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Essentially what you’re doing is performing a supramaximal dead-stop eccentric lunge followed by an explosive dead-stop Anderson squat. To perform these, set the safety pins so you can reach a 90 degree position on the lunge, then select a load that’s approximately 20-25% of your maximal split squat/lunge weight. Perform the lunge/split squat in a slow and controlled fashion, gently allow the barbell to settle to the pins, adjust your body into a bilateral squat position, then squat the barbell back to the top position. Repeat this sequence for 1-4 reps per side.

In this particular scenario I’m performing the lunge with 405 pounds and Leslie is using 205 pounds which represents 20-25% more weight than each of us would use on a traditional barbell lunges and split squats. Besides crushing your quads, glutes, and hamstrings, this is one of the single most effective methods for improving your split stance and lunge strength. As an added bonus you’ll also be able to boost your squat power as you perform submaximal explosive dead-stop squats.

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Most lifters, coaches, and trainers perform ab rollouts incorrectly. The bear crawl rollout is not only one of the most effective core exercises I’ve ever employed but it’s also incredibly effective for improving technique on traditional ab rollouts as well as eliminating a variety of movement dysfunctions. Here’s one of my awesome clients Elizabeth demonstrating a simple yet deceptively challenging version using the stability ball.

To perform the bear crawl ab rollout assume a position where the hips and knees form a 90-degree angle. From there, perform ab rollouts with a slightly abbreviated range of motion while maintaining that strict 90-deg position in the hips and knees throughout the set. Besides providing an intense full body stimulus that brutalizes the core and abs, there are 5 reasons why the bear crawl position ab rollout is so effective.

1. Perhaps the single most common mistake I see individuals make when performing ab rollouts is allowing their lumbar spine to excessively arch. Part of this is due to the fact that they’re simply attempting to roll out too far and use excessive range of motion which also overstretches the abdominal wall. However some of this is also due to the intense extension forces placed on the lumbar spine from ab rollouts. In fact, the very nature of the rollout is that it’s designed to be an anti-extension exercise where the lifter resists extension forces by keeping a neutral spine throughout. However, most lifters including many coaches produce varying degrees of lumbar extension during ab rollouts which not only minimizes tension to the core but also places undue stress on the low back. The bear crawl ab rollout directly addresses this issue head on. That’s because it’s literally impossible to hyperextend the lumbar spine if in fact the lifter maintains a perfect bear crawl position with a double 90-degree bend at the hips and knees. In other words, for the lumbar spine to extend, the knees and hips would also have to extend. I’ve used this technique on several dozen athletes and clients over the last few months and it’s been incredibly effective for eliminating most if not all traces of lumbar extension during ab rollouts.

2. The bear crawl rollout not only reinforces proper spinal positioning during ab rollouts, it also incorporates the dual-core activation method by targeting the muscles of both the lumbar flexors and hip flexors. In fact, many variable resistance companies frequently attempt to build abdominal machines that involve simultaneous lumbar flexion and hip flexion. Additionally, many popular ab exercises including hanging leg raises, knee tucks, jackknives, v-ups, and pike ups are also employed with the notion that targeting both the core and hips together will produce greater activation of the abs. Unfortunately many of these variations also sacrifice optimal spinal alignment as the athlete is forced to abandon neutral spinal mechanics. The bear crawl rollout directly targets these same muscles using very similar activation principles, however, the athlete is able to maintain a neutral spine throughout. In other words the bear crawl rollout involves anti-extension of both the core and the hips not to mention the knees.

3. Most individuals perform ab rollouts with excessive range of motion by attempting to over-stretch their abdominal wall. As with any exercise the goal should be optimal range of motion not excessive range of motion. Although the bear crawl rollout represents a movement that involves a slightly abbreviated range of motion compared to standard rollouts, this also helps eliminate overstretching. If you tend to collapse on ab rollouts or have trouble finding your natural stopping point, bear crawl rollouts are a simple but effective method to quickly resolve this.

4. Consciously contracting your glutes while performing ab rollouts or any anti-extensor core exercise is plain wrong. Instead focus on firing your core and hip flexors. This is something I’ve stated repeatedly over the years but it’s worth repeating as many fitness professionals are still erroneously applying this cue to their training. In fact, one of the main reasons why individuals perform ab rollouts with an excessive range of motion is because they emphasize the “glute squeeze” cue. This is the single worst training cue you could use on any anti-extension core exercise including rollouts, planks, pushups, and even hollow body holds as the hip flexors (not the hip extensors) should be firing aggressively. During any anti-extension core exercise, the stomach should remain pulled in and the hips should remain tall and relatively high as this facilitates a hollowed core position similar to a hollow body leg raise.

