Tag: exercise
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Warm-Up Type & the Interference Effect: Jogging VS Cycling Before Weight Training
Aloha my friends! You may have heard about something called the Interference Effect, which is a phenomenon where doing cardio prior to weight training decreases your power, explosivity, and strength, and lessens the hypertrophy stimulus you get from that weight training. (It was actually the topic of my very first Fitness-Tip Friday tip!) It’s also one reason why I…
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How Lifting Makes You Smarter (Osteocalcin)
Aloha my friends! You may have heard that exercise has many benefits for brain health and cognition. That is 100% true, due to a variety of factors. However, today I wanted to tell you about one way that resistance training (e.g. weightlifting) in particular provides cognitive benefits in an additional way that NO OTHER type of exercise does!…
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Does Training with a Partner Enhance Workout Results?
Aloha my friends! Some people like to train in a group or with partners… while others prefer to train alone. I’ve personally gone through phases of preferring both. However, research has consistently shown that—regardless of personal preference—training with one or more partners actually results in significantly greater pain thresholds (you can do many more reps before hitting failure), and enhanced…
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The Mirror-Flexors Have It Right!! (More Gains)
Aloha my friends! Those mirror-flexors at the gym can get a lot of flack… but maybe they just know something the rest don’t. Recent research has shown that simply looking at yourself / the muscles you’re working in a mirror while lifting actually INCREASES the resulting strength and size gains to a statistically significant level! And using a mirror with…
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E.R. Bar Pull The At-Home Face-Pull Alternative
Aloha my friends! The face-pull (see GIF #1 below) is one of the best exercises that exist for overall shoulder health — partly because it works the usually under-developed shoulder external rotators so well, including the essential teres minor rotator cuff muscle. However, what do you do if you don’t have access to a cable machine? There are…
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Muscle Activation of Hip Abduction VS Hip External Rotation
Aloha my friends! Most people work hip abduction fairly consistently, yet tend to neglect or underwork hip external rotation — perhaps thinking that both movements work the same muscles the same way, so it isn’t necessary to do both. That would be very, very WRONG! In fact there isn’t a single muscle that is worked the same with both movements, and not working…
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Why & How to Stretch Your Lats!
Aloha my friends! Most people aren’t aware that many shoulder injuries are caused — or at least partly caused — as a result of having lats (latissimus dorsi) that are too tight! This is particularly common among weightlifters, since most work their lats frequently, yet rarely if ever stretch them. Tight lats limit your overhead range of motion, and chronically depress and internally rotate the…
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The Optimal Incline Press Angles for UPPER CHEST vs FRONT DELT
Aloha my friends! Have you ever wondered what the optimal angle is for an incline press?? Well it turns out that — as with most things in physiology and exercise science — the answer is it depends! In this case it depends on which muscle you want to optimize gains for. While there are several muscles engaged in an incline…
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Build Your “OUTER” Triceps Via This RHT Technique!
Aloha my friends! This week I have added over 30 new modules to the Regional Hypertrophy Training (RHT) section of the All-Access Memberships… including more than a dozen techniques specifically for Triceps RHT. And today I wanted to share with everyone here how you can combine two of those principles into a single technique to effectively target & build the LATERAL head…
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How to Build a Muscle WITHOUT Working It! (The Cross-Education Phenomenon)
Aloha my friends! There are very few things that defy the normal rules of muscle growth. In fact, in my opinion at least, there are only three: 1. Anabolic Steroids (which you should never use) 2. BFR (Blood Flow Restriction Training) 3. The Cross-Education Phenomenon Today I want to tell you about the third! The Cross-Education Phenomenon, which is also known…
Dr. Gains 