The rear fly can be done just with the posterior (rear) deltoids in mind, but it can also involve the trapezius and rhomboids (the muscles that move the shoulder blades closer together) to varying degrees depending on technique. As it is an isolation exercise there are others that work the shoulders and upper back more generally, but it is excellent to develop and “shape” this area.

The main issue with the rear fly is trying to lift too much weight which results in poor technique, which in turn reduces the effectiveness of the exercise. In some cases this can also mean more chances of shoulder or upper back problems. The first way to prevent this is to make sure the arms are kept almost straight, with just a slight bend at the elbow, otherwise the emphasis shifts away from the rear deltoids and more onto the trapezius which is not the intention of the exercise. The movement should be at the shoulder joint where the arm meets the torso and not further around the upper back, trapezius area.

The trapezius can become more involved at the end of the movement by squeezing the shoulder blades together, releasing, and then completing the exercise by returning to the start position if desired.

Another issue is the rear fly body position. You should be bent at the waist, whether this is sitting on a bench, a Swiss ball, or standing, but by how much can vary. Bending forward 90 degrees so horizontal with the floor is best to concentrate on the rear deltoids, but it is correct to only be at 45 degrees which puts more strain on the trapezius. Also a standing position is best as it is easier to breath and also works your core muscles. However you choose to do it, keep your head in line with your spine which means looking at the floor, rather than looking up, as this is bad for the muscles and nerves around the neck.

Finally, although range of movement is important, so is maintaining tension on the muscle. That means that when you return to the start position with your hands down towards the ground, only go as far as gravity is still having an effect before starting the next rep.

How To Do Rear Flys

1. Stand with your feet at shoulder width, your knees slightly bent, and a dumbbell in each hand.

2. Engage your core and bend forward at the waist to 90 degrees, keeping your head in line with your spine which means you will be looking at the floor.

3. Start with your arms hanging towards the ground with your palms facing in and then raise them outwards until they are horizontal.

4. Keeping your arms straight, lower back towards the start position but only as far as you can maintain tension on the muscsles.

5. Repeat for the desired number of reps.

Notes For Rear Flys

1. Keeps your arms straight at all times, with only a slight bend at the elbows.

2. Make sure that the only movement comes from the shoulder joint. If you want involve the trapezius and rhomboids more, do this after the shoulder joint phase.

3. Maintain a good posture by keeping the core engaged and head in line with the spine.

4. To work the trapezius more, do not bend over as far.

5. If you have back problems, sit on a bench or Swiss ball to do the rear fly exercise.

As always, any questions or feedback leave a comment below.

The front raise is an isolation exercise which targets the anterior deltoid of the shoulder. Its purpose when flexed is to abduct the arm, in other words lift it away from the body. It is different to the lateral raise in that it moves to the front instead of the side.

The main issues with the front raise is poor technique that leads to attempting to lift weights that are too heavy, which can result in serious damage to the rotator cuff muscles that potentially take months to properly heal. Good technique not only avoids this but gives better results.

The start position of the front raise is to have the hands spaced shoulder-width apart, which if holding dumbbells this means just in front of the thighs. However, when returning to the start position after each rep instead begin to lift the weight again before this point, which will keep the muscle under tension and help to prevent injury.

To safely increase the range of motion beyond this point, sit on a bench that is an incline position. This will allow the arm to move back a further 15 degrees or so while maintaining tension. Sitting on a bench also prevents using the back to cheat, which does nothing to benefit the shoulder.

When lifting the weight during a front raise, only go to shoulder height. Going further adds little benefit to the muscle but can cause injury. Also avoid locking your elbows and instead keep your arms straight but with a slight bend.

How To Do A Front Raise

1. Stand with your feet hip-width apart, your knees soft and your core engaged to keep your back aligned.

2. Hold the dumbbells comfortably shoulder-width apart, palms facing down, with your arms straight other than a slight bend at the elbows which should be maintained throughout the exercise.

