Jack Hallows Fitness

Locking your scapula down before doing a pulldown (or a row for that matter) is just aiming to fight dysfunction with more dysfunction

Free the scaps and let ‘em move - that’s how you grow your wings 🪽

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How often should you ACTUALLY train to failure to build muscle? 🤔

Personally I tend to steer clear of asking my clients to always push to failure as I feel it does more harm than good to recovery and generally… it’s here that ex*****on suffers the most

So if you have 3 sets of an exercise - I’d recommend

Set 1 - Leaving 2-3 Reps in the Tank
Set 2 - Leaving 1-2 Reps in the Tank
Set 3 - Leaving 1 Rep in the Tank

And then on certain single joint isolation movements like leg extension, lateral raises, kickbacks etc… you can push that final set all the way to task failure every now and then to audit yourself on your intensity

For more skilled lifters I’d absolutely be taking the occasional set of big compound lifts in a stable environment to failure too

But it depends how comfortable you feel as to whether you do that or not really

Ever wondered why despite doing the EXACT same exercise, with the EXACT same attachment, as part of the EXACT same workout program

Two cable machines can feel so drastically different? 😳

It’s down to Pulley Ratios!

All the bricks on a cable stack have a specific weight as an independent brick (hence cable stacks increasing by certain integers)

So if you have a single cable running into the top of the stack then you are lifting what the stack says you are lifting

If you have a cable that splits into 2 and a 2:1 pulley ratio, then the weight of that brick is halved

2 cables that split into 4 for a 4:1 ratio you’re lifting 25% and so on

Which normally isn’t a problem as machine manufacturers do try to take this into account

You’ll often see this with the “middle ground” additions of 2.5, 1.25 or 0.625kg that you clip to the top of a stack

But sometimes they simply let you figure it out for yourself and just label the bricks as is

So this’ll hopefully help you make more sense of these things!

Gym fits all EVDNCE code ‘Jack’

Thanks for the cable footage assist Gabe Beswick 🙏🏼

Yeah.. he’s right 🤝

Joel Twinem

So why does your menstrual cycle actually affect your workouts? 🤔

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Social media does push some crazy things

We’re at the point where I saw a video of a creator saying that a Back Extension with an overly rounded spine is “fighting the patriarchy” 🙃

And look, a slight round of the upper back is fine when doing extensions - especially if that comes from stacking ribs over hips

But this excessive over correction of lumbar extension on this exercise in the name of “glute growth” is crazy

Perform the exercise with good posture and compress your range so you don’t over extend at the top and don’t go too low at the bottom

And you’re fine - legitimately fine

Add a resistance band to make the top / squeezed position harder instead of the mid range and you’re double fine

Exaggerating the rounded back to the point you look like a dog pooping is just making your hinge mechanics worse imo

Stack the ribs, either neutral spine or slight round if it’s more comfortable and you’re set

Everything I wear in vids is EVDNCE

The ‘Gladiator Deadlift’

Guys… not everything has to be about building muscle and getting super dooper jacked

Sometimes exercises are prescribed to improve mobility, attack ranges that are generally untrained and just improve how an individual moves as a whole

And I can see this being great for that if you’re someone who doesn’t really train rotational properties

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Yeah we all got taught this one in ‘PT school’

1-5 Reps for Strength 💪🏼
8-12 Reps for Muscle 🥩
15+ for Endurance ⚡️

But what happens when you do 6… 7… 13? 🤷🏻‍♂️

Truth is you will always get ‘stronger’ simply by adding weight to whatever you’re using regardless of reps over time

That’s the definition of building strength lol

Regardless of whether that’s 60kg for 4 Reps -> 80kg for 4 Reps

Or 60kg for 15 Reps -> 80kg for 15 Reps

Both mean you got stronger lol

And you will build muscle training close to failure with a wide variety of rep ranges (though every coach has their opinion on the “best”)

So it’s important to remember that the arbitrary, confined ranges that people will throw at you are often just their opinion - like me saying between 4 and 15 reps is my preference

It’s just my opinion based on what we know and what I’ve seen

So honestly - focus more on the quality of reps and sets you’re putting out, combined with ensuring your log book is progressing week to week where you can

That’s how you best build muscle be it with 4, 6, 12, 15 reps etc

EVDNCE code ‘Jack’ for 10% off 👌🏼