10 Best Exercises?

Training Powerlifting
41

[quote]aslater wrote:
The anti-curl crowd on this site gets old to listen too. I agree multi-joint exercises are the way to go but I would also keep some type of heavy curl on the list. I dabble in strongman and also armwrestling and extra arm work has made a huge difference in both discliplines. [/quote]

Good post, I totally agree with you. The only group of people that I have seen with impressive biceps that rarely do curls are gymnasts, and since most people are too heavy/too weak to do those moves curls are a good idea, not a bad idea. I also do similar stuff as you (PL, Strongman, Armwrestling) and I hear you about the bis.

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[quote]aslater wrote:
The anti-curl crowd on this site gets old to listen too. I agree multi-joint exercises are the way to go but I would also keep some type of heavy curl on the list. I dabble in strongman and also armwrestling and extra arm work has made a huge difference in both discliplines. Try wrestling with a guy who curls 200 pounds and see how it goes. I have a buddy with extremely strong arms and he is an absolute beast to grapple with. Seriously the anti-arm movement is flat out wrong. Im not saying to hit cable curls with 15 pound db’s but heavy curls will add to overall useable strength regardless of what your doing.

[/quote]

Bullshit!

You don’t need to even work your biceps when it comes to athleticism and function. LOOKS is the only reason to work and hypertrophy a bicep. Biceps are the most useless unfuntional muscle there is in the entire body and they are trained more than any other muscle I bet. Kinda funny… I read osmwhere that Hamstrings are the least targeted and trained muscle and they’re also probably one of the most functional and athleticly usefull muscles there is.

My biceps are still sore from deads 3 days ago. you don’t ever have to train a bicep directly unless you are trying to show that mother fucker off. I did just that. I hate curls! I did curls just like the rest of y, and built size off of them. What a fucking waste of time. I wont go near them again unless I plan on entering the Olympia; not in my plans. I don’t even work biceps anymore because I realized how much time I wasted on a useless muscle.

43

[quote]Go heavy fool wrote:
aslater wrote:
The anti-curl crowd on this site gets old to listen too. I agree multi-joint exercises are the way to go but I would also keep some type of heavy curl on the list. I dabble in strongman and also armwrestling and extra arm work has made a huge difference in both discliplines. Try wrestling with a guy who curls 200 pounds and see how it goes. I have a buddy with extremely strong arms and he is an absolute beast to grapple with. Seriously the anti-arm movement is flat out wrong. Im not saying to hit cable curls with 15 pound db’s but heavy curls will add to overall useable strength regardless of what your doing.

Bullshit!

You don’t need to even work your biceps when it comes to athleticism and function. LOOKS is the only reason to work and hypertrophy a bicep. Biceps are the most useless unfuntional muscle there is in the entire body and they are trained more than any other muscle I bet. Kinda funny… I read osmwhere that Hamstrings are the least targeted and trained muscle and they’re also probably one of the most functional and athleticly usefull muscles there is.

My biceps are still sore from deads 3 days ago. you don’t ever have to train a bicep directly unless you are trying to show that mother fucker off. I did just that. I hate curls! I did curls just like the rest of y, and built size off of them. What a fucking waste of time. I wont go near them again unless I plan on entering the Olympia; not in my plans. I don’t even work biceps anymore because I realized how much time I wasted on a useless muscle.

[/quote]

I fully disagree with you. Biceps are very important when it comes to doing actual work. cutting firewood, you have to have strong arms to move big sections and to use a chainsaw. hauling hay, same way. I used to make hitches and truck beds, and gained an inch on my bi’s the first couple of months on the job, just from loading angle iron sections into a machine. Your biceps are very important during heavy labor.

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Also, GHF, I find it rather interesting that since you don’t really seem to like the biceps, that they are your avatar picture. Funny, displaying a useless muscle like that.

45

ok heres my top 10 i find the most brutal

  1. Paused Squats
  2. Ass to grass Squats
  3. Deadlift off plates
  4. Deadlift
  5. Farmers Walks
  6. Dumbell Lunges
  7. Good Mornings
  8. Clean and Jerk
  9. Paused Front Squats
  10. Paused Romanian Deads
46

[quote]BarneyFife wrote:
Also, GHF, I find it rather interesting that since you don’t really seem to like the biceps, that they are your avatar picture. Funny, displaying a useless muscle like that.[/quote]

That’s the whole point Barney… its for show. Biceps are a show muscle. unless you are geneticly gifted and can build them rather easily, I wouldn’t waste time doing curls.

My biceps are pretty musch useless except to strike a pose. I can’t even think of a sport where they would actually matter.

47

[quote]BarneyFife wrote:
Go heavy fool wrote:
aslater wrote:
The anti-curl crowd on this site gets old to listen too. I agree multi-joint exercises are the way to go but I would also keep some type of heavy curl on the list. I dabble in strongman and also armwrestling and extra arm work has made a huge difference in both discliplines. Try wrestling with a guy who curls 200 pounds and see how it goes. I have a buddy with extremely strong arms and he is an absolute beast to grapple with. Seriously the anti-arm movement is flat out wrong. Im not saying to hit cable curls with 15 pound db’s but heavy curls will add to overall useable strength regardless of what your doing.

