Relative Strength Advantage » Exercises & Biomechanics

How To Get Insanely Good At Chin-ups And Pull-ups

Yavor — Tue, 19 May 2009 07:38:17 +0000

Chin-ups and pull-ups for me are the most intense upper body exercises. Ever since I was a kid, I have been fascinated by them and had always wanted to master them. This wouldn’t happen until my early twenties and here I will share my approach with you. But first let me tell you what happened today.

[No picture of a dude struggling on the pull up bar? Lets have a totally random gorgeous woman instead! By the way, most guys are totally clueless when it comes to what women like about a man's physique. Here is the deal: hot girls dig the V-shape of the torso (the waist to shoulders ratio). Gunz or bi's or however you call 'em serve mainly to intimidate other guys.]

I Was Chilling After A Nice Walk In The Saturday Sun

…when I felt like I was in the mood for some mindless fun. So I popped a DVD with some flick called Mindhunters. It starred LL Cool J, Christian Slater, Val Kilmer and two hot girls whose names I couldn’t remember. The movie was pure brainless b-movie/slasher fun, and I enjoyed every second of it, though I’m sure the director wouldn’t like me calling his masterpiece a B-movie. Anyway, you maybe asking yourself what this movie could have to do with getting insanely good at chin-ups and pull-ups. Well…

LL Cool J Was A Ripped Bad Ass In The Movie

In one of the scenes one guy was hanging off some bar (falling was not an option because the floor was flooded and the killer had rigged the water with electricity). LL came to the rescue, swinging, climbing and pulling himself up various ledges, bars and walls. And the first dude was waiting for him and hanging for dear life. Naturally, I thought to myself – if only this guy had gotten his pullups in check BEFORE getting himself in a life and death pullup bar situation. Now LL Cool J, on the other hand, was having a breeze because he always keep in shape.

Here is the tutorial this poor guy probably wished he HAD read lol:

The Perfect Pull-up and Chin-up

Watch your grip. Make sure to grip the bar towards your fingers. Basically, it should rest on the soft part just below your fingers. Avoid pinching your skin there. Pull-ups will cause callouses but they will actually make the exercise easier. Pinching the skin, on the other hand, will cause you unnecessary pain.
Pack your shoulders. Always start the chin-up from a dead hang position. From there the first thing to do is, with straight arms, to pull your shoulders down toward the body and pack them into your torso.
Use your back. The pull-up or chin-up is primarily an exercise for your back muscles. Those are the lats – the muscles of your armpits. You will fail to get good if you can’t feel and use your lats. It’s just that the biceps is too small and too week, no matter how well developed, to allow you chin-up mastery. Here is quick drill to feel those muscles. Extend your arms forward and ask a buddy to exert upward pressure on your arm. Now, try to lower it in spite of his efforts. Feel those muscles working? Good – use them in the pull-ups.
Cross your legs. The phenomenon called irradiation allows neighboring muscles to make each othe stronger when contracting harder. So by crossing and flexing your legs against each other, you become stronger.
Bend the bar. By attempting to twist the pull-up bar downward (your left hand will twist counter-clockwise and your right hand will twist clockwise) you will achieve a greater contraction in your upper body.
Squeeze your butt. Same as crossing your legs and gripping hard, squeezing the glutes will give you an instant strength boost.

[From left to right: sternum chinups, sternum pullups, wide grip pullups.]

Mix Up Your Pull-up Training

Regular chin-ups – these are done with an underhand grip. Pull yourself up until your chin clears the bar. They are excellent for biceps development and for overloading the exercise using additional weight.
Regular pull-ups – same as chin-ups, except done with your palms in an overhand grip. They are also excellent for overloading with additional weight using a belt, a backpack or a dumbbell between the legs. They target the biceps less and the upper back as well as the brachialis (muscle below the biceps) and brachioradialis (muscle on top of the forearm) more.
Wide grip pull-ups – these target the arms less and the upper back more. They are useful for learning to use the back muscles for chin-ups and pull-ups.
Sternum chin-ups/pull-ups – these are the same as the regular chin-ups and pull-ups, except that they are done until the bar touches the chest bone (sternum). Sternum chin-ups and pull-ups are harder, but they work the mid-back and rear deltoids more.

