Read About Exercise

This exercise looks somewhat easy but in reality is quite difficult if in fact the athlete assumes proper alignment from head to toe. Although this can be performed using a wall, it tends to work better with a partner. Stand with perfect alignment on one leg and powerfully perform a medicine ball chest pass.

The deceleration or catch phase of this can be difficult as it forces the trainee to rapidly turn on every stabilizer in the foot and ankle in order to maintain proper balance. In fact this addresses a critical yet oftentimes overlooked biomotor capability I refer to as Rate of Stabilization Development (RSD). Similar to explosive exercises that require a significant rate of force development (RFD), the single leg medicine ball toss not only require a high number of muscles around the feet and ankles to fire but it also requires them to turn on quickly in order to absorb impact and force, and avoid sudden instability.

With that said, Foot and Ankle Training is one of the most neglected components of strength and performance. If the feet and ankles aren’t functioning properly (which most individual’s are not) then all components of movement performance, strength, and fitness, are compromised. Simply put if the feet and ankles are out of synch it will be impossible to perform any lower body exercise correctly. You’ll be squatting, hinging, lunging, jumping, running, and even walking with faulty mechanics which can lead to a number of potential injuries throughout the kinetic chain.

Read About Exercise

The stretched ball plank is an extremely intense core exercise that strongly taxes the entire abdominal region and spinal stabilizers. The key is walking your feet back as far as possible as this creates the strongest extension forces that your body will have resist throughout by contracting the core musculature.

Read About Exercise

If you’re looking for a lower body variation that both improves squat mechanics while also enhances power and jump performance try this eccentric isometric barbell squat as demonstrated by a few of my football athletes including NFL defensive tackle Lawrence Virgil. Most athletes struggle locking in their squat form. As a result not only does it directly impact their lower body mechanics but it also minimizes jump performance, speed, and power output.

The eccentric isometric protocol helps maximize proprioception and sensory feedback by activating muscle spindles. As a result this helps the athlete dial in their lower body mechanics as they can more easily tune into their “sense of feel” and fine-tune their body positioning. Ironically once they athlete cleans up their mechanics they often find they can actually jump higher on eccentric isometric barbell jump squats (compared to standard barbell jump squats) due to the enhanced sensory feedback, improved body mechanics, and increased motor unit recruitment associated with eccentric isometric protocols. These are also amazing for producing post activation potentiation and can easily be paired with other explosive movements for an acute spike in power output.

Read About Exercise

The seated row using a rope and rotational movement allows greater activation of the lats as the pronated grip allows greater stretch and elongation of the lats while the supinated position promotes a stronger contraction throughout the back in the contracted position. You'll have to drop the weight a bit but the stimulus to the upper back and lats is well worth it. It's also incredibly joint friendly and excellent for anyone struggle with shoulder or neck pain. Make sure you fully extend on the eccentric phase without allowing the shoulders to round as this would represent excessive protraction, a common rowing mistake.

Read About Exercise

Although it doesn’t involve a variable adjusting angle throughout the movement like the pivot press does, the incline T-bench chest press is an incredibly effective pressing movement in its own right. In this video, my awesome clients and I including Leslie Petch and Erin English are demonstrating several variations including the dumbbell, barbell, and single leg versions of the incline t-bench chest press. There are 5 unique benefits of this movement many of which can also be witnessed during the pivot press.

1. You’re essentially creating your own 45-degree bench press only you’re using your body to help maintain a position that a traditional incline bench would provide. This results in incredible full body tension and concurrent activation potentiation. In addition it’s quite brutal on the chest particularly the upper regions as well as the shoulders.

2. The glutes and hamstrings get pummeled during these as you’re essentially holding the bottom eccentric isometric position of a hip thruster. With this in mind, the single leg version is quite brutal on the posterior chain.

3. Similar to the standard t-bench press position, the incline t-bench press is incredible for teaching proper t-spine extension and shoulder retraction. In fact, it’s even more pronounced during the incline version as the upper back and shoulders are pressed fiercely against the bench forcing the lifter into proper levels of t-spine extension and shoulder packing. As a result the stretch and elongation to the pectoral fibers is quite intense producing both incredible gains in functional mass as well as improvements to posture and spinal alignment.

4. The incline t-bench also involves one of my favorite horizontal pressing features, namely the head off position. Besides the fact that you’ll be required to use your own neck strength to keep your head in the proper position, this also allows more complete cervical elongation. In turn this optimizes shoulder positioning and t-spine extension as these are both related to cervical positioning. In contrast when the head is pressed against a pad, this compresses the cervical spine, which negatively impacts glenohumeral joint mechanics and t-spine positioning.

5. The abdominals and core get worked quite intensely during the incline t-bench position even more so than a standard t-bench chest press. That’s because the lifter will be required to engage their hip flexors in the bottom position to keep their hips from lifting up. In other words there is strong co-contraction of the hip flexors and hip extensors. Because the hip flexors and abdominal muscles oftentimes work together this creates enormous tension in the entire anterior portion of the core as it feels similar to performing a knee raise or reverse crunch throughout.

Read About Exercise

Besides enhancing power and jump performance this variation of the plyometric lunge requires greater motor control and balance.

Read About Exercise

Nearly every workout I program for an athlete, bodybuilder, or powerlifter, I include at least one explosive or power based movement. At least half of the time this includes some form of an Olympic weightlifting variation including cleans, snatches, jerks/push presses, jump shrugs, power shrugs, etc.

However, I don’t always use the traditional Olympic barbell for performing these. In fact over the last several years I periodically implement dumbbells into variations of Olympic lifts such as cleans, snatches, and explosive overhead movements. In this video you’ll see me and one of my NFL athletes Marquell Beckwith performing hang snatches and hang cleans below the knee in an isolateral fashion (two dumbbells instead of one). Here are 10 reasons why this is so effective (Read HERE.)

Read About Exercise

If you want to improve your pullup or chin-up technique the eccentric isometric pull-up variation is fantastic for improving shoulder stability, shoulder stability, t-spine mobility, postural alignment, and spinal positioning. Avoid having the shoulders collapse, protract, or excessively elevate at the bottom position.

Read About Exercise

(Note: Perform in single arm fashion - focusing on speed and power on the concentric portion of the lift). You’ve probably heard it a hundred times; if you’re an overhead athlete you shouldn’t perform overhead presses right? Wrong!!! In fact overhead presses and variations thereof are something I routinely use with all of my overhead athletes. Case in point, here’s Pittsburg Pirates outfielder Austin Meadows performing a reverse bottoms up overhead press with kettlebells. I started working with Austin several months ago at which time he had several injuries including a very complex shoulder issue that was preventing him from throwing. By strategically implementing numerous eccentric isometrics into his routine (for both upper and lower body) alike including the implementation of many overhead pressing variations, Austin is now back to throwing bombs and crushing his batting sessions.

In addition, I had Austin perform no additional corrective exercises, rotator cuff drills, soft tissue work, stretches, mobility drills, or any other treatment for his shoulders. Instead we relied on the correct execution of foundational movement patterns combined with properly performed eccentric isometrics to provide all of the therapeutic effects that Austin needed to restore his shoulder function and mechanics.

I also want to point out that Austin is one of the most mentally engaged, dedicated, and passionate athletes I’ve worked with. This combined with his incredible work ethic and God-given talent make him one of the most exciting athletes to coach and train that I’ve ever worked with. Keep an eye on this kid as he’s going to be doing huge things this year in the big leagues. To read more about the reverse bottoms-up press read HERE.