ATHLEAN-X™

Hardgainers become gainers here - http://athleanx.com/x/gain-muscle Subscribe to this channel here - http://bit.ly/2b0coMW A shoulder workout for hardgainers must do more than just advise you to train heavy. Heavy lifting is important for hardgainers to begin to build muscle mass and size, however it isn’t the only key element of shoulder training. In this video, I’m going to show you how important it is to learn how to lift lighter on certain exercises and how to lift heavier on the right exercises, if you want to start adding serious size fast to your shoulders. Before even getting started however, one of the most effective shoulder workout tips I could give anyone (not just a skinny guy looking to add muscle) is to train shirtless. Now of course, this advise is best followed if you are training in the comfort of your own home gym! That said, many hardgainers find themselves in this exact situation because they feel self conscious about going to the gym and training in front of the much larger and more muscular guys. When you train without a shirt, you not only face your insecurities but you allow yourself a chance to watch your muscles as they work and use the visual feedback to more accurately focus your effort on the muscles you are actually trying to build. Let’s face it, if you are a beginner lifter or are not carrying large amounts of muscle you are likely not mastering the mind muscle connection with the muscles you are trying to develop. You don’t have the “feel” of what the muscle is supposed to feel like that you are training. Training shirtless allows you to watch the muscle contract and therefore tweak your form to enable a stronger contraction in the target muscles. When you do this, you will be surprised just how much quicker you can get that muscle to respond. Next, you will want to change the smaller, more targeted exercises (like the shoulder dumbbell side lateral raise) to lighten the weights that you are using in an attempt to feel more tension on the shoulders when performing them. This may mean that you need to put the ego lifting aside and stop being tempted to lift more weight than your muscles can handle simply because the guys around you are lifting bigger. Drop down and make the shoulder muscles do all of the work (using the one and a half rep style shown here) and you will feel an immediate difference. That said, heavy weight lifting is important for overloading the muscles of a hardgainer to build more muscle size and strength. Just be smart about the exercises you choose when doing so. To me, the standing military press is not the smartest or easiest way to get a hardgainer lacking the appropriate strength to get stronger. Likely, they are going to alter their form too much to accommodate a bar that has a fixed path rather than using a push press with dumbbells that allows for more natural biomechanics and freedom. The tips shown here are just a few of the best ways to build big shoulders with your shoulder workouts. The complete ATHLEAN-X Training System available at http://athleanx.com is a step by step 90 day program that will transform your entire body by training you like an athlete. For more shoulder workout videos and tips on how to get bigger shoulders and size, be sure to subscribe to our channel here on youtube at http://youtube.com/user/jdcav24

Are you training hard enough to see muscle gains? Make sure here... http://athleanx.com/x/train-hard-here A good shoulder workout, or any workout for that matter, must have a high enough intensity in order for it to help you build muscle. In order to get big shoulders, you need to make sure your shoulder workout is pushing you to the limit...even if that limit is just one set! In this video I show you a one set shoulder workout that pushes the intensity envelope. Grab a pair of dumbbells and be prepared to work, regardless of how long it takes you to complete. I was able to get 137 reps using 35 pound dumbbells on the following seven muscle building shoulder exercises. DB Arnold Press DB Push Press DB High Pull DB 8's DB Shoulder Pressouts Mule Kicks Pike Pushups TOTAL SHOULDER WORKOUT REPS = 137 If you want to keep the pain coming, try and complete this workout for another round or two. Just be sure to not let your intensity fade. If you find that you can't lift the weights with the any worthwhile intensity, then it is best to stop the workout at that point...rest and let your shoulders grow bigger. Shoulder workouts like this are an extreme example of how you can either train hard or long, but you can't do both. By choosing the best shoulder exercises or even the exercises from the deltoid dozen video like I have, you can put together an incredible shoulder workout designed to help you get bigger delts fast. Top pro athletes from every sport are building bigger shoulders by trading in workout length for intensity with the ATHLEAN-X program. If you want to start getting bigger delts and a more ripped, athletic physique, then head to http://athleanx.com and check out more information about the workout program. For more shoulder workouts and exercises along with specific lifting techniques to get bigger side and rear delts, be sure to subscribe to our youtube channel at http://youtube.com/user/jdcav24

