Why Do People Usually Work Out Back and Bis or Chest and Tris?

Back and biceps is a common workout pairing, as is chest and triceps… so what’s with this chest and biceps idea? To understand why these are popular options, let’s back up a bit and look at the whole idea of workout splits.

A workout split is the way in which you break up the muscle groups you train over the course of a week. One of the most common splits among lifters of any kind (regardless of their goals) is the push-pull, wherein you train the muscles that perform pushing movements one day and pulling movements on another. A push day, for instance, could train the chest and triceps together—or chest, shoulders, and triceps—because all of these are involved in pressing exercises of any kind.

A pull day would target the back and biceps directly, and may also include some extra work for the rear delts and forearms as well, since all these muscles are recruited for row and pulldown movements. (Legs may be trained on a third workout day, or they may be split up and added to the push and pull days. For example, you could train quads and calves on the push day and hamstrings and glutes in the pull workout.) There are many benefits to this kind of programming.

For one thing, training two or three body parts at a time allows you to focus on just a few areas, as opposed to the whole body, which saves you energy and time, and it lets you direct more effort into each exercise and muscle group. For another, each workout works totally separate muscles, so you don’t have to worry about training a body part again (however inadvertently) the day after you just worked it—for example, it’s not a great idea to train triceps the day after chest and/or shoulders, because the triceps will still be recovering from the pressing you did.

The push-pull split is also a very convenient, intuitive way to train. On push day, for instance, you’d typically start by training the biggest muscles first, and work your way down to the smaller ones. So you could do bench presses for chest, overhead presses for the shoulders, and finish with triceps extensions for the tris. The chest exercises warm up your shoulders and triceps, so the rest of the workout flows smoothly. You won’t need many warmup sets by the time you get to your triceps exercises. All the muscles that perform related functions get worked on the same day, and therefore don’t need to be worked again for a while. (I.e., you don’t need separate days for chest, shoulder, and triceps training.)

The same goes for back and bis. Back exercises work the biceps and forearms automatically, so you might as well finish the workout with some direct arm work while those smaller muscles are warmed up and ready.

Why Train Chest and Biceps Together?

Push-pull splits are perfectly fine, but, like any split, they can have their drawbacks. One argument against the push-pull split is that, because the shoulders work to support the chest and the triceps are trained in all pressing movements, the delts and tris can get fatigued from the chest work, limiting your ability to train them with the heaviest possible weight and the greatest focus.

In other words, by the time you get to triceps, you’re tired, and not able to train them as hard as if you were fresh. The same goes when biceps are trained after back. If your goal is to drastically increase your strength or muscle in these areas because they’re lagging, the push-pull split may not be ideal, particularly if it’s the only split you’ve followed for years.

Pairing the biceps with chest eliminates any carryover fatigue. Since the biceps really aren’t involved with pressing exercises (well, they are as a stabilizer, but not to a degree that causes real fatigue), you can train them when they’re very fresh. “I think a great change of pace is to group together muscles that are not synergistic,” says Jonny Catanzano, CES, an IFBB pro bodybuilder and coach to physique competitors as well as recreational lifters (@jonnyelgato_ifbbpro).

Catanzano points out that since the pecs and biceps don’t compete at all, you can do sets of each in alternating fashion. (Note: this is sometimes called supersetting.) For instance, do a set of bench presses, rest briefly, or not at all, and then a set of curls. Your chest can rest while you work your biceps and vice versa, so your workout moves along at a brisker pace while each muscle gets a little extra time to recover.

A study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that, when lifters alternated sets of unrelated muscle groups, they saved workout time and were able to lift more overall weight. “Practitioners wishing to maximize work completed per unit of time,” said the study authors, “may be well advised to consider [paired set] training.”

If you train chest and biceps together, it would make sense then to have a back and triceps day, or do a shoulder and triceps day and train back by itself on a third upper-body day in the week. “This kind of split is a good idea for anyone who considers their arms to be a weak point,” says Catanzano. The biceps will be fresh when you train them with chest, and the triceps will be able to handle more load if worked with back or shoulders, so the extra stimulus should produce gains.

One caveat here is that while the biceps don’t compete with the pec muscles, they do overlap with back—remember, any back work you do will work the biceps to a degree by default. So it’s best not to train back the day before or after a chest and biceps workout. You shouldn’t do triceps a day before or after either, because you’ll have worked them when you hit chest.

Dorian Yates, a six-time Mr. Olympia and widely considered one of the cleverest bodybuilders when it came to program design, used this very split himself (as laid out in his book, Blood and Guts). Yates trained delts and triceps on Monday, back on Tuesday, and took Wednesday off. He then did chest and biceps Thursday, legs on Friday, and took Saturday off. On Sunday, the cycle repeated. (Notice how Yates spaced out the chest and biceps day in his training week.)

Such a training split will probably require you to take a day off every third day or so, as Yates did, but that’s OK. You won’t be able to train each muscle group quite as frequently as you would following the classic push-pull split, but it will be frequent enough to elicit growth.

In its 2021 position stand on muscle-growth training, the International Universities Strength and Conditioning Association reported that the training frequency needed for a muscle to grow may be only one session per week—provided that a minimum of 10 working sets (not including warmups) are performed for the muscle area. As 10 hard sets can be difficult to achieve in one workout, many coaches recommend training a body part twice every seven days to get adequate volume—so chest and biceps workouts as prescribed in the split above (repeated every 6 days) would suffice just fine.

The Science of Chest and Biceps Training

“When approaching chest training, I try to focus on different angles to place tension on the different heads of the pec major muscle,” says Catanzano. Flat pressing, or exercises where your arms reach straight out in front of you, will emphasize the sternal section of the pec muscles (“middle chest”), while incline movements and an arm path that reaches upward at an angle will target more of the clavicular heads (“upper chest”).

Decline pressing, where the arms move downward at an angle, targets the costal heads of the pecs, or the muscles’ bottom-most division. “You don’t need to work all the parts of the pecs in one workout,” says Catanzano, but a complete program should attack one or two of these areas each session. He emphasizes the upper pecs in the workouts he designed below, because it’s such a common weak point in most physiques.

For biceps, Catanzano likes to stress the muscles at different lengths, which is accomplished by curling with the arm in different positions. Curls done with the elbows in front of the body make the biceps work hard in their most shortened position, while just the opposite is true of incline curls and stretch curls. (Standard curls with the elbow in line with the torso work the muscle most at its mid-range.) As with chest training, playing all the angles, so to speak, leads to the greatest development, forcing the muscles to get stronger no matter what their leverage advantage (or disadvantage).

How To Stretch Before Your Chest and Biceps Workout

The shoulders are the most mobile joints in the body, and that means they’re also the most unstable, which makes them susceptible to injury. When you’re doing a chest and biceps workout, remember also that the biceps get trained after chest, and chest pressing and flyes don’t do much to pump blood into the biceps muscles. Your biceps can be nearly cold when you go to do your first set of curls, and that’s not ideal from the standpoint of preventing injury (it’s not ideal for promoting good performance either).