   Dropping the hips even slightly, reduces this hollowed core position and places undue stress on the low back (i.e. extension forces) not to mention the core musculature loses significant intramuscular tension. Flexing the hip flexors helps to promote optimal mechanics as the hip flexors resist the very thing the rollout is attempting to do to your spine, namely hip and lumbar extension. Contracting the glutes (hip extensors) works against optimal body mechanics as it simply adds to the already high levels of extension forces working against the hips and core.

   Simply put, because the ab rollout is an anti-extension exercise (of the spine and hips) this necessitates activating both the anterior core musculature and hip flexors as they work in conjunction with each other. Again this is similar to many core movements such as pike ups, leg raises, knee raises, body saws, and hollow body leg raise holds. Forcefully contracting the glutes on any of these would not only be detrimental and degrading to natural body mechanics but it would feel incredibly unnatural and dangerous.

   In addition, squeezing the glutes emphasizes hip extension and inhibition of the hip flexors (as these muscles cannot co-contract when a prominent force vector acting in one direction is present) which is exactly the opposite of what should be occurring during any anti-extension movement. If anything there should be a slight V position in the hips as they sit tall throughout which helps to hollow the core and further resist extension.

   With all of this said, the bear crawl ab rollout directly reinforces this principle as the hip flexors are contracting throughout to maintain a 90 degree hip bend. If you’re still on the fence about whether or not you should be contracting your hip flexors or hip extensors during ab rollouts, planks, or any other anti-extension exercise, give the bear crawl rollout a spin. You’ll immediately see how important the hip flexors are and how counterproductive it is to forcefully contract the glutes during anti-extension movements.

5. The bear crawl rollout is incredibly effective for reinforcing proper shoulder mechanics during anti-extension movements. Most athletes have a tendency to move their shoulders into excessive elevation and protraction by allowing the extension forces to yank their shoulders up and over. Besides ingraining faulty upper body mechanics this also reduces stress to the core while placing undue stress on the spine. Due to the semi-rigid and tighter setup, the bear crawl position helps pack and centrate the glenohumeral joint into a very natural and stable position. As a result you’ll be more likely to perform rollouts without forfeiting optimal shoulder mechanics.

QUICK NOTE

Although the amount of intramuscular tension is quite high during bear crawl rollouts, some individuals will notice they need additional loading in comparison to standing/pushup plank ab rollouts due the shorter lever arm and abbreviated motion. However, focusing on performing the movement with perfect mechanics will produce incredibly high levels of core activation making these challenging even for the most advanced trainee.

OPTION #2

Copenhagen Plank 2.0 & Knee Drive: Having elevated support leg half way off the edge of the bench allows more complete internal rotation of hip thereby producing stronger contraction through the hip adductors.

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Want to improve your vertical jump height while also enhancing your body mechanics? Try this eccentric isometric jump squat using the trap bar as shown here by 2 of my collegiate football players. Focus on staying tight and braced particularly on the landing phase so as to ensure optimal force absorption. Read more HERE.

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Toe curls are great for waking up the muscles of the feet and toes. This can also be done using a towel.

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Here I have NFL athlete & Atlanta Falcons Kicker Younghoe Koo on exercises from recent workouts. Although we focus on basics with 90 deg eccentric isometrics, we add additional hip work for kicking.

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Overhead Bulgarian barbell squats performed in an eccentric isometric fashion are one of the single most effective movements you can. It improves improves mobility, stability, postural alignment, balance, symmetrical loading, proprioception, strength, and hypertrophy from head to toe. For the eccentric isometric perform a slow negative followed by a several second pause in the stretched position. This allows the lifter to attend to the high levels of sensory feedback produced from muscle spindles and other proprioceptive mechanisms. As a result this allows the lifter to fine-tune and optimize their body positioning and movement mechanics.

It’s also imperative that the Bulgarian squat be performed with proper hip hinge mechanics to ensure optimal activation throughout the glutes and hip muscles. Most individuals perform Bulgarian squats and lunges with excessive anterior knee drift due to lack of ideal hip hinge mechanics in the eccentrically elongated position. The overhead mechanics typically exposes this dysfunction even further as the hips and knees will have a tendency to drift forward even more so unless technique is perfectly dialed in. Focus on keeping the hips and knees pushed back as far as possible while keeping the chest out and arms pulled back overhead as far as possible.

In addition try to aim for approximately 90 degree angles in both legs as this represents ideal joint mechanics for optimizing force production, force absorption, and joint stability. This is a challenging movement but if you can master it, the improvements in muscle function and body mechanics will be well worth the effort.

