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OPTION #1

(Note: The alternate eccentric isometric trap bar deadlift is recommended predominantly for those who have low back issues). The squat stance deadlift - a tweaked version of legendary powerlifter Ed Coan’s sumo deadlift - is a more joint friendly and conducive deadlift for maximizing strength, hypertrophy, and performance. When it comes to proper execution of the squat-stance deadlift the position and mechanics should feel very simple and natural. If you were going to pick up a heavy kettlebell, stone, or any heavy object off the floor this is the position/technique you would most likely assume.

To executive the squat stance deadlift properly you must remember to concentrate on five key areas, specifically (1) foot positioning, (2) stance, (3) hand placement, (4) hip, torso, and knee positioning, and (5) the pull (Read more HERE). In total, the squat-stance deadlift is the most natural, safest, and most effective deadlift technique for improving strength, size, and movement mechanics. Watch video tutorial for a detailed overview on how to properly execute this great lift.

OPTION #2

Kickstand Barbell Squats with NFL athlete Ameer Abdullah. Think of this as a semi-single leg squat. You get benefits of single leg movements as you target each side individually. However you still get overload benefits of bilateral training since you get just enough support so balance & stability are not limiting factors.

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Looking for a sprinter specific superset that crushes the legs while also reinforcing proper body mechanics & alignment? Try this eccentric isometric contrast combo shown by NFL athletes Marquell Beckwith and Julian Williams.

Marquell is performing a rapid eccentric isometric sprinter RDL with knee & arm drive. This blasts the posterior chain (glutes & hamstrings) & also reinforces proper body alignment & contralateral activation patterns using oblique slings that has tremendous transfer to sprinting & other athletic movements. Unlike eccentric isometrics, the key with REI (rapid eccentric isometrics) is to pull your body into position as rapidly as possible on the eccentric phase by using powerful & aggressive co-contraction of antagonist muscles. This creates maximal reciprocal inhibition on the concentric thereby maximizing power as well as movement accuracy & motor control.

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OPTION #1

*NOTE: The band and earthquake bar are optional **

This next exercise is an eccentric isometric split squat lunge using the hanging band technique with the earthquake bar from Bandbell. Use of bands and the earthquake bar are totally optional. Simply, feel free to perform standard barbell lunges if you don't have all the equipment. Now for the details of this exercise. This setup utilizes oscillating kinetic energy which is unpredictable & chaotic perturbations produced from a hanging or oscillating weight. When combined with eccentric isometrics this is one of the most effective methods there is for dialing in body mechanics, form, & activation patterns as the emphasis on the slow eccentrics combined with oscillating kinetic energy maximizes muscle spindle activation & ultimately optimizes our proprioceptive feedback & sense of feel. As a result we can more easily fine-tune our body mechanics. Lastly notice the optimal 90 deg joint angles.

OPTION #2

The eccentric isometric Goblet Bulgarian Squat with 90 deg angles as shown here by NFL athlete Chris Carson is one of my go-to split squat variations as it helps the athlete sit into the hips and brace their core without allowing excessive anterior knee drift.

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OPTION #1

NOTE: The band is optional

This is a deceptively difficult bird dog plank that takes advantage of the oblique slings via contralateral muscle activation at the hips. Here’s why this is so effective. First, the balance involved during a bird dog position requires incredible motor control. However, by adding the band it exponentially increases activation throughout the core & hips. That’s because on any plank, renegade row, pushup, or ab rollout, we want the hip flexors & abs firing like mad NOT the GLUTES!!! That’s right the concept of squeezing your glutes during planks, renegade rows, & pushups is actually the opposite of what we want. Simply put, the hip flexors & core work together to resist hip extension & lumbar extension. Now here’s where it gets interesting.

If we move to a single leg variation we’ve now magnified the same activation pattern in the support leg since firing the contralateral hip extensor (glutes) of the elevated leg helps fire the contralateral hip flexors of the opposite leg due to equal & opposite activation patterns associated with contralateral activation. In other words contralateral glute activation of the elevated leg helps reinforce hip flexor activation & core activation of the support leg.
Additionally, contralateral hip activation tends to greatly increase recruitment throughout the deep core musculature & lumbopelvic hip complex due to the intense stabilization required to resist rotational torque & twisting. This also very closely mimics oblique sling activation patterns we see during sprinting & other sporting activities (reciprocal muscle activation of contralateral hips) including single leg jumps, hitting, kicking, throwing, etc.

