Eric Anderson Fitness

A lot of people say upright rows are bad for your shoulders. With a barbell, this is often true. But you can make them more shoulder-friendly. Switch to a cable machine. The handles make it easy to find a position where you can move pain-free but still grow traps like mountains that hold up your neck.

Bosu balls are good for people recovering from recent ankle injuries...and not much else. Stop squatting on them. You can't load it heavy because you're too busy trying not to faceplant. So you don't get stronger. You can't focus on feeling the muscle squeeze. So you don't get bigger. Overall, it's a waste of time. Grab a bar and rack and go squat.

Barbell rows are great, but they can be taxing on your low back. To save it, try doing them with a Smith machine. You can focus on just moving weight instead of trying not to blow out a disc. It is to barbell rows what a leg press is to squats.

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If you're going to squat, squat with a full range of motion. Squatting to depth is what builds size, strength, and even flexibility in that movement.

Yes, there are times where quarter squatting is not only acceptable, but recommended. However, if you're not a multiply powerlifter and don't have knee injuries, then you should probably be squatting deep. Otherwise, the only thing you're building is your ego.

And, no, what's-her-name doesn't care how much you can quarter squat. She'd rather you had a charming personality and were responsible.

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If you really want to take your workout to the next level, try being on a device and distracting yourself while doing it. Not only will you be able to focus less on doing the exercise right or feeling the right muscle work, but you'll have the added bonus of taking up the equipment longer. This way people who actually want to train hard have less chance to use it. You can affect your training and other people's at the same time. How's that for efficient?

If your doing med ball throws, make sure you're doing them right. Lots of people just use their arms to throw and lazily let it fall out of their hands. Don't be one of them.

Instead, use your entire body to try to send it through the ground. Put as much power into it as you can. That's the purpose of throws and jumps: to train explosiveness. There's no such thing as a slow explosion.

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If you can't find the neutral grip handle for lat pull-downs, all's not lost. Use the single handles and hang them off the straight bar. You get the neutral grip plus a bit of freedom to twist the handles. This lets you get just a little extra squeeze on the lat. Perfect for growing a bigger, stronger back.

Sometimes you want to blast your legs but don't have a leg press. This is the time to put the bar high on your traps, raise your heels high, and squat low. All the way down. You don't need a ton of weight. Get ready to buy new pants.

Lots of people waste time doing triceps work. Don't be one of them. Make sure you get a full stretch by letting the forearm compress the biceps. Lock out the elbow to squeeze the muscle. Control each rep all the way through. And watch you arms grow.