3. Raise the dumbbells to shoulder height concentrating on using the anterior (front) deltoid to do the work, all the while maintaining a strong, upright posture.

4. Lower your arms back down to the start position only as far as you can keep the tension on the muscles and repeat for the desired number of reps.

Notes For Front Raise

1. Keep your core engaged and your posture upright throughout the exercise to avoid cheating and prevent injury. To eliminate any back-and-forth movement stand with your back against a wall. This is when you know how much your shoulders were doing the work and how much you were cheating with your back.

2. For the front raise exercise, only raise the dumbbell up to shoulder height and lower only as far as you can still maintain tension. To increase the range of movement sit on an incline bench, but still be sure to keep tension on the muscle at all times.

3. Lift the dumbbells explosively, which with proper technique and correct weight you can do safely, but lower them slowly and under control so that you get an eccentric contraction that takes 3 – 7 seconds, depending on your training goals.

As always, any questions or feedback leave a comment below.

Dumbbell shrugs really only work the upper part of the trapezius, which is the muscle that when developed gives the shoulders a more rounded appearance up to the neck. Its purpose is to shrug the shoulders, or to keep the shoulder joint in position when a weight is acting upon them. A good example of this is carrying suitcases. As a secondary muscle the forearms are also involved keeping hold of the dumbbells, plus the muscles of the upper back are required to keep the posture upright, which you might feel if you have tight shoulders.

There a few common errors I see in the gym with the dumbbell shrugs, a lot of which are to do with poor technique caused by using weights that too heavy for the lifter. The first is bending the arms while shrugging which allows the biceps to help out, but the arms should actually be kept straight at all times. Lock your elbows if that helps avoid it.

Another technique issue seen a lot is lowering the head and even the upper back while shrugging, the effect of which is to involve other muscles to assist. Instead keep a good upright posture, which keeping a tight core will ensure, and knees slightly bent.

Next is limited range of movement. The shoulders should be allowed to lower beyond their natural resting position and then raised as high as possible. This varies with the flexibility of the lifter but however high you can go with no weight should be where you aim to go with weight. If the difference is noticeable it’s too heavy.

The worst thing I see regarding this exercise however, is something I was told not to do by a top-ranking pro bodybuilder when I first started training. Rotating the shoulders forwards or backwards at the top of a dumbbell shrug might seem like a good idea, but it does nothing to increase the range of movement. What it does do is increase the potential for injury and over time, damage to the shoulder joint. Shrug straight up, lower the weight straight down. That’s it.

How To Do Dumbbell Shrugs

1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, knees soft and a good upright position with a dumbbell in each hand.

2. Engage your core to stabilise your back and prevent you leaning forward when lifting.

3. Keep your arms by your sides and your arms straight as you shrug your shoulders as high as you can. You might find that with this exercise it is better to breath in with the effort.

4. With your shoulders high, hold this position for a second before lower the weights back down with control, allowing your shoulders to drop down below their normal resting position.

5. Repeat for desired number of reps

Notes For Dumbbell Shrugs

1. Do not bend your arms as you lift, instead keep them straight. Lock your elbows if this helps.

2. Keep your core engaged throughout each set to maintain a good posture and help prevent cheating.

3. Allow your shoulders to drop below their normal resting position and aim to shrug as high with the weights as you can without.

4. Do not rotate your shoulders backwards or forwards. The lift is a simple straight up, straight down movement.

5. Lift the dumbbells explosively, then lower them with control so you get an eccentric contraction that takes 3 – 7 seconds depending on your training goals.

As always, any questions or feedback leave a comment below.

The lateral raise works the deltoid muscle of the shoulder but the effort is focussed on the lateral area, which is in-between the anterior (front) and posterior (rear) deltoid. Its purpose is to raise the arm away from the body to the side (abduction). Also involved, even with correct technique, are the trapezius and anterior deltoid muscles.