How Get Better At It

The way to get better is to practice often (3 or more times per week), do a relatively high volume of training (25-36 repetitions per workout is a great goal), use progressive overload, and focus on strength training repetition ranges (doing 3 reps with a weight with which you could do a total of 5 repetitions is good rule of thumb).

[Lat activation, or simply put using your back, and NOT your arms, is the key to pull-up greatness. Note how the shoulders go down and are packed into the body. Not using the lats - the armpit muscles properly, is the number one mistake people make on chin-ups.]

These Mistakes Sabotage Your Progress

You are not using your back. If you don’t learn to use the back muscles to initiate the movement and do most of the work on chin-ups and pull-ups, you are never going to get good at them. The upper arms are simply a small muscle and cannot compete with the big and powerful muscles of the upper back.
You are training to failure. When doing complex movements like this, always stop 1 or 2 repetitions short of failure. This means to do 8 reps when you are capable of doing 9 or 10. Training to failure is a viable tool when it comes to breaking down a muscle so it can recover and grow bigger and stronger. Pull-up and chin-up performance, however, comes down to learning to use your back and getting more efficient at it.
You aren’t using full range of motion. If you don’t go all the way down on chin-ups and pull-ups, you won’t be able to powerfully activate the back muscles.

Your Weaknesses Are Killing Your Performance

You are as strong as the weakest muscle that takes part in the exercise:

Train your grip. You won’t be good at pull-ups if you can’t stay on the bar long enough. You need a strong grip. Train by hanging off the bar for time with two arms (eventually try hanging off one arm). Barbell holds with heavy weights for time also will help.
Develop your forearms. Training your forearms with wrist curls, reverse wrist curls, reverse bar curls and pinch gripping (holding two weight plates together and lifting them off with one hand) will also improve your grip, thus your chin-up performance.
Strengthen the mid-back muscles. The mid back muscles are responsible for the hardest part of the movement – the finish. Strengthen them with dumbbell, barbell or cable rows.
Strengthen your upper arms muscles. Your upper arm muscles – biceps and brachialis, are also responsible for the finishing part of the movement. Improve them with barbell and dumbbell curls and reverse curls (like the regular curls but with your hands on top of the bar).

[Here's me doing 16 pull-ups. Notice the grip and the full extension at the bottom.]

So there – use proper form, activate the back, train often, use low reps and progress in weight (either with a weight belt, a backpack with weight plates or a dumbbell between your feet) as soon as it gets easier and you will be on your way to chin-up mastery.

Insane Photo by Digital Sophia

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Renegade Rows – Do You Make These Mistakes? Part II

Yavor — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 09:06:02 +0000

A reader of this site, Andy, asked me in Part I of the renegade rows series what to do once renegade rows become way too easy. He says he doesn’t feel his abs sore after workout. I will answer this in two parts. First, I wanna make something clear regarding muscle soreness. It is a sign of only one thing – that your body was not ready or adapted for the stress that caused the soreness. Nothing else. So you may continue to workout, especially when training for strength as opposed to muscle size (these are two different goals!), without needing to blast your body so that it’s sore every time.

[She wanted to know if getting that tat was a mistake. Hm, let me think, girl... Tell you what - I like the ink, but all this other extra stuff covering your body needs to go LOL!]

The second issue is whether you do the renegade rows with proper form to ensure that your core gets maximum stimulation. So in this article I will address the issue of proper form in more detail.

Here Is A Video With A Good Explanation Of The Proper Form For Renegade Rows

[This video is very helpful in understanding how to transfer the weight between your arms so that you can row with the free arm. Just watch it and you will see what I mean.]

Here Is My Buddy Vasko In Our Gym Doing The Exercise PERFECTLY With 40kg Dumbbells

[Vasko is very strong for his size 6'2'', 190 lbs, can deadlift 200kg+. Note that he is an athlete and needs his body weight to stay down, yet his strength needs to be as high as possible to be fast and explosive. This is what the relative strength advantage is all about.]

