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How Isho Lost 15 Pounds & Dropped 10% Body Fat in 3 Months

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In 3 months of Legion’s body transformation coaching , Isho lost 15 pounds and 10% body fat, and built more strength than he had in years. At 44, Isho was a busy finance executive and a dad who traveled for work once or twice a month. He wanted his old energy and fitness back. He had tried paleo and intermittent fasting on and off, but sugar cravings kept pulling him off track, and he often lost motivation in the gym. He had read Bigger Leaner Stronger and started the program on his own, but he had a long list of questions about how to make it fit his real life. Here are his results: Isho’s Journey When Isho signed up, his coach turned the program into a plan built around his schedule and his travel. They set clear calorie and protein targets, and Isho tracked his food every day. Before each work trip, his coach gave him a few simple rules: walk a lot, keep meals simple with plenty of protein and vegetables , and choose lighter drinks. He came home from on...
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The Best Way to Do the Yates Row (Underhand Barbell Row)

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Table of Contents + Instructions Expert Tips Workout Programming Mike's Take Yates Row Alternatives 3 Yates Row Workouts Muscles Worked by the Yates Row More Back Exercises Instructions Hold a barbell in front of your thighs with your palms facing forward and your hands a little wider than shoulder-width apart. Bend your knees slightly and lean forward at the hips, keeping your back straight and your chest higher than your hips. Let your arms hang straight down so the bar is directly beneath your shoulders, and allow your shoulder blades to move forward around your rib cage. Pull the bar toward your abdomen by bending your elbows and retracting your shoulder blades simultaneously. Keep your elbows close to your sides and pull until the bar touches your abdomen and your shoulder blades are pinched together and down. Pause for a brief moment, and then reverse the movement to return to the starting position. Expert Tips Avoid "whipping" the weight upwar...
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The Best Way to Do Back Extensions

Table of Contents + Instructions Expert Tips Workout Programming Mike's Take Back Extension Alternatives 3 Back Extension Workouts More Lower-Back Exercises Instructions Adjust the pad on a 45-degree back-extension bench, also called a Roman chair, so the top of the pad is level with the tops of your hip bones with your feet on the footrests. Push your heels into the heel pads, cross your arms over your chest, and bend forward at the waist. If you’re adding weight, hold a weight plate or dumbbell in front of your chest as shown in the videos. Raise your torso until it’s in line with your legs. Slowly lower your torso toward the floor by rounding your back, and keep lowering yourself until you’ve rounded your back as far as you comfortably can while keeping your hips against the pad. Straighten your back until your torso is in line with your legs, without leaning backward. Hold this position for a brief moment, and then begin your next rep. Expert Ti...
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The Best Way to Do the Underhand Machine Lat Pulldown

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Table of Contents + Instructions Expert Tips Workout Programming Mike's Take Underhand Machine Lat Pulldown Alternatives 3 Underhand Machine Lat Pulldown Workouts Muscles Worked by the Underhand Machine Lat Pulldown More Back Exercises Instructions Adjust the seat and thigh pad so that your legs are locked in place and your butt doesn’t rise off the seat when pulling the handles down. Grab the handles with your palms facing toward you (supinated), sit down, and wedge your legs underneath the thigh pad. Sit with your chest proud and a slight arch in your lower back. If the machine has a chest pad, keep your chest against it. Relax your arms and shoulders, letting the weight pull your arms straight and your shoulders as high as possible. Staring straight ahead, pull the handles down by bending your elbows and pulling your shoulder blades down and back simultaneously, ending when your hands are about level with your midchest. Pause briefly, then reverse the mo...
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The Best Way to Do the Barbell Deadlift with Proper Form

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Table of Contents + Instructions Expert Tips Workout Programming Mike's Take Barbell Deadlift Alternatives 3 Barbell Deadlift Workouts Muscles Worked by the Barbell Deadlift More Back and Leg Exercises Instructions Load the bar with plates and position your feet slightly narrower than shoulder-width apart with your toes pointed slightly out, and move the bar over the middle of your feet so that it’s under or slightly behind your shoulders when you bend over and grab it. Push your hips backward and bend at the waist and knees until you can touch the bar. Grip it just outside your shins with both palms facing down, and press your upper arms into your sides as if you were trying to crush oranges in your armpits. Take a deep breath into your stomach, squeeze the bar as hard as you can, and straighten your back by pushing your hips slightly upward. The bar shouldn’t rise off the floor yet, but you should feel tension in your lower back, hips, and hamstrings. ...
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Should You Take Creatine If You Don’t Lift Weights?

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You probably know that creatine is the single best supplement you can take for improving your performance in the gym. It helps you lift more weight, do more reps, gain more muscle, and push harder during cardio (especially high-intensity intervals ). But does creatine offer any benefits if you don’t lift weights? What if building muscle, getting stronger, and performing better aren’t your main priorities? Or, if you do lift weights or train regularly, can you expect any additional benefits beyond better performance? Yes, according to emerging research on a number of health metrics. Aside from performance, the most well-supported benefits of creatine have to do with cognition, mood, and brain health, and scientists believe it may also improve blood sugar control, immune function, gut health, blood flow, and even sperm count. For example, scientists at Research Centre Jülich in Germany gave 15 healthy adults either 0.35 grams of creatine per kilogram of body weight or a...
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The Best Way to Use the Ab Crunch Machine: Form and Setup

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Table of Contents + Instructions Expert Tips Workout Programming Mike's Take Ab Crunch Machine Alternatives 3 Ab Crunch Machine Workouts Muscles Worked by the Ab Crunch Machine More Ab Exercises Instructions Adjust the seat so the pivot point of the machine is at about the same height as the middle of your torso. Sit on the seat and place the back of your upper arms on the pads. Contract your abs to curl your ribs toward your pelvis. Pause for a brief moment, and reverse the movement and return to the starting position. Expert Tips Focus on crunching your chest toward your waist, rather than bending forward at the hips. Your lower back should barely move, if at all. More range of motion isn’t always better with this exercise. Your abs can only contract a relatively short distance, so the range of motion on this exercise is much shorter than most others. That’s fine—it’s just how the abs are built. Try to adjust the seat so that you feel a sl...
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