Possibly the most popular exercise in any gym, the bench press is not just for ego and the t-shirt muscles. It is an event in powerlifting and a great way to build upper body strength. What is the bench press? The bench press is one of the three lifts in powerlifting (the other two are [...]

Unilateral exercises are, quite simply, exercises done on one side only, such as single leg squats or one arm dumbbell presses. Most exercises that you do in the gym have a single-side option. Why do unilateral exercises? Many of the best functional strength and conditioning coaches advocate unilateral work: “Most athletes and people in general [...]

The front squat is a very useful exercise that is not often seen in the average gym. But it is unjustly neglected and some coaches even prefer it to the back squat. What is a front squat? Holding the bar across the front of your shoulders, squat down until your hips are below parallel and [...]

I recently started holding my breath throughout my heaviest bench press lifts. I never used to do this in the bench press as I wasn’t taught that way, but in the squat and deadlift I consciously hold my breath throughout the rep and it seems to have naturally carried over into the bench press. This [...]

Overhead pressing is not often seen in gyms but it is a valuable and functional skill. The popularity of the bench press has made lifting a weight overhead while standing on your own two feet a rare event outside of olympic weightlifting. Let’s bring it back! What is the push press? A push press is [...]

The overhead squat is one of the most challenging lifts in weight training, short of the olympic lifts themselves. If you want to try something a bit different, give it a go. You’ll soon find out what real core stability is! What is the overhead squat? The overhead squat is a deep squat performed while [...]

I went for a max chin-up attempt the other day and got 11 good reps with the form I was aiming for. Going over 10 reps was a milestone for me as I was stuck on around 7 or 8 for ages! However, once I had broken through that particular plateau, progress was faster and [...]

The dip is a staple of many a strength or bodybuilding programme and there are many ways to perform it. A classic bodyweight exercise, it is a good place to start to develop functional strength with no equipment needed. What is the dip? The dip is an upper body strength exercise where you lower and [...]

Anyone who has been following my personal deadlift saga might remember that I was on a mission to fix some errors in my form by dropping the weight right down and concentrating on technique. Finally, I am back to the weight I was at before I began this journey: 90kg (which is 150% bodyweight). It [...]

You don’t have to be able to do muscle-ups and front levers to benefit from training with rings. They make even old favourites like push-ups and dips more challenging because you have to work to stabilise them. You’ll probably be surprised at how much more difficult an exercise can be on the rings – I [...]