Shane Heins, Onnit’s Director of Fitness Education, put together a sequence of mobility drills that will warm up your shoulder joints, chest muscles, elbows, biceps, and forearms, preparing your body to lift heavy weights and stimulate the muscles you’re training safely. They’re also great for maintaining flexibility in these areas, which can diminish if you add a lot of muscle size but fail to balance it with mobility training (and what good is being big and strong if you don’t have the athleticism to use these qualities?).

DIRECTIONS

Perform the exercises as a circuit, completing one set of each in sequence. Do 10 reps for each exercise, and repeat the circuit for 4 total rounds.

1. Scap Pushup

(See 01:06 in the video above)

Step 1. Get on all fours with your hands under your shoulders and your knees under your hips. Brace your core.

Step 2. Squeeze your shoulder blades together so that your chest lowers toward the floor, and then spread your shoulders apart so that it rises back up. Your arms do not bend—keep the movement at your shoulders. That’s one rep.

2. Kneeling Pushup Elbow Circle

(See 01:45 in the video)

Step 1. From the same quadruped position as the scap pushup (all fours), turn your elbows to point out to the sides and then bend them, lowering your body to the bottom of a pushup.

Step 2. Turn your elbows toward your body and extend your arms to return to the starting position. That’s one rep.

3. Mobile Table

(See 03:02 in the video)

Step 1. Sit on the floor and place your hands by your hips, fingers pointed out to the side.

Step 2. Press your hands into the floor as you extend your hips until your torso is parallel to the floor. Be careful not to extend your hips above your shoulders—that would mean you’re hyperextending your lower back. That’s one rep.

4. Shinbox to Tripod Extension

(See 03:50 in the video)

Step 1. Sit on the floor as you did for the mobile table, and let your knees fall to your left side. Reach your left hand behind you and plant it on the floor behind your tailbone.

Step 2. Press your hand into the floor as you extend your hips and reach upward with the opposite arm. Keep your core braced so you don’t overextend at the spine. Spread your shoulders apart as wide as possible, allowing the rotation to open your upper back. That’s one rep.

At-Home Chest and Biceps Workout

Forget the heavy bench presses, fancy chest machines, and variety of curl bars—you don’t need more than a few pairs dumbbells and some resistance bands to work your chest and biceps at home, or in a bare-bones gym. The following workout, designed by Catanzano, should take about 45 minutes and can be done almost anywhere.

DIRECTIONS

The exercises in the workout are organized into pairs, marked A and B. Perform a set of the A exercise, rest, then perform a set of the B exercise, rest again, and repeat until all sets are complete for each move in the pair. Then go on to the next pair and do the same thing. Rest 2 minutes between sets. You’ll do 3 sets of 15 reps for each exercise.

1A. Feet-Elevated Pushup

(See 00:43 in the video above)

Pushups work your chest, but when you elevate your feet on a bench or boxes, you recruit more of the upper-chest muscle fibers, the same way you do if you were performing an incline bench press.

Step 1. Get into pushup position with your hands shoulder-width apart, and rest your feet on a bench or boxes so that your body is angled toward the floor.

Step 2. Keeping your body in a straight line and your core braced, lower yourself until your head is just above the floor, and then push back up. That’s one rep.

1B. Resistance-Band Stretch Curl

(See 01:13 in the video)

Curling with a band that pulls from behind you puts more tension on the biceps in their lengthened position, an effect you don’t get from conventional barbell and dumbbell curls.

Step 1. Anchor a resistance band to a sturdy object behind you and hold the free end in one hand, allowing the band to pull your arm behind your torso. Stagger your stance for balance.

Step 2. Without moving your upper arm forward, curl the band until your biceps are fully contracted. Complete your reps on that arm, and then switch arms and repeat.

2A. Single-Arm Incline Dumbbell Chest Press

(See 01:46 in the video)

Here’s some more work for the upper part of the chest, and you don’t even need an incline bench to do it.

Step 1. If you have an adjustable bench, set it to a 30 to 45-degree incline. If you don’t have a bench that inclines, elevate the head of a flat bench on some mats or weight plates. Hold a dumbbell in one hand and lie back on the bench with the weight at shoulder level.

Step 2. Press the dumbbell over your chest. Complete your reps on that arm, and then switch arms and repeat.

2B. Standing Single-Arm Preacher Curl

(See 02:14 in the video)

You can use a flat bench here, or really any sturdy, flat, object to sub for a preacher curl bench. Just elevate it so that your armpit can rest at the top. The preacher curl stresses the biceps in their shortened position and makes for a very strict movement.

Step 1. Incline your bench or elevate the surface you’re using so you can brace the top of your arm against it. Check that your forearm won’t be completely vertical at the top of the movement—that would mean your wrist and elbow are stacked and there’s no tension on the biceps.

Step 2. Hold a dumbbell and curl the weight with strict form. Complete your reps, and then repeat on the other arm.

3A. Seated Band Press

(See 03:11 in the video)

This move mimics a cable press exercise. An advantage here over pressing with free weights is that the bands keep tension on the pecs at the end range of motion, rather than letting the tension drop off, which is what happens when you reach lockout on dumbbell and barbell pressing.

Step 1. Attach resistance bands to a sturdy object at about waist height and grasp the open ends in each hand. Sit with your back braced against a bench or a sturdy chair. You can also do the exercise standing if you don’t have a bench.

Step 2. Press the bands as if they were dumbbells, but bring your hands together to meet in front of your chest in order to fully shorten the pec muscles.

3B. Arnold Concentration Curl

(See 03:45 in the video)

This is an old-school move we all owe the Governator, Arnold Schwarzenegger, for popularizing. The concentration curl really lets you stretch the biceps in the bottom position, and allows you to focus your mind on the muscle while you’re training it.

Step 1. Stand and hold onto a bench or other sturdy object for stability. Hold a dumbbell in your other hand, and bend at the hips. Allow your working arm to hang.

Step 2. Without moving your upper arm much, curl the weight to a full contraction and control its descent back down. Complete your reps, and then repeat on the opposite side.

The Best Intermediate Chest and Biceps Workout For Getting Stronger

If you’ve been training a year or more, try this chest and biceps routine from Catanzano (who also demonstrates it in the video below). It uses dumbbells and cables (or resistance bands), and will work the muscles from some angles and positions you probably haven’t tried before. It should only take you about 45 minutes to complete.

DIRECTIONS

The exercises in the workout are organized into pairs, marked A and B. Perform a set of the A exercise, rest, then perform a set of the B exercise, rest again, and repeat until all sets are complete for each move in the pair. Then go on to the next pair and do the same thing. Rest 2 minutes between sets. You’ll do 3 sets of 12 reps for each exercise.

1A. Neutral-Grip Dumbbell Press

(See the video above at 00:52)

This hand position creates an arm path that’s easier on the shoulder joints and gives the pecs better leverage for more muscle recruitment.

Step 1. Lie back on a bench with a dumbbell in each hand and turn your palms to face each other, hands at shoulder level.

