It takes 21 days to form a habit but only 1 day to break it.

 Training Tips

In this post I will explain to you just tips and tricks I have learned in my life to make exercises safer, easier, and more fun.
The most important thing to do while working out (which was not mentioned in any of my posts) is to BREATHE! Breathing will not only give you more strength during your lifts but will also avoid the possibility of a hernia. And you DO NOT want a hernia. A hernia is when your intestine actually rips out of its sack and starts overfilling into your body. It requires surgery and a break from any physical activity for at least a couple of months. All because you didn't breathe. The proper way to breathe is: out during a pushing motion, and in during a pulling motion. It takes time but after a while it will become second nature.

The second most important thing to do at the gym is STRETCH. Stretching can and will avoid the possibility of tearing any muscles or tweaking any nerves. Most important thing to stretch: shoulders. A shoulder tear will keep you out of the gym for a while and it is much easier then you think. Shoulders are not ready for all the stress that is usually put on them during a work out so you must prepare them. Also before doing any type of physical activity involving sprinting or running you should stretch out the hamstring and groin. Those are the two most common muscles people pull and it could be avoided so easily.

Some other training tips I have picked up are:

• Work out with a friend or partner. This will keep you motivated as well as have a spotter at all times. 
• Bring an ipod or some type of music player to the gym.
• Try to get cardio in at some point during your work out. It is recommended to do it after. Even if its just walking on the treadmill for five minutes, it is better then nothing.
• If your looking to put on weight, make sure to take your protein shake right after the gym. If you do not have any either go to GNC and buy some or just run to any deli after a workout and pick up a muscle milk or something equivalent.
• Most importantly Be motivated!! Check the title of this post

Squat

Squat

The squat is one of the most universal exercises that you can do in the gym. It is done by males and females and works out the entire legs, the core, back, and glutes. During the squat is essential to maintain normal curvature of the spine to avoid injury. In this analysis I will break the squat down into three phases Stance, followed by the down Phase, and up phase.

Stance 

Directions:

• Position your body under a safety rack and slowly lift and rest the bar onto your shoulders making sure the bar is off your neck (use support if necessary like towel, cushion, etc.)
• Grasp the bar with your palms facing forward about 10-15 cm outside of your shoulders
• Position your feet slightly wider than shoulder width apart, feet flat on the floor with your toes pointed out at approximately 30 degrees
• Keep your chin up and eyes focused straight ahead
• Maintain a flat back position throughout the move with an arch at the base of the spine. The abdominals should be tightened along with the spinal extensors to support the spine in both phases of the exercise

For the joint and Muscle action for this phase I will break down the upper body which will remain constant throughout the lift.

Shoulder Joint- 

 Horizontal Abduction and outward rotation using shoulder joint adductors of the pectoralis major, posterior deltoid, latissimus dorsi, teres major, and Subscapularis

Isometric.

Shoulder girdle-

Adduction using the rhomboids and middle trapezius

Isometric

Radioulnar Joint-

Pronation using pronator teres, pronator quadratus, and brachioradialis

Isometric

Elbow- 

Flexion using the elbow flexors of the biceps brachii, brachialis, brachioradialis

Concentric

Wrist extension

Fingers Flexed

Using extensor digitorum, extensor indicis, extensor digiti minimi, externsor pollicis

Down Phase

Directions:

• From this starting position, inhale deeply and begin to lower your hips in a controlled manner towards the ground as if sitting in a low chair
• Aim for a position where the top of your thighs are slightly lower than parallel
• Avoid any excessive forward lean of the trunk during the descent

Joint and Muscle Action of lower body

Joint	Action	Contraction	Muscle Group	Specific Muscles
Hip joint	Flexion	Eccentric	Hip Joint Extensors	gluteus maximus, semimembranosus, semitendinosus and the biceps femoris
Knee Joint	Flexion	Eccentric	Knee Joint Extensors	rectus femoris, vastus medialis, vastus intermedius and the vastus lateralis
Ankle Joint	Dorsi Flexion	Eccentric	Ankle Joint Plantar Flexors	gastrocnemius, soleus, tibialis posterior, flexor hallucis longus, flexor digitorum, peroneus longus and the peroneus brevis

Up Phase

Directions:

• From this squat position start a powerful drive and accelerate back to return positon Straighten your hips, knees and ankles back towards the starting position
• Shoulders, knees and hips should be aligned over the ankle
• Keep your heels firmly planted on the floor