Here Are 3 Examples Of How NOT To Do It

[This guys is twisting like mad. Remember, this is an exercise in stabilization. It is NOT a back/rowing exercise]

[This guy is a little better, but still, almost no stabilization, his hips are lifting off, he is doing way too many reps.]

Renegade Rows are done to teach and enhance core stabilization. Low reps are the only option here. Sets of 10 while good for fatiguing the muscle and building it up, are USELESS here. Maximal contraction is the goal when training for stabilization.

[This guy is actually walking around with the exercise. He is not getting the core strength benefits from this exercise.]

It is true that he is burning some calories – but again the renegade row is NOT a fat loss or general physical preparedness exercise. It is a drill that makes your abs freaky strong and rock hard. If done correctly!

To End On A Positive Note – Here Is My Good Friend Val Doing PERFECT Renegade Rows With 16kg Dumbbells

[That's one tough chick right there!]
Photo by Digita Sophia

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Renegade Rows – How to Get Ridiculously Hard Abs, Part I

Yavor — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 22:00:09 +0000

The renegade row, developed and named by coach John Davies, is one of the hardest and most effective abdominal exercises. The reason for this is that renegade rows force you to use the primary function of the stomach muscles – stabilization. In other words the exercise teaches you how to keep your body as rigid as possible. You have no other choice but to contract your abs a hard as possible. Otherwise you won’t be able to maintain a rigid body.

1. Technique

The hollow position is key. You need to stay as rigid as possible. Tuck in your butt and squeeze the abs hard.
Transfer weight between the arms This the key to the exercise. If you don’t transfer your weight to one of the arms, you cannot lift the other one AND still maintain a rigid body parallel to the ground.
Squeeze your but hard Tightening all your muscles is important, but squeezing the butt is especially helpful.
Tighten the supporting side leg You want to establish a firm support from which to row.
Don’t twist the hips Most of the videos you will see on the web show people performing the exercise incorrectly. Twisting the body or hips makes the exercise easy and ineffective. Avoid this mistake and keep the body parallel to the ground!
Row the weight using your back. When doing a rowing motion, always rely primarily on your back muscles (try contracting your armpit muscles) and NOT your biceps. Try leading with your elbow as if your arm was just a hook to which the weight is attached.

2. Renegade Rows Instructional Video

Here is a video of the renegade row. Watch and note the three main keys to the proper execution of the movement.

3. Progression

Low reps are the only option This is not a bodybuilding exercise. It is not meant to fatigue the muscle. On the contrary – it is meant to teach you how to contract your whole body as hard as possible. So perform low reps with 100% focus.
3 sets of 5 are enough Beginners will do fine with just 3 sets. They will progress easily this way while also learning to contract the body and execute the exercise properly.
5×5 also works for advanced athletes Once you get good, you can add a few more sets for more stress on your body.

4. Action plan

Here is how you can introduce renegade rows in your workout. You have a few choices.

Once per week for multiple sets of 2-5 reps. This option is for those who are short on time, but still want to get massive results from the exercise.
3-7 times per week for 2-3 sets of 2-5 reps. This is the best way to get GOOD at doing a certain skill.
Once per week for 2-3 sets of 2-5 reps. This option allows you to add other core conditioning drills such as the L-Sit.

Note, go read Part II of the renegade rows series to discover how people mess up with renegade rows.

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The L-Sit – Train Your Abs Like A Gymnast

Yavor — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 15:59:02 +0000

What if it were possible to achieve the core and abdominal strength of a world class gymnast while training at home, only for a few minutes per day with no equipment or gadgets? Well guess what – it is possible to do it if you master the L-Sit.

[You are a stud if you can hold this position for 90-120 seconds.]

1. Variations

With bent knees. You can start with this version if you feel you are lacking the strength or hamstring flexibility to do the movement with straight legs.
With straight legs. Once you are comfortable doing the L-sit with your knees bent, try the straight leg version. The farther your legs are from your body, the tougher it is.

