There are several reasons why I’m writing a tutorial for this exercise. The cool thing about the sequential muscle-up is that it builds confidence quickly – a thing that is needed when trying to achieve goals that seem “impossible,” such as the real muscle-up. The move also builds strength needed for the transition phase in the real exercise.

Speaking of sequences, I chose this completely unrelated photo of a beautiful girl doing the moonwalk on a sandy hill at the beach. I’ve been into haiku lately and found this Basho haiku poem to fit quite nicely with the photo.

I recently finished the last level of my German language classes and was browsing in the German section of a bookstore when I stumbled on this book of haiku poetry translated in German. I was shocked that the translations were so good. Anyway – back to the sequential muscle-up.

So What Exactly is the Sequential Muscle-up

• Muscle-up variation. Although not a true muscle-up, this exercise is as close as it gets.
• No kipping. No leg action is used here. This develops more upper body strength.
• No swing. Unless you are super strong, the real muscle-up is done with a swing in which you pull yourself up when your body is behind and not below the bar.
• One arm at a time. Here you pull yourself up, and transition to the top of the bar one arm at a time. Hence the name sequential – which I made up by the way.

Sequential Muscle-up Video

Here is a video we shot of the sequential muscle-up. You can clearly follow the three major phases: 1. pull-up, 2. shift of the weight and rotation of the free arm, another shift of the weight with rotation of the first arm.

Note: it is essential to train both sides in this movement – although the video doesn’t show this. As soon as you are able to do the move with the weaker arm (most people have a weaker arm), start practicing it this way.

How to Do the Sequential Muscle-up

• Pull-up. The first part of the move is your basic pull-up
• Pull hard with one arm. Next you want to flex hard one of your arms while at the top of the pull-up. Shift your weight towards this arm so that the other one is free.
• Rotate the other. Now you simply rotate the other arm on top of the bar and push hard.
• Transfer weight. The next step is to shift your weight towards the arm that is already on top of the bar.
• Rotate first arm. Finally bring this arm on top of the bar too.
• Push up. Finish the move by pushing up as if finishing a parallel bar dip.

How to Train

• Daily volume. Do single repetitions and strive to do more each time your train. Train often – at least 2-3x per week. More is better.
• Switch sides. This is crucial. You will likely first master the move with one of your arms – the stronger one. As soon as possible start practicing with the weaker side. Always do equal number of repetitions and alternate the sides.
• Focus on speed. You will soon find yourself getting better and better. Strive to increase the speed. At this point the sequential muscle-up will be almost like a real muscle-up, because you will be doing it so fast.

Note: The final article in this series will teach the real muscle-up.
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Prior to that, I had read an article by Charles Poliquin mentioning this exercise. Poliquin himself was inspired by the great Vince Gironda if I recall correctly. However I never found a comprehensive guide on doing the sternum pull-up, much less on using it to work towards muscle-ups. So this article is a first in a series that will help you do your first muscle-up.

The gorgeous girl on the photo above does a pretty decent job of showing where you should touch the bar when doing sternum pull-ups. Anywhere lower than her hippy peace sign necklace is fine. The lower, the better (but also the harder). And, the lower you go, the more you need to lean back and make your body parallel to the ground.

What is the Sternum Pull-up

The sternum pull-up is simply a pull-up variation in which you need to touch the bar to your chest. The cool thing about this kind of pull-up is that it will teach and strengthen the groove that will eventually lead to muscle-up mastery.

Sternum Pull-up Video

Below you can watch a video I shot demonstrating the basic sternum pull-up. Again, the three keys to the move are using your back, exploding and pulling the elbows back once the upper arms reach parallel.

Here is a simple progression towards getting good with the sternum pull-ups. Remember to watch your form. With the gymnastic type of movements it is quality that counts more than quantity.

How to do Sternum Pull-ups

• Start with the lat pull down. The lat pull down machine is your first stop if you can’t do pull-ups.The reason for this recommendation is that this is the only machine that will teach you the correct full range form for pull-ups and, eventually, sternum pull-ups
• Master the pull-up first. The best thing you can do is master the basic pull-up: from dead hang until your chin is over the bar. Here it is essential that you learn to engage and use your back – the lats (the muscles of your armpits that create a v-shaped torso).
• Hands on top. For the purpose of working towards muscle-ups, we want the hands to be on top of the bar. Other variations have their merit, but this one – hands on top (pronated grip) – is the one to choose for now.
• Learn to explode. The biggest obstacle in achieving the muscle-up is lack of speed. Sternum pull-ups are done as fast as possible. Contract the back lightning fast and pull yourself up
• Elbows back. Once your upper arms pass parallel, you need to engage another muscle group – the mid back and rear delts, and pull back instead of simply down.
• Chest to bar. Finally you want to hit or touch the bar to the chest: the lower the better.

I am shooting these pics and videos in the backyard of a high school near the gym. I go there after I get off work and surprisingly the kids from the neighborhood have no interest whatsoever of using the free pull-up bar. A pity.

By the way – although the photos look sort of ‘ghetto,’ this neighborhood is considered a very nice one. In fact there are ‘commercial’ sponsored graffiti on the facade of the school.

Sternum Pull-ups vs. Muscle-ups

Although these moves are similar there are two major differences between these exercises. Both of these share a similar groove. The muscle up however is finished with a lean forward and a rotation of the arms around the bar so that you end up in the lower portion of a dip position on top of the bar.

The other difference is that while the sternum pull-up can be done with relatively no momentum, few people posses the strength to do muscle-ups with no horizontal momentum. What this means is that the bottom of the movement there is a forward swing of the body.

This creates a swing backwards that, when coupled with a vigorous pull, will allow you to pull-up behind the bar as opposed to below it. Above is a photo of Marcus (link to the video) from Bondi beach, Australia setting a record in muscle-ups and showing the forward swing of the body. If you simply pull up from a dead hang, you will only hit the your chest and won’t be able to transition on top of the bar.

Advanced Sternum Pull-ups

Here you can see Mohamed Makkawy performing an advanced version of the sternum pull-up, where he is leaning way back so the move becomes a sort of a row at the end. The photo is from Vince Gironda’s book Unleashing the Wild Physique, a treasure chest of advanced training principles.

Makkawy is gifted with a naturally v-shaped body. Notice the athletic physique, a thing that is missing from the current sport of bodybuilding. Here is an example (video) of a current up and coming bodybuilding super champ. Notice the huge stomach (caused by excessive growth hormone usage resulting in enlargement of the internal organs). No comment.

Action Plan

• Train often. The more often you can train a complex move like this, the better.
• Train fresh. Fatigue and soreness will hinder your explosiveness. Don’t do force reps or reps to failure.
• Add volume. Volume means more practice.
• 3-5 reps, 8-10 sets. This is a great protocol for training explosive moves like the sternum pull-up or explosive push-ups
• Complex training. Combine with heavy weighted pull-ups. Simply do your weighted pull-up training and then do the explosive sternum pull-ups. Watch as those bad boys feel super light after the heavy sets.

