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This next exercise is a military overhead shoulder press with the trap bar. Many athletes find these to be easier on their shoulders than traditional barbell due to the unstable grip. Additionally the added instability particularly from the bottoms up handles forces the lifter to use more controlled form and precise mechanics. Focus on using 90 degree joint angles with controlled eccentric isometrics while also keeping your core braced and maintaining full body tension.

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The 1.5 Overhead Military Barbell Press technique is a highly effective upper body pressing protocol to crush your shoulders, traps, triceps, upper back, core, and upper body stabilizers. It teaches proper form, tightness, motor control, and provides incredible levels of constant and high tension as it essentially eliminates momentum. Try pausing at both positions by using eccentric isometrics. This further enhances the effectiveness of the movement. Here's one of my NFL athletes Jake Banta showing how it's done. You'll also notice he does a great job of tucking the elbows forward throughout, achieving optimal thoracic extension during the eccentric phase, and not collapsing at the bottom position. He also nails the overhead slot position by popping the head through to neutral and setting the hips in back of him similar to the top of an overhead squat. All of theses features represent optimal overhead pressing mechanics.

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The front rack kettlebell squat is one of my favorite squat variations not only for crushing the legs and core but also for taxing the upper back, shoulders, traps, and upper body stabilizers. In fact the stimulus is quite similar to a traditional front squat in that the anterior loading targets the quads to a greater extent due to the slightly more vertical torso position. As a result it’s also quite low back friendly.

Unfortunately most gyms don’t have pairs of kettlebells that go past 50’s making it tough to implement as a true strength and hypertrophy exercise especially for stronger athletes such as football players or powerlifters. However by applying band resistance as I demonstrate here not only can you add additional resistance but you also can apply accommodating resistance using band tension. This deloads the weaker bottom position and overloads the stronger top position. For instance in this video I’m using 50 pound kettlebells with medium bands that provide 40-50 pounds each in the top position and 20-25 pounds each in the bottom position. As a result the total load is 150-200 pounds rather than just 100 lbs.

The one downside here is that the clean can be a bit awkward as is noticeable in the beginning of the video. However once you get the kettlebells in the proper position it actually feels quite comfortable and user friendly. Don’t be surprised if your whole body from head to toe gets torched from these.

Also notice how I incorporate the eccentric isometric protocol to enhance proprioceptive feedback as a means of improving motor control, technique and overall body mechanics.

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The rapid eccentric isometric pull-up/chin-up variation is a highly advanced yet very effective back exercise that teaches the muscles of the lats, arms, and core, to activate rapidly as a means of absorbing force and quickly decelerating the body. The key is to avoid collapsing at the bottom position by allowing the shoulder to excessively elevate or protract.

Rapid Eccentric Isometrics are an advanced proprietary training technique developed by Dr. Joel Seedman used to increase proprioceptive feedback from muscle spindles with the goal of improving performance and muscle function. Rapid Eccentric Isometrics (REI’s) also improve rate of force development (RFD), Rate of Stabilization Development (RSD), Rate of Force Absorption (RFA), and Reactive Stabilization as the muscles are forced to turn on rapidly to absorb high impact forces. Rapid Eccentric Isometrics should only be used once proper form has been established with standard eccentric isometrics (EI’s).

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This overhead shoulder front raise on rings is an excellent movement for targeting the shoulders, traps, and upper back while working on core stabilization and spinal alignment.

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These are phenomenal for improving jumping mechanics and teaching the athlete to brace on impact which improves landing mechanics and body alignment.

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This is a simple but effective rowing exercise that's also great for pairing with dips as the movement follows a very similar path and position.

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These not only blast the upper back and lats as well as the glutes and hamstrings but they also transfer nicely to sprinting form.

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The double med ball pushup is an incredibly advanced pushup variation that not only crushes the chest, shoulders, and triceps, but also taxes the core and spinal stabilizers. When performed in a single leg fashion as shown here by my awesome client and NPC figure competitor Leslie Petch the level of motor control and full body stability is exponentially magnified.

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NOTE: If too challenging, simply perform movement on the ground without the stability ball and box.

Want to blast your entire lower body including the glutes, quads, & hamstrings while also crushing your shoulders? Try this insanely tough lunge & lateral raise.

Essentially you’re performing an eccentric isometric unstable lunge/split squat while performing partial lateral raises with kettlebells. Also big shoutout to Leslie as the stability ball with front leg elevated on a box/bench was her idea. Definitely give her a follow as Leslie is always coming up with very unique & creative exercises not to mention crushing the most difficult movements with ease.

I know it looks like a small movement but the delts get absolutely pulverized from these. Additionally, the glutes & quads get hammered as the level of intramuscular tension that builds up in the lower body during the eccentric isometric hold is insanely high due the heightened levels of eccentric induced agonist/antagonist co-contraction that’s needed to stabilize the 90 degree lunge hold. Besides crushing a majority of the muscles in your body, these also reinforce proper lunge and split squat mechanics. That’s because anything but 90 deg joint angles with a slight hip hinge (which represents optimal lunge mechanics) as well as perfectly aligned hips mediolaterally will cause the lifter to lose balance.

These also help reinforce proper shoulder raise mechanics. Most lifters have a tendency to elevate their traps and get too trap dominant when performing lateral raises. Unless the lifter keeps the traps down & minimizes shoulder elevation, he or she will actually lose balance as faulty upper body mechanics actually impacts lower body alignment & hip positioning.

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Few people realize this but grip strength and shoulder mechanics are directly related. In fact improving grip strength and forcing a lifter to activate their hands and forearms intensely during upper body movements almost always impacts shoulder mechanics as it helps promote greater shoulder packing and centration of the glenohumeral joint. This is largely because the intense grip activation helps to stabilize the shoulder and lock it into proper position via irradiation and concurrent activation potentiation. Simply put it helps to promote increased neural drive and activation throughout the extremities and kinetic chain. Biomechanically it also keeps individuals from using sloppy mechanics and excessive range of motion as these forms of technical breakdown cause the grip to slip and lose pinching or crushing strength due to faulty wrist mechanics.

Simply using fat grips, fat bars, or pinching bumper plates and hex dumbbells does wonders for eliminating many forms of upper body dysfunction while simultaneously crushing the grip and forearms. In this particular variation I'm using a bumper plate pinching protocol applied lateral raises. Most individuals use excessive momentum and range of motion when performing lateral raises. In addition they tend to pull the weight straight out to the sides rather than allowing them to drift slightly forward at a 20-30 degree angle. This plate pinching protocol promotes these optimal mechanics as anything less feels like the bumper plates are going to slip out of the hands. Besides improving your lateral raise mechanics this specific variation crushes the lateral deltoids due to increased constant tension, metabolic stress, and mechanics tension all of which spark significant hypertrophy and functional strength gains.