I am not a big fan of muscle-isolation exercises like bicep curls. Why would you bother with this when you can do chins ups? But sometimes it's handy for circuits to have an extra exercise to throw in, especially when you are too tired to be able to do many chin ups. There are many varieties of bicep curl - straight bar, z-bar, dumbbell, hammer, seated, standing, 'preacher' curls - so for now I will just post videos of the one I have recently done, then add others when I have time.
My own experience is that using a straight bar is not good and can cause injuries over time - the ez-bar seems to offer a more natural angle for the wrists. Others say that you need a straight bar to fully engage the biceps. I'd rather have smaller biceps and be injury free. Dumbbells, of course, allow your arms to move through a range of motion that suits their geometry, so I would favour these.
Hammer Curls
You can do these standing up or sitting down. This video talks about slowly lowering and strict form - I tend to just do these fast as part of a circuit and not worry about form too much.
Barbell Curls
It's only practical to do these standing up. This guy does not have perfect form - but then I rarely do either - as I said above, for circuit work there's little point. I prefer to avoid burnout by cheating - it's a lot more convenient than running off to get a lighter bar. Note: there are some aspects of form that are important - such as a good stance and straight back - I am not advocating the abandonment of all aspects of good form!
I haven't done proper squats for a while, since I now focus on pistols to work my legs - however, here is a gratuitous video of a very strong guy squatting an awful lot of weight on a barbell.
Barbell Plate Partial Squats
I am not sure whether anyone else does these, so here is a video of me doing it. It's a great way to throw in a controlled set of partial squats at the end of a routine, simply to get the cardiovascular system working. I like the fact that the plates determine how far down you can go and that the centre of gravity is different from when holding dumbbells. The plates seem to stabilise the body more. I typically do 50-100 reps as a finisher with a 20kg or 25kg plate.
Swiss Ball Squats
I was told to do these by my physiotherapist while recovering from knee surgery - without the dumbbells initially. I think this variation puts less pressure on the knee because of the stability offered by the ball and the fact it allows you to lean back as you perform the movement.
I came up with this as an upper body-only finisher when my knee was giving me problems. I tend to choose relatively light weights and go for speed. Even so, it's hard to feel as though your fitness is being taxed when there is no lower body work involved.
It borrows from the '300' workout insofar as you complete all reps of exercise consecutively rather than in multiple rounds. So this is a one-round circuit. You can make this as hard as you like by increasing the weight.
You can use dumbbells or a barbell for the last 3.
For the inverted rows, I prefer to use the smith machine.... Read more
This can be done with dumbbells or a barbell, either seated or standing up. With a barbell, there is the question of whether to bring the bar to the front or the back of the neck. My experience has been that the behind-the-neck variation is awkward and can lead to injury especially if the bar brought all the way down to the traps.
The videos show a couple of the combinations.
When I was doing this exercise with heavy dumbbells, I found that if I allowed my upper arms to go below the horizontal position I developed injuries over time. People would tell me that I needed to get the full range of movement, but I am not convinced this is necessary.
These days I only do shoulder press with light weights as part of a circuit, usually standing up.
Standing Dumbbell Shoulder Press
Seated Front Barbell Shoulder Press
Even though it has a bit of a muscle-head emphasis, I picked this video because it shows the arms going no lower than the horizontal, which as I mention above, I think reduces the likelihood of injury.
With Sandbag
As seen in the first few seconds of this video. If you are just using the sandbag to press and not for the other exercises they go on to do, then a heavier bag would be needed. Mine is 28kg and I can manage no more than 15 good reps from fresh.
This is considered to be a good mass-builder for the upper back and this video illustrates well how the muscles are engaged by the movement.
Barbell
You can vary the grip width and angle of the back to suit. I prefer to have my back as close to horizontal as possible. I believe that the wider the grip, the less the biceps are engaged and therefore the more you isolate the lats.
Single-Arm Dumbbell
I like this guy's videos. He just gets on with it. The only thing I would say is that he appears not to pull the dumbbell right into the base of his ribcage, which I find gives me a better squeeze.