Step 2. Keeping your elbows tucked to your sides, press the weights over your chest. That’s one rep.

1B. Standing Cable Pulley Curl

(See the video at 01:23)

Curling with a cable or band while your elbows are in front of your body stresses the biceps in their shortened position.

Step 1. Attach a handle to the low pulley of a cable station and grasp it with your palms facing up, hands at shoulder width. You can also use resistance bands.

Step 2. Curl the weight, allowing your elbows to move forward in order to fully shorten the biceps. That’s one rep.

2A. Incline Cable Pulley (or Band) Press

(See the video at 01:41)

The incline press done with cables or bands keeps tension on the upper pec muscle fibers throughout the range of motion, and particularly as you reach lockout with your elbows.

Step 1. Set a bench at a 45- to 60-degree angle and place it between two facing pulley stations. You can also use resistance bands. Set the cables or bands to a height that will allow them to line up with your upper chest fibers—around waist height or below when you’re sitting on the bench should work. Lie back on the bench and hold the cables or bands at shoulder level at your sides. Make sure there’s tension on the cables or bands in this bottom position.

Step 2. Press the cables or bands over your chest to lockout. That’s one rep.

2B. Stretch Curl

(See the video at 02:10)

Curling with a band that pulls from behind you puts more tension on the biceps in the fully contracted position, an effect you don’t get from conventional barbell and dumbbell curls.

Step 1. Anchor a resistance band to a sturdy object behind you at or below knee height, and hold the free end in one hand, allowing the band to pull your arm behind your torso. Stagger your stance for balance.

Step 2. Without moving your upper arm forward, curl the band until your biceps are fully contracted. Complete your reps on that arm, and then switch arms and repeat.

3A. Incline Flye

(See the video at 03:00)

The flye motion can be done with dumbbells, cables, or bands. It isolates the pecs better than pressing does, and, if you’re using bands, they’ll give you more tension in the top position (where it usually drops off with free-weight exercises).

Step 1. Set a bench at a 45- to 60-degree angle. Lie back on the bench and hold the weights over your chest.

Step 2. Lower your arms out to your sides, bending your elbows as you go to take tension off the shoulders. Your elbows should be bent 45 to 60 degrees in this bottom position. Bring your arms back in front of your chest again as if you were hugging somebody, straightening your elbows as you do. That’s one rep.

3B. Alternating Cross-Body Hammer Curl

(See the video at 03:28)

This move puts more focus on the shorter head of the biceps, contributing more to a biceps peak.

Step 1. Hold a dumbbell in each hand and turn your palms inward to face your body.

Step 2. Curl the weight in one hand in the direction of your opposite shoulder. Lower it, and repeat on the other arm. One curl on each side equals one rep.

The Best Advanced Chest and Biceps Workout For Getting Stronger

If you’ve been training for a few years and feel you’ve hit a plateau in your gains, try this routine from Catanzano to break through. It has a finisher at the end that combines three exercises with little to no rest in between. Called a tri-set (or giant set), it’s an advanced training technique used by bodybuilders to completely exhaust a body part and force as much blood into the area as possible.

DIRECTIONS

Most of the exercises in the workout are organized into pairs, marked A and B. Perform a set of the A exercise, rest, then perform a set of the B exercise, rest again, and repeat until all sets are complete for each move in the pair. Then go on to the next pair and do the same thing. Rest 2 minutes between sets.

You’ll do 3 sets of 10 reps for each exercise. The last three exercises are done as a tri-set. So you’ll do one set of 4A, then 4B, and then 4C before resting 2–3 minutes.

1A. Cable (or Band) Incline Press-Around

(See 01:08 in the video above)

Even though you’re not lifting on an incline bench, this exercise targets the upper chest in the same way, but puts more tension on the muscle in its fully contracted position.

Step 1. Set a cable or resistance band at around knee height and grasp the handle or open end, holding it at shoulder level. Stagger your stance for balance, and rest your free hand on a bench or other sturdy support in front of you for extra stability.

Step 2. Bring your arm up and across your body so you feel a full contraction in your working pec. Complete your reps, and then repeat on the opposite side.

1B. Seated Curl on Lat Pulldown

(See 01:50 in the video)

Curling against the knee pads of a lat-pulldown station may seem strange, but it’s one of the strictest movements you can do for the biceps. The stability that the pads provide lets you really isolate the biceps, avoiding any momentum from swinging the arms.

Step 1. Sit at a lat-pulldown station with your back to the machine. Hold dumbbells and brace your arms against the knee pads.

Step 2. Curl the weights using the pads to keep your arms stationary and stable. Note: if there are people waiting to use the lat-pulldown for actual lat-pulldowns, be considerate and pick a different biceps exercise!

2A. Converging Chest Press with Cables (or Bands)

(See 02:24 in the video)

Bringing your arms together in front of you fully shortens the pec muscles, an effect you can’t get from dumbbell and barbell pressing while keeping tension on the muscles. A converging press done with cables or bands does it perfectly.

Step 1. Attach handles to the pulleys of two facing cable stations, or, use resistance bands set to knee height. Bend your elbows up to 90 degrees in the bottom position to take pressure off your shoulders.

Step 2. Press the cables or bands in front of your chest, bringing your hands together in front of you.

2B. Dumbbell Preacher Curl

(See 03:07 in the video)

The preacher curl stresses the biceps in their shortened position and makes for a very strict movement. You can perform it one arm at a time, or, if you have a preacher bench, you can train both arms at the same time.

Step 1. Incline your bench or use a preacher bench and brace the top of your arm against it. Check that your forearm won’t be completely vertical at the top of the movement—that would mean your wrist and elbow are stacked and there’s no tension on the biceps.

Step 2. Hold a dumbbell and curl the weight with strict form. Complete your reps, and then repeat on the other arm.

3A. Decline Dumbbell Press

(See 03:50 in the video)

The decline press targets the costal head of the pectoral muscles—“lower chest” in layman’s terms.

Step 1. Set a bench to a 15 to 35-degree decline. If you don’t have one that adjusts to a decline, elevate the foot of a flat bench on some weight plates or mats.

Step 2. Lie back on the bench holding dumbbells at chest level, and press the weights over your chest.

3B. Incline Dumbbell Curl

(See 04:18 in the video)

The incline curl trains the biceps from a stretched position, which research has specifically shown helps build muscle.

Step 1. Set a bench at a 45- to 65-degree angle and lie back against it with a dumbbell in each hand.

Step 2. Without allowing your upper arms to move, curl the dumbbells until your biceps are fully contracted, and then control their path back down.

FINISHER

4A. Landmine Press

(See 05:43 in the video)

More work for the upper chest here. If you don’t have a landmine unit, you can wedge a barbell into a corner.

Step 1. Load a barbell into a landmine and hold the opposite end with both hands at chest level. If you have the V-handle from a cable row machine, use that on the bar to give yourself a better grip. Stagger your stance for balance and lean forward so your weight is on your front foot.

