Standing Calf Raise

Keep your legs straight, and concentrate on going down deep, and up high.

Single Calf Raise

Very good exercise to do at home, or if you have a home gym. Extra weight can be held in free hand.

Wrist Curls

Keep your forearms pressed against the bench, and curl all the way down then all the way up.

Dumbell Wrist Curls

Similar to barbell, but you can focus on one side at a time. I’ve found it best to do this over the corner of a bench.

Barbell Curls

Make sure you get a full range of motion, and that you try varying grip widths for different effects.

Concentration Curls

Really focus your mind on the biceps. This is one of the more satisfying exercises to do.

Preacher Curls

Be careful that you don’t jerk the weight down at the bottom. Try a variety of width grips.

Machine Preacher

This version of the preacher has the advantage of having a consistent area of difficulty throughout the range od motion.

Rope Curls

This is a pulley version of the Hammer Curl.

Angled Dumbell Curls

Alternate between one dumbell and the other, supinating your wrists on the way up and down.

Lying Extensions (skullcrushers)

The best exercise for triceps. Almost guaranteed sore triceps every time. Use an EZ bar if possible.

Lying Dumbell Extensions

A good alternative to using the bar, and has the bonus of not needing a spotter.

Close Grip Bench Press

Make sure you have your grip equal distance from the ends of the bar, or you may lose balance.

Dips (triceps)

When doing dips with triceps in mind, you have to focus on the lock out part of the rep.

Cross body dumbell extensions

Good for a change.

Pushdowns

Concentrate on keeping your elbows still, and tight to your sides.

Tricep Pushdowns (with rope)

This exercise is a lot harder than normal pushdowns, and is an interesting variation.

Squats

Keep your back straight, head up, and toes slightly poiting out. Make sure that you do a full squat and not a half squat. Only full squats count.

Hack Squats

Try playing around with feet position on this exercise.

Thigh Curls

Concentrate on keeping your toes curled up towards your shins throughout the movement.

Dumbell Squats

Some beginners have great difficulty with putting the bar on their back. This is an alternative.

Lunges

Lunges are great for the thighs and the glutes. Alternate between legs.

Deadlift

Deadlifts are fantastic! They work quads, hams, lower back, midsection, upper back, traps and forearms. Concentrate on using back and legs at the same time when lifting.

Double Dumbell rows

You will need some sort of suitable bench to rest your head on, which in turn takes the weight off your lower back. A good exercise for those with injury prone lower backs.

Low Pulley Rows

Stretch your arms forward until they have just about reached your feet, and firmly pull the bar into your midsection, while lifting your chest high. Different handles can be used.

Pulldowns

Make sure you do pulldowns to the front of your head and not the back. A slight rock backwards is okay, but not too much.

Reverse grip pulldowns

Use a closer grip than normal, and pull elbows downward. Brings the biceps a little more into it.

Pullovers

Bench Press

Keep Your feet wide and solid. Have a tight grip on the bar, control the weight down to your lower chest area and firmly drive upwards. Always use a spotter for this exercise.

Incline Bench Press

Firm feet, tight grip, and pull the bar down to upper are of pecs, then drive firmly upwards.

Smith Machine Press (flat)

Similar to flat Bench Press. It is important in this exercise, to keep the hooks well away from the pins, and to position the bench exactly between the stands.

Machine Bench Press

Not as good as free weight Bench Press, but it has the advantage of not needing a spotter, so you can train intensely by yourself.

Flat Flys

When doing flat flys, it is important to keep a consistent bend in the elbows, and to make sure it doesn’t turn into a press. Make sure you get good depth on the rep.

Incline Flys

Make sure you get a good stretch on the way down, and do a “bear hugging” action, and not a pseudo press. Keep the dumbells about 8″ apart at the top of the rep.

It is very difficult to explain how to do an exercise with text only. Images and pictures can show you much better, so I have taken pictures of all the exercises in my arsenal. I decided that we would need is two pictures for each weight training exercise - a starting point picture and a finishing point picture, which should better explain the routine. Below is a list of specific weight training exercise routines I do. Over the coming month I will link to each exercise detailing with pictures exactly how to do them correctly to get the most out of your workout and to prevent injury. If you are looking for a more advanced muscle building bench press program, then I recommend you checkout the program at Critical Bench by Mike Westerdal.

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This month I’d like to go into some training methods which can annihilate the muscle ease the boredom and give you muscle ache like you’ve never had before. I still believe that the majority of your training time should be spent doing basic progressive training, but we are not thinking about normal stuff today. Time to die….

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Every site you ever see, seems to have reams and reams of stuff on training and diet. It all seems so complicated. No wonder so many beginners are confused. I’m not going to tell you that my training style is the answer, but I obviously believe in it, or why else would I do it. I’ve trained for twelve years now, and have trained every style you can imagine, but have settled on my present style during the last five years. If you are looking for the great secret, then you will be disappointed, there are no secrets, just basic knowledge.

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