Giannino Terilli Coaching

Why would anybody do the Jefferson squat?

To simply put it…it’s basically a wider stance squat variation.

That wider stance changes the bias of what gets challenged more at the bottom of the lift.

Combine that with pointing your toes out more, and the adductors will generally be biased more compared to the quads and glutes because they have to lengthen further to open the legs and help bring them back in.

Meanwhile, the quads are still primarily straightening the knee, and the glutes are extending the hips (just not as much as a traditional squat due to less bend in the knees and hips at the bottom of the movement).

But should you actually do Jefferson squats to bias the adductors more within your training?

Probably not.

This variation requires a lot to get right, is awkward for most people to load properly, and you can still bias the adductors pretty effectively with more conventional squat variations without sacrificing too much quad stimulus.

Even something as simple as slightly pointing your toes out more during a squat can increase adductor involvement while still hitting other muscles in the squat.

Using a slightly wider stance can also place the adductors under a bigger stretch at the bottom but may minimize how much other muscles contribute.

Or just use the adductor machine and train them directly.

You really can’t go wrong there.

Need help with your exercise selection and programming?

Comment or DM me “BUILD” to find out how Giannino Terilli Coaching can help you get better results through better programming and guidance.

hypertrophytraining

True story: the first video was taken at my father’s house while he was putting me through posing practice in the kitchen… with my grandmother and wife casually watching in the background 😅

This was around 2019-2020, before the world went into lockdown for the “spicy cough” 🤧

Back then I was smaller, carrying more body fat, and honestly didn’t take bodybuilding or body composition too seriously outside of powerlifting, powerbuilding, and getting lean for summer.

Since then I’ve spent years learning how to build muscle naturally through better training, better ex*****on, and improving my posing little by little along the way. Still plenty to improve, but it’s cool seeing the difference side by side.

Sometimes my body dysmorphia makes it hard to appreciate progress… but videos like this help put things into perspective.

Most people overcomplicate quad training.
It really only comes down to 2 things:

1) Training the quads through different knee positions:

If your goal is full development, you want to load the quads at both:
• Deep knee flexion (lengthened position)
• Knee extension (shortened position)
At the end of the day, the quads work by bending and straightening the knee. Everything else is just exercise variation and preference.

2) Biasing the re**us femoris:

The re**us femoris is the only quad muscle that crosses both the hip and the knee.

Because of that, its length and tension changes depending on hip position.

In most squat and leg press patterns, the hip and knee move together, so it doesnt recive stimulus in these movements.

But in movements where the hip is fixed and the knee extends, like leg extensions or sissy squats, you can place a stronger bias on the re**us femoris and that “quad separation” look.

So realistically, for full quad development you only need:

One deep knee flexion movement
(hack squat, pendulum squat, heel elevated squat, or 'knee over toe' style leg presses)

One knee extension movement
(leg extensions or sissy squats)

Simple. Effective. Hard to beat.

Need help structuring your training for maximum muscle growth?

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**usfemoris

Why did do his lateral raises prone on an incline bench? 👀

Probably for 2 big reasons:

1) The added stability makes it harder to cheat the movement with momentum, allowing the side delts to do more of the work.

2) Leaning forward changes the torso angle, which can reduce how much the upper traps try to take over the movement. Not eliminate them… but reduce their dominance.

Combine that with the intent of moving the arms OUT instead of UP, and you can create a much more delt focused lateral raise.

Now before the gym nerds attack in the comments…
The traps will ALWAYS be involved in lateral raises to some degree.

But changing body position, stability and movement intent can absolutely make the exercise feel very different for some people.

Also…

If you do these properly, your ego is probably going to take a hit 😅

Need help with your training and programming?

Comment or DM me “BUILD” to learn how my 1 on 1 coaching can help you build muscle, get leaner and train smarter 💪

This is the harsh reality of being a natural lifter 😅

💪Look jacked with a tank while you have a pump...

then when the workout is over and the oversized shirt goes on and it’s all over ❌️

Most people do Y-raises with dumbbells on a bench...But cables make this movement a game changer for hypertrophy and shoulder function.

