Secret Training Tip #242 - Be 10% Stronger in Leg Curls Instantly!

By Nick Nilsson

Imagine how something as strange as changing how

you hold onto a leg curl machine can increase your strength!

This is a trick to be done on a leg curl machine. By simply changing where you grip your hands on the machine, you can increase your strength in the movement by as much as 10% instantly!

Lie face down on the bench as you normally would when doing the exercise. Instead of gripping the machine on the handles below the bench with your arms bent, extend your arms straight overhead in front and grab on to whatever is there. This is generally the frame on either side of the weight stack. Be aware that this trick will not work if there is nothing there to grab - some machines just end at the bench and have the weights stack to the side or behind.

Do your leg curls as you usually would but using this different grip. You should feel stronger when doing them.

One of the best ways to see this principle in action is to do a set as you normally would with your normal grip for about 10 to 12 reps. When you can't do any more reps, switch to the grip as explained above. You should be able to get a few more reps out.

When using this grip you should also find that you can use a little more weight than you usually do for reps.

The reason this trick works is that having your arms straight removes your biceps as the limiting link in the exercise. It transfers the force through your stronger back muscles instead, resulting in instant increased strength!

For information on how to do the leg curl exercise, go to:

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Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of the online personal training company BetterU, Inc. He has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been inventing new training techniques for more than 16 years. Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding eBooks including "Metabolic Surge - Rapid Fat Loss," "The Best Exercises You've Never Heard Of," "Gluteus to the Maximus - Build a Bigger Butt NOW!" and "The Best Abdominal Exercises You've Never Heard Of" all available at (http://hop.clickbank.net/?fitrition/betteru). He can be contacted at betteru@fitstep.com.

Secret Training Tip #178 - One Simple Movement Can Double the Effectiveness of Pulldowns

By Nick Nilsson

Learn a simple technique that you can use to dramatically

increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the lat pulldown.

The Pulldown is an excellent exercise for working the Latissimus Dorsi muscles of the back (also known as the lats). It is a little known fact but there is a way you can dramatically improve the effectiveness of this exercise by performing one simple movement before each rep.

Many people have a hard time feeling their lats working when they do pulldowns. The biceps may have a tendency to take over the movement. Some people just don't feel anything in their back at all.

This little movement trick can change all of that.

The movement is simply a shoulder drop and even though it may seem like a SMALL thing, it can have a HUGE impact on your back workout.

To demonstrate this movement, start by sitting in a pulldown machine with a moderate weight on the stack. Take a close grip on the bar with your palms facing you (known as a reverse grip). Do a few reps using your normal technique so you have a gauge to measure against.

Now we will add the shoulder drop. Let your arms go straight and let your shoulder girdle rise up as though shrugging. Your shoulders should be up by your ears. Now drop your shoulder girdle down in the opposite movement to the shrug, pulling the weight down as you do so. The range of motion is small, being only a matter of a few inches. Repeat this drop and raise several times to get the feel for the movement. You should feel your entire shoulder girdle moving up and down.

We will now do a rep with the shoulder drop movement. Start in the stretched position with your shoulders up by your ears. Drop your shoulders down, lean slightly back then do a pulldown. Be sure to keep your lower back arched and your chest puffed out to meet the bar on the way down. You should feel your lats working harder than usual.

Squeeze hard as though trying to touch your shoulder blades together as you come to the bottom then let the weight back up slowly. You can repeat the shoulder drop movement at the start of every rep or you can simply keep your shoulders down and locked in that position throughout the set.

Dropping your shoulders down like this serves to lock the lats into the movement and helps to minimize the biceps involvement in the pulldown. You should find that you get a much more effective lat workout using this technique.

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Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of the online personal training company BetterU, Inc. He has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been inventing new training techniques for more than 16 years. Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding eBooks including "Metabolic Surge - Rapid Fat Loss," "The Best Exercises You've Never Heard Of," "Gluteus to the Maximus - Build a Bigger Butt NOW!" and "The Best Abdominal Exercises You've Never Heard Of" all available at (http://hop.clickbank.net/?fitrition/betteru). He can be contacted at betteru@fitstep.com.

Secret Training Tip #240 - Waist Your Breath - Breathing For A Thinner Waist

By Nick Nilsson

Learn how simply changing the way you breathe while

doing crunches can actually help tighten your waist!

The crunch exercise is the backbone of abdominal training. It develops the muscles of the abs to help you build that much-desired six-pack. But did you know that there is a way to do crunches that can actually decrease the size of your waist?

The key to this technique is the top position of the crunch where your abdominals are contracted as hard as they are able to.

When you're in this top position, I want you to breathe in and out slowly a few times. Try to relax every other muscle except the abs. This breathing in and out will intensify the contraction (as you will find out very rapidly).

Here's how it works:

The muscles of the abdomen are arranged in layers around your midsection, similar in concept to the rings in a tree. While you are contracting the rectus abdominus (the top-most front layer of your abs, also known as your six-pack) continuously, the deeper abdominal muscle fibers are relaxing and contracting each time you breathe.

Each time the deep fibers relax, your rectus abdominus (because it is contracting so hard) will squeeze them in a little more, making your waist-area a little smaller and tighter.

The reason this works to decrease the size of your waist is simple. Usually, most people's abdominal muscles just kind of sit there. They don't stay tight, therefore your midsection tends to slouch forward and outward.

This technique teaches your abdominals to maintain a degree of tightness and tone in them even when you are relaxed. This keeps your abs in, leading to a visually smaller waist.

For more information on how to properly execute the Abdominal Crunch, go to:

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Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of the online personal training company BetterU, Inc. He has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been inventing new training techniques for more than 16 years. Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding eBooks including "Metabolic Surge - Rapid Fat Loss," "The Best Exercises You've Never Heard Of," "Gluteus to the Maximus - Build a Bigger Butt NOW!" and "The Best Abdominal Exercises You've Never Heard Of" all available at (http://hop.clickbank.net/?fitrition/betteru). He can be contacted at betteru@fitstep.com.

Strong To The Core of Your Being

By Nick Nilsson

Dramatically improve sports and weightlifting performance and say

goodbye to lower back pain! Plus, you'll learn two exercises

you can do at home that directly target the muscles of the core.

If you were to ask me which muscle group in your entire body you could work to get the greatest benefits in the shortest amount of time, I would tell you without hesitation, "the core." Strengthening the core can realize tremendous benefits to anyone regardless of his or her training experience and can do so very quickly.

But what is the core?

The core, as it's known in strength training circles, consists of all the muscles in your abdominal and lower back areas. This includes all the abdominal muscles (rectus abdominus, internal and external obliques, transverse abdominus and intercostals) as well as the muscles associated with the spine (the erector spinae group) and the hip flexors (iliacus and psoas, collectively known as the iliopsoas).

These muscles all work in harmony to provide stabilization for your body and to transfer power from the legs to the upper body and vice versa. The core muscles also function to keep your insides in, where they belong!

And why is strengthening the core so important?

Weak core muscles contribute to all kinds of problems in the body, the most prevalent of which is lower back pain. By strengthening the muscles that help support the spine and improve posture, you can dramatically decrease the symptoms of lower back pain.