2. Hand Positions

On parallellets or parallel bars. This is the easiest version, but requires equipment. You can buy a set of parallellets to train at home.
On your knuckles. This one will strengthen your wrists and knuckles. Good for martial artists.
On your fingers. Probably the easiest version. See the image above.
On your fingertips. A slightly different version. Good for martial artists and wrestlers.

3. Progression and Workout Frequency

Change the variations or hand position. This one is self explanatory. Just go to a different variation or hand position to challenge yourself when it gets easy.
Progress in time. This is the real deal. Get to one minute non stop in the L-Sit and you will be core bad ass. The way to do it is to do several sets that add up to your total goal time each workout. For example if your goal is 1 minute, do as many sets as it takes you until you reach a total of 60 seconds. So a typical workout could be 12 secs – 10 secs -10 secs – 8 secs – 7 secs – 7 secs – 6 secs.
When training a skill, it is best to train as often as possible, as fresh as possible. So an ideal variant to train every day and do multiple sets – say after you wake up and before you go to bed, that add up to your total goal time each day. You could do these sets between household chores – say do a set, brush your teeth, do another set, do the laundry or whatever.

There you have it. There are now no excuses not to build yourself a brick breaking set of abs. Even if you don’t have an access to a gym. Even if you have no equipment at home. Even if you have no spare space to train in. And, as a bonus you can’t avoid getting pretty damn strong overall, not just in your abs, when you master the L-Sit.

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Glute Activation – Your Butt May Well Be Your Most Important Athletic Asset

Yavor — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 20:51:36 +0000

[Never hurts to have a pretty girl demonstrate exercises for you.]

The Glutes Are the Primary Movers of the Hip Joint

First – lets define “glutes.” These are the muscles in your butt. Glutes comes from the Latin name gluteus maximus. To me it sounds like the name of Russel Crowe’s character in the movie Gladiator.

So anyway, the primary role of the glutes is to make your upper leg go in alignment with the spine. In other words if the spine and trunk are vertical – the leg must too. So the thigh is pulled down and back. This extension at the hip is primarily propelled by the muscles you are currently sitting on.

Every Movement Involves the Butt Because it Is in the Center of the Body

All natural whole body movements come from the hip joint. Running, jumping, walking, squatting, getting up from a chair – those are all movements that require the extension of the hip. So the ability to feel this muscle and contract it hard correlates to high athletic achievements. Run faster, jump higher, stand up from your chair quicker lol.

Static Force Also Originates From the Glutes

Here is the kicker – the glutes are helpful not only when actually moving your body, but also when statically contracting. If you execute the hollow position properly and squeeze the butt hard, this will allow you to generate much more force on exercises such as the military press. Grip hard and crunch those glutes and you are instantly stronger. This is a process called irradiation that allows adjacent muscles to make each other stronger by contracting. But this is a whole another topic.

How to Perform Glute Bridges to Feel the Butt Working

[This is quite a wimpy looking exercise. Not only does it look that way - it actually is quite lame. But... it teaches you to feel the right muscle working so I guess it's OK lol.]

You need to be able to do two things. Feel the muscle work and contract it on demand when it is the primal mover on an exercise. Such is the case with barbell deadlifts, barbell squats and lunges for example.

The Dangers of a Dormant Butt

The biggest danger of not using your glutes in movements where they are supposed to do most of the work is that when other muscle kick in, your body works in an unnatural way. This can result in nearby or even far muscles and joins getting strained or injured.

For example – the lower back can get hurt if it is forced to do the hip extending job of the glutes. Or the ankles could be strained if misused due to improper alignment caused by inactive glutes.

[And now for something completely different haha.]

It’s just that the body is a complex system. Mess something up and something is bound to go wrong somewhere else. Your body continues to function due to its ability to adapt, but it functions the same way a car with a flat tire continues to run.

