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The Best Bodyweight Tricep Exercise (NO EQUIPMENT)

The Best Bodyweight Tricep Exercise (NO EQUIPMENT)

by | Sep 6, 2021 | Blog, Exercises, Push Ups

If you want to build muscle, you want to use a combination of compound and isolation movements in your workout routine, especially for any “stubborn” areas you really struggle to build.

Those isolation exercises can be key to create the additional stimulus we need to build muscle, especially in more advanced exercisers.

But what if you don’t have any equipment to use to help you target and challenge those areas?

How can you target muscles, like your triceps, without any tools?

Whether you’re training at home, while you travel or even if you simply want to mix up your workouts with some bodyweight moves, I want to share with you one of my favorite bodyweight exercises to target those triceps.

This exercise not only allows you to work each side independently, to correct any imbalances, but is also safer for your shoulders than traditional bench dips, which are often our go-to tricep isolation move.

While I don’t think we should just demonize dips off a bench, and there are definitely times I not only include them personally, but even with clients, I think it is also key we note their drawbacks.

When we know when and how to use a move correctly, we can not only get better results, but even avoid injury and overload.

With bench dips, if you’ve had shoulder aches and pains, this move may not be right for you especially.

While they can be a great way to target those triceps without any tools, as you can even do them off a coffee table or chair, they can put more strain on your shoulders due to the anterior humeral glide or the forward movement of your shoulder in the socket during the lower down.

That is why I love to use Tricep Push Ups as often as possible instead.

This movement is much safer for the shoulders and allows you to target each side independently to correct any imbalances between sides.

To do the Tricep Push Up, lie on your side with your legs out straight or bottom knee bent. If you bend both legs it will make it harder. 

Wrap your bottom arm up and around your so you can’t use this hand to assist. Place your top hand down on the ground at about shoulder height or right below.

The lower down toward your belly button you place your hand, the harder the move will be.

Then press the ground away with that hand on the ground, feeling your tricep work to push your upper body up and extend your elbow. Press up until your arm is extended and then lower back down to the ground.

Keep yourself on your side as you press and lower. Your chest may slightly rotate toward the ground as you press, but make sure you really focus on the back of your arm working.

Repeat, pressing up again until your arm is fully extended. Adjust your hand placement or your legs so you can press and stay under control.

Do not let your legs flop around and make sure to drive the movement with your tricep instead of just trying to use your obliques to bend to the side.

To modify this move you can push off a wall or incline, such as a bench, instead of pressing fully from the ground.

To advance the move you can also change up the tempo, slowing down tempo of the press ,even pausing briefly before touching back down to the ground.

SUMMARY:

The best muscle building results happen when we combine compound and isolation exercises together.

For a killer burner using both, try finishing your workout with a close grip push up and tricep push up compound set. Go back and forth between the two moves for 2-3 minutes, completing 5-10 reps of each back to back. If you find you can’t completely 5 reps solidly in a row, you’re done even if time isn’t up.

Are You Lunging WRONG? 3 Tips To FIX Your Lunge

Are You Lunging WRONG? 3 Tips To FIX Your Lunge

by | Sep 1, 2021 | Blog, Exercises, Functional Fitness, Pain Relief

The lunge, in all its many forms, is so often blamed for knee pain.

But moves are only as good as their implementation. And we need to understand there is a difference between going through the motions and mimicking proper form and actually getting the correct muscles working.

Too often we end up demonizing this amazing move instead of learning to properly control it and load muscles correctly.

And that overload is what leads to the pain. When you don’t engage the correct muscles to power the movement can prevent us from seeing the full benefit of all the amazing lunge variations out there.

We don’t take time to see all of the tweaks to form we can make to work around previous injuries, adjust to our specific builds and mobility restrictions not to mention even us variations based on our specific needs and goals.

That’s why I want to share 3 key form cues I use to help client’s get more out of this amazing move while avoiding those common mistakes we often make that lead to aches and pains.

Because we have to remember that form isn’t as binary as we make it out to be. There are so many slight adjustments we can make to get more out of exercises so they fit our needs and goals!

 

3 Key Cues To Improve Your Lunge Form:

#1: Maintain A More Vertical Shin Angle:

Ever hear someone say “You’re knee can’t go over your toes during lunging.”

This isn’t completely true, BUT we need to understand why this statement came about.