Bullshit!

You don’t need to even work your biceps when it comes to athleticism and function. LOOKS is the only reason to work and hypertrophy a bicep. Biceps are the most useless unfuntional muscle there is in the entire body and they are trained more than any other muscle I bet. Kinda funny… I read osmwhere that Hamstrings are the least targeted and trained muscle and they’re also probably one of the most functional and athleticly usefull muscles there is.

My biceps are still sore from deads 3 days ago. you don’t ever have to train a bicep directly unless you are trying to show that mother fucker off. I did just that. I hate curls! I did curls just like the rest of y, and built size off of them. What a fucking waste of time. I wont go near them again unless I plan on entering the Olympia; not in my plans. I don’t even work biceps anymore because I realized how much time I wasted on a useless muscle.

I fully disagree with you. Biceps are very important when it comes to doing actual work. cutting firewood, you have to have strong arms to move big sections and to use a chainsaw. hauling hay, same way. I used to make hitches and truck beds, and gained an inch on my bi’s the first couple of months on the job, just from loading angle iron sections into a machine. Your biceps are very important during heavy labor.[/quote]

Well opinions vary. For me biceps are useless and I have 20" guns. For you I guess they’re usefull. I’ve never needed a strong bicep once in my life for any sport or lift. Especially a big bicep from hypertrophy. I could have created all the strength I needed by never doing a curl and simply just using back pulling exercises would have been sufficient.

48

In which case our views are not entirely conflicting, Muscles aren’t just for lifting weights and playing sports after all.

49

Top 10 exercises?

Hmmm, I don’t think I need that many… I can prolly do it in 6 exercises:

(1) Clean
(2) Jerk
(3) Snatch
(4) Squats
(5) Bench Presses
(6) Deadlifts

I suppose if I were to add another 4 exercises to the list they would be:

(7) Overhead Press
(8) Pull-ups
(9) Glute-ham raise
(10) Good-mornings

But really, it comes down to:

(1) Triple Extension explosive movement
(2) Squat variation
(3) Press variation
(4) Pull variation

Do those 4 in a full-body training session plus 1-2 auxilliary exercises (at most) 3x per week and you really cannot go too far wrong.

50

I would like to add one.

The 5 knuckle shuffle.

Does require some recovery time however.

51

My best 10 lifts-
1.snatch
2.clean &jerk
3.barbel step-up
4.heavy bb lunges
5.dumbell swings
6.standing good morning
7.front squats
8.snatch-grip deadlift
9.side deadlift
10.over-head squat

                    Stay strong!
52

Personally, I really don’t see why one needs to stick to “traditional exercises” when compiling a list of the 10 best exercises. Although I do believe that there are traditional exercises that are hard to beat in their ability to develop maximal strength.

So, my list would include:

  1. Clean & Jerk/Push-press
  2. Snatch

I just feel that the olympic lifts are the best barbell exercises for developing overall athleticism, and can certainly develop frightening levels of strength.

  1. Deadlift (all variations)
  2. Squat (all variations)

For lowerbody strength these simply are the best two exercises out there. There are also so many variations of these exercises that one can continually vary the exercises to avoid burnout, while still getting good results.

  1. Muscle-ups

These are great in that they will give you the benefits of both pull-ups and dips, but also give you the benefits of the transition phase between the two exercises (which is actually the most difficult part of the exercise).

  1. Planche/planche push-ups
  2. Front Lever/front lever pull-ups
  3. Iron Cross/cross pulls/butterflies
  4. Handstand/press to handstand/handstand push-ups

Personally I really like gymnastics movements/holds for developing upper body strength. Every one of the above exercises requires a ful body contraction to perform. They also take full advantage of the effects that leverage can have on the difficulty of an exercise.

Another added benefit is that, with the exception of the Iron Cross, one doesn’t need any equipment other than one’s own body and a place to hang (in the case of the front lever) to perform the exercises.

I realize that one does need rings to perform an actual Iron Cross, but one can build up to an equivalent of an Iron cross (or any of the variations) using dumbells or cable pulleys.

Also, the reason that I included handstands and their variations and not military presses is that I feel that freestanding full ROM handstand push-ups are superior to Military presses in most cases.

They are certainly more challenging in terms of balance, they require a full body contraction to perform, and they require the same strength as a strict bodyweight military press. The other reason is that I already included Jerks/Push-presses, which I feel are superior to military presses since one can use more weight.

  1. COC gripper closes

Honestly, if your hands aren’t strong you won’t be able to support a heavy barbell for exercises like deadlifts. From my observations of lifters, many of them have a weak link in terms of grip strength. This usually leads to them using straps when going heavy, which only serves to worsten their weak link.

