Training

May 07, 2019

The perfect guide to putting together an effective training program Part 3

After going into more detail about the best exercises for building strength and muscle mass in the second part of this article series and then looking at other things such as the best repetition ranges, the right number of training sets and the length of rest intervals between sets, the final part will focus on putting all this knowledge into practice. This will include specific examples of all the training splits described in Part 1.

How to put together your perfect training program

Okay, we are now ready to put together our training program. There are many ways I could have organized this section of the article, but I've chosen to base everything on your goals, as these will have the biggest impact on your overall training plan.

Before we look at each of the individual goals in more detail, it's worth mentioning that all of the training programs I've presented so far in this article will work for each of these goals.

So if your goal is to build muscle and strength, but you can't train 5 days a week, don't worry - you can still get good results with a 3 or 4 day training program. You would just get the best results with the 5 day program.

How you eat is also of crucial importance. It doesn't matter how well you train - if you don't eat right, you won't be satisfied with your results. For this reason, after planning your training program, you should also start planning your diet. You will find sufficient information on this topic on this site.

How to put together a training program for building muscle mass and strength

If you are relatively lean and want to build muscle mass and weight, then the 5-day training program will be your best choice. In addition to this, you should limit your cardio training to a maximum of one hour per week or even avoid cardio training altogether if you find it difficult to build muscle mass.

How to put together a training program to build muscle while losing fat

Yes, it is possible to build muscle and lose fat at the same time. However, there are prerequisites for this: You must either be a novice exerciser or have muscle memory on your side.

With that out of the way, I'd like to mention that the best training program for building muscle and losing fat at the same time is the 5-day training program. This will allow you to maximize your "beginner gains" (or muscle memory gains) even in a calorie deficit.

Although cardio training is not essential for fat loss, it can help. This is especially true when it comes to high-intensity interval training (HIIT for short). If your goal is to build muscle with maximum fat loss at the same time, then I would recommend 3 25-minute HIIT training sessions per week in addition to your weight training.

You can do this cardio on your weight training days or on your non-training days, but I would recommend that you take one completely non-training day per week if you are in a calorie deficit (avoiding strenuous physical activity on this day will aid your recovery).

How to put together a training program for fat loss and maintenance of existing muscle mass

If you are happy with the amount of muscle you have and just want to maintain that amount of muscle while losing fat, then you can achieve good results with the 3 day training program.

Add 3 25 minute HIIT workouts to your training week, with one full rest day per week where you don't do any training.

Examples of effective training programs

Now it's time to put everything we've learned into practice.

Here is an example of a 5-day training program:

Day 1: Chest & calves

o Barbell incline bench press - warm-up sets and then 3 work sets
o Dumbbell incline bench press - 3 work sets
o Barbell flat bench press - 3 work sets
o Optional: Dips (chest version) - 3 work sets (with additional weight if possible)
o Calf training A

Day 2: Back & abs

o Barbell deadlifts - warm-up sets and then 3 work sets
o Barbell rows - 3 work sets
o Pull-ups with wide grip - 3 work sets (with additional weight if possible)
o Optional: Lat pull-ups with narrow grip - 3 work sets
o Optional: Barbell shoulder raises (shrugs) - 2 work sets
o 3 to 6 training circuits for the abdominal muscles

Day 3: Arms & calves

o Barbell curls - warm-up sets and then 3 work sets
o Bench press with close grip - 3 work sets
o Alternating dumbbell curls - 3 work sets
o Seated tricep presses - 3 work sets
o Calf training B

Day 4: Shoulders & abs

o Barbell shoulder presses seated or standing - warm-up sets and then 3 work sets
o Side raises - 3 work sets
o Side raises bent over - 3 work sets
o 3 to 6 abdominal training circuits

Day 5: Legs

o Barbell squats - warm-up sets and then 4 work sets
o Leg presses - 4 work sets
o Romanian deadlift - 4 work sets
o Calf training C

Here is an example of a 4 day training program:

Day 1: Chest & Triceps & Calves

o Barbell incline bench press - warm-up sets and then 3 work sets
o Barbell flat bench press - 3 work sets
o Dips (chest version, if possible with additional weight) - 3 work sets
o Bench press with close grip - 3 work sets
o Seated tricep press - 3 work sets
o Calf workout A

Day 2: Back & biceps & abs

o Barbell deadlifts - warm-up sets and then 3 work sets
o Barbell rows - 3 work sets
o Pull-ups with wide grip - 3 work sets (with additional weight if possible)
o Optional: barbell shoulder raises (shrugs) - 2 work sets
o Barbell curls - 3 work sets
o Alternating dumbbell curls - 3 work sets
o 3 to 6 training circuits for the abdominal muscles

Day 3: Shoulders & calves

o Barbell shoulder presses sitting or standing - warm-up sets and then 3 work sets
o Side raises - 3 work sets
o Side raises bent over - 3 work sets
o Calf workout B

Day 4: Legs & abs

o Barbell squats - warm-up sets and then 3 work sets
o Leg presses - 3 work sets
o Romanian deadlift - 3 work sets
o 3 to 6 training circuits for the abdominal muscles

Here are two examples of a 3-day training program:

Day 1: Push & calves

o Barbell incline bench press - warm-up sets and then 3 work sets
o Barbell flat bench press - 3 work sets
o Barbell shoulder press sitting or standing - warm-up sets and then 3 work sets
o Side raises - 3 work sets
o Dips (chest version) - 3 work sets (with additional weight if possible)
o Bench press with close grip - 3 work sets
o Calf training A

Day 2: Pull & abs

Day 3: Legs

o Barbell squats - warm-up sets and then 4 work sets
o Leg presses - 4 work sets
o Romanian deadlift - 4 work sets
o Calf training B

Day 1: Chest & triceps & calves

Day 2: Back & biceps & abs

o Barbell deadlifts - warm-up sets and then 3 work sets
o Barbell rows - 3 work sets
o Pull-ups with wide grip - 3 work sets (4 to 6 repetitions per set, if possible with additional weight)
o Optional: Barbell shoulder raises (shrugs) - 2 work sets
o Alternating dumbbell curls - 3 work sets
o Barbell curls - 3 work sets 3 to 6 training circuits for the abdominal muscles

Day 3: Legs & shoulders

o Barbell squats - warm-up sets and then 3 work sets
o Leg presses - 3 work sets
o Romanian deadlift - 3 work sets
o Barbell shoulder presses sitting or standing - warm-up sets and then 3 work sets
o Side raises - 3 work sets
o Optional: bent-over side raises - 3 work sets

Conclusion on putting together a training program

Putting together the perfect training program takes some thought and planning, but the results are worth the effort. Once you've figured out what works best for your body, your schedule and your goals, you'll save yourself a lot of time, energy and frustration so you can focus on doing the actual work and having fun doing it.