Image: Vincent Boiteau

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Calf Workouts – The Secrets of Successfully Training Your Calves

Yavor — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 19:07:16 +0000

I think I became obsessed with basketball during the freshman year of high school. One thing I noticed was that all the older basketball players had great calf development. Well, they probably had good development of their whole bodies, but that was what I noticed cause we were wearing basketball shorts.

[Basketball players have good calf development because of their sport. Or is it that they develop their calves for their sport? Which came first lol?]

So anyway, I became a calf training fanatic. I remember I had a classmate who was into bodybuilding and I was asking him all the time about ways to develop my calves for basketball.

Here Is What I Learned

1. When doing calf raises, stretch on the down position for 2-4 seconds. Make sure to do calf raises on a platform of sorts so that you have additional space to lower your heels. The reason for this is that your muscles and ligaments store elastic energy. You want to dissipate this energy by waiting for a few seconds. This way you will fatigue the muscle itself and will not be relying on the stored energy from the descent.

2. Lower slowly and under control. Do this on all pushing exercises. It goes without saying – no bouncing. Control the descent and then pause.

3. Train barefoot, with chuck tailors or with shoes that allow full range of motion. Otherwise you won’t be able to stretch full on the bottom position. Likewise, you won’t be able to fully flex at the top position.

[OK, intermission time. Beach + babes. Enjoy the hot ladies dancing in the sand.]

4. Speaking of flexing at the top position, make sure to fully extend your ankle and concentrate on feeling the muscle contract for 1-2 seconds. Make each repetition count.

5. Bent knee calf raises work the soleus muscle. This is the muscle above your ankle. The best way to do them is by sitting on a machine or with a barbell, dumbbell or barbell plate resting on your knees.

[What's up with me and basketball anyway? I'll tell you what's up - I LOVE this game lol.]

6. Straight legged calf raises work the calf muscle itself.

7. Use progressive overload when training the calves. Start with two legged training without additional weight. Next do two legs and weight. After that, switch to one legged raises without weight. The hardest variation is one legged calf raises with additional weight in your hand.

[I first heard this song on the movie Space Jam with Michael Jordan. Turns out it is way older. Cool stuff!]

8. One of the best ways to train you calves is to run and jump rope. The best tip comes last guys.

Images: uriba cmaccubbin brookenovak

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Shoulder Exercises – How to Military Press Correctly For Wide Shoulders and a Strong Upperbody

Yavor — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 15:36:28 +0000

The secret is to use your whole body. Just like in the hollow position, you have to tuck your pelvis forward and squeeze your glutes hard. The harder you can squeeze, the more force you can use from the ground, through your statically flexed quads, through the glutes and up towards the upper body and the bar itself. When your whole body is rock solid from flexing, no force dissipates and you are instantly stronger, without gaining an ounce of muscle.

[Note the tucked in pelvis and the torso shifting forward once the bar gets above head level. The key to the exercise is to keep the weight above your center of gravity - the middle of the foot.]

Here Is How to Military Press Correctly to Get a Strong Upper Body and Wide Shoulders

[Barbell Military Press - pressing a barbell from the standing position above your head. Check out after 0:47 how after the bar passes my head, I shift my torso forward. This is essential so that you can utilize the muscles of your upper back to help with the movement. ]

Another thing that you mustn’t forget is to always grip super hard, whenever you are doing pressing exercises. This ensures that no force is lost throughout your body when trying to lift the bar.

Military Press Checklist

Flex the legs hard.
Press the ground through the heels.
Tuck your plevis in.
Squeeze the glutes.
Flex your abs like in the hollow position.
Keep your forearms vertical.
Grip super hard.
Press the bar up.
Once it passes above your head, shift your torso forward a bit.

Initial Milestones for the Military Press

As I mentioned in the Strength and Size Full Body Workout, shooting for 10 reps with 120lbs/55 kg is a good starting point. Once you hit that, you can say you’ve got some good initial strength.

[Notice how the forearms stay relatively vertical to better transfer force to the barbell.]