When our knee does travel further forward over our foot, there will be more loading of our quads. This is what, especially if we have previous knee issues or a lack of ankle mobility, can lead to lunges causing knee pain.

So while you can actually INTENTIONALLY preform lunge variations this way to strengthen your quads, you do want to know the drawbacks.

You also want to make sure you have the proper ankle mobility to do this variation while keeping your heel firmly planted on the ground.

Since so many of us struggle to activate our glutes, not to mention lack ideal ankle and even hip mobility, it may be helpful for us to avoid this positioning and instead focus more on maintaining a more vertical shin angle with our front lower leg.

When you maintain that more vertical shin angle, you can actually engage your glutes more and make the move slightly more hip dominant. This can be key to help you avoid overloading your quads and therefore your knees.

It can also simply be a tweak you use to target those glutes more during your lunge work.

So if you struggle with quad dominance and getting your glutes to work, focus on that knee being aligned over your ankle as you lunge, whether doing a static lunge, reverse lunge or even front lunge!

#2: Keep Your Weight Centered:

Too often when we are moving forward or backward in a lunge, we let ourselves actually become off balance which can lead to us overloading the muscles that support our knees.

Even though with lunges you can move in every direction, you want to be conscious to truly keep your weight more centered so you can smoothly push back to standing with no stutter steps.

You want to correctly engage your front AND back legs as they are both working together even if different muscles in each leg are working to different extents.

One of the best ways to help learn how to keep your weight centered is by first making sure you’ve mastered that static lunge or split squat.

To do this move, start half kneeling on the ground with your back knee about under your hip and your front knee over your ankle so your shin is vertical. Push the ball of your back foot and your entire front foot into the ground. Even think about your front foot as a tripod, two points in the ball of your foot and one in your heel.

Squeeze your back glute and make sure to drive through both feet as you push up to standing. Make sure you use that front glute to prevent your front knee from caving in.

Focus on pushing the ground away to stand then controlling that lower down.

You may find you want to shift forward instead of driving straight up, which is often what happens when we add movement to the lunge and creates the knee overload.

So first you must learn to control this static lunge and build mobility to perform it properly BEFORE you progress to adding in more movement.

Regress to progress!

Then as you begin to introduce movement, you can keep the lunges more shallow to focus on that weight being centered. Even implementing a PAUSE at the bottom as you do begin to lunge longer and deeper can be a great way to get to assess where your weight is and correct any shifts.

Remember you have to earn those harder variations. You don’t want to just mimic movements. You want to make sure the correct muscles are working!

#3: Focus On Your Foot’s Connection To The Ground (Back AND Front Feet):

Our feet are our foundation. Instability there creates instability up our entire legs.

That’s why it’s key you start your lunges by focusing on your feet. And not just the foot of your moving leg but both feet to engage the muscles of both legs correctly.

When you move through any lunge, think about that front foot as that tripod as you sink. Drive off your entire foot to stand back up.

Note if you are rocking out or in on your foot or if you find your foot turning in or out. You’ll notice small changes in the muscles you’re using and even your knee alignment.

By really focusing on driving off that entire foot, you’ll better use the muscles of your legs and glutes correctly and even avoid any knee overload. You’ll help yourself keep your weight more centered.

By focusing on your foot’s connection to the ground you can also avoid your knee collapsing in which can be a huge source of knee aches and pains.

And then don’t ignore your back foot as well.

While you may only be on the ball of that back foot, proper tension into the ground can help you better use that glute to drive the hip extension of that back leg.

It can also help you avoid knee pain in that back leg.

If you aren’t conscious you may find that back knee turning out as you rock in toward your back toe. This can overwork the rectus femoris, the quad muscle that not only directly connects to your knee but also your hip, and lead to not only knee but also hip issues.

Being conscious of our feet can help us better recruit the muscles of our lower body. It all starts at that foundation!

SUMMARY:

Focus on what you feel working not just on making the movement look correct. We need those proper recruitment patterns to drive those movement patterns or we put ourselves at greater risk for overload, compensations and injuries.

Use these 3 cues to help yourself avoid knee aches and pains from lunging and get more out of this amazing lower body move!

Working to improve your mobility and stability?

Check out my Injury Prevention Pack!