You should not overlook the importance of enjoying your training program and sticking to it.

The fact is that even with a poor training program, you will eventually reach a point where you are at least reasonably satisfied with your results. The purpose of putting together a really good training program is to get you to that point faster and allow you to eventually reach the point where you are really excited about your results.

After reading this article, you'll probably know more about putting together an effective training program than 95% of the people you see in the gym every day. Put your knowledge into action!

References:

Source: https://www.muscleforlife.com/how-to-build-a-workout-routine/

By Michael Matthews

May 06, 2019

A question of strength Part 29

Q: What sporting challenge do you think is the best test of overall strength and athleticism?

A: Ask any coach who has experience in making people strong (in other words, not the coaches who make their athletes bounce around on a Bosu ball) and they will tell you: running with a load on your back will quickly tell you if someone is athletic or not.

An example of this would be the Super Yoke at Strongman competitions.

A side note: In Hungary, there used to be competitions where athletes had to perform all sports...except their own discipline. Here the pole vaulters always won (and the skiers came second).

Why the pole vaulters? Apart from the guts you need to practice this sport, they have to be fast, need a lot of upper and lower body strength and must have a very good awareness of time and space. They are real freaks - athletes who can do anything.

Q: I recently heard something about "rhythm squats". What are they?

A: Rhythm squats are an exercise used to improve vertical jump height. I learned this exercise from Romanian weightlifting coach Istvan Javorek. I use it to work on the elastic component of the muscle structure.

Basically, it's a set of quarter repetitions or partial repetition squats with 50 repetitions. For the first 10 repetitions you go up onto your toes, for the next 10 repetitions you keep your heels on the floor. Repeat this until you have reached 50 repetitions.

Rhythm squats are a good exercise to increase an athlete's vertical jump height before going to training camp. I have used this exercise with volleyball and handball players. This exercise works very well with athletes, but is not for bodybuilders. Q: Is there by far the best exercise for improving overall athletic performance? Something like an exercise that all athletes should do regardless of their sport?

A: Power snatch - unless your sport is kayaking. With that exception, power snatch is the best exercise for any sport that involves the lower body.

If you went to the Olympics and asked all athletes to perform power snatches, you could accurately predict performance in power sports. In other words, the correlation is very strong. Athletes who are good at power snatching are also good athletes. And if an athlete improves in the power snatch, then their speed performance will also improve.

A short story: I've seen elite shot putter Adam Nelson perform three reps with a shoulder-width grip and 140 kilos.

I've also seen a world champion javelin thrower throw 120 kilos. Pretty much anyone who is good at a speed sport can move a significant amount of weight in the power snatch.

Q: Is there an exercise that you would never let an athlete do?

A: One exercise I don't particularly like for athletes is box squats. I don't let any of my athletes do this exercise.

For one thing, there are a lot of better and less injury-prone alternatives. Many exercisers, when they become fatigued or lose their concentration, will bounce off the box and fracture their sacral vertebrae. I have maybe 70 different tools that work and that are safe and one that can potentially be unsafe. Which one do you think I'm going to choose when I'm working with highly paid athletes that I need to get strong in 11 weeks?

If you are using box squats for powerlifting application purposes, you should remember that it requires very good coaching and a training partner. I would never let an athlete do box squats alone. With deep squats, however, you won't see these injuries.

Furthermore, the mechanics of box squats are not found in any other sport apart from powerlifting. I don't know of any sport where the knee flexors don't move forward to generate more momentum.

You can use box squats sparingly in your training if you are a bodybuilder. This exercise will certainly induce gluteus and hamstring hypertrophy, but bodybuilding is not an athletic endeavor in the true sense of the word.

Q: What is the most ineffective exercise that people usually use? And how do you explain its popularity if this exercise is really no good?

A: In the average gym, the most ineffective yet popular exercise is the crossover cable pulldown. There are a lot of better muscle building exercises for the chest. So why is this exercise so popular? Well, it's fun to do while watching yourself in the mirror.

And in bodybuilding magazines, this exercise makes bodybuilders look fantastic in competition form.

Another popular exercise is the incline bench press on the multi press. Milos Sarcev pointed out to me that professional bodybuilders rarely use this exercise and yet you see them doing it all the time in magazines. Why? Because it makes a fantastic photo.

Take a guy with 50 centimeter upper arms and take a photo of him in the middle range of free incline bench press. And then take that same bodybuilder and have him do incline bench presses on the multi press. He will look more muscular on the multi press. That's why you see this exercise so often in magazines like Flex. Naturally, the average gym-goer will start using this exercise, assuming that this is the way professionals train.

It's a bit like porn. It's better to have a woman with small hands to make other things in the movie look bigger...

Milos also told me that the reason many of the photos of scott curls in magazines show an incorrect arm position is because the photographer is doing everything in their power to make the bodybuilder look as bulky as possible, even if it means poor form of exercise execution is required.

Think squats. Where are the photos taken? In the lowest position? No, they take the picture when the bodybuilder is slightly above the position with his thighs parallel to the floor, when his thighs look their best. However, this doesn't mean that everyone should do partial reps on squats!

In the old days, bodybuilding magazines would often publish pictures of Arnold and other bodybuilders during their actual workouts when they were using real weights. This showed how these guys really trained.

Today, all those pictures are posed - something to keep in mind the next time you flip through a bodybuilding magazine.

Q: I always listen to music when I work out, but I've heard that some strength coaches don't recommend it. What do you think about this?

A: The research on this topic is very confusing. Some recent studies have concluded that music increases strength in 50% of the subjects, but the same music decreases strength in the other half of the subjects.

The people who listen to music and get stronger are the people who are inherently motivated by external rewards.

There is no music in my weight room. However, if someone wants to use an iPod, they are welcome to do so...as long as I don't hear the music. Hey, if sniffing napalm between sets makes you stronger, I don't care if you do, as long as it's not on the doping list. The point is that I don't discourage something if it works for a person.

I myself don't like music during training. I find it easier to concentrate without music.

Q: Are there any workout ideas that you once thought would work, but later changed your mind after finding out they weren't effective?