Step 2. Press the bar up—it will move on an angle, similar to the path your arms travel when you’re performing an incline press.

4B. Iron Cross Chest Flye

(See 06:13 in the video)

Since your arms are moving on a downward path, this flye targets the lower chest.

Step 1. Use cables or resistance bands, set to above head level. Allow the cables or bands to pull your arms out to your sides at shoulder level.

Step 2. Keeping your arms fairly straight, flye the cables/bands down in front of your belt line, bringing your hands together.

4C. Alternating Cross-Body Hammer Curl

(See 06:44 in the video)

This move puts more focus on the shorter head of the biceps, helping to develop the biceps peak.

Step 1. Hold a dumbbell in each hand at your side, and turn your palms inward to face your body.

Step 2. Curl the weight in one hand in the direction of your opposite shoulder. Lower it, and repeat on the other arm. One curl on each side equals one rep.

See a great series of back/lat exercises from Catanzano in a similar article, How To Lat Spread Like A Bodybuilder.

The post The Ultimate Chest & Biceps Workouts for Building Muscle appeared first on Onnit Academy.

5 Killer Back and Bicep Workouts For Building Muscle

There’s no hard and fast rule stating that back and biceps need to be trained together, but, anecdotal bro science aside, there is some logic to combining these two muscle groups that allow you to pull real hard.

Our guide to training the back and biceps together will teach you how to create maximally efficient upper-body workouts that build a thick back and bulging arms.

Why Work Your Back and Biceps Together?

“When you think about back training, the secondary or tertiary mover in any sort of row, pulldown, or pullup is going to be the biceps,” says John Rusin, P.T., D.P.T., C.S.C.S., owner of DrJohnRusin.com. So, for the sake of efficiency, “it makes sense to hit the biceps a little more directly in conjunction with their corresponding compound lifts,” (i.e. back movements that involve more than one joint; as opposed to biceps exercises where only the elbow flexes).

Generally, back and bicep workouts begin with rowing or pulldown exercises to hit the bigger back muscles when you’re fresh. Starting the workout with biceps curls would fatigue your arms to the point where they may not be able to assist you like they should on your back movements, so the logical approach is to save bicep exercises until after you’ve trained your back.

One of the most popular and time-honored workout splits in all of muscledom is the push-pull split, where you train muscles that push one day and those that pull the next. For instance, you could do chest, shoulders, triceps, quads, and calves on Monday, and then work back, biceps, glutes, hamstrings, and rear deltoids on Tuesday. This kind of schedule makes it easy to keep all your training in balance, and ensures that you don’t neglect any muscle groups.

Of course, you don’t have to train your whole body each day. You could do upper-body pushing one day and upper-body pulling—aka back and biceps—the next, and then a leg day later in the week. A back and biceps session fits easily into all variations of the push-pull split.

Back and Biceps Anatomy

The major muscles involved when training back and biceps include:

Back*

–Latissimus dorsi (aka, the “lats”). These are the big sheets of muscle that extend down the sides of your back and let you pull your arms downward and backward.

–Teres major. A small muscle below the shoulder that assists with drawing your arms down and back.

–Rhomboids. Upper back muscles that elevate, retract, and rotate the shoulder blades downward.

–Middle and lower trapezius (“traps”). These guys retract and depress the shoulder blades.

Biceps

– Biceps brachii: Your main biceps muscle, it twists (supinates) the wrist outward and flexes the elbow.

– Brachialis: This one lies between your biceps and triceps on the outer side of your arm. It flexes the elbow.

*When discussing “back training” in strength and conditioning circles, experts are usually referring to the upper back. The lower back—meaning the erector spinae muscles—are considered part of the core musculature, and are also involved heavily in leg exercises, such as deadlift and squat variations. You can certainly include lower-back exercises in your back and biceps workouts if you choose to, but be sure to factor in the stress that your other workouts may be putting on the area, and be careful not to overwork it.

The Best Back And Bicep Exercises

Back and biceps exercises can be broken up into different categories. There are three types of back exercises, and five types of biceps exercises.

Back

1. Horizontal pulls (rows). To understand how the back exercise categories work, picture your body in a standing position. If you pull something toward your midsection, you’re moving it along a horizontal plane. Any exercise done along that plane is a type of row—be it a seated cable row, face pull, one-arm dumbbell row, etc. Even when you change the position of your torso, such as by bending your hips back to angle it so your torso is parallel to the floor (as in a bent-over barbell row), you’re still pulling toward your body as if it were erect, and the exercise is still classified as a horizontal pull.

“Rows should make up the majority of your training volume for back,” says Rusin. “When rowing with dumbbells or handles, you can rotate the hands to achieve a more externally rotated position at the top of the pull [thumbs pointing away from you]. You can’t do that with pulldowns and pullups; with those, the shoulder has to internally rotate, and we’re already doing enough of that in everyday life through driving, texting, and typing. Our training should be trying to get us out of that, which is why I prescribe a ton more volume on horizontal pulls versus vertical.”

Target muscles: Rows effectively train all the major back muscles—lats, teres major, rhomboids, and trapezius. Developing the latter two in particular makes for a thicker, meatier back.

Exercise variations: Barbell bent-over row, one-arm dumbbell row, bodyweight row (with a suspension trainer or a barbell set up in a power rack or Smith machine), seated cable low row, T-bar row, landmine row, Meadows row, trap-bar row, chest-supported row, machine row (plate-loaded, selectorized, Smith machine), Pendlay row.

2. Vertical pulls (pullups/chinups, lat pulldowns)

Vertical pulling is a little simpler to picture than horizontal pulling. Movements that have you pull yourself upward in a straight line, or pull a bar down to meet you, are known as vertical pull exercises, and include the many pullup and lat pulldown variations.

Target muscles: Lat pulldowns and pullups emphasize the upper lats and teres major, adding width to the upper back.

Exercise variations: Wide-grip lat pulldown, neutral-grip lat pulldown, reverse-grip lat pulldown, wide-grip pullup, neutral-grip pullup, chinup, assisted pullup or chinup (using a machine or bands).

3. Isolation exercises (straight-arm pulldowns and pullovers).

While horizontal and vertical pulls are always compound lifts and involve the biceps as a secondary mover, exercises like the straight-arm pulldown and pullover, on the other hand, virtually remove biceps muscle involvement by keeping the elbows in a fixed position throughout. This allows you to zero in on the lats and various upper back muscles more directly, forcing them to do the work unassisted. “You’ll need to use lighter weight with these exercises,” says Rusin, “but the mind-muscle connection tends to be higher with these isolation movements.” That is, your ability to focus your mind on the muscles you want to train will be easier, and that improves their potential to grow.

Target muscles: Straight-arm pulldowns and pullovers emphasize the lats and teres major, with very little involvement from the biceps.

Exercise variations: Straight-arm pulldown (rope or bar attachment), one-arm straight-arm pulldown, dumbbell pullover, barbell pullover, cable pullover, dumbbell pullback.