FHP 334 – 4 Tips To Build Muscle Without Gaining Fat

FHP 334 – 4 Tips To Build Muscle Without Gaining Fat

by | Aug 30, 2021 | podcast

Gaining muscle can be HARD. There are also those of us that tend to struggle more than others.

And it only gets harder as we get older because we can become anabolic resistant and we don’t utilize protein as efficiently or effectively (just another reason increasing our protein and tracking our macros is key!). 

That’s why I want to share 4 tips to help you dial in your diet and your training to get the best results as fast as possible.

Now note, I didn’t say rush results, because gaining muscle, especially if you don’t want to gain a ton of fat, is a slow process.

Because both our diet and our workouts need to work together. 

While we may be able to lose weight without training, training is KEY to drive muscle hypertrophy.

So here are 4 tips to help you dial in your routine to get those muscle gains!

4 Tips To Improve Those Muscle Gains:

Tip #1: Don’t Fear Carbs

You want to make sure you have more energy available, more instant fuel when you train, to help build muscle more efficiently and aid in your recovery process.

That’s why increasing your carbs may be key.

They help your muscles repair and rebuild.

So consider a slightly higher carb ratio during a muscle gaining workout progression.

OR if you find you just don’t do well with higher carb ratios, really focus your carb intake around your workout with some protein.

You just want full glycogen stores so you can really push heavy weights and perform your best. 

Because you have to really push progression in your training to force your muscles to rebuild stronger.

You also want to replenish those stores right after your training to make sure you’re able to efficiently rebuild!

If you are scale sensitive, recognize you may find you fluctuate more during this process as you can gain weight just from fuller glycogen stores and the water weight you retain as you store glycogen. But this is a key part of the process and not fat being gained!

Tip #2: Create a SMALLER surplus

To often we go a bit crazy with the surplus and use “I’m trying to gain muscle” as an excuse to eat whatever we want.

And not only do we eat far more calories than we need but our food quality also tends to dip.

Don’t use this as an excuse not to track. 

Also don’t use this as an excuse to create an extreme surplus. A little goes a long way.

Because you just need enough to repair and fuel the new muscle and increased resting metabolic rate.

And that doesn’t increase as quickly or as much as we often eat like it does.

The bigger the surplus you create, the more fat you’re later going to cut.

And when cutting, unless you go slow, you’re risking losing some of the muscle you worked so hard to gain.

Better to dial in that smaller surplus while tracking your macros to start to focus on more pure muscle gains…aka less fat gain as you “bulk.”

And if you’d really like to avoid gaining fat, you may even choose to start eating at maintenance calories instead of a surplus.

Because that may be enough of an increase since a diet high in protein, even while eating in a deficit, has even been shown to allow for gaining muscle as you lose fat!

Tip #3: Stop Turning Your Strength Workouts Into Cardio (TAKE THE REST)

Many of us have heard we should cut out cardio if gaining muscle is our focus. 

And that does make the process easier.

However, often we then create these strength workouts that eliminate all rest and ultimately end up being CARDIO.

You do not need to be lying in a sweaty heap on the ground to build muscle. Actually, you may find you get better results if you DON’T do this.

You may find you include MORE rest between rounds or sets or moves.

Because rest allows us to recover so our 100% intensity stays more at 100% intensity.

To build muscle, we want to be able to progress movements as much as possible, even working down in reps as we increase loads.

While we can create more metabolic strength routines if our goal is to gain muscle while avoiding gaining fat, we do want to be conscious of the rest we include and our ability to progress with loads, tempos or movement variations.

Whether you go higher reps, with what will be lighter loads or lower reps with heavier loads, no weights should also ever be light.

If it challenges you, it will change you. But you always want to feel like you’ve “maxed out” at the reps you’ve stopped at while giving yourself time to recover to push as hard the next round!

Tip #4: Use Training Frequency To Your Advantage

Studies have shown that actually training a muscle group more frequently over the week may be super key to better muscle gains.

But to do this, you often have to do LESS each session and even mix up how you drive muscle growth.

You can’t seek to be sore and beaten down from each session.

You may have to adjust the volume of your workouts and even the types of moves and tools you include.

There are 3 drivers of muscle growth:

  • Muscle Tissue Damage
  • Mechanical Tension
  • Metabolic Stress

While muscle tissue damage type movements like traditional barbell squats and deadlifts are key, they can make you more sore and create more muscle tissue damage. 

