Category Archives: Exercise Technique

The push up is a great closed chain bodyweight exercise that’s often forgot about and underutilized by the human population, especially your average gym rat. Some advanced trainees claim it’s an exercise for the weak, where other people are scared to even attempt them. What I noticed is that no matter how much of a beginner or professional you think you are, it’s an exercise that’s very commonly butchered. Its hard to believe one of the most popular old school “easy” exercises can be performed “wrong” (using this term lossley) by so many people.

The goal of this post isn’t made to brag about how much a push up can do for you or to explain how most people do them wrong, but to give you a resource to refer back to so you understand you are doing them with good technique. As a bonus, besides using them as part of your workout or as a finisher, they can also be used as a fantastic assessment tool and a corrective exercise as well.

Before I start, and just like every other exercise, I understand there are many ways to tweak the push up technique I mention below. I actually recommend you do so according to your goals. With the form mentioned below, I am just showing you the safest most efficient way to perform the exercise.

Let’s get to the correct push up form.

It’s NOT a T it’s an arrow:

Don’t keep the arms at 90 degrees but tuck your elbows in to about 45 degrees.

You will notice if you have your arms bent at 90 degrees you will feel a ton of pressure on the anterior part of your shoulder. That’s because when you perform push ups this way it causes unneeded and unwanted stress on the glenohumeral joint. If you look like a T, (like in the picture below) change your set up to looking like an arrow. It’s a lot easier on the shoulders, and you will be able to use more muscles you wouldn’t normally like your lats as well.

 

(Bad position elbows flared)                                  (Good Position)

Your instinct wouldn’t be to push something or someone with your elbows flared out would it?

Having the elbows flare out is one of the most common flaws I see just like in the bench press as well. The strongest and best bencher pressers in the world don’t flare out the elbows, so neither should you with the push up. Cutting this discussion short, it’s the same concept.

Keep the wrists and elbows in line:

Your elbows should never leave the position above your wrist. For more safety, efficiency and a more successful overall keep the elbows and wrists in line.

If your elbows flare outside your wrists you are making this and elbow dominant movement, which in turn puts a lot of stress on the elbow and makes it a triceps dominant exercise. You want to make this a total body exercise for a more efficient push up. If you are unaware and or do decide to flare your wrists outside the elbows, I can almost guarantee your elbows won’t be happy with you in the long run.

(Elbows Flared Outside the Wrists)

If you cant see this in the picture, my elbows are are jumping towards the camera, out of line compared to my wrists.

They elbows and wrist should track just behind the shoulder:

After getting the wrists and elbows in line, this should fall into place. Simple stated there should be about a 90 degree angle at your elbow. Look at the pictures to “eye” what I mean:)

Don’t turn the hands in:

Have the hands neutral or slightly turned out.

   

(Hands in)                                  (Hands Neutral)                      (Hands Out)

It all starts at the hands. If the hands are turned in, it causes the shoulders to internally rotate more, and the elbows flare out which as we already know is not very healthy for the shoulders. Do yourself a favor and keep the hands neutral or rotate them slightly out. Keeping the hands straight and screwing the ground creates torque and extra strength and stabilization as well.

Neutral Head Positioning

Poor head position can be defined as either a sagging or forward head, or a head looking up. Keeping your head and cervical spine in neutral alignment results in better posture and keeps you further away from creating more muscle imbalances.

To get in a proper set up simply tuck your chin and lead with your chest.  To correct this, a great couple cues I have learned and came up with are to either imagine the floor closing in on you, pull yourself to the floor.

Not just the cervical, but entire spine should stay in neutral alignment:  

Having a sagging back or rounded back is bad. In short when you round, you are taking your core out of the movement and putting yourself into an excessive kyphosis, when the hips sag you are putting yourself in lumbar hyperextension and also a common deformity we see a lot in the U.S. today, anterior pelvic tilt.

To fix this tighten everything!:

• Tighten your glutes: In other words pinch the penny. This will help take you out of the anterior pelvic tilt mention above.
• Squeeze your legs together. If you’re having trouble doing this, put a towel, pad, or something between your legs and actively squeeze them together to keep the pad there. This will help you “get” what this adductor squeeze feels like.
• Tighten your abs: Yes you have abs, even if they are being covered right now.Imagine someone is punching your stomach while you are doing this. I guarantee if they were you wouldn’t let your low back sag or round at the hips.
• Squeeze your quads: In other words pull your knee caps up, and lift your knees off the floor.