Picture your spine as a column of soda cans stacked one on top of the other. If you wanted to keep that column standing up under stress, what do you think would work better: a "tenser" bandage (as is used for wrapping injured ankles) or Scotch tape? Sure the tape would keep the cans together but the cans wouldn't receive a whole lot support, would they?

When you strengthen the muscles of the core, you are in effect turning that Scotch tape into a nice, tight "tenser" bandage, increasing the amount of support that your spine gets.

Core training also has the potential to greatly improve sports performance. Watch a baseball pitcher throw a pitch in slow motion. The power of the throw starts at the legs, gets transferred through the abdominal area (a.k.a. the core) then ends up in the arm where the ball is released. Imagine how much speed and power would be lost from that throw if the core muscles couldn't efficiently transfer the force from the legs to the throwing arm.

The core is the one area of the body that will always give you a great return on your investment.

So how do I train my core muscles?

Exercises that work the abdominals and the lower back are the staples of core training. Also, exercises that target the stabilization and power-transfer duties of the core muscles are very effective.

The most basic abdominal training exercise is the standard crunch. You can go to the following URL to see the proper technique for this exercise:

But I've got an exercise for you that blows the standard crunch right out of the water. The equipment required for this exercise: one rolled-up towel.

The exercise is known as the Abdominal Sit-Up. It uses a sit-up-like movement but focuses directly on the abdominal muscles rather than the hip flexors (which a regular sit-up does). It is also very safe for your lower back. Another advantage it has over the standard crunch is that it targets the stretched (arched back) range of motion of the abs, which is totally missed in standard floor crunch.

How To Do It:

Lie on your back on the floor. Roll up a towel or mat and slip it underneath your lower back, just above the waistband (the size of the towel affects your body position during this movement - use a fairly large towel).

Your knees should be bent about 90 degrees. Keep your feet close together and knees fairly wide apart. This prevents the hip flexors from having a direct line of pull, helping to minimize their involvement.

Do not anchor your feet or have someone hold them down. This automatically activates the hip flexors. You will get the most out of this exercise by minimizing their involvement.

The difficulty of this exercise depends on where you hold your hands. The hardest position is above your head at arms-length, then beside your head, then across your chest, then straight down between your legs or at your sides. Start with the easiest first then progress to the other positions as you get stronger.

You are now ready to begin.

Keeping your torso straight and stiff, start the sit-up by  tightening your lower abs then lifting your upper body off the  floor.

As you continue up, imagine trying to push your face up  against the ceiling (think up, not around).

When you reach about 25 to 30 degrees above horizontal, hold  there for a second or two and squeeze your abs hard.

Keep your lower back in contact with the towel at all times  and always maintain tension in the abs.

Lower yourself down slowly and under control. Do not just drop  back to the ground. The negative portion of this exercise is  extremely effective.

Remember to adjust your arm position depending on the strength  of your abs (see above).

You can see pictures of how this exercise is done by going to:

Incline Ab Sit-Ups

If you are a beginning trainer, this is a good starting variation of the Abdominal Sit-up.

Set an incline sit-up board to a slight incline. If you don't have an incline sit-up board, you can use an adjustable incline bench, a decline bench, a Step platform with a riser under one of the ends or a flat bench with something under one end. You can even use a propped-up 2 x 6 board!

Your head should be on the higher end with your feet placed on the floor.

The execution is exactly the same. The only difference is that the tension on the abs is much less due to the greatly improved leverage in this position, allowing even people feel that their abs aren't strong enough to do the exercise.

Lying Superman Raises - An Exercise For The Lower Back

Though this exercise has a rather unique name, it is an excellent strengthening exercise for the lower back that you can do almost anywhere.

How To Do It:

Lie face down on the floor with your arms stretched out directly overhead (like Superman flying, hence the name).

Raise your left arm and right leg into the air at the same time, also raising your chest slightly off the floor. Hold there for a second and squeeze the muscles of your lower back. Lower your limbs back to the ground then raise your right arm and left leg and hold for a second. You can push down with the hand that is on the ground to help raise your other arm and chest higher off the ground.

This exercise, even though it only uses your limbs as resistance, provides an excellent way to strengthen the lower back muscles.

Conclusion:

These two exercises will give you a good place to start with core training. You can begin improving your core strength by doing these exercises 3 times a week for 2 to 3 sets each. Make core training a priority in your exercise routine and you will rapidly reap the benefits of having a stronger, more injury-proof midsection and back.

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Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of the online personal training company BetterU, Inc. He has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been inventing new training techniques for more than 16 years. Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding eBooks including "Metabolic Surge - Rapid Fat Loss," "The Best Exercises You've Never Heard Of," "Gluteus to the Maximus - Build a Bigger Butt NOW!" and "The Best Abdominal Exercises You've Never Heard Of" all available at (http://hop.clickbank.net/?fitrition/betteru). He can be contacted at betteru@fitstep.com.

Secret Training Tip #998 - Target: Rear Delts. One Simple Movement And They'll Be On Fire!

By Nick Nilsson

The rear delts can be tough to isolate. This trick takes

ALL the stress off the assisting back muscles and

places it squarely where you want it.

The Bent-Over Lateral Raise is one of the most common exercises used for working the rear or posterior deltoids. For most trainers, it can be difficult to really feel the rear delts working during this movement as the larger, stronger muscles of the back have a tendency to take over.

To really get the most out of this exercise, you need to remove the back muscles from the equation. This can be easily accomplished with a simple technique.

How to Do It:

First, get yourself into position for the Bent-Over Lateral Raise. This can either be standing, seated or with your chest on an incline bench. The same technique applies to all variations.

Your arms should be hanging straight down in the start position.

Now, drop your shoulders down towards the ground without moving your torso. You will be keeping them down throughout the exercise. This forces the back muscles into a stretched position, thereby reducing their involvement in the exercise.

Once your shoulders are dropped, start the movement by doing a reverse wrist curl with the dumbells. This means simply bending your wrists back and up and holding them there.

Now squeeze the weights up to the top position of the lateral so that they are in line with your head at the top and squeeze hard at the top.

Here is an excellent tip for the way up: as you raise the dumbells, imagine as though you are trying to wrap the backs of your arms around a tree. You've often heard that you should try to wrap your arms around a tree for dumbell flyes, now apply it to this movement.

Also, try to force your hands into as wide of an arc as possible and keep the dumbells as far away from your body as possible. This technique will help you to keep your shoulders down as you lift the weights.

What all these tips accomplish is to reduce the ability of the stronger back muscles to contract during the exercise, forcing the rear delt muscles to "shoulder" the burden of the exercise.

The keys to remember are:

1. Shoulders down throughout the movement.

2. Do a reverse wrist curl at the start.

3. Wrap your arms around a tree on the way up.

4. Raise the dumbells up in line with your head.

Incorporating these tips into the bent-over lateral movement will target your rear delts like a laser beam!

