Month: June 2010

Ever wonder why there are all those mirrors in fitness centers? I’m asked that question often. Some might think it’s so you can check out the guns after your fifteenth set of bicep curls. They’re really there to check your form. Making sure you’re performing an exercise with correct form both helps stay safe and makes sure you get the greatest benefit from the exercise.

Back to the first one though. The guns. The pecs. They’re the first things people see when you’re coming at them. So, most people focus their attention on them at the expense of the other muscles that can really help these muscles grow.

It’s important to train the muscles in the front of the body that you can see in the mirror as well as the ones you can’t. The posterior chain, which includes the hamstrings, glutes, and back are critical. If your posterior chain is weak, you’ll never fully develop the “mirror muscles”.

Here is a five exercise complex that will help give you a powerful posterior. Perform this routine as a circult without rest between exercises, doing the prescribed repetitions and repeat the circuit five times

• One arm dumbbell snatch – 15 repetitions per side
• Stability ball hamstring curl – 15 repetitions
• Swimmer – 30 count
• Single arm cable row – 15 per side
• Cable pullthrough – 15 repetitions
• Reverse hyperextension – 15 repetitions

Have fun! Comment here on this blog and let me know how you like the complex.