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• THE GREATEST CHEST WORKOUT EVER HAS ARRIVED!

  Posted: October 25, 2011

  

  If you scour the gyms of America you’re likely to find guys all over seeking something as if they were looking for the Holy Grail. Actually scratch that analogy… I think this one would be more valued if they actually were to find it! What is it you ask? It’s the secret to a bigger chest!

  You may even be out there nodding your head as you read this because quite frankly…you’d kill for a bigger chest as well! Believe me, I know. I can remember as a 12 year old seeing Ravishing Rick Rude (former WWF wrestler and huge, ripped dude) on television on Saturday morning wrestling thinking to myself… man how the hell did he get that chest?!? I’d look down at my nearly inward caving chest and think… I’ve got a LONG way to go before it looks like that! Who knew that guys could be just as concerned with being flat chested as a female!?!
  Read more »

  
  

• THE DEATH OF THE CABLE CROSSOVER EXERCISE?

  Posted: November 20, 2010

  

  Head to any gym and you’ll most likely see someone occupying the cable crossover machine at ALL times.  It’s probably the second most popular spot…second to the water fountain (or now…the shake bar!).  Did you ever wonder why the squat rack always seems empty?!?  Anyway, why is this massive configuration of iron and cables such a gym rat favorite?  Because it’s believed to be the best place to get that deep line between the chest that so many guys covet and…it’s a heck of a lot cooler looking than the seated pec deck machines! Is it me or is that so 80′s?!?

  Well…I’ll give you the best reason to trade in the pec deck for the cable cross.  In the latter you’re doing the exercise on your feet! As any of my AthLEAN-X guys can attest, I’m a big fan of that in almost all of your training.  Get off your butt (literally) and on your feet at every opportunity in the gym!  That one simple switch in your routine is enough to add at least 5-10 lbs of solid muscle to your frame simply by engaging more of the larger and core muscle tie-ins into the workload.

  Now, that said….all cable crossovers are not equal.  Not by a long shot.  Think about all the variations you see.  Guys crossing low to high, high to low, one arm at a time, lying down on a bench like a cable fly, etc.  The thing is…these are all wrong  (at least when it comes to maximally developing the lower and inner chest!).  Why are these wrong?  Because usually the biggest mover of the weights in these exercises is NOT the muscles you’re trying to work, but rather momentum of the body and unwanted contribution of the lats and serratus muscles!

  So what to do?

  Simple…..isolate even further.  Or to be exact, ISO Low Cross! That’s what I call the exercise that I regard as the quickest and fastest way to develop inner and lower pecs.  It’s actually very easy to perform, but not so easy to complete!

  Start by setting up two low pulleys on either side of you.  Take the normal weight you use for high to low cable crossovers and cut that weight in at least half.  Now, from there grab each handle with your palm facing behind you (very important to activate the internal rotators of the shoulder to pre-activate the chest muscles) and stand with your feet slightly wider than shoulder width apart and your arms held straight and out to your sides.  Bring the hands a bit in front of the body and now cross them in front of you (no higher than waist height) right over left.  You’ll feel the squeeze right down the center of the pecs and from the bottom up.  From there, slowly return to the starting position and repeat, this time crossing the left over the right.  Continue to alternate in this fashion until your pecs are starting to feel like a towering inferno….and then do a couple more!

  [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YcANO5d0nA[/youtube]

  That’s it.  The cable crossover exercise….fixed! You’re getting isolated pec involvement, less momentum, a ground based movement, and two areas of the chest developed for the price of one!  What more could you want than that?  Balanced impressive pecs from all angles of course ( I can hear you saying it from here!)!  Well, now you can….except don’t let too many people know about the benefits of this exercise, or you’ll have to camp out at the gym the night before your workout to make sure you get your chance at the cable cross station!

  Like the hard hitting “call it like it is” approach that celebrity trainer and former NY Mets Physical Therapist/Strength Coach Jeff Cavaliere takes in his training?  Well let him get the most out of you by helping you to stop wasting time on popular but marginally effective exercises and trade them in for those that work without a doubt and are actually fun to do!  Get his AthLEAN-X Training System and change more than just your exercises in the next 90 days.

  
  

• CHEST WORKOUT ESSENTIALS – 3 KEYS TO UNLOCKING THE “TREASURE” CHEST!