For pictures on how to execute this technique go the following URL:

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Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of the online personal training company BetterU, Inc. He has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been inventing new training techniques for more than 16 years. Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding eBooks including "Metabolic Surge - Rapid Fat Loss," "The Best Exercises You've Never Heard Of," "Gluteus to the Maximus - Build a Bigger Butt NOW!" and "The Best Abdominal Exercises You've Never Heard Of" all available at (http://hop.clickbank.net/?fitrition/betteru). He can be contacted at betteru@fitstep.com.

Secret Training Tip #504 - Breathing Backwards - Supercharge Your Back Workout NOW!

By Nick Nilsson

If you've ever had a hard time feeling your back

muscles working, this technique is for you.

Discover how breathing backwards will

SHOCK your lats into new growth!

Every experienced weight trainer knows that the proper way to breathe during a set is to inhale during the negative (lowering) phase and exhale during the positive (lifting) phase. But is this the best way to breathe in all exercises?

As a matter of fact, it isn't. I am going to show you exactly how and why you should breathe BACKWARDS during many if not most back exercises. I will use the lat pulldown exercise to demonstrate this powerful technique.

Fact: the pulldown movement is more effective when done with an arched lower back and puffed-up (expanded) chest.

This body position more fully activates the latissimus dorsi muscles. In fact, if your lower back isn't arched, it is extremely difficult for your lats to contract. The straight-back position throws more tension on the biceps and upper back muscles.

Expanding your chest helps to accentuate this arched-back position.

Fact: exhalation (breathing out) makes your chest contract. Inhalation (breathing in) makes your chest expand.

Fact: the typical breathing pattern of the pulldown consists of breathing out as you are pulling the weight down and breathing in as you are letting it back up.

What this means to you is that the typical breathing pattern is caving the chest in when you should be puffing the chest out!

Take a deep breath in and notice what happens to your chest. It puffs out and expands. This is the optimal position for your torso during the pulldown exercise.

Now carry this logic over to the pulldown movement. As you pull the weight down, take a deep breath in. Your chest will puff up to meet the bar automatically and your lats will engage strongly.

If you've ever had a hard time feeling your lats working when you do back exercises, use this technique and you will certainly feel an immediate difference.

This amazingly simple technique can be applied to almost any back exercise from pulldowns to chin-ups to seated cable rows. Try this technique the next time you work your back and you'll see just how powerful breathing backwards can be!

For a visual demonstration of how your body position changes with breathing.

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Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of the online personal training company BetterU, Inc. He has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been inventing new training techniques for more than 16 years. Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding eBooks including "Metabolic Surge - Rapid Fat Loss," "The Best Exercises You've Never Heard Of," "Gluteus to the Maximus - Build a Bigger Butt NOW!" and "The Best Abdominal Exercises You've Never Heard Of" all available at (http://hop.clickbank.net/?fitrition/betteru). He can be contacted at betteru@fitstep.com.

How To Do The Perfect Bench Press Rep

By Nick Nilsson

Learn the secrets to bench press form that

will send your strength and muscle

development through the roof!

The Flat Barbell Bench Press is one of the most popular exercises in the gym, yet how many people know the most important techniques for maximizing strength and power during each rep?

In this article, you will find solid tips without the fluff. These tips will instantly help you to improve your bench press RIGHT NOW! You don't need any special equipment to use these techniques, just a willingness to learn.

Several of these tips will be further demonstrated with pictures (there will be a link to this picture page at the end of the article).

1. The perfect bench press rep starts without any weight on the bar. Why no weight? The first thing you need to do is determine your proper hand spacing on the bar.

Lie down on the bench and unrack the bar as you normally would. Lower the bar to your chest and have a partner take note of the orientation of your forearms. For optimal power, your forearms should be as close to vertical at the bottom of the rep as possible. Adjust your grip accordingly and take note of where your hands are in relation to the smooth rings on the Olympic bar.

The reason for this is simple: if your hands are placed wider, some of your pushing power will be expended pushing outwards rather than upwards. If your hands are placed closer, power is expended pushing inwards. When your forearms are vertical, the vast majority of your power goes to pushing the bar directly up.

2. Now that you have your grip properly positioned, put some weight on the bar. Lay back on the bench and plant your feet firmly on the floor. Your knees should bent at about an 80 degree angle (I will explain the reason for this later - this tip has an accompanying picture). DO NOT place your feet up on the bench. You will lose stability and potential power by doing this.

Place your hands on the bar in the grip width that you determined previously.

A technique that I like to use to lock my shoulders into the position for maximum strength and stability is as follows:

Instead of placing your palms on the bottom of the bar, place them on the back of the bar (this tip also has an accompanying picture).

Now, without removing your grip, rotate the bar down so that your palms are now directly under the bar. This has the effect of placing your shoulders into their most stable and strong position. It will almost feel as though you are "locking down" your shoulders.

As you are rotating the bar and locking down your shoulders, lift your torso slightly off the bench and force your shoulder blades together tightly underneath your torso.

This will force your shoulders back and puff your chest out, placing the pectorals in a position where they have a more effective line of pull. It also has the added bonus of making your torso thicker, reducing the distance you need to press the weight.

Keep your shoulder blades squeezed tightly behind you for the duration of the set.

3. Remove the bar from the racks and tighten up the muscles of your torso. Begin lowering the bar under complete control to a point at the bottom of your sternum (about even with the bottom of your sternum, a.k.a. the breastbone). Imagine as though your muscles are springs storing up all the energy of the weight lowering and getting ready to explode it all back out. Inhale as you lower the bar and feel it tightening up your chest.

Lightly touch the weight to your chest. DO NOT bounce the weight off your chest! This can cause injury in the form of cracked ribs or even snapping the tip of the sternum (a little bony protrusion known as the Xiphoid Process). It also diffuses the tension you've built up in the pectorals, reducing the effectiveness of the exercise for building strength and muscle mass.

4. As you start to change the direction of the bar and begin the press up, drive with the legs. This is a technique that most trainers do not know about. It's strange to think about it but your leg power can actually help you bench press more weight!

This technique should be practiced with an empty bar before attempting it during a regular set. Start by planting your feet flat on the floor with your knees bent about 80 degrees. This angle is very important as it is what allows you to push with your legs.

Lower the empty bar to your chest. The moment you start to push the bar back up, push hard with your legs as though you are trying to slide your body up the bench.

With an empty bar you probably will be able to slide yourself up the bench. When you have a loaded bar, however, the weight will keep you from sliding and the pushing power from your legs will get transferred through your body and into pushing the bar up.

This is what's known as driving with your legs. It can really beef up your power out of the bottom of the rep.

5. Exhale forcefully through pursed lips as you continue to push the weight up. This will help maintain your torso stability better than simply exhaling all at once.

Keep your feet firmly planted on the floor even if you start to struggle with the weight. The moment you lift your feet off the floor, you break your base of power and the odds of you completing the lift diminish greatly.

If you have a tendency to shift your feet around, try placing 2.5 pound plates on your feet. This is not to weigh your feet down but to help you be more aware of what is happening with your feet. If a plate falls, your foot has moved. Strive to keep those plates in place.

The bar should follow a slight backwards arc as you press it up, moving from your lower rib cage to over your face at the end of the rep.

