Exercise Guides: How To's and Comparisons

The farmer’s carry, also known as the farmer’s walk or suitcase carry, is a whole-body exercise that involves holding a weight in both hands while walking for a pre-determined distance or amount of time. Similar to carrying grocery bags from the car to the house in one trip, this exercise became well-known throughout the health and fitness industry thanks to Strongman and CrossFit. 

People commonly use dumbbells, kettlebells, and plates to perform this exercise. Some training facilities may even offer farmer’s carry handles, which are useful for going extremely heavy and practicing for competition. Even if you’re not looking to compete, this exercise offers several benefits and trains many muscle groups simultaneously!

In this article, we’ll cover the major muscle groups worked by the farmer’s carry and identify the top five benefits you can expect from adding this exercise to your routine.

[Read more…]

The Bulgarian split squat is a single-leg squat variation where the rear foot is elevated on a bench or box. This exercise effectively increases leg strength, muscle mass, and balance.

Since the Bulgarian split squat is a unilateral exercise, it’s great for correcting and preventing muscular imbalances. Most people have one leg that’s stronger than the other, so doing this exercise regularly helps balance both sides. The Bulgarian split squat has an excellent carry-over to other movements, such as the barbell squat and deadlift.

This exercise may be more challenging than others, but it offers several benefits and works multiple muscles simultaneously. This article covers Bulgarian split squat’s top five benefits, the targeted primary muscle groups, and more!

[Read more…]

The hack squat is a machine-based, compound exercise that adds strength and size to the lower body. While it’s often used as an accessory to the barbell back squat, the hack squat also serves as an alternative because it places greater demand on the quads, is safer to train to failure, and requires less mobility.

Although there are some hack squat variations, this article will cover the muscles the machine hack squat works and some of its primary benefits. 

[Read more…]

The hammer curl is a popular biceps exercise performed with the wrist in a neutral position. Unlike a standard bicep curl, this exercise targets more of the bicep peak and forearms. It requires minimal equipment to perform and is rather simple to learn.

The hammer curl is an effective exercise for increasing the size and strength of the upper arms. This article covers the top of hammer curl benefits and muscles worked. 

[Read more…]

The glutes are an important muscle group for almost every movement. Strengthening them through resistance training can improve your posture, performance, and aesthetics. Several exercises can be utilized to build your glutes, such as hip thrusts, glute kickbacks, and Romanian deadlifts.

If you’re new to glute training, getting proficient at the glute bridge is a great place to start. This exercise has  good carry-over to more advanced lower-body movements like the squat and deadlift.

Glute bridges are one of the few isolation exercises that can be heavily loaded, making them effective for building a bigger and stronger posterior chain. This exercise is easy to perform, simple to set up, and can be modified according to equipment availability.

The glute bridge primarily works the gluteus maximus in addition to various other leg muscles.

[Read more…]

The barbell bench press is a compound movement effective for gaining upper body strength and size. This exercise is extremely popular due to its minimalistic nature, prevalence in strength sports, and ability to train multiple muscle groups simultaneously.

This article will cover all of the muscles a traditional bench press works, and a few frequently asked questions about this exercise. While many multiple bench press variations exist, this article focuses on the flat barbell bench press.

[Read more…]

The leg extension machine is a staple in most commercial gyms. Leg extensions are an isolation exercise that targets the knee joint to activate the quadriceps. Here are some of the main benefits of the leg extension and an in-depth look at which muscles the leg extension targets.

[Read more…]

A defined midsection and strong core are common hallmarks of an effective fitness routine. The core is made up of several muscles, including the rectus abdominis, external obliques, internal obliques, and transverse abdominus. In addition to flexing the torso, the core stabilizes and protects the spine.

The plank is one of the best exercises for the oft-neglected transverse abdominis and requires little to no equipment, is simple to learn, and can be scaled according to someone’s fitness level.

[Read more…]