Grip strength is also very important in so many exercises, sports, and everyday activities that I believe it should recieve direct work.

Finally, let me just say that I realize that not all people have the strength to weight ratios to perform gymnastics exercises. Nor do I believe that exercises like Bench press, Rows, and other heavy barbell exercises are not beneficial for developing maximal strength. I simply really like gymnastics exercises (probably because I can do them) for strength.

Good training,

Sentoguy

53

[quote]Sentoguy wrote:

So, my list would include:

  1. Clean & Jerk/Push-press
  2. Snatch
  3. Deadlift (all variations)
  4. Squat (all variations)
  5. Muscle-ups
  6. Planche/planche push-ups
  7. Front Lever/front lever pull-ups
  8. Iron Cross/cross pulls/butterflies
  9. Handstand/press to handstand/handstand push-ups
  10. COC gripper closes

Sentoguy[/quote]

Good post - how much do you weigh?

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Hi nptitim,

Right now I weigh between 165-170, I’m about 5"8", with about 7% body fat. I know, I know, I’m not a hyooge guy. But, getting hyooge isn’t really my goal. Getting strong and improving my athleticism is. Not that I’m opposed to gaining muscle as I realize that it will only improve my strength and athleticism.

My traditional lifts also aren’t anything world class, but I wouldn’t say that I’m weak either, especially for my size. However, I am always improving and that is what is important to me.

Being smaller has it’s advantages, just as being bigger has it’s advantages. I think the important thing is to develop yourself to your own individual potential and goals, whatever they may be.

Good training,

Sentoguy

55

Sento - Thanks for the response. I asked mainly because about 2 months ago I got a pair of gymnastics rings and have been experimenting with them, but I am not a gymnast and don’t know that much about it. I am about 200 lbs so I was wondering what kind of lifts were more feasible for someone of that weight as opposed to a 150 gymnast. I would like to do an iron cross at some point but can’t do it yet.

How do you train for the front lever pull-ups and do you do those on rings or on a bar?

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Squats
Deads
Bench
Over head Press
Bent Rows
Fat Bar work
Dips
45 degree back extensions
good mornings
cleans or high pulls

My personal favorites are
rack deadlifts
floor press
standing military press
box squat
I like overhead squats too but I just started doing them and the weight I use is not mentionable but I want to have my form down.

57

[quote]Go heavy fool wrote:
chrisrodx wrote:

Weighted Abs Roller (plate on back).

Dude get the fuck outta here seriously… before I toss my Olympic bar across your forehead.

All abdominal exercises are for pussies… you are the same guy that was asking about his bodyfat% a few weeks ago, weren’t you?

I don’t do abs ever. Why? Because abs are for pussies![/quote]

I understand where you are coming from about the abs exercises. The majority of them are close to worthless. Yet the heaver abs exercises really do build some serious strength. For instance franco columbo was a big fan of hanging leg raises.

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Here is my best 10

  1. parallel box squat
  2. conventional deadlift
  3. olympic squats (ass to grass)
  4. bench press
  5. board presses (2,3,4 board)
  6. overhead pressing (push press/jerk, stricht press)
  7. chest supported row
  8. pullups
  9. glute ham raise
  10. reverse hyper

These are basically the only 10 exercises i do. Of course there are different ways to perform these exercises, max effort, dynamic effort, sub maximal effort for reps. And of course you can add bands and chains.

You take these 10 exercises and make a template to follow, using the different methods of strength development (DE, ME, RE) i gurantee you will be strong, big and explosive. Providing you put in the effort needed and also eat enough.

59

Full Squats
Deadlifts
DB Swings
Push Press
Pullups
Bench Press
Lunges
GHRs
Ab rollouts
Full Contact Twists

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[quote]nptitim wrote:
Sento - Thanks for the response. I asked mainly because about 2 months ago I got a pair of gymnastics rings and have been experimenting with them, but I am not a gymnast and don’t know that much about it. I am about 200 lbs so I was wondering what kind of lifts were more feasible for someone of that weight as opposed to a 150 gymnast. I would like to do an iron cross at some point but can’t do it yet.

How do you train for the front lever pull-ups and do you do those on rings or on a bar?[/quote]

Hi nptitim,

Good exercises to start with would be basic ones like chins, push-ups, body rows, dips, and shoulder stands.

From there you could eventually progress to muscle-ups (basically a pull-up right into a dip in one movement), ring flys, archer rows (or even cross dips), and harder stuff like front levers, handstands, planches, and iron crosses.

I’m not sure where you are at in terms of relative strength, but I do know that it’s possible for someone your size to hold a cross, and it’s probably possible to get at least a straddle front lever pull-up. I don’t know about the planche though. Maybe a straddle planche, but I’ve never heard of anyone your size getting a straight body planche.

I’ve been following Coach Sommer’s progressions for the front lever and planche. I could probably describe the progressions to you, but you’d be better off to just do a search for Coach Sommer and then read his article “Building an Olympic body through bodyweight training”.

Good luck and good training,

Sentoguy