You may not be able to do them as often during the week.

However you can still work your legs and glutes more frequently during the week by using those other drivers of muscle growth.

Focusing on those mini band moves or squat pulses or hip thrusters can allow you to add in multiple training days without just constantly beating yourself down so you’re sore while even getting you better results because you’re using all three drivers of muscle growth.

But just remember ever session doesn’t need to, nor should, leave you feeling destroyed.

You want to focus on increasing that training frequency over doing more in a single session. It allows even for more QUALITY work over the week.

And then create a clear progression so your body can adapt and not be sore. This will allow you to actually create more clear progression to see those results add up.

If you just constantly randomly string things together, you’re putting yourself at more risk to constantly be sore since NEW alone can make us sore.

SUMMARY:

If you’ve been struggling to really see the muscle building results you want, make sure you’re implementing these three tips.

And if you need help dialing in your training and your macros to match your needs and goals, check out the link below to my Macro Hacks!

–> Macro Hacks

Shoulder Pain With Planks? Try This!

Shoulder Pain With Planks? Try This!

by | Aug 24, 2021 | Blog, Core

Planks are a basic, but fundamental core move. They are a great way to establish that mind-body connection and really focus on what you feel working.

They are a great anti-extension and ant-flexion movement so you learn how to brace. 

But what if you have shoulder aches and pains that don’t allow you to do even a modified version of the plank?

What can you do to still get the amazing core benefit of a plank in a way that allows you to work around your pain?

Before I go into one of my favorite core isometrics to use to modify the plank around shoulder pain, I want to discuss a key tip to help you modify any moves you find don’t fit your needs or goals. 

Because it can feel overwhelming to come up with variations when you’re injured or need to regress a move to get more out of it!

 

How To Modify Moves: Ask Yourself This Key Question

When I’m considering how to modify a move for a client, I’m not only thinking about what the injury or restriction is and the muscles we were planning to work, but also the GOAL of including the movement in the first place.

I think so often we just think – “I want to work my abs.”

But you really want to assess WHY you’re including this specific move. Do you want the anti-flexion/anti-extension core benefit?

Is it about the hold to be able to assess what you feel working as you do it so you can improve that mind-body connection?

Is this about building up toward another specific movement?

Or is it training your body through a specific movement pattern?

You always want to ask yourself…What is your goal for the movement?

We want to think about the purpose of the movement and not just the muscles we are trying to work because that then allows us to modify in a way to get the same benefits.

In the case of the plank, maybe it is learning to brace those abs correctly while having time to focus on that mind-body connection to hold harder. 

Maybe it is those anti-extension or anti-flexion benefits.

Maybe it’s using it as part of your warm up to activate your core and establish-that mind-body connection.

But based on your goal for the movement, you can then select the best modification to help you reach that result!

When it comes to the plank, to get that same isometric benefit while working the same muscles in a very similar way while avoiding the shoulder loading, I like to use the Banana Hold or Hollow Body Hold.

This move for me hits on all the same “goals” I’m often trying to achieve with the plank while also allowing me to then regress or progress as needed based on the clients fitness level all while avoiding shoulder irritation!

 

 

Tips To Use The Banana Hold:

The Banana Hold is a very challenging core isometric movement. 

And it’s a key move to include if you want to learn how to brace better to protect your spine while also improving your pull ups, push ups and even handstands.

It’s also as close as you can get to a SUPINE version of a plank.

To do the Banana Hold, lie on your back with your legs out straight together. Reach your arms overhead. If you find that reaching your arms overhead irritates your shoulders, you can keep your arms down by your sides, reaching toward your feet.

Tilt your pelvis, tucking your hips up toward your ribs to engage both your abs and your glute max.

Then squeeze your glutes and flex your quads as you lift your legs up off the ground. The higher up you raise them, the more you will modify the movement, which can be key to help you make sure your abs are working and your lower back isn’t taking over.

As you hold your legs out as close to the ground as possible, make sure you don’t lose that posterior pelvic tilt. And don’t just let your legs rest there. Flex your quads hard. Squeeze your glutes and even think about using your adductors to hold your legs glued together.

Whether your hands are reaching toward your feet or your biceps are up by your ears reaching overhead, crunch your shoulder blades up off the ground. Keep your head in line with your spine and do not tuck your chin.