Note: the next article will teach you a special exercise that will bring strength and train the rotational part of the muscle up.

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So to use them for strength training you need to do them to failure – the last few reps produce enough tension. But there is an easier way. A modified push up, such as the hip pushup which will be described in this article, is substantially harder and can be used for strength training even by more experienced athletes.

The cool thing is that the hip push up can be done anywhere, and will strengthen your wrists and fists. Last but not least – it is great way to work towards a planche push-up, where you support a hundred percent of your bodyweight.

Athletes such as gymnasts and b-boys like the guy above have a ridiculous strength to body weight ratio. Their great relative strength allows them to perform amazing moves. The hip push-up will help you increase your upper body relative strength.

So What Exactly Is the Hip Push-up

This is simply a push-up variation done on your fist, in which you lean forward as far as you can. This greatly overloads the movement so you are able to use the push-up as a strength training and muscle building tool and thus get bigger and more defined muscles.

Here’s how to do the hip push-up effectively for maximum strength training and muscular density benefits. Once you get past 12 reps, those benefits subside. You can still exploit the movement though – by going to complete muscular failure. However, if you can do under 6 reps, don’t go to failure.

Hip Push-up Technique

• Stay rigid. The first thing in any gymnastic, strength or calisthenics move is muscular control. You want to keep your body tight. It is always easier to control it this way.
• Stay on your fists. Ideally you want to do the hip pushup on your fists. Another option is to use push-ups stands. Doing these pushups on your palms is not really an option as you are likely to hyper extend your wrists and hurt them.
• Lean forward. The next step, after getting into a push-up position on your fists is to lean forward as far as you can. This shifts a much larger percentage of your bodyweight to your arms and you actually will be able to do 1-10 of these instead of 30-50+.
• Pick a spot. Simply pick a spot on the ground after you have leaned forward as far as you can. Now look at this spot and go straight up and down. By looking at this spot you will be able to self-spot yourself so that you don’t cheat on the movement.
• Stay in the hollow position. The gymnastic hollow position in which you tighten your but and abs, is once again key as in most bodyweight exercises.

Action Plan

• Volume is your friend. High volume of training brings success with such strength/skill moves.
• Don’t fail. With low reps stay away from forced reps. They don’t help; but only rob you of energy.
• Track daily or weekly volume. Come up with some way to measure your progress and make sure you do more reps either daily or weekly
• Three weeks on, one off. Train hard for 3-4 weeks, than back off. I learned this little trick from Vince Gironda – it helps bust plateaus and avoid injuries.
• At least one day par week off. You can train every day, or just 3 times per week. But make sure to rest at least one day per week. Your motivation will stay up and your body will thank you.
• Listen to your body. Back off on the training if you need.

Speaking of Strength Training…

Here is one of my favorite quotes from the book by Zatsiorsky and Kraeme, Science and Practice of Strength Training. This is the best explanation I know on how to achieve maximum muscular tension using various methods:

There are three ways to achieve maximal muscular tension:

• Lifting a maximum load (exercising against maximal resistance) – that is, the maximal effort method
• Lifting a nonmaximal load to failure; during the final repetitions the muscles develop the maximum force possible in a fatigued state – that is, the repeated effort method
• Lifting (throwing) a nonmaximal load with the highest attainable speed – that is, the dynamic effort method

Hip Push-up Instructional Video

Here is the video on how to use the hip push-up for strength training. Remember to stay tight, lean forward as far as you can, then pick a spot on the ground and watch it to make sure you only go up and down.

Your Daily Routine

I like to train the hip push-up with a ladder. I do one rep, rest some time, do two reps, rest, etc… Once I reach the highest number of reps I cand o with good form, I start from one again. This kind of training is inspired by Pavel Tsatsouline’s article on pullup ladders in the in the December, 2000 issue of Milo magazine. Here are a few articles that talk about ladders:

• Pavel’s Ladder. This is the original article that introduced me to the ladder principle. Clarence Bass does a good job explaining it.
• How to Get Stronger at Push-ups and Pull-ups Using a Soviet Special Forces Technique. In this Article Rusty Moore does an excellent job of explaining the ladder fundamentals – volume, specificity and no failure.
• Do More Pull Ups – How a Navy SEALs Program Helped Me. In this article Dan from Zenvigorate explains pyramids for pullups – they are just like ladders,e xcept you go both up and down. So it looks like this: 1-2-3-… then …3-2-1

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People from all over Bulgaria were invited to join the competition. Many enthusiasts came – some were professional athletes, others were just fitness buffs or amateur bodybuilders. The competitors from our gym won most of the disciplines as well as the overall title.

I was the winner of the pushup contest, even though I wasn’t the strongest or most athletic one. Just to give you an idea – some of the athletes I was up against were Milko, Vasko and Nino. In this article I will share my secrets to pushup greatness

Here is Why the Push-up is a Great Exercise

Push-ups often get neglected as a valuable exercise because once you start working out regularly, they become easy. The push-up, however, is still a great choice because when performed with proper form it is a great tool to build up your upper body relative strength – the ratio between your body weight and your strength.

Push-ups can be performed anywhere – you only need some space and the desire to get better. Another reason I’m writing about this exercise is because I see a lot of videos of people doing the push-up incorrectly. Although this is a fantastic exercise, when performed improperly it can harm your shoulders. In this article I will explain how to perform the push-ups safely and what one mistake we need to avoid.

Here is the Correct Way to Do Push-ups

The push-up is the exercise of choice in places where a lot of people are trained at the same time – for example in the army or in martial arts classes or bootcamps. It is at these exact places that I see the worst push-up technique.

Here is a quote from the Official Guinness World Record book on proper push-up form. If it’s good enough for them, it’s good enough for us too:

The body must remain straight throughout, i.e., no bending at knees or waist. The body must be lowered until at least 90 degree-angle is attained at the elbow. The body must then be raised until the arms are straight. This equals one push-up.

Keep the Body Straight

The correct way to do push-ups is to keep your body straight – either in a neutral position or (and this is one of my secrets) in the hollow position. When you are in this gymnastic position, you can squeeze extra reps on the final part of the test by tensing your glutes, abs and lats. Here is how to do it:

• Rotate your pelvis forward – this shortens the distance between your chest bone and your hip bone and allows you to contract your abs hard.
• Tense your glutes – by tensing the butt, the nearby muscles can contract harder and thus get stronger. On the final reps you can squeeze a few extra reps.
• Tense your lats – the lats, the armpit muscles, can act like a spring board for your arms on push-ups. This way you can use this lat contraction to initiate the movement when you press up from the ground.
• Grab the ground – this is another technique for those last reps. Spread out your fingers and try to “grab the floor.” This will add a rep or two to your total.

On the photo above I am using all of these techniques, including grabbing the floor.

How to Get Really Good at Push-ups

Before giving specific training tips I will introduce two types of pushups that I find valuable for the purpose of increasing your push-up performance and will also show you what NOT to do.

