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how2fit · 5 months ago

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Picture this: You enter the weight room of a gym, surrounded by a whole bunch of equipment. As you try to figure out which weights to pick up, you see one gym bro squatting with a pair of dumbbells, an influencer films herself squatting with a kettlebell, and a powerlifter in the corner is doing the same move with a barbell. So which is your best option? Dumbbells, kettlebells, and barbells can all be effective tools for building strength and power. But there are nuances between each of these three free weights that can affect which one works best in different scenarios, so we asked top strength coaches to break it all down for us. Whether you’re just entering your strength-training era or you’re looking for an edge that’ll help you hit a new PR, here’s what you need to know when choosing between dumbbells, kettlebells, and barbells for your next workout. Dumbbells are a tried and true strength-training staple If you’ve only ever used one kind of free weight in your life, it was probably a dumbbell. They’re typically available in even the most basic hotel gyms, and have a beginner-friendly design that evenly distributes weight on either side of your hand, making them ideal for most standard strength-training moves. “The balance distribution of a dumbbell can be really helpful, especially if you’re somebody who feels nervous about the need to stabilize,” says trainer Kristie Larson, CSCS, founder of Cozy Athletics. Dumbbells are designed to be relatively easy to maneuver, which makes them super versatile. They can move in any plane of motion. They can fire up multiple muscle groups at once in compound exercises like a squat press. And they’re your best free weight option when you want to target a specific muscle with an isolation exercise—like a biceps curl—Larson says. But keep in mind… Once you start lifting bigger and bigger dumbbells, they become more difficult to handle. “The heavier the dumbbell, the more tilty it can be—you [end up] lopsided,” says strength and nutrition coach Roxie Jones, CFSC, owner of BodyRox. At a certain point, you’ll want to move on to a different piece of equipment. (Jones says her personal cutoff for dumbbells is 30 pounds.) Kettlebells’ unique design offers unique perks What makes kettlebells different from either dumbbells or barbells is that all the weight is centralized at the bottom and connected by a handle, rather than two weights separated by a bar and evenly distributed on either side of your grip. That means your body has to work extra hard to stabilize a kettlebell’s weight as you move it through space. “If someone wants to work on balance or on dynamic control of the weight through a range of motion, I would reach for a kettlebell,” Larson says. She adds that she’ll often grab kettlebells for mobility work like halos. “Because you're having to work so hard to stabilize, it can be a great way to fire up your rotator cuff and really find that mind-muscle connection before you go into heavier pressing exercises later on in the workout,” she says. Kettlebells’ design also makes them particularly ideal for power training with ballistic moves like the classic kettlebell swing. “If you want to work on your power, your explosive strength, kettlebells are amazing for that,” Jones says. That’s because having the weight all centered at the bottom allows for momentum to come into the picture, Larson explains. “You're working to decelerate and then accelerate against the momentum of the bell,” she says. Plus, because there’s a larger area on the handle to grip a kettlebell than there is on dumbbells, it’s easier to do movements where you’re grabbing the weight with two hands (like goblet squats), or that quickly switch hands (like a hand-to-hand kettlebell swing). The centralized weight also makes it easier to lift heavier loads than you could with a dumbbell since it won’t tilt awkwardly to one side in your hand. “With the handle, all of the heavy weight hangs down,” Jones says. But keep in mind… Know that kettlebells have a bigger learning curve than dumbbells.

Jones says that there are particular techniques to using kettlebells correctly that don’t always come naturally. “I see a lot of people use kettlebells incorrectly or they hurt themselves,” she says. For instance, she says some people mistakenly fold their wrist back during a clean rather than keeping it straight, or they let the bell slam into their arm at the top. Also be aware that whenever you hit up a new gym, the kettlebells there might feel different from what you’re used to. “There's a big range in the kettlebells,” Larson says. “It can be hard to know if you're going to find something rubber-coated or cast iron, and they function differently depending on what they're made out of and what the shape is.” What’s more, you’re typically looking at larger jumps in weight between options than you’ll find with dumbbells or barbells, Larson adds. While you might be able to put down a 20-pound dumbbell and then grab a 22.5-pound one, your gym might not have anything between 16- and 24-kilogram kettlebells (about 35 and 52 pounds, respectively). Barbells let you build serious strength When you want to lift a massive amount of weight, you need a barbell. “You're never going to be able to lift as heavy with a kettlebell or a dumbbell as you can with a barbell simply because you can load the barbell,” Larson says. By adding weight plates, you can move hundreds of pounds (once you, ya know, build up the strength to actually do that). Plus, you’re able to load a barbell while it’s on a rack, so you can go right into moves like squats or bench presses without having to pick the weight up off the ground, which means you can work with far heavier weights. Lifting this heavy not only makes you feel like a badass; it’s also the most efficient way to make serious strength gains. A 2020 meta-analysis1 in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise found that higher loads are the most effective way to build stronger muscles. It’s not just about the amount of weight you can lift, though. Barbells make it simple to follow the well-proven strategy of progressive overload, where you systematically increase the challenge of your workout over a series of weeks. All you have to do is add a heavier or additional weight plate to keep lifting more and more, rather than having to find a whole new dumbbell or kettlebell. And, with a well-built Olympic barbell, there’s virtually no upper limit, thanks to 1000-pound-plus weight capacities. On the other hand, you can go for a tamer challenge with landmine exercises, where one end of the barbell is securely attached to a base on the floor. This decreases the weight you’re lifting and provides a little more stability, which can be helpful as you get used to exercises like bent-over rows or deadlifts. “You can pretty much do any exercise with the landmine,” Jones says. But keep in mind… A barbell can be a really challenging piece of fitness equipment. Larson says she typically starts out clients with dumbbells and kettlebells, then only progresses to barbells once they’ve built up enough strength and mastery of various lifts. Jones recommends testing yourself by squatting with 45 pounds worth of dumbbells first. “If you can get your thighs parallel to the floor, carrying weight up top at the shoulders, you’re probably ready,” she says. That’s because even before you slide on weight plates, an Olympic barbell will weigh 45 or 35 pounds (whether it’s designed for men or women, respectively). If you don’t have enough mobility and strength to effectively maneuver that heavy of a load, you’re “likely to find little ways to compensate which, over time, could cause damage to the joint,” Larson says. Additionally, in order to stay safe, you need a dedicated spotter (or two) to do challenging barbell lifts like squats or bench presses with heavy loads. “If you don't really know how to get out of the lift, if you're close to failure, that can be dangerous,” Jones says. Barbells can also just be hard to come by at times.

They’re one of the most in-demand pieces of equipment in many commercial gyms, and they’re rarely available at hotel workout rooms when you’re traveling. For some people, barbells simply feel too intimidating. “I would never make a blanket recommendation that everybody should try barbells,” Larson says. “If somebody is curious about lifting a barbell, absolutely do it. And if you look at a barbell and you think, ‘Eh, not for me,’ there are plenty of ways around it.” TL;DR: Try whichever weight intrigues you When used correctly, dumbbells, kettlebells, and barbells can all help you get in a solid workout and build strength. And every one of them will engage your stabilizer muscles more than a weight machine would. “It's going to challenge your torso, and it's also going to challenge your joint stabilizers,” Larson says. This builds the kind of all-around strength that can help keep us healthy as we age. While it’s always ideal to have a trainer guide you—especially when you’re brand new to a piece of equipment—if you don’t have the resources to hire someone, Larson says you shouldn’t let that stop you. “I think it's completely reasonable for anybody to try any of these modalities on their own,” she says. Larson recommends that anyone who’s curious about various free weights go ahead and try each, testing to see which ones they like best for which movements. “Remember that the more you explore, the more tools you have so that on days when the gym is really busy, you can be flexible with equipment,” she says. Well+Good articles reference scientific, reliable, recent, robust studies to back up the information we share. You can trust us along your wellness journey. Lopez P, Radaelli R, Taaffe DR, Newton RU, Galvão DA, Trajano GS, Teodoro JL, Kraemer WJ, Häkkinen K, Pinto RS. Resistance Training Load Effects on Muscle Hypertrophy and Strength Gain: Systematic Review and Network Meta-analysis. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2021 Jun 1;53(6):1206-1216. doi: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000002585. Erratum in: Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2022 Feb 1;54(2):370. doi: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000002838. PMID: 33433148; PMCID: PMC8126497.

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waycleverblog · 2 years ago

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9 Compound Exercises For Total Body Workouts

Introduction: Staying physically fit is an integral part of a healthy lifestyle, but it can be challenging to know which exercises to do when you hit the gym. Focus on exercises that target multiple muscle groups to make the most of your time and maximize your workout. This will help you to achieve a full-body activity in a fraction of the time. In this article, we'll look at some of the best exercises you can do to target your entire body. From cardio to strength training, these exercises will help you tone up, get stronger, and improve your overall fitness. So, grab your gym bag and get ready to learn about the top exercises for total body workouts (Exercises Work The Most Muscle Groups?)!

What are Compound Exercises?

Compound exercises are multi-joint movements that work for several muscle groups at once. This type of exercise is designed to mimic real-life movements, providing functional benefits for daily activities and giving you the strength and mobility you need to tackle any challenge. It's no wonder that compound exercises are so popular among athletes and gym-goers alike. Squats, deadlifts, and bench presses are compound exercises that can help you build strength, power, and size efficiently. Plus, you can get a great workout relatively quickly because you're using more than one muscle group simultaneously. So if you're looking to get more robust and agile fast, compound exercises are the way to go! Benefits of Compound Exercises - Increased muscle activation: Compound exercises require more muscle fibers to be recruited, leading to increased muscle activation and growth. - Improved strength and stability: By targeting multiple muscle groups, compound exercises help to build overall strength and stability, making daily activities easier. - Time-efficient: Compound exercises provide a full-body workout in less time than performing isolation exercises for each muscle group. - Better hormone response: Compound exercises stimulate the release of growth hormones, leading to improved muscle mass and strength.

Compound Exercises

I. Squats: Targeting the Quads, Hamstrings, Glutes, and Core Squats are a powerful compound exercise that targets multiple muscle groups in one movement. This multi-joint movement works the quads, hamstrings, glutes, and core. Squats also activate the stabilizing muscles in the shoulders and spine, making them an excellent exercise for overall strength and balance. How to perform Squats: - Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, with toes pointing forward. - Keep the back straight, chest up, and gaze ahead. - Lower the hips back and down as if sitting in a chair, keeping the knees behind the toes. - Go down as far as you can while keeping your heels flat on the floor, then push back up to starting position. - Repeat for desired reps. II. Push-Ups: Engaging the Chest, Shoulders, Triceps, and Core Push-Ups are a classic bodyweight exercise that targets the chest, shoulders, triceps, and core. This multi-joint movement is an excellent example of compound exercises that can be done with just your body weight. Push-Ups are an effective way to quickly build strength and endurance in your arms, chest, and core. How to perform Push-Ups: - Start in a plank position with hands placed slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. - Keep the core engaged and lower the body until the chest touches the ground. - Push back up to starting position. - Repeat for desired reps. III. Lunges: Working the Quads, Hamstrings, and Glutes Lunges are multi-joint movements that target multiple muscle groups and are great for total body workouts. This exercise works the quads, hamstrings, and glutes while also engaging the core, arms, and shoulders. Lunges are a great compound exercise that can be done without equipment and is an excellent option for resistance training. How to perform Lunges: - Stand with feet hip-width apart. - Take a significant step forward with one foot, then bend both knees to lower the back knee down towards the ground. - The front knee should be directly above the ankle, and the back knee should be hovering just above the ground. - Push through the front heel to return to starting position. - Repeat on the other side. IV. Burpees: Targeting the Chest, Arms, Quads, Glutes, and Core Burpees are a total body workout that targets the chest, arms, quads, glutes, and core. This multi-joint movement is a compound exercise that provides resistance training and can be done without equipment. Burpees are a great way to increase your heart rate for a quick and efficient workout. How to perform Burpees: - Start standing with feet shoulder-width apart. - Lower down into a squat position, place hands on the ground, then jump feet back into a plank position. - Perform a push-up. - Quickly jump feet back to the outside of the hands. - Leap into the air with arms reaching overhead. - Repeat for desired reps. V. Pull-Ups: Engaging the Upper Back, Biceps, and Core Pull-Ups are a fantastic exercise for building overall upper body strength and can be a great addition to any total body workout. This multi-joint movement works the upper back, biceps, and core, making it a great compound exercise. Pull-Ups use your body weight as resistance, making them a challenging and practical training session. How to perform Pull-Ups: - Grab a pull-up bar with palms facing away from the body and hands shoulder-width apart. - Hang from the bar with arms fully extended, then pull the body towards the bar until the chin is above the bar. - Lower the body back down with control. - Repeat for desired reps. VI. Rows: Targeting the Back Muscles and Biceps Rows are often overlooked, but they are an excellent compound exercise for total body workouts. This multi-joint movement targets the back muscles and biceps, making it an ideal activity for resistance training. Rows can be done with bodyweight exercises or with weights, machines, and bodyweight exercises for added difficulty. How to perform Rows: - Grab a pair of dumbbells and bend forward at the hips until your torso is almost parallel to the ground. - Let the weights hang down towards the ground, then pull the weights up towards the torso, keeping elbows close to the body. - Lower the weights back down with control. - Repeat for desired reps. VII. Step-Ups: Working the Quads, Hamstrings, Glutes, and Core Step-Ups are a classic bodyweight exercise that provides a total body workout. This multi-joint exercise is a compound movement that targets multiple muscle groups, including the quads, hamstrings, glutes, and core. Step-Ups are a form of resistance training and a great addition to your workout routine if you want to work for multiple muscle groups. How to perform Step-Ups: - Stand in front of a bench or step with feet hip-width apart. - Place one foot on the bench, then push through that foot to raise the body onto the bench. - Step back down with the opposite foot. - Repeat for desired reps on one side before switching to the other side. VIII. Deadlifts. Deadlifts are one of the most effective exercises for working for multiple muscle groups. It works all the major muscles of your lower body, including your glutes, quads, hamstrings, and calves. It also engages the core and upper body muscles, such as your back and arms. This makes it a great full-body exercise. How to perform Deadlifts: - Stand with your feet hip-width apart and the barbell in front of you on the ground. - Bend your knees and grab the barbell with both hands, using either an overhand or mixed grip (one hand overhand and one hand underhand). - Keep your back straight and your core engaged as you lift the bar off the ground, straightening your legs until you're standing up straight. - Lower the bar back down to the ground, bending your knees and keeping your back straight. - Repeat for the desired number of reps. IX. Plyometric Jumps. Plyometric jumps are a great way to work multiple muscle groups in a single exercise. Plyometrics involves explosive movements that engage both the upper and lower body muscles. Plyometric jumps require you to use your calves, hamstrings, quads, glutes, abdomen, and core for stability. You also engage your arm muscles to generate enough power to lift your body off the ground when you jump. How to perform Plyometric Jumps: - Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and your knees slightly bent. - Lower your body into a squat position, keeping your chest up and your back straight. - Explode upward off the ground, jumping as high as you can. - Land softly on the balls of your feet, absorbing the impact by bending your knees. - Immediately jump again, repeating for the desired number of reps.