No matter how much I get into bodyweight exercises, I cannot let go of deadlifts. They are just such a great all-body exercise. The videos show the different ways they can be done. It's one of the few exercises where I still use lifting straps on occasion.
Standard Deadlift
Stiff/Straight-Legged Deadlift
With this version, you keep the legs more or less entirely straight and make more use of the lower back. People often stand on a platform to get a greater stretch on the hamstrings.
I like that this guy does a standard deadlift for the first rep. This is a good approach, since it can be disproportionately hard to do that first rep with this variation - making it hard to have good form on the first rep if you are using a heavy weight. Another approach, if you have the necessary equipment, is to take the weight off a rack at waist height to start.
Romanian Deadlift
Some people seem to think the Romanian deadlift is basically the same as the stiff-legged. But there are some differences and this article explains them well. Essentially, you do not go as far down with the bar (i.e. do not stand on a platform) and therefore there is no rounding of the back at the bottom. You also bend the legs a little more.
23.09.10: I recently videoed myself doing RDLs, and found my form was not good. After dropping the weight, and trying again the week after, things are looking better:
Set up two barbells - one for bent over row, one for shoulder press and curls.
Do this 4 times.
You can choose how much rest to have between exercises and between sets. I prefer to simply aim to complete the whole thing in as short a time as possible, resting only as much as necessary to cause as much pain as I have decided is appropriate on a given workout day.
It's important to choose a weight that will allow you to execute the movements fast for all 4 sets - to me this is a conditioning circuit, not an opportunity to take my muscles to failure.... Read more
These give you an isometric chest and tricep workout (where the muscle is under tension but remains static) as well as an ab workout. The video shows this being done on the floor, but I often just do it on the weights bench because otherwise if my chest is already tired I can't get the barbell up (you need a certain amount of weight on there to provide the necessary counter-balance.) It can be a challenge to balance your body on the weight bench, but this forces you to make the movement controlled, which is no bad thing.
The idea of this routine is to get an all-over workout, which hits the whole body hard, but leaves it in a state to do the same routine again a couple of days later.
It was inspired by listening to Doug McGuff here and here - although it does not entirely conform to his ideas (he would only do this once a week!)
Judge the weights you use so that each set is hard, but does not induce failure. Use slower reps when the weight turns out to be easier than you thought. Make each set count - you only have one for that exercise.
Of course, you should warm up for each exercise first, but then go straight into the main set. Rest only for as long as it takes to set up each subsequent exercise or change weights. You should be able to turn this round in under 20 minutes.
Deadlift goes last because this is the hardest and otherwise would impact performance on the others.... Read more
This is basically about getting an object above your head at arms length. It's basically a clean or power clean followed by pressing the weight above your head.
Whether or not you do a 'press' or a 'jerk' really depends on the extent to which you recruit your legs to give initial momentum to driving the weight above your head. It's a fine line. Just do what feels best for the weight you are using and let other people worry about semantics!
N.B. I am not including the snatch here - just pressing or jerking the weight above the head.
Personally I favour cleans as a superior exercise - it hits similar muscles and is a more natural movement - but I do use upright row in circuits.
Barbell
Dumbbell - Alternating
I find alternating with dumbbells a much better way to get a good squeeze, and it feels more natural and less likely to injure. Getting a good rhythm going helps - this guy is doing it a bit slower than I do.
You can use pairs of dumbbells, barbells or a mixture for this. Generally I pick two weights - one heavier weight for the bent-over row and a lighter one for the remaining exercises that need resistance.
Pick weights that are easy. Do not underestimate how hard this gets!
Use the Tabata protocol - i.e. 20 seconds for each exercise with 10 seconds rest between each. Do each exercise at close to maximum effort - this is why you should choose light weights. This is about muscular conditioning and fitness, not strength or hypertrophy training.
At the end of the round, take 1 minute rest. Then do another round. Repeat until the desired level of effort has been expended!
If you can do 3 of these, you are fit (in my view.)... Read more
