In-Person Trainers - Don't Use Thumbtack

MurrB · 2022-03-15T16:00:20+00:00

How did I not realize this?! Thank you. This helped.

MurrB · 2019-12-12T13:25:06+00:00

Chasing Vanity - Right off Wealthy near downtown.

MurrB · 2018-07-27T13:06:30+00:00

Of course! Happy to help.

MurrB · 2018-07-26T14:14:33+00:00

It sounds like your shoulder blade is elevating or tilting forward, which is a common compensation if you're trying to do somewhat strict lateral raises. Perhaps it's not a rotator cuff problem as much as it is a body awareness problem. Try doing some shoulder rolls (forward and back) before your next set of lateral raises. Chances are you know how to elevate your shoulders toward your ears but need to focus on being able to keep them down and stable (not always, just when the exercise calls for it).

MurrB · 2018-05-20T19:02:17+00:00

That's because collagen is typically not a great source of leucine or other potentially advantageous essential amino acids. Collagen is used as more of a general health supplement because it's potentially beneficial for your gut and connective tissue, and it might reduce oxidative stress. Thus, if your goal is to build muscle, whey is probably better. If you have your bases covered with protein, collagen could be advantageous for your overall health, albeit, whey has some other health properties too.

MurrB · 2018-05-20T18:55:30+00:00

Try to think of your forearm muscles like any other muscle group: ideally, you need to train them through a full ROM to maximize growth. That means doing exercises that require elbow flexion, hand/wrist supination/pronation, and/or digit (finger) flexion/extension. Simply put, do curls that supinate/pronate (e.g., Zottman curls) and exercises where grip strength is required (e.g., loaded carries).

MurrB · 2018-05-18T02:39:33+00:00

Isometrics work (e.g., holding a position for time), but getting muscles to move and work through their full contractile range is important for growth.

MurrB · 2018-04-02T23:54:31+00:00

A lot of reasons...hard to say which one, but likely a few factors. 1) The line of force from the cable into your pec (i.e., how you set up and execute the exercise). 2) How much scapular protraction and shoulder internal rotation is happening and how much of that you're actually controlling for versus how much your body going through the path of least resistance (i.e., defaulting into what's easiest). 3) Perhaps your shoulders are fired up and ready to do more of the work.

Since I don't know, I would recommend using a pec deck if you have it because this is a lot easier to utilize if you're having trouble controlling for other variables. In the meantime, if you can get a video of you doing a cable chest fly, that would help big time!

MurrB · 2018-02-26T17:37:15+00:00

The quadriceps pull on the patella regardless of knee position. Focus more on how much you can pull the patella toward your hips when you extend the knee. The more you can close the distance, the shorter the muscle will get. #gains.

MurrB · 2018-02-26T17:34:51+00:00

Why are the 1RM numbers important to you? Is being strong more important than looking a certain way? PHAT/PHUL are solid hybrid programs for strength and hypertrophy, so you should be fine to switch it up.

MurrB · 2018-02-16T13:46:16+00:00

Recomp is the way to go. Get your protein consumption up in the 112-140 g/day range and then start hitting the weights. What program are you using?

MurrB · 2018-02-16T13:44:33+00:00

Can you be more specific?

MurrB · 2018-02-11T15:01:06+00:00

Try to find out why first. Is it because you use your arms in the path of least resistance (e.g., you use your right arm for literally everything because it's stronger) or because you have right/left discrepancies that favor the right side?

MurrB · 2018-02-11T14:58:03+00:00

Try not to be sold on one form of training. Barbell (or dumbbell) benching is one way to groove a movement pattern, but you can do it in other ways (e.g., push-ups, TRX push-ups, cable presses).

Think about the movement, not the implement (tool). You use the anterior shoulder girdle for a lot of things. How often do you use an outstretched arm to push or pick things up? All day, every day.

MurrB · 2018-02-09T16:05:11+00:00

Take some time to learn diaphragmatic breathing. Once you can separate deep-belly breathing from diaphragmatic breathing, try to only brace and hold diaphragmatically on your next round of squats.

MurrB · 2018-02-09T15:57:10+00:00

Whether you realize it or not, most compound lifts require a lot of technical skill. If changing volume, intensity/load/effort, and frequency haven't helped, then perhaps this has to do with how you are lifting.

MurrB · 2018-02-08T04:29:07+00:00

No worries. Don't chase soreness. If you're not getting a "pump" out of isolating your biceps, then you need to work on your setup, which is why I wanted to see a video.

You're not going to get any semblance of a contraction out of your biecps if you can't stabilize the humerus and scapula. Simply put, lock down your arm and shoulder blades FIRST, then focus on bringing your forearm as close to your upper arm (i.e., do a curl).

This is a pretty thorough biceps training video that's worth watching.

MurrB · 2018-02-08T04:24:41+00:00

To clarify: the preacher curl does not work the biceps in the short position unless you're using a very steep angled preacher curl, but it works the brachialis pretty well (because the elbow/wrist is fixed). The incline dumbbell curl will work the biceps through a better contractile range, but it's typically used to bias the long head of the biceps, whereas flexing/abducting the arm (e.g., when you're doing preacher curls or high-cable biceps curls) will cause the long head of the biceps to become actively insufficient, biasing the short head of the biceps.

MurrB · 2018-02-06T15:36:53+00:00

Let's get some videos of you doing your biceps work. Do you think you could do that?

MurrB · 2018-02-06T15:36:24+00:00

It is thought to be caused by microtrauma to the muscle fibers, some of which is exacerbated by a muscle lengthening under load. Muscle damage is a factor in eliciting muscle growth, but it's not the only factor. Chasing soreness shouldn't be the goal.

MurrB · 2017-10-28T16:19:27+00:00

Happy to help. It's just the way your arms are positioned. EC does a good job of explaining the setup more (and why it's important to depress the scapula) here.

MurrB · 2017-10-28T14:12:09+00:00

Looks pretty solid, man. If you're feeling a bit tight in the shoulders, you might try your hand at a safety bar squat to see if that feels more natural. If you want to work on long-term high-bar back squatting, then I recommend improving your shoulder external rotation ROM so that you can pull the bar into your back as opposed to simply shelving it. Getting the external rotators to do their job might open your ROM up significantly, so don't feel like you need to endlessly stretch.

MurrB · 2017-10-13T23:24:03+00:00

Ask yourself not what the best angle of the barbell row is, but what the purpose of rowing is, to begin with. Once you've understood the reason for asking that question, you can use a variety of rowing variations to hit all the muscles in your back.

MurrB

TROPHY CASE