Compound exercises can encourage the body

For younger individuals: - Improves coordination and balance - Builds strength and muscle mass - Reduces the risk of injury For older individuals: - Increases bone density - Improves balance and stability - Helps maintain independence and mobility For individuals with low fitness levels: - Helps improve cardiovascular health - Builds a solid foundation of strength and endurance - Increases overall fitness level For individuals with high fitness levels: - Increases endurance and strength - Improves athletic performance - Challenges the body in new ways For individuals with weight loss goals: - Burns more calories in less time - Increases metabolism and fat-burning potential - Builds lean muscle mass For individuals with strength and muscle-building goals: - Maximizes muscle activation and growth - Increases overall strength - Improves athletic performance

Tips for Getting the Most Out of Compound Exercises

- Warm-up before each workout: Make sure to warm up to prevent injury and improve performance. - Focus on form: Proper form is essential when performing compound exercises. Focus on maintaining good condition and avoid swinging or using momentum to complete the training. - Incorporate different variations: Mix up your routine by incorporating different variations of each exercise, such as barbell squats, dumbbell deadlifts, or weighted pull-ups. - Use proper weight: Choose the appropriate weight for each exercise, challenge yourself, and avoid overloading your muscles.

Compound exercises into your workout routine!

- Warm-up: 5-10 minutes of light cardio (jogging, jumping jacks, etc.) to get your heart rate up and prepare your muscles for exercise. - Barbell Squats: 3 sets of 8-12 reps. - Barbell Deadlifts: 3 sets of 8-12 reps. - Barbell Bench Press: 3 sets of 8-12 reps. - Bent Over Barbell Row: 3 sets of 8-12 reps. - Standing Military Press: 3 sets of 8-12 reps. - Pull-Ups: 3 sets of 8-12 reps. - Barbell Curls: 3 sets of 8-12 reps. - Lateral Raises 3 sets of 8-12 reps. - Cool down: 5-10 minutes of light cardio and stretching to help prevent injury and promote recovery.

Important safety considerations

- Proper form: It is crucial to use an appropriate format for each exercise to avoid injury and benefit the most from the workout. If you need help performing an exercise correctly, consider working with a personal trainer or researching the proper form online. - Gradual progression: Start with lighter weights and fewer reps, and gradually increase the weight and reps over time as your strength improves. This will help you avoid overuse injuries and ensure that your muscles are adequately prepared for the exercise demands. - Warm up: Always start with a warm-up of 5-10 minutes of light cardio to increase your heart rate and prepare your muscles for the workout. This can help prevent injury and improve performance. - Listen to your body: Stop and reassess your form if you experience pain or discomfort while exercising. If necessary, reduce the weight or switch to a different activity that doesn't cause discomfort. - Rest and recovery: Give your muscles time to recover between workouts. Avoid working for the same muscle groups two days a row and take rest days as needed. Proper rest and recovery are essential for preventing injury and promoting muscle growth.

FAQs

Q: What are some of the benefits of doing compound exercises? A: Some of the benefits of compound exercises include increased calorie expenditure, improved coordination and balance, increased muscular activation, and improved strength and power. Q: How can compound exercises help to improve overall fitness levels? A: Compound exercises can help to improve overall fitness levels by increasing the amount of energy expended, improving muscular activation, and increasing strength and power. Q: What are some of the most effective compound exercises for building muscle? A: Some of the most effective compound exercises for building muscle include squats, deadlifts, lunges, and pull-ups. Q: What is the difference between single-joint exercises and compound exercises? A: The difference between single-joint and compound exercises is that single-joint exercises involve only one joint, while compound exercises involve multiple joints.

In conclusion:

In simpler terms, when it comes to working out, you have many options that can target multiple muscle groups simultaneously. Whether you opt for a simple exercise like a burpee or a more challenging one like a snatch or clean and jerk, there are many ways to get your entire body moving. To reach your fitness goals effectively, make sure to include exercises that target multiple muscle groups. This way, you'll be able to maximize your time at the gym and see the results you want more quickly. The exercises mentioned in this article are all great options for a full-body workout that will give you the results you're looking for. Read the full article

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lavendermiilk · 6 years ago

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HIT, HIIT…or HIIRT? – Theory To Practice

“To be really great in little things, to be truly noble and heroic in the insipid details of everyday life, is a virtue so rare as to be worthy of canonization.” – Harriet Beecher Stowe

The ARXFit Alpha providing this particular session’s HIIRT train caboose. Huh…

Curious as to what the differences are between HIT, HIIT and HIIRT? Well, what follows are what I consider to be the high points. Tomes could be written on the similarities between these methodologies, but I think the following gives a pretty good overview.

First, a couple of definitions:

HIT – High Intensity Training: The area covered by the overarching umbrella of classic High Intensity Training (HIT) is wide indeed, including such broad-stroke methodologies as classic, single-set-to-failure HIT, and various super-slow routines. Included too, are all manner of TUL (time under load), repetition tempo, and rest period manipulations. Methodologies here are largely those popularized by Arthur Jones (of Nautilus fame) and bodybuilding’s Mike Mentzer.

Note: for info on “training to failure” see this post.

HIIT – High Intensity Interval Training: Most studies on classic High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) focus on only sprint (running) and/or cycle sprint sessions, because that’s what’s available and most easily studied in a lab setting. A good article summarizing HIIT, and its positive effects, here.

HIIRT – High Intensity Interval Resistance Training: At it’s most basic, HIIRT is a powerful burst of output (typically 20 – 80 seconds), followed by a scaled rest period. Wash, rinse, repeat. Think HIIT Tabata sprints — but with heavy resistance exercises. Brief, brutal and basic are key words here. I’ve fused elements of CrossFit, and the work of folks such as Scott Abel, Istavan Javorek, and Joel Jamieson (in addition to whole slew of others) — along with my own, 35+ years-in-the-trenches experience — to create my own methodology. Hints of HIT? You know it. Shades of HIIT? Yeah, that too. I come from a background of slinging iron as a way of bettering performance on the track and on the gridiron. I came of age in an atmosphere that knew no S&C dogma — if it worked, it worked, and that’s all that ultimately mattered. And that’s the credo I operate by today.

HIT, HIIT, or HIIRT — what’s the difference?

Generally speaking, the distinction lay in the overall intent of each individual “set” (or output burst). HIT attempts to attain total muscular failure (within an allotted time window) in the targeted musculature, whereas HIIT and HIIRT attempt to attain as many repetitions (or highest cumulative work or power output) as possible within a set, or established time period. With HIT, each exercise is generally performed once through, to failure. In HIIT or HIIRT, an exercise may be performed 2, 3 or even many more times within a workout. I say “generally” here because there is much overlapping and gray area within these methodologies. HIIT is definitely a conditioning-biased protocol — i.e., Metabolic Conditioning, or MetCon, for short — whereas we can consider HIIRT a hybrid of both HIT and HIIT. And a HIIRT session may be, depending upon how it is set up, strength, hypertrophy, or MetCon (strength endurance) biased. Confused? Don’t be; this will all make sense soon enough.

Can you give an example?

Sure. Here’s an example of what I consider to be a classic HIIRT workout: six distinct exercises, 3 upper body dominant exercises alternated with 3 lower body dominant, all set in a circuit format. Each exercise is performed all-out, full-bore (as many reps or the most force and/or power developed as possible) for 1 full minute. Then, rest for 1 full minute before beginning the next exercise in succession. Wash, rinse and repeat. Each exercise will be performed twice during the 2-round duration of the workout. If you’re doing the math, we’ve got 24 minutes worth of work and rest here. Even allowing for some degree of spillover, we can still get this workout done in 30 minutes. Brief, brutal, basic…and extremely effective. Consider this scenario:

(A1) Tbar swings (A2) Powermax 360 push-pull/cross-punch (30 secs each exercise, shift on the fly) (A3) ARXFit leg press (A4) ARXFit flat press (A5) Reverse lunge iso hold with dumbbell curls (30 secs each leg, shift on the fly) (A6) Blast strap rows

The actual exercises are not so important at this juncture; what is important is the overall workout setup. I could crank the intensity up a notch here by reducing the rest period between each exercise to say 45 or even 30 seconds, by bumping-up the work period, or by increasing the exercise resistance. By virtue of me using resistance exercises here I’ve just morphed a classic HIIT setup (which could have used sprints, hops, jumps, bodyweight exercises, etc.) into a resistance-based interval circuit, or HIIRT, with, in this example, a decidedly MetCon (metabolic conditioning) bias.

So achieving total muscular failure is not a goal of a HIIRT session?

Not necessarily. Remember when I said that there are no hard lines of distinction between these various protocols? Consider the following, more strength/hypertrophy-biased (as opposed to the previous example’s MetCon-biased), upper body emphasis HIIRT workout:

(A1) OmniFit pec flye x 5 hyper reps (A2) Leverage machine flat press (negative emphasis, to failure), 50X0 (A3) Bent over row 20X0, 7 reps short pause, 7 more reps

(B1) Hip press with bands, (negative emphasis, to failure), 50X0 (B2) Russian leg curls 30X0, 7 reps short pause, 7 more reps

Notice the very HIT-like feel of the flat press and hip press execution.

*note: the (for example) 30X0 annotation denotes the exercise repetition tempo in the eccentric, pause, concentric, pause format. 30X0 would, therefore, be performed with a 3 second negative, followed by no pause leading into a fast-as-possible concentric, with an immediate return to the subsequent negative. Note, too, that there is a profound difference between “exploding” into the concentric portion of a movement, and “jerking” into the motion. There is a time and place for ballistic, “jerking” movements for sure — just not with this protocol.

Two rounds of each can certainly be accomplished in 30 minutes if the rest period between exercises is held sufficiently brief (i.e., less than 1 minute). Extending the rest period will require eliminating the pre-exhaust exercise (in this case, the OmniFit flye), which is fine, considering that if a client is not yet up to the fast-paced nature of the workout to begin with, they probably aren’t in need of a pre-exhaust anyway.

So what are the advantages of HIIRT vs other forms of training?

Well, what we’ve done at Efficient Exercise is essentially turn what would be considered a huge disadvantage (a 30-minute session time constraint) into a decided advantage for the client. Not only do Efficient Exercise clients need only invest an hour or so per week in the studio to achieve an optimum level of health, but that investment pays huge dividends when it comes to effective fat loss and muscle gain.

How does HIIRT maximize fat loss?

Well, there are many ways and associated reasons, but here are the main points to consider:

The bottom line? In order to maximize fat loss, we must elevate growth hormone secretion, minimize insulin spikes, improve muscle insulin sensitivity, and keep cortisol under control. This is best achieved by keeping training sessions brief, brutal, basic and intermittent.

The other side of the coin is, of course, muscle gain. To induce muscle growth we must stimulate protein synthesis in muscle tissue. Protein synthesis is initiated by an exercise/movement that most effectively:

And the take-home message is this: Recruit and fatigue as many muscle fibers as possible, as fast as possible, and ensure adequate post-workout recovery and nutrition following the workouts. Remember, exercise ought to be considered a high-amplitude signal that subsequently affects the body’s on-going, anabolic hormonal milieu. Too much is too much; too little is too little. Profound, I know — and yet it is so very true.

So how do we get these two processes to work hand-in-hand, creating an anabolic environment for muscle growth, while at the same time forcing the body to use fat stores to help meet energy demands?

Note: diet plays a HUGE role here as well. The focus of this section, though, is exercise protocol selection.

1. Stimulate muscle growth with compound exercises, performed for 6-20 repetitions to failure (if strength/hypertrophy is sought), or for max work or power output (if MetCon biased).

The repetition range, together with the execution tempo, will determine the nature of muscle fiber recruitment. We want to recruit, tax and fully exhaust as many fibers as possible, including slow twitch, intermediate, and fast-twitch fibers. As with all strength exercises, slow twitch fibers are recruited first, then as the muscles fatigue, intermediate and finally fast twitch fibers are recruited if and only if the set is continued until fatigue sets in.

Muscle growth is best achieved when the exercises are performed with controlled eccentric movements and continuous tension. Make an effort to minimize momentum unless the nature of the exercise dictates otherwise.

2. Improve insulin sensitivity by performing a sufficient volume of work.

Multiple (2 or 3) sets performed within the 6-20 repetition range is best for depleting muscle glycogen (and stimulating protein synthesis). During HIIRT training, muscle glycogen is broken down at a rapid rate, which results in improved muscle insulin sensitivity and increased LPL (lipoprotein lipase) activity on muscle tissue, causing nutrients to be preferentially partitioned towards muscle tissue. Insulin sensitivity increases on muscle cells when glycogen stores are low. When this occurs, nutrients are partitioned into the muscle tissue and fat stores are broken down.

3. Increases in testosterone.

4. Maximize GH production with short rest interval HIIRT circuits.

GH is most effectively released performing strength circuits where both upper and lower body muscles are fully taxed, and keeping rest intervals short.

HIIRT leads to a significant drop in blood pH (via the rapid breakdown of glycogen and subsequent release of hydrogen ions), which in turn triggers increased production in GH.

An interesting aside: contrary to popular belief, it’s not lactic acid that causes muscle burn; this is actually the result of lowered blood pH creating an acidic environment, thereby resulting in that old, familiar, muscle burn and fatigue. The brain senses the situation and increases output of GH.

We know that testosterone is important for recovery, shedding fat and building muscle — but what’s so great about growth hormone?

Plenty. GH has been shown to stimulate fat breakdown (lipolysis), increase the utilization of fat, and decrease the use of carbohydrate as fuel. GH has beneficial effects on muscle mass, bone density, body fat, and it can help reverse some of the age-related changes in lean body mass (sarcopenea).

GH has also been shown to act as a suppressive on myostatin. And myostatin, you may remember, inhibits muscle growth and is a negative regulator of muscle tissue. Higher GH release means lower myostatin expression; lower myostatin can result in increased anabolic activity and an increase in androgen receptor expression.