Biceps

Because the elbow is a simple hinge joint, there’s really only one movement you can do for direct biceps training: the curl. However, curls can be manipulated through both hand and shoulder position to target the biceps (and their surrounding assisting muscles) very differently. Hence, there are five types of curls.

1. Supinated-grip curls (standard curls). In a typical barbell, dumbbell, or machine curl, the forearms are in a supinated position, with the palms facing forward at the bottom.

Target muscles: Supinated curls place the brunt of the load on the biceps brachii (the main arm muscles when you flex your elbow).

Exercise variations: Barbell curl, dumbbell curl (standing or seated), cable curl (bar attachment).

2. Neutral-grip curls (hammer curls). When you turn your wrists so that your palms face in toward your body, you’re doing a hammer curl (or some variation).

Target muscles: The brachialis muscle, which lies beneath the biceps brachii, becomes more involved in the movement, as does the brachioradialis, the meaty muscle that runs along the thumb-side of your upper forearm. However, the biceps are still the prime mover.

Exercise variations: Dumbbell hammer curl, cable hammer curl (rope attachment), neutral-bar hammer curl, cross-body hammer curl.

3. Pronated-grip curls (reverse curls). The opposite of a supinated grip, pronated curls flip your grip so that the palms face toward you in the down position and downward to the floor at the top of the lift.

Target muscles: Pronated/reverse curls hit the brachialis and brachioradialis to a greater extent than both supinated and neutral-grip curls.

Exercise variations: barbell reverse curl, dumbbell reverse curl, cable reverse curl, preacher reverse curl (dumbbell, barbell, or cable version).

4. Shoulder flexion (preacher curls). When doing curls using a preacher bench, the upper arms are locked into a position of slight shoulder flexion. Your elbows are held in front of your body.

Target muscles: The flexed shoulder position helps you better isolate the biceps, and helps establish a stronger mind-muscle connection (probably because you can watch your biceps as you train them!).

Exercise variations: Barbell/EZ-bar preacher curl, dumbbell preacher curl, machine preacher curl, cable preacher curl.

5. Shoulder extension (incline curls). In contrast to the preacher curl, you can get a greater stretch on the biceps by keeping the upper arms behind the torso (shoulder extension) throughout the curling movement. The most common way to do this is by lying back on an incline bench so that the upper arms are perpendicular to the floor throughout the movement.

Target muscles: Performing a curl while the biceps are in a stretched position puts slightly more emphasis on the long head of the biceps, the outermost portion of the muscle that provides most of the muscle’s peak when you flex it.

Exercise variations: Incline dumbbell curl, incline cable curl, standing one-arm behind-the-back cable curl.

How Many Back Exercises And Biceps Exercises Should I Do?

Although the back and biceps work together on virtually all compound upper-body pulling movements, the amount of work the two muscle groups can tolerate is vastly different. Rusin recommends anywhere from four to six exercises total for back and biceps in a given workout, using roughly a two-to-one ratio of back to biceps exercises. At the high end, this would mean four back exercises and two isolated biceps movements in a session.

“The back can be trained multiple days a week,” says Rusin. Since its muscles support your posture all day long, they’re very durable, and can recover from quite a workload. “But the biceps can’t take the same amount of training volume and frequency as the back. People often think about doing back and biceps workouts with a one-to-one ratio of exercises—doing one biceps exercise for every back exercise—but that doesn’t line up for long-term success in terms of health and results.”

Yes, the biceps are relatively small muscles, and smaller ones generally recover faster than big muscles. But the biceps act on the elbows and shoulders—two joint complexes you really don’t want to risk overworking, especially when you’re already training chest, triceps, and shoulders elsewhere in your week.

According to Rusin, “Most people simply can’t tolerate more than one day a week of dedicated biceps training in terms of shoulder and elbow health and recoverability—even the bodybuilders I work with.”

How Many Sets and Reps Should I Do for Back and Biceps?

A good rule of thumb, especially if you’re on the high end of the exercise count, is 2 to 3 working sets per exercise. A working set means not a warmup—you’re using a challenging load and going to failure, or close to it (within one or two reps of failure).

In many cases, you won’t hit the aforementioned two-to-one ratio of back to biceps exercises perfectly; for example, you may do 3 back exercises and 2 for biceps. In these instances, aim for a two-to-one ratio of total sets (in this example, 6 total sets for back and 3 for biceps).

Rusin prescribes 8 to 25 reps for back exercises (with 45–75 seconds rest between sets). For biceps, you can do 10 reps all the way up to 50 (20–45 seconds rest between them).

Rusin says you can tweak your back training to emphasize strength or maximum muscle growth (low reps for strength; moderate to extremely high reps for growth), but with biceps, there’s no need to train for strength. The elbows aren’t designed to curl ever-increasing loads, so you’ll get more out of them (and keep them healthy) by training them for hypertrophy (max muscle gain) via going for a big pump. “That’s what the biceps respond best to,” says Rusin.

How Should I Set Up A Back and Biceps Workout?

Just as important as the exercises you choose for your workout is the order you do them in. Rusin follows a simple protocol that delivers results in size and strength and minimizes the risk for injury. He calls the system the three P’s: Prime, Perform, and Pump.

1) Prime. You want to start your workout with an exercise that primes the central nervous system, essentially waking up the muscles you’re trying to train so that you can best recruit them throughout the workout. This should be a lift that you can really feel the target muscles working on. It may be an isolation lift or a compound one, but it should be done with fairly light weight so you can focus on form and making a mind-muscle connection. Done right, the priming exercise will help flush blood into the muscles and reduce your risk for injury.

For the back, straight-arm pulldowns, are a good choice. You could also go with a machine or chest-supported row (something where the body is supported and the movement is somewhat isolated). For the biceps, Rusin recommends hammer curls. Reps for both primer exercises should be in the range of 12–25.

“I always do neutral-grip curls to hit the underlying brachialis before fully lengthening out the biceps with supinated curls,” says Rusin. “So, for example, I wouldn’t do preacher curls before hammers.” Training the muscles in a stretched position when they aren’t fully activated can lead to biceps muscle pulls or elbow pain.

2) Perform. Following the prime, you’ll do one or two strength-focused lifts using heavier weights and lower reps (around 8, give or take). This is the real meat-and-potatoes of your workout, but don’t think that means you can skip the prime exercise and jump right into it.

For back, barbell and dumbbell rows are money. Pullups can also be done here, simply because Rusin says most people can’t do more than 8–15 reps of them, so they can’t go in the (next) pump phase of the workout. For biceps, barbell and dumbbell curls, or cable curls will suffice.

3) Pump. Here’s where you chase total hypertrophy and finish the muscle off using light- to moderate-weight and moderate- to high-reps.

“What we don’t want is the spine, core position, or posture to be the limiting factor in any back exercise when we’re chasing those higher rep ranges,” says Rusin. This is why an exercise like the lat pulldown is perfect here; being seated and locked into place minimizes core and postural muscle involvement. Seated cable rows, machine rows, and rows with a band are also good options.