Another solution to correct any poor alignment described above could be with the use of a pvc pipe, light pole, bar, or dowel rod etc.)

Simply get in a push up position and have someone place the rod directly in the middle of your spine. It should be kept in contact with the occiput (back of the head), in between the scapulae (shoulder blades) and on the sacrum or in other words the tailbone. If it isn’t, you are out of alignment.

As soon as you start to fall out of alignment the set is over.

IMPORTANT NOTE:  If you cannot get yourself into any of these positions with proper cuing then you may have muscle imbalances, weaknesses, or tightness that may need to be addressed. This article isn’t about corrective exercises, or what ones should be included in your program to fix areas like this. If you have any specific concerns get an evaluation from a skilled professional.

Use full range of motion:

If you cannot lower yourself all the way to the ground keeping everything in the lower and upper body tight and stable, then you are not ready for a full push up. If I get enough interest I will cover progressions to a full push up in the future.

Breathing:

Inhale through the nose and take a big breath in (not forced) with the lowering portion of the push up. Then on the way back up keep that breath in until you reach just about near the top to maintain core stability (the ability to lock the core, torso and pelvis in a neutral position and maintain that alignment while resisting movement imposed). When finishing the exercise, blow out air through your mouth near the top of the push up upon reaching lockout.

Try to spread the floor apart as you lower yourself down:

Obviously your hands will stay put, but imaging yourself doing this as you are in the eccentric or lowering portion of the push up. This will help activate the lats even more, aid in total body tightness, and increase the quality of your push up.

To get the feel of this wrap a band that is tight around your wrists, but not to tight that its impossible to spread your bring your hands apart. Also again act like your screwing the ground (outward) with your hands.

Perform a perfect push up:

Proper Push Up Form

Poor Push Up Form

No it doesn’t have to be the gadget you see on TV, but get set up right, stay tight, lower your body down and then push up with the form mentioned above.

Some Common Bloopers of the Push Up

Forgetting to keep the ENTIRE BODY TIGHT: Look at the tips above under “tighten everything”. Squeeze the glutes, quads, and legs together while tightening at your stomach.

Looking up: You should be tucking your chin and staring at the floor below you. If you are looking up you’re hyper-extending your neck which is faulty spinal alignment.  Always keep your neck in line with the rest of your spine.

(Head Up, Bad Form, and Uncomfortable)

Sagging your head. Don’t lead with your head, its just poor posture. This could lead to all sorts of problems like spine injuries, tight muscles, and promote poor postural habits. Instead, imagine the wall closing in on you, or try pulling yourself to the floor.

(Sagging Head, Bad Form, and Uncomfortable)

Letting the hips hit the ground before the chest: Lead with the chest. This is what should touch the ground first before your next push up, not anything else the push up isn’t the worm.

Having a sagging back or rounded back: Again, to fix this, look at the tips under “tighten everything” and also the dowel cue above. If you can’t do it, you may need to work on some modifications and corrective work first.

 

(Rounded Back)                                  (Sagging Back)

Flared elbows: I don’t want to sound redundant if you flare the shoulders it can cause impingement of ligaments between the shoulder capsule and the head of the humerus. This is where some people will say they feel weakness or pinching. Save your shoulders and push up in the 45 degree angle mentioned throughout the post.

Not using full range of motion: For the most part, do NOT use partial reps. As I have said a bunch of times in this post already, if you cannot do a full range of motion push up you need to work on some modifications and progressions.

Scapular Winging:

I saved this one for lastbecause it’s going to be a little long winded. Scapulae winging is a condition in which the shoulder blade, protrudes from a person’s back in an abnormal position.

(If you notice this its not normal)

If you present with this, it may be preventing you from lifting, pushing, pulling, and carrying things on a daily basis. You are most likely having a winged scapulae because you have a weak serratus anterior, or because you have serratus anterior paralysis which is typically cause by damage to the long thoracic nerve. If you have serratus anterior paralysis, it is often a treatment for an occupational or physical therapist.If you have a weak serratus anterior, it can often be improved by performing some serratus strengthening exercises. If you notice winging presents I recommend getting evaluated by a professional who has that scope of evaluation and treatment.