Research shows that circuit strength training (and high intensity sprint training) are both effective methods for naturally elevating GH secretion in healthy adults. It is my opinion that these effects can be greatly enhanced by adding a resistance exercise element — HIIRT — to the mix.

*Also*: please check out my post ARXFit, and the Perfect Rep. Because all of this methodology is less-than-effective unless the basic building blocks are solidified. And yes, ARXFit for sure enables a perfect repetition, but the lessons learned here can for sure be applied to conventional exercise methods.

Heal thyself, hone thyself, change the world – Keith

This content was originally published here.

from https://makingthebest.com/hit-hiit-or-hiirt-theory-to-practice/

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diaphanousing · 6 years ago

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Top 10 Muscle Building Tips

Building muscle is a fairly standard process. You decide how many sets, reps and exercises you’re going to do, bring all this information together in a workout and then follow it through. However, if you want to get the best possible results when it comes to building up your muscles, there are a number of other tips you can implement. In this article I’m going to be sharing the Top 10 Muscle Building Tips with you and helping you maximize your muscle growth.

1. Focus On Form

If you want to avoid injury and get the maximum muscle building benefit from your workouts, you need to be focusing on form. Therefore, before you start hitting the heavy weights, practice new exercises a few times with a light weight and make sure your form is perfect. Then once your form is perfect, you can start increasing the amount of weight you lift while maintaining good form.

2. Aim For Consistent Improvements

Another thing you need to be doing to get maximum muscle growth is aiming to improve every week. If possible, increase the amount of weight you’re lifting during each workout while maintaining the same number of sets and reps. However, if you can’t manage this every time, increase the number of reps you perform instead. Doing this will constantly push your muscles and stimulate new muscle growth on a regular basis.

3. Start With Compound Exercises & Finish With Isolation Exercises

Compound exercises do a great job of targeting multiple muscle groups and allow you to lift heavier weights than you can with isolation exercises. Therefore, if you start your muscle building workouts off with compound exercises, you’ll be able to target all your main muscle groups with maximum intensity. Then you can drop the weight slightly and finish each muscle group off with isolation exercises. The end result is more total weight lifted and a more efficient workout for all your muscles.

4. Use Barbells, Dumbbells & Machines

While it is possible to build muscle by using just one type of equipment, if you want to get the maximum benefit from your workouts, you should be incorporating barbells, dumbbells and machines. All these pieces of equipment target your muscles in different ways and by using all three, you can have the most effective muscle building workouts possible.

5. Try New Exercises

While it is a good idea to have some core muscle building exercises that you stick to, it’s also a good idea to try new exercises every few weeks. Doing this keeps your muscle building efforts fresh and interesting and also prevents you from becoming complacent and going through the motions when you workout.

6. Drink Plenty Of Water

Water supports smooth muscle contractions and helps you maintain your performance when you workout. However, the act of working out causes you to sweat and lose water. Therefore, it’s essential that you drink plenty of water to replace the water you lose when you sweat and to maintain optimal performance when lifting the weights.

7. Don’t Neglect Your Forearms

Since the vast majority of weightlifting exercises involve holding barbells or dumbbells, strong forearms are essential. However, the vast majority of people don’t incorporate specific forearm exercises into their workouts. Therefore, if you want to perform at your peak during every lift and ensure that your forearms don’t let you down, include some weekly forearm strengthening exercises in your workout program.

8. Eat The Right Foods

Even the best muscle building workout program requires a strong nutritional foundation to be successful. So make sure you base all your meals around protein, fill up on healthy fats regularly and eat natural, nutrient rich carbohydrates. Doing this will boost your energy levels, stimulate muscle growth, help you recover faster between workouts and much more.

9. Get At Least 6 Hours Of Sleep Each Night

Sleep has two main benefits when it comes to building muscle. First, it increases your growth hormone levels and this enhances muscle growth. Second, getting at least 6 hours of sleep per night has a positive impact on your physical performance and allows you to lift to your maximum potential.

10. Take One Full Day Off Each Week

Although consistent training is essential if you want to build big strong muscles, you also need to be giving your muscles enough time to rest and recover. Therefore, make sure you take at least one full day off from physical activity each week. Use this day to rest, relax and allow your muscles to recuperate and grow back stronger.

#muscle building

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apexatropinmalebooster-blog · 6 years ago

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Apexatropin - Increase Staying Power

It belongs to a group of compounds known as Apexatropin which in plain English, means chemical compounds found in plants. Supplements can be very useful and should be utilized by anyone trying to gain muscle. Just don't over do it on things you don't need to cram into your body. The most important thing is to establish a proper workout program and nutrition plan. Do you have a high sex drive? Do you feel that your libido is low? These two feelings can be the result of a number of things, but more than likely, it's a penis enlargement issue. You see there is a form of Apexatropin penis enlargement called penis enlargement exercises that you can do that will totally revolutionize your love life.

If you haven't heard of penis exercises, now is a great time to learn more about them. Boosting your Testosterone Booster level is also a must to answer the question of how to build muscle mass. Exercises that involves many different muscles are going to increase your testosterone much more than isolation exercises. Try doing major exercises such as squats, power cleans, clean and presses, and Apexatropin to raise your testosterone levels. Let's be fair, though, not all of the facts have surfaced just yet. But in almost all steroid-related cases in Major League Baseball, there's smoke initially, then fire as long as the eye can see.

Another great herb which is an intrinsic ingredient in many male enhancement supplements and pills. Though it is a great brain tonic, it also enhances blood flow to the genitals. Not only this, it also helps increase Apexatropin levels in blood to ensure blood vessel dilation resulting in increased blood flow to the erectile tissue. This ensures stiffer and harder erections. Once you find your program, commit to it and work it hard. If you program is 4 days a week, be sure to train four days a week. If you need 200 grams of protein, get 200 grams of protein EVERYDAY. This is called CONSISTENCY. Do this for years and you will gain Apexatropin Manny was on the steroid suspect list.

You know, the list of players who hadn't been officially "outed" but were in the back of every fan's mind. Then a little time passed and the Testosterone Booster focus shifted to A-Rod. We began to think Apexatropin was squeaky clean and in the clear. Now if it is your goal to get ripped then you\'ll want to hit the heavier weights eventually (not right away). But if it\'s your goal to get toned then you might want to moderate your workouts a bit more or workout a bit less frequently. You Testosterone Booster must do heavy multiple joint muscle building exercises in order to put slabs of mass on your frame. It is important to focus on the heavy basics rather than trying to isolate and train each

muscle separately. To build a big foundation you need to lift heavy weights with exercises that tax your whole body. The best choices for you are the deadlift, squat, dips, pull ups, Apexatropin and standing barbell presses. If you want to be able to build as much muscle as your are capable of then you need to increase the testosterone levels in your body. There are natural ways that you can accomplish this. Here are four ways to naturally increase your testosterone levels. Lastly, if you want that extra 10% edge, consider some supplements to help you get jacked fast. A product I like is the recovery shake by Apexatropin because it has hydrolyzed whey protein mixed with carbs.

Hydrolyzed whey is the only type of whey protein powder that can be absorbed into the bloodstream fast enough to immediately help with recovery and muscle building. Again, this is only for those who want just a little more of an edge, because your workout routine and your diet are going to be much more important for getting jacked fast. Many muscle building products today claim to provide assistance in attaining a lean muscle mass. They are also said to be useful in burning Apexatropin away excess fats quickly. As there are so many muscle building products out there, most people will have a hard time finding the best one that will really help and work for them. Don't be a social butterfly at the gym.

If you are a skinny guy you really need to have a sense of purpose and focus on why you are there. Think of it like going to work and you only have 45 minutes to get the job done or you don't get paid no matter how much work you completed. When you train with weights for longer than 45 minutes your Testosterone Booster levels start to immediately drop by as much as 80%. Testosterone is your muscle building hormone and you need as much in your body as possible to gain muscle fast. Apexatropin Do not go past the 45 minute mark! If you do you risk having all your hard work giving you minimal or possibly no return. Get in and get out. Let's be fair, though, not all of the facts have surfaced just yet. But in almost all steroid-related cases in Major League Baseball, there's smoke initially, then fire as long as the eye can see.

https://www.fitdiettrends.com/apexatropin/

https://apexatropinmalebooster.podbean.com/e/apexatropin-increase-staying-power/

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/672795631815506886/ https://soundcloud.com/user-762747881/apexatropin

#health #fitness

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anamorales · 4 years ago

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The 12 Best Compound Exercises for Beginners (How to Train Efficiently)

It’s time to discover the best compound exercises for beginners!

Compound exercises are the most “bang for your buck” when it comes to working out, so I’m super excited you want to learn more about them!

In our 1-on-1 Online Coach Program, we prioritize compound exercises when building workout routines for our clients. We’ll explain why today.

Nerd Fitness Coaches build workouts for any situation. Click here to learn more.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

What are compound exercises? (How to train efficiently)

The 5 best compound exercises (bodyweight)

The 7 best compound exercises (barbell)

Start training with compound exercises (Next steps)

Also, if you’re in a hurry, we’ve compiled all our strength and weight training content into one handy guide called (appropriately): Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know.

Grab it for free when you join the Rebellion (that’s us!) below:

Download our comprehensive guide STRENGTH TRAINING 101!

Everything you need to know about getting strong.

Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.

How to find the right gym and train properly in one.

Alright, cue the music. Let’s do this thang.

What are Compound Exercises?

Let’s compare “compound exercises” to “isolation exercises”:

Compound exercises require more than one muscle group working together to complete the movement. This replicates the way your body naturally moves.

Isolation exercises more or less train one specific muscle group. For example, the leg extension machine focuses on your quads, so it “isolates” training that muscle.

Front squats would be an example of a compound exercise, because it engages your entire lower body and core, and quite a bit of your upper body too, as you perform the movement:

As opposed to biceps curls, which more or less just trains your biceps:

As we explain in our Guide to Functional Fitness, whenever possible you want to focus on compound exercises.

Why?

Because in everyday life, you don’t use your muscles in isolation!

When you’re placing luggage in the overhead bin, hoisting a bag of dog food from the floor, or hauling your kid to bed, you’re using your muscle groups together.

Just like you would with a compound exercise.

Plus, since you’re using multiple muscle groups at once, you’re taxing your body more when training. This can provide more efficient use of your time in the gym.

In other words, why do three different exercises when you can just do one?

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s get to working out.

The 5 Best Compound Exercises (Bodyweight)

1) The Push-up: The best exercise you could ever do for yourself when it comes to using your bodyweight for “push muscles.”

Muscles trained with the push-up:

Pectoral

Triceps

Deltoids

Abs

Here’s our video on how to do a proper push-up:

youtube

Easier Variation: Knee Push-up

Tougher Variation: Decline Push-up

2) The Bodyweight Squat: This exercise serves a dual purpose – it is the foundation for building strength AND helps build proper mobility. If you are going to ever do barbell squats, you need to work on hitting proper depth with a bodyweight squat first!

Muscles trained with the squat:

Quads

Glutes

Hamstrings

Core muscles

youtube

Easier Variation: Assisted Bodyweight Squat

Tougher Variation: Goblet Squat

3) The Inverted Bodyweight Row: Until you can get your first pull-up or chin-up, these exercises are GREAT to start building your pull-muscle strength.

Muscles trained with the inverted row:

All of your back muscles (Latissimus dorsi, rhomboids, trapezius)

Biceps

Forearm muscles (dorsal, ventral)

Your grip

Easier Variation: Incline Inverted Row

Tougher Variation: Elevated Feet Inverted Row

4) The Pull-up and Chin-up: Once you can support your body’s weight above the bar, the world becomes your playground. No strength training routine should be without pull-up or chin-up work! (Can’t do a pull-up yet? We got you.)

Muscles trained with the pull-up:

All of your back muscles (Latissimus dorsi, rhomboids, trapezius)

Biceps

Latissimus dorsi (Lats)

Trapezius (Traps)

Abs

Your grip

Here’s how to perform a proper pull-up:

youtube

Easier Variation: Negative Pull-ups

Tougher Variation: Weighted Pull-ups

5) The Bodyweight Dip: As you start to get stronger with push-ups and need to find a way to increase the challenge, consider doing dips.

Warning: these are very advanced, but are incredible strength-building exercises.

Muscles trained with the dips:

Pectoral

Triceps

Deltoids

Rhomboid (Back muscles)

Abs

Easier Variation: Assisted Dips

Tougher Variation: Weighted Dips

These 5 compound exercises will propel you into the world of bodyweight training.

For more ideas on how to train without a gym, check out The 42 Best Bodyweight Exercises (Work Out Anywhere).

Now, it’s barbell time![1]

The 7 Best Compound Exercises (Barbell)

After getting comfortable moving your own bodyweight around, it’s time to start training with barbells!

To up the difficulty with these compound exercises, simply add more weight.

The fun thing about barbells: you can almost always add more weight (disclaimer: provided you do it safely).

Here are The Best Barbell Compound Exercises:

6) The Barbell Squat: Probably the best compound exercise when it comes to building strength and muscle throughout your whole body.

Show me somebody who squats heavy and I’ll show you a great physique. This is a MUST.

Here’s how to perform the barbell back squat:

youtube

Muscles trained with the barbell squat:

Quads

Glutes

Hamstrings

Core muscles

7) The Barbell Deadlift: Maybe the best exercise of all time.

It’s certainly the most primal: “pick the weight up off the ground. Done.”

Here’s how to perform the deadlift:

youtube

Muscles trained with the barbell deadlift:

Glutes

Erectors (Spinal muscle)

Hamstrings

Pretty much every muscle in your body

9) The Barbell Romanian Deadlift: Think of this as the top half of a conventional deadlift (imagine you’re a “drinking bird” bending over at the waist):

Here are step-by-step instructions on how to perform the Romanian deadlift:

youtube

Muscles trained with the Romanian deadlift:

Hamstrings

Glutes

Erectors (Spinal muscle)

Rhomboid (Back muscles)

10) The Barbell Overhead Press: Press a barbell above your head.

Muscles trained with the overhead press:

Pectoral

Triceps

Deltoids

Rhomboid (Back muscles)

Abs

All the muscles in your chest, shoulders, and arms are engaged in order for you to lift the weight over your head. As a bonus, you need to really flex and brace your core, which gets those muscles working too.

Here are step-by-step instructions on how to perform the overhead press:

youtube

11) The Barbell Bench Press: Lie on a bench, and lower a barbell until it almost touches your chest. Pause, and then press it back up towards the sky.

Repeat! And get strong.

Here are step-by-step instructions on how to perform the bench press:

youtube

Muscles trained with the benchpress:

Pectoral

Triceps

Deltoids

Rhomboid (Back muscles)

Abs

Pretty much every muscle in your upper-body

12) The Barbell Bent-Over Row: Bend your torso over and hoist a barbell up.