For biceps, preacher curls, incline dumbbell curl, and band curls work well. “Any curls where you’re putting a stretch on the biceps should definitely be at the back of the workout,” says Rusin.

How To Stretch Before Doing Back and Bis

Warm up for a back and biceps workout by following these mobility drills from Onnit-certified Durability Coach Cristian Plascencia (@cristian_thedurableathlete on Instagram).

The Best Back and Biceps Workouts

All of the below workouts follow the Prime-Perform-Pump (PPP) protocol for back and biceps. Select whichever one(s) accommodates your individual fitness level and/or equipment setup. The workouts are meant to provide a basic template to illustrate the PPP concept; you can insert whichever exercises you want into the template as long as you follow the PPP guidelines.

Do only one back-and-biceps workout per week. However, advanced trainees should be able to handle additional back training during the week.

Beginner Back and Biceps Workout (Option A)

[See the video above at 00:58]

1. Straight-Arm Pulldown (Prime)

Sets: 3  Reps: 15–20

[See the video at 1:00]

See our complete guide to this movement HERE.

2. One-Arm Dumbbell Row (Perform)

Sets: 3  Reps: 8–10 (each side)

[See the video at 1:38]

Grasp a dumbbell in one hand and rest your opposite hand and knee on a bench for support. Keep a long spine from your head to your pelvis and square your shoulders to the floor.

Row the dumbbell to your hip, drawing your shoulder back and downward as you pull. Your elbow should not rise higher than your back. Lower your arm under control. Complete your reps on one side and then repeat on the other immediately.

3. Lat Pulldown (Pump)

Sets: 2  Reps: 20

[See the video at 2:08]

Sit at a pulldown station, and secure your knees under the pads. Grasp the bar with your hands outside shoulder width and your palms facing away. Drive your shoulder blades down and together as you pull the bar to your collarbone, and control its path back up.

4. Dumbbell Hammer Curl (Prime/Pump)

Sets: 3  Reps: 12–15 (each side)

[See the video at 2:27]

Stand holding a dumbbell in each hand by your side, palms facing in. Without moving your upper arms, curl the weights up until your biceps are fully contracted.

5. Preacher Curl (Pump)

Sets: 1  Reps: 25–30

[See the video at 2:45]

Sit at a preacher bench or use a preacher machine. You can do the exercise with both arms, or one arm at a time, as shown. Rest your triceps on the pad so that your elbows are near the bottom of the pad and curl the weight strictly. As you extend your elbows, stop short of straightening your arms completely.

Beginner Back and Biceps Workout (Option B)

[See the video at 03:07]

1. Lat Pulldown (Prime)

Sets: 3  Reps: 15–20 (submaximal weight)

[See the video at 3:10]

See the directions above. Use a weight that allows you to perform all the reps and a few more, but do only the prescribed number.

2. Suspension-Trainer Bodyweight Row (Perform)

Sets: 3  Reps: 8

[See the video at 3:30]

Grasp the handles of a suspension trainer with palms down and hang suspended with your legs extended in front of you. Brace your core and pull your body up until your back is fully contracted. Rotate your wrists so that your palms face up in the top position. To make the exercise easier, increase the height of the handles so your body is more vertical. To make it harder, lower the handles so you’re closer to parallel to the floor.

3. Machine Low Row (Pump)

Sets: 3  Reps: 25

[See the video at 4:01]

Attach a V-grip handle, or two individual grip handles, to the pulley of a seated cable row station. Keeping your lower back flat, reach forward and grasp the handle, allowing your shoulder blades to be stretched. Row the handle to your sternum, squeezing your shoulder blades together and downward. Lower the weight with control.

4. Cable Hammer Curl (Prime/Pump)

Sets: 3  Reps: 20

[See the video at 4:18]

Attach a rope handle to the low pulley of a cable station and grasp an end in each hand. Step back so there is tension on the cable and bend your knees slightly. Keeping your upper arms in line with your sides, curl the rope until your biceps are fully contracted, pausing for a moment at the top.

5. Dumbbell Curl (Pump)

Sets: 2  Reps: 30

[See the video at 4:40]

Stand with feet hip-width apart, holding dumbbells at your sides with palms facing forward. Keeping your upper arms at your sides, curl the weights up and hold at the top for a moment.

Advanced Back and Biceps Workout (Option A)

[See the video at 04:57]

1. Band Row (Prime)

Sets: 3  Reps: 20

[See the video at 4:58]

Attach a band to a sturdy object and grasp the other end with both hands, palms facing each other. Step back to put tension on the band, and get into an athletic stance with hips and knees bent. Row the band to your sternum and hold for a moment.

2. Bentover Row (Perform)

Sets: 3  Reps: 8–10

[See the video at 5:24]

Place a barbell on a rack set to hip level. Grasp the bar with hands shoulder width, and pull the bar out of the rack. (If you’re more experienced, and have a strong lower back, you can also deadlift the bar off the floor to start.) Step back, and set your feet hip-width apart, holding the bar at arm’s length against your thighs.

Take a deep breath, and bend your hips back—keeping your head, spine, and pelvis aligned. Bend until your torso is nearly parallel to the floor. Draw your shoulder blades back and down as you pull the bar up to your belly button.

3. Chinup (Perform)

Sets: 3  Reps: 8

[See the video at 5:54]

Hang from a chinup bar with hands shoulder-width apart and palms facing you. Draw your shoulder blades down and together as you pull yourself up until your chin is over the bar. If that’s too easy, add weight with a belt as shown.

4. Lat Pulldown (Pump)

Sets: 3  Reps: 25

[See the video at 6:11]

See the directions above.

5. Dumbbell Hammer Curl (Prime/Pump)

Sets: 3  Reps: 15–20

[See the video at 6:30]

See the directions above.

6. Barbell Curl (Pump) OR Dumbbell Curl

Sets: 3  Reps: 25–30

Stand with feet hip-width apart holding a barbell at arm’s length with palms facing up. Keeping your upper arms at your sides, curl the bar until your biceps are fully contracted.

[See the video at 6:46 for a demonstration of the dumbbell curl.]

Advanced Back and Biceps Workout (Option B)

[See the video at 07:05]

1.  Band Straight-Arm Pulldown (Prime)

Sets: 3  Reps: 15–20

[See the video at 7:07]

See our complete guide to this movement HERE.

2. Pullup (Perform)

Sets: 3  Reps: 8

[See the video at 7:53]

Perform as you did the chinup, described above, but with hands outside shoulder width and palms facing away from you.

3. Meadows Row (Perform)

Sets: 3  Reps: 10

[See the video at 8:09]

Set up a barbell in a landmine unit, or wedge one end into a corner. Stand perpendicular to the bar and stagger your stance, bending down to reach the bar with your lower back flat—head, spine, and pelvis should be aligned. Grasp the bar overhand and row it to your side. You should feel a stretch in your lat in the down position.

4. Lat Pulldown (Pump)

Sets: 3  Reps: 25

[See the video at 8:37]

See the directions above.