  Posted: November 20, 2010

  

  Of all the muscle groups in the body, none command the respect of a powerful, fully developed, defined chest. Besides the fact that it lies directly next to perhaps the most visible muscle group in the body (the abs!), the pecs are what catches most peoples attention and enables someone to instantly determine whether you work out or not.  That said, what do people think of you when they see you without your shirt on?   Can they tell you spend time in the gym or do they instantly know you work behind a desk for a living, have never had a gym membership, and hate the feeling you get in your arms when you do pushups?!?  If so…then let me help you.

  I put together what I consider my “3 Keys” for unlocking a “Treasure” Chest.  Whether your chest is already big but lacking the definition that actually makes it look much bigger (the inner chest separation, the rounded lower pecs, the “shelf” at the top of the chest) or you’re dealing with nothing but a flat terrain above your stomach that looks like it did in your baby pictures…these keys will help you to change all this…and quickly.  So without further ado, let’s “dig” up this treasure chest and see how you can achieve the powerful pecs despite all previous failed attempts.

  1.  Trade Minutes for Intensity!

  When you’re looking to develop the chest (or any muscle for that matter) you’ve got to understand that the only way you’re going to be able to make a stubborn muscle grow is to FORCE IT TO GROW! You have to give it a reason to respond.  The way to do this is to actually make your workout experience a little uncomfortable.  I’m not talking about painful (as in joint pain or muscle pain beyond just a normal lactic acid burn).  I’m talking about making the workout a true challenge and a test of your will.  To do this….set out to achieve in 30 minutes what you normally would do in 60! I know…it seems impossible but it really isn’t.  Amp up the intensity, stop the socialization and dig deep and you will find that your workouts won’t be the only thing that becomes shorter…so will be your wait to getting that chest you’ve always wanted.

  2.  Attack From All Angles!

  If you want to develop a chest that looks like one you’d see on the cover of a muscle magazine, you’ve got to be sure that your workout includes exercises that attack the chest from multiple angles while still keeping the workouts brief enough to adhere to principle number one!  This can be quite the challenge.  However, not really when you do it right.  The angles you want to address are an exercise for the upper chest, one for the lower pecs, one for the inner chest and finally…the one that most people ignore…one for the outer pecs!  If you ignore any one of these your chest is never going to look fully developed, or worse, it’s going to look droopy or lopsided even when it’s muscular.  You don’t want this and it can be easily avoided with a proper plan of action.

  3.  Standard Reps Are Not Enough!

  To get a stubborn muscle to grow you’ve got to first “expand” your repertoire of techniques for accomplishing it.  My favorite tactic is by varying rep speed and cadence.  Things like 1 1/2 reps and time under tension are incredible ways to increase the workload being required by the targeted muscle.  The higher the workload, the shorter the time within which you execute this load (as pointed out in number 1) the more that is demanded of the muscle.  Finally, that stubborn muscle is going to have to wave the white flag and submit!  Growth will follow!  Remember, as the old saying goes “if you keep doing what you’ve been doing you’re going to keep getting what you’ve been getting!” Change it up and watch the changes occur almost before your eyes as that chest bulks up, cuts up and stand out!

  So remember…your chest is like your fitness calling card.  People don’t even have to say a word to you and they can determine whether you workout just by the way your chest looks as you pass by shirtless on the beach or even how it looks under your dress shirt.  It’s unmistakeable.  That said, don’t make the mistakes that will prevent you from getting your own impressive pecs! Focus on adhering to these three principles above and implement them into your own targeted chest workout and you’ll be unearthing that “Treasure Chest” that has been buried for far too long!

  Stay Strong,

  Jeff

  Some of you may have thought that the explosions ended with the fireworks just 3 weeks ago…think again!  Things are just getting started.  That rumble you hear in the background is the dawning of one of the most explosive workout series ever to hit the market…and it’s growing louder each day!  Pretty soon….the TNT Series will be upon us.  The question is, will you be prepared?  Get ready to usher in the next generation of muscle building…AthLEAN-X TNT Training Series!  It’s the ULTIMATE  AthLEAN-X Accelerator (get even more results from your AthLEAN-X system!)…and it’s coming…very soon!  In just a couple days I’ll be back and will be answering ALL of the questions you’ve been asking about TNT.  In the meantime, I thought you guys would like a sneak preview!  The dawning of TNT is coming….

  
  

• IMPROVE YOUR BENCH PRESS WITH THESE 4 “BARRIER BREAKING” TIPS

  Posted: November 20, 2010

  

  How Much Ya Bench? Yep…the age old question once again rears its ugly head.  No matter how many different exercises exist there is no escaping the one question that serves as the “strength barometer” for anyone who’s touched a weight in their lives.  Nobody ever asks you “how much can you do on a tricep pushdown”?  Never had anyone ask me what my top weight on concentration curls is either.  No, when questions of strength are at hand the only one you’ll hear (outside of possibly “how much can you squat?”) is that one regarding your ability to lay under the iron bar and press it with all your might.