With that said, the main thing to remember is to extend the elevated leg as hard as possible by firing the daylights out of the glute which in turn fires the opposite hip flexor & quad which in turn fires the core like mad!!! Although a mini band works, a thinner longer band tends to work better.

OPTION #2

The Single Arm Ball Plank is one of the most simple yet effective core stabilization and anti rotation exercises in existence.

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If you’re looking for one of the most physically demanding chest press variations you’ll ever perform, look no further than this single arm Javelin floor press performed by my NFL athletes Jarius Wynn. Besides blasting the chest, shoulders, and triceps, this variation absolutely crushes the entire musculature of the core and abs particularly when the athletes employs a leg raise throughout as shown in the video. That’s because the anti-rotation, rotary stability, and anti-lateral flexion elements typically involved with any single arm press are even further magnified when the legs are elevated as the athletes is unable to create a stable foundation to press from.

In addition, because the lifter is resisting rotational forces, the bar also has a tendency to drift laterally and pull the athlete into shoulder abduction. To resist these abduction forces the athlete will need to fire their chest similar to an isometric chest fly throughout (i.e. adduction), in order to keep the bar close to their torso.

Lastly, using the javelin barbell protocol requires incredibly strict form and controlled mechanics as anything less will result in the barbell tilting and twisting in an uncontrollable fashion. This has a tremendous effect not only on improving chest pressing mechanics but also for stabilizing the shoulder joint and promoting optimal scapulohumeral rhythm.

OPTION #2

Single Leg Ring Pushups as shown by NFL athlete Ameer Abdullah: This is a great 2 in 1 exercise as it crushes the chest, shoulders, & triceps while also working on elements of rotary stability & deep core activation. These also target the hip extensors (glutes) & hip flexors.

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OPTION #1

NOTE: Each rep you will perform one RDL and two rows (one will include 2 RDL's and 4 rows per side). The RDL and Row is a great combo lift for targeting the entire posterior chain including the upper and lower back, glutes, and hamstrings.

This row involves offset loading using the hanging band technique. These not only crush the core & back but also light up the posterior chain including the glutes & hamstrings. Essentially you’ll feel like you’re performing a combination Pallof press & bent over row while using every muscle in your body not only to keep the barbell symmetrical but also to eliminate momentum & bouncing in order to minimize the chaotic energy & perturbation produced from the oscillating kinetic energy effect of the hanging band.

This is also one of my favorite methods for using on bent over rows. Here's why. On bent over rows it’s quite common that as the set progresses, the low back and spinal stabilizers can slowly begin to fatigue. As a result you’ll often see form and postural alignment gradually deteriorate throughout the set. Rather than holding a single bent over position and completing all repetitions of the rowing movement, a better solution is to reset after several repetitions by performing an additional RDL and repeating this several times per set.

For instance rather than perform 1 hinge then holding that for an entire set of 8-10 repetitions, try performing an RDL, then 2-3 Rows, then repeat that sequence until you’ve accumulated 8-10 total rows. Each time you stand up and perform an RDL motion you’re able to re-set the spine and allow the low back musculature to have momentary rest before repeating the sequence several times for the set. Not only will your form be significantly more dialed in but your low back will be less likely to fatigue and give out before your upper back. As an added bonus the modified rest pause or cluster set protocol allows the lifter to handle heavier loads ultimately leading to greater strength and mass gains.

OPTION #2

Here I have NFL athlete Keith Mumphery on Split Stance Bulgarian RDL and Rows which is one of the best posterior chain movements that also provides a nice functional stretch to the hips, low back, and glutes

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This is one of the most demanding variations of the overhead press and a suitable alternative to the traditional bottoms up kettlebell press. However, since we're keeping the RPE to 4-5 ensure you're doing this exercise with lighter weight plates.

If you've ever tried a bottoms-up press with kettlebells, you'll immediately understand the difficulty this next exercise poses. The bottoms-up plate press is done in the exact same manner as the kettlebell version, only using plates, but the height of the plates as well as their awkward nature makes this a more grueling variation. Remember, as the plates get heavier, they also get taller and harder to balance. Be prepared to focus like a Jedi as this may be one the more difficult exercises you'll ever attempt.

If it still doesn't provide enough of a challenge you can always try these in a kneeling fashion on a bench. This is another one of my personal favorites for both exposing and correcting dysfunctional mechanics throughout the body as anything but perfect technique will result in a failed attempt.

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Here's a great way to combine oblique slings into lat pulldowns using single leg skater squat lat pulldowns. The contralateral variations (loading opposite arm and leg) targets the oblique slings via similar activation and recruitment patterns whereas the ipsilateral variations target the oblique slings more from a biomechanical positioning standpoint. In other words make sure to do both variations on both sides.

