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The Best Way to Do the One-Arm Dumbbell Row

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Table of Contents + Instructions Expert Tips Mike's Take One-Arm Dumbbell Row Alternatives 3 One-Arm Dumbbell Row Workouts Muscles Worked by the One-Arm Dumbbell Row More Back Exercises Instructions Hold a dumbbell in your right hand. Plant your left knee and arm firmly on a bench, your right foot on the floor a foot or two from the bench, and let your right arm (the one holding the dumbbell) hang straight down toward the floor. Let the weight pull your shoulder blade as far forward as it can go—it helps to rotate your torso slightly to get an even deeper stretch. Keeping your back straight and staring straight ahead, retract your right shoulder blade and pull it as far back as you can, without bending your elbow. Once your shoulder blade is as far back as possible, pull the dumbbell to your torso, keeping your elbow close to your sides. Once the dumbbell touches your torso, straighten your arm and let the weight pull your shoulder blade forward as far as it...

Anyone Can Say “Grass-Fed.” We Can Prove It.

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Our grass-fed protein isolate is made with Truly Grass Fed certified milk, meaning the cows: Spend 250+ days per year on pasture Get 95%+ of their diet from grass and forage Are never given rBST or other growth hormones Produce antibiotic-free milk, double-tested before use And all of this is verified by independent audits, not self-reported. View Truly Grass Fed Certification Verifies the grass-fed standard (diet + pasture). Verifies higher animal-welfare practices. Confirms non-GMO feed and inputs. ...

The Best Way to Do the Dumbbell Bench Press

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Table of Contents + Instructions Expert Tips Mike's Take Dumbbell Bench Press Alternatives 3 Dumbbell Bench Press Workouts Dumbbell vs. Barbell Bench Press How Much Should You Be Able to Dumbbell Bench Press? Muscles Worked by the Dumbbell Bench Press More Chest Exercises and Workouts Instructions Sit on the edge of the bench, holding a dumbbell in each hand, with the dumbbells resting vertically on your thighs. Lean back slowly and gently kick your thighs (and the dumbbells) toward your chest, rolling back onto the bench until you’re lying flat with the dumbbells at either side of your chest. Pull your shoulder blades together and toward your butt and push the dumbbells straight up until your arms are locked. Lower the dumbbells by reversing the motion and return to the starting position. When you’re finished with a set, either lower the dumbbells to your chest and drop them to the floor, or bring your legs up toward you, shift the dumbbells onto your...

You Don’t Need to Squat, Bench, or Deadlift to Build Muscle

No specific exercises are mandatory for gaining muscle and strength. All exercises have pros and cons, indications and contraindications, so if you can’t or don’t want to do one, there’s always another that’ll do the trick. For example, the barbell deadlift is a first-rate exercise for training just about everything on the backside of your body, but if you can’t or don’t want to do it for whatever reason, you can do a deadlift variation like the trap-bar deadlift or Romanian deadlift or other exercises that train the same major muscle groups like the hamstring curl , hip thrust , Bulgarian split squat , hyperextension, and dumbbell row . The same applies to the barbell back squat and bench press . Cracking exercises . . . if you can do them properly without pain or other problems. If you can’t, however, many others will more than suffice, including the barbell or dumbbell front squat , safety bar squat , goblet squat , leg press , dumbbell lunge , dumbbell bench press , dumbbe...

In Filth It Will Be Found

There was a saying in medieval alchemy, in sterquiliniis invenitur , that roughly translates to “in filth it will be found.” Carl Jung later expounded on this, explaining that what we most want to find in our lives will be found in the places where we least want to look. How true this is in fitness. Only in the “filth” of energy balance , macronutrient balance, progressive overload , patience, and consistency—unsexy, unpalatable subjects that many want to avoid—will you discover the “fitness secrets of the super-fit.” So it is with most everything in life. Only in the filth of all the things that are difficult, complicated, uncomfortable, unexciting, and exhausting are the true gems found. Often, this is nothing grander than detail—the small, exacting, easily skipped work that others overlook or can’t be bothered to do. George Lucas understood this. In The Star Wars Archives , he described how an obsession with the smallest details let him create not j...

The Best Way to Do the Nordic Hamstring Curl

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Table of Contents + Instructions Expert Tips Mike's Take Nordic Hamstring Curl Alternatives Nordic Hamstring Curl Workout Muscles Worked by the Nordic Hamstring Curl More Hamstring Exercises Instructions Kneel on a pad with your feet anchored under a secure object (the bottom of a squat rack, a partner’s hands, the edge of a treadmill, or a dedicated Nordic curl bench). Keep your body in a straight line from your knees to your shoulders, brace your core, and squeeze your glutes. Lower your torso toward the floor in a controlled manner, resisting the whole way down with your hamstrings. When you can no longer control the movement, place your hands on the floor to take just enough weight off your hamstrings to allow you to lower your chest to the floor (like a push-up). Push off the floor to raise your torso, then use your hamstrings and glutes to continue raising your torso and return to the starting position. Expert Tips Kneel on something soft. A yoga m...

How Peter Lost 23 Pounds & Dropped 15% Body Fat in 6 Moths

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In 6 months of Legion’s body transformation coaching , Peter lost 23 pounds, 15% body fat, and gained significant muscle and strength. At 67 years old, Peter was retired and had been exercising regularly for six years. But he felt stuck at a plateau. He did not know if it was even possible to build muscle and lose fat at his age. Nighttime eating and weekend junk food kept undoing his hard work. On top of that, he did not know which exercises to do or when to change his workout routine. With the help of his Legion coach, Adam, Peter learned how to fix his diet, lift weights safely at home, and build a healthy lifestyle that will last for the rest of his life. Here are his results:   Peter’s Journey Peter wanted to lose fat and build muscle, but he doubted whether he could make real progress in his late 60s. It wasn’t just about losing weight. He wanted to build a healthy lifestyle where he never had to diet again. He also wanted to get stronger...