Be aware of your sticking point and try to drive the bar through it rather than letting the bar slow down as you come up to it. There are many training methods for working on sticking points that I will delve into in a future article.

6. Power the weight up to lockout. You have just completed the perfect rep! Now do it again!!

Using these techniques can add immediate poundage to your bench press. Your chest will thank you for it!

For picture demonstrations of several of these tips, go to:

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Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of the online personal training company BetterU, Inc. He has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been inventing new training techniques for more than 16 years. Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding eBooks including "Metabolic Surge - Rapid Fat Loss," "The Best Exercises You've Never Heard Of," "Gluteus to the Maximus - Build a Bigger Butt NOW!" and "The Best Abdominal Exercises You've Never Heard Of" all available at (http://hop.clickbank.net/?fitrition/betteru). He can be contacted at betteru@fitstep.com.

Intensity Techniques That Will "Kill" You AND Make You Stronger

By Nick Nilsson

Forced reps are great but these incredible techniques

will open a whole new world of results for you!

Intensity techniques are among the greatest weapons in your arsenal for building a truly astonishing physique. However they are not for everybody. Beginning trainers should definitely NOT use techniques such as these.

Intensity techniques allow you to push beyond conventional failure in order to work your muscles harder, providing an irresistible stimulus for the muscles to get larger and stronger.

Try these techniques in your next workouts. You can even try using several of these techniques in one set if you really want to work yourself hard. Be careful not to overuse them, however, as they can be extremely demanding and difficult for your body to recover from.

1. Triple Drop and Rebound Sets

This is a variation of the Triple Drop Set. The Triple Drop Set is where you start with a heavy weight, do a set to failure, reduce the weight, do another set to failure, reduce the weight a third time and do a final set to failure.

Do the regular Triple Drop Set then quickly go back and do your starting (heaviest) weight again for a more few reps. Usually you will be able to get one or two reps with it. The reason for this is that the last of the drops uses a lighter weight, which recruits different muscle fibers than when you are using heavier weights.

2. Isolation/Compound Rebound Sets

Do a Triple Drop Set of an isolation exercise, e.g. flyes, then immediately go back and use your starting (heaviest) weights for a set of a compound exercise for that muscle group, e.g. dumbell bench press.

This is a type of advanced Pre-Exhaust training. Pre-Exhaust training is when you do an isolation exercise (an exercise that involves motion at only one joint, such as a dumbell flye) immediately followed by a compound exercise (an exercise that involves motion at two or more joints, such as a bench press).

The idea with the Pre-Exhaust training is to basically exhaust your target muscle group (in this case the chest), by first working directly with one exercise, then doing another exercise that utilizes other muscles to assist it. This increases the intensity of the work done by the chest as the assisting muscles will you allow you to push thechest further.

By utilizing a triple-drop set format for the isolation exercise, you dramtically increase the exhaustion of the target muscle, allowing you to push it extremely hard.

3. Jump Sets

This is a way of doing a large number of heavy sets for several muscle groups without losing as much strength from set to set.

Jump sets are best used on antagonistic bodyparts such as back and chest, biceps and triceps, or hamstrings and quads.

For example, if you plan on doing 5 sets of chin-ups and 5 sets of bench, start with 3 sets of chin-ups, then 3 sets of bench, then go back and do your remaining 2 sets of chin-ups and 2 sets of bench. The extra rest will allow you to be stronger on your last 2 sets than you normally would.

Jumping between antagonistic muscle groups also seems to benefit strength. This can also be done going back and forth on every set instead of groups of sets. This is not a superset - take your normal rest period between each set. This technique enhances recuperation by providing more rest to the bodyparts but within the same workout time. This allows you to do more weight for each

exercise.

4. 2 Up - 1 Down Negatives

This is a variation of negative training that is best done with machines. Use two arms or legs for the positive phase of the movement then lower it the weight using only one arm or leg.

This type of negative training is useful if you do not have a partner to work with as it is done completely solo.

A good example of this technique is the machine bench press. Set the weight to about half of what you would normally use for the exercise. Press the weight up with both arms then remove one and lower the weight with one arm.

When using this technique, you can alternate arms/legs or do the complete set of reps with the one arm/leg, then the complete set of reps with the other arm/leg.

5. Combination Sets

With this technique, you will use two different exercises alternated with each rep, e.g. lying tricep extensions and close grip bench, dumbell flyes and dumbell press, rows and deadlifts. You should use exercises that are easily switched from to the other within a set.

To take the set even further, when you fail on one exercise, continue with the one you are stronger in until you fail on that one, too. For example, when combining rows and deadlifts, continue with deadlifts after failing on rows. Your legs will help push your back further. This whole technique is like an extended pre-exhaust superset.

6. Rep Targeting

Set a target of a certain amount of reps and get that target of reps no matter how many sets it takes you to get there. For example, if you pick a target of 50 reps on chin-ups, say you get 30 on the first set. Rest a little while, e.g. 10 to 30 seconds. Do another set. Say you get 10 reps this time. Rest 10 to 30 seconds again. Get 5 reps. Rest. Get 3 reps. Rest. Get 2 reps. Done.

A different version of this is what I call Time Subtraction. The amount of time you rest between sets is the amount of reps you have left to get to your target. For example, if your target is 50 and you get 30 reps, your rest period is 20 seconds. Say on the next set you get 10 more reps. This leaves you with 10 reps to go so rest 10 seconds then go again. If you get 4 more reps, and you have 6 left, rest 6 seconds.

7. Add Sets

These are the opposite of drop sets. Start with a light weight for high reps and add weight on progressive sets. This works the slow-twitch, higher rep fibers first, then the fast-twitch, powerful fibers. This technique works very well for calves as they recover very quickly. It also works very well with selectorized machines. You can combine this technique with drops sets, doing add and drop sets or drop and add sets like a pyramid.

8. Static Hold Weight Pyramiding

This technique only works on plate-loaded machines or on a barbell exercise with two spotters.

Start with a moderate weight that you can do a static contraction with for a long period of time. Hold that weight in the contracted position of the exercise you are working, e.g. pec deck.

Have a partner add plates to the machine while you continue to hold in that static position. Keep adding plates (small ones such as 2's, 5's, 7's or 10's work best, depending on the exercise and your strength levels) until the weight starts to drop. At that point, pull off one plate. Hold until it starts to drop again. Pull off one plate and hold. You may come to a point where your partner is pulling off weights as fast as he can just to keep up with your lagging strength.

Make sure you have effective communication such as a nod or a grunt when you want the next plate off or on. Continue this process until you end up at your original weight (you can continue to no weight if you want).

This is an incredibly intense static hold and will fatigue pretty much every muscle fiber in the target muscle group except for the explosive ones. To hit them as well, when you are the top of the pyramid using the heaviest weight, do as many partial, explosive reps as you can in the contracted position.

You may also wish to try this technique with a barbell and two spotters. Make sure that they add and remove weights simultaneously in order to allow you to keep the bar balanced.