In the photo above you can see two hand positions that are great for push-ups. Fig. A shows a wider grip push-up that is great for chest development, but is useless for the advanced irradiation and tension techniques we discuss here. Note however that the shoulders stay down and the elbows are not directly out to the sides, but point slightly downward.

Fig. B shows a shoulder width grip push-up position which is great for using whole body power and tension for those last reps. I suggest using both of these pushup positions in your training. On the actual test, assume a position somewhere in the middle between these stances. This way you can use both your chest and the tension techniques.

What NOT to Do

On Fig. C below you can see a push-up variation with the elbows straight out. This is how most people do push-ups and it’s wrong. It endangers the shoulders (every time you elevate the shoulders, you put them in a weak position) and doesn’t allow you to use tension techniques.

Video Demonstration and Push-up Action Plan

Here is a video we shot showing the first two push-up positions that you can use in your training. You can also see the elbows out push-up. Again – avoid this one.

Here are my top tips to increase your push-up performance.

• Get your body weight down – this one is obvious. If you are lighter, your relative strength is greater and push-ups are easier.
• Increase your max strength – keep the body weight the same but get strong at an upper body pushing move like the bench press or the weighted dip. For push-ups the bench press is a better choice as it is in the same plane of motion.
• Train with volume – the more push-ups you do, the better you will get.
• Practice proper form – practice the straight body position as well as the tensing techniques.
• Do 1 set to failure per day – this one works for 2-4 weeks and then you need to take a week off. You basically do one set of max push-ups and add a rep every day.
• Do many sets but not to failure – this is a technique that will add 20+ percent to your push-up performance in as little as a week. I read the specific routine in Pavel Tsatsouline’s book Beyond Bodybuilding. You do many sets throughout the day (sometimes 500+ push-ups per day) and vary the volume every day.

Here’s how to create your own high volume push-up routine according to Pavel’s book:

• Never come close to failure except when testing your max.
• Vary the reps and the rest periods between the sets daily.
• Adjust the load to your recovery ability.
• Build up cumulative fatigue.
• Taper down before a peak.

Other Push-up and Fitness Test Resources

Here a few articles from some of my favorite sites on push-ups and fitness tests in general:

• Take the 100 Pushup Challenge….if you dare! – in this article, Mike O’Donnell from Fitness Spotlight outlines a great progression for push-up training – both for beginners and advanced athletes.
• Better Strength Reps and Mastering Irradiation – in this article, Craig Avera from Hollywood Body Fitness explains the irradiation technique, a concept popularized by Pavel Tsatsouline. This is my secret weapon to squeeze more reps on the final repetitions of a pushup test.
• Explosive Pushups to Increase Your Bench Pressing Power and Pectoral Definition – in this article Rusty Moore from the Fitness Black Book explains how to increase your power (how fast you move a certain weight). This helps with the first one 30-40 push-ups.
• Modern Fitness Standards: How Do You Measure Up? – here Mark Sisson from Mark’s Daily Apple has outlined a very comprehensive piece on fitness standards in general. A must read.

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High Bar Get-ups Burn Fat and Build Six-Pack Abs

The high bar ab get-up is a very exhausting move and burns a ton of calories. Its difficulty level, as far as energy requirements go, are right up there with the power clean from the hang.

Because one of the main movements in this complex exercise is the lifting and swinging of the legs upward, the high bar get-up is an excellent abdominal exercise. In fact, you can base your whole routine on this drill, provided that you dedicate yourself to getting really good at it – which means being able to do 15+ reps.

A Great Measurement of Relative Strength

You cannot be fat or weak and be good at this exercise. As a bonus – the better you are at the high bar get-up, the better you will look. You will have a defined six pack, a small waist, a developed v-shaped back and powerful shoulders and traps. The get-up also trains your grip and makes you mentally tough. Can’t beat that.

What is the High Bar Get-up

This is a gymnastics move that involves all your upper body pulling muscles as well all your abdominal muscles. You basically will do a half pull-up, then raise your legs and swing them up.

At this point you will continue pulling with your back muscles until you reach an inverted position. Finish off by shrugging so that you are able to clear the bar. You will find yourself with your arms extended at the top of the bar.

How to Get Good at High Bar Get-ups

The simplest answer of course is to repeat the exercise lots and lots of times. That being said, getting stronger at the individual elements that are involved is another way to ensure success. This means getting stronger at pull-ups and hanging leg raises.

• Start in a pull-up position. The beginning of the movement is just like a regular pull-up.
• Do a half pull-up. Start by contracting the lats and pulling yourself up a bit.
• Lift your legs up and look back. At this poing hold the half-pull-up position and contract the abs thus lifting the legs. Don’t look at your legs! It’s impossible to do the get up this way, because this is a rotational move – you swing around the bar. So you cannot swing your legs up AND look at them at the same time.

• Continue lifting your legs and pulling. You need to exert more force her. Pull.
• Pull and shrug to pass the bar. You will find yourself in an inverted position with the legs almost ready to pass the bar. Use all your force – pull and shrug so your waist reaches the bar.
• You will find yourself on top. You did it! Now carefully slide down OR reverse the movement.

Video Demonstration

Here is a video we shot of the high bar get-up. The move is simple really, once you have basic strength. Pull-up, lift the legs, look back, pull more and finish.

Action Plan

The key to getting good at a complex move like this is a high training volume and an avoidance of forced or “failure” reps. The exercise involves a lot of muscles – basically all the pulling muscles and the whole abdominal wall.

Because of this, forced reps only tire the muscles that work in the final portion of the move. This is a poor trade-off, because those “failing” reps exhaust the nervous system and you cannot perform more sets or recuperate well enough.

Other Ideas for Abdominal Training

Getting stronger abs will greatly aid in getting better at the high bar get up. Here are a few ideas from some of my favorite blogs:

• My 5 Favorite Fat Burning Exercises Vic Magary from Gym Junkies gives a solid list of abdominal training ideas.
• Hollywood Abs: The Best Exercises for a Six Pack Craig Avera shares the strategies he personally uses to get a set of film-ready six pack abs.
• Ditch The Crunches And Learn To Really Work Your Abs Scott Kustes from Fitness Spotlight shares 2 new cool static hold ab exercises.

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Why the Lat Pull Down Machine?

The reason why you should start with the lat pull down machine if you are unable to do a single pull-up or chin-up is that this is the best way to learn proper technique for the pull-up. While you are working on perfecting your form, you will also improve your strength and will be soon ready for the real deal on the pull-up bar.

And the reason I’m writing about the lat pull down machine in this article is that most demonstrations you can see online suck – the same way that most people are pathetic at chin-ups and pull-ups, because they don’t know how to engage their back in the movement.

An Exercise Machine That Actually Works?

Most machines in the gyms seem to be a good idea for a workout for somebody who is inexperienced. Problem is, if you never graduate past a “machine user level” you will not learn how to apply the gym strength in the real world.

