Ebenezer Samuel, C.S.C.S., Author at Men's Health Magazine Australia

Can a home push-up workout outshine the bench?

Ebenezer Samuel, C.S.C.S. — Fri, 10 May 2024 01:37:38 +0000

THE BENCH PRESS is great. The cable crossover machine is awesome. Using dumbbells for moves like these is a guaranteed chest pump. But even if you can’t access any of that gear when you’re at home, you can still blast your chest aggressively, building strength and stimulating muscle growth.

Why? Because you can still do push-ups. The classic pushup remains one of the best ways to hit your chest at home—or anywhere, period. You’re attacking your chest from an angle that’s very similar to the one you’d hit on a standard bench press, and while you’re working with a lighter load than you might use on a bench (your body weight), you still get to produce a ton of total-body tension. You also get to focus on getting a good chest contraction (more on that later).

The pushup can actually create even more challenge than some of your loaded movements once you start introducing a handful of variations, and those variations can easily become the backbone of a vicious chest workout. By varying the angle of your torso relative to your upper arms, or shifting the focus of the pushup to focus on negative contractions, pauses, or holds, you shift the way the move stimulates your chest.

By blending several of these approaches into a single workout, you wind up challenging your pecs in multiple ways a home. You also explore and perfect your overall pushup mechanics, leading to better workouts later. And perhaps most of all, you wind up having a little bit of fun, too.

3 Keys for a perfect push-up

The key to getting the most out of pushup training is maximising the pushup. That means working through a full range of motion, and not cheating yourself on any rep. There are several things you want to keep in mind. Focus on these three.

Perfect plank

Do this: The pushup starts with a flawless plank position and you must own this for the life of every set. Squeeze your abs tight and never let your core sag.

Elbow pits face forward

Do This: Turn the pits of your elbows forward, promoting shoulder external rotation and also turning on your lats.

All the way up, all the way down

Do This: Lower your chest to within an inch of the ground, squeezing your shoulder blades as you approach the ground. Then press all the way up. Don’t get in a habit of doing half-reps and skipping the final bit of chest contraction.

How to level up your at-home chest workout

The greatest challenge of pushup training is finding ways to increase the load, especially when you’re at home without access to external weights. The downside of the classic pushup is that while it starts out as challenging, once you’ve done enough reps, it ceases to push you. You’re always lifting only a portion of your bodyweight.

That’s one place where the bench press can push you more than a pushup: You can eventually load more than your bodyweight onto the bar. You can’t do that with a pushup. But you can find other ways to challenge your chest.

Unilateral loading

You can, however, force just one of your pecs to shoulder almost all of the portion of bodyweight that you’re moving by using a handful of pushup variations. Archer pushups and single-arm pushups do this, as does the post pushup. These pushups become valuable weapons in your at-home chest training, placing greater load on a single pec and also challenging your core and glutes.

Can you keep your hips and shoulders square on a post pushup, which is just a half-step away from a single-arm pushup? Doing so places great load on your chest, and your entire body.

Time under tension and pauses

You can also level up moves by adding time-under-tension and pauses. Pauses cancel out the momentum and “elastic energy” that allows you to “bounce” out of reps. On the bench press, you sometimes need that assist. By eliminating it on pushups, you add challenge to the move.

More reps

And of course you can load up on reps. But first, you can aim to challenge yourself with pushup variations, which is what you’ll do in this workout.

The at-home chest all pushups workout

You’ll do three moves in this all-pushups home chest workout, and each move will challenge your chest in a slightly different way. Do this workout up to three times a week, resting at least one day between sessions (yes, you may actually be that sore). On days you don’t do this workout, aim to train your back with pull ups and rows, critical moves to help maintain shoulder health when you’re challenging your chest.

Post pushup dropset

Do 4 sets per side of this pushup drop set, which combines a standard post pushup with classic pushups for a serious chest pump.

Half-typewriter pushup

Next up, hit the half-typewriter pushup, which once again has you unilaterally loading your chest, then adds time-under-tension as you typewriter your torso halfway across before pressing back up. Do 3 sets of 8 to 10 reps per side.

3-step pushup series

Finish your chest off with 3 sets of this 3-step pushup series, which features a little bit more unilateral loading and starts to incorporate your triceps too.

Bonus move: position-switch pushup count-up game

Want to rock your triceps a bit in the process too? Yes, they got work in the first three moves, but they’ll take on added responsibility if you throw in one to two sets of this extra move, a “game” that pushes you to be explosive and pile up a few extra reps.

This story originally appeared on Men’s Health U.S.

The 20 best chest exercises to build stronger pecs

The post Can a home push-up workout outshine the bench? appeared first on Men's Health Magazine Australia.

Blow up your arms with these 15 triceps exercises

Ebenezer Samuel, C.S.C.S. — Wed, 27 Dec 2023 22:00:57 +0000

YOU CAN’T BUILD big arms with a narrow focus on just one type of movement. To be more specific, you’ll need more than just dumbbell curls to sculpt the type of fully-formed, 3D muscles you’re aiming to achieve. The issue is that most guys just fall back on the classic curl (which is a great exercise for one specific purpose). When you do that, you’ll be targeting your biceps alone. That will only get you so far on your path to gains, especially since those muscles aren’t even the biggest show in town. That title goes to the triceps. Like the biceps, you’ll have the most success when you dial in with isolation moves—so you’ll need to know about the best exercises you can do to target your triceps.