5. Cable Hammer Curl (Prime/Pump)

Sets: 3  Reps: 20

[See the video at 8:57]

See the directions above.

6. Preacher Curl (Pump)

Sets: 3  Reps: 40–50

[See the video at 9:20]

See the directions above.

At-Home Back and Biceps Workout

[See the video at 09:41]

1. Band Straight-Arm Pulldown (Prime)

Sets: 3  Reps: 20

[See the video at 9:42]

See our complete guide to this movement HERE.

2. Suspension-Trainer Bodyweight Row (Perform)

Sets: 3  Reps: 8–10

[See the video at 10:36]

See the directions above.

3. Band Row (Pump)

Sets: 3  Reps: 25

[See the video at 11:06]

See the directions above.

4. Band Hammer Curl (Prime/Pump)

Sets: 2  Reps: 30

[See the video at 11:23]

Perform hammer curls as described above, but holding an elastic exercise band.

5. Suspension Trainer Curl (Pump)

Sets: 2  Reps: 20–30

[See the video at 11:43]

Set up as you would to do the suspended bodyweight row described above, but curl the handles to your shoulders. Keep your shoulder blades drawn back together and downward throughout the exercise. Brace your core as well.

The post 5 Killer Back and Bicep Workouts For Building Muscle appeared first on Onnit Academy.

All of these fundamental movements can be transitioned from barbell exercises to kettlebell exercises.

How do you build muscle with a Kettlebell? Don’t you just swing kettlebells a million times? How is that going to build muscle?

These were all valid questions over a decade ago when kettlebells were first introduced, but get with the times my friends. The same principles of bilateral training with a barbell can be implemented with a heavy pair of kettlebells, and I mean heavy.

The following 6 kettlebell exercises will have you packing on the muscle in no time: 

Kettlebell Exercise #1: Double Clean and Press

The Double Kettlebell Clean and Press is a powerful exercise that combines both upper and lower body strength and power. The clean and press is a complete workout hitting nearly every muscle in the body, generating full body tension. This is one of the best strength exercises available yielding phenomenal results. Performing clean and presses with a heavy pair of kettlebells takes pressure off the wrists usually found when performed with a barbell.

Kettlebell Exercise #2: Double Floor Press

The Double Floor Press combines a shoulder and chest workout along with your core. Using kettlebells for the exercise provides a unique challenge. This is a great chest exercise for those with shoulder issues, since you are only going as low as the floor rather than below as in normal benching, it takes a lot of strain off the rotator cuff. Because there is a little twist at the top your abs receive some attention as well. Use this exercise if you want to build some massive upper body strength!

Kettlebell Exercise #3: Double Bent Over Row

An excellent upper-body pulling movement; the double bent over row will build strength in the back and biceps muscles. Pulling exercises are a necessity to ensure balance for the upper body. There is an alliance between pulling and pressing muscles. The better you get at pulling, the stronger your pressing will be and vice versa.

Kettlebell Exercise #4: Double Front Squat

To avoid looking like a rec-room hero you need to work the legs. Even if you don’t care about leg development, lower body training will help upper body development through a greater release of growth hormone. The Double Front Squat is one of the best core and leg strengtheners out there. You not only get the benefit of stronger legs, but your shoulders will be given a fantastic workout as well. Simply holding the kettlebells in place is taxing on your shoulders, upper back, arms, and core.

Kettlebell Exercise #5: Double Swing

Balance is key when building muscle and you need to balance the quad growth from the squats with some hamstring exercises. The Double Kettlebell Swing is the brutal distillation of everything kettlebell training is about: power, explosiveness, flexibility and lung searing cardio. The double kettlebell swing will hit your lower back, glutes, and hamstrings, strengthening the entire posterior chain. Double swings are great progression that can be used to increase your strength and power.

Kettlebell Exercise #6: Turkish Get Up

The core connects the lower body to the upper body and if your midsection is weak, everything is weak. The Turkish Get Up is great core exercise that also had tremendous benefits to your pressing ability. Throughout the entire movement your core is being worked. To the same degree, the shoulder is being used to maintain that overhead position. Since you go through a wide range of positions, you’re flexibility and mobility are challenged giving you a far greater exercise.

Muscle Building Kettlebell Workout:

Heavy kettlebells are bells you can only do a few reps with. Start with low reps to get used to the heavier kettlebells. Make each rep perfect. Once that gets easy, start building the reps. When you can start completing the lifts for 8-10 reps, increase weight.

A1: Double Kettlebell Clean and Press – 5 rounds x 5 reps

B2: Double Kettlebell Floor Press – 5 rounds x 5 reps
B3: Double Kettlebell Bent Over Row – 5 rounds x 5 reps

C1: Double Kettlebell Front Squat – 5 rounds x 5 reps
C2: Double Kettlebell Swings – 5 rounds x 5 reps

D1: Turkish Get-Ups – 5 rounds x 3 reps (each side)

6 Kettlebell Exercises to Build Muscle

The post 6 Kettlebell Exercises to Build Muscle appeared first on Onnit Academy.

In late 2017, Hannah Eden’s best friend, Jessica Boswell, was diagnosed with cancer. Boswell was only 32 years old, and also six months pregnant. To bolster her friend’s spirits and raise money for treatment, Eden set a goal to bike and run around the perimeter of Iceland, known as the Ring Road.

Boswell’s disease moved quickly, however, and she passed the following spring (but not before giving birth to a healthy baby boy). In July of 2018, Eden followed through on her promise to make the 828.6-mile journey in Boswell’s honor. She completed the bike and run in only nine days, raising almost $60,000 for cancer research and the Serene Soldier Foundation—a group founded in Boswell’s honor that works to give cancer patients and their families a happy Christmas.

Eden, 28, has since blown up to be a successful fitness influencer and entrepreneur, with her own gym and app. In her interview with Onnit Editor-in-Chief Sean Hyson, she reveals how she transitioned from a wild child to a health nut, gives tips on growing a fitness business, and explains why working out will always mean more to her than just abs and biceps.

Growing up as a hyperactive kid ­– 0:05

Moving to the US – 0:50

Why her dream job wasn’t what she thought – 3:00

Finding CrossFit – 5:00

Pros and cons of CrossFit – 6:04

Going from student to teacher, and starting her own business – 8:07

Why fitness is more than just the physical – 10:05

Why she programs according to time rather than sets and reps – 13:00

Where her life would be if she hadn’t found fitness –15:25

Why last year was the hardest of her life – 17:30

Hannah’s bike tour around Iceland to honor her friend – 18:55

How she ran and biked 828.6 miles in 9 days – 24:22

How she stayed motivated – 26:00

How to find your own reason – 27:15

Learning to turn if “off” – 29:40

Why she’ll lose her drive one day – 31:05

What her husband understands about her that no one else does – 32: 25

Tips for aspiring fitness influencers on building an online following – 35:00

What she and “Primal Swoledier” Eric Leija have learned from each other – 38:15

Follow Eden on Instagram, @hannaheden_fitness

The post “Fitness Is More Than Physical”: Interview With Hannah Eden appeared first on Onnit Academy.