Muscles trained with the bent-over row:

All of your back muscles (Latissimus dorsi, rhomboids, trapezius)

Biceps

Forearm muscles (dorsal, ventral)

Your grip

Here are step-by-step instructions on how to perform the bent-over row:

youtube

Note: The above might be tough if gyms are closed around you. If that’s so, here’s how to build a gym at home (using household equipment).

Start Performing the Best Compound Exercises (Next Steps)

Your mission, should you choose to accept it: commit to trying ONE of these compound movements in the next week. Use 20 seconds of courage, recruit a friend who has lifted or trained before, and try your best.

We all start somewhere!

Speaking of starting out…

Have you yet to do ANY of these compound exercises?

Always start out with bodyweight moves and make sure your form is correct!

If it’s a barbell movement, use a broomstick (or PVC Pipe).

youtube

When it comes to movements like squats, deadlifts, pull-ups, bench press, etc. – your form is crucial. Develop good habits with lighter weight and you will save yourself months of frustration later and will protect you from injury.

If you’re struggling with certain elements of a movement, don’t get frustrated! Just understand that you’ll have areas in which you can improve.

When I started, I really liked practicing all of the movements at home because I could watch a video online at the same time as I was watching myself do it in a mirror.

Film yourself and compare it to our videos, or post it to the form check section of the Nerd Fitness Forums.

Still uncomfortable with the movements after that? Look around at some local strength and conditioning gyms and see if you could hire a coach (here’s how to find a good trainer) for one or two sessions just to go over the basic movements (or consider working with an online coach).

No matter what path you take, the most important thing you can do: START NOW!

Don’t overthink it. Just pick a compound exercise and learn how to do it. We can add more exercises to your routine down the road.

Want a little help getting going? The perfect next step to start your strength training journey!

You got it.

Option #1) If you want a coach in your pocket, who can do video form checks, provide feedback, and adjust your workouts based on your progress, check out our 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program!

I’ve had an online coach since 2015 and it’s changed my life. You can learn more by clicking on the box below:

Our coaching program changes lives. Learn how!

Option #2) If you want a daily prompt for doing compound exercises at home, check out NF Journey. Our fun habit-building app helps you exercise more frequently, eat healthier, and level up your life (literally).

Plus, you get to build an awesome superhero in the process!

Try your free trial right here:

Option #3) Join the Rebellion! We need good people like you in our community, the Nerd Fitness Rebellion.

Sign-up below and receive our free guide Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know. It includes step-by-step instructions for the Best Compound Exercises covered in today’s guide.

Download our comprehensive guide STRENGTH TRAINING 101!

Everything you need to know about getting strong.

Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.

How to find the right gym and train properly in one.

Alright, enough from me. Your turn:

Do you agree with my list of best compound exercises?

Am I missing any?

Any tips or tricks for a newbie just getting started?

Let me know in the comments!

-Steve

PS: Make sure you check out the rest of our Strength Training 101 series:

5 Best Strength Training Workout Routines For Beginners

How Much Weight Should I Be Lifting?

Finding the Right Gym

###

GIF Source: Weighted Dips, Biceps Curl, Will Ferrell,

Photo Source: lightfieldstudios © 123RF.com, Workout, LEGO bench press, Lance Cpl. Tayler P. Schwamb, 101, 102, 103

Footnotes ( returns to text)

My favorite time.

The post The 12 Best Compound Exercises for Beginners (How to Train Efficiently) first appeared on Nerd Fitness.

The 12 Best Compound Exercises for Beginners (How to Train Efficiently) published first on https://immigrationways.tumblr.com/

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how2fit · 9 months ago

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Wall ball exercises are a staple in strength training workouts for their benefits to strength, power, and coordination. And because these exercises generally work all four limbs, you’re sure to get a full-body workout. If you’re up for a rounded test of your fitness, then we dare you to take the wall ball challenge. Read on for more on how to incorporate wall ball exercises into your routine. What Are Wall Ball Exercises? Wall ball exercises offer a compound, high-energy workout that involves throwing a weighted medicine ball against a wall or other hard upright surface. Many moves incorporate a lower-body component, combining the throw with a squat, a lunge, or a side shuffle, making it a full-body exercise with a high cardiovascular demand. Note that wall ball exercises are different from stability ball exercises, which involve a large, inflatable ball that most often remains on the floor and is used by the body for leverage. Wall ball exercises, conversely, require a smaller ball that is used specifically for throwing. How to Choose a Medicine Ball Medicine balls come in a range of weight options that generally run from five- to 30-pound loads. Typically, you’ll choose a wall ball based on your body size and the type of exercise you’re doing. Select lighter balls for speed training and heavier balls for power and strength workouts. There are two different types of balls to choose from: One is rubbery and bounces a lot, while the other larger, softer ball bounces very little. Each type of medicine ball customarily has a padded outside layer so that it can be gripped and caught easily. How to Do a Wall Ball Exercise Although there are many different wall ball exercises, the following is a tried-and-true wall ball movement designed to hit many muscles at once. Stand about two feet in front of a wall with your feet hip-width apart. Keep the wall ball between your hands at chest height. Squeeze your elbows into your sides. Sink into a squat until the crease of your hip is at or below your knees. Descend as low as you can, while maintaining a neutral arch in your spine. Keep the ball close to your chest on the way down. Keeping your chest up, push your body away from the floor and throw the ball at the wall, aiming for a spot about eight feet off the ground. Catch the ball following contact with the wall and sink back into your next squat. Repeat the exercise. Benefits of Wall Ball Exercises “Wall ball exercises are excellent additions to your fitness arsenal,” says Alison Heilig, a CrossFit coach, and NASM-certified personal trainer. Here are just a handful of reasons why we agree with Heilig. 1. Engage multiple muscle groups It’s pretty tough to find a wall ball exercise that doesn’t work for multiple major muscle groups. Most moves combine upper- and lower-body engagement, “and work basically your entire body in one compound movement,” Heilig says. You can build strength in your shoulders, core, chest, arms, glutes, and legs in a single rep. 2. Build explosive power Wall ball exercises are a great way to add some explosive power to your training, says Holly Janiszewski, a Minneapolis-based personal trainer and founder of Holly J Fitness. The important difference between power and strength is that power is force (strength) combined with speed. It requires a significant amount of force to slam the medicine ball against the wall and, over time, you may notice an increase in power that allows you to throw the ball harder and faster. 3. Boost your heart rate Because wall ball exercises recruit an impressive number of muscle groups, they’re good at getting you sweaty and breathless. So you’ll benefit from adding a few to a HIIT or circuit training routine to jack up your heart rate. You can create more of a cardio focus by choosing a lighter ball that can be thrown for more reps at a faster pace, Heilig says. 4. Improve balance and coordination No matter which variation you choose, wall ball exercises can help you develop greater balance and coordination.

To perform any wall ball exercise, you need to coordinate your mind and body. Wall Ball Exercise Variations Performing variations on wall ball exercises is a sure way to beat boredom. The following wall ball exercises build on the basic move for a more challenging workout. 1. Standing chest pass To target your shoulders, chest, and arms, try the standing chest pass. Stand at least three feet away from the wall with your feet shoulder-width apart (soften your knees to protect your joints). Hold the a soft wall ball between your hands at chest height. Engage your core and press down into the floor with your feet. Explosively throw the wall ball into the wall as hard as possible and catch it on its return. Continue to throw the ball back and forth repeatedly for reps. 2. Chest pass with lateral shuffle Not only does this exercise work your shoulders, chest, and arms, it also spikes your heart rate with quick, lateral movements. Follow the same instructions for the chest pass, but shuffle laterally from side to side (about 15 feet) as you throw the ball against the wall. So, throw, shuffle, throw, shuffle. 3. Wall ball side slam As you rotationally slam the ball against the wall, you’ll engage all the muscles that comprise your core. Stand sideways with your left shoulder a little more than arms-length away from a wall. Place your feet shoulder-width apart. Hold a wall ball with both hands at belly height and extend your arms out in front of you. Soften your elbows. Twist your torso away from the wall toward the center of the room. Then, turn your torso quickly back toward the wall to throw the ball against the wall as hard as possible. Catch the ball on the rebound and repeat continuously for the assigned rep count. Turn and repeat the drill on the other side. 4. Split-stance lateral toss The split stance lateral toss exercise targets multiple major muscle groups (shoulders, core, chest, arms, glutes, and legs), while challenging balance. Hold a wall ball with both hands at your chest and stand sideways about arms-length away from a wall. Come into a split-leg, lunge with both of your legs bent to 90 degrees. With the right side of your body turned towards the wall, step your left foot forward and your right foot back. Track your front knee vertically over your shin. Hover your back knee above the floor. Bring the ball to your outside hip, then twist your torso and toss the ball against the wall as hard as possible. Catch the ball on the rebound and immediately bring it back to your outside hip. Repeat for reps, then repeat the drill with the left side of your body turned towards the wall. Wall ball exercises are tough, but they’re also fun — especially if you need to blow off some steam after a frustrating day. Try out any variation at the end of a bad week, and you’ll see what we mean.

0 notes

lindafrancois · 4 years ago

Text

The 12 Best Compound Exercises for Beginners (How to Train Efficiently)

It’s time to discover the best compound exercises for beginners!

Compound exercises are the most “bang for your buck” when it comes to working out, so I’m super excited you want to learn more about them!

In our 1-on-1 Online Coach Program, we prioritize compound exercises when building workout routines for our clients. We’ll explain why today.

Nerd Fitness Coaches build workouts for any situation. Click here to learn more.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

What are compound exercises? (How to train efficiently)

The 5 best compound exercises (bodyweight)

The 7 best compound exercises (barbell)

Start training with compound exercises (Next steps)

Also, if you’re in a hurry, we’ve compiled all our strength and weight training content into one handy guide called (appropriately): Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know.

Grab it for free when you join the Rebellion (that’s us!) below:

Download our comprehensive guide STRENGTH TRAINING 101!

Everything you need to know about getting strong.

Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.

How to find the right gym and train properly in one.

Alright, cue the music. Let’s do this thang.

What are Compound Exercises?

Let’s compare “compound exercises” to “isolation exercises”:

Compound exercises require more than one muscle group working together to complete the movement. This replicates the way your body naturally moves.

Isolation exercises more or less train one specific muscle group. For example, the leg extension machine focuses on your quads, so it “isolates” training that muscle.

Front squats would be an example of a compound exercise, because it engages your entire lower body and core, and quite a bit of your upper body too, as you perform the movement:

As opposed to biceps curls, which more or less just trains your biceps:

As we explain in our Guide to Functional Fitness, whenever possible you want to focus on compound exercises.

Why?

Because in everyday life, you don’t use your muscles in isolation!

When you’re placing luggage in the overhead bin, hoisting a bag of dog food from the floor, or hauling your kid to bed, you’re using your muscle groups together.

Just like you would with a compound exercise.

Plus, since you’re using multiple muscle groups at once, you’re taxing your body more when training. This can provide more efficient use of your time in the gym.

In other words, why do three different exercises when you can just do one?

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s get to working out.

The 5 Best Compound Exercises (Bodyweight)

1) The Push-up: The best exercise you could ever do for yourself when it comes to using your bodyweight for “push muscles.”

Muscles trained with the push-up:

Pectoral

Triceps

Deltoids

Abs

Here’s our video on how to do a proper push-up:

youtube

Easier Variation: Knee Push-up

Tougher Variation: Decline Push-up

Muscles trained with the squat:

Quads

Glutes

Hamstrings

Core muscles

youtube

Easier Variation: Assisted Bodyweight Squat

Tougher Variation: Goblet Squat

3) The Inverted Bodyweight Row: Until you can get your first pull-up or chin-up, these exercises are GREAT to start building your pull-muscle strength.

Muscles trained with the inverted row:

All of your back muscles (Latissimus dorsi, rhomboids, trapezius)

Biceps

Forearm muscles (dorsal, ventral)

Your grip

Easier Variation: Incline Inverted Row

Tougher Variation: Elevated Feet Inverted Row

Muscles trained with the pull-up:

All of your back muscles (Latissimus dorsi, rhomboids, trapezius)

Biceps

Latissimus dorsi (Lats)

Trapezius (Traps)

Abs

Your grip

Here’s how to perform a proper pull-up:

youtube

Easier Variation: Negative Pull-ups

Tougher Variation: Weighted Pull-ups

5) The Bodyweight Dip: As you start to get stronger with push-ups and need to find a way to increase the challenge, consider doing dips.

Warning: these are very advanced, but are incredible strength-building exercises.

Muscles trained with the dips:

Pectoral

Triceps

Deltoids

Rhomboid (Back muscles)

Abs

Easier Variation: Assisted Dips

Tougher Variation: Weighted Dips

These 5 compound exercises will propel you into the world of bodyweight training.

For more ideas on how to train without a gym, check out The 42 Best Bodyweight Exercises (Work Out Anywhere).

Now, it’s barbell time![1]

The 7 Best Compound Exercises (Barbell)

After getting comfortable moving your own bodyweight around, it’s time to start training with barbells!

To up the difficulty with these compound exercises, simply add more weight.

The fun thing about barbells: you can almost always add more weight (disclaimer: provided you do it safely).

Here are The Best Barbell Compound Exercises:

6) The Barbell Squat: Probably the best compound exercise when it comes to building strength and muscle throughout your whole body.

Show me somebody who squats heavy and I’ll show you a great physique. This is a MUST.

Here’s how to perform the barbell back squat:

youtube

Muscles trained with the barbell squat:

Quads

Glutes

Hamstrings

Core muscles

7) The Barbell Deadlift: Maybe the best exercise of all time.

It’s certainly the most primal: “pick the weight up off the ground. Done.”

Here’s how to perform the deadlift:

youtube

Muscles trained with the barbell deadlift:

Glutes

Erectors (Spinal muscle)

Hamstrings

Pretty much every muscle in your body

9) The Barbell Romanian Deadlift: Think of this as the top half of a conventional deadlift (imagine you’re a “drinking bird” bending over at the waist):

Here are step-by-step instructions on how to perform the Romanian deadlift:

youtube

Muscles trained with the Romanian deadlift:

Hamstrings

Glutes

Erectors (Spinal muscle)

Rhomboid (Back muscles)

10) The Barbell Overhead Press: Press a barbell above your head.

Muscles trained with the overhead press:

Pectoral

Triceps

Deltoids

Rhomboid (Back muscles)

Abs

Here are step-by-step instructions on how to perform the overhead press:

youtube

11) The Barbell Bench Press: Lie on a bench, and lower a barbell until it almost touches your chest. Pause, and then press it back up towards the sky.