One of them is high frequency training. Back in 1982, I realized that in a doping-free environment, training one muscle group every 5 days is best for most athletes. Train those muscles hard, train them heavy and then let them recover. That was the time when I started to make a name for myself in the sport.

Back then, people were training the same muscle group at least 3 days a week. I started getting results with my clients as soon as I ditched this concept of training frequency.

There are high frequency training advocates out there who say you need to train a muscle group three days a week to get strong. Well, the only thing I can say to those people is that they should pit the five strongest guys they've ever produced against the five strongest guys I've trained. Their athletes will look weak compared to mine.

Another idea I've given up on is a full body workout. I tried it decades ago and knew there had to be a better way.

T Nation: I train deadlifting for bodybuilding purposes and have no interest in competing in powerlifting competitions. In order to use heavier weights, should I use a mixed grip like in powerlifting or is an overhand grip better for muscle development, even if it means using lower weights because my grip strength decreases at the end of the set?

Use a regular overhand grip, but use grip aids. You want to increase the time under tension for muscle development, which means you should perform more than 5 repetitions. Without grip aids, the strength endurance of your grip muscles will diminish before you exhaust your lower back, gluteus, hamstrings and quadriceps.

For those who want to compete in powerlifting competitions, however, it's a good idea to use a mixed grip, alternating the grip from set to set. If you always use the same style of mixed grip, you could tear your biceps sooner or later.

For competition, use the grip that feels best.

Q: I have the calf development of a parrot. Do you have any training programs I could use?

Here's a quick solution:

Start with calf raises standing on the calf machine and perform 8 repetitions with 2 seconds rest at the highest point of each repetition.
Pause for 10 seconds.
Load a barbell with about 25% of your body weight. Hold the barbell in a squat position and jump up and down with minimal bending of the knees using the calf muscles. Perform 30 repetitions of this. The eccentric muscle damage that occurs during the landing will promote your hypertrophy.
Repeat this superset four more times.

If this doesn't make your calves grow, nothing will!

Q: I can't do squats for medical reasons. What is my best alternative?

My first question would be what medical problem is responsible for this.

The reason I ask is because most people who ask me this question are really saying, "I'm a lazy sod and don't want to do squats. What can I do?" They just want me to justify their use of leg presses or whatever.

Anything that works your knees and your hip extensors should also not be doable if you really have medical issues that prohibit you from doing squats. And if you have back problems, then leg presses will not be tolerable either. The same goes for knee problems. Some of these people may think they can do leg presses without problems, but this is only because they don't go far down.

My answer, without knowing what the medical problem is, is simple: deal with your medical problem and then do squats!

Q: I want lower abs like an underwear model - those guys with the V shape below the belly button. What exercises can I do to achieve this?

The first thing you need to do is get your diet under control so that you become as lean as an underwear model.

Next, remember that the primary multi-joint exercises - pull-ups, deadlifts and squats - build abs better than most ab exercises. This includes the lower row of the rectus abdominis, which is responsible for the V-shape you're aiming for.

Q: A trainer at my gym told me not to work my abs first in my training session. If I did, I would exhaust my core, which could jeopardize my other exercises. Is this true?

Yes, this is true. If you do squats and have done a lot of abdominal training beforehand, then your ability to control the weight will be compromised. Anyone who trains with high amounts of free weights should not train their abs at the beginning of the training session.

Direct abdominal training is something that is meant for the end of a training session.

Q: My goal is fat loss. Because of my schedule, I need to do my weight training and my energy system training during the same training session. Is it better to do the cardio workout first or the weights workout first?

Weights. Always.

This is related to the rule of motor unit recruitment. Always start with what is hardest to recruit and end your workout with what is easiest to recruit.

Want an absolutely honest answer? Forget the treadmill. Work out with weights for an hour and then go home. Let your diet take care of the fat loss.

Q: I think I'm overtrained. But maybe I'm just a wimp. Is there any way to find out if I'm overdoing it at the gym?

Here's an easy way to find out: Write down your body weight every morning after you wake up and use the restroom. If your diet hasn't changed recently and yet you suddenly see a 3.5% reduction in body weight, then you may be overtraining, which is another way of saying you're missing out on recovery. The change in weight is caused by a loss of muscle mass.

So if you are an experienced athlete and typically weigh 90 kilos and your weight suddenly drops to 87 kilos without you doing anything about it, then you are overtraining. The solution is to reduce the number of your training sets but not your intensity.

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/question-of-strength-47, https://www.t-nation.com/training/question-of-strength-48, https://www.t-nation.com/training/question-of-strength-49

By Charles Poliquin

May 02, 2019

Tips of the week Hip Thrusts

Perform hip thrusts for better glutes

Learn this exercise and make it one of your basic exercises

If you want to transform your backside, then hip thrusts should be your weapon of choice. Professional and competitive figure athletes use this exercise to strengthen their gluteus and build strength, speed and quickness.

Perform this exercise as follows:

Get into the starting position, tighten your body and take a deep breath before initiating the concentric (lifting) action.
Your back is supported on a bench with the edge of the bench directly under your shoulder blades. Do not slide up and down the bench.
Place your feet medium to wide apart on the floor with your toes pointing forwards or slightly outwards.
Push over your heels and do not lift your toes off the floor. The bar rests directly over your pubic bone and remains in this position throughout the entire set.
Make sure that you achieve full hip extension (hip extension). If you cannot hyperextend your hips, then you are using a weight that is too heavy.
Your shins should be almost vertical to the floor at the highest point of the movement and your knees should be over your toes. Do not let your knees bend outwards.
Keep your chest down during the entire set to prevent your chest from bulging. This ensures that you do not hyperextend the lumbar spine and that your pelvis does not tilt forward. Maintain a stable, flat torso throughout the movement, with all movement coming from the hips.
Use a steady tempo and avoid throwing the weight upwards. Lower the bar while maintaining an eccentric contraction of the gluteus. You can perform each repetition to the point where your gluteus touches the floor again, or reverse the movement in the air without touching the floor with your buttocks.
Concentrate on using the gluteus to push the hips straight up. This focus is crucial for building the gluteus.
Hold the last repetition of each set isometrically in the top position for 3 to 10 seconds. This will ensure that you strengthen the end range of hip extension.

Stop dieting if you are skinny-fat

Yes, choose better foods, but focus on building muscle. Use specific supplements to selectively increase your insulin sensitivity

By Chris Shugart

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/diet-fat-loss/tip-stop-dieting-if-youre-skinny-fat

Many men today have the idea that if they just lose 5 or 10 kilos, they can uncover a body worthy of gracing the cover of a fitness magazine. What they discover, however, should they actually try this, is that underneath the layer of fat they've lost, there was nothing worth showing off.