We all know there are a million different variations, modifications and progressions, but you shouldn’t start any of them unless you have proper push up form. Just because this is an old school standard exercise doesn’t mean that your form is correct automatically correct.

You are now ready to form a love hate relationship with your chest, shoulders, triceps, serratus anterior, back, core and more. If you have read this and are ready to comply, you will have LESS pressure in your wrists, shoulder and other unwanted areas. You now also have the correct technique of a push up that leads to improved scapular stability, better overall shoulder functioning and much more without having to use any equipment. Have a blast in a glass and take this form and apply it too different push up variations of your choice.

 

The bench press isn’t as simple as it looks.

For all of you that love pressing, here are some tips you must learn (or at least refresh yourself with once in a while) to stay on top of your bench pressing game. If you follow them the result will be better performance, less chance of injury and of course proper form. Of course if you are going for bodybuilding etc. you can  tweak the form, rep styles, tempo, etc. accordingly. The particular way I am showing you today is for maximum strength, efficiency, and safety. Lets work our way through the entire kinetic chain for the completion of the lift.

Again please note: With the bench press and just like every other exercise, I understand there are many ways to tweak the push up technique I mention below. I actually recommend you do so according to your goals. With the form mentioned below, I am just showing you the safest most efficient way to perform the exercise.

The Set Up/Positioning

If you want to unleash the full potential inside you and reduce the risk of injury, there is a “RIGHT” way to set up before you start the bench press.

1.)    Keep Full Body Tension: STOP MOVING all over the place throughout the lift. You should be firm and stable without any lateral movement. A good bench press will be seen to have shoulder, core and lumbar, and hip stability. Yes that both upper and lower body tightness. This is your first step you must NEVER forget.

2.)    Keep your feet stable and on the floor. Find your stable base of support. Feet can be tucked behind, out in front of you or with shins vertical.  Get in the position you are best able to get the most leverage and push yourself backwards without your butt rising off the bench.  There will be more on this later. As long as you’re upper back is tight, and the weight is on your upper traps, feet position doesn’t matter too much within reason. Here are a couple examples.

 

(Wide Foot Position in front)                       (Tucked Foot Position)

3.)    Tighten your glutes and quads. During your set up picture me next to you trying to push your legs inward,don’t let me! If I can, you are NOT as tight through your glutes, quads, or lower body as you should be. Knees should be primed out and pushing out as well.

Here is a video of my legs getting push in loose (WRONG), then my legs getting pushed in but staying tight (RIGHT)

4.)    Take in a big breath of air filling your abs, low back, and “side core” musculature to get tight in these areas.  You can even have someone put their hands on a trouble spot you can’t “fill”, or wrap a band around you to “get the feel” for this.  Do not “DRAW” or “SUCK” in your stomach. It promotes no efficient stabilization patterns, will make your training way less effective (in every lift), and its just plain dysfunctional. But, with a huge breath in filling your entire core region (anterior to posterior) you can fill and feel the strong stabilizing pressure immediately. You are in a much safer position this way.

5.)    Arch the lower back. I know all you “flatten your low back into the bench freaks” are going to love this. I want you to STOP doing that, get an arch your low back, and keep the curve while pressing.  Glutes must stay ON the bench. Picture #1 is wrong and number #2 is better.

 

(FLAT BACK)                                   (ARCHED)

6.)    Raise your chest up. Think big chest, or even think of it as ribs forward. This will help maintain that arch mentioned in step 5.

7.)    Pull your shoulder blades back together, the RIGHT way. When you are pulling them together behind you, you do NOT want to shrug. You want to pull your SCAPULAE back and down together. While you’re doing this, keep your shoulders and upper back tight. You can also think of it as “screwing” your shoulder blades into the bench. A term coined by Charlie Weingroff. At least to the best of my knowledge.