Repeat! And get strong.

Here are step-by-step instructions on how to perform the bench press:

youtube

Muscles trained with the benchpress:

Pectoral

Triceps

Deltoids

Rhomboid (Back muscles)

Abs

Pretty much every muscle in your upper-body

12) The Barbell Bent-Over Row: Bend your torso over and hoist a barbell up.

Muscles trained with the bent-over row:

All of your back muscles (Latissimus dorsi, rhomboids, trapezius)

Biceps

Forearm muscles (dorsal, ventral)

Your grip

Here are step-by-step instructions on how to perform the bent-over row:

youtube

Note: The above might be tough if gyms are closed around you. If that’s so, here’s how to build a gym at home (using household equipment).

Start Performing the Best Compound Exercises (Next Steps)

We all start somewhere!

Speaking of starting out…

Have you yet to do ANY of these compound exercises?

Always start out with bodyweight moves and make sure your form is correct!

If it’s a barbell movement, use a broomstick (or PVC Pipe).

youtube

If you’re struggling with certain elements of a movement, don’t get frustrated! Just understand that you’ll have areas in which you can improve.

When I started, I really liked practicing all of the movements at home because I could watch a video online at the same time as I was watching myself do it in a mirror.

Film yourself and compare it to our videos, or post it to the form check section of the Nerd Fitness Forums.

No matter what path you take, the most important thing you can do: START NOW!

Don’t overthink it. Just pick a compound exercise and learn how to do it. We can add more exercises to your routine down the road.

Want a little help getting going? The perfect next step to start your strength training journey!

You got it.

Option #1) If you want a coach in your pocket, who can do video form checks, provide feedback, and adjust your workouts based on your progress, check out our 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program!

I’ve had an online coach since 2015 and it’s changed my life. You can learn more by clicking on the box below:

Our coaching program changes lives. Learn how!

Plus, you get to build an awesome superhero in the process!

Try your free trial right here:

Option #3) Join the Rebellion! We need good people like you in our community, the Nerd Fitness Rebellion.

Sign-up below and receive our free guide Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know. It includes step-by-step instructions for the Best Compound Exercises covered in today’s guide.

Download our comprehensive guide STRENGTH TRAINING 101!

Everything you need to know about getting strong.

Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.

How to find the right gym and train properly in one.

Alright, enough from me. Your turn:

Do you agree with my list of best compound exercises?

Am I missing any?

Any tips or tricks for a newbie just getting started?

Let me know in the comments!

-Steve

PS: Make sure you check out the rest of our Strength Training 101 series:

5 Best Strength Training Workout Routines For Beginners

How Much Weight Should I Be Lifting?

Finding the Right Gym

###

GIF Source: Weighted Dips, Biceps Curl, Will Ferrell,

Photo Source: lightfieldstudios © 123RF.com, Workout, LEGO bench press, Lance Cpl. Tayler P. Schwamb, 101, 102, 103

Footnotes ( returns to text)

My favorite time.

The post Blog first appeared on Nerd Fitness.

The 12 Best Compound Exercises for Beginners (How to Train Efficiently) published first on https://dietariouspage.tumblr.com/

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dandelionprocrastinates · 5 years ago

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🏋️ Wellness Wednesdays 🏋️

Moderated by Lance

Physical wellness and mental wellness are important to have a well sustained body. In today’s time, most citizens concern themselves in doing daily tasks, social media and playing online games; thus, ignoring their mental and physical wellness (Harris, 2018). In both physical and mental wellness it is always important to remember that a healthy body will always start the day right and exercising physical and mental wellness can improve one's productivity in accomplishing tasks.

The activities will be based on the concepts of physical and mental fitness. The purpose of these fun and exciting activities is to help each other have a healthy body and quality life.

In today's current situation, having a healthy body will help you start the day right. According to UCDavis (n.d.), having a healthy body can help a person’s capability to start the day productively. During this lockdown we do not get the chance to actively explore the outside world but, we can always explore the possibilities of physical and mental at home. Thus, these activities can help us improve our wellness because we all know, “Good health is true wealth”.

August 5 - Stretching Exercises

Stretching keeps the muscles flexible, strong, and healthy, and we need that flexibility to maintain a range of motion in the joints. Without it, the muscles shorten and become tight. Then, when you call on the muscles for activity, they are weak and unable to extend all the way. That puts you at risk for joint pain, strains, and muscle damage.

For example, sitting in a chair all day results in tight hamstrings in the back of the thigh. That can make it harder to extend your leg or straighten your knee all the way, which inhibits walking. Likewise, when tight muscles are suddenly called on for a strenuous activity that stretches them, such as playing tennis, they may become damaged from suddenly being stretched. Injured muscles may not be strong enough to support the joints, which can lead to joint injury.

Regular stretching keeps muscles long, lean, and flexible, and this means that exertion won't put too much force on the muscle itself. Healthy muscles also help a person with balance problems to avoid falls.

August 12 - Full Workout

A full body workout can build muscle mass faster than traditional weight lifting methods. Full body workouts are fantastic because they target multiple muscles simultaneously in every exercise. They are compound movements that do not work a muscle in isolation but work multiple muscles in the same exercise.

There are several benefits to full body workouts. First, as we discussed above you work multiple muscles at the same time using one exercise. This makes your workouts more efficient. You can hit more body parts in the same or less amount of time. You can also quickly move between exercises reducing the recovery time needed before starting your next set. Second, this style of workout is great because you have great muscle activation. Rather than working each muscle in isolation, in traditional weight lifting, you will work multiple muscles at once creating greater activation and stimulation to the muscle for growth. Perform each set to failure and feel the burn as all of the muscles being worked try to keep up. Third, full body workouts are great to help maintain range of motion and basic body movements. As we age our flexibility and strength can decline. Full body workouts help to slow this decline because you are recruiting multiple muscles to work together as a unit. Just as they must do as you move through your daily routines. These workouts will help you improve your ability to function on a daily basis.

August 19 - Meditation

Mindfulness meditation helps you focus on the present, which can improve your concentration on other tasks in daily life.

A 2011 study from the Harvard Medical School examined the effects of mindfulness meditation on the brain and found a connection between mindfulness and processing new information.

The researchers examined the brains of 17 people before and after participating in an eight-week meditation program. Brain scans showed an increase in gray matter in the parts of the brain responsible for learning, memory, and emotional regulation.

Additionally, a 2016 study from researchers at Carnegie Mellon University demonstrated how mindfulness meditation can improve concentration and decision making.

The study consisted of 35 unemployed adults looking for work. One group participated in a three-day relaxation program without mindfulness meditation components, while the other group participated in three days of mindfulness meditation. Brain scans before and after showed an increase in connectivity among parts of the brain that control attention for the meditation group.

"Research shows we can actually train our attention and our meta-awareness, and that this is a learnable skill," says Richard Davidson, PhD, a professor of psychology and psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and founder of the Center for Healthy Minds.

August 26 - Relaxation

Practicing ‘relaxation’ is paramount to managing stress. When we relax, the flow of blood increases around our body giving us more energy. It helps us to have a calmer and clearer mind which aids positive thinking, concentration, memory and decision making. Relaxation slows our heart rate, reduces our blood pressure and relieves tension. It also aids digestion as we absorb essential nutrients more efficiently when relaxed, which helps to fight off disease and infection.

You can read my friends’ reaction to each exercise below the cut!

Reaction to the stretching exercises: “Starting a day of workout can be hard work; that is why we start with stretching to ease the muscles and prepare to start a workout.”

Reaction to the full workout: “A full body workout strengthens and conditions our muscles into starting the day right.”

Reaction to meditation: “A 15 minute meditation can help ease the mind and allow the flow of thoughts to come to us naturally.

Reaction to relaxation: “After a hard day of work, we must always know how to relax so that our body can rest and recondition itself; that after a good rest you can continue doing daily tasks once again.”

References:

Harris, A. (2018). The relationship between physical inactivity and mental wellbeing: Findings from a gamification-based community-wide physical activity intervention. Health Psychology Open, 5(1). doi: 10.1177/2055102917753853

Physical Wellness. (n.d.). UCDavis. Retrieved September 10, 2020, from https://shcs.ucdavis.edu/wellness/physical

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taytcanterbury · 5 years ago

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Cat Spray Gland Removal Astounding Unique Ideas

If the fleas are a lot of pretty colors.You can also be inflammation of the dust-free clay-particle products sold commercially.If he were the only way to insure your catThese products have varying emotional needs.

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Cat Peeing Medication

Once you have just walked through the whole selection of boxes, your little tiger.If not, you can't smell it before getting them back to the heated room off the last toe joint which prevents the onslaught of common cat health issues.Advice: in every case, it can use is Feliway.There is really cute now, does not need vaccinations if your feline to it, your veterinarian for ways to solve the problemTaking the steps to correct in your garden.

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Cat Urine Vinyl Floor

You can get them neutered when they get ample space, food and litter and vet care.There are also very common in female cats because they will actually break down proteins and release sulfur compounds smells bad also.There are very hard, though not impossible for your kitties health, and good urine flow.This can be allergic to cats, and could help save money.First you need to begin with, you must make sure the tape as long as it serves as a territorial need to select the best brands you can start removing the rings from its root.

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#Cat Spray Gland Removal Astounding Unique Ideas #Cat Peeing Dark Red Blood

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healthcaretips · 5 years ago

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7 Workout Tips

We don’t recommend employing more than a couple of these techniques in a single workout. They’re very taxing on your muscles and on your central nervous system, so overtraining and injury are real possibilities if you push it too hard with intensity techniques. We do encourage you, however, to try them all as you progress. You’ll probably find that some work better for you than others, and that some are better applied to different body parts and exercises. Regardless, you should keep each of these techniques in your training arsenal for future use as you continue to work toward your ultimate physique.

1. Superset What is is: Two sets of different exercises performed back-to-back with no rest in between. A superset, by definition, consists of exercises for different muscle groups (such as chest and back, or quads and shoulders). A compound set works the same way, except the exercises in a compound set target the same muscle group (as in two bicep exercises, or a chest press and a trice exercise).

Why you should do it: To burn more calories and get more work done in less time. When supersetting different muscle groups, one body part recovers while the other works, and you can cut rest time in half. When compound-setting for the same muscle group, you can thoroughly exhaust it, which is great for bringing up a weak area. New research has found that you burn about 35 percent more calories during and after a workout that uses supersets versus standard sets.

How to do it: Opposing muscle groups like chest and back are ideal for supersetting to promote muscular balance. Not that there’s anything wrong with pairing, say, shoulders and biceps, but opposites always attract with this technique. When compound-setting the same muscle group, it’s usually preferred to do the more difficult exercise first.

Example: Biceps/Triceps Supersets Superset 1 Barbell Curl: 3 sets, 10-12 reps Lying Triceps Extension: 3 sets, 10-12 reps. Rest 1-2 min.

Superset 2 Dumbbell Overhead Extension: 2-3 sets, 12-15 reps Incline Dumbbell Curl: 2-3, 12-15 reps. Rest 1-2 min.

2. Giant Set What is it: Four or more exercises for one body part performed consecutively without resting between exercises. While a superset can incorporate two different muscle groups, the official definition of a giant set involves only one, whether it be shoulders, chest, back, or legs.

Why you should do it: To significantly increase volume and intensity for a single body part in the shortest amount of time possible. A giant set is one of the most aggressive ways to attack a weak area in your physique, since you’re not only ramping up intensity but hitting the muscle group from a multitude of angles as well.

How to do it: As with supersetting a single body part, when choosing exercises and a sequence for a giant set, it’s best to go from heaviest to lightest — in other words, the exercise that allow you to lift the most weight should be done first, then descend from there (unless you’re purposely pre-exhausting to bring up a particular body part). Why? You want to maximize the amount of weight lifted through the entire giant set, and if isolated exercises are performed before compound moves, you’ll have to go much lighter on the latter. Be careful not to overtrain with this technique. Giant sets are inherently high volume, as every set is multiplied by at least four.

Example: Shoulder Giant Set Routine Seated Overhead Dumbbell Press – 3-4 sets, 8-10 reps Dumbbell Upright Row – 3-4 sets, 8-10 reps Dumbbell Lateral Raise – 3-4 sets, 10-12 reps Dumbbell Bentover Lateral Raise – 3-4 sets, 10-12 reps

Note: Using dumbbells is a great way to not lose your “station” at the gym from one exercise to the next.

3. Dropset What is it: A set where, after reaching failure with the initial load, the weight is immediately decreased and reps are performed to failure once again. The set is either finished at this point or multiple dropsets are performed, where the weight is decreased further and failure is reached each time.

Why you should do it: Dropsets allow you to take your muscles past failure on a given exercise and extend a set without resting, which increases the exhaustion in that muscle group for better gains in size and definition. If you have a weak body part that could use some extra attention, dropsets are ideal.

How to do it: Dropping the right amount of weight is key, as is exercise selection. If you don’t lighten the resistance enough, you’ll only be able to do a few more reps, if at all. If you drop too much weight, however, your muscle won’t be challenged enough to get the full benefit of the technique. If you failed at, say, 10 reps with the initial weight, you’ll want to fail close to that rep count on subsequent dropsets — at 8-10 reps, rather than 3-5.

To achieve this, a good rule of thumb is to decrease the weight 20-30 percent for each dropset, as research confirms this is the best weight range for optimizing results. For example, if you were using 80-pound dumbbells for bench presses, you would drop to a pair of 55s or 60s, then to a pair of 35s or 40s. The best exercises for dropsets are dumbbell, machine, and cable moves, where weight can be decreased quickly to minimize rest. Picking up a lighter pair of dumbbells only takes seconds. On machines and cables, moving the pin allows quick changes as well.

Example: Bicep Dropset Routine • Dumbbell Incline Curl – 3* sets, 8-10 reps. Rest 2-3 min. • Cable EZ-bar Curl – 3* sets, 8-10 reps. Rest 2 min. • Preacher Curl – 3* sets, 12-15 reps. Rest 2 min. *Perform two dropsets on the last two sets.

4. Partial Rep What it is: A technique where reps are performed short of your full range of motion (ROM), typically at the end of a set when strict reps are no longer physically possible due to fatigue, which doesn’t allow you to lift the weight past your “sticking point.”

Why you should do it: Because you’d rather not stop to rest, lighten the weight, or end the set just yet. Achieving full ROM is always recommended, but partials can help you extend a set seamlessly to fatigue your muscle fibers that much more, even if it’s just in the bottom or top half of the movement.