Get your one way ticket from Snap City to Muscleville http://athleanx.com/x/one-way-ticket Any exercise can become the worst exercise if you perform it incorrectly. That said, certain exercises deserve the title of the "worst exercise ever" simply because of the low reward, high risk nature of it. In this video, I show 5 of the worst exercises for building muscle and what you can do instead. Each of the exercises listed in this video is included because of the high risk low reward that it offers. As a physical therapist and strength coach for professional athletes, I have to know where to draw the line between the two. If a quarterback or pitcher of mine wants to do max overhead snatches, I'm going to tell them it's a bad idea. Why? Because there are other ways to train upper body explosiveness without jeopardizing their career on one fatigued or poorly performed rep. The 5 worst exercises in this video are as follows: 1. Chest flies - I've covered before why this is here. People will swear that they love the stretch they get on their pecs by doing this exercise. If you claim you never heard that argument, then you haven't spent enough time in the gym. They also claim that the adduction at the end of the movement gives them an incredible contraction on their chest. They're half right. There is no extra stretch on the pecs but they do increase the likelihood of injuring their pec with increasing loads held out at arms length. See the 3D crossover as a smarter (and better) option that you can overload even more and still get the benefits of the end contraction. 2. Behind the neck shoulder presses - The problem with this exercise is that it is bad for the shoulders. It places the glenohumeral joint in an awkward position for pressing, which can lead to impingement. Pressing from the natural scapular plane is much more natural and will allow you to press more weight overhead in the long run, leading to bigger shoulders. 3. Upright Rows - I've already discussed just how bad this exercise is for the integrity and health of the rotator cuff muscles of the shoulder. What makes this shoulder exercise one of the worst is the position of the elbows and hands at the end of the movement. The exercise puts your shoulders into a provocative position for testing impingement. Instead, you want your elbows below your hands (as in the high pull) to still get the benefits of the abduction of the shoulders without the internal rotation. 4. Good Mornings - This is actually not a terrible exercise for your back as it loads the entire kinetic chain in a functional way. The problem is that most people don't have the necessary thoracic extension to pull it off with proper form. One slip up from here with the load positioned out in front of the body as it is, and you're likely to slip something else...a disc in your lower back. 5. Leg Extensions - This is a no brainer for me. This open chain leg exercise lacks any true function when compared to the numerous closed chain options you can be doing instead. Throw in the shear stresses, ACL tension, lack of hamstring co-contraction, and the imbalance of rectus to VMO firing and you've got a recipe for disaster. For safer (and better) exercise options it's time you start training like an athlete. Follow the program used by today's top pro athletes to build ripped athletic muscle while protecting their joints and becoming more resilient to injury. Get the ATHLEAN-X program at http://athleanx.com For more videos and tips to help you avoid the worst exercises and to get the best advice on training, nutrition and supplementation, be sure to subscribe to our channel at http://youtube.com/user/jdcav24

Lose the love handles and build ripped athletic muscle with ATHLEAN-X http://athleanx.com/x/losethelovehandles Love handles is a strange term since it's tough to find a man (or woman for that matter) who loves having them! It's used to describe the body fat that accumulates on the hips just above the pelvis. In order to get rid of love handles however, we first have to break down all the myths and misinformation that surrounds this area. In this Truth about Love Handles (How to Get Rid of Them) video I show you not only what causes them but also what you need to do to lose them! Losing your love handles can only occur with a two pronged attack. One must focus on your nutrition and making sure you shed your excess body fat and the other focuses in on using the right exercises for love handles. Interestingly, the external obliques are at the heart of this stubborn area of fat. That said, the best love handle exercises are going to be those that involve and target this muscle the way it's meant to be trained. I show you not only what not to do, but also what I feel is the best way to get rid of love handles through both exercises and nutrition. This exercise not only can not only be used to workout love handles but fits in nicely with any oblique workout that you are currently doing. Doing 2-3 sets of 15-20 reps on both sides is a good start. Make sure that when you are doing this exercise that you don't push too much with the arms but focus on making the abs and core do most of the work. For more exercises to help carve up that waistline of yours and shred those obliques, be sure to head to http://athleanx.com and get our 90 day workout and nutrition program. In just 90 days you should see a noticeable shift to a more ripped, athletic body and core. For more workout videos for your abs, obliques and love handles be sure to check out our channel here on youtube at http://youtube.com/user/jdcav24 or this workout in particular - www.youtube.com/watch?v=7O_QjpC3opI‎

