This is a great exercise to build your lats and upper back. Using a bench to stabilize yourself, grasp the dumbbell and pull it towards your lower pec. Make sure your lower back is arched, not bowed, and you control the weight when lowering.

Elitefts coach Julia Ladewski demonstrates how to do grenade rear flys with a elitefts resistance band. Similar to band pull-aparts http://youtu.be/tvW0lH5n0v4but we add in 3″ grenade balls for more grip work.

elitefts™ 3″ Cable Grenade Ball http://www.elitefts.com/view/?sp=5068
elitefts™ EFS Pro Mini Resistance Band http://www.elitefts.com/view/?sp=246
elitefts™ EFS Girl White Agency Tri Blend http://www.elitefts.com/view/?sp=3512

Julia’s training log on elitefts.com http://tinyurl.com/5t4fcth

Good mornings are famous for their awesomeness. Few exercises not called the deadlift can work your glutes, hams, and lower back like a good morning can. Suspended from chains, the eccentric portion is removed from the lift. Using chains like this is a great way to learn how to explode from the bottom of the lift.

Here you see Julia Ladewski demo’ing what I like to call “Duck Walks.”  All you have to do is put a short mini band or a doubled long band around you ankles, then walk pushing your knee’s out so they don’t cave with each step.  These are great for you hips, as well as tracking of the knee.  These are a great warmup exercise for sumo pullers, as well as wide stance squatters.

The reverse band squat is a great tool for many reasons.  It works much like squatting against bands or chains.  One of the best ways to utilize the reverse band method is for a top working set where you want to overload the top, but don’t want the strain put on your body in the hole.  It has been utilized best though for lifters newer to gear that have trouble getting to depth.  To do this, take a weight that you feel comfortable with, and add reverse bands.  As you descend the weight will become lighter, really forcing you to keep your form and fight to get down to depth, something you will have to do as you tighten the straps down on your squat suit.  Give them a shot and let us know what you think.

I’ve seen bench press throws prescribed by several coaches over the years, but personally I never liked the idea of tossing a barbell up in the air and catching it. A medicine ball is one thing, but a barbell crashing down on my head is totally different. Trust me, if it was to hit anyone on the head it would be me!

I did, however, like the idea of teaching the body to absorb force and the dynamic effect of pressing through the lift with zero deceleration. So a few years ago I set up this modified version that’ll provide some of the same effects (but not entirely the same because of the reduced loading and intensity).

Here’s what you do. Set the barbell up in the rack with a set of Jump Stretch average bands. I like to have people start with what I call “balanced weight.” This is the weight it takes to zero out the bar right above your chest. With a 7.5 foot rack, this will be around 115 pounds. At this weight the barbell will hover right at your chest level.

When you have this weight loaded, rack the bar in the J-cups and position yourself to bench press. Unrack the bar and lower it to your chest as you would a bench press. Perform a few reps to get used to the weight (it’ll be very light). After a few reps, toss the bar a few inches out of your hands and catch it on the down stroke.

Now just release and catch. Try tossing a little higher each rep but control the force you toss with. This will be a high rep movement (in the 20-30 range). With each set add more weight. How much you add will be up to you and what your comfort level is. Remember, the goal is to not smash yourself in the face. Use the pins and/or spotters just in case, and keep the weight at a moderate level.

This isn’t intended to replace your normal dynamic bench work, but as an additional or supplemental movement. I’ve had great luck using this movement for shoulder and pec rehabilitation.

Bands

The past 5 years has seen a dynamic shift in the approach to strength and flexibility training. These bands are the reason! Do not get left behind..

Pick up some bands today

Box Squat: The benefits of this exercise are numerous. They develop eccentric and concentric power by breaking the eccentric concentric chain. Box squats are a form of overload and isolation. The box squat is the best way to teach proper form on the squat because it is easy to sit way back while pushing your knees out. To take the bar out of the rack, the hands must be evenly placed on the bar. Secure the bar on the back where it feel the most comfortable. To lift the bar out of the rack, one must push evenly with the legs, arch the back, push your ABS out against the belt, and lift the chest up while driving the head back. A high chest will ensure the bar rests as far back as possible. Slide one foot back then the other, to assume a position to squat. Set your feet up in a wide stance position. Point your toes straight ahead or slightly outward. Also keep your elbows pulled under the bar. When one is ready for the decent, make sure to keep the same arched back position. Pull your shoulders together and push your ABS out. To begin the decent push your hips back first. As you sit back push your knees out to the sides to ensure maximum hip involvement. Once one reaches the box, you need to sit on the box and release the hip flexors. Keep the back arched and abs pushed out while driving your knees out to the side.. To begin the ascent, push out on the belt, arch the back as much as possible, and drive the head, chest, and shoulders to the rear. If you push with the leg first, your buttocks will raise first, forcing the bar over the knees, as in a good morning, causing stress to the lower back and knees and diminishing the power of the squat.

Bands

The past 5 years has seen a dynamic shift in the approach to strength and flexibility training. These bands are the reason! Do not get left behind..

Pick up some bands today

Choke the bands to the top of your power rack and place the bar inside of the bands. Lay down as if you were going to bench but pull the bar to you instead.  This is a great exercise for the lats.  If you are a shirted bencher, and have trouble engaging your lats during the shirted press give these a try.

Check it out as John Meadows and Dave Tate, along with the rest of the Mountain Dog crew get after it on St. Patty’s Day. This was brutal day consisting of pre-exhaustion leg curls, yoke bar squats, leg press, leg extensions, and chain stiff leg deadlifts.

Dave tweeted just hours before this brutal session “90 minutes from another leg day training hell. Someone will be bent over a bucket and it won’t be me.” Just a few hours later, he tweets “Well as it turned out I was the star again in today’s mt dog puke feast. Peanut butter cups may not be the best pre-training meal.” Until next week!

“Once you get a very full pump in your chest, this is a great exercise to enhance your flexibility and push your chest to an extremely deep fatigue using a large range of motion including a deep stretch. These will blow your chest up. They are even better when you have a cambered bar that allows you to sink in deeper. Touch your chest to the bar! Use a closer grip if you want to destroy your triceps too.” – John Meadows

“One of the best investments I made in the last couple of years – the Rumble Roller. I haven’t had any soft tissue injuries at all no matter how hard I train, and I believe this tool is a big reason why.” -John Meadows

We all knew the mountain dog guys were crazy, but this takes that crazy too a whole new level.  As you can see, this wasn’t about strength anymore, it was about how long you could endure the pain and push yourself.  If you ever feel like testing your tolerance, give this a shot.

Check out a reader submitted video of grenade ball pushdowns.  Using a light and mini band on each arm, Jeremy knocks out a set.  These are a great tricep accessory exercise.  That band tension looks brutal!

“I can’t even begin to tell you how much pain we were in at this point. We did yolk bar squats, leg curls and then this triset. Something like 7 or 8 plates on the leg press, then chain lunges (the earlier sets we did more chains), followed by only 2 plates on the hack squat (that felt like 10 plates). This was the 4th round of this triset. This was pain tolerance at it’s finest.”-John Meadows

2-12-12

Check it out as Brian Carroll takes 1150lbs in preparation for the XPC Pro/Elite Coalition meet on March 3,2012 in Columbus, Ohio.  This was 3 weeks out.