8.)    Feel the pressure in your traps and upper back. During the set up, if you can’t feel the pressure in your upper traps and back you need to reset. What I learned from Dave Tate, who learned from JM Blakely was to put both feet on the bench and go into a supine bridge as high as possible. This helps get the feeling of this upper back pressure I’m talking about. Look at the picture of me performing this below.

 

9.)    Set your eyes up under the bar. If your feet move after your set up you need to start all over.

10.)   Grip the bar hard and in a position of width that’s fits you. This will help stimulate the nervous system and will aid in keeping the full body tension I am talking about later. Also, place the bar in the palm of your hands and not by your finger tips. If you want to be able to press more of a load, for a longer amount of time, or just want a “better” overall press do this. As for grip width, experiment with different variations as needed. Just make sure your hands are perfectly even.

I know this seems like a lot but all this can happen in a matter of seconds with experience. Work on one-three things at a time to ensure the tips “stick”.

The Execution:

The fun is about to begin. Now that you’ve made it past the set up, now you’re ready to start moving the bar.

HOW TO LIFT OFF/LOWER THE BAR

Keeping TIGHT, and all the set up/positioning steps above in place…

1.)    Grip the bar twice as hard as you think you need to, take in a huge breath and it into your abs, hold it, and PULL the bar out off the rack with STRAIGHT ARMS. Get settled in this position for a few seconds before you start. Oh yea, and remember to still grip that bar like it’s $10 million.

If you have a bench without hooks its A LOT easier to do this! Notice in the picture this facilities benches have HUGE hooks. Its’ not fun trying to stay tight pulling the bar of the rack here.

     

(WRONG BENT ARMS ON LIFT OFF)             (BETTER STRAIGHT ARMS ON LIFT OFF)

2.)    Create external totation torque at the shoulder joint, spread the bar apart and act like your “pulling it down”. Try to bend it in half towards you as your pulling it close to you. Again this will help activate the lats and upper back to ensure the number one key of total body tension is in place. Again this creates external rotation torque and stabilization of the shoulder joint.

3.)    Tuck your elbows, at least slightly. Keeping your grip tight, rotate your elbows in towards your body to get that external rotation at the shoulder. This will automatically bring the bar down to where it should be, just below the nipples. In other words, just like in a push up, stop pressing in a T position with elbows at 90 degrees! Set up in an arrow position. Unless you want unwanted pressure and stress to your glenohumeral capsule and an increased risk for shoulder injuries every time you horizontally push that is. Again I do NOT want to see a ton of internal rotation or “elbows out” at the shoulders.

  

(Elbows Flared WRONG)        (Elbows Tucked BETTER)

4.)   Forearms perpendicular to the bar will allow for maximum leverage. Keep your wrists and elbows in line. This will ensure your power under the bar and not in front or behind you. If the bar is in front of your wrist too much shoulder isolation will happen. If it’s behind your too much triceps isolation will happen. If your elbows and wrists are in line, everything will work in unison. A quick tip would be to think “knuckles up”.

  

(Wrists Backwards WRONG)                      (Wrists Forward WRONG)

(Wrists Neutral CORRECT)

5.)    Don’t bounce the bar off your chest. Get out of the whole without cheating. Leave your ego at the door, slightly touch your ribs and pause at the bottom of the lift, and initiate the lift correctly. Enough said.

6.)    Did I mention to keep those hips, glutes, quads and total lower body tight? While doing all of this keep your chest up, the natural lordotic curve, shoulders PROPERLY retracted, and all those positions I talked about above in the set up.

HOW TO PRESS AND RACK THE BAR

Keeping all the set up/positioning and how to lower the bar steps above in place…

1.)    With your feet stable, USE LEG DRIVE. Push your feet into the ground like your trying to spread the ground. While doing this simultaneously push yourself towards your head as you initiate the press. This means keep your quads tight, press your knees outwards, and “pinch the penny” or activate your glutes. The energy will transfer through the entire kinetic chain and there will be a greater power output with your upper body. For you guys who just want to bench it might be time to start training you lower body.

2.)    Don’t lift your butt off the bench. This is where most other professional coaches and I myself draw the line. You will notice that when people drive their heels directly down energy wont transfer to the press as well as it should, and the person’s glutes will bridge up off the bench. Don’t let this happen. With your feet coming off the bench you are already in hip extension. You don’t need any more.