It's understandable. You're working out with weights, but seem a little soft and flabby. And having visible abs might increase your chances of seeing a woman naked outside of the internet. The result? A skinny but still flabby body, a slowed metabolism and the inability to eat more than a few grams of carbohydrates without gaining fat.

The first thing to remember is that these lean men in the figure class weigh somewhere in the region of 90 kilos - defined. So if you weigh a soft 77 kilos, you won't be much happier at a leaner 68 kilos. Muscle matters - not just a lower body fat percentage. Make sure you have muscle before you start your definition phase.

The supplement solution

Many experts recommend that these guys build mass before they diet. And it's certainly true that they need to build muscle. But men in the skinny-fat category (thin but still flabby people) often have the same basic problem as fat people - dysfunctional nutrient uptake mechanisms and poor nutrient partitioning abilities.

Basically, these people mainly build fat when they eat to build muscle mass. And when they diet to lose the fat again, they look scrawny. Food seems to be preferentially stored as body fat instead of being used to build muscle. The solution is therefore not to diet or to go through a classic mass-building phase. Rather, the solution is to address the underlying problems.

Yes, these people should avoid the foods that are obviously problematic for everyone, but they should not diet in the traditional sense. Instead, they should "repair" these metabolically active but dysfunctional fat cells using cyanidin-3 glucosides to selectively increase insulin sensitivity in muscle and burn fat while maximizing nutrient uptake in muscle. Essentially, food is actively used instead of stored and you can now build muscle and lose fat without extreme dieting.

Know when to use grip aids

The strongest exercisers use grip aids - but not all the time. Here's a guide that can help you decide when you should and shouldn't use them.

By Christian Thibaudeau

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-know-when-to-use-lifting-straps

Now that 'functional' is the big trend in training, many training aids are frowned upon. Don't do squats and deadlifts with a weightlifting belt or your core won't become functional. Don't use grip aids when training or your grip will become weak and you won't have "real" strength.

Here's what's really funny: those who rail against grip aids and weightlifting belts because they will supposedly make you weak are rarely really strong themselves. The more they are against these tools, the weaker they are.

Hey, I've got good news for you: most really good Olympic weightlifters use grip aids during their training. Not all the time, of course, but they use them quite often. About 75% of them also wear weightlifting belts. Strongman competitors often train with grip aids and almost always with a weightlifting belt. The same is true for powerlifters. They understand that these aids can improve their training. They should not become crutches, but they are useful in many circumstances.

The use of grip aids: The good stuff

Grip aids allow you to train with your arms relaxed, which allows you to shift tension to other areas. This is useful for bodybuilders in rowing and pulling exercises if they have dominant biceps that tend to do most of the work.
Grip aids make it possible to continue training heavy despite sore or otherwise injured hands. Sore hands and chapped blisters are common among CrossFit athletes, strongmen, Olympic weightlifters and powerlifters who use a high frequency of training. Training deadlifts, snatches or heavy pulls with grip aids is better than not training heavy at all.
Grip aids reduce the neurological stress of heavy deadlifts, snatches and pulls. They can be a good idea during an unloading phase if you want to give your CNS a chance to recover. They can also be used occasionally to allow you to perform a higher volume of heavy training with fewer negative effects.
Grip aids allow you to perform extra reps and use a little more weight during heavy multi-joint exercises - which is great for occasionally overloading the large muscle groups.

The use of grip aids: The bad stuff

For many weightlifters, feeling the heavy weight in their hands is a reason for failed max attempts. This is especially true for variations of Olympic weightlifting exercises. If you always use grip aids during training, you will lose the feeling of pulling a heavy bar up and if you then have to move heavy weights without grip aids, you will suffer from a serious loss of performance.
Grip aids allow you to pull the bar up more easily from the ground. This technique is not always possible (or safe) with heavy weights and without grip aids. If you then have to stop using grip aids, it could be that your technique is not suited to the new situation. A good example of this is Pat Mendes, who always used grip aids when snatching in training and always managed 20 to 30 kilos less in competitions than in training. He was also known for pulling the weight up from the ground.
If you always rely on grip aids, then your grip strength can become a weak link in the chain. While an occasional set with grip aids is perfectly fine, it could become problematic if you over-rely on grip aids and compete in a sport where you can't use grip aids or if your sport requires a strong grip.

Exercises where you can use grip aids

Snatch and clean and jerk (from the floor or blocks or from a hanging position)
Snatches and power snatches from a hanging position or from blocks
Shoulder lifts (shrugs)
Rowing and pulling

Exercises where you can occasionally use grip aids

Deadlifts (all variations and heights)
Snatches and power snatches from the floor

Exercises in which you should not use grip aids

Repositioning and power repositioning
Farmers walk
Training with a thick bar

If you are a bodybuilder and grip strength is not really an issue, then you can use grip aids all the time, although you can still benefit from training without grip aids to build up your forearms. If you are a strength athlete, then you should perform supportive training for your grip strength and grip endurance in addition to your regular training.

Swap oatmeal for buckwheat

Buckwheat is insanely healthy, filling and delicious. Here are a few tips on how to prepare it properly

By Chris Shugart

Buckwheat is a healthy source of carbohydrates and a true superfood. Despite its name, buckwheat is not wheat, but a fruit seed. Buckwheat is gluten-free and has a low glycemic index, in case you're worried about that.

In addition to phytonutrients and other good stuff, buckwheat contains chiro-inositol, which supports glucose metabolism and cell signaling. Buckwheat also appears to be better than oatmeal and wheat cereals when it comes to heart health and lowering levels of bad cholesterol - and it has anti-inflammatory properties. Because buckwheat grows very quickly, few pesticides are used in its cultivation. And as a special bonus, the protein in buckwheat contains all 8 essential amino acids - even though you probably won't actually use buckwheat as a protein source.

Leaving all the nerdy stuff aside, buckwheat also tastes very good and is extremely filling, which has been confirmed in numerous satiety studies.

The easiest way to make yourself a steaming bowl of buckwheat is to buy instant buckwheat, which you can find in some health food stores. Simply add water and heat in the microwave for 3 to 4 minutes. Try these quick recipes:

Berries Vanilla Buckwheat

Prepare one serving (a quarter to half a cup) according to the microwave instructions, but use more water.
Stir in a scoop or two of vanilla protein powder after cooking.
Add a handful of berries - fresh or frozen.