The triceps are so consequential for two main reasons. First, they’re the largest muscle of the arm, so you’re working with a ton of real estate when you target your triceps. This might surprise you, since most people get caught up on the biceps. The difference here is in the positioning—the triceps are posteriorly positioned, on the backside of your arm, while the biceps are on the anterior, or front.

Secondly, the triceps are responsible for elbow extension, making them essential for movements like pressing. Whenever you straighten your arm, the triceps are working. Whether you’re training to build mass, gain strength, or just to be generally healthy, you’ll need to train your triceps.

What You Need to Know About Your Triceps Muscles

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Think of your triceps as the three-headed monster that will make your arms pop. The muscle takes its name from those three heads—the long head, the medial head, and the lateral head—and is essential for elbow extension.

That means just about any time you straighten your arms, whether you’re pressing or doing extensions, your triceps are going to be involved. All three heads connect to your elbow and humerus (your upper arm bone), while long head alone connects to your shoulder blade, which makes the muscle involved in overhead pressing movements.

Benefits of Triceps Training

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Your triceps muscles are integral for arm function. Benefits of triceps training include:

●Healthy elbow joint function

●Increased pressing strength

●Increased arm muscle mass

How to Train Your Triceps

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There are plenty of ways to train your tris, too, although finding just the right muscle contraction isn’t always easy. Remember that locking out your elbow and straightening your elbow are two different things; focus on keeping tension on your triceps and actively flexing them when you’re in the straight-arm position. Any movement that has you straightening your arm at the elbow will train your triceps, but there are plenty of ways to vary up that arm-straightening motion.

Changing the angle of your arm relative to your torso can place different levels of stretch on the triceps muscle, and adding pauses, both at the top of reps and halfway through reps, can emphasize different phases of the contraction.

For the best results, start with these triceps stretches before jumping into your workouts.

Best Triceps Exercises to Increase Arm Strength

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Triceps Pressdown

Why: Pressdowns are one of the most popular triceps exercises, for good reason. The move is all about isolating the muscle as it performs its main function (elbow extension), and using a cable machine or resistance bands allows you to load up to challenge yourself.

How to Do It:

For the most common version of the exercise, stand in front of the cable machine/resistance band setup holding the rope attachment or handle at your upper chest.
Keep your core engaged and your shoulder blades tight, then push down to extend your arms, moving only at the elbows.
To reinforce your form and eliminate any chance at cheating, add a bench into the equation.
Lie with your back on a bench set to a 45-degree incline, abs and glutes tight. Your shoulder blades should be off the bench.
Grasp either a handle or rope in your hands. Keep your elbows tight to your torso.
Bending only at the elbows, straighten the rope or handle.
Pause and squeeze your triceps.

Sets and Reps: 3 to 4 sets of 8 to 12 reps

Close-Grip Pushup

Why: Few bodyweight moves are as effective as the close-grip pushup. First off, this is a move you can take anywhere, a bonus triceps pump whenever you can drop and do a quick set. Secondly, you’re also loading with your bodyweight—and sure, other muscles are assisting you in pressing up, but you’re still getting plenty of triceps activation under load. And remember: diamonds are not your friend.

How to Do It:

Set up in pushup position, with your hands just slightly narrower than shoulder-width (don’t fall into the trap of thinking your hands must touch each other), hands directly below your shoulders, core tight and glutes squeezed.
Lower yourself down to the floor, bending your elbows at a 45-degree angle. Make sure your elbows don’t flare out to the sides; keep them locked in place.
Pause, maintaining the squeeze in your core and glutes, then push back up to the original position by straightening your arms.

Sets and Reps: 3 to 4 sets of 12 to 15 reps

Bench Dips

Why: This bodyweight movement will look familiar to just about anyone who has tried their hand at training—after all, it appears to be as basic as finding a bench or platform and pumping yourself up and down. But if you’re looking to train your triceps effectively while also protecting your shoulders, there’s more that you need to know.

How to Do It: Firstly, don’t even approach the bench if you have any shoulder pain or mobility issues. If your shoulders are in good shape, follow this form exactly:

Sit on the bench and place your hands down with your knuckles facing outwards, to force as much external rotation as possible.
Extend your legs straight out and squeeze your glutes, so you’re supporting your bodyweight on your hands. Squeeze your shoulder blades together, then push your torso up high.
Lower yourself down to a depth that’s comfortable for you, then squeeze your triceps to extend your arms and lift yourself up.

Sets and Reps: 3 to 4 sets of 6 to 8 reps

Close-Grip Bench Press

Why: The bench press is a great exercise to work your chest and core. But a change in grip can help expand your arms.“Placing your hands closer together makes it so your triceps have to work harder,” says Craig Ballantyne, Owner of Turbulence Training. “That can lead to new growth and more strength.” (It’s also one of the 3 Secrets to a Bigger Bench Press.)