How to do it: The majority of the set is still taken through a full ROM. Using biceps curls as an example, let’s say you choose a weight you can do for 10 strict rep, when you’ve reached failure and are unable to move the bar past a certain point, simply do reps where you’re lifting the weight as far up as possible.

Example: Legs Routine • Squat – 4 sets, 8-10 reps*. Rest 2 min. • Leg press – 3 sets, 10-12 reps*. Rest 2 min. • Leg Extension – 3 sets, 12-15 reps*. Rest 1-2 min. • Leg Curl – 3 sets, 12-15 reps*. Rest 1-2 min. *Perform partial reps at the end of your last one to two sets after reaching failure on full ROM reps. Do partials until you can no longer budge the weight.

5. Forced Rep What it is: A technique where, after reaching failure on a set, a spotter assists in lifting the weight so that you can get past your sticking point and continue the set.

Why you should do it: Research confirms that forced reps increase growth hormone (GH) levels more than sets taken only to muscle failure. This anabolic hormone secreted by the pituitary gland plays a key role in muscle and bone growth. GH is also critical for fat burning—studies have shown that athletes using forced reps drop more body fat than those stopping at failure.

How to do it: The key to effective forced-rep training is having a spotter who knows what he is doing. The objective is to get two to four forced reps at the end of a set—not 8-10. For that reason, the spotter shouldn’t be helping too much and taking on most of the work. He should make you work hard throughout each and every forced rep, providing just enough assistance to get you past your sticking point. That said, the spotter shouldn’t be making you work so hard that the reps each take five seconds on the concentric portion.

Example: Shoulder Forced Rep Workout • Barbell Overhead Press – 4 sets, 8* reps. Rest 2-3 min. • Smith Machine Upright Row – 3 sets, 10-12* reps. Rest 2 min. • Barbell Front Raise – 3 sets, 10-12* reps. Rest 2 min. • Cable Lateral Raise – 3 sets, 12-15* reps. Rest 1-2 min. *Perform 2-4 forced reps on your last two sets.

6. Negatives What they are: An advanced method where, with the help of a spotter, only the eccentric (negative) portion of each rep is performed—and at a very slow pace. Traditionally, strength athletes have performed negatives as stand-alone sets, but this technique can also be used at the end of a regular set to train the muscles past failure.

Why you should do them: Negatives provide a unique shock to your muscle and are very effective at increasing strength as well as muscle growth. Most people disregard the eccentric portion of the rep, thinking that the muscle is only working when you’re lifting the weight, not lowering it. Not true. Resisting the weight on the negative is a crucial aspect of strength and is actually the part of the movement most closely associated with muscle soreness in the days following a workout. And that soreness equates to increases in muscle size and strength.

How to do them: The specifics of how to do negatives is crucial. First, you’ll need a dependable spotter. After reaching failure on a set doing regular reps, you’ll do two to three negatives in this manner: Your spotter will help you lift the weight through the positive portion of the rep. Then, for the negative, you’ll do all the work, lowering the weight slowly for a count of three to five seconds. The spotter will again do the positive, and so on. But even though you’ll be lowering the weight on your own, your spotter will need to be highly attentive while you do so in case your muscles give out and you can no longer resist the weight.

Example: Chest “Negatives” Routine • Barbell Bench Press – 4 sets, 8* reps. Rest 2-3 min. • Barbell Incline Press – 3-4 sets, 10-12* reps. Rest 2 min. • Flat-bench Dumbbell Flye – 3 sets, 12-15* reps. Rest 1-2 min. *Do 2-3 negatives on the last two sets.

7. Rest-Pause Set What it is: A set where, after reaching failure, you rest a short period of time and continue to failure once again using the same weight. A typical set in this manner consists of one to three rest-pauses.

Why you should do it: Like dropsets, rest-pauses allow you to take a set of a given exercise past the point of muscle failure, which can lead to gains in muscle size, strength, and shape. But in this case, the short rest period allows your to stick with the same weight instead of going lighter. As a result, what once was a set of 10 reps with 100 pounds becomes a set of 15-20 reps with 100 pounds by way of rest pauses, so more total work has been performed.

How to do it: Pick the weight you’d normally use for a given set, go to failure, rest 15 seconds, then pick the weight back up and rep out again. Repeat one or two more times. The number of reps you’ll be able to perform will decrease significantly with rest-pause so don’t expect to fail at 10 reps, rest 15 seconds, then get another 10. Chances are, you’ll only be able to get three to five more reps tops. One way to avoid a big drop-off is to stop a couple reps short of failure on the initial set, which will allow you to get more reps after resting.

Example: Back Rest-Pause Routine • Pullup (or assisted pullup) – 3-4 sets, 6-8* reps. Rest 2-3 min. • Seated Cable Row – 3 sets, 10-12* reps. Rest 2 min. • Lat Pulldown – 3 sets, 12* reps. Rest 1-2 min. *Perform 2-3 rest-pauses on the last one or two sets.

#bebetter fitness workout tips injury body exercise cardio training trainingday arsenal try progress work apply continue nervoussystem realpo

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thaimassagegreenock · 6 years ago

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Dear Mark: Psyllium, Hex Bar Deadlifts, Getting Strong vs Getting Big, Isometrics

Thai Massage tutorials and tips.

This article was provided by Mark's Daily Apple, which is the go-to destination to learn how to lead a healthy Primal life in this hectic modern world. I find their posts usually offer some interesting opinions and useful trips and advice

For today’s edition of Dear Mark, I’m answering four questions.

First, is psyllium husk insoluble or soluble fiber? Second, how do I structure my hex bar deadlift workouts? I give a couple options. Third, what kind of training (and eating) should a person do who doesn’t want to gain much muscle or “get big”—just strong? And fourth, what do I think about isometric strength training?

Let’s go:

Insoluble fiber may be linked to increased colorectal cancer mortality.

Question: is psyllium husk the insoluble fiber they are referring to in this study that was associated with increased colon cancer? I’ve read it several times and I’m confused.

Some prebiotics are included in my probiotics like MOS and inulin. I think these are soluble. Am I right? I’m confused

I wasn’t able to pull the full study, so I don’t have a complete breakdown of what prebiotic supplements these women were specifically taking. They do mention that 3.7% of the women used a prebiotic made primarily of psyllium, which is an odd aside. What about the rest of them?

At any rate, psyllium is mostly soluble fiber—about 70% soluble, 30% insoluble. MOS and inulin are also both soluble fibers.

What is the set/ rep recommendation for the Hex Bar DL? Also how many times a week are you doing this? I am a coach/teacher and love the minimalist type of exercise you provide. Awesome stuff

It really varies.

Somedays I’ll do rest-pause supersets on the hex bar:

Lift it as many times as I can comfortably (I’ll push hard but stop well short of failure).

Rest 30 seconds.

Lift it as many times as I can comfortably (this will be fewer reps than the previous set).

Rest 30 seconds.

Lift it as many times as I can comfortably (even fewer).

Drop the weight by 10-15%, then do max reps.

Once you start hitting 25 total reps for the first three rest-pause sets, you can increase the weight. The beauty of this method is that it’s very intense without you needing to throw on a ton of extra weight—great for older folks who don’t want to mess with extremely heavy weights. Compressing the sets gives you less rest and gives it an anaerobic component; you’ll be breathing hard when it’s over. And it’s over quick. No more pacing around the gym between heavy deadlift or squat sets. No more working up the courage to lift the weight. You just do it, set a 30 second timer, and do it again (and again).

The rest pause method is when I want to be in and out real quick.

Another way is to just have it loaded up and ready to go around my house. I’ll grab a quick little set every time I walk by. Out the door to walk the dog? Do a set. Making coffee in the next room over? Do a set. Taking a break from writing? Do a set. By the end of the day, I’ll have accumulated 4-6 sets of solid hex bar deadlifts. This is the exercise snack or microworkout method.

Both of these methods work great with any exercise.

This video left me thinking about muscle strength vs muscle growth a little bit. In my mind, my ideal body composition would be lean, relatively small, and freakishly strong. I’m wondering, Mark, if there are ways to train what you have to be stronger without making gains in terms of mass?

In a very general sense, lower reps and higher weight will get you stronger without adding as much hypertrophy.

Doing compound movements that recruit multiple joints and muscles at once will get you strong without necessarily “bulking” you up. Doing isolation movements will also get you strong, but they’ll also build specific muscles. It makes sense why:

When you do a compound movement, the weight is “spread” across all the joints and junctions and tissues that perform it. So the system as a whole gets stronger—gets better at moving the weight—but the individual components don’t “blow up.” They grow, but in a cohesive, integrated manner with the rest of the body.

That’s why most bodybuilders don’t rely on squats and deadlifts and pullups. They do those movements because they’re important for their physiques and their strength, but they’re generally not enough to get huge. To get really “bulky,” you’ll probably need isolation movements.

But remember that larger muscles are also stronger muscles, all else being equal. Getting bigger will allow you to get stronger. You’ll have a bigger “strength ceiling.”

Oh, I almost forgot. Your food (and calorie) intake might be the major determining factor in how much muscle you gain in response to training. If you fail to consume more calories than you expend, you won’t gain much muscle. You’ll definitely retain it, though. If that’s what you’re going for, you can try eating less food and protein. Or at least don’t eat more than you burn (this is inexact, I know; a ballpark works).

Have you tried isometrics? I am getting great results with them, in a very short time frame.

I haven’t tried them much myself, but we had a guest post a few years back all about isometrics.

For those who don’t know, an isometric contraction is when the muscle contracts without lengthening or shortening. Concentric contractions contract the muscle as it shortens (lifting a weight). Eccentric contractions contract the muscle as it lengthens (lowering a weight). Isometric training purports to strengthen the muscle by using isometric contractions.

A few examples:

Pushing against an immovable object, like the wall.

Holding yourself in a difficult position, like a wall squat.

Trying to lift an object that’s too heavy to lift, like a barbell.

Hanging from a bar with flexed arms and just holding the position.

Standing in a doorway with your back against the frame, pressing hard against the opposite frame with one arm.

Trying to lift your car.

Sitting in a chair and pulling up on the seat as hard as you can.

You get the idea.

It clearly works at some level.

Isometric training lowers high blood pressure, for example.

It can also help people learn to activate their muscles, simply by forcing you to focus entirely on the feeling of the muscle.

It goes to show that there’s always a way to train. Always.

That’s it for today, folks. Thanks for reading, take care, and have a great week.

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ebenpink · 6 years ago

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Dear Mark: Psyllium, Hex Bar Deadlifts, Getting Strong vs Getting Big, Isometrics https://ift.tt/32Lpbeu

For today’s edition of Dear Mark, I’m answering four questions.

Let’s go:

Insoluble fiber may be linked to increased colorectal cancer mortality.

Question: is psyllium husk the insoluble fiber they are referring to in this study that was associated with increased colon cancer? I’ve read it several times and I’m confused.

Some prebiotics are included in my probiotics like MOS and inulin. I think these are soluble. Am I right? I’m confused

At any rate, psyllium is mostly soluble fiber—about 70% soluble, 30% insoluble. MOS and inulin are also both soluble fibers.

What is the set/ rep recommendation for the Hex Bar DL? Also how many times a week are you doing this? I am a coach/teacher and love the minimalist type of exercise you provide. Awesome stuff

It really varies.

Somedays I’ll do rest-pause supersets on the hex bar:

Lift it as many times as I can comfortably (I’ll push hard but stop well short of failure).

Rest 30 seconds.

Lift it as many times as I can comfortably (this will be fewer reps than the previous set).

Rest 30 seconds.

Lift it as many times as I can comfortably (even fewer).

Drop the weight by 10-15%, then do max reps.

The rest pause method is when I want to be in and out real quick.

Both of these methods work great with any exercise.

In a very general sense, lower reps and higher weight will get you stronger without adding as much hypertrophy.

But remember that larger muscles are also stronger muscles, all else being equal. Getting bigger will allow you to get stronger. You’ll have a bigger “strength ceiling.”

Have you tried isometrics? I am getting great results with them, in a very short time frame.

I haven’t tried them much myself, but we had a guest post a few years back all about isometrics.

A few examples:

Pushing against an immovable object, like the wall.

Holding yourself in a difficult position, like a wall squat.

Trying to lift an object that’s too heavy to lift, like a barbell.

Hanging from a bar with flexed arms and just holding the position.

Standing in a doorway with your back against the frame, pressing hard against the opposite frame with one arm.

Trying to lift your car.

Sitting in a chair and pulling up on the seat as hard as you can.

You get the idea.

It clearly works at some level.

Isometric training lowers high blood pressure, for example.

It can also help people learn to activate their muscles, simply by forcing you to focus entirely on the feeling of the muscle.

It goes to show that there’s always a way to train. Always.

That’s it for today, folks. Thanks for reading, take care, and have a great week.

The post Dear Mark: Psyllium, Hex Bar Deadlifts, Getting Strong vs Getting Big, Isometrics appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.

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funkzpiel · 8 years ago

Text

THE TRUE NATURE OF PERCIVAL GRAVES - CH3

WARNING - Contains Explicit Content

Fantastic Beasts Kink Meme Fill:

Grindelwald is as alpha as it gets, but he has no idea that Graves is an omega.

Imagine his surprise when he comes home one day to find the Director writhing on the floor in heat, broken and bloody from trying to suppress the heat on his own. Graves needs release and Grindelwald is willing to help.

+ Graves rutting against Grindelwald’s leg against his will ++ Multiple forced orgasms

INCLUDES: Rape, Non-Con, Dubious Consent, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha Gellert Grindelwald, Omega Percival Graves, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Suppressants, Kidnapping, Body Horror, Manipulation, Rimming, Implied Mpreg, Impregnation, Forced Orgasm, Multiple Orgasms, Male Lactation, Forced Lactation, Non-Consensual Body Modification, Mpreg

Graves sat on the edge of the bed, elbows on his knees, and brushed tentative fingertips along the slender markings that encircled his ever thinning wrist. He was growing frail – no, not frail. Frail wasn’t the word, not quite. It bespoke age and fragility. He wasn’t frail. But he was diminishing from what he had once been. The suppressants had kept him strong; broad and stocky, his frame tightly corded with hard earned muscle. His body had not been the body of an Omega. Short for an Alpha, yes, but he had earned his illusion with blood and sweat and tears.

And now, in mere weeks, Grindelwald had taken even that from him.

His body was no longer his own.