Nut chocolate buckwheat

Prepare one serving (a quarter to half a cup) in the microwave according to the instructions, but use more water.
After cooking, stir in a scoop or two of chocolate-flavored protein powder.
Stir in a spoonful of natural nut butter (peanut butter, almond butter, cashew butter, walnut butter, etc.) while the buckwheat is still hot.

Use Strip-the-Rack Presses for big, strong and healthy shoulders

by Christian Thibaudeau

https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-do-the-strip-the-rack-press

Shoulder presses - this exercise used to be the benchmark for upper body strength before bench presses came into fashion. And this exercise is also an excellent muscle building exercise. However, a lot of people can't do this exercise without pain in the shoulders or elbows. Here's a better alternative. This variation could actually build more muscle mass than regular shoulder presses.

Strip-the-rack press

Use a power rack and maintain contact between the bar and the rack throughout the exercise. Imagine that you wanted to scrape the color of the rack during the press. Press up and slightly forward.

Why is this exercise more shoulder-friendly?

This exercise increases the activation of the serratus (the finger-shaped muscles on the side of your ribcage). The serratus helps to press the shoulder blade against the chest wall and increases the stability of the shoulder joint. Activating the serratus therefore allows the shoulder to work better, making shoulder training safer.

If you look at Olympic weightlifters who do a lot of overhead pressing exercises, you'll see that they have amazing serratus development, which allows them to press heavy weights without pain.

By pressing forward and upward in strip-the-rack presses, you increase the activation of the serratus compared to regular pressing. So not only will you activate the serratus during your set, making the movement safer, but you will also develop this muscle, giving you a superhero look by making your torso appear thicker.

Should bodybuilders use this exercise?

From a muscle development perspective, this exercise increases the recruitment of the serratus, pectoralis minor (which will make your chest look thicker), the long muscle head of the triceps (through the isometric shoulder extension as you push forward against the rack), as well as the front shoulder muscles.

In addition, this exercise keeps the muscles involved under constant tension (you can even perform partial repetitions at the end of the set). Even in the areas of the range of motion where you are exerting less upward force, you continue to push forward, which keeps the muscles working hard. All of this helps to make this a very effective exercise for stimulating muscle growth.

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-do-hip-thrusts-for-better-glutes

By Bret Contreras

Apr 29, 2019

The perfect guide to putting together an effective training program Part 2

Having covered basic split programs and whether a muscle group should be trained once or several times a week in the first part of this article series, in the second part of this article series I will look in more detail at the best exercises for building strength and muscle mass. I will then look at other things such as the best repetition ranges, the right number of training sets and the length of rest intervals between sets.

The best exercises for building muscle and strength

There are two primary types of exercises performed with weights: Multi-joint or basic exercises and isolation exercises.

Multi-joint exercises involve several major muscle groups and require the most full-body strength and effort. Examples of multi-joint exercises are squats, deadlifts, bench presses and standing barbell shoulder presses.

Isolation exercises involve only one muscle group and require significantly less total body strength and effort. Examples of isolation exercises would be bicep curls, flying movements on the cable pulley and side raises.

The topic of multi-joint exercises vs. isolation exercises deserves its own article, but to make a long story short, the following applies:

If you want to build maximum amounts of strength and muscle mass, then you should focus on multi-joint exercises.

Isolation exercises can and should be used to develop smaller, more stubborn muscles such as shoulders and arms and support the growth of larger muscle groups, but they should never be the focus of the training session for steroid-free exercisers.

However, just knowing this is not enough to put together an effective training program, as there are a whole range of multi-joint exercises you can perform for each muscle group. Which specific exercises are best for building muscle and strength? Here's a useful list:

The best chest exercises:

Barbell incline bench press
Dumbbell incline bench press
Barbell flat bench press
Dumbbell flat bench press
Dips (the chest variation)

These are the exercises you need to master if you want to build an impressive chest. Forget for the moment training on the cable machine, flying movements with dumbbells, push-up variations, machines and every other type of chest exercise out there. These exercises are not nearly as effective as the basic exercises listed above. They are only for advanced bodybuilders who have already built large and strong pecs with heavy pressing.

The best back exercises

Barbell deadlift
Barbell rowing
One-arm dumbbell rowing
Pull-ups
Lat pulldowns (chest and close grip)
T-bar rowing
Seated rowing on cable (wide and narrow grip)
Shoulder raises with a barbell (barbell shrugs)

Deadlifts are by far the most effective back exercise you can use. It is simply unbeatable when it comes to comprehensive back and strength development, which is why I recommend you perform this exercise every week.

The best shoulder exercises

Barbell shoulder press sitting or standing
Dumbbell shoulder presses seated or Arnold presses
Dumbbell side raises or one-arm dumbbell side raises
Side raises bent forward (standing or seated)
Face pulls
Barbell rowing for the rear shoulder muscles
Dumbbell front raises

As you can see, I'm a fan of pressing. And just like chest, heavy pressing is unbeatable for shoulder development. And as a natural trainee, you'll need as much help as you can get in this area.

However, if you only perform pressing exercises for the shoulders, you will soon find that the lateral and posterior muscle head of your shoulders will fall behind in their development. This is the reason why a good shoulder training session will train all three muscle heads of the shoulders by performing lateral raises and something for the posterior shoulder muscles alongside heavy pressing.

Just like any other muscle group, the shoulders can benefit from training with higher reps, but you need to emphasize training with heavy weights if you want to make them grow.

The best leg exercises

Classic squats
Front squats
Hackenschmidt squats (on the machine, not with the barbell)
Leg presses
Barbell lunges (walking or on the spot)
Dumbbell lunges
Romanian deadlift
Leg curls (seated or lying down)

Training your legs is simple:

Rule #1: Always perform squats
Rule #2: Always perform squats
Rule #3: You've understood what it's all about

The bottom line is that every leg training session should start with either classic squats or front squats, with the former focusing on the hamstrings and the latter on the quadriceps.

The best bicep exercises

- Barbell curls
- dumbbell curls
- dumbbell curls
- hammer curls
- pull-ups with an underhand grip

Short and painless - that's all we need to build big biceps.

The best tricep exercises

Bench press with close grip
Sitting tricep press
Dips (tricep variation)
Lying tricep presses (scull crusher)
Tricep presses on the cable pulley

Just like with the biceps, you don't need much variation in your choice of triceps exercises to develop impressive triceps.