How to Do It:

Grasp a barbell with an overhand grip that’s shoulder-width apart, and hold it above your sternum with arms completely straight.
Lower the bar straight down, pause, and then press the bar back up to the starting position.

Sets and Reps: 3 to 4 sets of 6 to 8 reps

EZ Bar Skull Crushers

Why: The skull crusher is a go-to tricep move because it gives you a chance to isolate the muscle. The lying position allows you to kill any momentum you use to cheat in other moves.

How to Do It:

Put your feet flat on the floor, squeezing your glutes and keeping your core active on the bench.
After you lift the bar above your chest, drive your shoulders aggressively into the bench and maintain a little bit of tension in your mid-back to prep for the exercise.
Lower the bar to your head for reps, making sure to only move at the elbow joint. Keep your shoulders and upper arms stable.
Extend your elbows to lift the weight back up, keeping your upper arm angle.

Sets and Reps: 3 to 4 sets of 8 to 12 reps

Rocker Bodyweight Skull Crusher

Why: You don’t need any weights for this skull crusher variation, which takes you off the bench and uses the ground to isolate your triceps. This particular version has one specific advantage to the standard bodyweight skull crusher: the rocking motion allows you to get a better stretch than just extending your arms would.

How to Do It:

Start in plank position, elbows directly below your shoulders, core and glutes tight.
Shift your entire torso forward, bringing shoulders in front of elbows and lowering your torso to the ground as far as you can while keeping your forearms on the ground.
Keeping your elbows and core tight, straighten your arms, pressing your torso upwards.
Then, return to the plank position.

Sets and Reps: 3 to 4 sets of 8 to 12 reps

Bench Overhead Triceps Extension

Why: The overhead triceps extension is one of the most common exercises you’ll find in a workout program, and people usually do it from a standing or seated position. Unfortunately, you might be putting your shoulders and low back in a bad spot with this approach. You’ll get more out of the movement if you add a bench, according to MH fitness director Ebenezer Samuel, C.S.C.S.

How to Do It:

Lie back on the bench, holding a dumbbell with both hands.
Extend your arms over your head as far as your can, holding the weight. Tighten your abs to drive your ribcage closed and create tension.
Extend your elbows to raise the weight up, pausing at the top. Make sure that you’re only moving your elbows; this will isolate the triceps.

Sets and Reps: 3 to 4 sets of 8 to 12 reps

JM Press

Why: The JM press is a hybrid movement combining two of the best triceps builders in the game, the skull crusher and the close-grip bench press. You’ll put yourself in a great position to kickstart growth using whichever implement you want, but dumbbells are a great place to start.

How to Do It:

Get in a solid position on the bench (squeezing your shoulder blades, abs, and glutes, with your feet on the floor).
Raise the weight straight above your chest, as you would for a press—then shift your arm angle to about 92 degrees.
Lower the weight so that your elbows are at your ribs, and the top heads of the weights are at your shoulders. Make sure to take your time to make sure that you stay in the proper movement path for every single rep.

Sets and Reps: 3 to 4 sets of 8 to 12 reps

Bodyweight Triceps Extension

Why: This simple movement gives you a gentler variation of an overhead extension, which usually uses some form of free weight and might be difficult for those with shoulder issues. You’ll need a straight bar set below eye-level—and you can scale the difficulty by changing the angle—so you’ll need a rack and bar, a Smith machine, or some other stable straight bar that can bear your weight.

How to Do It:

Grab the bar with both hands in an overhand grip.
Extend your arms to lock out your elbows in a tight standing plank position, squeezing your glutes and abs.
Next, bend your elbows to lower your torso forward, keeping your feet planted on the floor.
Allow your head to dip below the bar. Move only as far as you’re comfortable to avoid shoulder pain and injury.
After a beat, extend your elbows and squeeze your triceps to raise back to the start, keeping your elbows in line with each other.

Sets and Reps: 3 to 4 sets of 12 to 15 reps

Dumbbell Bench Press

Why: While you might not be targeting the tris as directly as with the close-grip variation above, the standard bench press absolutely uses the triceps to help your chest move the weight from point A to B.

Using dumbbells allows for you to have a larger range of motion, since the weights aren’t fixed on a barbell.

How to Do It:

Lie on a bench, holding a pair of dumbbells at chest level with your elbows at a 45-degree angle relative to torso. Don’t arch your back, especially if you want to emphasize triceps recruitment.
Squeeze your pecs to press the weight directly above your torso. Control the weight as you lower it back to an inch above your chest, then press up again.

Sets and Reps: 3 to 4 sets of 8 to 12 reps

Tall Kneeling Triceps Pressdowns

Why: One of the most basic ways to train your triceps is the pressdown, which has you keeping your elbows in line with your torso and driving your hands down while holding a band or cable. Level that move up by kneeling on the ground, engaging your abs and glutes.