Cable machines however are the “good guys.” They don’t stabilize the weight for you and also provide constant tension – something that even free weights can’t accomplish all of the timee.

Using the Lat Pull Down Machine Properly

• Use pronated grip – hands on top. Pronated just means with your palms facing down. The other grip – with your palms up, is called supinated. If you need help remembering which is which, just make a mental note that supinated is the grip you’d hold a cup of soup with. So the pronated grip is the other one. The reason for the pronated grip recommendation is that this is the better position for learning how to use the back. The biceps muscle is weaker here so you are forced to use your back muscles – the lats.
• Grab shoulder width apart. This is the most natural movement and will be a great aid in learning the pull-up & chin-up, as well as the muscle-up later.
• Pull down the shoulders with straight arms. This is the key to all pulling movements. Just lower your shoulders without bending the elbows.
• Next pull with the back and arms. Flex your armpit muscles – the lats, as well as your biceps simultaneously and pull the bar down.
• Pull the elbows back and touch the chest. When your upper arms become parallel to the ground, start pulling back with your elbows and the muscles of your mid back and touch your chest with the bar. Finish by pushing your chest out.

Lat Pull Down Video Demonstration

Here is a video we shot of the lat pull down in use. The cool thing about this particular machine is that the weight that you lift corresponds to the real force you exert. Sometimes machines use complicated pulley systems that actually halve the weight being lifted. This is not the case here.

Action Plan

• Train 3x per week. This is the recommended training frequency when training to acquire a new skill like this. If the stimulus is any less frequent, chin-ups and pull-ups will not happen any time soon.
• Do 3 sets of 5 reps. Try to do the sets with proper form. When it becomes easy to do the third set of five, it’s time to add a little bit more weight. Go for the smallest increment possible that the lat pull down machine allows. Even better – if there are small weight plates or dumbbells at your gym, put them on the stack of weights of the machine so that you achieve gradual increases in resistance instead of jumping from one plate to the next.
• Alternate with 8-12 reps. If you hit a plateau, start alternating those 3 sets of 5 with 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps. So every 3-4 weeks switch between sets of 5 and sets of 8-12.

Where do you stand? Can you do chin-ups and pull-ups easily with proper engagement of the back? Or do you still need to master the lat pull down machine?

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Bruce Lee was not a “fitness freak” just for the sake of it. He had a definite major purpose –an idea he got from Napoleon Hill’s book Think and Grow Rich. His supreme physical shape is a manifestation of his pursuit of excellence in order to achieve the life he wanted for himself and his family. He actually achieved his dream goal of being the biggest Chinese Star in the world.

The Wrist Roller – Fantastic for Forearm Strength

I believe using wrist roller because is one of the best ways to train your forearms. First, you get to train with a fatter grip which always makes the exercise harder and allows for more work to be done by the gripping muscles in the forearm.

Second, both the extensors and the flexors of the wrist get to be worked in a single exercise. But the best part is that you are not simply flexing a muscle and trying to keep tension on it. You are doing real work so your muscles can’t help but work at full capacity.

What Is a Wrist Roller

The wrist roller is a simple device that you can create yourself very cheaply. It’s basically a piece of PVC piping to which you attach a rope. At the end of the rope hangs a weight plate.

You can attach the rope to the pipe by drilling a small hole, guiding it through and tying it. A karabiner at the other end of the rope allows you to slide it and clip it to secure the weights. In this way adding more weight is fast and easy.

How to Train With the Wrist Roller

Take a look at this video we shot at the awesome terrace of our gym. The exercise is simple – you hold the wrist roller in front of you and roll under control up and down. Make sure to roll in both directions – to work both the flexors and extensors of the wrist.

Also control the lowering portion of the move. Generally beginners don’t need direct forearm training. Once you are past beginner stage however, and especially for folks with skinny forearms like me, it’s forearm workout time.

The forearms can be trained very heavily. Work them out with the wrist roller at least 3 times per week with at least 3 sets of flexion and extension. The weight and reps depend on your choice – both high and low reps work – just make sure to work at your limits in order to make the forearms grow.

How to Create Your Own Wrist Roller

It is actually very easy to create your own wrist roller. All you need is a thick PVC pipe, a rope and some weight. Here are a few tutorials on how to create a sturdy axle mounted wrist roller so you are not limited in the weight you can use:

• DIY Wrist Roller Ross Enamait posted a new tutorial on his blog on how to create your own wrist roller and mount it on a squat rack.
• Axle Mounted Wrist Roller This is the original thread on Dave Draper’s site. This particular page is a fantastic resource for all sorts of DIY home equipment.
• How to Make a Rack-Mounted Wrist Roller Here is another tutorial on a rack-mounted wrist roller.

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One solution is to start heavily relying on direct arm training with barbell and dumbbell curls. Although this is a great approach, there is yet another way to train with a compound exercise for greater biceps strength. Compound moves allow for a more natural loading of the muscles.

Enter The Mix Grip Chin Up

Most demonstrations you will see of the mix grip chin-up online just show the regular variation where you simply grab the bar with a mixed grip and pull yourself. While this style of pull-ups is ok, it won’t bring the benefits of the style I’m about to teach you.

• One hand palm up, one hand palm down. Get a strong grip and make sure to place the bar in the top one third of your palm.
• Shoulder width apart. This grip is the most natural one and allows you to emphasize one arm without causing an injury.
• Pull with the under grip hand. Lean towards your hand that’s in a chin-up position and pull.
• Use the lat (back muscle) of the under grip side. Start the move by pulling down your shoulder with a straight arm towards your body. Then contract your lat and finally flex the biceps and chin yourself up.
• Lower under control. Make sure to lower slowly, feel the muscle gradually relaxing and avoid just dropping down. This way you will avoid elbow injuries from dropping too fast.

Benefits of Training with the Mix Grip Chin-up

• Smash plateaus. Adding a new movement and emphasizing one arm will allow you to gain more muscle and strength
• Serious workout with pull-up bar only. You only need a pull up bar to train anywhere with quite a large resistance – which means more strength.
• Simple fitness. Summer is a time to enjoy life and not hide away in a gym. Armed with this move you can enjoy the benefits of the sun.
• Increase biceps strength with added resistance. You will increase the size and strength of your arms in particular without having to carry weights, belts or backpacks.
• One arm chin-up preparation. Mastering this move will put you on the road to achieving the one arm chin-up.

How to Incorporate Mix Grip Chin-ups

• Rotate between strength and size. Every 3-4 weeks, alternate between heavier lower reps (3-6) and higher reps (7-12). This will ensure constant progress.
• Avoid failure on the strength phase. When doing heavy low reps, don’t force the last rep. Instead leave a few reps in reserve and add more sets. You can train 3-5 times per week with the same or similar move or muscle group.
• Train less often on the size phase. When doing slightly higher reps, make every set count and train hard. You will need more rest between such workouts. You will be able to train 1-2 times per week per muscle group in this way.
• Alternate with a pushing move. Couple the exercise with a vertical push move like the handstand push up, the military press, or a dumbbell press variation.