The lateral raise sounds like a pretty straightforward technique – simply raise your arms to shoulder height and then lower back to the sides, but while there are a couple of slightly different ways to do it correctly there are many ways to do it wrong. The main differences you will see in the gym are the start position can be at the hips or in front of the waist, and the arms can be bent up to 90 degrees or virtually straight. Either is technically correct but one is more effective than the other.

Starting with your hands at your hips is slightly safer in terms of injury prevention during a lateral raise, but there is a greater range of movement with hands in front of the waist and with good technique elsewhere, the risk is very small. Safety is also the issue with bent or virtually straight arms because with bent arms you can lift heavier weights, but as straighter arms means a longer lever the effort and therefore the muscle tension can be the same even if using a lighter weight. This means that there is less pressure on the joints, which is an important issue at the shoulders due to the complex system of muscles and tendons that make up the shoulder joint.

Another factor with the lateral raise is that, like all other exercises that are usually done standing up, swaying back and forth during each rep makes it easy to cheat and therefore lose exercise effectiveness and increase the risk of injury. One way to avoid this is to be sat on bench but even better is to stand with your back against a wall, which is a great way to find out how strong your deltoids really are when they’re not getting help from any cheating!

How To Do A Lateral Raise

1. Stand with your feet hip-width apart, your knees soft and your core engaged to keep your back aligned.

2. Start with dumbbells in front of your waist and your hands facing together (palms in). Your arms should be kept straight with only a slight bend at the elbows throughout the exercise.

3. Keeping your elbows higher than your hands, raise your arms to shoulder height. This is the finish position.

4. Lower your arms back to the start position and repeat for the desired number of reps.

Notes For Lateral Raise

1. While you can start with your hands close together, when lowering the weights back to this position stop just inside your hips and begin the next rep. If you allow your hands to get any closer there is no longer any tension on the shoulders and they are effectively getting a rest. Maintain tension at all times.

2. Keep your arms straight throughout with only a slight bend at the elbows.

3. Lift your arms no higher than shoulder height, where your upper arms are horizontal, as not only is this no longer working the deltoids it can lead to injury.

4. If you find it hard not to rock back and forth as you do the lateral raise, sit on a bench with your back against the pad or stand with your back against a wall.

5. Lower the bar back to the start position so that you get an eccentric contraction that takes 3 – 7 seconds depending on your training goals, until you feel a slight pull on your shoulders.

As always, any questions or feedback leave a comment below.

The upright row exercise primarily works the trapezius muscle of the upper back and the deltoids of the shoulder, as well as the biceps as a secondary muscle. It can be adjusted in several ways, varying the grip width to concentrate more on the trapezius or the deltoids, or done with a cable machine, barbell or dumbbells.

Whichever piece of equipment is used to do an upright row, having a narrow grip shifts the effort from the deltoids to the trapezius, which done with correct technique and providing there are no existing rotator cuff issues is an excellent exercise. If there are then this can be solved by simply having a wider grip which concentrates the effort more on the deltoids.

How To Do An Upright Row (cable)

1. Attach a straight bar to the cable machine and set it to its lowest position.

2. Holding the bar with hands about six inches apart, stand close to the machine and engage your core to protect your back and maintain good posture.

3. Pull the bar straight up to finish just under your chin, keeping your elbows higher than your hands so that your trapezius and deltoids do the work and not your biceps.

4. Lower the bar with control back to the start position and repeat for the desired number of reps.

Notes For Upright Row

1. Hand position can vary depending on which muscle is to be targeted or for shoulder issues. A wide grip position for the upright row is typically shoulder width apart, but the finish position will instead be around chest height.

2. Stand close to the machine so that you are pulling the bar vertically upwards and not out towards you.

3. Keeping your elbows higher than your hands will prevent assistance from the biceps. Also do not lean back as you pull.