(DON’T DO THIS, KEEP YOUR GLUTES DOWN!)

3.)    Your still obeying the arch rule. That arch in the low back shouldn’t be going anywhere.

4.)    Don’t push the bar away from you. Push yourself into or through the bench. This will reinforce not letting your shoulders roll forward. Keep the pressure on your upper back and traps.The shoulders should be pulled back together properly (no upward shrugging) maintaining a big chest. Keep pulling that bar apart and press your upper back into the bench.

5.)   Keep your elbows and wrists in line AGAIN.In order to do this your elbows will have to flare out SLIGHTLY throughout the upward travel of the bar.

6.)   Press the bar in a straight line: Not getting into this too much, press this way for a more efficient and shorter lift. I know for power lifting purposes there is a natural (pushing back) of the bar with your elbows staying under it, but for the average person press the bar in a straight line.

7.)   Lock out right and STRAIGHTEN your arms when FINISHING the press: Sure there are such things as partial reps etc. but for the most part at the top of the press your arms should be straight. Lock out the elbows with full extension and finish your rep BEFORE you put back the bar. To help with this, act like you are spreading the bar at the top, or trying to break a stick by pulling it apart.

8.)   Since your breath is still with you, and your core is stiff (front, side, back), exhale at the top AFTER you lockout before you take a big breath again to complete another rep.

9.)   Again, when you rack the bar, push it straight back in the rack behind you with straight arms. Having a spotter should be a must, but if you don’t have one make your you are putting the bar back in the right position.

The Complete Lift

WRONG

BETTER

Common Mistakes

You mean the errors below may result in injury and poor performance?

I sure do. Almost every time I come across someone benching I see one of these mistake made. Even after reading through the steps above multiple times, if possible, I would take note, or even a video of yourself benching to see if you notice you’re performing any of the dangerous and improper bench techniques below.

Not warming or “working” up properly: This article is about technique so I am not including this but this must be mentioned. Make sure your doing light warm up sets to lubricate the joints, and you WORK UP to your working weights.

Neglecting the rest of the body: Again not much detail here for the purpose of the article but the bench press is a total body lift. Do not neglect any other body part. Legs, hips, core, triceps, back, shoulders, traps, etc.

Improper training structure and using the wrong modalities towards your goal: If you don’t know how to structure in a lift you want to use or get good at hire someone who knows how to design programs according to YOUR goals. Learn when you should use high reps, low reps,speed work, strength, power different tempos and intensity boosters etc. The list goes on and on.

Taking the bar off the rack with bent arms: I personally see this most in females. It’s okay to keep your elbows locked and straight when pulling the bar out above your chest before you start. You will just feel so much better and “stronger”. Plus, the healthy elbow is incredibly strong in extension.

Lowering the bar to high on the chest: Make sure your lowering the bar sightly below nipple line. I understand for some bodybuilding purposes some people press even as high as the neck. For most people (the average population) that has a shoulder injury calling your name. This will also lead into and help with my next point…

The elbows flare out: Pressing with elbows out in that 90 degree position for most will be hazardous. On the other hand if you tuck to much you will not get as much leverage as you can. Keep a happy point at about 45 degrees.

The wrists aren’t neutral: Bending back is the most common thing I personally see, but I have seen them bent forwards as well. If your doing so, you may not even notice it until you one day wake up with wrist pain. A good cue is to put the bar in the palm of your hand, grip hard, and don’t let it slide towards your fingers. The fix is simple if you have ever played the game Sonic. Keep those “Knuckles” up!

You’re acting like a bouncy ball: Quit bouncing the bar off the chest. First of all, yes its cheating;), and second of all, your only hurting yourself. When you bounce the bar you are using (key word) EXCESS momentum to get past the initiation and dreadful sticking point of the lift which is where many people need the strengthening the most. At the extreme, you could end up with cracked ribs.

Not lowering the bar all the way down to the chest: Or at least as much as your shoulder flexibility allows. Leave your ego at the door. If you follow the steps in this post your performance will go up.

The shoulders come forward or are pulled back wrong: Again, keep good posture with the chest up, ribs forward, and screw the scapulae back down into the bench keeping everything tight.

