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BetterU
News Issue #64
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Secret Training Tip #991 - One-Sided Barbell Deadlifts For Lower Body and Core Strength The
deadlift is one of my very favorite exercises. THIS version
of the deadlift, however, is going to not only hit the
lower back and lower body, it's going to tighten up your
core like a steel corset. Just don't mind the strange
looks you'll get in the gym when you do it... |
My
Strategy for Surviving the Holidays
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How
to Keep Losing When Its Boring
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Super Human Radio...Check out my interview in the latest broadcast...(mine is in the second half of the show). |
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FREE Fitness Articles For Your Website! Increase your site traffic now! Use the professionally-written fat loss, muscle-building and exercise articles you find in the BetterU News Archive FREE on your website. |
NOTE: All
articles in BetterU News are written by Nick Nilsson -
http://www.fitstep.com/ unless otherwise credited.
Secret Training Tip #991 - One-Sided Barbell Deadlifts For Lower Body and Core StrengthThe deadlift is one of my very favorite exercises. THIS version of the deadlift, however, is going to not only hit the lower back and lower body, it's going to tighten up your core like a steel corset. Just don't mind the strange looks you'll get in the gym when you do it... |
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I love deadlifts...I don't deny it. But sometimes, you just don't have the energy to blast out full-power sets with maximum weight even though you still WANT to do your deadlifts. Well, have I got a variation for you! It's definitely going to get you some strange looks in the gym but I can promise you, after the first set, it's going to feel so good, you really just won't care! This one is not only going to target the lower back and legs, it's also going to hit the core (especially the side abdominal area) VERY strongly. The uneven load on the body forces an extremely strong contraction in the core to help counterbalance the load. You'll see... The first time you do this one, use a light weight, e.g. 1 plate. You're going to load just ONE side of the barbell (that's where the one-sided part of the name comes in). You should be experienced with regular deadlifts before attempting this one - it's not a beginner exercise!
Step up to the bar, squat down and grip with your left hand (using an underhand grip) right beside the collar of the bar, as close as you can get it. Your other hand should grip outside your leg (e.g. the right hand outside the right leg in this case) using an overhand grip. This gives you what's called a mixed grip, which gives you a stronger grip on the bar.
Stand up with the bar - standard deadlift technique applies. Keep an arch in your lower back and keep looking forward. The difference here is that only one side of the bar is loaded so the majority of the load is on the left side on the body. Your right hand will actually be pushing down a bit to keep the other end from flying up!
So basically, it's a one arm deadlift using two arms...wrap your head around that one! Because the bar is loaded just on one side and the weight is outside your center of balance, your abs are going to be contracting HARD to keep your torso vertical and stable as you come up with the bar. This is going to tighten up and strengthen your abs EXTREMELY fast. Do 3 to 5 reps on one side then step over the bar and do 3 to 5 reps on the other side to keep things balanced.
You'll feel how well this one works after the very first set! Once you get a feel for the exercise, you can bump up the weight a bit to see what you're capable of. Bottom line, this will strengthen just about everything in your body. Naturally, you won't be able to use as much weight as you could with "normal" deadlifts, but it's a great alternative when you have deadlifts on your list but you're not feeling up for maximum weights. You'll get plenty out of this one with much more moderate loads. And believe me, you'll get a LOT of curious looks at the gym when you do these...my favorite thing is when I get those looks then the very next day see those very same people using that very same exercise they were eyeing up. Here's a video that shows the exercise in action:
Interested
in MORE Unique Check out my Powerful Training Secrets site...now with more than 400 PAGES of amazing exercises, muscle-building and fat-loss programs, eye-popping training techniques and much more! Got 41 pages of FREE samples, too...
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My
Strategy for Surviving the Holidays
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First, Keep Things In Perspective We're only talking about 9 days here, max. So even thought I hate doing thermodynamic "worst case" hypotheticals, remember that if you ate 3500 calories in excess of your metabolic requirements each of those 9 days, you'd only gain 9 pounds. Now, I gotcha- no one wants to gain 9 pounds over the holidays, but look how much work it'd take to do that: if your daily caloric requirement is 2500 calories, you'd have to eat 6000 calories a day, every day for the entire 9 days to gain 9 pounds of fat! Using a less extreme and slightly more likely scenario, gaining 5 pounds over the holidays would require eating about 4500 calories a day for 9 days. That's a lot, don't you agree?
Most people have time off from work over the holidays, which theoretically should open up some time and energy to get in some extra-productive training- that's for starters. Yeah, you'll have family in town, you'll have parties to attend, but the point remains. So there shouldn't really be any reason to become totally sedentary for 9 days. Given that, why not plan a handful of strategic eating opportunities, enjoy the experience, and leave the guilt-trip for your in-laws? For example, why not completely gorge yourself on Christmas Eve and Christmas day, and likewise on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day? That's 4 days total. If you ate an additional 3500 calories on each of those 4 days, you might potentially gain 4 pounds. But- and this is a significant point- that's a lot of extra eating. Even if you ate yourself silly on those 4 days, you're unlikely to reach the 14,000-calorie surplus necessary to gain 4 pounds.