4. Lower the bar back to the start position so that you get an eccentric contraction that takes 3 – 7 seconds depending on your training goals, until you feel a slight pull on your shoulders.

As always, any questions or feedback leave a comment below.

The triceps muscle (otherwise known as the triceps brachii) is mainly responsible for extending the arm. It originates at the shoulder blade (scapula) and inserts at the tip of the ulna, which is one of the bones in the forearm.

The triceps extension is done using a cable machine and because of the position your arms for this exercise, it works the muscle in the mid-range. For this reason it is best done later on in your triceps workout after shortest and longest position exercises.

One of the two most common mistakes with the triceps extension is not having a full range of movement. When the arm is straight the elbows should be almost locked, which is a good thing only when doing triceps exercises, and when the arms are bent make sure they are fully bent. A good way to do this is to briefly contract the bicep. Until you can do this your arm isn’t bent sufficiently.

The second common mistake is allowing movement other than at the elbows, whether this is at the shoulders or even the back. Both are due to starting with a weight that is too heavy, or fatigue as the set progresses and both are a way to cheat, reducing the effectiveness of the reverse triceps extension.

How To Do A Triceps Extension

1. Attach a straight bar to the cable machine and set it to its highest position.

2. Stand close and hold the bar with your palms facing down, shoulder width apart.

3. Engage your core muscles, keep your head up and have your upper arms tight against the side of your body as you fully straighten them.

4. Now with control, fully bend your arms making sure that the only movement is coming from your elbows and repeat this for the required number of reps.

Notes For Triceps Extension

1. Stand close to the machine but far enough that the bar or your hands can move freely without touching it.

2. Keep your upper arms tight against the sides of your body at all times to help prevent the shoulders becoming involved.

3. Bend your arm with control so that you get an eccentric contraction, which should take 3-7 seconds depending on your training goals, until you feel your bicep start to contract. When you do, immediately straighten your arm explosively to recruit fast-twitch muscle fibres.

4. When doing a triceps extension, make sure that you fully straighten your arm to get a full contraction.

As always, any questions or feedback leave a comment below.

The triceps muscle (otherwise known as the triceps brachii) is mainly responsible for extending the arm. It originates at the shoulder blade (scapula) and inserts at the tip of the ulna, which is one of the bones in the forearm.

The close hands push up is very similar to a standard push up except the hands are a lot closer together, taking the effort off the pectorals because of the lack of adduction (inward movement) at the shoulder. In a standard push up the hands are about shoulder-width apart, similar to a bench press, which allows the chest and triceps to get involved and share the work. With a wider position move effort is on the chest but there is smaller range of movement, while in a close hands press up there is very little movement on the chest which forces the triceps to take the strain.

The usual position for the hands in a close hands push up is generally to have them a few inches apart rather than very close as this can put pressure on the wrists, but for some people this isn’t a problem.

How To Do A Close Hands Push Up

1. Get into a standard push up position, on your toes with your arms straight, but with your hands as close together as is comfortable. This is the start position.

2. With your back straight, bend your arms with control aiming to get a close to the floor as possible. This is the finish position.

3. Push the floor away keeping your arms tucked in and return to the start and repeat for the required number of reps.

Notes For Close Hands Push Up

1. Engage your core throughout the exercise which will help you keep and straight back and good body position.

2. Do not lock your elbows at any point. Keep them soft even in the start position.

3. Bend your arms with control so that you get an eccentric contraction, which should take 3-7 seconds depending on your training goals, and straighten your arms explosively to recruit fast-twitch muscle fibres.

4. Holding the finish position for a second will add an isometric contraction to the exercise.

As always, any questions or feedback leave a comment below.

What Does CardioVascular (CV) Mean?
When someone in a gym says they’re going to do some CV or cardio, what they mean is they are going to train their cardiovascular system, which in this context means to work their heart, lungs and circulatory system. Basically this is any type of exercise that is focussed on increasing the heart and breathing rate so that over time the body adapts to do this more efficiently, similar to how muscle adapts to resistance training. The adaptations are different for each part of the CV system.