A Video of the Mix Grip Chin-up

Here is a video we shot in the backyard of a nearby school of the mix grip chin-up. Notice how I am leaning towards the under grip arm and trying to pull with this side of my back. Don’t just pull yourself up. Instead use the muscles of the under grip side of the body.

Other Summer Workout Ideas

• Chris from Zen to Fitness writes in this article about the benefits of getting sufficient Vitamin D from the sun.
• For more information on Vitamin D and its effect on health you can check out the website and newsletter of the Vitamin D Council.
• Rusty from Fitness Black Book also shares a bunch of summer time tips here
• Finally Craig from Hollywood Body Fitness has a take on the gym-less workout.

What are your summer workout ideas? Share them below.

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We want to burn the fat around our bellies. We want it easy and we want it fast. So the marketing geniuses brainstorm and come up with an idea that *seems* to work the lower ab region. Then they get sweaty and fit fitness models to demonstrate the gadget and flex their six pack abs – and this is where the scam happens.

The Lower Six Pack Abs Myth

There are two people who ask for a lower ab workout. The first kind want to know how to burn off body fat specifically from the region below their belly button. If you’ve been reading fitness sites on the internet for any length of time, you already know that generally you burn off the excess energy from your whole body.

If you compare all your body fat storage areas to a fish tank, you’ll understand why you can’t just lose weight from one place (is it possible to empty just the bottom half of a fish tank?). The second question I get asked is by people who are sort of lean and want the bottom 2 or 4 parts of their six pack abs to ‘pop.’

There Are No Lower Abs!

So the general answer that most Joe Blow type of ‘gym instructor’ trainers give is that if you want the bottom ‘buttons’ of the six pack (or eight pack) to come out, you need to do some type of reverse crunch move. Lift your lower body towards the chest bone.

While the movement they prescribe is the right one, you can’t actually make the bottom half of a muscle grow, without it growing as a whole. The six pack abs are in actuality one muscle – the rectus abdominis.

There Are Lower Abs!

At this point the new wave, functional training coaches slam the old school gym instructor bodybuilders for thinking it was possible to train the ‘lower abs’. You just can’t isolate a muscle portion in this way. Right?

Turns out however, both groups were right and wrong at the same time. While you can’t train or isolate the bottom half of the six pack only, you can stimulate the v-shaped muscle that fitness models and life guards are famous for – the internal oblique muscle. If you insist on calling a muscle with the name ‘lower abs’, I suggest picking the internal obliques.

How To Train The “Lower Abs”

Any type of training that either stabilizes the abdominal wall or dynamically engages it, will train those muscles (as well as all the rest).

Stabilization Training

Here are a bunch of exercises that train your whole abdominal region, “lower abs” included, through stabilization. This means that the movement forces you to maintain a rigid torso – with no movement of the spine (especially in the lower back region). This type of stabilization is best explained when you imagine bracing for a punch in the stomach.

• Barbell Deadlifts
• Barbell Squats
• Military Press
• Renegade Rows
• L-Sit
• Pull-ups & Chin-ups

Dynamic Training

Dynamic training for the abs can mean maintaining tension while rotating your body – imagine the movement of a boxer delivering a punch, or you turning around while sitting in your chair. A great exercise for this movement is the Full Contact Twist.

The other type of movement is flexion – shortening the distance between the hips and the chest. A great choice is the hanging leg raise which is shown in the video below.

Evolution of Hanging Leg Raises Video

Here is a video we shot, showing a progression for the hanging leg raises. When performed correctly, this can be one of the best exercises for the abdominal muscles, and for the lower abs in particular.

The important thing to note is that you don’t want to just lift your knees or legs. This is useless and only works the hip flexors – the muscles on the top of the thigh that lift your leg.

What you want to do is actually rotate your pelvis forward. This curling motion will shorten the distance between the hip bones and the chest and thus work all the abdominal muscles. So think of initiating the move with an abdominal contraction and lifting/rotating of the pelvis up. Then proceed with lifting the legs.

A good training scheme is to do the leg raises 3x per week for high reps (20-30). Once you get good at the easiest version – the knee raises, switch to bent leg raises, and then to straight leg raises. For a solid example of an ab training routine you can check out Craig Avera’s post on Hollywood Abs

So which road are you on? Are there lower six pack abs or aren’t there lol?

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Even worse, on my first PT test as high school fresh man I still couldn’t do a single pull-up or chin-up. This was one of the reasons I started working out (managed 10+ chin-ups at the end of that freshman year). This, and the goal of getting a v-shaped back.

On a side note – Tony Jaa, pictured above, is an excellent example of an athlete with a great v-shaped body. He has a very wall percentage of body fat which accentuates the small waist. At the same time his back, the latissimus dorsi is very developed and creates the appealing v-shape.

Tony is a martial artist, stuntman and actor from Thailand who has starred in a few explosive action movies already. If you are going to see a film with him – check out Ong Bak. My friend Rusty Moore has gone into great detail in his article about him ==> Is Tony Jaa the Next Bruce Lee?

1. Close Grip Chin-Up

Grab the bar with your palms facing up. Either place your hands right next to each other or space them one fist apart. Just pick whatever feels most natural to your body – this rule of thumb will give you more strength and less injuries on any exercise you do.

Pull yourself up using your back and finish with a strong biceps contraction. Lower under control. Do not make the mistake of just letting your body drop. This is very taxing on your elbows and you may soon develop tendonitis (pain in the elbows that can only go away with rest).

2. Close Grip Pull-Up

Grab the bar with your palms facing down this time. Again – either place your hands right next to each other or space them one fist apart.

Pull yourself up using your back (armpit muscles) and finish with a strong a contraction of the muscles on top of your arm – the brachialis (the muscle beneath the biceps), the brachioradialis (the one that goes from your forearm to your upper arm as well as all the little extensor muscles on the back of your forearm.

3. Parallel Grip Pull-Up

This time your palms will be facing each other. This position is anatomically the easiest on the joints and also the most natural one for your shoulder, elbows and wrists.

The parallel grip pull-up is the best position to add additional resistance for weighted pull-ups & chin-ups.

4. Shoulder Width Grip Chin-Up

The shoulder width grip chin-up is fantastic for involvement of both your upper back and your arms. You can add a lot of resistance here too. Just be careful – the biceps is a relatively small and weak muscle compared to the latissimus dorsi (the upper back) and you should add resistance here gradually.

Sudden jumps in weight may find your arms unprepared and cause an unnecessary injury – such as the one I had a few years back when training for a maximum attempt on weighted chin-ups. I managed to chin myself up with 42.5 kg in addition to my 80. However I had to take a month or two off from the exercise after that because my biceps got a minor injury.

5. Shoulder Width Grip Pull-Up

Shoulder width grip pull-ups are the best overall position to train with. They are a natural position, allow you to feel the engagement of the upper back and allow additional weight without stressing the biceps too much.