For more information on other intensity techniques you can put to work in your training, go to:

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Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of the online personal training company BetterU, Inc. He has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been inventing new training techniques for more than 16 years. Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding eBooks including "Metabolic Surge - Rapid Fat Loss," "The Best Exercises You've Never Heard Of," "Gluteus to the Maximus - Build a Bigger Butt NOW!" and "The Best Abdominal Exercises You've Never Heard Of" all available at (http://hop.clickbank.net/?fitrition/betteru). He can be contacted at betteru@fitstep.com.

Secret Training Tip #685 - A Back Blasting Superset - Bent-Over Rows to Deadlifts

By Nick Nilsson

Harness the power of the superset to

send your back training to the next level.

The power of supersets is undeniable. Supersets (doing 2 exercises one after another with no rest in between) are very effective for building strength and muscle mass.

The following is a superset for your back that will pile on muscle like no other. One word of warning: you should be comfortable doing both of these exercises separately before attempting them together in a superset. There will be a link to exercise performance tips and the end of this article.

The first exercise is the barbell bent-over row. You can use either an overhand, wide grip or an underhand, close reverse grip. Both grips are effective but work different areas of the back.

Select a weight that will cause you to reach failure in the 6 to 8 rep range. Do a hard set of bent-over rows then immediately after setting the weight down, move into the second exercise: deadlifts.

You will use the exact same weight for deadlifts, however, you may wish to change your grip to a mixed grip (one overhand, one underhand) so that you can hold onto the bar better.

Do reps of the deadlift until either your grip fails or until a rep before your back fails (don't do deadlifts to absolute failure - always keep the do-or-die rep in you).

After you get done with the deadlifts, your lats should be extremely pumped up.

There are several reasons why this superset is so effective:

1. It uses two of the best mass-building movements for your back (and body!).

2. The bent-over row uses the lats to actually move the weight while the deadlift uses the lats to help support the weight. Since the lats are already fatigued from the rowing, they will be forced to work far harder when you do the deadlifts. In a nutshell, the rest of your body will help push your lats harder!

3. The weight you use for bent-over rows should be relatively easy for you on the deadlift. This allows you to do even more reps with the deadlift.

4. It is very easy and convenient to go from the bent-over row to the deadlift. All you need to do is change your grip (if even that! You may choose to use the same grip.).

Give this superset a try in your next back workout. The results will speak for themselves!

For tips on exercise performance for the bent-over row, go to:

For tips on exercise performance for the deadlift, go to:

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Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of the online personal training company BetterU, Inc. He has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been inventing new training techniques for more than 16 years. Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding eBooks including "Metabolic Surge - Rapid Fat Loss," "The Best Exercises You've Never Heard Of," "Gluteus to the Maximus - Build a Bigger Butt NOW!" and "The Best Abdominal Exercises You've Never Heard Of" all available at (http://hop.clickbank.net/?fitrition/betteru). He can be contacted at betteru@fitstep.com.

Eight Mistakes I've Made In My Training and How You Can Avoid Them

By Nick Nilsson

To err is human but to learn from my mistakes

before you make them yourself is a whole lot easier!

It is very important to learn from your mistakes but why even make the mistakes yourself if you can learn from mine?

I've been training for more than 13 years and I've made mistakes. I want to help you avoid making those same mistakes in your training. It could save you years of frustration!

1. Training Too Long

When I first started training, I wanted to get the fastest results possible so I figured more would be better. My wake-up call came when one day I did a 2 1/2 hour session and then lost a considerable amount of strength in my next session.

Lesson: keep your training sessions from approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour MAX! Any longer and you are either just breaking your body down or not working hard enough to get results.

2. Not Eating Enough Protein

After training for about a year and gaining a whole lot of weight (not all of it muscle!), I went on a very low-fat diet. The problem with this was I hardly ate any protein because meat had fat in it! I couldn't figure out what the problem was until one day, when I had had enough of low-fat eating, I cooked up four chicken breasts (with skin) and ate them all in one sitting. My strength jumped up immediately!

Lesson: protein is critical for muscle-building (and dieting). Don't get enough and you will compromise your results.

3. Not Enough Cardiovascular Training

When I first began training, I went from a 145-pound cross-country runner to a 217-pound weight lifter in 8 months. During that entire time I didn't do any cardio training. Not only was a lot of that weight gain fat, I felt really unhealthy and unbalanced.

Lesson: even if you're trying to gain weight, keep at least some cardio training in your program, even if it's just walking a couple of times per week. Your heart (and muscles) will thank you for it.

4. Too Much Cardiovascular Training

After the previous extreme, there was a time when I was trying to lose fat and went to the other extreme: too much cardio. I remember one session where I did 20 minutes at the highest setting on the Stair Master, then skipped rope for 10 minutes, then did the stationary bike for 20 minutes, then the Stair Master for another 20 on high, then 10 more minutes of skipping.

I was in great cardio shape but my strength and muscle mass plummeted and, to be honest, I could have achieved better fat-loss results with 15 minutes of high-intensity interval training.

Lesson: too much cardio can be counterproductive. Certainly, it will burn a lot of calories but your muscles will burn more during the day just sitting there. Short, intense sessions will spare your muscle mass and boost your metabolism more effectively.

5. Using a Weightlifting Belt

When I started training, I used a weightlifting belt for every exercise. I would basically keep the belt on for my entire workout. It was a big mistake and here's why:

A belt is very effective for stabilizing the abdominal core area. However, it is so effective that your core muscles aren't challenged and don't develop effectively. This can leave them weak and your core unstable, fostering a reliance on the belt.

A belt should really only be used for near-maximal lifting with very heavy weights. If you need a belt to do bench presses or barbell curls, you should re-examine your form and honestly evaluate your core strength. You may be setting yourself up for a back injury.

Here is another thing to think about: a belt works to stabilize your core by making your abs push outwards against it. Do you really want to be training your abs to push out and stay there? It's like training to make your gut stick out.

Lesson: ease yourself off the belt if you currently use one. You will need to slowly work back up to your current weights to ensure you don't hurt yourself. When you go to do a lift, suck in your gut and tighten your abs. You will develop far better core strength and stability, not to mention tighter, flatter abs.

6. Lifting Too Heavy

My goal has always been to develop muscle mass and strength. There have been times when I used a weight that either caused me to compromise my form or didn't allow me to get enough reps to build mass.

The rep range between 6 to 12 reps per set is most effective for building muscle mass. If you consistently use weights that only allow you to get 5 or fewer reps per set, you will build strength and some muscle but most likely not nearly as much as you are capable of.

Lesson: if you want strength, do 1 to 5 reps per set. If you want muscle, do 6 to 12 reps per set. Always push yourself to use more weight but not so much that you compromise your form or results.

7. Working Too Hard

I can clearly remember one dieting cycle I did where I was so enthusiastic to lose fat that I severely overtrained myself within the first two weeks. In my enthusiasm, I buried my recovery ability with extreme training volume and intensity. Coupled with a reduced-calorie diet, this overly-hard work spelled disaster.

Lesson: train hard but don't overwhelm yourself. Your body needs time and nutrients to recover and rebuild. This is especially important when dieting for fat loss.

8. Not Eating Enough

This is a mistake I've made many times before and am sure I will make again. It applies not only to muscle-building but to fat loss as well. Not eating enough can really limit your results. But, as we all know, life gets busy and it's hard to eat and prepare frequent, healthy meals.