If you feel your neck straining, you can put your hands behind your head to help. But you also want to think about slightly stacking your chin as if making a double chin to hold.

Focus on feeling that tension all through your core to hold here. Run through flexing your abs more, lifting your shoulder blades up slightly higher. Squeezing your glutes. Engaging your quads. Assess what you feel working and try to engage harder to create that soakage as you hold.

If you find you can’t control this version and you feel your lower back taking over, raise your legs up higher or even bend your knees. 

You can even do one leg at a time, bending one knee in toward your chest as you hold, to perform a shorter hold on each side.

Do not get ego in the variation you use and try to use a harder variation just because it’s harder. 

EARN that more advanced hold and instead focus on really getting everything to work correctly.

The more advanced you are, the more you should even be able to use that mind-body connection to even engage everything quicker and harder during a more modified variation.

So if you’ve been worried you’ll be missing out on the benefits of planks because of shoulder pain, give this isometric move a try!

And remember, there is always a way to modify moves to fit your needs and goals. Just remember your GOAL for the movement you’re including!

FHP 333 – Is It Possible To Find Balance?

FHP 333 – Is It Possible To Find Balance?

by | Aug 24, 2021 | podcast

There never really is “balance.”

Life is a constant balancing act.

We are always learning how to improve things and I think there will always be times we steer too much in one direction.

We’re human after all.

But part of mastering “balance” is realizing it will be a continual work in progress.

So how can you help yourself strike more of a balance over going to extremes…which…..let’s face it, is far easier especially when it comes to our diet and exercise routines?

Well that’s why I want to share these 4 tips to help!

#1: Focus on your current lifestyle.

It is easy to claim we’re an all or nothing person. It’s easy to go to those extremes in an attempt to get faster results. 

We cut out any “bad” food.

We set a workout routine that is 6 days a week with two-a days.

It’s easy to take that initial motivation and do as much as possible.

But that’s also often why nothing works….long term.

We never find that balance!

That’s why it’s key we stop just restricting or trying to rush results. Instead when we make changes, we need to stay focused on what is realistic for OUR current lifestyle.

What does your schedule actually allow for so that you can base your training off of that?

What foods do you want to enjoy long-term so you can find ways to map them in?

The more we actually consider our needs and goals when making changes, the more we can actually find a balance that will work…not lead to us working really hard only to fall off in weeks or months when the motivation fades.

#2: Add slowly.

Often when you add too much all at once onto your plate, you overwhelm yourself, which can ultimately lead to you not even truly getting started…or at least sticking with things long term.

Change itself is hard.

So as much as we want instant results, the slower we can make the changes the more we will truly allow ourselves to create new habits.

Motivation fades. The reason we ultimately keep moving forward is because things have become natural.

The smaller the adjustments, the quicker they just become part of our routines.So to build momentum, start with small, easy changes. Even if they feel ridiculously easy or even silly to start.

The more you do, the more you do. So start adding slowly to build those changes. 

#3: Take time to step back.

It’s easy to get caught up in the moment and even ignore all of the progress we’ve made. This can lead to us doing MORE, which unfortunately can ultimately backfire.

It’s key we take time at points to step back and reflect on how everything is going. To reflect on the progress we’ve made and the changes we’ve implemented.

By taking that bird’s eye view of things, we can see more changes we’d like to make while recognizing the progress we’ve already made as well. Because often we ignore those results as they build because we aren’t “there yet.”

Recognize your hard work as it builds. 

It will help you strike that balance and even accept there will be ups and downs…times you’re more or less motivated.

Everything goes in seasons, and that is a-ok! We can let ourselves have times we just maintain over always driving forward. It will help us move forward more long-term!

#4: Constantly assess. 

With taking that step back at times, don’t be afraid to assess.

I know it can be hard to take an honest look at how we are doing, and even recgonize our flaws, but that hard look at everything can help us avoid going to extremes.

It can help us see if we are being as consistent as we feel we are….or if we’re actually working harder over smarter.

It can even help us tweak as our needs and goals change. 

Nothing in life stands still…and neither should our nutrition or our training!

SUMMARY:

Life is a constant balancing act.

Progress will never be linear but the more we try to go to extremes, the more we hold ourselves back from creating a sustainable lifestyle.