As an added benefit – if your next goal after mastering pull-ups and chin-ups is the muscle-up, this position is the way to go. The muscle-up starts with the same movement as the shoulde width grip pull-up.

6. Wide Grip Pull-Up

The benefit of doing wide grip pull-ups is that they partially isolate the upper back. This way you can learn to contract the lats and initiate the pull-up with them. In fact this is how I started training them.

The disadvantages however are numerous. For one, there is a decreased range of motion. This means your muscles do less work. Second, you are limited in how much weight you can add. Again – less work.

Pull-up Exercise Variation Video and Action Plan

Whatever variation you choose, make sure to stay away from failure, vary your reps (low, high, medium) and switch things up every month or so. Mastering the pull-up is rewarding both as a goal and because it will give you a cobra-like v-shaped body.

Here is an older video we shot which shows six types of pull-ups and chin-ups. that you can use in your workout along with the main benefits or emphasis of each type that we just discussed.

Note: Make sure to balance pull-up training with an exercise that trains the opposite movement in order to avoid muscle imbalances and injuries. Good choices are the military press and the handstand pushup.

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I train with handstand pushups and dumbbells at home and do various pull-ups, chin-ups and dips at the playground in front of my building when I’m walking my lab Lucky in the evening.

Speaking of super hero shoulders, this weekend we went to see the new Prince of Persia movie. Jake Gyllenhaal really trained his ass off for the role and got into amazing shape. Actors tend to do two things for roles like these – they get to a really low body fat percentage and get very developed shoulders. Anyway – the movie was fun – I was afraid I would be disappointed because of the Pirates of the Caribbean sequels, but luckily I was wrong.

What Is The Handstand Pushup?

The handstand pushup is an exercise for your upper body where you press your full body weight from an inverted position. You either lean against a law or do them without support – something I aspire to learn soon.

The great thing about the handstand pushup is that you need zero equipment- just an empty wall and a stack of books (to decrease the range of motion) when you are starting out. After a few short weeks you will notice your shoulders getting visibly more muscular.

Proper Technique for the Handstand Pushup

One thing you should definitely watch out is the placement of your arms – this is something I read about in the book Convict Conditioning. Basically the arms mustn’t go to the side of your body like in a press behind the neck, but follow their natural position, similar to how you would perform a military press, with your elbows pointing forward.

Trust me, you don’t want to make the mistake of doing handstand pushups with your arms to the side. Although I knew it wasn’t a good idea and despite the fact that I also read it in the book, I proceeded and trained with a wide stance (it wouldn’t happen to me – yeah right!). The result – nasty pain inside the shoulder from the injured rotator cuff. Here is an example (video) of wide stance handstand pushups. Again – don’t do those. One final tip is to look forward instead of at the ground. This will align your body right for maximum strength.

How To Get Into A Handstand

• Put your palms on the ground 1-2 steps away from a wall. You want to place them roughly shoulder width apart. A good idea is to put them wherever it feels the most comfortable for your body.
• Kneel with one leg below your body. This leg will be just below your rib cage.
• Extend your other leg behind you. Keep this other leg relatively straight.
• Press with the leg that’s below you. You want to press up just a little bit.
• Swing the trailing leg up. The swinging of your rear leg will do most of the work.

Handstand Pushup Instructional Video

Here is a video we shot at the terrace of our gym of the handstand pushup. There were two trainer chicks who were peeking from the door to see what the hell the crazy Yavor was up to lol. Watch and note the four simple steps for learning the exercise.

How To Make Handstand Pushups Easier

There are two ways you can make the exercise easier. One is to get stronger which will happen with this program after 6-8 weeks. The other way is to start with a very limited range of motion. I recommend putting a stack of books that you don’t use and limit the range of motion as much as needed so you can get at least 12 reps the first time you train the handstand pushup.

You will start training with this huge stack of books (or pads). Adding a rep every day you will soon hit 20 reps. The next step is crucial. Decrease the stack of books by the smallest increment – for example an inch is a good increment.

Here Is Your Action Plan

• Train often. You need to train the handstand pushups very often – this is the only way to get good at them. I recommend doing them 5-6 times per week.
• Rest. At least once per week take a day off completely from training.
• Do at least 3 sets. You need volume so the stress is enough for your muscles to develop.
• Alternate between repetition ranges. Mix it up between 13-20 rep sets, 8-12 rep sets and 3-7 rep sets.
• Add reps. For 8-12 and 13-20 reps sets the best way of progress is to add at least one more repetition every workout.
• Add sets. For heavy 3-5 rep sets, add sets instead of reps.

Freestanding Handstand Pushups

As I wrote, one of my goals is learning the freestanding version of the handstand pushup. Here is a video of ana amazing young athlete, who teaches the freestanding handstand pushup. His channel has videos of breath taking feats, such as jumping over 6 people. And, the guy seems to live in a super exotic place, straight out of an Indiana Jones movie.

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The cool thing is that by doing this you are simultaneously improving your looks. As I wrote in a an earlier post, the way to get a great body is to get strong and keep the bodyweight down so the waist stays small and the shoulder area gets bigger.

Plus, for both guys and girls, a chin-ups, pull-ups and dips work the muscles of the upper body in such a way that they create an athletic look – improving the waist to shoulder ratio for men and hips to waist to shoulder ratio for women. So here are the top 7 ways you can use to add resistance to pull-ups, chin-ups and dips.

1. Put A Dumbbell Between Your Feet

This is pretty self explanatory. You place a dumbbell and slide your feet just underneath its top. The benefit of doing this is that it this is the easiest way to add resistance. Also, placing the dumbbell in this way works the muscles of the front of your lower leg.

However, this method has its limitations. Your feet cannot carry too much weight in this way so you will soon outgrow the technique. But as a start it really is the easiest way.

2. Cross Your Feet And Put A Dumbbell On Top

This really is the best way to use a dumbbell for additional resistance on pull-ups, chin-ups and dips. Cross your feet just above your ankles and have a friend or a training partner help you put the dumbbell there. In fact, for lighter dumbbells you may be able to put it yourself.

If you train alone at a gym, don’t be shy to ask somebody to help you put the dumbbell there. Gyms can be intimidating, but this is mostly a perception. In fact, I’ve found that the biggest and most bad-ass looking guys at gyms are most often the most humble and helpful.

3. Use A Belt And Chain And Add Weight Plates

This is my preferred method when adding weight to bodyweight exercises. You can do it alone and you can really stack the plates here. Just a note of caution – make sure and put the belt just below your hip bones. This way the heavy weight will not suffocate you when do the exercise.

The drawback here is that it can be sort of awkward to remove the belt between sets, etc. However it is worth it – dips, chin-ups and pull-ups really pay off when you add weight to them and this is the way to go if you or your gym has a dipping belt.