Joint and Muscle actions of lower body

Joint	Action	Contraction	Muscle Group	Specific Muscles
Hip joint	Extension	Concentric	Hip Joint Extensors	gluteus maximus, semimembranosus, semitendinosus and the biceps femoris
Knee Joint	Extension	Concentric	Knee Joint Extensors	rectus femoris, vastus medialis, vastus intermedius and the vastus lateralis
Ankle Joint	Plantar Flexion	Concentric	Ankle Joint Plantar Flexors	gastrocnemius, soleus, tibialis posterior, flexor hallucis longus, flexor digitorum, peroneus longus and the peroneus brevis

                                        


Tips, Alternatives, and drills
Their are a few things to remember when doing squats. First and most importantly make sure to stretch. This could mean jogging or just doing stretches to work the hamstring, groin, and knee. Another important piece of advice is not to over exert yourself, especially on the first set. If you do go to heavy weight make sure to work your way up to avoid injury. The last thing to remember is to keep your head up, abs tight, and feet firmly on the floor.

Alternatives:

¨Front squat- Holding bar in front of you.

¨Hack squat- Holding bar behind you down by waist

¨Hack squat machine

¨Squat machine

 

Drills to strengthen Squat 

Two exercises that I find very beneficial to increasing squat maxes are lunges and leg press. 

A video of a proper lunge can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_RYVmpWDq4

A video of a proper leg Press can be found here: leg Press

Hang Clean ( Continued)

Recovery Stage

Directions:

1. Let bar swing back downwards and return to preparatory stage.

2. From this point you could either drop weight or place on ground.

Joint and Muscle Action

Joint	Action	Contraction	Muscle Group	Specific Muscles
Shoulder	Abduction  , internal rotation	Eccentric	Shoulder Joint Abductors	Deltoid Supraspinatus
Shoulder Girdle	Adduction,depression and downward Rotation	Concentric	Shoulder Girdle downward Rotators, depressors, & Adductors	Serratus Anterior Pec Minor Trapezius Rhomboids
Elbow	Extension	Concentric	Elbow Joint Extensors	Triceps Anconeus
Wrist and fingers	Flexion	Concentric	Wrist &hand flexors	Flexor carpi radialis &ulnaris,Palmaris longue, flexor digitorum profundus & superficialis, flexor policis longue
Radioulnar Joint	Pronation	Eccentric	Radioulnar pronators	Pronator teres, pronator quadrates, brachioradialis

Notes:
Radioulnar Joint is in pronation for the duration of the lift.

Tips, Safety,  and Alternatives

This lift should be performed in a controlled environment, preferable in a lifting rack with olympic style bars and weights. It is also very important to put clips on the bar so the weight will not slide off during the lift. The reason this lift is safer than a regular hang clean is because it should be performed with a lighter weight. 

A good way to help strengthen your hang clean and press would be to perform the exercises individually. A video of how to perform the hang clean with proper form can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpXqVba1mFo . Since you are not performing the press portion of the lift you may be able to go slightly heavier.

My personal favorite shoulder work out would be dumbbell presses. The Clean and Press incorporates this type of motion into it, so to strengthen your lift practice your dumbbell presses. A video of how to perform this type of lift could be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEwKCR5JCog

Hang Clean and Press

Hang Clean And Press 

The Hang Clean and Press exercise is basically a combination of two exercises and is a known to be the most complete body exercise that can be performed. It works out your legs, shoulders, back abs, biceps, and much more. For this analysis I will break this down into a few stages. First is the Stance stage, followed by the preparatory and jerk phase (I categorized these together because it should be one fluid motion (or close to) from the ground to chest), followed by the Up phase of the press, the down phase of the press, and finally the recovery stage.

Stance:

Directions:
1. Feet shoulder width apart pointed straight. Balls of feet directly under bar.
2. Flex into squatting position.
3. Hand placement is at shoulder width apart with a normal grip.
4. Elbows turned inward flexed and locked.
5. Head up!

