Squats on the Smith Machine

At first doing squats on the Smith felt restrictive - like I was strapped into a carnival ride. Deep into the squat, I felt unusual pressure on my lower back. Then I received some good advice from the trainer at my gym. He pointed out that the feet should not be directly under the shoulders - as it would be during a regular barbell squat. But they should be just in front of the body, so the lifter is slightly leaning back into the rack. During the squat, the knees should never extend out beyond the toes and the thighs never beyond parallel to the floor. Once the thighs pass parallel, pressure is taken off the quads and those muscles are momentarily at rest. It's good advice to do squats on the Smith with just the bar, or very light weights added, until the movement seems more natural.

See a video analysis of the Smith squat at Muscle Ventures.

The Most Masochistic Push-ups Ever Devised

Click on the video below to see how to perform them. I tried these bad boys yesterday, and today, my traps, pecks, and triceps are screaming. (I did a full upper body workout along with the pushups.) The movement is done with a standard medicine ballor swiss ball. Watch the video and all will be explained. Brutal!

Click here for more on "Bodyweight Exercises: Strength Building: Free Video Lessons"

Now come the problem of the sore muscles. The traps were the most sore, so I employed a set of yogaballs that Chris had bought. The setup resembled two tennis balls in a sock. I places these on the floor and lay down with them under my traps. Oh, the pain! But after some shoulder movement, I got my best massage in years.

Flies on the Ball

Yesterday was an upper-body workout. I started with 10 minutes on the treadmill to get the heart pumping then the good stuff--dumbbell flies on the Swiss Ball. It must be a unique idea at our gym. I get quite a few looks.

I couldn't find any pics of people lifting weights on the ball, but the picture shows how it's done. (Imagine him doing flies with a dumbbell in each hand.) I don't really like doing flies on a bench. It always seems to be the wrong height, and then my lower back is not supported. I end up with a sore lower back. Doing a bridge on the ball like this adds a little extra core work while doing the flies. Every little thing helps. If you try this type of lift, choose the largest ball available. It's a bit tricky starting out.

But I've digressed. The workout was fabulous. The pecks are aching this morning--along with the traps.

The Second Best Ab Crunch on the Planet

Here it is. The second-best exercise for building rock-hard abs. The slow crunch. Hooking your toes under the sofa and pounding out 100 sit-ups won't build that six-pack like this humble little movement. And this one won't put you out of action with back pain!

Click on the photo for the video. This guy sure knows how to make it burn.

Oh, did I mention that those crunches were the second-best exercise for building huge abs? Well here's the best: The Pull-up Crunch Combo. Click on the picture for a description from Mens Fitness Magazine.


Here's another tip from MensFitness.com - Work your abs in reverse You already know how to crunch, but reverse that motion by bringing your torso away from your body and you'll open up an entirely new avenue for growth. Try the reverse woodchop. Grab a medicine ball and stand with your feet at shoulder width, staggered heel to toe. Reach down with the ball to the front of your back knee (as if you'd just finished chopping into a log), and then quickly extend up and back to the opposite side, as if you were throwing the ball over your shoulder. Perform three sets of eight reps on both sides, resting 90 seconds between sets.

For some people - including myself - doing a pullup while doing the ab crunch is a bit advanced. Our gym has these ab slingsthat support your body while you crunch away. These will help you focus on a particular muscle group.