How to Do It:

Kneel on the ground, thighs in line with your torso, glutes and abs tight, shoulder blades back, grasping two ends of a resistance band.
Keeping your core tight and not leaning forward, straighten your right elbow, flexing your triceps, then straighten your left elbow.
Keep your left elbow straight as you do 2 reps with your right arm; reverse the movement.

Sets and Reps: 3 to 4 sets of 10 to 12 reps per arm

Half-Bench Skull Crusher

Why: What if you could train your abs and triceps at once? You get to do that on the half-bench skull crusher, thanks to the fact that half your torso is off the bench (and thus must stay contracted to keep you level and in control).

How to Do It:

Lie on a bench holding a dumbbell in your right hand directly above your shoulder.
Shift over to the right side so your right glute, shoulder blade, and half your spine, and half your head are off the bench. Tighten your core.
Bend at the elbow, lowering the dumbbell toward your forehead; press back up.

Sets and Reps: 3 to 4 sets of 8 to 12 reps per arm

Triceps Kickback

Why: The triceps kickback is one of the most basic exercises for triceps development, when done correctly, forcing you to straight your arm so it’s parallel with the ground.

How to Do It:

Stand holding a dumbbell in your right arm, then hinge forward, holding something with your left arm for support.
Raise your elbow so your upper arm is parallel to the ground. Keeping your upper arm parallel to the ground and without tilting your hips or shoulders, straighten your right arm, squeezing your triceps.

Sets and Reps: 3 to 4 sets of 8 to 12 reps

Cable Triceps Kickback

Why: As noted above, there are some shortcomings with the dumbbell triceps kickback. Namely, your muscles aren’t under tension for most of the exercise’s range of motion. Use a cable machine to address those issues and finish off your triceps.

How to Do It:

Start by taking a staggered stance. Do whatever you need to find a stable position here: use the track on the cable machine if yours has one, or grab onto the upper portion of the handle track, or keep your elbow on your thigh. Whichever you choose, ensure that your shoulders stay higher then your hips to protect the lower back.
Grab onto the handle, and pull your elbow up and back slightly above your torso. Keep your upper arm to be parallel to the ground for the duration of the set.
Straighten out the elbow without rocking or moving the upper arm. Squeeze at the top.
Slowly lower the weight down, preferably for a two count negative, to complete the rep.

Sets and Reps: 3 to 4 sets of 12 to 15 reps

TRX Tricep Extension

Why: Suspension training allows you to work against your own body weight, which can be a novel way to use resistance for upper body exercises. If you’re stuck in a small space without room for weights, a set of straps is all you need to get your triceps burning.

How to Do It:

Grip the handles with each hand, holding your palms facing out. Extend your arms straight out and lean slightly forward into your toes, so the lines are taut.
Hinge at the elbows and bend your arms, leaning forward until your head is between your hands. Squeeze your core and glutes to maintain good posture — don’t bend your knees.
Squeeze your triceps and press forward, pushing yourself back up into the starting position as you straighten your arms.

Sets and Reps: 3 to 4 sets of 12 to 15 reps

The post Blow up your arms with these 15 triceps exercises appeared first on Men's Health Magazine Australia.

The Training Plan Damian Lillard Used to Return to the Court Stronger Than Ever

Ebenezer Samuel, C.S.C.S. — Tue, 31 Jan 2023 03:11:34 +0000

Damian Lillard knows this drill well – but it’s never felt this good. He grabs the thick black handle of the giant machine, called a Proteus Motion, in front of him. The handle is attached to a black tube, which slides in and out of the massive, rotating machine opposite Lillard. An LCD screen sits to the left, tracking his every (power-laden) movement.

Lillard is in Gem Fitness (aka the Lions Den), a gym that sits on the outskirts of Portland, Oregon. It’s a multi-room facility that blends classic equipment (dumbbells, sleds and a single trap bar tucked between a wall and a treadmill) with more unusual gear, like the Proteus, a handful of pneumatic resistance machines and a mini barbell with grips that slide across it (for better biceps curls). On one wall in the main room, there’s a picture of Lillard, standing, ripped and shirtless and seven kilograms heavier. It was taken during the pandemic, when he showed up here daily and was in the best shape of his life. Back then, he says, “I was just training to train”.

Now he has new purpose: back in January, the 32-year-old Portland Trail Blazers star shut things down after months (correction: years) struggling with a core-muscle injury, and he could only watch (actually, he barely watched; more on that later) as his teammates stumbled to their worst record in 17 years. It was one of the lowest points in Lillard’s storied 10-year NBA career – but he’s turned it into an opportunity. Since then, he’s happily embraced a challenge that almost every guy is destined to face: a comeback. This moment is part of that. The 188-cm guard plants his feet, exhales loudly, and starts twisting his torso and hips to the right, pulling the handle back as he does. Then he shifts explosively to the left, abs tensing, grip tightening. Each twist lights up Lillard’s obliques, abs and hip stabilisers – and a few months ago, each twist would have made him grimace. Not today. Thirty seconds later, he releases the handle and smiles. He gives a silent nod to his longtime trainer, Cem Eren, then walks up to an oversized treadmill set to an incline. “Just being able to get through my workouts strong and comfortable,” he says, “it’s been a blast.”