Put the truth back in training here... http://athleanx.com/x/sorry-no-more-shortcuts If you are the type that thinks that six pack abs are gotten with shortcuts, sleeping pills and ancient secrets then I’ve got some bad news for you. You will be left looking for your answer (along with unicorns and leprechauns) and without a 6 pack. If you click from video to video hoping to find someone that is going to give you the magic formula for abs, and feel disappointed when you get the truth instead, then this is the video you might need to watch a few times. Here, I discuss the hard truth about getting abs. It all starts with the right mentality. If you think that your dream six pack is waiting for you inside a bottle, then you need to get your head out of that bottle and back in reality. There is nothing you are going to do that doesn’t require a dedication to good, solid nutrition and hard training that is going to give you the results you want (not legally anyway). If you want to get abs you will first and foremost have to start with a sound nutrition plan. Notice, I didn’t say a restrictive eating plan. No, you don’t have to narrow down your food choices to peas and carrots in order to get ripped abs. You can choose from thousands of healthy meal options (many of which you wouldn’t even feel as if they were bland or typical healthy food) and still get abs. You can’t keep trying to find the elusive answer to why you fail though. People often like to make the things they follow feel difficult so when they fail, they have an easier time explaining whey they did. If the answer were simple, and you still failed, you would feel like more of a failure for not accomplishing your goals. Well, when it comes to getting abs, you have to set your priorities on that goal. You can’t mix your priorities and think that devoting as much time and attention to your love of alcohol and hostess cupcakes to that of your training and think that you’re going to look the way you want to. Nope. If you want to get 6 pack abs, you have to commit to a routine of healthy eating, dedication to training and a suffocation of your desire to keep looking for the easy way around it. This type of shortcut doesn’t exist. If you want to get ripped athletic abs, and do so by putting the truth back in training, then you will want to start training hard and eating right like an athlete. You can get a complete step by step plan for doing so by heading to http://athleanx.com and getting the ATHLEAN-X Training System. For more videos on how to get abs and the right ab exercises to do to get your 6 pack showing when eating right, be sure to subscribe to our youtube channel at http://youtube.com/user/jdcav24

Train like an athlete step by step - http://athleanx.com/x/athlete Subscribe to this channel here - http://bit.ly/2b0coMW The bench press is one of the most classic powerlifting lifts you can add to your chest workout. That said, it is one of the most complex simply because there are so many places in the lift that you can go wrong. In this video, I created a check list to give your helpful reference for each of the most important places in the lift that you will want to get right so you can increase your gains and keep your joints safe in the process. As a physical therapist, one of my biggest concerns will always be the long term safety of a movement as well as the risk to reward ratio of performing the lift. In the case of the bench press, this is one of the most fundamental power moves that all athletes and novice lifters should master. There are plenty of things that can go wrong however, and the joints like the shoulders, wrists, elbows and even your back can become vulnerable if you don’t get it right. The first thing you need to note is where you are going to be doing the bench press in the first place. Ideally, you’ll have access to a power rack that you can set up a bench in and have the appropriate pins in place to catch the bar should you fail. If doing it here, you will also want to put the clips on the ends of the bar for added safety. If you are training at home however, the clips might be best left off the bar just in case you get stuck under the bar and need a way to dump the weights to get out from under it. Next the alignment of the bar in the rack and the bench on the bar is crucial to setting up a good lift. Simple enough, but make sure that everything is centered before laying back on the bench. Next look up at the bar and ensure that your eyes are at the same height as the bar itself. This will set you up for a good liftoff from the rack. Along the same lines, you want to be sure that your bar holders are not too high or too low. If you arms are fully extended as you reach up for the bar then you are set too high and will have no leverage when it comes to lifting the bar out of its resting position. Next focus on the position of your feet and your chest before initiating the liftoff. Your feet need to be under your knees in order to be able to contract the glutes during the movement and add to your pushing power on the bench press. If they are too far out in front of you, much of your pushing power will be lost before you even begin. Likewise your chest must be arched. This establishes a stable base of your shoulder blades pushing down and into the bench, which will act as a counterforce for the bar as you press it in the opposite direction. Lift the bar and tighten the abs as you lower it down to the chest. The bar path is crtiical. Make sure it is traveling down and forward and not just straight down. This will be more easily accomplished by keeping your elbows tucked closer to your sides, about 75 degrees away. At the end of your set, fully straighten the elbows and then slowly allow the bar to travel backwards towards the catches. From here, lower the bar once it has engaged the rack and you’re done. A perfectly executed bench press set. Let the chest gains begin, and let the healthy shoulders and joints continue! If you are looking for a complete training system that puts the science back in strength to help you get the most out of every lift while keeping the latest in sports medicine at the forefront of your workouts to ensure your gym longevity, head to http://athleanx.com and get your ATHLEAN-X Training System. Start training like an athlete so you can look like an athlete in the next 90 days and beyond. For more chest workouts and videos on how to

