Add shoulder mass to your physique with the Kettle Bell Cuban Press. Guaranteed to fatigue all of the shoulder muscles at once, Cuban presses can get you dramatic results in a short space of time. I highly recommend adding these to your routine if you are looking to increase your personal best for the clean and press. The motion is very similar, so working from a seated position will improve the ability of your upper body to clean and press with good strength and technique. Keep your reps in the 5-10 range to increase mass and 10+ for toning.
Main Muscles: Trapezius (Upper), Deltoids, Rhomboids
Objectives:
Keep your back straight, chest high & core tight
Take a pronated grip (palms down) and drive your elbows up towards the ceiling in an explosive manner
Get your elbows up and under the kettle bells as quickly as possible so that you can catch them on the outside of your biceps
How to perform cleans… Pound for pound, cleans are one of the most effective exercises for building full body strength. If you are looking to maximise the amount of body fat burnt per repetition then this movement is also for you. You can also add the overhead press (using legs to assist) to up the ante, and you will burn even more fat and build more strength.
Executing cleans is 90% technique and 10% actual strength. The more sound your mastery of the intricate parts of this movement then more weight you will be able to lift.
Main Muscles: Full Body
Key Points:
– Grab the bar outside of shoulder width with your feet just inside and toes slightly turned outwards
– Keep your ass out, lower back concaved and core tight
– Drive your feet through the floor and thrust your hips forward in an explosive manner
– Get your elbows up and under the bar as quickly as possible while bending your knees to drop down yourself underneath the bar
– Avoid leaning backwards in order to protect your lower back (push your bum out and keep your heels flat so that your glutes take the load)
Core strength is best built whilst balancing a weight in an overhead position. In this case with a barbell. Exploding upwards from the floor as to defy gravity with this movement improves the transition of strength into power.
Muscles Focused: Abdominals
Key Points:
– Lay flat on the floor with your knees bent
– Take a wide grip on the barbell (outside of shoulders width) with your elbows locked out
– Drive your lower back into the floor using your core strength to explode upwards whilst keeping your arms locked with the bar above your head
– Keep your chest high
This is a cool lil’ exercise for core that is designed to hit all of the abdominal muscles at once. The resistance caused by the band will engage transverse abdominis (inner core), the sit-up rectus abdominis (six pack) and the twisting obliques.
Main Muscles: Abdominals, Obliques
Key Points:
– Keep your chest high and core tight
– Sit in a Z position with your knees bent and heels on the floor
– Extend your arms in front of your chest and lock your elbows while holding the handle with both hands
– Drive your lower back into the floor when exploding upwards
– Twist your torso so that your hands draw a quarter circle around you from 12 o’clock to 3 o’clock and then 12 o’clock to 9 o’clock when working the other side
– Train both sides evenly
There are a lot of different types of biceps curls out there, but the Zottman curl the best around, in my opinion. Named after the legendary power lifter, George Zottman, the Zottman curl will hit both heads of the biceps as well as the muscles in the forearms simultaneously.
Main Muscles: Biceps, Forearms
Key Points:
– Keep your chest high and back straight
– Begin with palms supinated (palms up) and rotate them into a pronated (palms down) position at the top of the curl
– Use full range of motion
You can take a look around your local gym to see that calves are some of the most neglected muscles. These single leg calf raises will help you sort out those chicken legs!
Targeted Muscles: Calves
Main Points:
– Maintain a perfect posture with chest high and shoulders back
– Hold the cable in the hand that is on the same side as the working leg and keep the elbow locked
– The edge of the box should be in the arch of your foot to prevent you from pushing through the toes
– Stretch the muscle as much as possible and then stand on your tippy toe using full range of motion
– Train both sides evenly
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