Lillard is fully rehabbed from his core muscle injury, but he continues to train hard at the Lions Den, doing everything from uphill sprints to twists on the Proteus Motion to bodyweight core moves. PHOTOGRAPHY by Nils Ericson.

Coming back from injury is a skill, and like any skill, anyone can master it. This NBA season, that skill is on display. From New Orleans big man Zion Williamson (foot surgery) to Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (torn ACL) to Aussie star Ben Simmons (back surgery) to a host of other big names, this season is full of major-injury comebacks. And every bounceback includes lessons that go beyond the physical, because recovering from injury is as much about rebuilding your mind as it is about regenerating muscle tissue.

Damian Lillard knows. He enters this season physically refreshed, and that’s on display during his photo shoot with MH. When somebody tentatively asks him to dunk, instead of worrying about his abs and groin, he coolly bends his knees, then effortlessly explodes upwards like a coiled spring. He glances around afterwards, as if to make sure everyone saw. Then he dunks again.

His remade body is matched by a new mental approach. Before his injury, like most athletes, he thought himself immortal. Now he’s acutely aware that his body might fail him – and that even his legacy isn’t permanent. His eyes narrow as he quietly focuses on another set on the Proteus. “Subconsciously, I did think I was bulletproof,” he says of his pre-injury mindset. “Now I’m trying to bulletproof myself.”

PHOTOGRAPHY by Nils Ericson

Trouble brewing

Before all that, Damian Lillard had to admit he had a problem. This was a process. He first felt the searing pain along the inside of his right thigh in 2014. The Blazers were in training camp, and Lillard remembers his right lower abdominal area “started locking up” late in a practice session. “I couldn’t bend. I couldn’t run. It was just really uncomfortable,” he says. A day later, he felt the same thing in practice. Weeks later, the pain seemed to go away. Halfway through the regular season, it returned.

The pain was almost always there after that, even when Lillard was at his best. Early in the 2019 season, he recalls dropping a career-high 60 points on the Brooklyn Nets, drawing raves from fans and friends. “And I remember limping into the house,” he says. “I was literally bending over.”

Lillard was dealing with athletic pubalgia, a condition often mislabelled as a “sports hernia”. Essentially, his inner thigh muscles had torn slightly, and that was disrupting his movement at the hip. And partly because he’d played through the injury, it was slowly wrecking his abdominal muscles. “It’s like a groin injury that moves up into the abdominal wall,” says physical therapist Erik Meira, who would eventually oversee Lillard’s recovery. “It’s not a sensation that you can mentally block out and just go past.”

Except Lillard did exactly that for seven years. But with each season, the pain increased. Last year, he couldn’t ignore it. “I started feeling like my body couldn’t do what my mind wanted it to do,” he says.

So after 29 games, Lillard ended his season and spent early January visiting specialists. By the end of the month, he’d undergone surgery. His rehab kicked into high gear a week later, when he first began working with Meira in Portland – and he had little time to waste. He was expected to be in game shape six weeks after surgery. Yes, that was an aggressive timeline, says Meira, especially when you consider how long the injury had plagued Lillard. But there was a reason: your muscles are built to be pushed. “If you rehab them slow,” says Meira, “they heal to what’s asked of them”.

PHOTOGRAPHY by Nils Ericson

No, this doesn’t mean you should ditch your crutches one day after any surgery. But you should go as hard as your PT team says you can in your own rehab.Physical therapist and personal trainer Dan Giordano says to use a pain scale: don’t be afraid to work up to 3 out of 10 on that scale. “You might have some pain,” he says. “You just shouldn’t push to a higher state of pain.” Lillard handled his own rehab like that. Early on, he says, he felt “uncomfortable as shit”, especially when he moved laterally, as he might do while defending an opponent on the court. He paid no attention, because experts had told him the pain did not indicate reinjury. And that’s all he needed to know. “I would say that the trust I had in them made me more confident to just kind of go,” he says. “I was never hesitant.”

At the end of six weeks, Lillard stepped onto the court with Meira for a one-on-one rebounding drill, which simulated much of the pounding Lillard would take in a game. Meira’s job was to hack Lillard, doing everything to keep him from grabbing a rebound. Lillard dominated. His aggressive rehab approach had worked.

Sort of. Damian Lillard still needed to address his mental health, which is an underrated key to returning from any injury. From afar, he’d seen the Blazers fall apart, and even a string of 60-spots from Dame D.O.L.L.A. wouldn’t have changed that. For the first 10 years of his career, he’d battled to dominate every game, even when Portland was being crushed. Months removed from surgery, that seemed silly. “They’re not gonna be worried about my life,” he
says, referring to fans, the media and team brass. “But my kids and my mum and my wife, they’re gonna be in my life forever.”

For the first time since arriving in Portland, he focused on family. He’d pick up his son from school one day, go to Target with his wife, Kay’La, another. There were more FaceTime chats with his mum. Once obsessed with what the media might be saying about him on Twitter, he deleted the app from his phone entirely. “I couldn’t place my happiness in basketball,” he says. “Now I’m seeing this is what really counts.”