If You Are Able To Military Press More Than 200lbs/90 kg Overhead, You’ve Arrived In Mad Strong Land

[She said she likes her men with shoulders that are nice and broad just like that. It's OK, girl, I have preferences for my ladies too and you just might qualify LOL.]

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Barbell Deadlift – How to Train Correctly to Get a Strong Back and Avoid Injuries

Yavor — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 22:43:05 +0000

Everybody keeps writing that the barbell deadlift is the king of exercises and that no other exercise will task your body so much. I agree and that’s why the exercise has a place in the Beginner Strength Training Full Body Workout. Even so, if you don’t learn to perform the barbell deadlift correctly, two things might happen.

[Here is how to perform the barbell deadlift.]

First of all you may injure yourself if you deadlift incorrectly

It is super important to have a flat back when picking stuff off the ground. The lower back is not designed for flexibility. It is designed to be rigid and in this position it is strong. When it is flexed, it is both weak and non-supportive to your spine.

Second of all

If you don’t do the barbell deadlift correctly, you won’t be able to lift a lot and thus won’t recruit most of your muscles. So much for the king of all exercises.

[Sit your butt as far back as you possibly can. The start of the movement is when you push down on the ground through your heels. Go on the way up evenly with your whole body like an elevator. Keep your lower back tight and straight.]

[Now, you have the bar just above your knees. You need to do two things. First, squeeze your glutes and extend your hips by pushing and flexing your butt forward. Second, use your lats - the muscles of your armpits - to pull the bar towards your body. Keep your lower back tight and straight.]

[Stand up completely. All of the muscles on the back of your body - head to toe - should be now contracted. Keep your lower back tight and straight.]

[Begin descending by pushing your hips back. Keep doing this until the bar reaches the level below your knees. Keep your lower back tight and straight.]

[OK, once the bar has passed knee level, go down fast with it. You don't have to slam it on the ground, but you don't have to control its speed either.]

This completes one repetition. You should start and end all your repetitions like that. Start on the ground from a dead stop – that is why it’s called a dead lift – cause the weight is lying on the ground. You may have realized what the most important thing is when deadlifting. I keep repeating it because it is that important. You should keep your lower back tight and straight.

A Few More Things About The Barbell Deadlift Technique

The neck should be in a neutral position. It should be like an extension to the spine – neither looking down, nor flexing back. Contract your triceps, keep your arms straight and locked and grip hard with your hands. Contract your stomach hard like somebody is going to punch you.

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How to Squat Correctly for Size and Strength

Yavor — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 20:32:20 +0000

The barbell squat is the first exercise in the Beginner Strength Training Full body Workout. In order to progress and avoid injuries, it is imperative that you perform the exercise with correct technique. What the exercise will give you is not big legs, but overall strength throughout the body. To get big legs from squats you have to squat very heavy.

[In the video I did not take the bar from a squat rack, but you should not do it like me. Instead, start the exercise properly from a squat rack.]

Barbell Squat – The Exercise

First – start your squats by taking the bar from a power rack. Grab the bar with both hands. Position it on top of your squeezed upper back muscles and not on your neck. Make sure you have an arch in your lower back at all times. This is what prevents you from hurting your back. At the same time, this will make your lower back strong so you won’t hurt yourself at home trying to move the couch.

The Arch in the Lower Back – The Key To Safe Squatting

To understand what I mean by an arch in the lower back, try this. Lie on the floor face down, with your arms in front of your body. Now try to lift your arms and your legs off the ground at the same time. This is an exercise called superman. See what happens with your lower back and hold it the same way when you squat.

Barbell Squat – The Basic Movement

Your heels should be approximately shoulder width apart. Your toes will point a bit out. Now, make sure your weight is towards your heels and not towards your toes. Begin by sitting back with your butt as far as you can. At the same time, you will be going down and your knees will go to the sides. Your knees will at all times point in the direction that your toes point. When your knees and the crease between your legs and your stomach are even (so your legs are parallel to the ground) you can start ascending by squeezing your butt and legs. Try to go up and down, like an elevator, and NOT with your butt up first.

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