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Although eyes-closed training is incredibly effective, over the years I’ve notice individuals still rely on vision even when their eyes are closed. Allow me to explain.

When an individual closes their eyes, whether they realize it or not, they end up taking a snapshot of their surroundings & storing it in their memory as a means of spatial referencing & visual imagery orientation. Throughout the set they continue to refer back to this mental spatial map as a means of controlling their body in space. So while they may not be directly using their sense of sight via the ocular system during the set they’re still relying on elements of visual feedback as a reference. Unfortunately this can be disadvantageous for several reasons.

1. Most individuals have ocular dominance meaning they favor one eye. This tends to produce very subtle yet significant deviations & asymmetries in our movement as ocular dominance appears to be related to handedness.

2. Besides using vision to maintain balance we also use it as a form of spatial geographic orientation. It is human nature to use straight lines as a spatial reference to determine what is aligned & what is not. In fact, when lifting it’s very common to rely excessively on our sense of sight & use the spatial orientation of the equipment, building, walls, & structures to create a visual reference map that lines up our body & limbs in relation to other objects in the room. However, due to issues related to ocular dominance, our reference point for what constitutes a perfectly straight line is rarely correct. Therefore, attempting to use our surroundings as a means of aligning our body will be semi-accurate at best.

3. In addition to sensory input issues there is the matter of attention. The science on the topic of attention is quite complex, therefore, what I describe here is a very simplistic overview to help illustrate subsequent points. Science has shown that attention capacity is limited such that we can only attend to a handful of elements and, in many cases, only one element at a time before sacrificing how much attention we allocate to each element. Simply put, the more elements we try to attend to at once the more the total amount of attention directed towards each individual element suffers. This is particularly true for complex skills or tasks that require high levels of brain function and cognitive focus.

Read more at: https://www.advancedhumanperformance.com/blog/eyes-closed-training-for-strength-performance-function

OPTION #2

Perform with either a straight bar or safety squat bar as seen in the video. The 1.5 squat technique is a highly effective squatting protocol to crush your legs including the quads, hamstrings, and glutes, as well as the 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.

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Perform 5 reps on each foot position for a total of 10 reps per set. Grip strength is a critical component of training not only because of the impact it has on promoting overall strength and loading capabilities but it also improves muscle function and body mechanics. That’s because a strong, tight grip helps pack the shoulder joint into its most centrated and biomechanically sound position thereby improving stability while also minimizing stress to the surrounding connective tissue. Additionally many strength athletes have found that as their grip, forearm, and hand strength improves, all of their other numbers increase as well.

Furthermore performing compound movements in conjunction with intense grip activation such as plate pinch or dumbbell pinching squats, lunges, hinges, carries, rows, and presses promotes increased full body tension and spinal rigidity. That’s because intense grip activation has shown to create a neurophysiological phenomenon known as concurrent activation potentiation (CAP) or irradiation which helps increase neural drive to the working extremities due to reduced energy leaks and full body activation. Essentially this is a fancy way of saying that the drills force you to stay tight and locked in. As a result not only does the individual experience greater muscle activation but they typically experience improved stability, motor control, symmetry, spinal alignment, mobility, and movement fluidity due to increased neuromuscular activation.

This particular combination is absolutely brutal as it torches just about every muscle in the posterior chain from head to toe while also blasting the core, arms, and grip. As an added bonus it does wonders for improving hip function, and balance.

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For the EI hole of three seconds you'll instead be holding the concentric portion for three seconds. The barbell shin and calve raise is one of my go-to exercises for improving strength in the distal portion of the lower extremities including the calves and tibialis muscles. Here are 2 of my NFL athletes showing how its done. Throwing in the shin (toe raise) does wonders not only for improving shin strength but also for eliminating shin splints as well as improving foot and ankle alignment. Shin strength is a critical yet oftentimes overlooked component of fitness and performance. It's something that most athletes would benefit from including in their training. The instability of the free weight calve and shin raise also helps wake up smaller muscles around the ankles and calves that normally aren't recruited.

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OPTION #1

Agility loaded carries can also be combined with just about any other protocol highlighted in this article. One of the most challenging is combining it with the longitudinal trap bar method as NFL athlete Kevin Minter shows here as he performs several eccentric isometric deadlifts beforehand.

The of level motor control, intramuscular tension, and full body stability required to successfully complete these is off the charts.

OPTION #2

A simple yet highly effective full body exercise. Pick up two heavy dumbbells and walk with quick yet tight and controlled form.