4. Use A Backpack Full Of Something Heavy

This is how I started getting really good at pull-ups & chin-ups. Initially I trained using ladders, but this got me to around 12 pull-ups. Then I figured that if I increased my strength (maximum weight I could lift) on these lifts, it would be a breeze to do them with bodyweight only.

It was the perfect timing – spring had just begun. I filled my old high school backpack with a bunch of heavy books I no longer needed and started training at the playground in front of my building. I soon had to switch to rocks instead of books (very uncomfortable but effective) and later got a set of adjustable dumbbells and used their plates.

The biggest drawback is that a backpack will only allow up to around 30kg (65lbs). More than that and the thing tends to fall apart. I had to stitch my backpack quite a few times. The biggest plus is that doing any kind of training with a heavy-ass backpack makes you feel like a ninja. Or a Jedi. I mean – look at Luke!

5. Leverage By Putting Priority On One Of Your Arms

The idea here is to make the exercise harder by shifting the effort towards one of your arms. This is a photo from one of the variations of leveraging the pull-up found in Convict Conditioning. The book has a nice progression from a beginner to a one-arm pull-up expert and this is one of the stages.

Another variation I like (and currently use) is to put one of your hands in an underhand grip and one in an overhand grip. Then try to chin yourself up towards the fist of the hand in an underhand grip. This puts great emphasis on this side of your upper back and increases the difficulty a few times so you don’t need added resistance.

Leveraging the pull-up is great because this way you can train (and I mean really train heavy and not just monkey around) anytime you are near pull-up bar or dip station without the need for any equipment (weights, belt, backpack, etc). For example I walk my lab Lucky when I get home in the evening and I go with him to the playground where I do my dips and leveraged pull-ups.

6. Use A Weighted Vest

I’ve never really tried this method because these vests are not available here and it would be super expensive to get one, but I always imagined putting on a vest would make you feel like a super hero robot. Robocop or Iron Man.

The closest I’ve been to wearing such a vest is when I bough my first adjustable dumbbell – 40 kilos divided between my backpack and my arms. Trust me, getting home from the free weights shop was the workout of my life.

7. Use A Combination Of The Above

Some ways that I’ve personally combined these methods are to use a belt with a few plates on it and also put a heavy dumbbell on top of my crossed lower legs. This setup might sound a little weird, but there is great benefit in it because by dividing the resistance between a belt and your feet you can actually. I’ve done a 47.5kg dip with only a belt but am confident that I will be able to do much more than that by dividing the weight between my feet and a belt.

Note: I would like to thank Geoffrey, a reader of the site from the Netherlands, for giving me the idea for this post. I would also like to thank my friend Spas for modeling for some of the photos.

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We don’t want to hurt ourselves. What follows is a selection of videos I found online with people demonstrating the drill. If one of these videos is yours, apologies for using it as a *bad example* – I only want to help people get strong and stay safe.

Mistake #1 – Extending The Arms

This video is a good example of someone overcompensating his lack of strength with bad form. Remember, the weight you use is not important. What matters is that you use perfect technique and gradually increase the weight over time. This ensures strength and lack of injuries.

In the full contact twist, the arms should remain locked or almost locked and no movement should come from them. Pushing with your triceps makes the exercise easier and thus less effective. Here is a screencap from the above video showing how the instructor pushes with his arms:

[Note how he is using the strength of his tricep to overcome a sticking point in the movement. Cheater, cheater ]

Mistake #2 – Using Restricted Range Of Motion

Using the full range of motion for the full contact twist means to always let the bar touch your thigh. There are two reasons for this, but before this – check out our cute model demonstrating crappy form. Now, let’s continue:

First, all natural full body movements need to be done with full range of motion in order to gain strength throughout the whole movement path that the joints allow. This results in both strength for your muscles and health for the joints.

Second, when you do the FCT and finish mid air, this means that your body, or center of gravity, is too distant from the weight. Which results in a long lever (or torque) acting on your spine. Ouch! If you still remember your physics, the longer the lever, the bigger the force it exerts. So keep your body close to the bar.

[Take note how this cutie here finishes the movement in mid air. Actually I’d say she doesn’t finish the movement at all – instead decides she’s had enough of the rep and just reverses it lol! If the bar were loaded with a few plates, it would pull on her spine!]

Mistake #3 – Staying In The In The Arch Position Instead Of The Hollow Position

An example for this mistake can be seen in two of the videos I shared with you above – check them out again if you like here and here. Basically these folks are tilting their pelvises back. This position activates the lower back but actually relaxes the abs. And, because with the FCT a heavy bar is trying to push you back, the last thing you want to do is extend backwards even more.

This mistake both severely restricts the amount of force you can exert, and makes the exercise unsafe, as the abdominal muscles are strong in the hollow position and weak in the arch position

[Check out how there is an exaggerated curve in their lower backs. This is a great example of proper form for the arch position. Problem is – the full contact twist needs to be done in the hollow position or you risk hurting your lower back. Ouch again!]

Mistake #4 – Not Rotating The Hips And The Trailing Foot

Here is a video showcasing this mistake. The guy has planted both of his feet and doesn’t rotate them. The hip is also almost stationary. This creates unnatural tension in the hip and knee joints.

The different joints of the body are created for different function. Without getting into too much detail, the hips and ankles need to be mobile and the knees need to be stable. The knee is a hinge joint – just like the hinge of a door it goes only in one plane – back and forth.

The mistake here is that by keeping the hips and ankles stable, the knee joint has to compensate with rotation. So the result is loss of strength because of the inefficient and unnatural movement as well as potential danger for the knee.

[Couldn’t come up with a funny comment here lol!]

Unrelated note: the past couple of weeks I’ve discovered a ton of new and very exciting fitness blogs. I will attempt to share with you some of them in the upcoming posts so both you and I can get to know them.

One of the new fitness bloggers I got to know is Charles Malina. He is a college student with a gymnastic background (he’s got what I call a ‘compact athletic/gymnastic look’) who stays in killer shape. Lets hope Charles shares some of the gymnastic training secrets.

Another new blogger I found is David Grim, a fellow basketball fan and player too. He used to be in top shape but after college basketball let himself go. Now at 37 he regained the physique of his youth. I’m looking forward to reading more practical tips from him.

Image credit

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You see, when you do crunches or sit-ups, you have to do countless reps, until you fatigue the muscles and finally start feeling them working. This is not the case with this drill. Here you feel the abs right away and this is part of the reason I like the full contact twist so much.

What is the Full Contact Twist

I first learned about this exercise through Pavel Tsatsouline’s book Bulletproof Abs around seven years ago. Basically, after learning how to contract and strengthen the core muscles, we were introduced to an explosive twisting abdominal/oblique drill that mimicked and reinforced movements used in explosive sports such as boxing (hence the name Full Contact Twist).

Given its explosive nature however, the exercise was more useful for advanced trainees or even professional fighters, than regular people that just want to be strong and look good. So this excellent exercise was doomed to be overlooked by many people who would otherwise greatly benefit from it.