Lillard has maintained these new priorities, and that’s allowed him to have more fun with the 82-game NBA grind. And he hasn’t reinstalled Twitter. “I’ll be able to play the game with more joy,” he says, “without caring or expecting anything from [anyone]. I’ll be able to play freely.”

PHOTOGRAPHY by Nils Ericson

He won’t forget the injury that led to all this, though, because he understands one truth of every comeback: it’s never over. As Lillard rebuilt his core, he discovered other issues. Chief among them, his right Achilles kept tightening up, the result of a broken foot he’d suffered at Weber State University. So even after officially being cleared for game action, he kept training with Meira. The therapist addressed Lillard’s Achilles with eccentric focused calf raises. Lillard would stand with a heavy bar on his shoulders, the balls of his feet on a small block or plate. He’d drive up onto his tiptoes by squeezing both calves. Then he’d remove his left foot from the block and slowly lower back down.

Damian Lillard gradually began refining his in-game imbalances, too. He’d scrimmage with Blazers staff members and have the clips sent to his iPhone to study. He pulls one up after finishing his session with Eren. “See how tentative I am there? That’s not good.” His core stayed on his to-do list, too, because, as Meira says, you never forget an old injury: “You never, ever stamp an injury as ‘healed.’ Because 10 years down the line, all of a sudden that old injury starts to get achy.”

Not that Meira had to monitor everything alone. Shortly after Lillard completed his rehab work with Meira, he did a Zoom call to introduce Meira to Phil Beckner, his longtime on-court skills trainer, and Eren. He tasked the group with building a schedule that would let him sharpen his game while continuing to build a more durable body. “I just don’t know how to not go hard,” he says. “So I had to make myself not the person in charge. Now they all have the schedule.” Most days during the summer, he trained with Meira first thing. Then he’d head to Beckner to shoot around. He’d wrap up each day working with Eren. On this day (and most days), Lillard starts with moves to test his abs (see “Core Curriculum”, below), then finishes with boxing drills that hone footwork and build cardio.

And on this day, his old injury is the furthest thing from his mind. His new body has been (and continues to be) tested on the court in scrimmages against Blazers staff members. He’s adhered to every piece of his comeback schedule. “I’m ready,” he says. “And it’s one of the best feelings ever.” After seven years, nothing beats moving pain-free.

Core curriculum

Trainer Cem Eren challenges Damian Lillard’s core in every workout. One of his favourite moves to do that: the weighted bear-plank row.

OWN THE BEAR PLANK

Get on all fours, hands on dumbbells directly below your shoulders, knees below your hips. Tighten your abs. Raise your shins off the floor. Have somebody place a 10-kilogram plate on your back, just below your shoulder blades.

CRUSH THE ROW

Keeping your hips and shoulders square to the floor, row the right dumbbell to your right hip. Return
to the start and repeat on the other side. That’s 1 rep; do 3 sets of 7-10.

PHOTOGRAPHY by Nils Ericson

Damian Lillard’s Bounce Back Workout

Rotation and Core Work

Repeat this circuit for 3 to 5 rounds

1A. Proteus Motion Trunk Rotation

30 seconds

1B. Proteus Motion Push-Pull

30 seconds

1C. Chaos Pallof Press

30 seconds

Pull Work

Repeat this circuit for 3 to 5 rounds

2A. Bear Plank Renegade Row

10 reps per arm

2B. Water Bag Rotation

Low Back and Leg Work

3A. Machine Good Morning

10 reps

3B. Machine Hip Abductor

Boxing Finisher

Drills and Mitt Work

3 to 5 rounds of 2-minutes

More bounce-back secrets from the NBA’s best

Recharge your legs like Jamal Murray

After tearing the ACL in his left knee in April 2021, the Denver Nuggets guard needed all of last season off to recover. He spent that time relearning basic motions, mastering jumping mechanics in a pool (to shield his knee from impact), and running on a water treadmill. Then he gradually progressed to strength moves. He’s back in action now – and still keeps two fundamental moves in his regimen.

TRAP-BAR DEADLIFT

Stand in the centre of a loaded trap bar. Push your butt back and reach down to grasp the handles. This is the start. Stand with the weight, squeezing your glutes. Lower back down. That’s 1 rep. Do 3 sets of 6-8 twice a week, building glute strength, which helps protect your knees.

BULGARIAN SPLIT SQUAT

Kneel on your right knee, right instep on a bench. Straighten your left leg. This is the start. Lower your torso until your left thigh is parallel to the floor. Stand. That’s 1 rep; do 3 sets of 10. – Keith Nelson Jr.

Evolve your game like Grant Hill

Don’t try to bounce back from every injury, says the Hall of Famer, who details the injuries of his 19-year career
in his autobiography, Game. Learn from his comebacks – and know when to walk away

1993: Watch Your Weight

As a junior at Duke, Hill suffered a season-ending toe injury. He blamed himself for gaining weight before the season and says he “became a little bit more conscious about playing at a certain weight”.

