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5 Favourite Strength/Power Exercises
- Thread starter The Hamburgler
- Start date
PRISON_MIKE
New member
Muscle up
Prowler push/heavy sled drag
Deadlift
Heavy KB swings
Standing rollouts
Prowler push/heavy sled drag
Deadlift
Heavy KB swings
Standing rollouts
RyanF
Member
Squat The heavy kind, ie with a barbell, preferably across the back of your shoulders, preferably in a low bar position. I appreciate all squats (I'll even respect someone at least a little for doing quarter squats, because at least they're doing something with their legs!), but I think low bar back squats are where its at for the best bang for your buck out of all squat variations (unless you're an Olympic lifter). Every squat works the quads. Good. But front squats and overhead squats are so technical that, while very impressive, the skill required can be a pretty big limiting factor. So it's gotta be back squats for me. And why low bar instead of high bar? As I said, all squats work the quads... but low bar back squats, because of the increased hip angle (relative to knee angle), do a good job of working the posterior chain, too - the glutes, hamstrings and erector spinae.
Press Standing with a barbell across the shoulders and lifting it overhead until lockout. The bench press is good, and will come in handy if you're ever caught between a rock and a hard place, but the standing overhead press has more direct carry-over to most situations in which you have to push something.
Power Snatch I had to pick an Olympic style lift. I could have picked any of them, but I think the power snatch wins out in my mind for its simplicity (not that any of the Olympic lifts are particularly simple). Front squats and overhead squats are very technical. Jumping down into a front squat or overhead squats from an explosive pull is all the more difficult. While you can learn to do these things, the learning curve is a long one. Also, racking the bar on your shoulders is a tricky move to get right. If the weight is too light, it requires a bit of inhibition to keep the bar from flying too high, which makes it hard to practice the exercise effectively at anything other than the working weight. It's frustrating, at the very least. The power snatch does not require you to drop down into a difficult position, and so long as you don't let go of the weight and throw it up out of reach, it takes out the complexity in the catch position. Outside of the sport of Olympic lifting, I don't think the goal is usually to make an exercise hard - it's to take an exercise that's good for the job at hand, learn it, and get good at it. I see the power snatch hitting the mark here.
Pull Ups/Chin Ups In theory, I think chin ups are the better of these two exercises, because of the additional use of the pecs in the movement. I know that people often round their trunk, either to increase pec involvement or to take the load off their back. I don't encourage this. But, the movement of the chin up, at the shoulder, is basically the same as the movement of the pullover, which we know works the sternal pec along with the lats. I suspect that this is more important in why chin ups are easier than pull ups for most people, rather than it hitting the biceps on a better angle. Add some weight to the chin ups, and they stop being the little sister of pull ups - they're just a great upper body exercise. But personally I hate chin ups - my left shoulder crunches on itself throughout the whole movement, and it just ain't pleasant. So, out of the two, I always do pull ups, even though they basically take the chest out of the exercise.
Dips Like chins and pull ups, these are a great test of relative strength. I don't have anything more to say about them, other than that if you think they're too easy, you're either not using the full ROM, or it's time to tie some weights onto a chain and add them to the lift.
Press Standing with a barbell across the shoulders and lifting it overhead until lockout. The bench press is good, and will come in handy if you're ever caught between a rock and a hard place, but the standing overhead press has more direct carry-over to most situations in which you have to push something.
Power Snatch I had to pick an Olympic style lift. I could have picked any of them, but I think the power snatch wins out in my mind for its simplicity (not that any of the Olympic lifts are particularly simple). Front squats and overhead squats are very technical. Jumping down into a front squat or overhead squats from an explosive pull is all the more difficult. While you can learn to do these things, the learning curve is a long one. Also, racking the bar on your shoulders is a tricky move to get right. If the weight is too light, it requires a bit of inhibition to keep the bar from flying too high, which makes it hard to practice the exercise effectively at anything other than the working weight. It's frustrating, at the very least. The power snatch does not require you to drop down into a difficult position, and so long as you don't let go of the weight and throw it up out of reach, it takes out the complexity in the catch position. Outside of the sport of Olympic lifting, I don't think the goal is usually to make an exercise hard - it's to take an exercise that's good for the job at hand, learn it, and get good at it. I see the power snatch hitting the mark here.