The bottom line on the best exercises with weights

Simply put, these are the only exercises you'll ever need to develop a strong, great looking body. Trust me, I used to think a lot of other exercises were the key to making gains and that didn't really get me very far.

One of the most important training lessons I've learned is that progression with the right exercises, not variety in exercise selection, is the key to a strong and muscular body.

Ditch all the faddish, "functional" junk and focus on barbell and dumbbell training and you'll take a big step towards the body you've always wanted.

What about core and calves?

Many training programs neglect training for the core and calves and the authors of these programs claim that you don't need to train these areas directly if you're doing everything right.

I disagree with this view. If you already have a great core and calves, this may be true - you don't need to train these areas directly to maintain what you already have. However, if you want to achieve better development of your core or calves, then you need to include exercises for these muscle groups in your training program.

Which repetition range is best?

The topic of the ideal repetition range is even fuzzier than the topic of the ideal training frequency. Most people stick to the default of using 8 to 10 or 10 to 12 repetitions for building muscle mass and lower repetition ranges for building strength...and there's a reason most people fail to build impressive amounts of muscle mass and strength.

Repetition ranges should be viewed as a strength-endurance continuum (1). Heavier weights mean fewer repetitions, which is ideal for building strength, while lighter weights mean higher repetitions, which is ideal for building muscle endurance.

In other words, if you want to be able to move 220 kilos in squats, you better train heavy. And if you want to be able to do 50 repetitions with 100 kilos, then you should train with lighter weights.

You may now be wondering how muscle growth fits in with this. The simple explanation is this:

If you want to build bigger muscles, then you need to continually increase the weight on the bar over time, resulting in progressive overloading of the trained muscles.
If you want to consistently put more weight on the bar over time, then you need to consistently get stronger.
If you want to consistently get stronger, then you need to consistently emphasize the strength-endurance continuum with lower reps in your training.

Sure, we could go deeper into the technical details here and talk about things like myofibrillar and sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, but the above 3 points are a quick summary of what we're really interested in at this point.

There's a good reason why the most muscular guys in your gym are always the strongest - and why most people stop building muscle when they stop building strength.

But let's get down to some concrete numbers.

The best repetition ranges for men

Men who are just starting to train with weights should emphasize the 4 to 6 repetition range in their training. This means using weights in the range of 80 to 85% of 1RM weight.

Men who are more experienced and advanced exercisers may benefit from incorporating lower and higher repetition training into their workouts (known as periodizing their workouts).

The best repetition ranges for women

Women who are just starting to train with weights should emphasize the 8 to 10 repetition range in their workouts. This means using weights in the 70 to 75% of 1RM weight range. I recommend that women who are just starting resistance training emphasize this repetition range rather than the 4 to 6 repetition range because they need to build a solid strength base before they can safely and effectively work with heavier weights.

What works very well for women, in my experience, is to start with training in the 8 to 10 repetition range and then after 6 to 8 months of training, incorporate heavier training into their program in the form of training in the 4 to 6 repetition range.

I would have them start their training sessions with 3 sets of a multi-joint exercise such as squats, deadlifts, bench presses or shoulder presses in a repetition range of 4 to 6 repetitions and have them train the rest of their training in a repetition range of 8 to 10 repetitions.

How many sets and repetitions per training session?

We've already touched on the topic of the optimal number of repetitions per week and muscle group earlier in this article, but we haven't gone into the specifics yet.

The most important thing to know at this point is that volume must decrease as intensity increases (2). At this point, the term intensity refers to the amount of weight you are moving, while the term volume refers to the number of repetitions performed.

In plain language, this means that the heavier the weights you move, the fewer repetitions you should perform per week. And since I'm telling you to emphasize training with heavy weights in your workouts, you'll be doing significantly fewer sets per week in the gym than most.

Finding scientific help on the topic of optimal training volume is difficult due to the variables involved, but part of the answer can be found in a study review conducted by scientists at Gothenburg University (3).

I'll cut straight to the chase and quote the scientists:

"All in all, a moderate volume (around 30 to 60 repetitions per training session (in dynamic resistance training) seems to elicit the strongest response."

Even though my experience with numerous clients has shown me that this range can be extended somewhat - which is especially true for experienced strength athletes - there is a lot of anecdotal evidence for the scientists' statement and this range is also usually recommended by experienced strength athletes and bodybuilders.

If you look at many of the popular and proven training programs out there, you'll see that the training volume generally falls somewhere in the range of 30 to 60 reps per 5 to 7 days and that the training volume rarely exceeds 100 reps per session

For example, in one of my training programs for men, my clients perform 9 to 12 sets of 4 to 6 reps per major muscle group. Once they complete 6 reps, they increase the weight (which usually reduces the number of reps on the next set to 4) so that these workouts are in the range of 45 to 60 high-intensity sets. And people achieve fantastic strength and mass gains with this program.

One of my programs for women includes 9 to 12 sets of 8 to 10 reps and uses the same progression model. This means that most training sessions are in the range of 80 to 100 moderately intensive repetitions.

My program for experienced strength athletes includes 60 to 75 repetitions per training session, combining very high-intensity, high-intensity and moderate-intensity sets.

These approaches to volume and intensity of a training session are supported by both scientific research and anecdotal observations - in short, they work.

How long should you rest between sets?

Most people are in the gym to move and sweat, so sitting around between sets may seem counterproductive. For this reason, they keep their rest intervals as short as possible or even eliminate them more or less completely with supersets, descending sets, metabolic conditioning training and other methods that allow them to keep moving.

However, if their goal is to build muscle and strength, then they are going about things the wrong way. As you know, building muscle and strength requires heavy training - and when you move heavy weights, you're pushing your muscles to the limits of their capacity. Adequate recovery time between sets is what allows you to repeat this process in a way that allows you to achieve an optimal amount of muscle overload to stimulate and force new growth.

If you are training with weights to build muscle and strength, then adequate rest between sets is crucial!

Basically, the whole point of resting between sets is to prepare your muscles to be able to move maximum weights again during the next set. And this isn't just gray theory - clinical research has found a correlation between rest times between sets and gains in strength and muscle mass.

For example, a study conducted by researchers at the Federal University of Parana in Brazil found that when subjects performed bench presses and squats with 2 minutes rest between sets, these subjects were able to perform significantly more repetitions per training session than subjects whose rest intervals were shortened in 15 second increments (1:45, 1:30, 1:15, etc.) (4).

This is significant because the total volume of the training session (the total number of repetitions performed during each training session) is a primary factor in achieving overload and stimulating muscle growth.