Workout with challenges for the next 90 days here… http://athleanx.com/x/challenge-based-workouts The pullup is, without a doubt, the king of the upper body exercises. It can help you to build mass on the lats and is easy to perform anywhere, even if you don't have access to a pullup bar. Well, the pull up exercise just got harder! In this pullup challenge, I show you a pull up variation that will require you have equal parts strength and muscle endurance to complete. The 2 minute pullup is one intense variation that is going to have you laughing at all the so-called pullup records out there after attempting just one. To perform the 2 minute pullup challenge you simply perform just one rep of a classic pull up exercise. The catch is that it has to take you 1 minute to pull yourself up to the bar (finishing with your chin over the bar) and then 1 minute to slowly lower yourself down. If you can't complete the rep in one minute, see how long it does take you to do it. If, for instance, you can do it in 30 seconds...then see if you can lower in the same amount of time. After you get stronger, you'll be able to slowly increase the time you can hold on each portion of the lift over time. You can put this pullup variation into any pull up workout. Even if you're someone who has wondered how to do more pullups (we have a video dedicated to that already on our channel), you'll be amazed at how quickly you can improve on this hardest pullup challenge. For a complete workout program that is based on challenges to get you to push yourself to a whole new level, be sure to check out the ATHLEAN-X Training System at http://athleanx.com and see what pro athletes are using to break records in and out of the weight room. For more videos on how to do more pull ups, and the best ways to add mass to your upper body while still staying ripped...be sure to subscribe to our channel at http://youtube.com/user/jdcav24

Build a ripped athletic body with just a few dumbbells http://athleanx.com/x/perfect-home-workout-program Dumbbells are definitely one of the best form of workout equipment due to their ability to be used in small spaces and their high degree of athletic carryover. With their three dimensional freedom, dumbbells allow you to workout in all planes of motion and require a great deal of core strength and stability to use them properly. That said, choosing the best dumbbell exercises ever can be quite a challenge since there are so many to choose from. In this video, I picked the 8 best exercises with dumbbells and give you a reason why each has earned its spot. To begin, lets take a look at the best dumbbell exercises. They are: Dumbbell Curl and Press Crush Grip Goblet Squats Thrusters Farmers Carries One Arm DB Incline Bench Press DB Pullovers Swings Tripod Dumbbell Rows Each of these exercises require either just a single dumbbell or two dumbbells. They were chosen given their ability to work multiple muscle groups in one dumbbell only workout. The more muscles you can train in one workout the quicker your training session will be and the more impact you can have on your body in a shorter period of time. Dumbbell only workouts can be incredibly challenging. In fact, some people think that you can’t effectively train your legs with db’s since you aren’t able to load up the weight high enough. That’s not true at all. You can choose exercises that you load with even 100lb dumbbells and perform on a single leg and you are sure to be pushing yourself to your limits. The same can be said for dumbbell chest workouts and dumbbell back and arm workouts. The fact that you aren’t using a barbell does not sacrifice the quality or effectiveness of the training session. That said, you cannot continue to lift light dumbbells and think that you are going to get a great enough workout. Even if you are training at home, aim to lift the heaviest dumbbells that you can lift if you want to build muscle in your workouts. If you are looking for a complete workout program that uses just a few dumbbells, a bench, a pullup bar and a resistance band then head to http://athleanx.com and get the ATHLEAN-X Training System. By using equipment like dumbbells in your workouts, you’re training your body to move and look like an athlete. For more dumbbell workouts and exercises you can do with dumbbells for your chest, arms and shoulders be sure to subscribe to our channel here on youtube at http://youtube.com/user/jdcav24

