Fitness Friday - Fitness News You Can Use

A little late today, but better late than never. Here is this week's installment of Fitness Friday. We have upper body exercise combos for mass, a 5-move kettlebell sequence, a highlight video from the Crossfit Games, a study on pushups being as effective as bench, and a 2-part interview with Mark Rippetoe from The Art of Manliness Podcast.

6 Combo Exercises for Upper Body Mass

by Ben Bruno | 08/01/14

Here's what you need to know...

• The problem with most combination exercises is that one of the exercises is significantly stronger than the other and you end up using less weight for it. These six combos solve that problem.
• Combination exercises can work well for packing on mass if both exercises are equally demanding so you don't have to shortchange one for the sake of the other.
• Combos done in alternating fashion allow you to get more reps of each than if you were to use straight sets. Why? Because each muscle group gets a brief rest while you work the other.

The problem with most combination exercises is that one of the exercises is usually significantly stronger than the other. This means when it comes to selecting a weight, you must choose according to the weaker exercise, which in turn means that you're shortchanging the stronger exercise and not getting as much out of it as you could had you done it on its own. This isn't as big of a deal if you're just looking to do some lighter metabolic work, but if your goal is to build muscle, it's not ideal.

So while I typically don't like combination exercises for muscle building, they can work well if both exercises are equally demanding so you don't have to shortchange one for the sake of the other. With that in mind, here are six great combination exercises to add muscle to your upper body.

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The 5-Move Core Shredder

Blast your abs, balance your strength, and boost total-body power and stability by training one limb at a time

By the editors of Men's Health, August 04, 2014

Trainer: Tony Gentilcore, C.S.C.S., cofounder of Cressey Performance, Hudson, Massachusetts

Best For: Shredding your core, eliminating muscle imbalances, boosting athletic performance, and packing on lean mass all over.

Equipment Needed: Two kettlebells
Focus: Strength, power, stability, coordination
Calories Burned: 397*
*As measured by a fit 6'2", 180-pound man using a Polar H7 heart rate sensor
How To Do It: Grab two kettlebells and do these exercises in the order shown. Rest 60 seconds between each set and 2 minutes between exercises.

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Highlights from the 2014 Reebok CrossFit Games

Published on Aug 6, 2014


The CrossFit Games -- (http://games.crossfit.com)

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Push-ups just as good as bench presses for strength building

 8.11.2014

You're off on holiday: the neighbors are watering the plants; the in-laws are looking after the dog. But who will look after your pecs? How will they survive all those weeks without bench presses? You can't take benches, barbells or weights with you. But according to sports scientists at the University of Valencia in Spain you can work on your chest muscles without doing bench presses. If you use an elastic band, push-ups are just as effective as bench presses. 

Source: J Strength Cond Res. 2014 Jun 30. [Epub ahead of print].

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Art of Manliness Podcast #75: Barbell Training With Mark Rippetoe Part I

Brett McKay | August 2, 2014

After taking a summer break from podcasting, I’m back in the saddle. And this week’s episode is a great one to come back on. I have a very enjoyable discussion with strength training expert and author Mark Rippetoe about barbell training. Mark is the author of the popular book, Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training. Since 2005, Starting Strength has sold over 250,000 copies without any marketing; its solid advice has simply spread by word of mouth.

Show highlights:

• Why a man should be strong
• The benefits of barbell training over machines
• The manly strength of old-time strongmen
• The importance of form in barbell training
• The main lifts every man should be doing
• Mark’s opinion of Crossfit
• And more!

In next week’s episode, Mark answers questions that were submitted by AoM readers. 

If you want to get strong, then I highly recommend picking up a copy of Starting Strength. It’s the most comprehensive book on barbell training out there that’s geared for the complete beginner. Even if you’ve been lifting for awhile, you’re bound to learn a thing or two from Starting Strength. And stay tuned for a great article by Mark next month on why barbells beat machines for building strength, hands down.

Art of Manliness Podcast #76: Barbell Training With Mark Rippetoe Part II

Brett McKay | August 8, 2014

In this week’s episode I continue my conversation (listen to Part I) with strength training expert Mark Rippetoe, author of Starting Strength. In this part of our discussion, I ask Mark questions submitted by podcast listeners via Twitter. Here’s a sampling:

• Should you stretch before a workout?
• Can you still squat even if you have bad knees?
• Can squatting make your sprint faster?
• Does the one rep max even mean anything?