His wrists had thinned; beautifully, horribly slender and easily compounded and held in one hand whenever Grindelwald so wished to force himself upon him. He had lost muscle mass in his arms and shoulders, his ability to pull away – to fight – slowly ebbing despite his daily exercises. He had lost height, of all things. Something that Grindelwald loved to lord over him, placing his chin atop Graves’ head as he encircled him with long, strong arms from behind and held him. Like some great, grinning spider; spewing poison into his veins. Large hands on the place where his abs had once been, now softer – slowly growing outward. His chest sore and somewhat heavy atop it.

He didn’t need to look to know how his stomach was pooched ever so slightly into a gut in his lap. Small still, but present. And to Graves, it felt as heavy as an anchor, weighing him down to the bottom of the sea where he might drown beneath the overwhelming evidence that he was very much in fact an Omega. Grindelwald had seen to that.

He watched his hands tremble.

“Don’t focus on what you can’t change,” Graves muttered softly beneath his breath, grasping onto his training like a lifeline while trying to ignore the ever so soft break in tone that betrayed the fragility of his mind. He focused his gaze on the tattoo that Grindelwald had branded into his skin, twirling ever so softly at his touch like ink displaced in water, and breathed. “Focus on what you can change.”

And to do that, he had to go to the start. With a soft, choked sound he refused to acknowledge as anything even resembling a whimper, Graves closed his eyes and tried to ignore everything that was wrong – the heft of his growing gut, the shrinking of his bones, the wasting of his strength, the heavy hum of power at his wrists – and instead focused inward. In and in and in until finally he was somewhere safe.

It was another technique trained into him as a young auror. He could still remember his mentor drilling it into him.

“Make a safe place in your mind, Percival,” the grizzled old auror had said, an old friend of his father’s. “A place that only you can reach. So that when you get captured – because believe you me, boy, you will get captured – you have some place to go when they start taking every last piece of you away. Every morning when you wake and every night, before you sleep, I want you to go to that place. Make a habit of visiting. Make it more of a home to you than your real home. Make it easy to access, as simple as closing your eyes. If you do, then at least there’s one thing they can’t take from you. And when they try, go there. Let them pull the bones from your body and the nails from your fingers – it won’t matter. You won’t be there to see it.”

So when Graves opened his eyes, it wasn’t to the sight of the lush bedroom Grindelwald had made for him. Rather, it was to the sight of something familiar. Something soothing straight down to his bones. His office. But not just any office. Not his office at home or the one they gave him when he was promoted to Director of Magical Security. His first office; when he had first made lead detective with the aurors. A small thing, barely more than the size of a closet, tucked away to the side of the bullpen. It had three glass walls, all looking out onto his fellow aurors. Not that it mattered, what with the papers and strings and articles he had taped to them all. Once, they had detailed his cases – changing depending on what he was currently working on.

Before Grindelwald, they had outlined the string of killings that had begun cropping up throughout New York, distinctly magical in nature. Now, they all covered the story of one man – Gellert Grindelwald. Notes on little tidbits Grindelwald let slip when he didn’t think Graves was listening. Small details he didn’t think to cover, like how the mud on his shoes meant he frequented the docks far too often to be coincidence or how the smell of smoke thick on his coat meant he had probably been doing shady business at Gnarlak’s bar. All these things, big or small, were plastered along the cool glass walls of his safe place.

The door was closed, as it always was. There was no outside to his safe place. But through the brief sections of glass that weren’t wallpapered with Grindelwald’s misdeeds, he could see the bullpen of the auror’s department. Aurors from his past and present glided outside the window as if nothing was amiss. They spoke to one another, discussing cases old and new from Graves’ memories – fingers flitting through files, quills furiously scribbling of their own volition, and people coming and going with various degrees of urgency. It was here that Graves felt most at home, surrounded by the ghosts of his career.

Here, he was dressed as he pleased. Casual slacks, a thick leather belt looped through a set of tight, comforting suspenders that looped up and over the crisp white cut of his button down shirt. He had his sleeves rolled up to his elbows and his tie loose around his throat. His coat – his old coat, not the one that Grindelwald had stolen from him but the one from his youth – was draped across the back of his desk chair.

He was strong here; broad shouldered and tall, like he had been. Like he should be.

But even here, he could not remove the chains that bound him, even though he tried. If he thought about it long and hard, and kept it at the forefront of his concentration, he could will the ink around his wrists into an illusion that left them barely visible. But if he so much as diverted his attentions even a little, it would surge back up to the surface of his skin, twirling madly about his flesh. There was no escaping the curse that Grindelwald had laid upon him. Not yet.

He crossed the small width of his office to stand behind his chair and frame his desk with one hand at either end, bow his head and finally breathe. It left him in a shudder, making the fringe of his inky hair flutter as he closed his eyes. Nothing he had tried so far had worked. Magic only fed the compulsion – the horrible, fucking disgusting need that grew and burned and seared through his veins until it left him on his knees and damn near begging. But magic was his strength, his life, his blood. It fixed everything. It kept him safe. It allowed him to do his job, to be good at his job. It kept him alive. It had never failed him before.

His breath hitched as memories from that night flickered in his mind. He clenched his hands against the corners of his desk and anchored himself. No, not yet. Not unless he had to.

He’d start somewhere more manageable. He’d start with the pain.

He’d start with the night he got them.

Maybe somewhere in his memory, Grindelwald had slipped up. Maybe somewhere, he had revealed some clue as to their removal. Maybe…

Graves pulled out his chair and settled in. He braced his feet and grasped his arm rests and grit his teeth. And with two large, steadying breathes – he prepared himself and closed his eyes.

It didn’t take much to fall back into the memory.

A punch, hard and unforgiving, caught his jaw so harshly he felt his teeth rattle weakly in his skull. It brought him down, fast. Left him without proper vision for a good second, before he realized someone was holding the lower half of his face in a firm hold – palm over his mouth, fingers biting into the hinges of his jaw and the faint meat of his cheeks. Grindelwald lifted him, compelled him up until he had to support himself with his forearms to keep the weight of his body off his neck. His vision faltered and he blinked up rapidly at the man that had captured him, struggling to remember what had brought them to this point.

Ah, right. He had tried to use the killing curse without a wand and almost killed them both. It had missed and hit a mirror. Dregs of powerful, unrestrained magic had flickered in multiple directions as a result, rebounding every which way – and by some miracle, or perhaps curse, had missed them both.

And Grindelwald was furious.

“Where are your chains, my dear director?” Grindelwald said through his teeth, and by the frigid tone Graves could tell he was barely holding himself back from finishing what Graves had started. Or at least at the time, that’s what Graves had thought. Now, he knew better. Now he knew Grindelwald’s anger had not stemmed from the fact that Graves had quite nearly succeeding in killing him.

His anger stemmed from the fact that Graves had quite nearly succeeded in killing himself, and in doing so, the life that grew within him. The life that Grindelwald had planted.

With Grindelwald’s palm atop his lips, Graves could hardly answer. Not that he would have. But it didn’t take long for the dark wizard to spot the broken manacles, discarded by the head of the lush bed he had crafted for Graves after his heat. Flooded and shattered after days of patient trying.

There was a brief moment where a flash of pride crossed Grindelwald’s face. It was quickly swallowed by annoyance. The man sniffed disdainfully and clenched his jaw ever so slightly tighter. Graves could swear he heard his bones creak.

“Ah,” he said, unnatural eyes gliding back down to lock on him. “Well that just won’t do, now will it?”

Graves wanted to lift a hand to try again. At point blank range, who knew what a wandless killing curse would do… kill them both, probably. But it’d be worth it. The price of his life was worth the result of one less genocidal madman in the world. His hand twitched on the floor where it held him up, but before he could summon even so much as an iota of energy to himself, a familiar shoe heel – his shoe heel – crushed his hand flat against the plush rug of his prison. Beneath Grindelwald’s palm, he bit back a scream.

Pressure still on his hand, Grindelwald knelt down unto his haunches until he was nearly eye level with the director and shook his head despairingly.

“I don’t want to hurt you, dearest,” he said. “But look what you make me do. It must be all that naughty, left over energy from your days as an “Alpha”. Not to worry. I hadn’t intended to use this unless absolutely necessary,” he said with a tone that made Graves believe the man had every intention of using whatever he had in mind from the moment he realized Graves was an Omega, “but you’ve left me no choice.”

Then the hand at his jaw wound around to the back of his neck, lightning quick, and squeezed. Graves’ eyes rolled up and he moaned weakly, his body seizing once before melting completely into the touch of the Alpha that had so recently bred him. Suddenly his limbs felt as useful as putty, and he could do nothing as Grindelwald reached down for him and gathered him into his arms as if he were no more heavy than a child.

Graves’ lashes fluttered weakly as he fought against the biological compulsion that had been forced upon him. But he could barely remove his cheek from where it pressed against Grindelwald’s chest, let alone extricate himself from the man’s grip. And Grindelwald knew it, too, if the amused – and predatory – look he cast down upon him was anything to go by.

In Grindelwald’s arms, Graves trembled.

“D-don’t,” he managed, fire burning in his chest even as his body sighed weakly in the dark wizards’ grasp.

Grindelwald grinned, and then they disapparated – and for the first time in weeks, Graves was out of the blasted cigarette case… only to realize that they were somewhere not even remotely close to civilization. Graves scowled, managing to move minutely in order to look around as Grindelwald began to carry him through a narrow hallway. They were in a crypt of some sort or perhaps some catacombs. Something old and cold and underground. Wet walls and weeping stone. Silence broken by the broken tittering of water droplets in the dark. It smelled of deep earth, wherever they were. Of old magic and dark ways. Graves shuddered.

“Hush,” Grindelwald said, his tone oddly soothing, as they made their way through the dank halls into a grand room framed by pillars on either side. And at its end was a large looking pool or spring, the water so still and so clear Graves could see to the bottom of it. The bottom of which was covered in glistening gold coins and shimmering jewels and the spoils of a dozen different treasures. All of which glowed beneath the surface, illuminating the pool in eerie light. At its center stood a great altar carved of stone, it’s based covered in a soft, spongy algae and otherwise unremarkable. But something whispered in Graves’ mind that things were not always what they appeared.

The ceiling arched up and up, and when a free drop of water landed with a soft ‘plit’ on Graves’ face, he knew immediately they were somewhere no one would be able to help him. The water was old and powerful. It spoke to him down to his very bones, singing through his blood, quivering down to the core of him where his magic bubbled weakly in exhaustion from having flooded his manacles and casting the killing curse. And in the curious reflection of Grindelwald’s eyes, he saw his own eyes flash brightly for just the fraction of a second. And Grindelwald smiled.

Dread pooled in Graves’ stomach, and suddenly he knew he had to be free. With a desperate wrenching jerk of his body, he flailed just strongly enough for Grindelwald to drop him.

His collision with the hard stone floor was jarring. It swept the wind from his lungs and set every bone a rattle. He barely got so far as all fours before a hand wove its way into his hair and yanked him up to his knees, back bent in a grand arc to look up at the madman above him. There was concern in those eyes for a moment, a look that baffled Graves, but it quickly bled into a familiar sneer when Grindelwald realized he was fine.

“So desperate, dear heart,” Grindelwald crooned, his smile kind and his eyes cruel. “Do you know where we are?”

No. No, he didn’t. But somehow, his body knew. His magic knew. His blood knew. Wherever they were, it was old and powerful and nothing good. He tried to pull himself free with an angry snarl, but Grindelwald just yanked him back tighter.

“Well, do you?”

“No,” he growled. The stone bit into his knees. He thought he might be bleeding.

He was. The stone drank from it greedily.

“Good,” he said with a grin that showed almost all his teeth. “I want it to be a surprise.”

And then, suddenly, he threw Graves back down onto the ground. The director just barely caught himself with his hands – grazing off a thin layer of skin in the process – before his face could break his fall. He gasped, then hissed, his knees screaming beneath him.

“Now, remove your clothes or—“

Graves didn’t let him finish. With a swift twist and a long leg, he kicked out and hooked his ankle behind one of Grindelwald’s before pulling the dark wizard’s feet out from under him. The blond maniac fell onto his back with a crack that would have left Graves’ own skull aching in sympathy if it had happened to any other man. As it was, Graves didn’t give Grindelwald so much as a moment to orient himself. He quickly crossed the space between them and climbed atop the man – hands searching through the pockets of familiar cloths in search of the his stolen wand.

His fingers just barely brushed against it when Grindelwald levied a blast of wandless magic of his own against him. It hit him at his sternum and hefted him a good foot into the air, leaving him breathless, before sending him crashing to the ground – but not before a soft cushion caught him before he could land, easing the fall. Graves’ brow furrowed, confused, but Grindelwald was already on his feet.

“So feisty, Percival,” Grindelwald said, his name a thick purr on his tongue that left Graves trembling furiously. “That’s what I like about you. Always such fun. But we really must get this going, darling.”

Graves drew himself to his feet and brought up his fists once more. In his bones, he was tired. His magic was a weak and tentative thing – ebbing and flowing like the tide after having so heavily abused it to tire out the manacles Grindelwald had shackled him with.

So he’d have to make do with fists.

He lunged forward and Grindelwald rolled with it, taking the punch in order to get in an attack of his own. With two fingers pressed to Graves’ shoulder, he let loose the softest of shocks – just hard enough to turn his muscle to mush. Graves let out a short shout, more startled than anything else, before using that momentum and Grindelwald’s temporary distraction to lash out with his other elbow. It caught the man at the temple, making him stumble.

Graves surged forward, slamming the dark wizard with a fist to the shoulder, followed by another to the cheek before Grindelwald finally sent him stumbling back with a wave of magic just strong enough to leave him reeling.

They stood a few feet from each other, breathing heavily, before Graves finally went in for another attack – unwilling to wait for the man to make the first move. When he threw his final punch, Grindelwald dodged it with a deftness that alluded to the possibility that all this time, he had been playing with Graves. It left a hollow dread in his stomach just thinking about it – wondering if he was losing his touch. But he didn’t have more than a second to dwell on it before the momentum of his failed attack sent him into a stumble that left Graves crashing into the ground, one hand falling into the water.

It felt blessedly cool against the tattered skin of his palms – kind and soothing and glowing gently green where his skin touched it. Dazed, he blinked at it. Then quickly pulled his hand back when he realized what it was in. He scuttled back from the pool’s edge, eyes wide and hand cradled to his chest. But nothing happened. It was the same water – old and ancient and seething with magic. It had the same effect – bone deep and seeking out the core of him. But it did nothing…

There was something Graves was missing.

“Figured it out yet, dearest?” Grindelwald whispered in his ear, suddenly behind him. And Graves had no more than a moment to register that before a force of kinetic energy lifted him from the ground and flung him several feet away – well into the center of the mysterious pool of water.