 

(WRONG)                                         (BETTER)

Your consistency is off: Make sure the bar path is the same every time. This includes the start and ending position. Find a point on the ceiling and do not move your eyes from that place. The bar path will be greatly improved if so. Of course I meant this point make sure your training consistently as well.

Your glutes come off the bench: For probably the tenth time, this is where we draw the line. If your glutes raise off the bench this puts unwanted pressure on your back. Don’t do it. Feel more stable and be safer with your butt on the bench. It will help you lift more weight, but for what risk. Again, check your ego.

Forgetting to put the bar in the palms and SQUEEZE IT HARD.

  

(NOT THIS)                                                 (THIS)

Putting too much downward pressure on your head: This I mostly see with males, but steer clear of this. Try not to push your head down. Common sense explains you could injure your one and only neck. Keep the pressure on your upper traps, contract your neck muscles, but don’t push your head into the bench.

Negative self talk: If you think you can’t do something, you probably cant. If you take that same thing and think you can do it, you probably can. Don’t talk yourself down, its a bad habit even outside of fitness.Get pumped, get into, and get at your lift. You WILL excel and do much better if so.

Not using a GOOD spotter: Don’t be stupid, be safe with this. The spotter can be anyone just teach them what to do. Doesn’t having one give you some security and motivation anyways?

The spotter: Should be watching every rep in the lifters working sets. Has to know when to take over. and be very in tuned with the lifter. Don’t be the annoying spotter who takes away the lifters glory though, especially if he is using good form. Stay out of the way unless the bench presser really needs some help and is in risk of injury.Oh yea, and when spotting you should have good body mechanics, be ready to react at any time, and spot one hand overhand one hand underhand.

The lifter getting the spot: Don’t make the mistake of giving up if the spotter touches the bar. If your not able to finish your rep the load is most likely heavy. Help the spotter out. Keep a strong grip on the bar, and keep pressing. If you don’t and the spotter can’t help you or is dosing off, both of you will be in a safer spot either way.

If you don’t have a spotter do not go for a max effort bench. Its okay to fall short a rep or two. Would you really want to risk 1 or 2 more reps that could cause injury which may keep you from training even longer.

OKAY THAT’S ENOUGH.

Remember, this post is here to be used as a resource. Work on one thing at a time. Once all the tips set in, you should be able to perform the set up, lowering portion. pressing porting, and easily rack the bar without going crazy. Of course you will always have to think about what your doing, but don’t let all the tips get to you. If all else fails, stay tight, stay strong, and get pressing the right way if your going to do it. If I get messages galore I will come back and explain reps, sets, variations and workouts to help better yourself in the direction you wish. That’s it:)

For those of you that don’t know, a farmers walk can be described as picking up weights and walking them. I know, sounds silly right? Read on to see why your missing out on an incredible exercise if you don’t already perform these.The purpose of this post is to explain to you what they do for you, how they work, proper technique, cues and things to look out for, some different variations and progressions, and a sample workout.That’s a mouthful, so let’s get straight to the point.

WHAT WILL FARMERS WALKS DO FOR ME?’

The real question is, what cant they? You will notice they can be used to reach almost any fitness goal you may have. For example they…

• Build total body strength, muscle endurance and anaerobic capacity
• Improve your conditioning, cardio, general physical preparedness
• Help you lose fat
• Increase total body coordination and athleticism
• Increase mobility and stability throughout multiple joints and planes of motion

WHAT’S WORKING?

You will soon find out its hard to find out what isn’t.

THE LOWER BODY: The glutes, hips, quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, ankles

THE CORE: The anterior (front) portion: Including the rectus abdominus and the transverse abdominus. The posterior (back) portion: Including the spinal erectors and multifidi. The lateral (on the side) portion: Including the quadratus lomborum, internal and external obliques

THE UPPER BODY: Mid back, upper back, throughout the upper lower and middle traps, shoulder girdle, biceps, and the forearms/wrist flexors and extensors

WHAT ELSE DOES THIS EXERCISE DO?