What Is Occlusion Training?

Blood-flow restriction entails wrapping a cuff around either the upper arms or thighs to reduce the amount of blood that can enter the muscles and leave them. This results in a monstrous muscle “pump.” Though originally developed in rehab settings, it’s become popular among bodybuilders and recreational lifters, who typically apply an elastic knee wrap (the kind competitive lifters use to support their knees on heavy lifts). BFR is also referred to as KAATSU training.

How Tight Should I Make The Wraps?

First, decide which area of the body you’re going to train—you don’t want to occlude both the upper and lower body simultaneously. Two wraps should be applied to either the upper arms (just below the shoulders) or the upper thighs (just below the crease of the hips). Tighten them so they’re snug but not to the point where you feel pins and needles or your limbs turn blue. Research on healthy people with resistance-training experience—including a 2014 study in Clinical Physiology and Functional Imaging—has found that tightening the wraps to a perceived level of seven out of 10 (with 10 being the tightest possible) delivers the proper (and safe) amount of occlusion.

You can pick up wraps at elitefts.net for about $30. Specially-designed BFR cuffs and belts, along with pumps that tighten them, are also available. Strength coach Joe DeFranco has acknowledged using those made by (B) Strong (gobstrong.com) when training WWE Superstar Triple H. But at $265, the rig is expensive.

Occlusion Training Workouts

Blood-flow restriction has been shown to work best on basic exercises like the squat, bench press, leg press, leg extension, leg curl, and biceps curl. The general prescription for occlusion training is to choose a very light weight—20–30% of the load you think you could lift one time (your one-rep max). Of course, you won’t know your one-rep max for every exercise, so just estimate it conservatively and adjust as needed.

According to Jeremy Loenneke, Ph.D., an assistant professor of exercise science at the University of Mississippi, one of the world’s top BFR researchers, and a competitive bodybuilder, you should do your first set with 30 repetitions. Rest 30 seconds, and then perform another 3 sets of 15 reps with 30 seconds’ rest between each. This is your goal protocol, but it’s OK if you come up a little short. “It will not be uncommon for many to not be able to get all of the repetitions prescribed,” says Loenneke. However, if you can’t get near 30 reps on the first set or 15 on the subsequent ones, the wraps are either too tight or the weight is too heavy. “This strategy has routinely been shown to produce favorable changes in muscle size and strength,” says Loenneke.

Strength coaches have experimented with occlusion training with other protocols too. Joe DeFranco offers the following two routines from his private membership training site, the defrancoinsider.com. He recommends (B) Strong cuffs to use them with. You can use them as workouts on their own, or tack them on to the end of the upper- or lower-body sessions you’re already doing.

– Occlusion Training For Arms

1. Dumbbell Curl
Sets: 3 Reps: 30 (or until form breaks down) Rest: 20–30 sec.

After all sets are complete, rest 60 seconds with the wraps still on. Then train triceps as follows.

2. Triceps Pushdown
Sets: 3 Reps: 30 (or until form breaks down) Rest: 20–30 sec.

The entire protocol should take no more than 10 minutes.

– Occlusion Training For Legs

1. Body-Weight Squat
Sets: 4 Reps: 30, 15, 15, 15 Rest: 30 sec.

2. Lunge
Sets: 3 Reps: 10–20 (each leg) Rest: 30 sec.

3A. Standing Calf Raise
Sets: 2 Reps: 20 Rest: 30 sec.

3B. Plank
Sets: 2 Reps: Hold 30 sec. Rest: 30 sec.

Perform exercises 3A and 3B in alternating fashion (do a set of A, rest, then a set of B, and repeat). The entire protocol should not take longer than 15 minutes. Even if you aren’t finished, do not wear the wraps longer than 15 minutes.

How Does Occlusion Training Work?

Scientists aren’t completely sure how BFR works, but they know it does. Restricting blood flow into and out of the target muscles results in a big pump—called “cell swelling” in scientific literature—which is associated with muscle gain. Loenneke suspects that the swelling combined with the buildup of metabolites (called metabolic stress) may activate more muscle fiber at low intensities—i.e., when you use light weights.

A 2016 Sports Medicine review of 19 studies found that occlusion training increased muscle size and strength in the shoulders, chest, and arms better than conventional training when done with the same volume. But the real beauty of BFR lies in Loenneke’s point—that BFR helps maximize the effect of lifting lighter weights, which may allow you to gain muscle and strength without the risk and long-term wear and tear that heavy training imposes.

What is Occlusion Therapy?

BFR started in Japan as a means of rehabbing injuries (called KAATSU training). Since then, it’s caught on in America and was famously used by Olympic skiing medalist Bode Miller to recover from a back injury. We won’t go so far as to prescribe it as a treatment, but research has shown that it can speed healing. This year, the British Journal of Sports Medicine concluded that, compared to lifting light weights alone, “low-load BFR training is more effective, tolerable and therefore a potential clinical rehabilitation tool.”

Furthermore, a 2017 article from the newsletter of the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine states that BFR training may help accelerate muscle function after surgery, particularly after operations on the knees. However, more research is needed.

Is Occlusion Training Safe?

The thought of tying up your muscles and lifting till they burn has to make even the most ardent and experimental muscle-seeker cringe a little. But BFR has been shown to be safe (when done as directed). BFR sets are short, so your blood supply is only restricted for a few minutes (DeFranco says to cap it at 15)—it won’t make your arms fall asleep. However, if you have any kind of vascular disorder, don’t experiment with BFR. And if you start to experience real pain or numbness during your sets, stop immediately. “The overall safety profile of this type of exercise appears favorable for most people,” says Loenneke.

The post Occlusion Training For Muscle Growth: Is it Legit? appeared first on Onnit Academy.

Bicep Shovel Extension Steel Mace Exercise Description

From the extended arm position that you begin the extended shoulder curl with, swivel the sphere end of the mace across your front as you maintain the same height, in line with your opposite shoulder. Arm does not bend.

As you do so, lock out the bent arm on the opposite side down towards your hip. With both arms straight, pull the mace back and down to the side load position. Return in the exact same sequence.

Remember that the arm of the hand closest to the sphere stays locked out the entire time.

Looking for ways to workout with the Steel Mace? Click here.

The post Bicep Shovel Extension Steel Mace Exercise appeared first on Onnit Academy.

Biceps curls on the Battle Rings are a versatile bicep exercise because the angle can be adjusted in a heartbeat to increase or decrease resistance. Suspension bicep curls also engage the core, giving the exercise more bang for your buck than other barbell and dumbbell curling variations.

Exercise Steps

Step 1: Position your body such that you stand in front on the Battle Rings.

Step 2: With your palms facing upwards and arms straight, hold the Battle Rings.

Step 3: Steadily curl your arms until they come near to your chest.

Step 4: Flex your biceps when you have reached the end of the curl. Stay there till the count of one.

Step 5:Return to the starting position.

The post Suspension Exercise: Bicep Curl appeared first on Onnit Academy.