Get a step by step diet plan that will get you ripped year round here… http://athleanx.com/x/diet-plan-for-ripped-muscle Everywhere you turn, people give out diet tips and advice for how to lose fat or build muscle fast. The problem is, most of that advice is terrible and will not help you to get to your goal any faster. As a matter of fact, many popular diet tips will do exactly the opposite of what they are supposed to be helping you to do. In this video, I cover four of the most popular diet and meal plan tips that need to be buried right here and now. Right off the bat, some will have you believe that eating fat makes you fat. That can’t be further from the truth. Eating fat, COULD make you fat if you eat in excess of your daily caloric maintenance levels just as eating too many carbs and protein can as well. The simple act of eating a fat molecule will not cause it to be stored as body fat in your body. In fact, nutritional fats are a necessary part of a healthy diet plan, with fat making up a portion of the surrounding layer of nearly every cell in your body. Next diet myth that needs to die is the concept that eating after 6PM at night is somehow going to make you fat. Again, it comes down to where you are at in your daily caloric intake in relation to your maintenance levels. If you are 800 calories below your daily caloric maintenance intake, eating these calories at 7 or 8 or even 10PM is not going to adversely affect you in your pursuit of getting a ripped six pack. The fact of the matter is, you are still at or below your level to maintain your current level of body fat and simply shifting the time at which you consume these calories does not change their thermal effect. That said, eating your meals too infrequently throughout the day can wreak havoc on your blood sugar levels. Having wildly unstable levels of blood sugar can lead to severe alterations in mood, focus and most importantly cravings. When you allow your cravings to build too significantly, you often find yourself in a position where you will grab foods that don’t align themselves with your healthy eating approach needed to get ripped and stay ripped as you build muscle. The next popular eating and diet tip that is dispensed all too often these days is the concept that you cannot build muscle if you are following a vegan or vegetarian meal plan. Why? There are plenty of protein options available to those following a meat and dairy free meal plan including quinoa, chick peas, and even pea protein powders that enable vegans to get adequate protein without having to follow a meat based eating plan. The total amount of protein needed to build new muscle is still a hotly debated topic however it has been shown to vary from individual to individual and could be far less than what you may have been told previously. Finally, there is a mistaken belief by some that taking supplements and fat burners will get you ripped. That is simply not the case if you refuse to also take your daily diet plan seriously. If you think that you can eat like garbage the whole day and simply pop a supplement and get lean, ripped abs you are wrong. That said, someone that is committed to eating healthy and then supplements their diet plan with workout and nutrition supplements is often able to get much faster results than those that don’t. A lot of the success of workout supplements has to do with their ability to help you remain consistent with your nutrition plan and stay accountable to it. Starting your day with a supplement that you are financially invested in will help you to be emotionally invested in the goals you set forth for getting ripped and muscular that you set when you initially purchased the supplement. The consistency that supplements provide

Burn fat and build muscle in 6 weeks with no equipment at all… http://athleanx.com/x/ripped-and-jacked-with-no-equipment So you don’t think it’s possible to get a killer fat burning workout done in 10 minutes? Prepare to change your mind. This high intensity home fat burning workout can be performed with absolutely no equipment and in very little space. In fact, with just one exercise serving as the base of each of the exercises in this fat burn workout, you’ll see that it is pretty straight forward as well. The goal of this fat burning home workout is to perform burpees of escalating difficulty every minute on the minute for up to 10 minutes. Each minute you need to complete 12 reps. Whatever time is remaining at the end of those 12 reps can be rest that is earned beyond the 1 minute that you receive as part of the workout. So, if you complete all twelve squat thrusts in 30 seconds, you get to rest one minute and thirty seconds before starting the squat thrust burpees. This home fat burning workout is perfect for those who have always wondered how to burn fat fast but were stuck in the mindset of thinking that traditional steady state cardio was the answer. In fact, because of the involvement of multiple muscle groups that this workout provides over plain treadmill walking or running, you can expect to burn more calories per minute than you would otherwise. Give it your best for these 10 minutes and you’ll see that your energy expenditure and caloric burn can be significant. Here is the complete breakdown of the home fat burning workout in this video: Can you last all 10 minutes? Minute 1: Squat Thrusts x 12 Minute 2: Squat Thrust Jax Burpees x 12 Minute 3: Squat Thrust Squat Burpees x 12 Minute 4: Classic Chest to Ground Burpees x 12 Minute 5: Single Leg Mountain Climber Burpee x 6 each leg Minute 6: Side Kickthrough Burpees x 12 Minute 7: Chop and Hop Single Leg Burpees x 6 each leg Minute 8: Angry Mule Burpees x 12 Minute 9: Triple Skyfall x 12 Minute 10: 1 Arm Get Up Burpees x 6 each arm Most home fat burning workouts fall short in their benefit to your ability to build muscle at the same time. They turn into glorified aerobic programs. Even some of the most popular workout programs on the market ignore the golden rule of muscle adaptive response. Do nothing but cardio workouts and think you are going to build muscle? That is the definition of insanity. Instead, if you integrate multiple muscle groups into the exercises that you’re doing…and you choose exercises that are a bit more anaerobic in nature, you will allow your body to burn fat and calories without training it to become detrained. The ATHLEAN XERO bodyweight program available at http://athleanx.com allows you to build muscle and burn fat at the same time using workouts that push you to your limits. For more home fat loss workouts and exercises to burn fat at home, be sure to subscribe to our channel here on youtube at http://youtube.com/user/jdcav24