• Improves posture and positioning throughout the entire kinetic chain when done with proper form
• Improves unilateral stance
• Trains anti flexion and anti lateral flexion
• Allows you to work on different planes of stability and mobility while “saving” your spine.
• Improves hip, knee, and ankle stability

HOW TO PERFORM THE SIMPLEST OF THE LOADED CARRIES, THE FARMERS WALK

Set up: Depending on the type of equipment you are using, dumbbells, trap bars etc. make sure everything is in working order. The dumbbells should be placed by your side

Grip the weights hard: Make sure your hand position is SLIGHTLY behind the center of the handles. This way when the load slides forward, your grip will be in your stronger middle and index finger (also better balance) than in your weaker ring and pinky fingers if the weight were to slide back. If you must grab the center that’s okay but never in front of the handles.

                           

You can use any grip variation you want. Normal is fine, but you will find using hook grip is more secure. This is where you roll your hands way under the handle as far as you can (bar in your palm not towards fingers) then you first grip the handle with the thumb, and the remaining fingers (index, and or middle depending on hand size) grip  around the thumb and the handle. This will let you hold onto heavier weights a lot longer.

                

(Hook/Stringer Grip)                               (Standard Grip)

Foot Positioning: I’m not teaching how to deadlift in this post (I will in the future:) but for our purposes take in a big breath of air, keep your feet about shoulder width apart, and press yourself through the floor as you pick the weights off the ground with proper body mechanics. If your using a light weight feel free to pick the bar up in a staggered stance (1/2 to 1 foot staggered) so that gives you a start in your first walking step.

Once the weights are by your side: Keep proper posture (more on this below under simple cues etc.)

When walking: Start slow and take short choppy steps staying under control. At least at first. If you feel confident and are maintaining a stable neutral pelvis, feel free to walk faster and or longer to reach your distance prescribed. Don’t forget to keep everything tight.

Grab something heavy: The load is not supposed to be light. You can handle a lot more than you think as long as you can maintain the proper cues and positioning mentioned below. Remember pick the weights up PROPERLY.

                    

(DON’T PICK UP WEIGHTS LIKE THIS)             (DO PICK UP WEIGHTS LIKE THIS)

SOME SIMPLE CUES

Maintain good posture through the head, shoulders, trunk/torso, and pelvis. Read the bullets below to see what I mean.

• Head is neutral and looking straight ahead.
• Chest is big but ribs are down. Tighten your core to prevent hyper extension of the lumbar spine.
• Scapulae are retracted.  Or in other words shoulders back and down.
• Maintain a stable neutral pelvis and lumbar spine
• Whole body is tight

WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR

Don’t let the head or shoulders round forward. Keep that big chest and retracted shoulders to ensure posterior scapulae musculature is working. One purpose of this exercise is for improving posture so if it’s done wrong could make posture worse or increase risk of injury.

(BAD You can almost see me laughing and struggling trying to do this)

POOR GAIT:

Without getting to in depth on teaching you gait patterns let me just state that it is incredibly complex. There are two phases of the gait cycle, stance and swing. There are tasks like weight acceptance, single leg support, and leg advancement that must be looked at. Many problems can arise involving different muscle groups of the body which can in turn cause problems that acquire attention. Just touching the tip of the ice burg you can have abnormal gait patterns due to muscular weakness/paralysis, joint range of motion limitation, neurological involvement, pain, or leg length discrepancy.

In very short, make sure the glutes are actively working and the hips are stable. Don’t waddle like a penguin.  No hip hiking (lifting hip on one side), or other poor gait patterns including things like a tilted pelvis or over pronation (ankles lean inwards) or supination (ankles lean outwards) or even dragging your feet. I also don’t want to see any hip adduction. So NO knees in either.

These are just some of many problems that could arise. If you notice you can’t “fix” of these with a conscious effort, GET EVALUATED BY A SKILLED PROFESSIONAL.

I know this 1st video looks ridiculous but that is just one example of a poor “waddling” gait. Grab something heavy and try staying stable. You would be surprised what I see and what deficiencies appear when a person walks with a load on there body.