Muscles and Joints used

Joint	Action	Contraction	Muscle Group	Specific Muscles
Hip joint	Flexion	Eccentric	Hip Joint Extensors	gluteus maximus, semimembranosus, semitendinosus and the biceps femoris
Knee Joint	Flexion	Eccentric	Knee Joint Extensors	rectus femoris, vastus medialis, vastus intermedius and the vastus lateralis
Ankle Joint	Dorsi Flexion	Eccentric	Ankle Joint Plantar Flexors	gastrocnemius, soleus, tibialis posterior, flexor hallucis longus, flexor digitorum, peroneus longus and the peroneus brevis
Trunk	Spinal Flexion	Contraction	Spinal Column	Erector Spinae,External Oblique abdominal, internal oblique abdominal
Shoulder	Relaxed	isometric
Elbow	Extension	Concentric	Extensors	Triceps and anconeous
Wrist	Flexion	Isometric	Wrist Flexors	Flexor carpi radialis, flexor carpi ulnaris, Palmaris longues, flexor digitorum
Fingers	Flexion	Contraction	Phalangeal Flexors	Flexor digitorum superficialis, flexor digitorum profundus, flexor pollicis longus

Prepartory Stage and First Pull :

------->

Directions:
1. Athlete performs smooth, controlled pull.
2. Slowly lift bar to knee height extending the hips and coming partially out of squatting position.
3. Continue coming out of squat position fully extended knees and almost performing a jumping motion.
4. Using your momentum at the same time scoop bar up and pull upwards.

5. Catch bar on chest while returning to semi-squat position if necessary (not shown) and stand straight up. 

6. Move feet to maintain balance. 

Joint	Action	Contraction	Muscle Group	Specific Muscles
Hip joint	Extension	Concentric	Hip Joint Extensors	gluteus maximus, semimembranosus, semitendinosus and the biceps femoris
Knee Joint	Flexion	Concentric	Knee Joint Extensors	rectus femoris, vastus medialis, vastus intermedius and the vastus lateralis
Ankle Joint	Dorsi Flexion	Eccentric	Ankle Joint Plantar Flexors	gastrocnemius, soleus, tibialis posterior, flexor hallucis longus, flexor digitorum, peroneus longus and the peroneus brevis
Shoulder Girdle	Elevation & upward rotation	Concentric	Scapula elevators and upward rotators	Levator Scapula, Upper Trap, Rhomboid, Middle Trap, lower trap, Serratus anterior
Shoulder	Horizontal Adbuction	Eccentric	Shoulder Joint horizontal Abductors	Posterior Deltoid, Infraspinatus, Teres minor, Latissimus dorsi
Elbow	Flexion	Eccentric	Extensors	Triceps and anconeous
Wrist	Extension	Isometric	Wrist Flexors	Extensor carpiis, extensor digitorum, extensor indicis, extensor pollicis
Fingers	Slight Extension	Eccentric	Phalangeal Extensors	Extensor digitorum, extensor indicis, extensor pollicis longue &brevis

Shoulder Press- Up phase

Directions: 

1. While bar is resting on chest. Push upwards towards ceiling.

2. Arch back to get better leverage.

Joints & Muscles

Joint	Action	Contraction	Muscle Group	Specific Muscles
Shoulder	Abduction	Concentric	Shoulder Joint Abductors	Deltoid Supraspinatus
Shoulder Girdle	Upward Rotation Abduction, & elevation	Concentric	Shoulder Girdle Upward Rotators & Abductors	Serratus Anterior Pec Minor & Trapezius
Elbow	Extension	Concentric	Elbow Joint Extensors	Triceps Anconeus
Wrist and fingers	Flexion	Concentric	Wrist &hand flexors	Flexor carpi radialis &ulnaris,Palmaris longue, flexor digitorum profundus & superficialis, flexor policis longue
Trunk	Lumbar Flexion	Eccentric	Lumar Flexors	Rectus abdominus, External oblique abdominal, internal oblique abdominal

                                          

Shoulder Press- Down Phase

Directions:

1. Let weight return to chest in a controlled downward moving motion

Joint	Action	Contraction	Muscle Group	Specific Muscles
Shoulder	Adduction	Concentric	Shoulder Joint Adductors	Deltoid Supraspinatus
Shoulder Girdle	Adduction,depression and downward Rotation	Concentric	Shoulder Girdle downward Rotators, depressors, & Adductors	Serratus Anterior Pec Minor Trapezius Rhomboids
Elbow	flexion	Eccentric	Elbow Joint Extensors	Triceps Anconeus
Wrist and fingers	Extension	Concentric	Wrist &hand Extensors	Extensor carpiis, extensor digitorum, extensor indicis, extensor pollicis
Trunk	Lumbar Flexion	Eccentric	Lumbar Flexors	Rectus abdominus, External oblique abdominal, internal  oblique abdominal