Thus, it is not surprising that a study conducted by researchers at Kennesaw State University found that subjects with 2.5 minute rest intervals gained more muscle mass than those with 1 minute rest intervals when training to muscle failure (5).

In addition, an extensive study review of strength training studies conducted by researchers at the State University of Rio de Janeiro came to the following conclusions (6):

"Regarding the acute response, a key finding is the observation that when training with loads between 50 and 90% of 1RM weight, rest intervals in the range of 3 to 5 minutes between sets allowed more repetitions in the course of multiple sets."

"In terms of chronic adaptations, rests of 3 to 5 minutes between sets produced a greater increase in absolute strength due to higher intensities and a higher volume of training. Similarly, higher levels of speed strength were observed with multiple sets of 3 to 5 minute rest intervals compared to one minute rest intervals."

These results were confirmed by another study conducted by scientists at Eastern Illinois University with experienced strength athletes (7):

"The results of the present study suggest that the greatest strength gains in squats can be achieved with a minimum of 2 minutes rest between sets, and only small additional gains are achievable by increasing the rest between sets to 4 minutes."

In another paper, the same team of scientists studied bench press performance with the same subjects and came to the following conclusion (8):

"If the training goal is maximal strength development, rests of 3 minutes duration should be taken between sets to avoid a significant decrease in the number of repetitions. The ability to maintain the number of repetitions while keeping the intensity constant could result in a higher training volume and consequently greater gains in muscle strength."

So the research is pretty clear: if you're moving heavy weights and you want to maximize strength gains, then rest intervals of 2.5 to 4 minutes between sets are the way to go.

However, it's worth noting that rest intervals can be shortened without negatively impacting performance if lighter weights are used (9). If you are training in a repetition range of 8 to 10 or 10 to 12 repetitions, then you can reduce your rest intervals to 60 to 90 seconds.

The third and final part of this series of articles will focus on putting all the knowledge you have gained in parts one and two into practice. This will include specific examples of all the training splits described in part 1.

Source: https://www.muscleforlife.com/how-to-build-a-workout-routine/

By Michael Matthews

Apr 26, 2019

A question of strength Part 28

Are side raises an exercise for wimps?

Q: Are side raises for the shoulders an underrated exercise or an exercise for wimps?

A: If there is one area of the shoulder muscles that needs specialized training, it is the area trained by side raises. That's why you should include side raises in your program.

Side raises are also a good exercise for any athlete who plays a sport that involves a lot of pushing and shoving, such as defensive players in field hockey.

CrossFit analyzes

Q: In one of your last columns you talked about CrossFit and said that no athlete ever became a good athlete by doing anything like that. Have you had some time to get more involved with this type of training?

A: A lot of people love CrossFit. Many of them believe it's the perfect program to achieve their goals. They are also very happy with their progress. And I have no doubt that some individuals have never gotten injured doing CrossFit.

However, I have 6 primary issues with a CrossFit style workout:

1. a lack of proper testing protocols

When I looked at the detailed instructions of a CrossFit certification, I saw programs for beginner, somewhat intermediate, and advanced workouts that utilized multi-joint exercises. However, I have not seen any protocols for testing exercisers for structural balance issues.

I have worked with Olympic athletes from 23 different disciplines and countless professional athletes. And before I have one of these athletes perform their first set of power squats or deadlifts, I perform a series of tests to find muscular imbalances that could increase the risk of injury.

And if an athlete has a history of injury, then of course this is taken into account when putting together their training program.

I'll give you an example: Olympic hammer thrower Adam Nelson was unable to perform power snatches before he started working with me due to adhesions in the rotator cuff muscles. After we addressed these issues using Active Release Techniques (ART), Nelson was able to add this exercise back into his training program. Within a month, he was even able to set a personal best in this exercise again.

Jim McKenzie, a professional field hockey player, was able to go from 140 to 190 kilos in less than 4 months on a close bench press, focusing on corrective exercises - and not bench pressing at all for the first three months.

2. focus on a single training protocol

The training protocols used in CrossFit are not appropriate for developing the highest levels of strength or power or speed. I doubt you'll ever see an elite powerlifter, weightlifter or sprinter using CrossFit protocols as their primary training method.

For example, when I trained long jumper Dwight Phillips for the Athens Games, we worked on his structural balance first and then on increasing his eccentric strength.

Aside from winning gold medals at the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki and the 2004 Olympics, he beat some world-class sprinters over the 100 meter distance during training. I didn't accomplish this by having him do push-ups with high reps in supersets with runs over a mile.

Coaches often overtrain athletes' energy systems at the expense of other physical qualities. Pick up any exercise physiology textbook and look at the VO2max studies done on elite athletes. It's simply not necessary for a baseball player - or a basketball player - to reach a VO2max of 70 (a Vo2max in the high fifties is considered exceptional for a man in his late twenties).

The promotional material I've read about CrossFit implies that this type of training addresses all of an athlete's strength and conditioning needs, but the concept of specificity tells us that if you try to be good at everything, you probably won't perform at your best at anything.

This is also why we don't see athletes who can run a mile in less than 4 minutes and bench press 250 kilos.

3. insufficient instruction for teaching complex training methods

It takes more than a single weekend seminar to develop the competency to teach certain types of exercises or create programs for complex training methods. I would put Olympic weightlifting exercises, strongman exercises and plyometric exercises in this category.

These training methods are sometimes criticized by strength coaches as dangerous. However, if you look at why athletes get injured, it is often due to poor technique.

Interestingly, my first comment about CrossFit got my PICP coaches a lot of work. They were getting calls from CrossFit participants who wanted to learn how to train properly.

4. inappropriate repetition ranges for complex exercises

Although high repetition ranges and short rest intervals can be used to develop muscle endurance, these programs should not be used for certain exercises.

This is especially true for Olympic weightlifting exercises, where it is difficult to maintain proper form when performing high repetitions. And this is particularly difficult if you are performing Olympic weightlifting exercises in superset with deadlifts or any other multi-joint exercise. If you want confirmation of this, look no further than the videos of CrossFitters performing these exercises on their websites.

The Olympic weightlifting exercises should be used to develop speed strength and power. If you want to improve your muscular endurance, then you should use simpler exercises.

5 Inappropriate exercise sequence

In the CrossFit "Linda" workout, what is the logic of pre-fatiguing the lower back with deadlifts before performing power deadlifts? Not only does this prevent you from performing Power Repositions with optimal technique, but it also makes it more difficult to activate the motor units with a high stimulus threshold. This is the reason why you should perform all your sets of power squats before you start deadlifting.