Pull Ups/Chin Ups In theory, I think chin ups are the better of these two exercises, because of the additional use of the pecs in the movement. I know that people often round their trunk, either to increase pec involvement or to take the load off their back. I don't encourage this. But, the movement of the chin up, at the shoulder, is basically the same as the movement of the pullover, which we know works the sternal pec along with the lats. I suspect that this is more important in why chin ups are easier than pull ups for most people, rather than it hitting the biceps on a better angle. Add some weight to the chin ups, and they stop being the little sister of pull ups - they're just a great upper body exercise. But personally I hate chin ups - my left shoulder crunches on itself throughout the whole movement, and it just ain't pleasant. So, out of the two, I always do pull ups, even though they basically take the chest out of the exercise.
Dips Like chins and pull ups, these are a great test of relative strength. I don't have anything more to say about them, other than that if you think they're too easy, you're either not using the full ROM, or it's time to tie some weights onto a chain and add them to the lift.
RyanF
Member
When you do deadlifts, all nearby females spontaneously fall pregnant.
The Hamburgler
Spotter Loader
I find a neutral grip seems easiest on my shoulders.
I like the double overhand grip though (medium - not super wide). Theoretically functional for scaling fences
PRISON_MIKE
New member
You've got it the wrong way round mate. There's no pec invovlement in the chin up. There is however in the pull up.
RyanF
Member
That's a chin up in the middle position. What's the humerus doing? Full blown shoulder extension. From the bottom position of the lift up until this point, the sternal head of pec major is very much involved in assisting the lift.
That's a pull up in the middle position. What's the humerus doing? Full blown shoulder adduction. There is little-to-no pec work in adduction. In fact the pecs are in a stretched position in all phases of the pull up. There's really not a lot for them to do. Not to say they have no activation during the movement, but it's definitely less than in a chin up, unless you're doing something other than going straight up and down.
PRISON_MIKE
New member
U realise the pec major (sternal) is as much of an adductor as it is an extensor of the shoulder?
That's a chin up in the middle position. What's the humerus doing? Full blown shoulder extension. From the bottom position of the lift up until this point, the sternal head of pec major is very much involved in assisting the lift.
That's a pull up in the middle position. What's the humerus doing? Full blown shoulder adduction. There is little-to-no pec work in adduction. In fact the pecs are in a stretched position in all phases of the pull up. There's really not a lot for them to do. Not to say they have no activation during the movement, but it's definitely less than in a chin up, unless you're doing something other than going straight up and down.
Goosey
.
If you think the pull-up is a major back builder you would be incorrect, although both are back exercises with minor pec involvement.
Chin-ups offer more stability to the shoulder capsule and involve more movement of the arm, done correctly there is 180 degrees of movement around the shoulder, roughly 600mm, the pull-up only being 120 degree roughly 300mm.
The lat inserts into the spine, wraps around the rib-cage and attaches under the arm, so it would make sense to place the arm in front of the body, roughly shoulder width apart and finishing just past the rib cage, where there is also some pec stuff happening there, if there was no pec activation, you'd literally fall to the floor.
Have said that, I believe the row, or the movement of the row is an overall back developer, optimal hand spacing would be about 700mm to allow the arm to move past the torso.
Chin-ups offer more stability to the shoulder capsule and involve more movement of the arm, done correctly there is 180 degrees of movement around the shoulder, roughly 600mm, the pull-up only being 120 degree roughly 300mm.
The lat inserts into the spine, wraps around the rib-cage and attaches under the arm, so it would make sense to place the arm in front of the body, roughly shoulder width apart and finishing just past the rib cage, where there is also some pec stuff happening there, if there was no pec activation, you'd literally fall to the floor.
Have said that, I believe the row, or the movement of the row is an overall back developer, optimal hand spacing would be about 700mm to allow the arm to move past the torso.
PRISON_MIKE
New member
If you're looking to do pull ups and preserve shoulder health, pull ups on rings get my vote.