The Heart
The heart is made of cardiac muscle. It is composed of two halves, left and right, and has two chambers on each side. The lower chambers are the ventricles, while the upper chambers, which are smaller, are the atria. The job of the ventricles is to pump the blood around the body, first to the lungs to be filled with oxygen and then back to the heart to be sent to the rest of the body. The job of the atria is to fill up with blood for storage in between heartbeats, which is kept away from the ventricles by valves. The valve on the right is called the Tricuspid Valve and on the left it is the Bicuspid or Mitral valve.

So the right side of the heart receives all of the blood after it has made its journey around the body and then contracts to send it to the lungs. The left side of the heart receives oxygen-rich blood from the lungs and contracts to send it around the body. Each contraction makes the sound that is your heartbeat, and what you can feel if you put your finger on your wrist or neck to take your pulse is the blood rushing through the veins and arteries with each one.

The Lungs

The purpose of the lungs is to extract oxygen from the air and get it into the blood, which at the same time is cleansed of the carbon dioxide that comes from activity within cells. The process starts with air entering the body via the mouth or nose, passing through the larynx at the back of the throat and then down the trachea (windpipe). The trachea then splits into the left and right bronchi that in turn split into increasingly smaller tubes in the lungs called bronchioles, all of which have alveoli at the end.

The alveoli are tiny sacs which resemble a bunch of grapes, surrounded by equally tiny blood vessels called capillaries. It is here that the bloods oxygen and carbon dioxide gas exchange takes place before it continues around the body as part of the circulatory system.

The Circulatory System
Blood travels around the body via blood vessels, of which there are two main types: Arteries carry blood away from the heart while veins carry it towards the heart. Arteries divide into smaller vessels called arterioles and then further still into tiny capillaries, allowing them to reach into tissue cells. This is where oxygen is delivered and carbon dioxide is picked up. Now on its way back to the heart the blood travels through capillaries that now begin to merge into larger vessels called venules, which in turn merge to become veins. Veins are the equivalent in size of arteries, but they have a slightly different structure.

The whole circulatory system can now be described starting at any point, in this case the right ventricle.

right ventricle –> pulmonary artery –> lungs –> pulmonary vein –> left atrium –> left ventricle –> aorta –> body tissue (except lungs) –> vena cava –> right atrium

Training CV Or Cardio

Now that you have a better idea than most of what it actually means to do your CV training or cardio, all that’s left to know is how to do it. This depends on your personal goals but basically anything that causes your body to require more oxygen than at rest will do. This is because the lack of oxygen causes your breathing rate to increase to obtain more and your heart rate to increase to deliver it around the body. Done regularly your heart gets stronger and your lungs get more efficient at this so they don’t need to work as hard to meet the demand, especially at rest. This is why the fitter a person is, the lower their resting heart rate will be.

Typical types of CV training or cardio include things like jogging, cycling or rowing, done at a steady state or high intensity intervals, but resistance training can also have the same effect. Combining the two in the form of circuit training helps to train the muscles as well as the cardio system, but the type you choose depends on your goals as well as which one keeps you motivated and gets the best results. Also try to find something you enjoy doing as you’ll then be far less likely to come up with excuses not to do it!

As always, any questions or feedback leave a comment below.

Your goal affects how many exercises you do and there are some athletes who, at certain phases in their training schedule, will do just one repetition of just one exercise per body part with the most weight that they can lift. This is intended to develop strength. The theory is, if you’re lifting the maximum weight you can manage you won’t be able to do a second rep, even with another exercise, because that muscle is now fatigued and won’t surpass or even match the initial rep for the rest of the workout.

Most people aren’t just looking for pure strength though, they want to get fitter and have a good physique, which means working the muscle in as many different ways as possible. This is why more exercises is better and the general recommended amount is 3 or 4. Anymore and you will either be doing too few sets to sufficiently fatigue the muscle be in the gym for too long.