Another problem is that combining exercises with weights with sprints carries a high risk of injury, particularly to the hamstrings.

6. advocacy of controversial exercises

I saw a video on a CrossFit website where young athletes were jumping on cars and standing on Swiss Balls. I appreciate the need to use a wide range of exercises with clients, but this does not include high-risk exercises.

Because of these six concerns, I cannot recommend CrossFit, which is especially true for those striving for the highest level of athletic performance.

But in the interest of open-mindedness, I will say this: despite its drawbacks, the CrossFit system continues to evolve. It will be interesting to see how it changes as more athletes participate in this program along with non-athletes.

The truth about balance training

Q: Balance training is one of the big fitness trends. This includes stability training on a stability ball, as this is supposed to improve balance. Can you really train balance in adults?

A: Adults can regain their sense of balance, but it is not possible to teach them anything new in this respect. If you haven't developed a good sense of balance by the age of 12, you won't be able to improve it dramatically as an adult - it's a waste of time.

However, if you have lost these skills over the years, then balance training can help you get back to where you were. This could help older people prevent injuries from falls.

Before the age of 12, balance training is a very good thing. Children should play on unstable surfaces. Imagine a child jumping from stone to stone in the park. Each stone has a different shape, so the child has to balance on it. Walking on a narrow bar during gymnastics can also train balance.

One expert from Canada goes so far as to say that balance needs to be trained before the age of four. Some will even say that you should start with toddlers, pushing them slightly off the side as they walk so that they have to compensate.

This is of course extreme, but when it comes to developing balance, younger is better. Skiers often have the best sense of balance and many of the elite skiers were on skis for the first time at the age of 2.

By the way, swimmers are the exact opposite of this. They can barely walk and chew gum at the same time. They spend so much time in the water that their depth perception becomes poor. Have you ever seen swimmers playing soccer to warm up? They look like penguins having epileptic seizures.

Balance training may be trendy, but it's pretty worthless for adults.

Neck pulls: Don't do it!

Q: I used to see neck pulldowns and chest lat pulldowns in bodybuilding magazines. Now people are saying that neck pulls lead to injury and that we shouldn't use this exercise. What do you say to that?

A: I agree. Don't use this exercise.

A simple approach to gaining weight

Q: I'm skinny and can't manage to gain weight. How many calories per day should I aim for assuming my workout is optimal?

A: If you are really skinny and your body fat percentage is below 10%, then I would use the following technique that I learned from Mauro Di Pasquale. Eat 52 kcal per kilogram of body weight on 4 out of 5 days and eat 77 kcal per kilogram on the fifth day.

So if you weigh 70 kilos, you would eat 3,640 kcal on four out of five days. On day five you would then increase your calorie intake to 5,400 kcal. In my experience, this works wonders if you need to build muscle.

Of course, I am talking about high quality food and not sweets and pizza.

In my opinion, many skinny guys also suffer from fat phobia. I'm not saying you have to get fat to get muscular, but these guys have such a fast metabolism that there's really nothing to worry about.

Some skinny exercisers simply lack appetite and I am often asked if there is a way to increase appetite. A lack of appetite can be caused by a lack of B vitamins, among other things. A good multivitamin can often 'cure' a poor appetite. A vitamin B9 and B12 injection from your GP can also help.

Limited time for training

Q: If I only had 30 minutes three times a week for hypertrophy training, how should I train?

A: Well, training for hypertrophy three times a week is like farting against a hurricane. It's not going to make you muscular - it's more like training to maintain the status quo.

I just got back from the International Strength Symposium and the scientific facts are pretty clear: the hypertrophy response is a function of volume assuming the weights are at least 70% of your maximum weight for one repetition. Mike Mentzer is probably spinning in his grave right now.

But let's say you're studying medicine, have very little time and don't want to be called a weakling all the time. In that case, here's what I would do:

First, I would stick to four main exercises: Squats, pull-ups, dips and deadlifts. Your nervous system would get bored of the exercises over time, which is why you need to use variations of these exercises:

For deadlifts: Deadlifts with a wide grip, deadlifts with a trap bar, etc. I would vary deadlifts every six workouts.
For squats: front squats, classic squats, etc.
For pull-ups: Variations in grip width and the angle of the hands to each other and the angle of the body - you can do pull-ups to the sternum, for example.
An alternative for dips could be dumbbell presses.

Use an A-B-A, B-A-B split. Monday and Friday were pull-ups and dips in one week. That's your training session A. Wednesday would be deadlifts, a variation of presses and maybe dumbbell rowing. This is your training session B.

During the next week you do your B training session on Monday and Friday - and your A training session on Wednesday. In the third week you go back to the original plan.

This type of training plan with these exercises will at least allow you to make better progress than most exercisers with their programs from Muscle & Fitness with exercises like kickbacks.

Abdominal training with additional weight

Q: I know you like to use extra resistance when training your abs, but what's the best way to do this?

Try accentuated crunches on a bench. I was first shown this exercise by John Sullivan. This exercise will expose the rectus abdominis to a different stimulus with the right amount of eccentric load.

This exercise is performed as follows:

Place a bench in front of a cable pulley. Adjust the back of the bench to a 35 degree incline with the highest part of the bench facing the cable pulley. Adjust the height of the pulley to approximately medium height and attach a long rope handle to the cable pulley.
Grasp the ends of the rope handle, lie on the bench with your back to the cable pulley and start with your hands on your shoulders. Roll your shoulders forward just far enough to feel the resistance.
Then straighten your torso until it forms a 90 degree angle with your legs. Make sure you maintain a natural arch in your lower back - you should not round your back.
In the highest position, stretch your arms above your head and slightly forward.
Then lower your upper body back to the starting position in a controlled manner, keeping your arms straight and your elbows slightly bent. In the lower position, move your hands back towards the front of your shoulders.

You will feel this exercise the next day!

Curls for athletes

Q: Do competitive athletes have to do bicep curls?

A: If you are a badminton player, then no. However, if you are a rugby player who needs strong elbow flexors to hold the ball, curls are beneficial.

It's a function of how much strength you need for your sport, how involved your biceps are in that sport and how much time you have to train during the off-season.

"Athletes don't need curls" is one of those blanket statements that simply isn't true. And most coaches who say this have never made an athlete strong anyway.

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/question-of-strength-46, https://www.t-nation.com/training/question-of-strength-47