The incline bench press is an exercise that increases athletes upper body strength. It is incredibly similar to the bench press except for one major difference: where the bench press is done on a flat surface, the incline bench press is done on an inclined surface.
The incline of the incline bench press varies. Some people may wonder, why does that matter?
You probably identify as an athlete of some sort. You are in the gym, on the track or field, on the trails or wherever else your sport takes you (that's why you are here, after all). You train hard, you recover hard, you care about being in shape, performing well, and maybe even maintaining a certain physique. So, you are an athlete and would consider yourself athletic.
In this overview, we dive into the mechanics, benefits, and applications of pogo hops, demonstrating how they can transform athletic capabilities by increasing speed and agility. We'll also explore how to incorporate pogo hops with various tools and variations to maximize their effectiveness.
You care about performance. You want to be strong. You want to look yoked. And because of that you are willing to go hard. You crush the gym. You are committed to your workouts. You bring 100% effort. But has it ever dawned on you that not all progress is found inside the gym? It's true. Your workouts are where you break down muscle. The physical demand of your workout is a lot. Not to mention the component of training that can often be taxing on your central nervous system leaving you fatigued in a way that impacts more than just your muscles. This might sound off, but it's true. Your workouts are what essentially breaks you down. Because of this you won't find all progress there. Rather the progress is found in how you come back from those tough training sessions. Your recovery is key. The better you recover, the more you are contributing to improvements.
Yes, top end speed matters. It matters a lot. Improving top end speed improves acceleration, which is an important part of changing direction. However, putting on the brakes to change direction is important. Having the requisite strength to handle the forces when overcoming inertia is important as well.
Because change of direction is so important, athletes need to train the ability to change direction. And one of the greatest methods to train change of direction is the 20-yard shuttle drill.
A common misconception among runners is that strength training will slow them down. “I don't want to be bulky” is the most often used reason behind not adding strength to your program. But what if you knew that adding strength actually gave you an edge that some other runners don't have. Maybe you need an added kick at the end of a long race. Or perhaps you want to power up a long incline or even more so, not feel totally destroyed after a long down. This is where strength work comes in. Let's take it a step further, what if you are running trails? Is trail strength work different from road running? Yes and no. There is some nuance to this topic, and we are going to dive into the detail
Athletes need to be fast, strong, and explosive. In all sports, the attributes of speed, strength, and explosiveness contribute to being a better athlete, an elite athlete.
One of the greatest implements for improving overall athleticism, particularly speed and explosiveness, is the hurdle. High hurdles and mini hurdles come in heights as low as 6” and typically up to heights of 42”, though some athletes, namely high jumpers and very capable leapers, use hurdles of even higher heights.
Day in and day out of the gym, you are working towards something. Striving for a sleek aesthetic, improving performance, chasing efficiency in functional movement and even working simply on preventing injury.
There is one thing all of these have in common: the importance of your glute muscles in each and every one of these endeavors. Your glutes play a massive role in every one of these goals and how you approach your training can help mold the outcome of your goals.
Glute centric fitness, booty gains, a juicy booty, butt stuff: call it what you want, we are going to unpack what this all means and how to capitalize on one of our favorite muscles to train.
In the world of upper body strength, the bench press can be seen as the front squat of the absolute strength developing exercises. The bench press is a pressing movement that is nearly unrivaled in regard to weight used and the strength developed with upper body pushing.
But if the bench press is the front squat of upper body strength, that makes the pull up the back squat of upper body strength. Where the bench press develops incredible pushing strength, the pull up, particularly if loaded up with weight hanging from a belt, develops monumental pulling strength.
Understanding the benefits of a garage gym workout, how to build out the space for efficiency and even understanding how to have a great workout without a ton of equipment might be just the thing you need to consider taking your workouts out into your own garage.
As a kid I used to love swinging on the school yard swings. I’d try to see how high I could get myself to swing. Being young and in elementary school, I felt like I was super high.
Being quite the risk taker and wanting to have the feeling of flying, I’d jump off the swing at its highest point when recess ended. The momentum of the swing would launch me higher into the air and I’d come crashing down to the ground with extreme forces, landing with both legs.
I didn’t know it at the time, but this was one of my initial experiences with plyometrics and depth jumps.