Now in case you're thinking I live in a cave somewhere and don't really understand that the average American starts the "holidays" a few days before Thanksgiving and ends them in mid-January, believe me, I get it. So if you're one of those people, let me suggest a neat little self-help tactic that I really like. It's called "setting boundaries." When it comes to your food, training, and general lifestyle habits, you should have a certain line you won't cross. Ever. The list can be as big or as small as you need to suit your own needs, but thing of these boundaries as the cornerstones of your personal philosophy of living. Make these boundaries personal- they don't have to make sense to anyone else but you. For example, one of the "lines I won't cross" is eating in bed. It's just something I don't do. Eating and sleeping are separate activities in my mind, and I just personally find it slovenly to eat in bed. Now that might not have any meaning for you, so come up with your own boundaries- basically, your own personal "rules" of behavior. Then, Have Fun! One nice aspect of having your boundaries is that you know when you're inside of them, and also when you're outside of them. For me, I eat whatever I want on Christmas day and also on New Year's day. On those 2 days, I can totally enjoy myself food-wise because on all the other days, I followed the rules. If you don't have this type of structure, you're always living in a guilt-laden "no man's land." Letting loose is just as important as discipline by the way- without one side of the coin, you can't have the other. Having a day where you eat whatever you want helps you to relax and recharge. So go eat a doughnut- right now. I'll take it as a sign that you understood the message I'm trying to get across in this article. About The Author
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How
to Keep Losing When Its Boring
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Quick Note from Nick Nilsson:
This package is definitely worth grabbing! Click here to check it out now (sale starts Dec. 26th at noon!).
p.s. Yes, that's my real signature, not some random scrawl from a 3 year old...contrary to what my wife tells me...:)
Ah, the two week slump. Anyone who is a trainer or works with clients knows all to well about the two week slump. The first week of dieting down and training was exciting. You lost weight almost everyday, you felt great, you felt inspired and like you could take on the world! Global warming? Chump change! Problems with your Mother-in-Law? No fly’s on you! That new co-worker that you wanted to beat with a shovel? The two of you are the best of friends now! Yes, it is safe to say that in week one you were conquering the world! Week two…not so much.You hate your Mother-In-Law again, you don’t have the time nor the energy for recycling your bottles, and your “new best friend” not only deserves a shovel in the face but you are thinking of joining a support group for murderous thoughts. Did I mention the diet and training? Your montage just couldn’t hold up and you are about to buckle big time, if you haven’t already. What to do? How do you get past this rut, this slump, this dip!? The Top 4 ways to get through the Two Week Slump!
The biggest problem for most people is they expect the same results they had the first week to happen in the second week. Sure this can happen sometimes, especially with those who have a larger amount of fat to lose. However, you have to be realistic! Did you really burn 12,000 excess calories than what you ate this week? If so than fantastic for you but for most of the world it looks more like 3000-5000 even with the best of dieting down efforts. Take into account the water loss and glycogen depletion you already had in the first week and you should be at a break even or slight loss the second week. Did you know though that if you can hang on there is usually a fantastic drop and rev up the third and fourth week if you stay perfect on track? Trust me, the course may be a little slower, but it comes. Even if you watch shows like the Biggest Loser where they are burning loads of calories a week and eating a few pudding cups, they have a great first week and a crap second week. Don’t get so caught up in the scale, it is the trend that matters. Trust the process and don’t let the doubt of “this doesn’t work” set in. It works, it is what it is. Trust it and keep it up. #2 Keep motivated This is the time to pull out all the inspirational stops. Here are a few ideas/items to stock in your inspire box… Music:
I don’t care if it is New Kids or New Order. If it
pumps you up listen to it and often. #3 Go do something you wouldn’t You want to change? You want to be a different person or more so a better you? How exactly are you going to do that if you are playing it safe in your comfort zone? You have got to do something different! You have to keep yourself in constant reminder of why you want to change. It is pretty easy to fall back into old patterns when you didn’t keep yourself uncomfortable to make a difference in the first place. It is easy to hide out in you safe spots with people who love you. At the core of this though you want some bigger and more. Be it a physical goal or a mental breakthrough, you have to start working for it NOW instead of when you are “done.” #4 Everyday you must question Why? Everyday you must sit through and start the process all over again. Ask yourself these questions… What
is my goal? Asking yourself daily important questions is going to be key to providing yourself with a lifetime of giving yourself the answers. About The Author
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