

From there big breath, brace the core, and continue the maintain the tension in the hamstrings and then pull to lockout.