(BAD)

(BETTER)

HOW TO STRUCTURE THEM INTO YOUR TRAINING PROGRAM

• Use as a finisher at the end of your workout
• Use as a warm up at the beginning of your workout
• For cardio/conditioning/metabolic work
• Use them in place of normal cardio
• Use them as supersets, tri-sets or giant sets with other exercises. I like them supersetted with non grip intensive exercises (i.e. pushing exercises)
• Use them as part of a circuit
• As part of your current training protocol

SOME DIFFERENT OPTIONS VARIATIONS AND PROGRESSIONS

Holding the weights in your hands: This can be done with dumbbells, kettlebells, the trap bar, etc. If you’re using kettlebells experiment with some upside down carries. If you’re using trap bars try holding 2 of them holding the side of the bar. There are endless options,

Bilateral (2 handed) carries: (farmers walk) which is 2 hands by your side, in the rack position (hands by the ears), both hands overhead, goblet carry (1 dumbbell or KB in front), (heartbeat walk) pressing straight out or overhead as you walk

Unilateral (1 handed) carries: (Suitcase Carry) 1 Hand by your side, 1 arm rack position (ear), one hand overhead  (waiters walk), pressing overhead as you walk

Crosswalks: One arm by the side one in the rack position, one hand by the side one overhead etc.

Use Sandbags, Backpacks, Weighted Vests, Barbells or Work Against Resistance:

These are some different ways to load the carry without holding onto the weights. We do these things all the time. Wear a vest, carry a barbell on your back or racked in front, or just straight up use a weighted backpack or sandbag and walk. You can even unilaterally load some of these things.

Another variation is to just hug the weight. Try Zercher walks, hold the sandbag in front of you, or front load a back pack. These are great variations that will challenge your core even more and make you want to quit even sooner.

Lastly, you can always hook yourself up to a sled and just walk. Attach a weight belt to your waist, secure the band to the belt, and attach the band to a stable object. If you don’t have access to these things don’t be afraid to partner up and use some reliable resistance bands to pull against.

Combine some the options above:

This is an extra challenge and feels GREAT in comparison to using one of the tools above. Many of the well known strength coaches around the world believe in combinations tremendously. Here are a couple sample Dan John progressions.

1. Farmers Walk (Bilateral Carry). Then a Farmers Walk with a backpack.
2. Hug a sandbag in front of you. Hugging a sandbag while dragging a sled/walking against resistance.

Other Variations: Keeping good form

• Step over Hurdles. Step over them forward, backward, or laterally.

WRONG

BETTER

(Bad then good)

• Walk on an incline or decline.
• Walk slower or faster (walk for speed/time)
• Walk with sorter or longer strides
• Walk longer with lighter weight (walk for duration)
• Walk shorter with heavier weight
• Walk longer with heavier weight
• Use drop sets, increasing sets, pyramid sets, or giant sets
• Try them out barefoot
• Again possibilities are endless.

WHAT IF I HAVE TO DROP THE WEIGHTS? 

This is simple. You will first STOP, then DROP the weights keeping proper body mechanics. No bending forward and rounding the upper or lower back. Just make sure when you pick them back up your performing correct deadlift form.

SOME SIMPLE SAMPLE WORKOUTS

These workouts should be used as a finisher at the end of a workout.

Workout Finisher Option #1

A1) Farmers walk 20 yards
A2) Shoulder/rack position carry 20 yards
A3) Overhead carry 20 yards
Rest 90-120 seconds and repeat 3-5 rounds

Workout Finisher Option #2

A1) Zercher carry 30 yards, make a complete turn, then walk another 30 yards
A2) 1 hand (left hand) farmers walk  20 yards
A3) 1 hand (right hand) farmers walk right side 20 yards
A4) Waiters walk (left hand overhead) farmers walk  20 yards
A5) Waiters walk (right hand overhead) farmers walk right side 20 yards
Rest 120 seconds (or wait for your partner to be done with there set) then repeat 3-5 rounds

THESE TWO VIDEOS ARE SPLIT BUT THEY ARE MEANT TO BE EXERCISES IN SUCCESSION.

DONE.

If you want a tool to drop your body fat % and get lean, increase your grip and overall total body strength, and to increase coordination and athleticism then pick something up and walk. This basic human movement pattern is the definition of work. Mechanical work can be described the product of a force times the distance through which it acts. So pick something up that’s heavy enough, keep good form, and move it under control somewhere else. You will thank me later when you notice better performance, stability, and have another tool for looking better than before.