2000 – 04: Explore!

Hill played 47 of 328 games in his first four seasons with the Orlando Magic, due to a devastating ankle injury. So he tweaked his diet and visited the chiropractor. The strategy worked: he played nine
more seasons.

2012: Know When to quit

Hill managed four straight healthy years before injuring his right knee midway through 2012. At age 39, he rehabbed again – but something was different. “My body was saying, ‘Look, it’s time,’ you know?” says Hill, who played one final season. “Your body talks to you.” Be sure to listen.

Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Adjust your expectations like P.J. Tucker

Some setbacks force you to recalibrate. Case in point: P. J. Tucker. The Sixers forward is in his 12th season, thanks to the way he bounced back from a mental blow in 2007. That’s when the Raptors cut Tucker, who had been an all-around star at the University of Texas. His response: he reinvented himself as a role-playing defensive stopper and returned to the league in 2012. His secret: be honest with yourself and figure out your true strengths. “To be a guy like me, a good role player and strong defender, and have the longevity in this game, you have to be a realist with yourself.”

The post The Training Plan Damian Lillard Used to Return to the Court Stronger Than Ever appeared first on Men's Health Magazine Australia.

9 Rowing Workouts That Will Incinerate Fat

Ebenezer Samuel, C.S.C.S. — Thu, 05 Jan 2023 20:18:00 +0000

The rowing machine workout is becoming a gym staple, and for good reason.

Research shows this increasingly popular cardio can light up nearly 86 percent of the body with each stroke, pumping the heart and loading the muscles. The stroke begins at the legs, propelling the body backwards, transferring power to the core and back to pull the handlebars towards the chest, engaging almost everything along the way. “The handle should move at the same timeas your seat,” Bryan Volpenhein, a three-time member of the U.S. Olympic rowing team and gold medalist, told Men’s Health. When done with proper form, the machine is great for building muscular and cardiovascular endurance.

Rows on rows of these machines found in CrossFit gyms and Orangetheory studios around the globe has helped increase its popularity. Both franchises have made rowing a large component of their everyday workouts, often using the implement in competitions and challenges. New gym franchises, like RowHouse and CITYROW, are popping up all over the United States with their rowing-centered classes.

They might be onto something, given their success. You might even consider keeping one of these machines in your basement. Companies like Peloton are making rowers that suit your at-home workout needs.

Benefits of Rowing Workouts

Regardless of where you find a machine, a quick rowing segment can make a great addition to your workout routine. The low-impact aspect of the activity can make it more tolerable compared to its high-impact cardio counterparts, like running. Minimising shock to the joints can help people with nagging issues workout pain-free longer. Research has shown that rowing can help those with arthritis gain muscular strength and endurance while minimizing pain. Shaking up your workout plan by including something like rowing can give your body a break from your norm, helping to prevent overuse injuries.

“It’s a total-body workout that uses most of the muscles in your body during every stroke with little to no impact,” says Lisa Niren, a group fitness instructor and CITYROW trainer. “It burns fat while providing extreme cardiovascular fitness and ridiculous muscular endurance.”

Compared to other full-body cardio sports—swimming and cross-country skiing, for example—you’ll build more strength and power while rowing, says Eric Von Frohlich, CrossFit Level 1 certified trainer and founder of EVF Performance and Row House NYC. “Rowers tend to be more muscular than other endurance athletes: their backs, shoulders and arms are thicker and stronger. A good, powerful row stroke is similar to a kettlebell swing or a deadlift because you have to engage your core so the power from your legs transfers to the handle.”

Rowing is also by nature a strength movement, essentially a blend of a deadlift and a barbell row. That’s an ideal combination that everyone should do, hitting all the posterior-chain muscles that can easily get weakened by all the sitting that takes place in 2019 society.

Rowing is also easy to program into any workout, because you can get plenty of oomph from a rowing workout in just 10 to 15 minutes, and you can easily work in other implements, mixing rowing with, say, kettlebell swings or some other movements to create well-rounded, full-body routines. Need a few examples? Check out the workouts below.

Renegade & Row EMOM

This is a great workout finisher to burnout the back and core, by combining rowing with some renegade rows. The rowing goal based on calories burned, so the faster you go, the faster you’ll hit your target (and the longer you get to rest). Every minute, you will complete three renegade rows, and then hop on the rower for eight calories to start, and then start again at the top of the next minute, adding a calorie each round for five rounds. This will incentivize you to speed up to finish quickly, getting break as possible before the next minute begins, but that rest will decrease as the calorie goal grows. You can tailor the difficulty of this workout by moving the original calorie goal either up or down.

How to Do It:

• Start by grabbing two light to medium sized dumbbells.

• Set up in a high plank position to begin.

• Perform three renegade rows.

• Row once each arm, and complete with a pushup. This is one rep.

• Hop on the rower, and make sure your screen is set to zero.

• Row until you’ve hit 8 calories.

• Rest until the next minute begins.

• Redo all the above, adding a calorie every time.

• Complete five rounds.