For example, if you wanted to train your chest you are best doing something that concentrates on the upper portion of the muscle, the middle and also the lower, which is 3 different exercises. But you could also include a fourth that isolates the pectoral chest muscle without it getting any assistance from the triceps. So this workout might be upper barbell chest press, flat dumbbell chest press and lower cable chest press, with flat dumbbell flyes at the very beginning or end.

I won’t go into the details of why those exercises in that order right now, how many exercises is the focus, but the point is the chest is being trained in different ways at different angles which helps to fatigue it. This would apply if you’re doing anything from 5 to 10 reps per set, which is generally the muscle building range, for 3 or 4 sets per exercise. The same would obviously apply if you’re doing supersets, which would be 2 pairs of exercises, but if you wanted to do tri-sets, which is 3 exercises without resting per set, then clearly you would do 3 and not 4. Also if you want to do 15 reps per set then cut down to 3 exercises.

In short, your goals dictate the way you train and this dictates how many exercises you do, but your choice of exercise also matters. The latisimuss dorsi (lats) goes from the neck, across to the shoulders and down all the way to the hips, and has fibres running in various directions. Doing just one exercise for such a large and multi-functional muscle would be nowhere near sufficient, so a suggested session could be wide pull up, seated row, bent over row and cable pullover. This works the lats in different directions, concentrates the effort on different areas and provides a much greater fatiguing of the muscle than only one exercise could possibly do.

If you don’t have a specific workout to follow and are creating your own for building (or toning) muscle and getting a six pack the basic guidelines to follow are: aim for 3 or 4 sets of 3 or 4 exercises, aim for 100 – 120 reps overall, and keep your total resistance workout time to 1 hour or less.

As always, any questions or comments leave a comment below.

The triceps muscle (otherwise known as the triceps brachii) is mainly responsible for extending the arm. It originates at the shoulder blade (scapula) and inserts at the tip of the ulna, which is one of the bones in the forearm.

The reverse triceps extension is done using a cable machine and because of the position your arms for this exercise, it works the muscle in the mid-range. For this reason it is best done later on in your triceps workout after shortest and longest position exercises. Also, because the hands are reversed (palms up) the effort is concentrated on the centre one of the three sections of the muscle more than the outer, lateral parts.

One of the two most common mistakes with the reverse triceps extension is not having a full range of movement. When the arm is straight the elbows are almost locked, which is a good thing only when doing triceps exercises, and when the arms are bent make sure they are fully bent. A good way to do this is to briefly contract the bicep. Until you can do this your arm isn’t bent sufficiently.

The second common mistake is allowing movement other than at the elbows, whether this is at the shoulders or even the back. Both are due either starting with a weight that is too heavy or fatigue as the set progresses and both are a way to cheat, reducing the effectiveness of the reverse triceps extension.

How To Do A Reverse Triceps Extension

1. Attach a straight bar to the cable machine and set it to its highest position.

2. Stand close and hold the bar in a reverse position with your palms facing towards you, shoulder width apart.

3. Engage your core muscles, keep your head up and have your upper arms tight against the side of your body as you fully straighten them.

4. Now with control, fully bend your arms making sure that the only movement is coming from your elbows and repeat this for the required number of reps.

Notes For Reverse Triceps Extension

1. Stand close to the machine but far enough that the bar or your hands can move freely without touching it.

2. Keep your upper arms tight against the sides of your body at all times to help prevent the shoulders becoming involved.

3. Bend your arm with control so that you get an eccentric contraction, which should take 3-7 seconds depending on your training goals, until you feel your bicep start to contract. When you do, immediately straighten your arm explosively to recruit fast-twitch muscle fibres.

4. When doing a reverse triceps extension, make sure that you fully straighten your arm to get a full contraction.

As always, any questions or feedback leave a comment below.