Lesson: Do your best with the time and food you've got and be aware that the more regularly and frequently you can eat, the better. If you want to gain a lot of muscle, you are going to have to eat even when you don't feel like you necessarily need to or even want to.

Conclusion:

Everybody makes mistakes. There is no doubt about that. I sincerely hope that the information I've shared with you here will help you to avoid making the same mistakes I have.

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Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of the online personal training company BetterU, Inc. He has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been inventing new training techniques for more than 16 years. Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding eBooks including "Metabolic Surge - Rapid Fat Loss," "The Best Exercises You've Never Heard Of," "Gluteus to the Maximus - Build a Bigger Butt NOW!" and "The Best Abdominal Exercises You've Never Heard Of" all available at (http://hop.clickbank.net/?fitrition/betteru). He can be contacted at betteru@fitstep.com.

14 Things To Do and Not Do When First Starting an Exercise Program

By Nick Nilsson

Starting an exercise program for your very first time?

Learn the do's and don'ts here.

1. DON'T wait for the "perfect" time to start. There will never be a perfect time. Learn a few of the basics and start as soon as you can. Putting it off is a great way to have nothing change.

2. DO take it slow when you begin. Rushing into an intensive training program when you are just starting out is sure to be overwhelming. You'll have a much greater chance of sticking with it if you work into it gradually.

3. DON'T change everything all at once. Think of how traumatic it would be if you suddenly went from relative inactivity and poor eating to a high-powered program and a strict diet. I would recommend you start with an exercise program. Keep at it for 3 weeks consistently then think about gradually modifying your nutritional habits.

4. DO make a committment to exercise. One of the keys to establishing exercise as a habit is to make a committment to it. If you go in with the attitude that you'll do it when it's convenient or when you feel like it, your chances of sticking to your exercise program decrease.

5. DON'T expect infomercial-level results. I'm not going to tell you won't see great results - you will. Just don't expect it to happen in 2 weeks.

6. DO learn as much as you can about training and exercise. Knowledge is very important. If you don't know what to do, take a little time and learn first. The rewards will be huge!

7. DON'T assume you must exercise 2 hours a day to see results. You don't have to exercise nearly that long. You can see results with as little as 20 to 30 minutes done 3 times per week.

8. DO ask questions. If you don't know something, there is no shame in asking. I will readily admit I don't know everything about exercise and fitness (though I do know quite a lot). If you have questions, please feel free to ask me! (betteru@fitstep.com).

9. DON'T work your muscles to absolute failure when you begin weight training. You will most likely make yourself so sore, you won't want to training anymore. Take it fairly easy for the first few session then gradually increase your intensity.

10. DO tell other people your goals. One of the best ways to ensure you keep your promise to exercise is to tell your friends and family what you're doing. This way, you make yourself accountable to people other than just yourself.

11. DON'T feel you need to buy all the latest training equipment in order to start exercising. You can exercise without any equipment at all! Walking doesn't cost a dime and bodyweight exercises such as push-ups are completely free too!

12. DO stretch and warm-up. Stretching during and after your workouts promotes flexibility. Warming up prepares your muscles for more strenuous work to come.

13. DON'T give up all your favorite foods all at once. A great way to make yourself focus on a certain food is quit eating it. For example, if you love chocolate cake and tell yourself you can never have it again, are you going to be thinking about chocolate cake a lot? Chances are, yes. Treat yourself now and again. It will keep you from stressing and bingeing later.

14. DO try to eat more natural-state, unprocessed foods. Processing adds fat, salt and sugar, all of which can contribute to health problems. You don't have to cut them out completely but see if you can shift your focus to more unprocessed foods.

If you are thinking about starting an exercise program or have just started one, these tips should help keep you on the right track.

If you know someone who is considering starting an exercise program, please forward this article along to them. Many people don't start a program because they simply don't know where to begin. By passing along this information to them, you may be giving them the best gift of all: better health and fitness.

For more information on how to start an exercise program, including sample exercises, stretches, nutritional information and tips on how to put it all together, go to:

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Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of the online personal training company BetterU, Inc. He has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been inventing new training techniques for more than 16 years. Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding eBooks including "Metabolic Surge - Rapid Fat Loss," "The Best Exercises You've Never Heard Of," "Gluteus to the Maximus - Build a Bigger Butt NOW!" and "The Best Abdominal Exercises You've Never Heard Of" all available at (http://hop.clickbank.net/?fitrition/betteru). He can be contacted at betteru@fitstep.com.

How to Do Negative Training Without A Training Partner

By Nick Nilsson

Negatives are among the most powerful training techniques

for rapid strength gains. Learn how to do them

effectively without a training partner.

Want to gain strength rapidly? Negative training is one of the absolute best ways to accomplish this quickly. But most negative training techniques require you have a partner to help you return the weight to the start position. How do you get around this? In this article, I'll show you exactly how to do it.

Negative training, also known as eccentric training, involves loading a weight movement in only the down or muscle-lengthening phase. For example, if you are doing a negative bench press, you would start with the weight in the top position (the weight would be more than you could lift on your own if you had to push it back up), lower that heavy weight under control to the bottom position of the exercise, then have a partner help you return the weight back to the top position.

How to do a negative rep:

The proper method and loading for performing a negative rep is not always well known. Each negative-accentuated rep should last somewhat longer than the negative phase of a regular movement. Depending on the range of motion of the exercise, this could be anywhere from 3 to 6 seconds.

The initial load used for negative training should be approximately 105% of your regular one rep max for the exercise, e.g. if you can bench 200 pounds, use 210 pounds for negative reps. You can increase this load if you are able to get more than 6 reps with that weight (6 reps is the most you should do with negative training - if you can do more reps, you aren't using enough weight for it to be maximally effective).

Normally, 3 sets of negative training per muscle group are plenty. These 3 sets will be all the work you will do for that muscle group that day. If you do more, you will be breaking your muscle down too much, making it difficult for your body to recover and build strength optimally. If you can do more sets and reps, you probably aren't working the negatives hard enough.

The real key to effective negative training is in how you lower the weight. Don't just lower the weight as you would in a typical rep. You must ACTIVELY FIGHT GRAVITY by pushing (or pulling, depending on the exercise) as hard as you can against the weight. If you don't fight the weight, your results will not be optimal. If you've done negative training before and didn't feel extremely sore the next day, you probably weren't fighting the weight. Try it and you'll feel the difference!

Here are 3 powerful techniques you can use to do effective negative training on your own. At the end of the article, there will be a link to pictures of these techniques in action.

1. Two Up/One Down Negatives

This type of training can be done with machines, barbells and even dumbells. Essentially, you use both of your limbs to move the weight to the starting position and use only one limb to lower it.

The example that I like to use for the upper body is the machine bench press. Start by doing a brief warm-up to get the muscles ready. Set the weight to approximately half of your one rep max on the machine (you may want to start with less to get used to the concept first). Using both arms, press the weight to full lockout.