Explosive Full Contact Twist Vs. Heavy Full Contact Twist

Because of Pavel’s book, most people that actually do it, are executing the exercise as described above – explosively. As I stated however, explosive exercises are not good for a beginner.

I was introduced to another, more practical variation of the full contact twist by my colleague Milko Georgiev, a visionary who introduced modern personal training in Bulgaria. Because we need to first learn proper form and build strength with controlled exercises, he simply switched the nature of the drill. So this explosive (meaning moving at fast speed) exercise became a slow, strength – based one. Enter the heavy full contact twist.

Instructional Video

To do the exercise, you need to hedge one end of a barbell in a corner or under something that keeps it from slipping. Then load the other end of the barbell with a weight plate, squat down, grab it with both hands and then stand up and extend your arms forward.

Now the movement starts – twist from side, moving the bar in an outward arc until it touches your thigh. Rotate the hips and torso as well as the trailing foot in the direction that the bar goes. Watch this instructional video below so it becomes clearer and then take a look at the technique tips below.

[Here I'm demonstrating the full contact twist with just 15kg on the barbell. This weight is a good start if you consider yourself strong, but haven't tried this drill. If you are new to training, don't hesitate to start with an empty bar for a set or two and gradually increase the load.]

Technique

• Stay in the hollow position. This means basically to keep tension on the abs and never ever hyper-extend your lower back.
• Keep your shoulders down. For strength and safety pack the shoulders down and tighten the lats – the muscles of your armpits.
• Grab the bar near the top. Place the hands on top of each other
• Twist the hips. You need to rotate the whole body, leading with the hips.
• Twist the rear leg. The trailing leg rotates as well. This mimics how boxers rotate their rear leg when doing a punch in order to transfer the power.
• Flex the abs hard. As well as maintaining the hollow position, you will need to actively engage or flex (meaning tighten) the abs as if preparing for a punch.
• Squeeze the bar as hard as you can. This little detail adds significant strength to you lifts. Plus, the exercise is impossible to do at heavier weights unless you involve you whole body in it.
• Lock the arms and do NOT change the position of the elbow joint.

Progression

For a healthy woman a 15kg full contact twist is an excellent goal to shoot for in the long run. For a man, these are the strength milestones:

• Gold level 45kg for 5 reps per side with perfect form
• Silver level 30kg for 5 reps per side with perfect form
• Bronze level 15kg for 5 reps per side with perfect form

Action Plan

As we’ve already discussed, to quote Pavel, “strength is a skill.” So in order to improve at something it makes sense to practice it often. do the heavy full contact twist 2-3 times per week for 3 heavy sets of five reps. Execute with perfect form and gradually add weight. Do the drill last thing in the workout if you are doing other demanding exercises like barbell squats and barbell deadlifts.

[Here you can see one of our gym's strongest athletes, Vasko, demonstrating elite levels of relative strength worth of a Gold Level status with 45kg on the full contact twist.]

On an unrelated note, I want to introduce you to a great blog I recently found. Craig Avera is an actor who lives in Hollywood and enjoys the fine Cali weather most of the year (damn you Craig lol!). On his site he shares how he achieved and maintains a body that looks good on film. The thing I like about his blog, and I hope he does more of it, is that he shares practical tips that actually come from his own experience – specific workout routines and recipe tips.

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Boxing Workouts to Shed Body Fat

Mario Lopez would spar all the time to burn body fat and keep his conditioning up. He would often fight with amateur fighters trying to make it in boxing. He claims to have sparred with Oscar De La Hoya, James Toney and Shane Mosley.

Lopez wrote a workout book called, Mario Lopez’s Knockout Fitness, obviously inspired by his boxing hobby. In his book, Mario admits the hard truth that getting in shape is hard work. If it were easy, everybody would have a killer bod.

Mario Lopez’s Workout Plan

The actor changes his workout approach constantly. The reason for this is that he is in ‘maintenance mode’ in regards to his muscle mass. Now he just trains to burn fat and keep the size of his muscles.

However, in order to build to this size, you need a balanced muscle gaining workout approach that is focused heavily on achieving a v-shaped body with a low body fat percentage. Here are two workouts that are specifically aimed at this look:

• Adonis Effect. The focus of this workout system is on achieving wide shoulders, chest and upper back and a small waist – the so-called v-shape body.
• Visual ImpactHere the emphasis is on achieving a balance between muscular development and muscular hardness and density. A cool trick that is revealed in the workout is how to make your skin super tight around your muscles.

You must also realize that he has two advantages. Mario has a natural v-shape frame (small hips) so he can focus on building up the chest and shoulders. He also has relatively short upper arms (he is 175 lbs and 5’10’’) so it is easy for him to build impressive looking arms.

What is the Diet that Mario Follows?

Mario Lopez published another non-fiction book, called Extra Lean. This one is a cookbook. The actor acknowledges the importance of diet when trying to achieve or maintain top shape. Attempting to lose body fat just through exercise alone, even if you workout as much as he does, is an uphill battle.

In his book, he has provided over 40 recipes as well as 1200-1300 calorie meal plans based on lean meats and vegetables. This is a solid diet approach – the reason being that we dramatically over estimate how little we can eat if we are to lose bodyfat.

Lopez admits that he likes to eat. In order to maintain a low body fat percentage we need to eat a very low calorie diet. Either that – or we can exercise a lot like Mario. Another way to decrease the weekly calories is to do one or two days of fasting per week. This approach is explained in nutritionist Brad Pilon’s book Eat Stop Eat. The cool thing about this book is that this is the only so-calledd ‘diet’ approach that allows you to eat every single one of your favorite foods and still lose weight.

Here’s Mario’s typical daily menu:

• Breakfast: Fruit, yogurt and Granola
• Lunch: Chicken and Rice
• Dinner: Sushi
• Splurge: Chocolate-chip cookies or Rocky-road ice cream

Spending a Lot of Time in the Sun

Whether he realizes it or not, he has struck gold by working out outdoors and spending time in the sun. Walking around shirtless is a great motivator to keep in top shape. This also works the other way around.

As you can see, he does some of his workouts, such as sprinting outside. Training outside of the gym, and especially at the beach, is simply way more fun. It doesn’t hurt to have a cute babe by your side too. Also, the natural vitamin D that is produced by the sun is responsible for our overall health. It is a mistake to avoid the sun altogether.

It’s a Lifestyle

In his own words, Mario is addicted to exercising. He’s been consistently in top shape ever since he starred in the TV show Saved by the Bell as a teenager. As you can see from the photo above, now (left) he’s maintaining the body that he used to have as a teenager (right). Staying active has enabled him to preserve a youthful appearance. Many people age themselves prematurely by getting fat as early as in their 20′s!

In order not to get bored he likes mix up his training. In addition to lifting weights and boxing three times per week, Mario would bike, run, swim, do yoga and also play basketball. This activity level adds up to a high level of caloric expenditure. So he’s able to maintain a very lean body.

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