  The problem is…for most guys…the number isn’t all that impressive!  As a matter of fact, some guys will even find themselves intimidated to get under the bar and for that reason, avoid the bench press altogether.  If you’re wondering how someone could be intimidated by the bench press exercise then you were obviously not one who has ever gotten stuck under the bar (ahem….like yours truly!).  Trust me, it’s not fun trying to find some way to wiggle out from under a weight that was obviously too much for you to handle in the first place and is now slowly crushing your chest with the force of a boa constrictor in a straight jacket!

  Well it’s time to get over your fears and start blasting through your bench press barriers!  Start utilizing these 4 tips/techniques/secrets (whatever you want to call them) and see how once unobtainable numbers will quickly become the weight you’re using to knock out multiple sets during your workouts.  So without any more delay…here are your top 4!

  1.  ”SPREAD” the hands apart – If you want to really start pressing some serious weight then you better be sure you’re getting your pecs some help!  This would come in the form of its good buddies the delts and triceps  kicking in to help out.  Delts are pretty much active as soon as the bar is lifted off the rack, so they’re not much of a concern.  The triceps are however.  In order to get the triceps contribute more, you’ve got to put them on high alert.  Do this by doing what they do best….straightening the elbow.  You might ask “how do I do that if I have my hands fixed on the bar”?  Simple.  By trying to spread your hands apart while holding firmly to the bar.  They obviously won’t move anywhere, but the force will be directed to the outsides and will cause the triceps to fire as you isometrically “extend” the elbows.  Still not sure if you know how to do this?  Not a problem.  Place one of the small hip minibands around your wrists and do your bench press like that!  Problem solved!

  2.  ACCELERATE THE BAR – If you’re going to want to BREAK THROUGH BARRIERS on the bench press, then you can’t expect to knock on the door of new highs like you were the Avon Lady!  No.  You’ve got to slam on that door like you’re the big bad wolf coming to take back what you deserve.  The easiest way to simulate this in the weight room is to literally accelerate the bar on the way up to accelerate your strength gains!  By not doing this you’re missing out on the opportunity to take advantage of the old phsyics principle that an object in motion will stay in motion.  So get that bar in motion and go for speed during the sticking point to make this “stick” a thing of the past.

  3.  USE THE “TOUCH AND GO” SYSTEM – You probably are wondering what this is?  Not too complicated but an extremely effective method for increasing  your bench press.  As a matter of fact, it is the number one trick that I use myself when I’m trying to get more out of my max.  All you have to do is make your last two sets one in which you’ll use a weight that you never really did before (so perhaps a 1-2 RM) followed by one where you’re going to slash this weight by at least 50%!  By “touching” this top weight you are waking your muscles up to the possibility of having to lift much heavier!  Go back to the lighter weights and they feel even lighter than they did before.  Do this at a few consecutive workouts and you’ll be touching all new highs in the iron…quite possibly, in just a few min!

  4.  ALIGN THE ELBOWS AND WRISTS – Again one that is pretty self explanatory, but also one that I see abused countless times every day in the gym.  Guys, when you’re doing your benches, please make sure that you are actually getting the help from the triceps by having the wrists and elbows in line with eachother.  Too often the mistake is made by the amateur builder when he/she moves their hands in too close.  This leaves the elbows “stranded” out on an island and the hands too tight to eachother.  There is no mechanical advantage to having your two joints aligned like this!  Get them lined up and you can immediately expect to be adding some weight to the ends of that bar!

  So you see?  It’s not that complicated really.  It’s actually more like a physics problem than anything else.  Put that tricep at a mechanical advantage instead of a mechanical disadvantage and turn your muscles in your chest, shoulders and triceps into a mechanical monster in no time!  Start utilizing the four tips above to help you break through the barriers of bench max restriction once and for all!

  Stay Strong,

  Jeff

  Want to build more than just an ability to bench BIG?  Start using celebrity fitness trainer Jeff’ Cavaliere’s fitness program to learn creative but effective short cuts to new highs in the weight room.  You can find this at http://athleanx.com/getripped.html.  Stop making excuses.  Stop fearing the bench press.  Start feeling like a million bucks and start training with the big boys as you match them rep for rep with your new tricks!  Don’t worry….I won’t tell them!