Now comes the tricky part. You must remove one of your hands from the handles and lower the weight with only one. The reason it's tricky is that suddenly your body is completely unbalanced. If you don't do something about it, the weight will twist your body around and drop down.

Here's how you get around that: you must quickly brace your non-working arm against the bar that leads to the handle. Press your forearm/wrist against that bar and exert a strong inward force. This will help to balance the body while still placing the majority of the tension on the working side.

Now lower the weight to the bottom, fighting it all the way down, as explained above. Use both arms to press the weight back to the top position then focus on working the other arm.

Go back and forth between arms with each rep using this technique for 3 to 5 reps on each arm. On the last set, after your last rep of negative training, do as many conventional reps as you can to really work the muscles.

This technique can also be applied to other exercises such as machine shoulder press, the leg press, cable rowing, close-grip pulldowns, etc. Use your imagination!

2. Unilateral Power Rack Stepping

This technique requires use of the power rack to do safely. I will use the flat barbell bench press for this example.

Start by setting a flat bench in the rack. Set the safety rails to a point a few inches above the bottom point of the rep (you're going to have to have enough room to slide yourself out from under the bar). Set the racking pins (the small hooks where the weight rests against the frame) above the safety rails. You will be unracking the weight from these pins. You will basically be setting up a bench press station inside the rack.

Load a bar with a moderate weight to practice before going up to the super-maximal weights. Lie down on the bench, unrack the bar and lower it down slowly (fighting it, of course) all the way to the safety rails. Be aware that when you reach a certain point in the rep (it coincides with your regular sticking point on the way up), your leverage will decrease and the weight will get a whole lot heavier. You'll understand when you experience this. That is why you MUST have the safety rails set properly.

After your lower the bar to the rails, roll the bar backwards towards the uprights so that it is over your face. This makes it easier to get out from under the bar and moves the bar closer to the racking pins.

Slide yourself out from underneath the bar, walk around to one end of the barbell and lift it back up onto the top racking pin. Be absolutely sure you have strong collars on the bar before you do this!! Walk around to the other end (the bar will now be tilted down) and lift that end up to the racking pin.

The weight is now back to the start position. Lie down and do another rep! Repeat this for 3 to 5 reps. This technique works best for the flat barbell bench press.

3. Standing Up On Something

This technique is the simplest of the three. Basically, all it requires is a bench or a box to stand on. I will use the chin-up as an example for this technique. This is actually the absolute best way to build yourself to doing full chin-ups if you are unable to do them with your bodyweight right now.

If you can already do chin-ups for multiple reps with your bodyweight, fear not! You can always set a dumbell between your feet for added resistance or use a hip belt to hang weight plates from your waist.

Start by setting the bench or box in front of a chin-up bar (a Smith machine bar also works well for this as you can adjust the height of it very easily)). If you are using the dumbell-between-feet method for added resistance, set the dumbell now. Stand up on the bench and grasp the bar with a close, palms-facing-you grip (also known as supinated). You should be in the top position of the chin-up.

Now step off the bench and lower yourself down as slowly as possible. You should be fighting to pull yourself up as gravity pulls you down. You will feel this one the next day! When you reach the bottom, step back up onto the bench and do another rep. Repeat this for 3 to 5 reps. This standing up technique can also be applied to dips with excellent results. Just set the bench in front of the dipping bars, stand up, lower yourself down then stand up

on it again.

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These three techniques are only the beginning of what is possible for negative training on your own. Use the techniques as a guideline and adapt them to other exercises that you use on a regular basis.

There is absolutely no reason a person training without a partner can't make use of the incredible power available with negative training. The results you get from these techniques will truly astonish you!

To view pictures of these techniques in action, go to:

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Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of the online personal training company BetterU, Inc. He has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been inventing new training techniques for more than 16 years. Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding eBooks including "Metabolic Surge - Rapid Fat Loss," "The Best Exercises You've Never Heard Of," "Gluteus to the Maximus - Build a Bigger Butt NOW!" and "The Best Abdominal Exercises You've Never Heard Of" all available at (http://hop.clickbank.net/?fitrition/betteru). He can be contacted at betteru@fitstep.com.

Partial Training For Full-Powered Results

By Nick Nilsson

Training in a partial range of motion can be the key

to blasting your way past strength plateaus quickly.

Find out why always using a full range of motion may

actually be hurting your progress!

Have you ever thought to yourself "I wish I didn’t have to do the whole rep even though I know I’m supposed to?"

Well, guess what? You don’t!

Not only are partial-range reps perfectly "legal," they can be far more effective than full-range reps for building serious strength as quickly as possible. Partial range reps, which I will refer to as "partials" from now on, are basically reps done in a specific range of motion. A partial bench press, for example, may involve doing only the top six inches of the range of motion. Partial reps have one major advantage over full range reps: you can target your resistance to the specific range of motion you are working in.

Think of the bench press again. You know how much easier the weight feels after you get past the sticking point. Obviously, that sticking point is limiting the amount of weight you are able to use on the exercise.If you are only able to get 200 pounds past the sticking point, but your chest muscles are capable of handling 300 pounds once you’re past it, you will be limiting your ultimate muscle mass and strength levels by only using 200 pounds.

This is where partial training comes in. By working only in the range of motion ABOVE the sticking point, you can use far more weight and, therefore, work your muscles at a far higher threshold. By working at a higher weight, you will not only be getting your muscles used to handling those heavier weights, you will be building your connective tissue to help handle those loads.

From personal experience, I know how dramatic the effect training the connective tissue to handle heavier loads can be. For years, I was stuck a maximum of 300 pounds on the flat bench press. No matter how hard I worked, nothing seemed to help. Then I discovered partials.

By working partials consistently, I brought my max bench press up to 350 pounds in a matter of months. It made me realize that my connective tissue strength was holding me back, not my muscle strength, and nothing builds connective tissue better than extremely heavy weights.

To give you an idea of the kind of weight your body may be capable of moving with partials, while at a bodyweight of approximately 210 pounds, I’ve done top range partial bench presses with 750 pounds and top range partial squats with 1100 pounds. Partials with this extremely heavy weight builds up incredible connective tissue strength and helps you build strength extremely quickly.

Partials are useful not only in the ranges of motion where you can use the heaviest weights, but in the ranges of motion where you are at your weakest. Using the barbell squat for an example, think of where the weakest point in the range of motion would be. The very bottom, right?

Now imagine setting up a barbell in the power rack at the very bottom position of the squat. You get under the bar, then, starting from a dead stop, you squat the weight up a few inches then lower it back down to the safey rails.

All of the stress of the exercise is placed on your muscles in their least favorable leverage, which will build up your weakest point. This can dramatically increase your strength and power in that weak range, which can have a dramatic effect on how much weight you'll be able to use for full range reps.

Partial training concepts can be applied to almost any exercise you can imagine, however partials are certainly more appropriate for some exercises than others. This is especially true of exercises that already have a short range of motion or need a full range of motion to be effective.

Some exercises partials work very well for include: bench press (a barbell is much better than dumbells as you can use the power rack rails to easily adjust your range of motion), squats, deadlifts, barbell and dumbell curls, barbell shoulder press, dips, close grip bench, pushdowns, bent-over rows, and calf raises.

