Last Update On November 20, 2011
Exercises That Suck, Exercises That Rock
by Rusi
ABS
It sucks: Everything you see on TV
There are thousands of devices for abs training advertised on TV. Guess what - they all suck and will not help you lose belly fat. No. Remember the following and put it as a memo next to your PC Screen:
“Training products such as the perfect push-up, pull-up, TRX system, AB Swing...etc are complete crap and extremely overpriced. You can made them yourself for fraction of the price.”
It rules: Squats, Good Mornings, Deadlifts, Barbell Rows, Ring Push-ups, Planks...etc
The abdominals are much more efficiently trained in an isometric fashion during the mentioned exercises instead of doing pathetic crunches that will only cause back pain to most.
Traps
It sucks: Behind The Neck Shrugs
Behind the neck shrugs place unnecessary stress on your shoulders and many will experience pain from them. Leave them to Ronnie.
It Rules: Calf Machine Shrugs a.k.a Hise Shrugs
The calf machine shrugs allow you to hit your traps to the fullest without any shoulder strain and without being limited by your grip.
Quads:
It sucks: Powerlifting Low-bar Squat
Let's face it powerlifting is all about hip strength. That's why you see powerlifters squat with so wide stances and put the bar lower on the back. Guess what? That places the majority of the stress on the glutes and will leave you with weak quads.
It Rules: The upright high-bar Olympic back squat
The high-bar squat will do a lot more for your quads than the Rippetoe variation of the exercise. Unless you want to have stick for legs stay away from the low-bar and go Olympic style.
Hamstrings:
It Sucks: The Glute Bridge
Leave this stupid exercise to the idiots that buy the tapes of Cindy Crowford in order to “tone and shape”.
It Rules: Super-setting Hamstring Curls and Romanian Deadlifts
Pre-exhaust your hamstrings using the leg curl machine and then hit the bar. Remember that you will be able to handle less weight on the Romanian deadlift but all the stress will go right into the hamstrings.
Glutes
It sucks: The kettlebell swing
Kettlebell swings are great if you are a bored housewife but don't expect to build some serious booty muscle unless you overload your glutes heavy. After some time kettlebell swings get too easy and on top of that you are limited by the weight you can use.
It rules: The Powerlifting Squats
The powerlifting low-bar squat is the best glute builder known to man. When you perform a wide stance low-bar squat everything goes into your a*. Your glutes will explode from doing this one. Make sure you squat at least to parallel.
Lattisimus Dorsi
It sucks: The Wide Grip Lat Pulldown
Folks, please understand in order for your lats to operate over their full range of motion your elbows must be close to your body. In other words use a close grip.
Ir Rules: The Close Grip Pull-up On Gymnastic Rings
Use gymnastic rings for your pull-ups in order to avoid some of the elbow strain which is in abundance during straight bar pull-ups and chin-ups. Also use a close grip in order to activate and hit your lats to the fullest. Don't forget to arch your back. If you don't know why make sure to read this article on back training.
Front Deltoids:
It sucks: The front raise
The front raise places too much stress on the elbow and is not an essential exercise in any way. Leave it to the bodybuilders on steroids that can perform 20 sets per body-part and recover from it.
It Rules: The STRICT Overhead Press
Nobody does it better when it comes to anterior shoulder damage. Also the exercise will hit your entire shoulder girdle isometrically. Including the mythical rotator cuff.
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