The 1000-Meter Mixup

Set your rower for 1,000 meters, and set the timer. Begin rowing, using powerful strokes. That’s just the start; you have work to do off the rower when you’re done in the form of hollow rocks. This will encourage you to finish the workout that much faster; the sooner you wrap up, the fewer hollow rocks you have to do. Meanwhile, doing the hollow rocks will allow you to row with more aggression, creating larger and larger breathers between your rowing. Hollow rocks are a solid offset to the rowing work. Rowing teaches you to extend at the hip, while the hollow rocks force you to be in control of hip extension. The blend of moves creates a well-rounded overall workout.

How to Do It:

• Set your rower for 1,000 meters and begin rowing.

• At the start of every minute (so when the rower hits 1 minute, then 2 minutes, then 3 minutes, and so on), get off the rower and do a hollow rock ladder.

• The first time you get off the rower, do 5 hollow rocks.

• The second time you get off, do 6; keep adding one hollow rock on every time you get off the rower.

• Aim to finish in 5 to 7 minutes.

The Row and Burpee Challenge

There’s nothing quite like a burpee penalty to make you row your fastest. This rowing workout will encourage you to stay with your pace; if you’re off on your pace, you’ll have to do burpees as a result.

How to Do It:

• You’ll do 5 500-meter rows. Your target goal: Finish each row in 1:40.

• Rest 5 minutes between each round.

• If you finish under 1:40, enjoy the rest. If you finish over 1:40, count how many seconds you’re over. You’ll do that many burpees. (So if you finish in 1:50, you’d do 10 burpees. If you finish at 1:42, you do 2 burpees).

Bobby Maximus’ Row to Hell

You’ll need a partner and a single rower for this workout from veteran trainer Bobby Maximus. The beauty of the workout: The rest period. Both you and your partner, if you’re evening matched, rest for about as long as you row, giving your body a chance to recover. That means you can push yourself at each distance, rowing as hard as you can and working to be explosive.

The rules for this one are simple. You and a partner are working a descending ladder of row work, providing each other with a rest period.

How to Do It:

• Start by rowing 500 meters. Then get off the rower quickly and have your partner row 500 meters.

• Immediately get back on the rower and go 400 meters, then have your partner row 400 meters.

• Follow that by each rowing a 300, then a 200, then a 100, in the same rhythm.

The Calorie Count-Up

This workout starts out slowly but ends with a flourish. The best part: It has a natural built-in warmup.

How to Do It:

• Set a rower to count 1-minute intervals. Your goal is to reach the required amount of calories before each minute is up.

• The first minute, you’ll row for 5 calories, then rest until the next minute begins. The next minute, row for 6 calories, then rest until the next minute begins. Continue working up the ladder.

• Aim to complete as many rounds as possible. The workout ends when you can no longer complete the required amount of calories in the minute.

• Try to make it through at least 15 minutes of work.

From the Ground Up Workout

Directions: Warm up for five minutes. Then do the following exercises in the order shown.

Row, 100 meters
Bodyweight squat, 10 reps
Row, 200 meters
Bodyweight squat, 10 reps
Alternating reverse lunge, 20 reps
Kneeling biceps curl to overhead press, 10 reps

That’s 1 round. Do 3 total rounds, resting when needed.

Pump and Row Pyramid

Directions: Warm up for 5 minutes. Then do the following exercises in the order shown.

1.Row, 100 meters, as fast as you can

2. Bodyweight squat, 5 reps

3. Pushup, 5 reps

4. Feet-elevated mountain climber, 5 reps

That’s 1 round. Repeat for the following rounds, resting as needed, but adjust the number of reps according to the directions below.

Round 2: Row 200 meters, then do 10 reps of each move

Round 3: Row 300 meters, then do 15 reps of each move

Round 4: Row 200 meters, then do 10 reps of each move

Round 5: Row 100 meters, then do 5 reps of each move

Finish with a 60-second plank.

The 20-Minute Metabolic Thruster Blast

This total body blast will torch your legs as you work through the squat motion of the thruster and the deadlift-like motion that the row calls for. Get ready to break a killer sweat. You can do this workout with either dumbbells or kettlebells in addition to your rower.

Warm up for five minutes. Then do the following exercises in the order shown.

How to Do It:

• Row, 500 meters, as fast as possible.

• Dumbbell or kettlebell thruster, 25 reps

• That’s 1 round. Do 4 total rounds, resting as needed between rounds and reps of thrusters. Aim to complete the workout in less than 20 minutes.

Burpee Blast Challenge

Warm up for five minutes. Set the rower’s monitor to display calories. Row hard for 2 minutes. Remember your calorie score—that’s the number of calories you’ll aim hit in each subsequent row. Now do 10 burpees. Row until you reach your calorie score from the previous 2-minute row. Now, do 9 burpees. Row again, hitting the same calorie goal, then do 8 burpees. Continue this descending ladder pattern until you finish the round that has just 1 burpee. Try to complete the workout as fast possible, resting as needed throughout. Aim to finish in less than 30 minutes.

Via Men’s Health.

The post 9 Rowing Workouts That Will Incinerate Fat appeared first on Men's Health Magazine Australia.