There are several very important things to note about partial training:

1. You should keep some full range movements in your program. Don’t do partial movements exclusively for too long. I would recommend alternating sessions of partial and full-range training.

2. Training with extremely heavy weights is extremely demanding on the body. You may find you need more time to recover from partial training sessions than regular training sessions.

3. Because this training strongly affects the connective tissue, it’s a good idea to supplement with nutrients that support the joints. These include Vitamin C (helps support collagen formation), calcium, glucosamine and chondroitin, MSM, and gelatin. These nutrients will help your body to recover faster from this heavy training.

4. Heavy partial training should not be done long term. I normally limit partial training to 6 weeks at a time, returning to full-range training for awhile. Taking time off partials not only allows your body time to recover from the extremely heavy weights but gives you a chance to put your newfound connective tissue strength to work in full-range training.

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Partial Pointers

Describing how to do partials for every exercise I mentioned previously is beyond the scope of this article, but here are some pointers that will help you use partials in your workouts.

1. The power rack is your best friend. By setting the heights of the safety rails appropriately, you can stop the barbell at nearly any point in the range of motion of almost any barbell exercise.

2. Before you do a heavy partial rep, be sure to prepare yourself. Tighten up your muscles and prepare mentally. Partials are very different than full reps because of the far greater weights you’ll be able to use.

3. Set aside your preconceptions of how much weight you’re capable of lifting. You really will be amazed by how much more you can lift when you only work in your strongest range of motion.

4. Don’t forget about working in your weakest ranges of motion too. It may not be as glamorous but working the weak range is very important for building up maximum full-range strength.

5. Work your poundages up gradually but don’t be afraid to push yourself. Just because you can lift a ton more immediately doesn’t necessarily mean you should. For the first few sessions, only go about 10 to 20% over your full range one-rep max. You need to give your body a chance to adapt to this totally different type of stress.

Your progress should be steady after that. Increases of up to 50 pounds or more per session are not uncommon on some of the larger muscle exercises such as bench press or squats. Try to move your poundages up each session, even if it’s only by 5, 10, or 20 pounds.

6. Have fun!! You’ll relish the incredulous looks you get from other people when you get to the point where you can lie down under a bar loaded with 7 plates on either side. You may have to apologize to others for using all the weight plates though!

To sum it up, partials are an extremely valuable training technique. They can help you blast through strength plateaus by building up not only your muscles and connective tissue, but your confidence with very heavy weights as well.

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Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of the online personal training company BetterU, Inc. He has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been inventing new training techniques for more than 16 years. Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding eBooks including "Metabolic Surge - Rapid Fat Loss," "The Best Exercises You've Never Heard Of," "Gluteus to the Maximus - Build a Bigger Butt NOW!" and "The Best Abdominal Exercises You've Never Heard Of" all available at (http://hop.clickbank.net/?fitrition/betteru). He can be contacted at betteru@fitstep.com.

You Don't Know Squat About Squats

By Nick Nilsson

The squat is one of the most productive exercises you can

do, period. Learn more about proper form and how to

analyze your own squatting technique for maximum results.

If I could pick the single most productive exercise in existence, it would be the squat. Squatting is the cornerstone of leg training and should be a staple of most routines.

But many people simply don't squat. Why? There are a number of reasons, but it seems the major one is they simply don't know squat and about squats! Naturally, if you don't know how to do an exercise properly, you're probably not going to want to do it.

Proper form is very important for getting the most out of the squat, not to mention avoiding injury. Once you know proper form, you'll feel much more confident about doing the exercise and you'll be able to harness its power.

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How To Do It:

In this section, you will learn how to properly set up a squat inside a squat rack, where to place your feet, where to set the bar, and how to do the movement itself. At the end of this section will be a link to a page that includes pictures for the exercise.

1. Setting up the squat rack

- Set up the racking pins in a squat rack at a position a few inches below shoulder level. This allows you to get the bar on and off without catching it on the racks.

- Set the safety rails at the bottom just slightly lower than the lowest point you go down in case you fail in the movement. Set this level conservatively at first. As you get more confident with the movement, you can lower yourself down further.

2. Setting the bar on your back

- Rest the bar across the back of your shoulders like a yoke so it is supported across the trapezius muscles. It should be across the ridges of your scapulae (shoulder blades), resting just below your seventh cervical vertebra. Basically, the bar shouldn't be up on your neck but also shouldn't be too far down your back.

- Find your own groove for bar placement. Everybody is different when it comes to where they are comfortable with the bar.

- Hold the bar with a medium grip, similar distance to your bench press grip (not too close in but not so far apart that you compromise control of the bar).

3. Foot placement

- Placing your feet approximately shoulder-width apart with your toes pointed either straight ahead or out an angle (no more than 30 degrees) is thought to be better for overall thigh development and is the squat style employed by most bodybuilders.

- The wide stance (feet about two or more feet apart), toes pointed out allows you to maintain a more vertical upper body, reducing the torque on your lower back.

- Trainers usually find they can use more weight with the wide stance. Be very careful that your knees do not bow in if you do this version, however, as this stance can increase the likelihood of it happening.

- Try both stances to see which you prefer or simply do both, varying your foot position on different sets or different training days.

4. Doing the movement

- Your feet are placed and you're ready to squat. With the bar comfortably on your back, lift the weight up from the racks and step back a few steps.

- Bend your knees and squat down slowly and under complete control, with a slight arch in your lower back.

- Look straight forward or a little up in order to keep your upper body more vertically oriented. If you start to look down, your back will automatically start to round over, placing extreme and possibly damaging stress on the lower back.

- Some trainers recommend you go down only to the point where the tops of your thighs are parallel to the ground. There is some controversy as to whether or not it is safe or desirable to go further down than this. Personally, I prefer to squat down as far as I can (which is several inches below parallel) and have never had a problem. It is up to you how far you wish to go.

- Now come back up. Push up from your heels until you are standing straight then go down for another rep. If you find yourself pushing primarily from the front of your feet, you are probably leaning foward too much. Try to focus on sitting back as you do the squat.

- As you squat, be sure your knees are tracking straight up and down and that they are not bowing in or splaying out.

Common Squatting Errors:

Even though squatting is a very natural movement, it is also very easy to do it incorrectly. Here are some of the more common errors you will come across when squatting and what you can do to fix them.

Error #1 - Your heels rise up off the floor as you squat down.

Keep your eyes up, chest up, and sit back slightly. You most likely also need to work on calf flexibility by stretching regularly. Be sure to stretch out your calves thoroughly before each squatting session.

Error #2 - Rounded back

This can occur if your lower back is the weak link in your squat. You must strengthen your lower back and strive to keep the arch in your lower back during the movement. Other tips you can try include lifting your toes up in your shoes as you squat down and gripping the bar closer in to your shoulders.

Error #3 - Excessive leaning over

If you find you lean forward excessively when you are squatting, you may have a problem with calf flexibility. To remedy this stretch your calves thoroughly.

Some trainers squat with their heels propped up on plates to help with this problem, however, that doesn't address the root of the problem, which is generally calf tightness.