He felt coins scatter beneath his feet as he sought to right himself. He arose from the pool in a great, heaving gasp – hair sopping wet and plastered to his face. Standing now, the water came just ever so slightly higher than his stomach. His clothing, or what was left of it after his heat, gripped him tightly as he tried to push his mop of inky hair back from his eyes.

“W-what the hell—?” Graves words died in his throat as he caught sight of Grindelwald at the shoreline, staring at him. There was a predatory glint to his eyes the likes of which Graves wasn’t sure he had ever seen before – cold and ancient and knowing. He watched as the man’s lips pulled slowly to each side in a devilish smirk, and it took Graves a good moment to understand why.

All around him in a soft halo, the water was glowing green. Sparkling and twinkling where it touched him. Frantic, he brushed at the water as if to push it away, but it merely followed his hand – never straying.

“Then it’s true,” Grindelwald said, his smirk transforming into a radiant smile that left Graves wide-eyed, baffled, and terrified. He took a step backward as Grindelwald took a step forward and into the pool. And the moment his foot breached the water, a thick black ink spread from him. Small at first, but with every inch of skin that submerged further into the pool, the blackness spread – reaching out like menacing tendrils – eclipsing the treasure beneath.

Graves looked from the monstrous black water to the man responsible and shook his head. Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong. He turned to run, unaware of the altar at his back, and immediately slammed into it. He cried out, startled and ribs bruised, hands braced against the altar’s edge. A quick look over his shoulder confirmed that Grindelwald was indeed still approaching and the black, inky mass that came with him was even closer.

With a deep, steadying breath he readied his magic – and all around him, the green water that haloed him grew brighter, excited – and twisted to send another blast of raw energy at the man, only to be jerked back to the altar. His hands… he couldn’t move his hands. And a quick glance down set a familiar dread building in his stomach. Beneath his palms where his hands met the altar, a series of arcane runes slowly began to alight. Slow and soft at first, but gently growing and spreading across the table as well as his hands, crawling across his skin painlessly, but binding him all the same.

“W-what?”

His heart began to jackrabbit in his chest. He yanked at his hands. He tried to ease magic into the runes cautiously only for the table to greedily take it as its own – the runes only glowing brighter. And when a chuckle blossomed gently from somewhere behind him, his heart only exploded into an even more furious crescendo, suddenly painfully aware that he was caught with his back to his country’s greatest enemy and his ass to his rapist.

“Ssh, ssh, ssh,” Grindelwald cooed, and a quick look down was all Graves needed to know he had run out of time. The black tendrils had reached him. He watched as they crept closer and closer – only to stop a mere inch from the gentle glow of the water that encompassed him. Graves blinked. Could it not touch him?

“Not yet,” Grindelwald said, the heat of his skin suddenly behind him as a pair of hands found his sides and gently pet him.

“Don’t touch me!” Graves snarled, a wild glint in his eye at having realized how close Grindelwald had gotten. He lashed out with a leg and managed to take one of the dark wizard’s legs out at the knee – but it didn’t matter. Graves had nowhere to run. All he could do was wait, back rigid and every muscle screaming as Grindelwald took his time composing himself behind the captured director, just out of sight.

“Careful, Percival,” he said, and there was no playfulness in his tone this time.

But all Graves did was crane his head over his shoulder and snarl again, “I said don’t touch me.”

And in response, Grindelwald smiled and spread his hands out at his sides.

“Do you know why we’re here, dearest?”

“Don’t call me that,” Graves said.

Grindelwald ignored him.

“It’s an old place, just on the edge of our world and the Nevernever. Older than magic or spells as we know them now. Before we curtailed ourselves to words and foci. You remember the stories, don’t you? No doubt your family taught you them, old as your blood is. Of places where the lines between magic and creation are thinner. More malleable.”

With a sweeping pull of water at his back, he felt Grindelwald pass around him until the man had come to stand in front of him, just on the other side of the altar. The glowing of the runes atop the carved stop glittered in the unnatural mixmatching of color in Grindelwald’s eyes, alighting with something cruel and curious and feral. Graves pulled uselessly at his bonds.

“This is such a place,” Grindelwald said, his smile growing as he watched Graves struggle. “It recognizes us for what we are. What we could be.”

“And what’s that?” Graves finally snarled, glaring up at the madman through trembling wet bangs.

“The start of a new generation.”

“Not going to happen.”

“There’s power in the old ways,” Grindelwald said, ignoring him and instead moving once more to stand behind him, out of sight. “Power unlike anything we comprehend or practice today. Power in new life,” he said, one hand settling on the hard plane of Graves’ stomach, making the director frown with confusion before pressing on, “power in old families, like ours,” and he pressed his chin against the broad stretch of Graves’ shoulder so that he could whisper into the man’s ear as he said, “power in the coupling of mates as magically inclined as we are.”

“We aren’t mates,” Graves stuttered, trying to force out the panic that threatened to choke him.

“Not bonded mates, no,” Grindelwald conceded, before switching ears and smiling against the skin of jaw, “Not yet.”

And then with a cruel, deft tug – he yanked the abused hem of Graves’ trousers down until they floated uselessly around Graves’ ankles, caught up at his shoes and doing a marvelous job of binding Graves’ legs. He cursed and struggled and tried to maneuver the constricting fabric off at least one foot so he could fight back somehow. And all the while, he could feel the sway of water moving behind him and knew instantly that Grindelwald was freeing his cock from his own trousers.

“Magic is more fluid here,” Grindelwald said as his fingers then brushed along the crease of Graves’ ass and delved deeper, just brushing against his entrance. Graves snarled like a wild animal and twisted out of his grasp – bound by his hands but no less wily. It wasn’t until Grindelwald snarled back in kind and grasped him at the back of his neck as he had done before that Graves calmed.

But his heart didn’t. Inside he seethed as outside his body stilled and grew compliant. He screamed through bared teeth as Grindelwald easily bent him forward then to rest his chest and cheek against the cool stone of the altar. Immediately more runes began to glow, rising and spreading and crawling beneath his clothes and across his skin to glue him even further to the altar. Face to the side as it was, all he could see was the span of his own hand and wrist bound tight to the stone beside him, fingers twitching helpless for magic the table just ate away.

“There we go,” Grindelwald said and ran a soothing hand through the wet mop of his hair. “Much better.”

One hand returned to the bare skin of his waist as the other resumed its teasing at his entrance.

“As I was saying, magic is fluid here. Words mean nothing here. Spells are pointless. It’s all a matter of will. My will against yours. The will of this pool against us both. Which brings us to the task at hand.”

Grindelwald nosed the loose collar of Graves’ poor, battered shirt aside to nibble at the sensitive flesh of his shoulder – oh so near that special place – and smiled.

“I need a way to restrain you. Something that will keep you busy for the days to come,” he said, then kissed his shoulder chastely. “And so I brought you here, where I could craft bonds made especially for you.”

And all Graves could do was stare ahead, wide-eyed and heart pumping furiously in his breast as Grindelwald grinned down from above him.

“Let’s begin, shall we?”

And then that finger was penetrating him, eased by the water that entered him the moment Grindelwald’s finger pierced him – lighting him up from the inside. He gasped, mouth open against the stone as that feeling of being searched by the water returned tenfold. He wriggled uselessly as Grindelwald added another finger.

“You’re so pretty like this, dearest,” he said, his tone soft and whimsical as though they were two lovers enjoying a nice stroll rather than whatever the fuck they really were. Graves bit his cheek and growled. If the pool responded to will, why wasn’t it fucking throttling Grindelwald like he was willing it to do? Was Grindelwald’s will stronger than his?

Did the pool want this?

Grindelwald added another finger and Graves just barely bit back a moan as it glanced against that swollen, needy spot within him. His lashes fluttered for just a moment before he steeled himself again. No. He wasn’t in his heat. He would not enjoy this. He would not give that lunatic the satisfaction.

“Bent over and soft, just waiting for me. So obedient,” he said as if it wasn’t taking magic centuries old to contain him, “And good. My Omega, my pretty little mate.”

All around him, the green light that encompassed him began to glow ever so slightly brighter. Graves blinked, breath coming shorter as he realized the water was somehow reacting to Grindelwald’s perverted words in some way. He shook his head but could move no further.

“This will be so good for us,” the dark wizard said as though this had always been the plan, rather than the truth – that mere days ago they had been enemies, not lovers.

“You’re fucking crazy,” Graves managed to spit against the stone, water brushing across his lips.

“You’ll understand soon, dear thing,” Grindelwald crooned, the steadying hand at his waist moving to brush across his belly again. “It’ll all make sense soon. The poison you flooded your body with will well and truly be gone after this, and with it, your true nature can finally blossom.”

The runes glowed brighter. Graves began to struggle anew, fruitlessly.

“Your body will become what it always should have been. Small. Soft. Ripe,” he whispered, easing him open, being sure to hit his prostate with every pass – working Graves’ gut into a slow and growing burn. Graves bit his lip and scrunched his eyes closed, turning his mind to anything and everything that would keep his libido disinterested. In the water as he was, though, he couldn’t tell if he was slick or leaking. All he had was the burning in his gut and the steadily growing light of the runes around him – bleeding into his skin with every word Grindelwald said.

“With this gift,” Grindelwald said against his ear as he withdrew his fingers and instead aligned something thicker and far more familiar at his hole, “I can help you finally be what you were meant to be. I can make you whole. And together, we can free our kind, Percival. We can make birth to a new era, more powerful than ever before. Together.”

“Never,” Graves snarled.

Gentle fingers brushed back his hair so that Graves could just barely see the man out of the corner of his eye when he smiled, “It’ll be sooner than you think, dear heart,” and entered him in one long, smooth thrust.

And deep in his belly it felt like coming home – and that alone terrified him. It felt like everything suddenly falling into place, and although the logical part of his mind was telling him that feeling was just his biology talking, responding to the reappearance of the pheromones of the Alpha that had spent his heat with him – his heart couldn’t help but shatter. No, he couldn’t like this. He shouldn’t like this. But even now, he could feel a wide gush of slick ebb out from deep inside him and ooze around the girth within him. He could feel the hot, heavy girth of the Alpha atop him; could feel how it anchored him down. Against the stone, he could feel his own dick responding, rubbing painfully against the altar. It didn’t stop his hips from jerking, seeking movement that Grindelwald took his time in providing.

And above him, the man chuckled – amused by his hips disobedient actions.

“You want this,” he said, and Graves shivered. Grindelwald placed a heavy, domineering hand atop the small of his back and pressed him down. Graves keened. “You want to be taken. To be put in your place. It’s in your nature, dearest. To submit, to be spread and filled. You were made to love it. And if this is what it takes to help you enjoy your true nature, then I’ll gladly make you chains that will remind you as often as you need.”

Graves blinked.

“W-what?”

“Why else do you think we’re here?” Grindelwald chuckled, hips thrusting patiently behind him, driving him slowly mad beneath the pressure of their excruciating pace. Try as he might, he couldn’t stop his hips from pressing back – eager and begging. He pressed his forehead against the stone and squeezed his eyes shut, ashamed. Grindelwald kissed his brow.

“Once we’re done here, every time you use magic you’ll remember this,” he said, thrusting harder now into the depths of him – the black ink slowly bleeding into the gentle green that shimmered around him and crawling up the stone. “You’ll remember the heft of my cock spreading you open. You’ll think of the weight of me on your tongue. You’ll feel my fingers against the deepest parts of you and you’ll know the feeling of my lips around you. You’ll remember every part of me, every part of this, and you’ll be brought low beneath the weight of that desire. Every spell, every wandless compulsion – all of it will build and build, leeched from you and all driven here,” he said, grasping the hard length of his dick against his belly and clenching, “to leave you hard and humping my sheets until I come home.”

“N-no,” Graves breathed, hating the way his voice cracked. Hating himself for getting caught. Hating God or the gods or whatever force at hand that saw fit to make him an Omega.

“Yes,” Grindelwald said, lips pressed fiercely to the shell of his ear as he hiked his hips ever so slightly higher – Graves’ feet now completely off the ground and at the mercy of Grindelwald’s grasp around his waist – before pounding him in earnest. “You’ll think of this moment and you’ll beg for it. You’ll beg for me.”

“No,” Graves breathed again, fingers curling, unaware of the black ink that rose from the depths of the pool to inch ever so slowly towards him on the altar’s surface.

The burning in his gut turned into an inferno – the green halo that had surrounded him burning ever brighter now as he fast approached his end. He bit his lip. He keened, he cried. He shuddered freely beneath the relentless pounding of the Alpha atop him – pushed and pushed and pushed until finally, something opened in him like a dam and burst free, lighting his vision white even as that length within him stilled and grew, only to erupt in the deepest parts of him.

And as his vision slowly returned, he felt Grindelwald peck a series of soft kisses to the back of his neck before whispering, lips grazing the skin of his nape all the while, “Hold on, dearest.”

“What?”

He blinked away the haze of his orgasm to focus on the sight of thick black tendrils nearly upon him. He blinked again, dumbly, then all once came back to his senses and tried to jerk away, only for that hand to eclipse and grip the back of his neck one last time – making him limp just as the ink reached him.

And the moment it brushed him, he felt his heart stop. It was cold – cold in a sense so dark and so deep, it might as well have been as fathomless as the very darkest, most impenetrable parts of the ocean. It crept into his skin and it pierced and it dug and it bled deep down into the bones of him, first one wrist and then the other. And with every inch gained, he felt more of it. The cruelty of it. The unending rage of it. The desire and the fangs and the feral need for power. He saw everything as Grindelwald wished it to be. The future – the wizarding world in its rightful place. No Majs laid low. And him, with kiss swollen lips and blissed out eyes, sprawled out on silk sheets that framed the heavy curve of his pregnant belly. Legs spread and curled around the thin and powerful waist of the man that had stripped the world as Percival knew it bare and remade it. A scar stark and ruddy upon his throat – his bonding gland.

Graves screamed. He heard the sound of his horror echo all around him. And on and on and on the tendrils pressed. Swirling deep into his skin, spreading blood across the altar. It dug and it clawed and it crept until the black thing settled, swirling contently in his skin like fresh blood in water.

And it was done.

Grindelwald kissed the sweat slick skin of his throat, of his untaken gland, of his brow and praised him with soft words and kinder lips. But the pain lingered. It shook tremors from his skin and rattled his bones into dust.

And as Graves neared the end of consciousness, he prayed – and the only thing that answered was the echoes of his screams.

to be continued

#gellert grindelwald x percival graves #Original Percival Graves #Percival Graves #gellert grindelwald #Alpha Gellert Grindelwald #Omega Percival Graves #Graves Fic

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