Because cables give you resistance through a bigger range of motion, and by changing your torso angle and cable position, you can change the resistance profile of the exercise.

More upright torso + cable around knee height = more mid-short range biased.

More inclined / lying back + cable at wrist height = more mid-lengthened biased.

Why does that matter?
Because depending on your goal, mobility, or injury history, changing the resistance profile changes what the exercise emphasises.

This movement can bias a lot of different muscles across different parts of the rep, including:
Medial delts
Traps, especially lower traps
Rotator cuff muscles
Serratus anterior
All within one movement.

The key is starting by driving the arms out wide first.
That ensures the medial delts are actually producing force.

Then as the arms travel overhead into that YMCA-style Y position, the traps help upwardly rotate the scapula and the rotator cuff helps stabilise the shoulder.

This is one of my favourite movements to program before pressing sessions because it can:
Warm the shoulders up properly
Improve shoulder mechanics
Support posture
Make pressing feel smoother and more stable

And honestly... most people have undertrained lower traps and rotator cuff muscles from years of poor posture and poorly designed training programs.

So movements like this can be a game changer for shoulder health, performance, and depending on how you program it...hypertrophy.

Need help with your training or programming?
Comment or DM me “BUILD” to learn how my 1-on-1 coaching can help you build muscle with smarter programming.

Most people do Y-raises with dumbbells on a bench...But cables make this movement a game changer for hypertrophy and shoulder function.

Because cables give you resistance through a bigger range of motion, and by changing your torso angle and cable position, you can change the resistance profile of the exercise.

More upright torso + cable around knee height = more mid-range biased.

More inclined / lying back + cable at wrist height = more lengthened biased.

Why does that matter?
Because depending on your goal, mobility, or injury history, changing the resistance profile changes what the exercise emphasises.

This movement can bias a lot of different muscles across different parts of the rep, including:
Medial delts
Traps, especially lower traps
Rotator cuff muscles
Serratus anterior
All within one movement.

The key is starting by driving the arms out wide first.
That ensures the medial delts are actually producing force.

Then as the arms travel overhead into that YMCA-style Y position, the traps help upwardly rotate the scapula and the rotator cuff helps stabilise the shoulder.

This is one of my favourite movements to program before pressing sessions because it can:
Warm the shoulders up properly
Improve shoulder mechanics
Support posture
Make pressing feel smoother and more stable

And honestly... most people have undertrained lower traps and rotator cuff muscles from years of poor posture and poorly designed training programs.

So movements like this can be a game changer for shoulder health, performance, and depending on how you program it...hypertrophy.

Need help with your training or programming?
Comment or DM me “BUILD” to learn how my 1-on-1 coaching can help you build muscle with smarter programming.

Heres the blueprint:

Started this cut around October last year at 91kgs. Currently sitting around 80kgs after a diet break.

Calories: 3 calorie drops across the cut:
15%, 20% & 30% Below maintenance calories

Training: Upper / Lower A & B split rotated over 4 days per week.

Steps: 12,000 on training days & 20,000 on rest days

Diet breaks: 2 x 7-day refeeds with calories brought back up to maintenance, mainly from carbohydrates.

The goal: Get as close as possible to my last photoshoot condition (74.5kgs) but with more size, more strength, and a better overall physique.

Progress so far: Very close to target while holding more muscle mass than last time.

Could I have dropped calories faster? Yes. But the goal was to make this as maintainable as possible while keeping performance high and muscle loss low.

is there some naunce to my training, nutrition and steps?
yes, abit but the above is the basics and big rocks of whats got me the most results so far.

The biggest secret to this...
Its a time game while monitoring biofeedback to learn what to do next.

What am I doing now? Wrapping up another diet break before pushing into the final stage of the cut.

As calories get lower, I’ll be using more regular high and low days/refeeds to help maintain muscle mass, training performance, recovery, and adherence.

Need help with your training and nutrition? Comment or DM me 'BUILD' to enquire for 1 on 1 coaching 💪