The two largest muscles that make up the pectorals, also know as the chest muscles, are the pectoralis major and pectoralis minor.  The pectoralis major is responsible for the adduction and anteversion of the shoulder joint whilst the pectoralis minor is responsible for the abduction of the scapula.  These large muscles are typically some of the most difficult when it comes to muscle building.  Even though the bench press is key for growing chest muscles, supplementing your chest workout with other chest machines will soon see you on the way to seeing the muscle gains you desire ..read more

WHAT IS A HEX TRAP BAR A trap bar, sometimes referred to as a hex bar, is a speciality barbell designed for executing a deadlift movement.   It’s recognised due to its hexagonal design and, when compared to a conventional barbell, will recruit both anterior and posterior muscles with less stress on spinal extensors.     During the execution of a deadlift movement, you should feel your glutes and hamstring muscles activate.  If not, your technique is likely to be off.  A poorly executed deadlift can result in lower back injury.  However, by swapping out y ..read more

A popular and effective exercise, the bench press is a compound movement that can work a number of upper body muscles including the pecs, shoulders and triceps.  Whilst it’s a classic powerlifting movement, there are several ways of executing the lift such as the incline bench press and decline bench press as well as the regular flat bench press.  Aside from the exercise itself, have you ever noticed features on your bench press bench that you’re not too familiar with, or indeed how to use them?  Well, you wouldn’t be alone.   In this article we cover a number of regul ..read more

To get the very best out of your workouts, implementing a variety of training methods will see you continually testing your body so that you don’t plateau, and achieve consistent muscle and strength gains.  In this article we will cover the eccentric part of exercises and the impacts it can have on your training.  The eccentric phase of an exercise contributes more to muscle growth when compared to the concentric phase.  This is due to more resistance against gravitational forces during the eccentric part of the movement.  The concentric contraction is most responsible for ..read more

Squatting is a natural human movement and yet, as we age, it seems to become more and more difficult.  This is largely down to the sedentary lifestyles most of us now lead, where we spend much of the day sitting.  The benefits of squatting are widely known and it’s now viewed as an important exercise for a healthy body.  However, a common complaint with squatting is that of knee pain. The most common cause of sharp knee pain when squatting is patellar tendinopathy.  The patellar is a ligament that connects the patella to the tibia, and overuse can cause the tendon to wear a ..read more

The great thing about strength training is that it can be done pretty much anywhere and by anyone.  The benefits to be had are significant enough that, if you don’t already, implementing strength based exercises into your week would be highly advantageous.  Strength training is a form of exercise whereby a person would produce force, by lifting a weight, to overcome resistance.  Sometimes referred to as resistance training, it helps to build strength, muscle mass and endurance whilst burning calories and reducing bodyfat.  Regular strength training increases muscle which is ..read more

As the number of gyms opening up continues to rise, more and more people are joining up to improve their health and fitness.  Working out in your local gym is commonly becoming part of everyday life and why not? Exercise is proven to decrease stress, improve energy levels and healthy people typically have a lower risk of developing certain diseases.  However, whilst regular gym attendance has health benefits, is the gym itself maintaining high standards for cleanliness in order to sustain a hygienic environment for working out? Gym equipment can become contaminated with bacteria thro ..read more

As strength training continues to rise in popularity, so too does powerlifting.  It’s no longer seen as a sport which is dominated by men and over the past few years more of the younger generation and females are entering the sport whether competitively or just to reap the benefits to the body from bench pressing, squatting and deadlifting.  If you plan on competing in powerlifting there are many items you can use to help advance you in the sport and help to prevent injuries.  It’s important to remember that powerlifting federations will have their own rules in relation to what ..read more

When attending the local gym you’ll be met with an array of machines that target different muscle groups.  One of the limiting factors with these machines is that typically there will be less joint activation during use, which means less muscles are being used.  By comparison, there are compound exercises.  These are movements which activate multiple joints and therefore work more muscles.  Examples of compound exercises include the squat, bench press and deadlift.  In this article we will discuss the squat and why you should be doing them. The squat is a functional co ..read more

The shoulder joint is made up of a ball and socket and this means it has a very wide range of motion allowing you to move the arms with a significant amount of freedom. The shoulders are made up of three primary sets of fibers, the anterior, posterior and lateral deltoids, and each serves a different function. The anterior deltoid, located to the front of the shoulder, is connected from the clavicle to the humerus bones and its primary action is to raise the arm up in front of you, also referred to as shoulder flexion. The lateral deltoid is located to the centre of the shoulder and connects t ..read more