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So besides being insanely difficult, you may be wondering what the purpose of foam roller bridges and hip thrusters are for. Here’s the lowdown. Glute bridges and hip thrusters are perhaps the most popular exercises in existence for targeting the posterior chain. Unfortunately most individuals perform them incorrectly as they neglect critical aspects of alignment between the hips, knees, and ankles. In addition, most lifters perform glute bridges and hip thrusters with little if any attention to proper foot and ankle activation which is of the utmost importance. When the feet and ankles aren’t firing properly it shortchanges activation all the way up the kinetic chain including recruitment of the larger muscles around the hips. In addition, disregarding foot and ankle mechanics causes many lifters to perform bridges with faulty alignment and improper mechanics. With this in mind I’ve found anti-rolling and anti-sliding variations particularly effective for fixing these issues.

Glute bridges and hip thrusters are very effective for isolating the posterior chain. Unfortunately most individuals perform them incorrectly as they neglect critical aspects of alignment between the hips, knees, and ankles. In addition, most lifters perform glute bridges and hip thrusters with little if any attention to proper foot and ankle activation which is of the utmost importance. In fact, when the feet and ankles aren’t firing properly it shortchanges activation all the way up the kinetic chain including recruitment of the larger muscles around the hips.

In addition, disregarding foot and ankle mechanics causes many lifters to perform bridges with faulty alignment and improper mechanics. As soon as my athletes learn to activate their feet and ankles during glute bridges and hip thrusters, their muscle-mind connection with their posterior chain and overall activation of their glutes and hamstrings goes through the roof. It’s as if this is the missing link keeping many individuals from truly activating their glutes. With this in mind I’ve found foam roller bridges and hip thrusters particularly effective for fixing these issues for a variety of reasons.

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The single arm bent over cable row is an outstanding lat and back exercise as the movement provides one of the largest ROM's (Range of Motion) of any lat or rowing exercise there is due to the unique angle of pull. The single arm variation also provides greater stretch at the bottom. In addition it's a fantastic core stabilization exercise as it involves a significant degree of rotary stability and anti-rotation.

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The squatting chest press (with eccentric isometrics) is perhaps the single most intense and physically demanding chest exercise I’ve ever performed. Although these look relatively simple, I assure you that literarily every muscle from head to toe will be firing with near maximal effort to lock these in. Here are several reasons why this is so effective. Read more HERE.

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Keep the shoulders and scapula pulled down, back, and in towards the spine throughout. This video tutorial highlights some common mistakes on lat pulldowns and pullups as well as what's needed to correct the mechanics. As noted, make sure the spine and shoulders stay locked in throughout the movement.

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The balance and stability involved during single leg Zercher squats makes them quite challenging. If you're unaccustomed to single leg work and need to improve your balance and stability you may want to progress by starting with kickstand variations of Zercher squats. Here I have NFL athlete Jonathan Woodard (@bigtrusosa) performing the Zercher kickstand good morning variation.

These also tend to hit a bit higher up on the glutes than a traditional single leg good morning or RDL as having the back leg down places a bit more tension towards the upper portion of the glutes while slightly reducing the amount of tension on the lower hamstrings.

A majority of weight will be on the front leg. Focus on using the back leg for minor support without placing too much weight on it. In addition, make sure the heel of the back leg is elevated which will place further tension onto the front working leg. Read more HERE.

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Unilateral calve raises on the smith machine are very effective at inducing strength and size gains in the entire calve muscle particularly when performed with eccentric isometrics. It's also excellent for improving mobility in the ankles and eliminating tightness in the calves or achilles areas.

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Looking for a movement that promotes full body stabilization especially around the scapula and glenohumeral joint then you'll want to give this bottoms-up eccentric isometric overhead press variation with partner perturbation a try. Here I'm having Minnesota Vikings quarterback Taylor Heinicke perform this on an active recovery day to promote increased proprioception, stability, motor control, mobility, blood flow, and functional shoulder strengthening to prep him for the upcoming season. I've used quite a few bottoms-up exercise with Taylor to enhance function and strength after several injuries he sustained during his college career. These have been vital in maximizing his performance, shoulder health, and ability to continue crushing the heavy iron all while being able to avoid surgery and other invasive treatments.

Whether you're a throwing athlete or simply looking for a movement to improve function, stability, and strength this one's great for adding in either as a dynamic warmup before heavy upper body movements, in between heavy training days as a form of active recovery, or at the end of a workout to act as a functional finisher. Performing these seated on a ball requires greater innervation to the surrounding core musculature, hips, and feet and ankles making it an excellent full body activation drill. As an added bonus, the high levels of tension created while holding an occluded stretch produce heightened levels of mechanical tension and metabolic stress both of which are critical factors for promoting functional size and muscle hypertrophy.